SACM - United Kingdom
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9667
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Item Restricted Student Perceptions of Virtual L2 Learning: Anxiety and Motivation in the COVID-19 Era(University of Reading, 2024-03-25) Alahmadi, Asim Eid; Capstick, TonyThe impacts of virtual education on student levels of motivation and anxiety are explored by the present study, using the qualitative method. Ten students from one Saudi Arabian university were recruited to participate in this study. Thematic Analysis, developed by Braun and Clarke (2006), was used to analyse the data deductively in order to identify those factors influencing students’ anxiety and motivation levels in the virtual environment. The results indicate that the online environment is associated with a higher level of anxiety and a lower level of motivation. The investigation highlighted a number of relevant aspects, including instructors’ teaching styles, lacking student interaction, and online content.10 0Item Restricted Teachers’ Perceptions of EFL Students’ Motivation in Blended Learning Using Blackboard(University of Glasgow, 2023) Ashkan, Layal; Marshall, CharlesAbstract Teaching English online has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its convenience and flexibility, necessitating a deeper understanding of the dynamics that influence student motivation in virtual classrooms. This study aims to investigate Saudi EFL teachers' perceptions of Blackboard as an educational tool for the students’ motivation and identify the teaching practices they believe are effective. The researcher conducted a thematic analysis and semi-structured interviews to gain insights into Saudi EFL teachers' perceptions of Blackboard as an educational tool. The research findings revealed positive and negative feelings about online learning among Saudi EFL teachers. While some teachers expressed enthusiasm for the potential benefits of using technology in teaching, others raised concerns regarding the challenges associated with online learning. Blackboard was seen as facilitating communication between teachers and students, allowing for instant feedback and exchange of ideas. However, there were also some negative perceptions expressed. Some teachers reported feeling isolated and disconnected from their students in an online learning environment. They highlighted the importance of face-to-face interactions and the social aspect of teaching, which could not be fully replicated through digital means. Additionally, technical issues, such as slow internet connections and glitches in the platform, were cited as barriers to effective teaching and learning. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the importance of effective teaching practices when using Blackboard methods. Teachers emphasized the importance of clear instructions and well-designed content to facilitate student learning. They also highlighted the importance of providing opportunities for students to interact and collaborate with their peers and the teacher. Understanding the role of possible selves in Dornyei’s self-motivation theory is crucial in helping students address the real problem with motivation. By encouraging students to explore and envision their future selves, educators can help them make meaningful connections between their academic endeavors and their long-term aspirations. This approach goes beyond short-term rewards and punishments, fostering a genuine desire to learn. By delving into Dornyei's theory and emphasizing the significance of possible selves, educators can better understand student motivation and guide their students more effectively. Encouraging students to explore their possible selves fosters intrinsic motivation and paves the way for a more meaningful and fulfilling educational experience.14 0Item Restricted THE IMPACT OF PREFORMANCE APPRISAL ON EMPLOYEES’ COMMITMENT AND MOTIVATION AT TOURISM HOTELS IN JEDDAH(Oxford Brookes University, 2024-03-12) Aloqab, Ameera; Yan, GordonIn the context of Jeddah's tourist hotels, this study investigates how performance reviews affect workers' dedication and enthusiasm. Examining the interplay between performance review, employee dedication, and intrinsic motivation in this sector is the study's primary objective. The research lays forth many important goals to accomplish this purpose. The primary goal of the research is to have a better understanding of performance evaluation and its effects on workers. This requires an in-depth investigation of performance evaluation's theoretical foundations and practical consequences within the specific context of Jeddah's tourist hotels. There is a main research component to the study that involves interviewing employees to get their first-hand accounts and empirical evidence. The research aims to capture the positive and negative effects of performance assessment on employee motivation and commitment through these interviews. Furthermore, using a qualitative method with the adoption of primary research method allows for a more in-depth exploration of the personal perspectives and encounters of those employed by tourism establishments by way of conducting interviews among targeted participants. The analysis of the collected data follows the data collecting step of the study. The purpose of this part is to assess the results by comparing them to previous studies and noting any discrepancies or overlaps. By contextualising the study's findings within the larger corpus of literature on performance evaluation, motivation, and commitment, this comparative analysis strengthens the study's validity. Consequently, in order to draw significant conclusions, the research combines its results. Further research is needed to fill in the gaps and reduce the detrimental effect of performance assessment on staff motivation and commitment at Jeddah's tourist hotels, according to the study's suggestions. This research adds to the continuing discussion about how to optimise performance evaluation procedures in the specific setting of the hotel and tourist industry by using a comprehensive approach that integrates academic knowledge with witness accounts.15 0Item Restricted Artificial Intelligence: Voice Assistants(University of Manchester, 2023) Almirabi, Alaa; Mehandjiev, NikolayThe increasing amount of data and the need to rapidly retrieve information has prompted individuals to rely on technology. Voice assistants have been developed as an innovative tool that provides a natural interface to retrieving information from the digital world and even instructing simple transactions such as purchasing items off the Web. A voice assistant is a software application driven by AI that operates as a personal information manager, such as Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Now. However, a deeper understanding of users' perceptions regarding voice assistants is necessary to increase user engagement and ensure users continue using them. This need motivates the exploratory study presented in this thesis. It aims to investigate the relationship between individuals and their home's voice assistants to identify the main characteristics that facilitate establishing a significant and engaging connection between them, leading to their continuous use of the voice assistant. This research thus aims to enhance the post-adoption stage by providing a valuable contribution to improving the relationship between users and their home voice assistants. The main findings of this study indicate that both perceived anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence significantly impact the continuous intention to use and engage with the voice assistant. Nevertheless, the importance of these relationships comes from specific crucial mediators such as engagement, rapport, engagement motivations, perceived value and satisfaction. These factors significantly influence the user's intention to use and engage with voice assistant technology.24 0Item Restricted The Effects of Travelling on the Wellbeing of Saudi Millennials(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-10-20) Alashahrani, Shuruq; Ladkin, AdeleIn recent decades, the concept of tourism and wellbeing has gained considerable attention. This research assesses the effects of travel on the wellbeing of Saudi Millennials and their perceptions regarding the importance of tourism in aspects of their wellbeing. It also explores the characteristics and motivations of this specific group towards travel. Using quantitative approaches, a survey was distributed to 535 participants, including both genders. The findings reveal that the majority of Saudi Millennials strongly believe that tourism positively affects their happiness and overall wellbeing. The results further indicate that the act of travelling itself is the biggest motivation for this generation, and it is mostly driven by push motives. Notably, the findings also demonstrate that the quality of social relationships significantly influences the overall wellbeing of Saudi Millennial tourists.20 0Item Restricted Perspectives of the health care providers in the King Fahd Specialised Hospital (KFSH) about the key predictors of their motivation(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-29) Alamri, Heba Aqeel; Doloriert, ClairRecently, policymakers at the King Fahd Specialised Hospital (KFSH) were interested in increasing the motivation of health care providers, as motivated health care providers are more likely to put increased effort, and time into their work. However, no studies examined the key variables that influence the motivation of healthcare providers in the KFSH. Hence, this study aims to examine the predictors of the motivation of the healthcare providers in the KFSH. This study used a mixed-methods design with both self-reported questionnaires and qualitative, semi-structured interviews. 80 healthcare providers working in the KFSH, including 47 nurses and 32 doctors, were recruited in this study using convenience sampling. The key predictors of the motivation of health care providers were strong social relationships with my colleagues (Ranking 1), Autonomy and independence (Ranking 2), A strong relationship with my leaders (Ranking 3), Religious motive (Ranking 4), Altruism (Ranking 5), The availability of fun opportunities at the workplace (Ranking 6), Recognition of my efforts (Ranking 7), Respect (Ranking 8). There was a positive association between age and years of experience and the need for respect and Recognition. There was a lack of significant differences between nurses and doctors, as well as between males and females. However, the impact of the religious motives on males was higher compared to females. Good working conditions and working environments were also strong predictors of motivation. Policymakers are recommended to provide training sessions to health care providers as well as their leaders working in the KFSH on on how to build strong social relationships. Further, the autonomy and independence of health care providers should be respected and they should be involved in decision making. 5 Keywords: motivation, health care providers, the King Fahd Specialised Hospital (KFSH)13 0Item Restricted EXPLORING THE FACTORS THAT MOTIVATES UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN EVENT VOLUNTEERING(2023) Asiri, Ahmed; Grabher, BarbaraMotivation is the key variable used to determine the reasons behind volunteering in the context of events. Studying motivation as the key element behind student’s volunteering in event is challenging as there is no clear view or reason as to why people choose to volunteer. Each person acts in their own unique way when it comes to being part of a team of volunteers. The majority of existing literature has linked motivation with other factors, stating that motivation makes a person more committed and dedicated towards participating in volunteering events. However, with the help of this study, the stakeholders of the event industry would get a clearer view as to why student’s participation in event volunteering is on the constant rise and whether it has any mediating role in accelerating career advancement in the future. By the end of the study, it was found that students’ desire to learn and grow turned out to be the biggest motivating factor behind event volunteering. This clearly aligns with Maslow’s theory of self-actualization and self-esteem. These volunteers can make a direct contribution, see the need for actively participating and drive valuable growth without expecting anything in writing. This truly contributes to doing something worthwhile while developing greater respect for one self.15 0Item Restricted A Study on the Differences in Visitors’ Motivation to Attend a Food Festival in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-05-31) Almalki, Almohannad; Williams, MichaelFood festivals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have gained popularity among both domestic and foreign tourists in recent years, primarily due to their focus on showcasing regionally specific harvests. The Saudi Feast Food Festival 2022, held in December 2022, aimed to highlight and celebrate the culinary traditions and diverse cuisines of the Kingdom's thirteen provinces. However, understanding visitor motivation is crucial for the success of such festivals, as it helps attract attendees. Despite the growing number of visitors to food festivals in Saudi Arabia, little is known about the factors that motivate visitors to attend such festivals. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the differences in visitors’ motivation to attend the Saudi Feast Food Festival 2022 and to analyse the relationship between their sociodemographic characteristics and motivational factors. To achieve this aim, the researcher adapted a pre-existing theoretical framework based on the push-pull factors theory and modified several motivational items to suit the context of the Saudi Food Festival 2022. This was done after a critical review of the literature relating to the concepts of food, food tourism, food festivals, and the theories of motivation. A total of 100 research participants were voluntarily recruited to complete an online survey via Qualtrics; this quantitative approach helped the researcher achieve the aim of the dissertation. Participants were asked to answer all three sections of the survey. These sections were related to their sociodemographic characteristics, their motivation to attend the festival, and their willingness and primary motivation to attend a future food festival in Saudi Arabia. The collected data was analysed using SPSS after numerical transformation. The findings strongly suggested that the only pull factor in this study—cultural exploration—was the main driving force behind visitors’ attendance at the festival, with the push factors—escape and novelty—following. Socialization, also a push factor, was found to be the least motivating factor for attending the culinary event. Additionally, the study revealed that there were no statistically significant relationships between motivational factors and sociodemographic variables. The dissertation concludes with an interpretation of the key findings and offers recommendations for culinary festival organisers based on the dissertation's primary findings.33 0Item Restricted Impact of Employee Motivation on Organizational Productivity(2022-09-18) Kabli, Abduallah M; Bournakis, IoannisNowadays, motivation is gaining an importance in organizations due to its impacts on profits of the organization. Employee motivation boost up the performance of an employee and overall effectiveness of the organization. Lack of motivation can often lead to poor organizational performance with low effectiveness of the workers. The core elements in running a highly productive organization are highly motivated and satisfied employees. The primary objective of the research is to identify the specific motivation factors, both intrinsic as well as extrinsic, based on theories of motivation, which have a compelling effect on job performance, effectiveness of the organization and ultimately levels of productivity at a workplace. The study adopted both primary and secondary research methods to collect, analyze and determine the impact of motivation factors on organizational productivity. A well structured online survey was used a main research tool which was administered to 100 respondents. Following the survey, the data was investigated through statistical graphs and charts. The results revealed that both intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors of motivation such as personal and professional growth, incentives and financial benefits and opportunity to growth as well as recognition have significant effects on effectiveness which leads to increase in productivity levels. Furthermore, this study recommended organizations need to emphasize upon examining the factors which motivate each employee to ensure their effectiveness rises.30 0