Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted The Role of Islamic Culture Curriculum in Saudi Universities in Promoting Women’s Rights(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Bajabir, Salwa Saeed; Brown, KatherineDespite the legal and educational reforms under Vision 2030, this research argues that a gap remains between policy advancements and societal awareness of women's rights principles in Islam (WRPI) among Saudi University students. Through a qualitative case study at a leading Saudi University, including content analysis and semi-structured interviews, this research explores how the Islamic Cultural Curriculum (ICC) influences women students' perceptions of their rights. This study integrates Freire's Critical Pedagogy and Tibbitt's Human Rights Education models to advocate for a transformative approach incorporating gender justice and peace education in line with Islamic principles. Findings reveal that the ICC content and teaching strategies contain a blend of preaching, indoctrination, and marginalisation of women's agency as rights holders in the Islamic framework. The analysis explores how the current ICC discourages critical engagement instead of promoting discussion and reflection, reinforcing hierarchical gender norms through rigid teaching methods and structure that presents knowledge as static and unquestionable. As these findings contradict WRPI, this research suggests that applying the foundation (Al-Taʾṣīl) methodology within a critical, dialogical framework can reconcile WRPI with contemporary gender issues, needs and rights. Overall, this research provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the Islamic approach to women's rights, transformational higher education, and gender justice.30 0Item Restricted Nurses’ Competency in the Provision of Diabetes Self-Management Education to Hospitalised Patients in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Algharash, Hassan; Lynette, Cusack; Rebecca, MuntDiabetes is a significant chronic condition, and one of the ten most common causes of mortality globally. The population of Saudi Arabia has a high rate of diabetes, placing an enormous burden on the healthcare system. Therefore, when the Saudi Arabian government launched the 2030 Vision, one of the main components was to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes. People with diabetes need to self-manage their chronic condition by maintaining their blood glucose levels within a target range to reduce the risk of developing diabetes-related complications. Therefore, it is essential that they receive diabetes self- management education. Nurses in acute care settings, such as medical and surgical wards, are in a position to provide opportunistic diabetes self-management education to inpatients with diabetes. Specialist diabetes educators are not available to inpatients in many hospitals within Saudi Arabia. Therefore, nurses in hospitals must be competent in both diabetes management and patient education to enhance patients’ quality of life. The aim of this study was to understand the attitudes, knowledge and skills of nurses working in Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health hospitals to undertake diabetes self-management education for inpatients, and the facilitators and/or barriers to providing diabetes self- management education to inpatients. The competency in delivering health and patient education framework was employed to guide the study. This framework brings together nurses’ knowledge, skills and attitudes in both their management of diabetes and in delivering patient education. A sequential explanatory mixed- methods design was utilised where quantitative data were collected and analysed first, informing the qualitative data collection and analysis. In the first phase, a paper-based questionnaire was distributed to nurses working in medical and surgical wards in four Saudi Arabian hospitals, attracting 157 responses. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. In the second phase, 12 nurses participated in semi- structured interviews. The qualitative data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The results from both phases were then integrated using a joint display approach. The survey results focused on diabetes management revealed that nurse respondents have outdated knowledge and skills. However, nurse respondents indicated they felt confident and had a positive attitude towards managing inpatients with diabetes. The study also found nurse respondents had a good understanding of and a positive attitude towards inpatient education. In the qualitative phase three main categories were identified: 1) barriers to providing inpatient education, 2) barriers to acquiring diabetes management knowledge, and 3) enablers of providing diabetes self-management education. Data integration highlighted that there are significant environmental factors that are barriers to nurses providing diabetes self-management education to inpatients, such as lack of access to continuing professional development, limited time, an absence of higher management support and lack of patient education resources. To ensure nursing care aligns with the 2030 Vision, nursing leaders must be proactive to address the suboptimal diabetes knowledge and skills, and the environmental barriers to providing effective patient education. Without addressing the current barriers, the quality of care of patients with diabetes will continue to be compromised.28 0Item Restricted Secondary ELA Mentor Teachers’ Feedback on Preservice Teachers’ Video-Recorded Lessons(University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 2025) Alharbi, Homood; Sherry, MichaelThis dissertation explores the feedback practices of secondary English Language Arts (ELA) mentor teachers and the reasoning behind their feedback to preservice teachers (PSETs) during early field experiences. Motivated by my own experience as a preservice teacher, where the absence of timely, meaningful feedback often left me without needed guidance, I was drawn to study how mentor teachers notice, interpret, and respond to novice teaching. This study focuses not on the mentoring relationship itself, but on the content and rationale of feedback provided by mentors. Three secondary ELA mentor teachers participated in this qualitative study. Each responded to two video-recorded lessons of preservice teachers and took part in two sets of interviews. Using a Teacher Noticing framework, I analyzed what mentors noticed, why they chose to respond, how they delivered feedback, and how their prior experiences shaped those decisions. Findings indicate that mentors’ own experiences with receiving and giving feedback significantly influenced what they prioritized and how they responded to preservice teaching moments. Across participants, feedback focused on seven key areas of teaching and was driven by three consistent reasons. While the study focuses on a small group in a specific context, it raises important questions about broader trends in ELA mentor feedback. I recommend further research across diverse contexts to examine the consistency of feedback practices among mentor teachers.14 0Item Restricted Secondary ELA Mentor Teachers’ Feedback on Preservice Teachers’ Video-Recorded Lessons(University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 2025) Alharbi, Homoodh; Sherry, MichaelThis dissertation explores the feedback practices of secondary English Language Arts (ELA) mentor teachers and the reasoning behind their feedback to preservice teachers (PSETs) during early field experiences. Motivated by my own experience as a preservice teacher, where the absence of timely, meaningful feedback often left me without needed guidance, I was drawn to study how mentor teachers notice, interpret, and respond to novice teaching. This study focuses not on the mentoring relationship itself, but on the content and rationale of feedback provided by mentors. Three secondary ELA mentor teachers participated in this qualitative study. Each responded to two video-recorded lessons of preservice teachers and took part in two sets of interviews. Using a Teacher Noticing framework, I analyzed what mentors noticed, why they chose to respond, how they delivered feedback, and how their prior experiences shaped those decisions. Findings indicate that mentors’ own experiences with receiving and giving feedback significantly influenced what they prioritized and how they responded to preservice teaching moments. Across participants, feedback focused on seven key areas of teaching and was driven by three consistent reasons. While the study focuses on a small group in a specific context, it raises important questions about broader trends in ELA mentor feedback. I recommend further research across diverse contexts to examine the consistency of feedback practices among mentor teachers.30 0Item Restricted ISLAMIC MORAL VALUES AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN AN AGE OF GLOBALISATION: A STUDY OF MALE STUDENTS’ AGENCY IN SAUDI HIGH SCHOOLS(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alghaith, Abdulrahma; Gholami, RezaIn the context of ongoing rapid political and social changes in Saudi Arabia, this study explores the impact of globalisation on Islamic moral education in Saudi high schools and on young people. Specifically, it examines the role that social media has come to play in shaping students’ moral values, as well as the opportunities and challenges for Saudi high schools to provide Islamic moral education in a world increasingly interconnected through social media. This research adopts an ethnographic approach to gain holistic insights into the current situation of Islamic moral education in Saudi high schools. It involved twenty-two Saudi participants from three high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, including school head teachers, teachers, students, a student counsellor, and a school inspector. The study is the first in-depth ethnographic exploration of how globalisation, through social media, impacts and reshapes how students engage with and negotiate moral values teaching in Saudi high schools. Utilising Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, capital and field and Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the study illustrates the interplay between social structure, agency, and moral development in the Saudi context. The research provides rich new insights by discussing Saudi high schools’ policies and atmospheres, teachers’ practices and methods, students' daily lives and interactions, and the different sources of moral values within and outside schools. The findings show that the impact of social media on students’ moral development is not simply positive or negative but complex and multifaceted. It challenges the notion that students are passive recipients of moral values and reveals that young Saudis are active participants in their moral education. The study argues that young Saudis’ exposure to diverse social fields, including social media, has created a gap between students' expectations and the current policies and practices of Saudi high schools. Students demonstrate significant agency in navigating and negotiating various sources of moral values. The study also highlights how young people develop strategies to negotiate, evaluate, and integrate competitive discourses from various sources of moral values, demonstrating their agency and moral autonomy in decision-making and online engagement, as well as their critical thinking skills.32 0Item Restricted The Impact of Augmented Reality-Based-Affordances Instruction on Learners’ Motivation in K-16 Classrooms: An Integrative Review(Saudi Digital Library, 2025-05-13) Aljohani, Amal Hamdan; Peter DoolittleAugmented Reality (AR) is a rapidly growing technology used in education to improve traditional learning by adding digital content to the real world. This literature review explains what AR is and how it differs from similar technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Diminished Reality (DR). Using instructional design frameworks, it highlights AR's special features, such as interactivity, visual learning, and immediate feedback that encourage active learning and match motivational theories, especially self-determination theory. The review gathers findings from various educational fields, including primary schools, medical training, and engineering, showing that AR positively affects student learning and motivation. It also looks at how AR is used in online and distance learning, emphasizing its ability to provide realistic, hands-on experiences remotely. The review stresses the importance of rigorous research methods and reliable sources, offering a clear foundation for understanding AR’s potential in education and suggesting areas for future research and practice.23 0Item Restricted Three Essays in Mental Health Economics: Education and Labor Market Outcomes(Saudi Digital Library, 2025-06) Alarabim, Hosam; Koreshkova, TatyanaThis dissertation explores how mental and physical health influence key economic outcomes over the life course, focusing on education, occupational outcomes, and workplace productivity. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the study employs advanced modeling techniques, including Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) and mixed-effects regression, to construct latent health measures and quantify their economic consequences. The first chapter examines the impact of adolescent mental health on academic achievement, particularly high school completion and college enrollment. It addresses the limitations of using narrow diagnostic proxies for mental health by applying a factor-analytic approach to create latent constructs. The findings reveal that better mental health significantly improves educational attainment, with a stronger effect on college entry than on high school completion. The second chapter investigates how health status shapes occupational sorting across two major classifications: white-collar and full-time employment. It finds that individuals with poor mental health are disproportionately concentrated in low skill, physically demanding, blue-collar jobs, while those with better health are more likely to enter cognitively intensive, white-collar occupations. Physical health also influences job type, reinforcing disparities in labor market access and long-term mobility. The third chapter evaluates the effect of mental health on workplace productivity. By constructing a composite latent productivity score, based on job satisfaction, hours worked, and income, the study estimates the long-term effects of lagged health status. A one standard deviation increase in mental health is associated with a 0.0251 rise in latent productivity and a 0.0201 increase in wage measure of productivity, confirming the strong and persistent influence of psychological well-being. Together, these chapters show that mental health is a critical determinant of economic opportunity, shaping individual outcomes from adolescence through adulthood.10 0Item Restricted Generating Complex Questions from Domain Ontologies(University of Liverpool, 2025) Alkhuzaey, Samah; Payne, Terry; Tamma, Valentina; Grasso, FlorianaDesigning and constructing pedagogical tests that equitably measure various skills across different students is a challenging task. The quality and validity of assessments are heavily reliant on the quality of the questions included. Traditional test development methods rely on manual effort, which can be time-consuming, labour-intensive and inconsistent, leading to variability in question quality. This challenge is further compounded by the advent of online learning platforms that require a large and diverse pool of questions, making manual creation and review impractical. Furthermore, for effective assessments, questions must be calibrated with difficulty levels before being incorporated into exams. However, difficulty calibration is another challenge that complicates questions development. In recent years, Automatic Question Generation (AQG) has emerged as a powerful tool for effortlessly generating assessment questions in massive numbers with a minimal level of human intervention. Ontologies have been used as a semantic knowledge source to generate questions automatically. However, most questions that have previously been generated from the use of ontologies have been criticised for their simplicity and lack of cognitive engagement. Furthermore, many existing question generation frameworks primarily focus on the technical aspects, but they lack a strong theoretical foundation. This highlights the need to enrich existing question types by generating more complex questions that cover both a broader and deeper understanding of the associated knowledge and that require more complex reasoning skills than that which is necessary for recalling simple facts. In this thesis, we present a novel ontology-based question generation approach designed to facilitate the creation of complex educational questions, which require larger knowledge coverage and higher cognitive processes. Our method leverages the concept of Query Graphs, a graph-like structure capable of representing natural language queries through appropriate mappings. We propose the use of Query Graphs as a formalism for representing templates that incorporate multiple ontology-based constraints to elevate the level of reasoning required to answer the questions. We demonstrate that this approach is indeed effective and aligns with the assessment of educational experts. To further support the plausibility of our computational framework, we shed light on its consistency with theories from education and cognitive psychology. This provides a solid theoretical foundation that ensures that questions are generated according to principled methods that are grounded in the theory of learning and cognition. The proposed approach is agnostic to the choice of different subject areas or knowledge domains, and independent of the question format. Therefore, the approach proposed is highly general and applicable to a variety of contexts. Being the primary source of knowledge, ontologies have an impact on the effectiveness of the quality of the questions generated. Therefore, we examine how different ontologies perform when applied to the same question generating task. An expert-based study was conducted, leading to the identification of ontology evaluation metrics designed to assess the suitability of domain ontologies for successful use in AQG. These metrics facilitate the reuse of existing ontologies and reduces the need to develop new ones from scratch, thereby lowering the cost of implementing AQG models.34 0Item Restricted The effectiveness of simulation-based learning in nursing education(University of Glasgow, 2024) Alharbi, Ali; Miller, WilliamBackground: Simulation-based learning (SBL) has emerged as a valuable pedagogical approach in nursing education, allowing students a safe and controlled environment to practice clinical skills with varying levels of fidelity. Furthermore, SBL has become an increasingly popular teaching strategy in nursing education; however, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of SBL in Saudi Arabia. Research shows that simulations can enhance student satisfaction and self-confidence. Moreover, evidence suggests that student satisfaction can contribute to building self-confidence, which may help students develop skills and knowledge. This thesis evaluates the impact of SBL on nursing students' knowledge and skill acquisition and retention. Further, assessed their perception of satisfaction and self-confidence following the simulation experience. Methods: This thesis consists of two studies. First, a systematic review was conducted from 2017 to 2023 to identify relevant studies. A total of 33 studies were evaluated using the Joanna Briggs critical appraisal tools. A narrative synthesis was used to extract and report data. Second, a quasi-experimental study employed a repetitive test design with 100 nursing students exposed to a simulation protocol during the internship year. Benner’s model and Kolb’s theory were the conceptual frameworks underpinning this work. Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Results: The systematic review showed that most studies focused on the impact of SBL on life-saving skills like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or other lifesupport skills, with the remaining studies examining critical care skills or clinical decision-making skills. Consistent and significant improvements in knowledge and skills were highlighted. The quasi-experimental study indicated that SBL significantly improved nursing student knowledge and skills, regardless of individual characteristics. Furthermore, the study found that students had a high level of satisfaction with the simulation experience. Most students also reported increased self-confidence in their skills. Conclusion: This thesis provides evidence supporting SBL as an effective teaching strategy within nursing education in enhancing knowledge and skill acquisition and retention, as well as student satisfaction and confidence. These findings have important implications for nursing education, particularly in Saudi Arabia, and provide valuable insights for nursing educators and policymakers on the benefits of SBL for enhancing student learning outcomes.44 0Item Restricted The impact of educational tourism on Saudi students' life and social skills.(Middlesex University, 2024) Almasoud, Matar; Thickett, AnthonyEducational tourism plays a crucial role in enhancing skills and fostering cross-cultural understanding, significantly impacting welfare, quality of life, and economic progress. In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Education has been criticized for failing to prioritize curricular improvement, highlighting the importance of experiential learning in improving student experiences. Further, the study examines the impact of experiential learning on social skills, environmental awareness, and cultural knowledge, as well as the challenges faced by educational institutions in integrating it. The results highlight the importance of experiential learning in the Saudi curriculum's goal of improving student experiences. To fully understand the long-term impacts of educational tourism and experiential learning on instructors and students, a longitudinal strategy is recommended. Overall, the success of educational tourism depends on institutional support and the involvement of teachers in experiential learning. This study explores the impact of educational tourism on the experiential learning of Saudi students and also explores the challenges faced by Saudi education system in the adoption of experiential learning. This research heavily draws from Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Ritchie’s segmentation model; and highlights how educational tourism caters to cultural understanding, social skills, and to a lesser extent, environmental awareness. The study aptly demonstrated that educational tourism improves student’s personal and professional development, through a quantitative survey of 138 students and teachers from Saudi Arabia. A strong positive correlation was witnessed between educational tourism and cultural awareness and interpersonal skills of students. However, the research also showcased a weak correlation between environmental awareness and educational tourism, suggesting a growing need to include sustainability into educational programs. Moreover, the study also examined the role led by educational institutes in enhancing teachers’ job satisfaction through experiential learning environments, withstanding that organisational backing is detrimental for the success of such programs. The regression analysis demonstrated that teacher’s job satisfaction is enhanced when there is strong institutional support for experiential learning. However, the study highlights the need for further curriculum development in environmental education, along with institutional frameworks to support both teachers and students in educational tourism initiatives. It is recommended to conduct further research on this scope of work to expand it across different regions and to explore the long-term effects of educational tourism on student development.26 0