cognition and participation -- classroom reform in the ... · working paper 101 cognition and...

Working Paper 101

Cognition and Participation -- Classroom Reform

in the Arab World

Saeed Aburizaizah (Project Director), Yoonjeon Kim, Tahany Albeiz,

Margaret Bridges, Bruce Fuller, Melissa Henne, Manal Qutub

University of Jeddah and University of California, Berkeley

December 2017

Classroom Reform – 1

Cognition and Participation –

Classroom Reform in the Arab World

Abstract

Pressures build in Middle Eastern and Arabic-speaking societies to diversify economies and

democratize social relations. Educators and scholars, contributing to these shifts, have

experimented with classroom reforms that aim to advance higher-order thinking skills and

the social agility of students. This paper reviews 52 empirical studies of such reforms, work

that meet methodological standards and gauges effects from an innovative classroom model.

A subset of studies estimates effects on cognitive skills or curricular knowledge, using

experimental designs or multivariate methods with sufficient covariate controls on student

background. Classroom reforms within Arabic-speaking societies have emphasized active

roles for students and lateral interaction between teacher and student, including (1)

structured exercises to advance analytic or problem-solving skills, (2) cooperative activities

that demand interaction, or (3) projects aiming to advance complex cognition, often drawing

on digital technologies. We find consistent evidence that the press for analytic skills or active

participation in classrooms yields significant gains in learning, including results from true

experiments. Pedagogical and classroom-reform models typically originate in the West,

although local educators and scholars animate them with varying sensitivity to cultural or

institutional contexts.


Introduction

Educators and scholars in the Middle East and Arabic-speaking nations continue to advance a

variety of pedagogical reforms, seeking to advance complex cognitive skills or enrich social

relations inside classrooms. Two contextual pressures have lent urgency to these efforts: the

desire of governments to diversify their economies, most pressing in oil-dependent societies, and

popular demand for democratic social relations. These forces, while often cast in Western terms,

press educators to move away from didactics, to instead foster dynamic analytic and

communication skills, human competencies required of versatile economies and social

participation. This paper details empirical research that assesses classroom reforms mounted in

the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the past generation, gauging effects on teachers

and students, or examining constraints on implementation inside schools and universities.

Reform activists and governments confront deeply institutionalized schools dominated by

traditional didactics, often failing to graduate students who are competitive in English or

mathematics, based on international benchmarks (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Hooper 2016). Middle

Eastern nations are not alone. Educators and activists in Europe and the United States also press

for more complex forms of teaching and learning, hoping to foster higher-order thinking (HOT)

skills, along with more active roles for students in mastering curricular content and applying

knowledge to practical problems. Innovators in the West also struggle with “sticky” institutions

inhabited by teachers encased in deeply instantiated routines or working conditions that mitigate

against innovation.

We report on the growing literature from the MENA region that employs differing

methodologies, resulting in peer-refereed papers appearing in English or Arabic journals over the

past generation. Our review – identifying 52 (of 192) candidate studies that meet rigorous

methodological standards – focuses on classroom-level efforts aimed at nurturing higher-order

thinking skills, manifest in analytic reasoning and cognitive complexity, often structuring active

roles for students and more symmetrical relations between teacher and pupil. We will turn to the

question of where these innovative classroom models come from, and the extent to which

investigators consider local cultural or institutional conditions

We know that altering pedagogy and the didactic organization of classrooms is a difficult

task – this is a highly institutionalized setting calcified through taken-for-granted social roles.

What’s intriguing about the introduction of HOT skills or participatory relations over the past

generation is how scholars and educators have successfully innovated, typically on a modest

scale, then detected significant effects on teaching practices or student learning. This, despite

firmly instantiated didactics and typically hierarchical social roles across the MENA region.

A central question pertains to what specific forms of classroom activities are attempted, and

which tend to show empirical effects, whether aimed at moving teaching practices or

strengthening pupil engagement and learning. A second conceptual issue relates how teacher

capacity, material resources, institutional traditions, or cultural patterns may enhance or constrain

the sustained life of HOT-skilling forms of classroom innovations.

Third, who has fostered the pursuit of stronger analytic skills or social participation in

MENA classrooms. Do international agencies and expatriate scholars imperially carry inventive

classroom models into the region? Or, does an increasingly cosmopolitan mix of actors inside the

Middle East and North Africa foster the pursuit of complex cognition and lateral social relations

in schools?


Debate in the West over teacher quality or the restructuring of classrooms often returns to

issue of money: if government allocated greater support for public schools, pedagogical gains or

classroom innovation would follow. But several MENA societies invest large shares of their

gross domestic product (GDP) in K-12 education. Many studies reviewed below do mention

material constraints when it comes to implementation with fidelity or longevity. But scholars

also point to facets of institutional stickiness or thin capacity that jeopardizes classroom reforms.

The review is arranged in four parts:

❏ The contextual realities of uneven educational quality and didactic pedagogical traditions

are briefly described. The embeddedness of these conditions and practices tends to constrain

innovation, while offering the a priori conditions for reform.

❏ Specific models of classroom reform surface from this literature, each pursuing more

complex cognition and/or active participation by students in more complex activities, relative

to largely passive roles. We delineate the major types of innovations pursued by educational

researchers in the region.

❏ Rigorous (quantitative or qualitative) studies are reviewed, highlighting how classroom

reforms have significantly altered teaching practices or student engagement and learning.

❏ Implications of major findings for practitioners and policy makers are discussed, especially

the empirical promise of classroom reforms. Improvements in methods are highlighted. We

speak to how innovative models, often borrowed from the West, might better scaffold-up

from local institutional and cultural foundations.

1. The Organizational Challenge – Complex Cognition and

Participation in Classrooms

Let’s first set the context, briefly examining the variable quality of schooling in the MENA

region, an institution that manifests didactic pedagogical traditions and hierarchical social roles,

rooted in both ancient and colonial eras. This section also defines Western conceptions of

complex cognition, the pursuit of HOT skills, and lateral patterns of social participation inside

classrooms. The challenge posed by novel, more agile conceptions of the teacher’s role and the

cognitive potentials of students – a recurring conversation in the West for at least four centuries –

motivates the contemporary research that we review.

Uneven Educational Quality

The comparative performance of students on international tests is but one way of gauging the

efficacy of national school systems. Still, on this gauge the achievement of eighth-graders in the

Middle East remained quite low in 2015, compared with all other regions of the world. Among

the 15 lowest scoring nations, 12 were located in the MENA region (Mullis, Martin, Foy, &

Hooper 2016). Eighth-graders in Saudi Arabia displayed the lowest level of mathematical

knowledge in the world. Average scale scores were somewhat higher in North African societies,

such as Egypt and Morocco. Fewer Mideast nations participated in the recent reading

assessment, yet fourth-graders in Gulf states did poorly, compared with other regions of the

world (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Drucker 2012).


Little is known about the “value-added” of schools on children’s learning in the MENA

region, after taking into account the family background of students. We do know that literacy

rates have climbed dramatically over the past half-century. The World Bank estimates that only

Iraq’s literacy rate for youths, 15-24, dips below 85%. Adolescent and young adult rates exceed

95% in Arabic or national languages in all Gulf states and most North African societies.

Religious commitments or government schooling may contribute to basic literacy but fail to lift

advanced competencies in reading, analytic skills, mathematics or science.

Indicators of national investment and school quality are not uniformly reported across the

region. Yet basic indicators demonstrate wide variability among societies. Ministry officials in

Kuwait, for instance, report that just seven pupils attended secondary school for each teacher

employed in 2015. This staffing ratio ranged upwards to 11 pupils per teacher in Saudi Arabia,

14 in Egypt, and 20 in Turkey (the U.S. ratio equaled 15; World Bank 2017). Spending per

primary school pupil, as a share of GDP per capita, also varies widely, ranging from 8% in Iran

to 19% in Morocco and 22% in Israel, relative to 20% in the United States.

Comparatively flat learning curves of students in the MENA region are not likely due to low

levels of government investment in education. Saudi Arabia spent more per secondary school

pupil than any other country except Hong Kong and Japan in 2007, after adjusting for purchasing

power parity (IMF, 2009). Yet only 3% of its secondary students met the “intermediate

benchmark” for mathematics as gauged by the Third International Mathematics and Science

Study in 2011 (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Arora 2012). Oman and the United States each dedicate

5% of GDP to the education sector, yielding very different results, at least for fourth and eighth-

graders in reading and mathematics (World Bank 2017).

Didactic Teaching, Agile Societies, and Cultural Context

Policy debates over how to improve schooling in the MENA region often cite the purportedly

didactic character of classroom teaching. It’s a common refrain. Most of the papers that we

review begin with the investigator’s discontent with the didactic habit of teachers who deliver

official knowledge, typically regulated by central government. This emphasis on the teacher as

expert, who delivers static knowledge in hierarchical fashion, harks back to the importation of

western-style schools. It’s continuous with the form of teaching and learning that Britain, France,

and the U.S. exported to the Middle East and North Africa since early colonial days (Herrera and

Torres 2006; Khoury and Kostiner 1990).

Indigenous cultural forces also shape the emphasis on expert knowledge and didactic

delivery – namely the historical study of the Koran. Wagner’s earlier work in Morocco (1993)

remains quite relevant, emphasizing how recitation and chanting of Koranic passages – animated

by authoritative didactics – serves to advance dimensions of cognitive complexity, fostering

keen memorization skills and strong moral values. At the same time, this embedded form of

“direct instruction” and choral recitation may reinforce tacit assumptions about the role of

teaching and sacred knowledge, how one becomes “educated” or spiritually enlightened.

These precepts of teaching and learning are certainly not static in the region. The incursion of

English, digital media, and novel cultural mores spur novel forms of learning and diversifying

sources of social authority. This holds implications for the school institution’s receptivity, or

resistance, to the pedagogical and classroom innovations that we review, tested by researchers in

several societies over the past quarter century (Authors’ citation; Selim 2017; Wiseman, Alromi

and Alshumrani 2014).


Novel social forms also become situated within, or accommodated by, preexisting

institutional and cultural forms. Fauzi (2016), for example, reports the benefits of training for

previously illiterate young women to write about their own lives, practical problems, and

experiences – while learning grammar and syntax in Arabic. Or, take the case of a native Kreol

script that took hold in the traditional madrasas of Mauritius, where the Koran is emphasized,

and then became incorporated in the secular school curriculum, where French has long

dominated (Owodally 2013).

The Saudi government recently cut back hours spent studying religious texts in high school,

while increasing classroom time for English and modern subjects. So, while didactics and

Koranic teaching remain fundamental in the region, the curricular grist for learning and social

organization of classrooms is no longer static or invariable across schools. Instead, the language

of instruction, legitimate forms of expertise, and the roles played by students have become

contested (Authors’ citation). This contention among competing notions of how to teach for what

forms of cognition or social competencies will become clearer as we detail the literature.

Defining Complex Cognition and Classroom Participation

High-order thinking (HOT) skills have been defined in various ways by psychologists and

learning theorists in the West, implicating various facets of cognitive processing. This includes

the learner’s capacity to describe and analyze problems and causes, think critically from differing

perspectives, discern beliefs from evidence, apply concepts to novel situations, think creatively,

even mindfully reflecting on one’s patterns of thought (for reviews, King, Goodson and Rohani

1998; Brookhart 2010; Krathwohl 2001).

Researchers in the MENA region at times specify the particular cognitive proficiency to be

advanced within a classroom reform. Al-Mutairi (2015), for instance, devised a “brainstorming

and divergent thinking” model with Saudi middle-school pupils. He randomly assigned students

between treatment and control groups, tracking growth in creative thinking by employing a

validated measure of this facet of cognition. Al-Mutairi’s design and measurement strategy drew

carefully from cognitive science. Similarly, Fahim, Barjesteh, and Vaseghi (2012) drew on

Facione’s (1991) taxonomy of critical thinking skills to devise a curriculum that aimed to boost

English comprehension in collateral fashion. More typically, however, classroom reformers and

scholars fail to theorize how their intervention will shift specific cognitive skills, as opposed to

the claim that practicing HOT skills inside classrooms will boost performance on conventional

tests of subject matter.

Other MENA scholars specify the dimensions of social participation in the classroom with

precision, often drawing on models from the West, say cooperative learning or project-based

learning (PBL) packages, as reviewed below. This requires adjusting the student’s role in the

classroom, framing time and expectations for lateral interaction with the teacher or peers,

building oral presentations and portfolios, or mounting projects inside or outside the classroom.

Basic social arrangements involve pupils working in pairs or small groups, actively tackling

instructional tasks via shared problem-solving, or laboring on complex projects over time.

Careful work is required to causally specify which forms of social interaction inside classrooms

is predictive of what precise cognitive skills.

You will see below how MENA schools often interweave the pursuit of complex cognitive

skills with shifting roles and relationships inside the classroom. This is similar to long-running

research in the U.S. related to “complex instruction,” include the Common Core’s curricular

focus nurturing HOT skills through more agile pedagogies (e.g., Cohen, Lotan, Scarloss and


Arellano 1999; Herman, Epstein and Leon 2016). Still, this interplay between complex cognitive

goals and the social organization of classrooms remains under-theorized in the Mideast as

researchers borrow pieces from the West. How shifts in the student’s role or lateral interaction,

or ways of arranging instructional tasks, are logically tied to which facets of higher-order

thinking remains on the frontier, including within U.S. and European literatures as well.

2. Empirical Review – A Generation of Research

on Classroom Innovation

To identify papers displaying sufficient rigor, conducted in the MENA region, we first

searched all materials electronically maintained by the Educational Resource Information Center

(ERIC). This organization, supported by the U.S. Department of Education, indexes peer-

reviewed education-related publications, including refereed journal articles and research reports.

In addition we compiled studies focused on lifting higher-order thinking skills in classrooms at

the high school or university level. This typically included some alteration of social relations

inside the classroom as well. We selected papers appearing since 1990, going back about one

generation, and drew on relevant key words.1 This initial screening produced 192 peer-refereed

articles appearing in published journals.

We then applied several criteria to ensure that studies reviewed met methodological

standards, whether quantitative or qualitative in nature. We included empirical work that focused

on changing a pedagogical practice or the social organization of classrooms, or studies

examining implementation of such reforms. For quantitative studies, we screened in those that

conducted true experiments, employed quasi-experimental designs, or regression strategies that

included at least three relevant covariate controls on family background (when estimating student

effects at p<.05 or stronger), and with sample sizes of at least 75 teachers or students.

We included qualitative studies with a transparent analytic strategy, built on interview or

observational data involving at least 20 hours inside classrooms or schools. Identifying peer-

refereed papers published in Arabic, selected the top education, linguistics, or psychology

journals from the region, then deployed parallel keywords in Arabic. After applying these

methods criteria, 52 published studies remained for in-depth review, as detailed below.

Typology of Innovative Classroom Models

We discovered that papers included for detailed review fell into three basic categories. Two

kinds of impact studies have been conducted over the past quarter century, corresponding to the

interwoven pair of classroom interventions: adjusting teacher practices to encourage higher-

order thinking among individual students, and complementary reforms that alter instructional

tasks or social relations inside the classroom. The third set of studies delved into how

implementation of either kind of intervention played out in schools or universities.

1 We utilized the following keywords to identify an initial set of published studies conducted in the region: higher order, thinking

skills, critical thinking, cooperative learning, constructivist thinking, problem solving, active learning, metacognition, problem or

project-based learning, or inquiry-based pedagogy. We determined which studies were conducted in the MENA region,

including MENA nations defined by the World Bank.


Beyond the split between impact and intervention studies – by which we arrange the review

below – we further breakdown the 52 papers based on the specific kind of reform that became

the object of empirical investigation. Table 1 specifies the types of pedagogical or classroom-

level reforms that are the objects of study by MENA researchers.

Table 1. Prevalent classroom models studied by MENA investigators

Pedagogical and classroom interventions Basic counts

Pedagogical change aiming widen the individual student’s

cognitive processes (e.g., teaching critical thinking,

brainstorming processes, creativity)

16

Learning through complex tasks (e.g., inquiry-based learning,

problem-based learning, project-based learning) 13

Cooperative or collaborative learning models 11

Complex instruction with digital technologies 8

Other pedagogical models 4

Total count of studies meeting selection criteria 52

Pedagogy focused on higher-order thinking. Sixteen investigators or teams intervened with

teachers in order to introduce or broaden some facet of higher-order thinking. While these

studies identified differing facets of cognition, such as teaching “critical thinking,” “creativity,”

or “metacognitive skills,” each aimed to alter the learning or modes of thinking of individual

students (e.g., Al-Qahtani 1995; Bataineh and Alazzi 2009; Mathews 2007). The researchers

were informed by recent theories from cognitive science or developmental psychology to

operationalize classroom constructs. For example, Shaarawy (2014) used Bloom’s (1984)

framework and a validated assessment of critical thinking skills to advance language and writing

courses in Egypt. While these interventions required significant change in pedagogical practice,

the focus remained on the individual’s learning and cognitive processing.

Altering the social organization of classrooms. The second set of interventions emphasized

change in the student’s role and the social relations required to accomplish assigned tasks. This

typically stemmed from the use of cooperative or project-based learning, requiring the student to

become an active participant, interacting with the teacher or professor, or work with fellow

students on tasks. Classroom interventions built on problem-based learning, for example,

required that students work in small groups to discuss an applied case, to devise oral

presentations, or work outside in the community. PBL strategies are well represented in these

studies, a popular intervention in sciences and language classes where basic knowledge

scaffolds-up to complex problems and dynamics in material or social worlds

Collaborative activities and cooperative learning. Eleven investigators drew on this

intervention model, another case of altering the social relations of classrooms, especially the

roles of teacher and student.


These researchers often cited Vygotsky’s constructivist theory of learning to underpin their

reform experiment. Seven of these investigations directly imported Robert Slavin’s model of

cooperative learning from Johns Hopkins University. Tackling material in groups and working

toward a shared understanding of concepts typically characterized these studies. Various

methods, such as jigsaw groups (Gaith 2004), computer-mediated classroom discussion (Porcaro

2014), or team-based learning (Jarjoura et al. 2015), were used to boost interaction among peers.

Cooperative or collaboration organization of the classroom (for outside projects) were employed

across grade levels and disciplines, including elementary-level writing, high school chemistry,

and university-level physics courses.

Diversifying sources of information (ICT). Eight research teams tried to advance HOT skills

by incorporating digital technologies or innovative sources of data a. McLaughlin and Mynard

(2009), for example, created online discussion sections for student-teachers at the university

level in United Arab Emirates, then assessed growth in analytic skills. Foomani and Hedayati

(2016) reported significant effects on English language learning by integrating mobile devices

into instructional tasks and longer term projects. Such ICT strategies also pulled material into

classroom tasks that stem from popular culture, along with the digital medium on which many

young people in the region now rely.

Finally, this landscape of empirical work can be characterized by the methods used to

understand effects for students or institutional constraints on implementation. Table 2 sorts the

52 studies into these two basic categories, then shows the distribution of analytic methods

deployed by investigators. Some 23 studies employed true random assignment of pupils to a

treatment or control group, quasi-experimental designs utilizing valid comparison groups, or pre-

post designs. An additional 12 research teams used an observational study design to estimate

either treatment effects of classroom instruction after controlling on measures of student

background or effects of factors that influence successful implementation. Some 17 qualitative

studies met our selection criteria, reporting in detail on observed impacts or delineating factors

that aided or impeded the implementation of the classroom intervention.

Table 2. Overview of methods used by MENA researchers

Impact Implementation Totals

Quantitative

Experiment 9 0 9

Quasi-experimental 14 0 14

Observational 5 7 12

Qualitative 8 9 17

Totals 36 16 52

Let’s turn to key findings and generalizable patterns revealed by the 52 studies. The

distinction between impact and implementation studies proved useful in detailing several key

findings. The complete list and summary information pertaining to all 52 investigations appears

in the Appendix.


Studies of Student or Classroom Impacts

This set of 36 studies assessed the learning effects of a discrete classroom intervention. Eight

research teams created experimental conditions, randomly assigning students to a treatment or

control condition. The majority of investigations were conducted by mathematics or science

professors, examining active-learning strategies in medical schools. A smaller share of work was

conducted by university-based researchers working in collaboration with teachers in elementary

or high schools. Samples of students or classrooms were typically modest, although of sufficient

statistical power to detect significant treatment effects (n=50 to 490 students). While levels of

statistical significance are reported in all studies included in our review (at least p<.05), effect

sizes were not consistently reported. (These comparative magnitudes should be reported in future

work as this line of work matures.)

Findings pertain to three specific dimensions of cognitive complexity or social participation,

looking across these 36 impact studies. Several investigations pertain to explicit training in

higher-order thinking, focusing on individual students, who share in a common classroom

experience but do not necessarily work together. We detail the strongest studies in this genre.

Another set of investigators employed what they termed cooperative learning, often drawing on

Western models, where the core structural change is to require that students work together on an

assignment. The nascent theory of learning is that student understanding will rise if they talk

through the knowledge or concept with others, making meaning of the idea or operation. A third

set of investigators emphasize multiple modalities and active ways of applying new knowledge,

often tied to PBL models, public presentations by students that demand synthesis of new

knowledge, or using digital media, motivated by everyday applications.

HOT skills for individual students. Several studies focus on the cognitive skills of individual

students with little emphasis on changing patterns of social interaction inside the classroom. Al-

Mutairi (2015:140), for example, drew on cognitive science related to creativity and problem-

solving, devising a "brainstorming" strategy appropriate for Saudi middle-school pupils. He

randomly assigned 98 male seventh-graders between treatment and control conditions, then

exposed the former group to multiple sections of a 10-week course that addressed "thinking and

its development… [emphasizing] critical thinking and creative thinking." The course was

devised in consultation with university psychologists and learning experts in Saudi Arabia. This

design remains rare in the MENA region for its enrichment of analytic cognition, as well as

moving students to meta-cognitively reflect on their own thinking.

The author reports significant experimental effects when gauged by the Torrance (1980) Test

of Creative Thinking, tapping the student "fluency" in describing elements of a problem and

generating a range of possible remedies recorded by the pupil. Significant gains were reported on

students’ cognitive "flexibility" and "originality" in diagnostic thinking and in articulating

alternative remedies. This paper includes an extensive review of earlier work on creative

thinking, theoretical and empirical, in the Gulf states and the wider MENA region, while

reported details of the classroom curriculum are thin.

In the wake of Jordan’s press to enrich “critical thinking skills,” emerging from a national

study panel, Sadat and Ziyadat (2016) randomly assigned 59 seventh-graders between treatment

and control groups, experimenting with what he called an “intellectually disciplined process of

actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating

information” nested within the Arab language curriculum. Classroom activities in the

experimental group were tied to the government standard but enacted via the Six Thinking Hats


model that offers students different modes of cognitive work. This includes a “hat” for gathering

facts, clarifying what’s known about the problem or situation; spotting risks and difficulties;

brainstorming about alternative diagnoses or remedies; articulating how one is feeling or hunches

about causal relations, thinking about how to analyze the problem at hand (de Bono, 2015).

Sadat and Ziyadat report strong effects sizes relative to the control group for traditional

student outcomes related to Arab language growth. HOT skills are embedded in the experimental

classroom activities, but proficiency in such analytic skills were not directly measured by this

investigator. Details on the length of the intervention and whether specific classroom tasks drove

the benefits are missing from the analysis. But significant experimental effects are reported for

an accepted measure of cognitive creativity, as well as gains in Arabic literacy. These

investigators also emphasized that notions of complex cognition must be locally situated. The

“thinking approach is the ability to establish a thought or an idea, assessing and inferring the

meaning in order to apply what has been learnt to solve problems in different situations” (p.151).

Shaarawy (2014) reports similar experimental results from Egypt, where the treatment

condition required students to write how they comprehended and might apply the day’s

presentation of new material in a mass communications class at the university level. This

investigator drew from Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive complexity, deriving measures of

"cognitive critical thinking skills" for shaping journal guidance and assessing student outcomes

for experimental and control groups.

Researchers situated in medical schools contribute heavily to this literature, seeking

classroom interventions that advance students’ analytic skills in both science and clinical

practice. Khalil & Rukban (2010), for example, randomly assigned medical students to one of 18

discussion sections for a course that focused on immunology and haematopoietic knowledge.

Instructors in the experimental sections facilitated more time for students to discuss new material

presented in lecture sessions, adding classroom time for these analytic conversations. Students in

the experimental sections were assessed more frequently, providing formative feedback on their

shared comprehension of new material.

Students in the experimental condition displayed statistically significant higher midterm and

final exam scores on the delivered knowledge, although the investigators did not unpack the

determinants of learning effects: whether benefits stemmed from increased classroom time,

lateral discussions among students, or formative feedback from regular student assessments.

Medical students were placed in more participatory roles, but in conventional ways that resemble

discussion sections in regular college courses.

Another notable study focused on whether English learning could be accelerated among

Iranian university students when experiencing complex instruction that addresses HOT skills

(Fahim, Barjesteh, & Vaseghi, 2012). These investigators drew on Facione’s (1991) taxonomy of

“critical thinking skills,” first dividing 240 English students by proficiency levels (TOEFL

scores, then randomly assigning them between treatment and control conditions. All students

were given a multiple-choice examination (pre-test) of reading comprehension. The experimental

students were then exposed to training in critical thinking skills via eight 90-minute sessions on

interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. The control group

was taught via “business as usual” reading-comprehension skills. All students were then given a

follow-up examination (post-test) to compare their comprehension skills in English. Those in the

experimental condition displayed significantly higher reading scores at semester’s end; these


benefits did not vary by student gender or baseline English proficiency. Subgroup differences by

social-class background or other covariates are not reported.

Another notable study examined how to boost the capacity of teachers to foster creative

thinking in their students. The outcome of interest pertains to teacher cognition and their

operationalization of creative facets of HOT skills. Ibrahim (2015) designed a 13-week inservice

training program for female science teachers in Saudi Arabia, building from a pre-post design,

asking whether she could inculcate pedagogical skills that would in turn advance their pupils’

creative thinking and analytic competence. Identified dimensions of creativity, drawing from

Western literature, included teachers “fluency, flexibility, authenticity, and problem solving” as

teachers provided science instruction. Ibrahim found post-test gains in trainees’ capacity to plan

lessons aimed at elevating creative and analytic skills. But observational measures gauged by

independent observers failed to detect consistent gains in actual pedagogical practices.

Falling short of random assignment and providing little data on teacher covariates that might

have constrained the intervention’s effects, this study belies methodological limitations. Still, it

provides a starting model for how teacher training can nurture understanding of HOT skills,

along with commensurate shifts in the classroom’s social organization.

Empirical work published in Arabic includes a handful of studies that focus on enriching the

cognitive skills of individual students. Al-Khateeb (2013), for example, in a study of 95 male

Saudi second graders compared the effect of two metacognitive strategies – conceptual mapping

and the “mind maps” approach – on students’ conceptual structure and thinking skills in math.

Students randomly assigned to the treatment classrooms received 45-minute metacognitive

training sessions daily for 25 days. These sessions involved student-centered activities, that

required participants to create their own “mind maps”. These activities -- focusing on the

concepts of measurement, space, and size -- nudged pupils to articulate how they were thinking

about specific elements, visualizing mathematical operations, as the author built from

contemporary theories of metacognition.

Students were tested using the Conceptual Structure and Vision Induction tests before and

after the experiment, gauging the clarity of conceptual maps and the capacity to free associate in

discussions of different students’ mind maps. The so-called Vision Induction Test aimed at

evaluating the role of visual incentives (or stimuli) on developing cognitive representations and

then solving the practical mathematical problem. Al-Khateeb found that students in the

conceptual mapping group outperformed peers assigned to the control groups

A second experimental study published in Arabic also builds from metacognitive theory in

advancing attitudes toward studying science among female students in Oman (Ambusaidi and

Al-Naqbi 2014). Fifty students were divided into two groups: an experimental group (n=25),

which was taught science with a model devised by Smith et al. (2005) accelerated learning cycle

model or the control group (n=25), taught science by the conventional didactics. The treatment

condition included small-group activities that focused on making connections among key

elements of knowledge, activating prior learning through questioning and thinking skills, and

consolidating knowledge. These experimental activities occurred during 45-minute sessions

conducted over a 48-day period.

This team constructed scales to gauge student attitudes towards science (31 items) and self-

concept scale (25 items), drawing from accepted measures (Ambusaidi 2012). The authors found

that students in the two groups did not differ statistically in terms of attitudes toward science. But

the treatment group reported greater confidence and efficacy in their knowledge of science.


Cooperative learning. Creating active classroom roles for students typically implies more

complex instructional practices. This includes collaborative work on projects or applications of

new knowledge, deploying multiple modalities of learning, which we detail below. An

experiment conducted by Balfakih (2003) exemplifies this approach, drawing on a cooperative

learning model to enrich chemistry teaching for high school students in the United Arab Emirates

(UAE). The study is motivated in part, says the author, by this nation’s reliance on expatriate

engineers, while government schools fail to equip native-born graduates with necessary analytic

and related HOT skills.

Some 489 students were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group, spread

across 16 chemistry classes. The experimental sections required students to work in study teams

and engage in carefully structured games or tournaments, again drawing on cooperative learning

techniques (Slavin 2014). Students in the experimental condition, both females and males,

displayed stronger chemistry knowledge after one semester. Importantly, the treatment effect

was stronger for students from rural provinces, compared with peers from urban areas. Balfakih

reported significant between-teacher differences in the magnitude of student gains for the

experimental group, while failing to ask what teacher attributes or implementation snags may

help to explain between-classroom differences.

Jarjoura, Tayeh, and Zgheib (2014) also imported Slavin's model of cooperative learning to

test what authors called “team-based learning” for 60 girls and boys randomly assigned to

middle-school science classrooms in Lebanon. Pupils were randomly assigned to eight 50-minute

sessions spread across one semester, or to the control group. Each student in the experimental

condition (controls went to a conventional, reportedly didactic classroom) was coached as to how

team members should hold each other accountable for delivering on tasks and homework

assignments. Each team worked together on a semester-long science project. Teachers were

trained to provide steady feedback to pupils on their learning, speaking to the quality of

individual and group work. Homework also was required of treatment-group members. Note that

this intervention contained these several discrete elements.

The authors observed significant positive effects for the treatment group on science

knowledge at semester's end, as well as stronger positive effects on pupil attitudes toward their

future study of science. This paper is notable in how the authors emphasized the Vygotskian

roots of cooperative learning techniques (a favored theoretical allusion), along with how peer

collaboration seemed to advance shared comprehension of new concepts and applications

explored in the local context. The authors examined subgroup differences as well, finding

stronger treatment effects on low-achieving students (measured at baseline). This careful

attention to the heterogeneity of treatment effects among subgroups remains rare.

Hitt and colleagues (2014) also report encouraging findings for a cooperative learning

package imported from the University of Washington, utilized to enrich "hands-on activities,

equality in student-teacher interactions, and sense making over answer making" in UAE physics

classes. Students in the treatment condition (n=67) were less like to drop out of physics courses

during the year. The investigators utilized a pre-post design, not random assignment, while effect

sizes were moderate in magnitude. Students with greater English proficiency at baseline showed

stronger gains, compared with students who opted to take the course in Arabic.

Another study, while not applying random assignment, blended short-term projects,

structured role plays, and portfolio building (of written and orally presented student products) to

explore application of biology knowledge within integrated schools of Israel, involving both


Arabic and Israeli-speaking students. Khalil et al. (2007) utilized this mix of active-learning

techniques with several classes (n=97 students), which also required that biology assignments

draw on digital media to explore contemporary applications. Students worked within integrated

language groups, although each student built a portfolio of one’s own work.

Khalil and colleagues utilized a pre-post design, detecting significant gains for “regular

students” in their knowledge of biology and motivation to continue in biology, compared with

gains estimated for students designated as “gifted” by Israeli educators. Attention to

heterogeneity of effects among student groups is notable. More rigorous consideration of

covariate controls and variable effects stemming from the distinct elements of the intervention

would strengthen future research. Similar use of student portfolios, including videotaped projects

and related work presented to the school community, was tested within English-language courses

in a Saudi university, as described by Aburizaizah and Albeiz (2016).

One of the few studies that explicitly considered the local cultural context was conducted by

El Hassan and Mouganie (2014) with 80 Lebanese students who attended two private elementary

schools. The investigators tested whether a decision-making skills model, devised at Rutgers

University (Elias and Arnold 2006), could advance pupils’ level of reasoning about political

conflicts and distinguish between the ideological versus evidence-informed basis of advocacy.

The experimental group (randomization not precisely described) received 15-minute training

sessions in their homeroom each day over nine weeks. The sessions involved three curriculum

phases: readiness, instructional, and application. In the readiness phase, students were trained

with skills, such as listening and taking the perspective of others, employing the use of role-play.

In the second phase, pupils learned the steps required for social problem-solving and decision

making, practicing how to identify problems and brainstorm possible remedies as a group. In the

final phase, students applied these analytic steps to issues arising in their everyday lives.

The authors found that students in the experimental group outperformed controls in the

complexity of their positions and arguments tied to social or political issues, as well as scoring

higher on a measure of emotional intelligence (theoretical logic remained unclear). The sample

was modest in size and scope conditions – limited to private elementary schools – constrained

external validity. That said, the study is rare in terms of tackling analytic skills pertaining to

contentious issues and nudging students to consider the nexus between cognitive reasoning and

emotional reactions to pressing social problems in context.

Another paper appearing in Arabic examined the effects of cooperative learning student

learning (Alhassan 2013). The study, based on a pre-post design, involved 84 male college

students, asking how cooperative activities might enhance three different outcomes: pupil

motivation, analytic strategies used outside the classroom, and acquisition of complementary

digital skills. The “cooperative learning group” was compared with a traditional group of

students, which was taught via conventional didactics. But the two groups were not randomly

assigned. The experimental group engaged in editing texts online, designing oral presentations,

and building data tables in differing ways. Pupils -- after informed of the elements of the tasks --

were then afforded time to work with their peers in order to successfully complete each activity.

Findings revealed stronger growth on the criterion outcomes among the cooperative-learning

group. Cooperative learning was shown to promote stronger computer skills in particular.

Multiple modalities and applications. Other researchers in the MENA region emphasize the

creative use of materials or digital technologies, aimed at stronger comprehension and practical

application of new knowledge. Almuntasheri and Wright (2016) offer one inventive reform in

this genre, focusing an “inquiry based method” for teaching Saudi sixth-graders the concept of


physical density. Investigators randomly assigned pupils to one of six class sections, offering a

seven-week course that employed multiple demonstrations, hands-on “experiments,” and

discussion of observed dynamics to help envision properties of density, while the control group

learned about the concept through conventional didactic methods. Importantly, teachers

overseeing the experimental classes received training sessions on this inquiry-based method. All

classrooms were monitored during the experimental period.

Students in the treatment condition carried out quite vivid activities, exploring for example

why popped corn does not sink, compared with kernels before being popped, the variable weight

of cubes of ice or metal (differing in density), and the "dance of raisins" infused with bubbles.

These evocative illustrations of the varying density of many materials did yield significant

effects on student understanding. The authors report significant treatment effects on pupils'

collateral grasp of volume, mass, and how to calculate density.

Areepattamannil (2012) drew on large-scale PISA data collected in Qatar to test whether

specific elements of inquiry-based science instruction predict levels of student learning, net the

family background of pupils. This study offers a rare case of sophisticated quantitative

estimation to understanding correlates or determinants of achievement, and the investigator

employed hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques. He builds the inquiry from concerns

expressed in the West over the importance of HOT skills, including reports from OECD and the

National Research Council in the U.S. In this light, Areepattamannil views government

schooling as dominated by didactic delivery of knowledge, relegating students to passive roles.

He identifies measures from the teacher interview that gauge the use of applications, pupil-

conducted investigations, and broader hands-on activities to teach science. He found that in the

Qatar context, use of these multiple modalities was predictive of stronger science learning among

children of expatriate parents, whereas hands-on activities appeared to flatten learning curves of

native-born students. Unobserved confounders may be in play, although Areepattamannil did

control on social-class attributes of students. This is one of the few studies that asked whether

students’ cultural context or family socialization practices may moderate the effects of

innovative classroom practices.

Al-Balushi and Al-Aamri (2014) designed a modest experiment to test whether structuring

hands-on projects for high schoolers in Oman would advance their knowledge of and attitudes

toward science held by female students. A modest sample (n=62) was assigned to a treatment or

control condition, each set spread across three classrooms. Pupils worked in groups to produce

short documentary videos tied to applications of the new curricular material. Study teams also

organized a school-wide recycling campaign and exhibited group projects in schoolwide events.

Both treatment and control students covered 30 discrete curricular units. Controls worked

individually in traditional fashion, listening to didactic lectures, studying on their own.

These investigators found significant differences in student knowledge of science,

advantaging the treatment group, after completing a semester-long course. Pupils completing the

experimental conditions also reported stronger interest toward the future study of science. While

external validity of these findings is constrained, given the modest sample, stronger engagement

by the treatment group, along with the use of digital media, are noteworthy design elements

relevant to science education for girls.

Foomani and Hedayati (2016) designed an intriguing model for advancing English language

skills among 24 students in an Iranian English language institute. The study employed design-

based research of mobile-assisted language learning, asking how students “make meaning” of


English language “in their everyday lives.” To help learn idiomatic phrases in English, class time

was assigned that involved using a mobile device to find photos illustrating specific concepts.

Groups could also bring in photos to further inform peer conversations around concepts and

related idioms in English. Careful evaluation of effects on student learning is lacking in this

analysis. But the intervention stands out as being grounded in design-based research, detailing

qualitative evidence on student sense-making, along with the use of mobile devices for practical

applications and enriching peer discussions.

Several studies in the Arabic literature focus on the innovative use of instructional

technologies. For example Aljohani and Alrehaili’s (2016) built s a quasi-experimental study of

37 female students majoring in computer science and engineering at a Saudi university. The

study sample was divided into two almost balanced treatment and control groups. The authors

asked how e-learning activities using Blackboard would affect acquired skills in digital

storytelling, as well as levels of learning motivation. Storytelling activities entailed six tasks

focusing design, analysis, implementation, and post-activity evaluation. Students were provided

instant feedback online as they accomplished each task. They also devised a semester-long

project, presented via Facebook or the teacher’s blog channel. Even with this modest sample, the

investigators report significant advantages for the treatment group in storytelling skills using

digital media. Learning motivation also ranged significantly higher for these female students

after becoming proficient in of Blackboard software.

Another study from Saudi Arabia conducted by Al-Ghamdi (2015) examined the effect of

blended learning on second graders’ learning of geometry. The author sampled two classrooms

from two different schools. The the “treatment” classroom was randomly chosen, not

participating students, which raises questions about unintended confounders. Pupils in the

experimental classroom experienced a blended-learning approach in which the software dubbed

GeoGebra was deployed, which draws on meta-cognitive theory (citing Van Hiele 1982).

Specific HOT skills were isolated and addressed via this software, including visual

representation of geometrical relations, analytical steps, informal and formal deduction.

Students were assessed at baseline and following the four-week online curricular unit. Those

attending the treatment classroom scored significantly higher on logical reasoning and the

capacity to make deductions from geometry problems.

Summary of major findings. These classroom reforms differ overall in two important ways.

First, a portion attempts to enrich the analytic skills or understanding of new material constructed

by individual students. Dissecting reading passages or applied problems, or perhaps learning how

to “brainstorm” and explore facets of new knowledge, certainly involves social conversation

inside the classroom. But the pedagogical emphasis is on expanding the cognitive strategies

employed by the individual student. In contrast, cooperative learning experiments and the use of

multiple learning modalities, such as digital devices, emphasize novel social relations inside

classrooms to better scaffold complex cognitive activities.

Second, most studies center on the question of how to alter the cognitive activity of students,

not so much the teacher’s capacity to design and implement tasks that facilitate agile mental

operations with others. We found the one sound study that tried to advance teachers’ capacity to

nurture students’ critical thinking or creative skills, while effects on observed practices remained

mixed (Ibrahim, 2015). This young line of work rightfully begins with efforts to alter the HOT

skills of pupils, or dynamic strategies for peer-to-peer learning. But future work might back-up

causally, asking how teachers might organize learning activities that enrich complex cognition.


Collateral organizational factors have been examined in the West, for example, how time for

teacher collaboration is structured or normative expectations are set by principals.

These impact studies vary methodologically as well. The dimensions of cognition measured

by investigators, along with the precision with which they are gauged, differ across

investigations. Mutairi’s (2015) successful effort to improve the “brainstorming” skills in Saudi

middle schools was related to significant gains in pupils’ demonstrated capacity to diagnose a

problem and then articulate alternative remedies on one accepted test of creative thinking.

Other researchers altered the social organization of classrooms to boost learning of

knowledge prescribed by the curriculum. This includes Khalil and Rukban’s (2010) effective

effort to raise medical students’ learning of immunology. Often unclear theoretically is how

specific alteration of social relations – group discussion, projects with peers, building a portfolio

of publicly presented work – is logically tied to varying dimensions of cognitive complexity.

Still, these studies hold in common the postulate that multiple ways of manipulating new

knowledge – perhaps through differing forms of social interaction and media that inform

applications – will more likely nurture cognitive complexity and agility in the minds of students.

Implementation Studies – Institutional “Stickiness” and Classroom Reform

The second major line of work – implementation studies – takes a step back to uncover

institutional or cultural factors that enhance or impede classroom-level reforms. Sixteen studies,

employing quantitative or qualitative methods, speak to how teachers attempt to implement and

sustain inventive practices. These mediating factors operate at multiple levels of the school

organization, ranging from individual characteristics of actors to entrenched features of national

educational systems. This section is arranged by the organizational level of analysis of each

study reviewed.

Teacher and student characteristics. Several researchers have conducted surveys to examine

how novel classroom models were employed by teachers and the implementation varied by

teacher background. These designs often inquire about the variable capacity of teachers to grasp

and implement more complex instructional techniques. Dababneh, Ihmeideh, and Al-Omari

(2010), for example, surveyed 215 kindergarten teachers in Jordan to gauge classroom practices

that intended to enhance children’s creative thinking. The survey drew directly from theoretical

and empirical literature on dimensions of classrooms that advance such HOT skills, including

five specific domains: knowledge and awareness of creative potential, lesson planning,

educational materials, social relations and climate inside the classroom, teacher beliefs about

pedagogy, and instruction that encourages creative thinking. These facets of classrooms were

more frequently reported among kindergarten teachers with postgraduate degrees and those (not

surprisingly) more critical of traditional didactics.

Similarly, Ziadat, Abu-Nair, and Sameha (2011) surveyed faculty members in two Jordanian

universities to measure variation in how professors fostered HOT skills among students. The

survey built by the investigators included items pertaining to teaching methods, including the use

of open-ended questions, applications drawn from news articles and outside media, and the use

of “brainstorming” activities in their classrooms. They found that faculty members reported high

use of pedagogical strategies that encouraged students to engage in analysis and synthesis of new

information. The investigators could not detect subgroup differences, at least not from academic

rank or years of experience, based on simple analysis of variance (ANOVA).


Teachers’ beliefs about their classroom techniques also were associated with their propensity

to adopt innovative practices in a study of 55 primary and secondary-level teachers of English

conducted in Lebanon (Ghaith 2004). This researcher found that teachers who perceived their

role as facilitators and abided less to a “transmissive model” of teaching more readily

implemented a cooperative learning model earlier introduced by the investigator. The authors

drew on validated measures of teacher beliefs – weighing didactic preferences against an

“interpretive” or constructivist conception of learning (developed in the West by Cohen and

Tellez 1994). The fidelity of implementation of cooperative learning techniques was measured

with an established measure as well (Lumpe et al. 1998).

Myers et al. (2012:163), curious over the persistence of an “active learning” reform in

Egyptian technical colleges, tracked the fidelity of classroom change as enacted by 230

instructors. This analysis was motivated by a clear conception of active learning, defined as

“providing opportunities for students to meaningfully reflect on the content, ideas, issues and

concerns of the subject.” Explicitly building from the HOT-skills literature, active learning in

these colleges aimed to offer “new information [that] becomes meaningful when it is presented

in a recognizable format.”

This study was entirely descriptive, drawing from surveys given to participating instructors

who acquired active-learning techniques through inservice training. Its contribution stems from a

longitudinal design and careful tracking of sustainability. The intervention was led by a small

“change facilitator team,” working with instructors over three years across colleges, an

intervention funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Each instructor was

trained in 17 active-learning strategies, including brainstorming tasks, cooperative group work,

concept mapping, daily journaling, and think-pair-share exercises. Implementation back in local

colleges was enhanced when trainees, in turn, relayed the classroom techniques to their

colleagues. Instructors generally felt efficacious in implementing novel practices in their

classrooms, especially when experiencing support to innovate from colleagues.

Another notable study examined how student characteristics can influence the

implementation of classroom innovations (Dauletova 2014). The author, using classroom

observation and survey methods, described the implementation and student feedback on a new

Business Communications course, which followed a project-based learning intervention in

Oman. Thirty students were assessed for their learning style: “reflecting” (watching and feeling),

“philosophy” (watching and thinking), “analyzing” (doing and thinking), and “organizing”

(doing and feeling). Following the intervention the majority of students (75%) reported a

preference for the analysis component, that is doing a task to gain new concepts and ideas. The

authors interpreted this as indicating that students benefit from emotional engagement in the

instructional task, sparked by this inquiry-based learning strategy.

In a second phase, the investigator situated projects within small, mixed-gender groups,

requiring them to address a real problem in their communities. Instructors were exposed to a

number of workshops on innovative teaching and learning. They facilitated the students’ active

pursuit of addressing a real-world issue, and were thus motivated to tackle, tapping their “doing

and feeling” learning styles. The instructors studied the implementation of problem-based

learning and reported that students most valued—and most challenged by—acquiring teamwork

skills and communication proficiencies.

Organizational context. Beyond individual characteristics, several studies identified pre-

existing conditions of schools or classrooms that mediated implementation of innovative

classroom models. While previous studies of classroom change in developing countries has


emphasized how material scarcity undercuts implementation, few investigators in the MENA

region emphasize economic constraints. Al-Qahtani (1995) did report that classrooms were

cramped, constraining active-learning strategies that required physical movement or rearranging

desks and chairs (also, Bataineh and Alazzi 2009). Still, the majority of implementation studies

highlight the conflict between preexisting conditions – ranging from institutionalized didactics to

weak leadership – and the novel social relations, role of the teacher, and learning aims that arrive

with pedagogical reform. Porcaro (2014) describes how gender-segregated seating in Omani

classrooms serves to dampen engaged discussion between male and female students.

Several investigators found the lack of support that teachers or professors experience from

institutional leaders. For example, social science teachers in Jordanian high schools reported a

lack of guidance or support to innovate (Bataineh and Alazzi 2009). The central ministry’s

curricular guidelines make no mention of analytic or other HOT skills, despite recent civic

debate over the issue. Standardized content objectives and loyalty to antiquated textbooks

reinforced traditional didactics as well, according to these researchers.

Other studies report the deterring effect of high-stakes testing and national exams on the

likelihood of classroom innovation (Al-Qahtani 1995; Banaineh and Alazzi 2009). Given that

standardized tests require recall of facts or computational routines, teachers face a disincentive to

nurture higher-order thinking or collaborative social relations. Frambach and colleagues (2014),

based on their cross-national comparison of problem-based learning in medical schools located

in Hong Kong, Netherlands, and one unnamed Mideast nation found that students schooled in

more didactic or “teacher-centered” high schools experienced greater difficulty in participating

in group discussions after entering medical school. These investigators anchor their qualitative

inquiry in Vygotsky’s emphasis on how learners adapt to prevailing norms or material

conditions, yielding implication for how students adapt to novel social norms and expectations.

When new classroom models gain traction in the MENA region, how to sustain the capacity

and commitment of teachers becomes a pivotal issue. Several studies examined how preservice

teacher training might shape the openness and capacity of new teachers to embrace and sustain

such innovative models. The qualitative study by Qablan and colleagues (2009) of preservice

elementary teachers in Jordan examined the influence of exposure of student-teachers to an

inquiry-based approach to biology teaching. Eleven teachers were tracked over the course of the

semester, involving repeated interviews and classroom observations. While this small sample

was generally supportive of the inquiry-based model, many teachers found it challenging to

implement inside their classrooms. Without steady mentoring and encouragement, even novice

teacher regressed back to didactic habits.

Another study by Alayyar, Fisser, and Voogt (2012) conducted a pre-post study of teacher

training strategies with 78 pre-service primary science teachers in Kuwait. They compared two

strategies for improving student-teachers’ proficiency in applying digital technologies into their

pedagogical repertoire. The first group of teacher candidates received classroom instruction

augmented with online tutorials. The second group of teacher-candidates received this form of

instruction, as well as face-to-face coaching from teachers and other experts in the field (a

blended learning approach with syncratic and asyncratic ties to the teacher), drawing from

Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) software and pedagogical organization. The model ran for two

hours per week over a 12-week period. Interviews were also conducted and scored to gauge

teachers' experience with the intervention. Results showed that the second group displayed more

growth, attributed to the availability of in-person coaching as the teacher candidates were

learning about digital technologies online.


Cultural context and societal norms. Using a design-based approach, Porcaro (2014)

examined factors that influenced adoption of the so-called Computer-Supported Collaborative

Learning model for undergraduate courses in Oman. The study revealed how different aspects of

the Omani context -- preference for oral-based learning, norms about the teacher-student

relationship, gender dynamics, and religious values -- may shape acceptance of classroom

innovations. The deeply entrenched tradition of didactic delivery tacitly discouraged any shift

toward open discussions among peers inside the classroom, according to this investigator.

Porcaro then details how the cultural preference for oral discussion, rather than a written

tradition or reading, acts to subvert classroom innovations that emphasize writing. He shows how

a design-based method is especially suitable for the purpose of this kind of research, allowing the

investigator to examine the learning process in situ, then iteratively refine the program based on

responses by students and teachers. This helped to unearth deeply institutionalized expectations

and routines that proved quite sticky, rendering sustainability of classroom innovation less likely.

The Frambach et al. (2014) study also set out a conceptual model for mapping local cultural

forms and institutionalized practices that push against novel classroom innovations..

Summary of major findings. Overall, we see that basic teacher attributes, such as qualification

level or years of experience, do not covary with the likelihood of adopting a novel classroom

model. Teachers involved in the studies just reviewed generally held positive views of inventive

classroom practices (notwithstanding the possibility of respondent bias). Educator beliefs about

how learning is best fostered, along with their openness to lateral relations with pupils, helped to

explain positive effects resulting from several innovations. (More elaborate designs would be

required to formally test for mediating factors.)

Moving beyond teacher attributes, several investigators pinpointed constraints on

implementation or likely sustainability for classroom models aiming to advance HOT skills or

reorder social relations inside. Physical features of schools and classrooms such as large class

sizes and gender-based segregation tended to stultify pupil engagement. Some studies found

impediments in the surrounding educational institution, including a ministry obsession with high-

stakes exams or weak attention to the quality of principal leadership. Investigators also reported

that new teacher-candidates often fail to experience any exposure to alternative models of

classroom instruction and the variable social organization of classrooms. This may be why many

teachers were unable to clearly define the activities entailed in the new models, let alone

incorporate more complex practices in their classrooms.

A few rigorous qualitative studies examined the interplay between the local context and

novel classroom models. These studies employed research designs that were specifically aimed

at unearthing cultural stickiness. For example, Frambach and colleagues’ (2014) cross-cultural

case study of medical schools clarified how the same problem-based learning model may be

received differently in Western and Middle Eastern cultural settings. Porcaro’s (2014) design-

based study in Oman offers another revealing example of how deep-seated cultural practices or

institutionalized routines serve to erode implementation of novel classroom dynamics. This

researcher was able to surface tacit constraints on implementation by observing the reactions of

Omani students to the teacher’s novel attention to HOT skills, or when reordering expected

social relations inside the classroom.

Such qualitative examinations of implementation inside classroom turned up a variety of

mediators, especially those rooted in taken-for-granted features of life inside MENA classrooms.

This kind of research can complement quantitative studies that gauge the incidence and effects of

differing implementation constraints. Quantitative work -- offering external validity if samples


are representative and sufficiently sized -- can judge the efficacy of a particular local intervention

(e.g., university department or teacher training program). Yet qualitative work offers the

complementary strength of identifying specific institutionalized practices or instantiated social

roles within classrooms that slow or kill inventive reforms. Assessments of how pre-service

teachers are prepared remain rare in the region, despite all the high-level rhetoric around

enlivening pedagogy and social engagement inside contemporary classrooms.

4. Conclusions and Implications – Rethinking Cognition

and Participation in Context

This review yields promising results in one central regard: A variety of pedagogical and

classroom reforms across the Middle East and North Africa have shown marked gains for

students, often shifting teachers toward more interactive and complex instruction. Ongoing

reliance on didactic teaching and faith in state-sanctioned knowledge remains a common

complaint inside the region. But this accumulating body of work reveals a growing breadth of

formal experiments and innovative models that have blossomed over the past generation.

Another key take-away is how the pursuit of higher-order cognition is viewed as interwoven

with complex forms of instruction and lively social participation in the classroom. Several

studies aimed to enrich the analytic, problem-solving, or creative skills of individual students,

adjusting curricula to target these competencies. We highlighted where measured effects were

significant. But most impact studies altered how teachers and students interact, along with

crafting engaging activities inside the classroom, as the social grist required for complex

cognitive work. These shifts in classroom organization are frequently tied to project-based or

cooperative learning models, still largely imported from the West. The integration of digital

media or hands-on activities in communities offer complex information, diverse perspectives,

and tools already embedded in youths’ popular (albeit globalizing) culture.

The small-scale nature of most classroom experiments or pedagogical adjustments allowed

investigators to exercise methodological rigor, especially when scholars or local educators built

sufficient samples of classrooms, teachers, and students. But external validity remains in

question for many of these rather elegant studies. Medical schools disproportionately hosted

innovations, presumably given more time and resources; serious experimentation in universities

outpaces classroom research in primary and secondary schools. Other studies remained local to

particular subject areas or levels of schooling.

The stark absence of large-scale classroom reforms – put to systematic evaluation by

impartial scholars – should worry policy makers and activists who seek to advance HOT skills or

more agile social competencies, those addressed the quality of schooling across societies..

Several papers reference national reform efforts aimed at more engaging and complex teaching,

underway in Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, for example. But few researchers ask whether

government-led efforts to prepare teachers differently or upgrade local management of schools

leads to more complex cognitive skills for students. Our earlier work illustrates how school or

classroom effects intended by decentralized governance can be detected using large-scale data

sets (authors’ citation). But such research is rarely pursued by governments or scholars in the

MENA region. At a minimum, replication studies could test whether the more promising

innovations reported above display similar benefits under differing local conditions.


This review unearthed three methodological worries that scholars and research funders

should address. First, longitudinal research is required to learn about the sustainability of the

most promising classroom innovations. We emphasized how several researchers have

illuminated factors that constrain the implementation of pedagogical and classroom reforms. This

work usefully highlights the influence of material conditions (e.g., class size, books and

materials), organizational cohesion and teacher commitment, and tacit beliefs held by teachers

and students regarding what behavior and social action are normatively expected inside

classrooms. These findings can inform future designs with an eye toward implementing

sustainable improvements, anticipating how institutionalized habit often erode the most

promising innovation. A greater use of sound mixed methods could further details

implementation constraints. Thus far, it’s lone university scholars in collaboration with local

educators who build classroom experiments of modest scale.

Second, when resources and wherewithal converge to mount these classroom innovations,

scholars with strong methodological skills must be brought to the table. We discovered a variety

of young researchers, native to the MENA region, with careful training in quantitative or

qualitative methods. Yet they have yet to raise sufficient resources or ally with larger teams to

attempt larger scale experiments. Less than one-fourth of all published studies displayed rigorous

methodological skills, procedures that were sufficient to substantiate the author’s inferences from

teacher or classroom data. Many studies lack sufficient sample sizes, fail to explain random-

assignment procedures, or ignore the need to control for sufficient covariates, better isolating the

intervention’s discrete effects.

Third, most models of classroom change still come from the West. This goes to the heart of

how we conceive of cognitive agility and the social acumen presumably required in a globalizing

network of largely capitalist societies. Researchers in the MENA region -- be they native or

expatriate scholars -- typically take for granted the utility of higher-order thinking skills and

lateral or “democratic” social relations that stem largely from Western liberal conceptions. This

may hold long-term utility in the economic sphere. But whether these taken-for-granted

proficiencies advance social membership and fulfilling roles in local contexts remains a question

about which little is known. Classroom innovators might also ask what “indigenous” forms of

complex cognition are sustained in traditional social relations. That said, the globalization of

popular culture and everyday images certainly intervene to recast notions of social membership,

status, and norms of everyday discourse.

Relatedly, few researchers mindfully consider the often naïve importation of foreign

conceptions of pedagogy or the rearrangement of social relations inside classroom. This is not to

take away from their consequential innovations and the thickening scholarship in the region. It

does, however, distract us from the question of whether classroom innovations might prove more

effective when placed in local context. From a methodological standpoint, we are learning very

little about how deeply embedded cultural or institutionalized patterns serve to subvert or

enhance classroom change.

What makes this perennial issue even more slippery is that Western scholars (or foreign

donors) less often imperially impose models devised outside the region. It’s mostly native-born

Middle Eastern of North Africa researchers that apply reform models from the U.S. or Europe,

then set aside how tacit practices held teachers undercut implementation. A sizeable portion of

the studies reviewed was conducted by collaborating native and expatriate scholars. This fosters

cross-fertilization of sound research methods with local knowledge. But the inattention to local

discourse traditions, instantiated expectations of classroom behavior, or evolving cultural forms


enacted by youths may constrain how we learn about complex cognition and social relations in

particular societies or ethnic groups (e.g., Schweisfurth’s [2011] review).

This importation process – of models, methods, and empirical questions – also tends to be

bounded by disciplines or departments at the high school or university level. A disproportionate

share of studies come from science departments, perhaps where teachers and fellow scholars

have been trained in experimental methods and statistics. These networks affect what reform

models gain traction in the MENA region. Young Ph.D.’s return home carrying affection for

cooperative or project-based learning. Governments adopt the logic of higher-order thinking

skills gleaned from OECD or World Bank experts. These networks serve to inspire the

pedagogical and classroom debates reviewed above, while also papering over how models may

fail to scaffold-up from dynamics more firmly rooted in local contexts.

Nor are these imported versions of cognitive complexity, pedagogy, or social participation

implemented with fidelity. This offers a bountiful discovery, as educators and researchers

observe how local actors bend and adapt the models devised by Western theorists and reform

activists. Several investigators reported weak teacher skills or thin comprehension of the basic

foundations of the reform model. Other contextual factors, including the physical conditions of

schools or weak attention to quality by central ministries also arise in these studies. We have

much to learn about how teachers’ tacit beliefs and institutional “stickiness” tend to subvert

sound implementation.

These implementation challenges are certainly not unique to the MENA region, commonly

appearing within the U.S. evaluation literature over the past half-century (for review, Coburn,

Hill and Spillane 2016). But little is known about how pedagogical or social adjustments in

classrooms might interact when transplanted to cultural settings and school institutions that stem

from quite differing histories. Research coming from Israel, where Arabic and Israeli-speaking

students are brought together, offers a promising case of carefully observing cross-cultural

discourse, peer relations, and learning. Still, most investigators import Western conceptions of

“complex cognition,” then attempt to foster it through interactive pedagogies and forms of social

participation that may remain foreign in the hearts and minds of teachers and students.

Several researchers working on implementation, especially qualitative scholars, argued that

greater adaptation of imported classroom models may occur as Middle Eastern societies assert

distinct identities, attempting to combat the steady creep of economic and secular globalization,

wielding schooling to sharpen their own cultural and intellectual traditions. Relatedly, Vavrus

(2009), among other Western scholars, has called for a “contingent constructivism” in which

classroom or pedagogical models are adjusted to fit or scaffold from local contexts.

This dialectic will certainly persist – even intensify – as societies in the region demand more

agile and independent thinkers, graduates who can help economies diversify and become

participatory politically. Most societies in the Middle East and North Africa aspire to profitably

integrate with networks of global trade. The hesitant Arab Spring also signaled deeper

integration with Western notions of democratic social relations. Schooling is already implicated

in these consequential shifts. In this evolving context, educators and scholars might adapt and

situate classroom innovations – borrowing elements from the West – while scaffolding from

their own cultural and institutional foundations, rather than eroding them.


Appendix A1. Review articles Author (Year) Country Classroom model RQs/Hypotheses Results Study Type Methods

English literature

Akar (2016) Lebanon dialogic pedagogy • Which dialogic pedagogies

lead to the most student-

directed learning?

• Some teachers appeared

reluctant to hand over

power (knowledge) to

students in formal

academic settings.

• With support, students

were learning pedagogical

engagement through

classroom experience

(working on a shared

task), and appeared to gain

skills and knowledge, and

learn engaged citizenship.

Impact Qualitative

Alayyar et al.

(2012)

Kuwait ICT instruction • Does working in Design

Teams develop pre-service

teachers' knowledge, skills,

and attitudes for ICT?

• Do Human Support and

Blended Support have

differential effects on

preservice teachers'

development of TPACK?

• How do pre-service

teachers experience

blended support for

learning?

• The Blended Learning

condition group had the

largest gains in knowledge

and pedagogy skill.

Implementation Observational

Alazzi (2008) Jordan teaching critical

thinking • How do teacher understand

and employ teaching of

criitical-thinking skills?

• What are the factors

affecting teachers' teaching

of ciritical-thinking in their

classrooms?

• Teachers have little

understanding of 'critical

thinking' skills.

• There is limited guidance

toward teaching of

critical-thinking skills.

Implementation Qualitative

Al-Balushi &

Al-Aamri

(2014)

Oman project-based

learning • Does project-based

learning affect stronger

gains in environmental

knowledge and attitudes

toward science?

• Stronger knowledge in 4

of the 6 environ science

units.

• Stronger enjoyment

reported for studying

science.

Impact Experiment

Al-Fadhli &

Khalfan (2009)

Kuwait ICT instruction • What is the role of the e-

learning environment in

enhancing the critical-

thinking skills of

university-level IT

students?

• Experimental group

exhibited greater critical

thinking skills.

• Male students

demonstrated greater e-

learning than female

students.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Al-karasneh

(2014)

Jordan constructivist

learning • What is the effect of

reflective instruction

(through journal writing)

on student teachers'

teaching.

• Student teachers

acknowledged that journal

writing was a useful tool

regarding their learning to

teach social education.

• Reflective journal writing

encouraged student

teachers' critical thinking

about their experiences

and actions.

Impact Qualitative

Al-Khatib

(2009)

Lebanon ICT instruction • How are ICT-supported

learning implemented in

English Language

classrooms in Lebanon?

• Study found successful

integration of technology

in pedagogy.

• Students were committed

to the classroom tasks

because the research

topics were relevant to

their local context.


Almuntasheri &

Wright (2016)

Saudi inquiry-based

instruction • Guided instruction,

allowing student to pursue

their inquiry would yield

stronger knowledge of

DENSITY than traditional

didactic approach.

• Students in the guided-

inquiry condition

demonstrated significant

improvement in

knowledge of density.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Al-Mutairi

(2015)

Kuwait brainstorming • The effect of brainstorming

on creative thinking skills.

• Students in the treatment

group displayed

significantly higher score

in creative thinking skills.

Impact Experiment


Author (Year) Country Classroom model RQs/Hypotheses Results Study Type Methods

Al-Qahtani

(1995)

Saudi

Arabia

teaching thinking

skills • How do teachers perceive

teaching of thinking skills

in social studies

classrooms?

What are the factors that

affect teaching of thinking

skills?

• Teachers were aware of

the importance of teaching

thinking skills but their

actual use of thinking

skills activities was

minimal.

• Various factors were

hindering the teaching of

thinking skills (e.g.,

traditional role of teachers,

students' reluctance to

express puzzlement, etc.)


Alwehaibi

(2012)

Saudi

Arabia

teaching thinking

skills • What skills in teaching for

thinking and the related

teaching behaviors should

pre-service English

language teachers possess?

• What training program is

suggested for pre-service

English language teachers

to develop their skills in

teaching for thinking?

• The student teachers

succeeded in using various

teaching strategies and

techniques that promoted

their students’

understanding of the

content and enhanced their

thinking abilities.


Areepattamannil

(2012)

Qatar inquiry-based

instruction • How much of the variation

in science achievement and

interest in science is within

and between schools in

Qatar?

• What are the effects of

inquiry-based science

instruction on science

achievement and interest in

science for adolescents in

Qatar?

• Inquiry-based science

instruction had a

significantly positive

effect on science

achievement as well as on

interest in science.

Impact Observational

Balfakih (2003) UAE cooperative

learning • Is cooperative learning

more effective for high

school chemistry?

• Students in the

cooperative learning

condition outperformed

controls on a test of

chemistry knowledge.

• Gains were higher for

males and students from a

less well-off rural

province, compared with

peers from an urban

providence.

Impact Experiment

Bataineh &

Alazzi (2009)

Jordan teaching critical

thinking • Are Jordanian social

studies teachers familiar

with critical thinking?

• Do they teach critical

thinking?

• What difficulties do they

encounter when involving

students in critical thinking

activities?

• Teachers were not familiar

with the definition and

teaching strategies of

critical thinking.

• This may be partly due to

limitation of guidelines

and support on teaching of

critical thinking.


Biasutti & El-

Deghaidy

(2012)

Egypt ICT instruction • Does use of online Wiki

tool between societies

advance students'

"knowledge management"

skills?

• Positive results from

student surveys, both in

knowledge and learning to

work together in teams.


Bridger (2007) ME active-learning • Exploring the misfit

between the nephrology

nursing education

curriculum and the nature

of the students.

• The study finds various

socio-cultural factors,

including students past

experience and norms

about learning, interacting

with the norms of the new

curriculum.


Dababneh et al.

(2010)

Jordan creative

environment • To what extent do teachers

promote creativity in their

actual classroom practices

• How do teacher education

level, experience, and type

of teaching affect creativity

level in classroom

environment?

• Teachers generally display

quite high level of creative

classroom environment.

• Teachers with post-

graduate degree and those

emphasize cooperative

(vs. traditional) teaching

tend to have higher level

of creative environment in

classroom




Dauletova

(2014)

Oman project-based

learning • How do students

characteristics influence the

implementation of project-

based learning?

• Among various

components of the project-

based learning approach,

students most valued

elements such as

teamwork, practical

research, and

communication skill

learning.


El Hassan &

Mouganie

(2014)

Lebanon teaching social

decision-making

skills

• The effect of the Social

Decision-Making Skills

Curriculum (SDSC) on the

emotional intelligence and

the prosocial behaviors of

primary students

• Students in the SDSC

group displayed

significantly higher scores

on emotional intelligence

and prosocial skills

compared to the control

group.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Fahim et al.

(2012)

Iran teaching critical

thinking • Does critical thinking

strategies training affect

EFL learners' reading

comprehension

performance?

• How do the effects vary

across different language

proficiency level and

gender?

• Teaching of critical

thinking significantly

affected EFL learners'

reading comprehension

performance

• The effects did not vary by

gender or language

proficiency levels.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Foomani and

Hedayati (2016)

Iran ICT instruction • How does mobile-based

learning affect English

language skills?

• The mobile-based learning

approach enhanced

students' English language

skills.

• At the end of the study,

both students and teachers

favored and supported

greater learner autonomy

achieved by learner-

generated context (LGC)

through mobile-based

approach.

Impact Qualitative

Frambach et al.

(2014)

Hong

Kong,

MENA

country,

and

Netherlands

problem-based

learning • To what extent do students

across three cultures

externalize their cultural

backgrounds and

simultaneously internalize

the discussion aspect of

PBL, and how does this

shape their discussion

behaviors and skills?

• Various cultural and

contextual factors affected

the implementation of

PBL in the three countries.


Ghaith (2004) Lebanon cooperative

learning • How do teachers' beliefs

and attitude toward

cooperative learning affect

their implementation of

Student Teams

Achievement Divisions

(STAD)?

• Teachers who perceive

their roles as facilitators

use STAD more

frequently.

• Teachers' perception was

also influenced by

valuation of STAD by

other stakeholders,

including school

administrators, other

teachers, parents, and

students.

• Other factors, such as

availability of funding,

curricular material,

supplies and equipment as

well as staff development

programmes, also

influenced teachers' use of

STAD.


Hertz et al

(2004)

Israel cooperative

learning • The effect of Success for

All (cooperative learning)

and Active Learning on

writing outcomes.

• Both the SFA and Acitive

Learning showed benefits,

differing by type of child.


Hertz-

Lazarowitz &

Bar-Natan

(2002)

Israel cooperative

learning • The effect of Cooperative

Learning, Computer-

Mediated Communication,

and CL-CMC on students'

writing-related perceptions

and attitudes

• CMC–CL scored higher

on all measures. Teachers'

evaluation was similar for

CMC and the combined

learning environment.

Arab students were similar

to Jewish students on

some of the measures.

Impact Quasi-

experiment



Hitt et al.

(2014)

UAE collaborative

learning • The effect of group

problem solving in

university-level physics on

student engagement,

dropout rates, and

achievement.

• Moderately positive

effects were found.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Hugerat &

Kortam (2014)

Israel inquiry-based

instruction • Can inquiry-based learning

promote higher-order

thinking skills?

• Inquiry-based learning had

a significant effect on

developing higher-order

thinking skills among

students.

• Also, the students

expressed positive

attitude, both emotionally

and cognitive as a result of

the intervention.


Ibrahim (2015) Saudi

Arabia

teaching creative

thinking • Can teaching of creative

thinking skills affect

student teachers cognition

and teaching of higher-

order thinking skills?

• Program was effective in

developing the cognitive

aspect of creative thinking

skills, developing the

performative aspect of

creative thinking skills in

planning and assessment

phrases.


Jarjoura, Tayeh,

& Zgheib

(2014)

Lebanon collaborative

learning • The effect of collaborative

learning on attitude toward

science.

• Positive results for

attitudes toward science in

the experiment group.

• Relative low-achievers did

better under the

experimental condition.

Impact Experiment

Keramati (2010) Iran cooperative

learning • Does cooperative learning

increase high school

students' learning of

physics, compared to

traditional approaches?

• Experimental groups of

cooperative learning led to

a larger increase in

physics knowledge.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Khalil &

Rukban (2010)

Saudi King

Fahad

Medical

City

problem-based

learning • The effect of problem-

based learning on student

knowledge.

• Significant treatment

effects with stronger

course exam results in

immunology and

haematopoietic

knowledge.

Impact Experiment

Khalil et al

(2007)

Israel active-learning • Multimedia, active learning

will increase student

motivation during the

school year.

• Positive gains in student

motivation.

• Slight differences between

regular and gifted kids.


Mathews (2007) Oman constructivist

learning • The effect of constructive

pedagogy on student

learning

• The learning task has

benefited students in many

ways. 1. enhanced

students' internal learning

capacity, 2. interpersonal

skills, research skills,

interviewing skills,

networking skills

improved 3. increased

student engagement and

motivation in the overall

learning process

Impact Qualitative

McLoughlin

and Mynard

(2009)

UAE ICT instruction • Do the ICT-based

discussion forums facilitate

higher-order thinking

processes?

• The discussion forums

have assisted on students'

higher-order thinking

processes.

Impact Qualitative

Myers et al

(2012)

Egypt active-learning • How do teachers'

characteristics affect their

employment of active

learning strategies?

• Implementation back in

local colleges was

enhanced when trainees,

in turn, relay these

classroom techniques to

colleagues, instructors felt

efficacious in

operationalizing methods

in their own classrooms,

and peer support to

innovate within their

college organization.




Pollack &

Kolikant (2012)

Israel cooperative

learning • Cooperative learning would

yield stronger cross-

cultural understanding and

trust.

• Study found students'

increased respect for,

understanding of the other

point of view.

• Incentive to write an essay

together, which tends to

lead to a more

comprehensive way of

seeing these historical

events.

Impact Qualitative

Porcaro (2014) Oman collaborative

learning • What affects adoption of

CSCL in classrooms?

• What changes (attitudinal,

cognitive, epistemological,

habitual, etc.) occur in

teachers and students when

a knowledge-building

CSCL environment is

introduced in an Omani

undergraduate course?

• How do the students and

teachers manage those

changes?

• Study reports various

factors that influence the

adoption of collaborative

pedagogy in Omani

classroom, including the

oral traditions of learning,

physical setting of the

class, and traditional

norms about teachers and

women.


Qablan et al.

(2009)

Jordan inquiry-based

instruction • What are the

implementation constraints

of an inquiry-based

instruction?

• Teachers were supportive

of an inquiry-based

learning strategy.

• Some mismatch between

beliefs and actions were

found.


Razzak (2012) Bahrain problem-based

learning • The effect of PBL on

student outcome and

student reflection on their

PBL experience

• Communication among

peers and planning skills

increased through PBL.

Impact Qualitative

Rush (2008) UAE project-based

learning • How do students learning

assisted by online project-

based learning materials?

• The online project-based

learning modules

enhanced student learning

through development of

students' independent

learning skills and

communication with

facilitators and peers.

Impact Qualitative

Shaarawy

(2014)

Egypt teaching critical

thinking • The effect of journal

writing on students' critical

thinking skills.

• Significance testing

showed effects.

Impact Experiment

Shahinia and

Riazi (2011)

Iran philosophy-base

teaching • The effect of philosophy-

based teaching on student

learning.

• There was a significant

difference between the

two groups with students

in the experimental group

outperforming those in the

control group on both

speaking and writing

tasks.

Impact Experiment

Shehadeh

(2011)

UAE collaborative

writing • Does collaborative writing

boost students writing

quality and/or enjoyment?

• Collaborative writing had

an overall significant

effect on students' L2

writing; however, this

effect varied by skill area.

The effect was significant

for content, organization,

and vocabulary, but not

for grammar or

mechanics. Most students

in the CW condition found

the experience enjoyable

and felt that it contributed

to their L2 learning.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Ziadat (2016) Jordan teaching creative

thinking • The effect of creative

thinking instruction on

Arabic-language learning

• Significant effects with

big effect sizes.

Impact Experiment

Ziadat et al.

(2011)

Jordan teaching thinking

skills • What are the mechanisms

and development strategies

for teaching thinking in

Jordanian univ?

• How does teaching

thinking vary by faculties'

academic rank and years of

experience?

• High degree of teaching

thinking skills

• No significant difference

based on faculty

background


Arabic literature



Al-Khateeb

(2013)

Saudi

Arabia

Teaching

metacognitive

strategies

• What is the effect of

metacognition strategies on

the conceptual structure in

Math on the second year

intermediate students

compared to the normal

method?

• What is the effect of

metacognition strategies on

vision thinking in general,

and each sub-skills

including; vision induction,

mind circulation,

assimilation, difference,

model completion on the

second year intermediate

students compared to the

normal method?

• The students who used

conceptual maps

outperformed the students

who used mind maps and

normal method, and the

students who used mind

maps outperformed the

students who used normal

method in the conceptual

structure test.

Impact Experiment

Al-Ghamdi

(2015)

Saudi

Arabia

blended learning • What is the effect of using

blended learning in

teaching geometry on

developing geometrical

achievement and thinking

with second intermediate

graders?

• There are statistically

significant differences in

favor of the experimental

group in achievement at

all level.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Alhassan (2013) Saudi

Arabia

Cooperative

learning • What are the effects of

cooperative learning on

motivation, students’

strategy use outside the

classroom, and computer

skill achievement

• The students in the

experimental group

outperform those in the

control group in all three

outcomes.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Ambusaidi &

Al-Naqbi

(2014)

Oman Brain-based

Learning • What is the effect of using

Smith's accelerated

learning cycle model on

students' attitude towards

science and self-concept?

• There were no statistical

significant difference in

attitude towards science

between the two groups

but there was a statistical

significant difference in

self-concept in favor of

experimental group.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Aljohani &

Alrehaili (2016)

SA-

Medinah

ICT instruction • What is the effect of e-

activities via learning

management system

Blackboard on the

development of the skills of

digital storytelling?

• What is the level of

learning satisfaction among

the female students on

using e-activities via

learning management

system Blackboard?

• There were statistically

significant differences

between the mean scores

of the control group and

the experimental group in

the skills of digital

storytelling, in favor of the

experimental group.

• There was a high level of

learning satisfaction

among the female students

to be learned using e-

activities via learning

management system

Blackboard.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Asiri (2016) SA-Tabuk Mental training

(Neuro-Linguistic

Modeling-NLM)

• The effect of mental

training (NLM) on

developing cognitive skills

and thinking strategies.

• There are significant

statistical differences

between pre and post

evaluation for the favor of

post evaluation in the

experimental group in

cognitive skills and

thinking strategies.

Impact Quasi-

experiment

Alrwais (2016) SA-Wadi

AlDawaser

Teaching creative

thinking • What is the effectiveness of

the development of an

educational unit in light of

Marzano's model for the

dimensions of learning on

the creative thinking skills

of Preparatory Year

Program students?

• There was a positive effect

of using the developed

educational unit in light of

Marzano's model for the

dimensions of learning on

the students' creative

thinking skills.

Impact Quasi-

experiment


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