Emergencies have an impact on people's psychological well-being. The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns was significant. People from various countries reported varying levels of psychological distress. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of Arab citizens from the beginning of the pandemic to the end. The responses of 1239 citizens of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Oman were analyzed. The psychological well-being constructs of self-kindness, annoyance and rumination, and future anxiety were examined by gender and country, and by feelings of loneliness, presence of psychological disorders, and psychological rehabilitation before the start of the pandemic. The constructs of psychological well-being were assessed using self-report scales. The findings revealed significant differences between countries in the positive and negative components of psychological well-being, future anxiety, and rumination. Saudi and Omani citizens reported more positive feelings of self-compassion than Jordanians. Pre-existing feelings of loneliness were associated with lower levels of self-compassion, negative thought rumination, and elevated anxiety. Positive feelings, mental health, and sound thinking increase feelings of self-compassion and reduce future anxiety. Females were more concerned about the future and expressed more negative thoughts than males, mostly in Jordan and Oman. Positive self-compassion dimensions were associated with a reduction in future anxiety. Implying that the mental health resilience of countries differed in response to the crisis. Received: 22 January 2023 / Accepted: 03 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023

Purpose This study examined predictors of cumulative grade point average (GPA) from entrance scores and successive performance during students' academic work in university engineering programs. Design/methodology/approach Scores from high school coursework, the General Ability Test and the Achievement Test were examined to determine if these factors and annual successive GPAs were predictors of long-term GPA. The sample consisted of 2,031 students registered in university engineering programs during the 2013–2019 period. Findings Correlations were significant between entrance scores and the preparatory year GPA but not with cumulative GPA. Also, correlations were significant between year-1 GPA to year-3 GPA and the graduation GPA. Adjacent year GPA is the better predictor of later GPA. More importantly, GPA at the time of graduation is well predicted by GPAs throughout years of study within engineering programs after controlling for entrance scores. Girls outperform boys in their entrance scores and GPAs. Hence, girls are likely to obtain higher cumulative GPAs. Research limitations/implications The implications of the study findings could help university faculty and administrators to understand the role of current entrance scores in predicting academic achievement of engineering students. In addition, the results could serve as a foundation to review weights of entrance scores for future developments and revisions. The findings of the study are limited to admission data for engineering students during the 2013–2019 period. Other disciplines may show a different pattern of relationships among the studied variables. Practical implications The study findings have useful practical implications for admitting and monitoring student progress at engineering education programs. Results may help program curriculum development specialists and committees in designing admission criteria. Social implications Administrators and faculty members are advised to consider entrance scores when providing counseling and monitoring throughout students' program-year progress. More attention should be devoted to university performance when interest is focused on later or graduation CGPA, with less emphasis on entrance scores. Originality/value The existed previous studies explored factors that influence the student performance in engineering programs. This study documents the role of admission criteria and successive GPAs in predicting the student graduation CGPA in engineering programs. Relationships between factors are crucial for engineering program revisions and policymaking.

Multi-informants, such as parents and teachers, are commonly considered as resources when evaluating students’ emotional and behavioral skills. This research aimed to examine the factor structure comparability between an Arabic version of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale–Second Edition (BERS–2) and the scale’s original version. A related purpose was to explore whether the informants’ responses support the invariance of factor loadings associated with teachers and parents. A total of 907 parents and teachers of high-achieving students, randomly selected from five governorates in Oman, completed the BERS–2. Results revealed that factor variance, factor loadings, and item intercepts are almost equal across informants. However, while the results suggested an acceptable comparison of factor mean difference among the informants, mean subscale scores were significantly lower in parents than in teachers. The results warrant the need to address issues related to cross-cultural validation when translating instruments into other cultures. Also, the study results inform practitioners about the important role of cross-informant ratings in assessing high-achieving students’ behavioral strengths.

During the Corona pandemic, parents of children with disabilities experienced unprecedented situations. The aim of this study was to identify the educational needs and challenges which prevented parents from providing adequate support to their children during the outbreak. An online survey was launched on June 4, 2020, to gather information from 638 parents of children with disabilities. The findings revealed that 60% of parents need assistance in implementing Individual Education Program activities. Similarly, 71.7% of parents reported that the centers had only spent less than one-hour on-line per day educating the children. Significant challenges emerge as a result of parents' inability to cope with the load and their loss of hope in helping children, which varies depending on the severity of the condition, with severe disabilities posing the greatest challenge. According to the study, special education centers should follow defined protocols that focus on parents' educational needs, as well as establish proactive approaches for providing support to parents of children who require special care.

The Covid-19 outbreak has had severe effects on the humanity and has disrupted aspects of life Hence, the psycho-social consequences attracted attention after imposing isolation and The current study was conducted to reveal the effects of this pandemic on individuals Responses were collected electronically through a self-report questionnaire during April 25 to May 17, 2020 Respondents were 1692 citizens from several Arab countries and Arab residents abroad females formed 63 3% and ages ranged between 23 and 50 years at 64 8% of the participants Results in emotional domain showed, the participants valued the work of medical staff and the efforts made by security services In cognitive domain, 85% of respondents knew that the possible causes of Coronavirus included: lack of social distancing and chronic diseases In the domain of behavioral practices, individuals became more aware of hygienic practices, especially hand washing and using sterilizers People become anxious fearing the possibility that a family member may get infected Followed by the fear that the pandemic may continue Females showed higher levels than males on all measures, and older age was associated with an increase in emotional manifestations, behavioral practices, and low feelings of anxiety Residents of city exceed significantly those living in village only in the behavioral domain, while their response converged in emotions, knowledge, and anxiety This study has highlighted that the high level of anxiety may be the basis for understanding the issues related to their health, well-being, and the subsequent changes in emotions, knowledge, and behavior © 2021 University of Jordan,Deanship of Scientific Research All rights reserved

The study sought to explore feelings of worry and sources of stress-affected parents of children with disabilities, as well as describing the negative feelings and how resources helped them overcome stress due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Furthermore, we sought to assess the level of general satisfaction with the services they have obtained remotely. Methodology: A sample of 623 parents of children with disabilities filled out an electronic self-report questionnaire during the period June 4th to June 20th, 2020. Results: The parents reported a high level of worry regarding the possibility of their child getting infected. Parents continue to worry about losing their child’s care and treatment. Parents who hold a bachelor’s degree feel the sources of stress at a higher level compared to parents with lower than high school education. A proportion of 59% of parents reported not receiving services from special education centers during the pandemic, and 41% of parents were satisfied with the services provided by the center of special education. Parents with a bachelor’s degree or higher were less satisfied with the center’s services. Parents with a higher qualification than secondary school use several sources to overcome the pressure associated with educating a child with a disability. Conclusion: Mental health fears were associated with pandemic restrictions. The study recommends special education centers implement strategies that support parents with special education children.

The coronavirus pandemic has a high impact on mental health, as for example, anxiety. It was the main goal of this study to investigate if rumination and worry mediate the possible relation of self-compassion and fear of the future in females and males of three European and three Middle Eastern countries during the coronavirus pandemic. 2765 men and women participated and answered questions regarding their fear of the future on the one hand and completed the reflection-rumination questionnaire, the Penn-state worry questionnaire, and the self-compassion scale. The results of a mediation analysis demonstrated a relation between self-compassion and fear of the future, which was mediated by worry but not by rumination, independent of gender and country. Furthermore, the fear of the future variable was predicted by different factors in each country. The only clear difference between the participants of the European and the Middle Eastern countries was that women show more fear of the future only in the European countries but not in the Middle Eastern countries. However, there were also differences between the three European and the three Middle Eastern countries. The results indicate that in general, psychological consequences of the coronavirus pandemic should be investigated for each country separately. It does not to seem possible to infer results from one country to another country even on the same continent.

Homework is generally one factor that has been discussed and claimed to have a relationship with achievement; it has a central role in providing students with opportunities to continue learning out of the school.This study forms one of crosscultural investigations that analyze the links between homework variables and achievement in mathematics.Data was drawn from TIMSS database 2015, including 477 schools and 73,987 eighth grade students from 10 Arab countries.Analysis showed that the majority of Arab students spend less time doing homework (less than 60 minutes) and do not need to take homework every day to strengthen their knowledge and get better scores in mathematics.Two-level analyses revealed that different associations were seen in most of Arab countries between homework time, homework frequency, computer use, and internet use in doing homework with achievement in mathematics.The result was interpreted in terms of the consistency between instruction and homework evaluation.

Citizenship status influences the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education on the youth labor market participation in the Arabian Gulf. This research examines the relationship between citizenship status, STEM education, and expected labor market participation in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and examines the intervening effects of information and communication technology (ICT) based instruction, specifically. The 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides both labor market expectations and STEM education data from all participating GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Results suggest that ICT-enhanced STEM education differently influences the human capital development of Gulf national and expatriate youth. For example, GCC nationals do not emphasize STEM education as an avenue for employment, while expatriate youth do. In particular, as Gulf national youths' parents' education level increases, students are less likely to think they need to do well in science to get the job they want. This is indicative of a broader trend in the Gulf nations to rely more on non-education-related factors such as family influence or connections for social, economic, and political mobility. In contrast, results also suggest that while STEM education contributes to potential private sector labor market participation among Gulf national youth, expatriate youth are more likely to expect to need or use STEM in the labor market.

This study examines gender differences of teachers on their mathematical knowledge for teaching in the context of single-sex classrooms in Saudi Arabia. A translated version of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) instrument (Learning Mathematics for Teaching [LMT], 2008) in Number and Operation Content Knowledge (CK) and Knowledge of Content and Student (KCS) scales were administered to 197 teachers (146 male and 51 female). Two-sample t test and multiple regression were conducted to compare the two groups and test the effect of teacher background variables. Female teachers significantly scored better than their male counterpart. Gender, years of teaching experience, and specialization significantly predicted teachers’ content knowledge, F(3, 187) = 13.180, explaining 41.8 % of the variance. Only gender and specialization significantly predicted teachers’ knowledge of content and student, F(2, 191) = 6.335, explaining 24.9 % of the variance. Further comparing items in the MKT instrument where female teachers outperformed male teachers confirmed that female teachers were better in attending to the content knowledge in the context of student’s learning.

This study focuses on the connection between teachers' assessment and students' achievement in science instruction in schools of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Specifically, data from TIMMS 2011 were analyzed to answer the question "What is the effect of KSA teacher assessment practices on grade 8 students' achievement in science?" Data were selected for their relevance to the question, including those on approaches to science-instruction as perceived by teachers themselves, data were analyzed with regard to standards set by international discourse, compared with the international average, and were internally weighted to maintain coherent patterns. Findings show a relation between the knowledge-focused approach to teaching and assessing students' achievement prevalent in KSA science instruction and the low achievement results of KSA students in TIMMS 2011. A look at assessment practices in KSA science instruction is called for: There should be a correlation between the extent to which continuous, formative assessment is practiced during instruction and students' achievement as stated by international studies. In our secondary analysis of TIMMS results, we found no traces of an application of formative assessment and indeed no clues as to whether the very concept is known to teachers at all. Professional development about formative assessment and more emphasis on the procedural side of science in KSA instruction are recommended.

The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model and dimensional comparison theory posit paradoxical relations between achievement (ACH) and self-concept (SC) in mathematics (M) and verbal (V) domains; ACH in each domain positively affects SC in the matching domain (e.g., MACH to MSC) but negatively in the nonmatching domain (e.g., MACH to VSC). This substantive-methodological synergy based on latent variable models of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data supports the generalizability of these predictions in relation to: mathematics and science domains, intrinsic motivation as well as self-concept, and age and nationality, based on nationally representative matched samples of fourth- and eighth-grade students from three Middle Eastern Islamic, five Western, and four Asian countries (N=117,321 students) with important theoretical, developmental, cross-cultural, and methodological implications.

Over half-a-million adolescents take part in each cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Yet often, researchers and policy makers across the globe tend to focus their attention primarily on the academic trajectories of adolescents hailing from highly successful education systems. Hence, a vast majority of the adolescent population who regionally and globally constitute the 'long tail of underachievement' often remain unnoticed and underrepresented in the growing literature on adolescents' academic trajectories. The present study, therefore, explored the relations of dispositions toward mathematics, subjective norms in mathematics, and perceived control of success in mathematics to mathematics work ethic as well as mathematics performance; and the mediational role of mathematics work ethic in the association between dispositional, normative, and control beliefs and mathematics performance among adolescents in one of the lowest performing education systems, Qatar. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that Qatari adolescents' dispositional, normative, and control beliefs about mathematics were significantly associated with their mathematics work ethic and mathematics performance, and mathematics work ethic significantly mediated the relationship between dispositional, normative, and control beliefs about mathematics and mathematics performance. However, multi-group SEM analyses indicated that these relationships were not invariant across the gender and the SES groups.

The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model posits paradoxical relations between achievement and self-concept in mathematics and verbal domains, in which achievement in each domain has a positive effect on self-concept in the matching domain (e.g., mathematics achievement on mathematics self-concept) but a negative (contrastive) effect on self-concept in the non-matching domain (e.g., mathematics achievement on verbal self-concept). Extending the I/E model, Dimensional Comparison Theory (DCT) posits that self-evaluations are based on dimensional comparisons (e.g., how my accomplishments in one domain compare with my accomplishments in another domain) as well as the more traditional social and temporal comparisons, and on other sources of information about one's accomplishments. Extending the traditional tests of the I/E model, DCT predicts strong contrast effects only for contrasting domains that are at the opposite ends of the theoretical continuum of academic self-concept (far comparisons: e.g., the negative effect of math achievement on verbal self-concept), but much weaker negative contrast or even positive assimilation effects for complementary domains that are close to each other (near domains: e.g., positive effects of math achievement on physics self-concept; positive effects of native language on foreign language self-concept). Here we illustrate new predictions, theoretical insights, and methodology associated with DCT based on multiple academic domains (native language, foreign language, history, biology, physics and math), showing significant contrast effects for far comparisons and significantly less contrast or assimilation effects for near domains.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationships among student’s self-perceptions, subject value, and achievement in mathematics and science in a single-sex educational milieu, and test whether the relationships were invariant across gender. The data for this study were obtained from the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 database in which 4,099 eighth-grade Saudi students participated. The variables used in this study were mathematics and science self-concepts, subject value, and achievement in mathematics and science. The relationships among constructs were examined using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that the measurement and structural models were invariant across gender. Also, although the boys held more positive self-concepts (self-enhancing) about math and science, girls outperformed boys in both math and science (self-improving). The implication of the study is that intervention strategies should consider the conceptualization that self-concept and subject value are two distinct domain-specific constructs. Also, interventions may be differentially designed for boys and girls, especially in single-sex settings. However, more research should be conducted in which high-stake tests vs. low-stake tests like the TIMSS, are used as measures of achievement. Future research may study gender differences in self-concept, subject value, and achievement by using measurement models that provide more detailed information about measurement bias across gender groups.

This substantive-methodological synergy demonstrates evolving multilevel latent-variable models for cross-cultural data. Using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 data for U.S. and Saudi Arabian eighth grade students, we evaluate the psychometric properties (measurement invariance, method effects, and gender differences) of math self-concept, positive affect, coursework aspirations, and achievement. Extending the studies of the “paradoxical cross-cultural self-concept effect” largely based on U.S.-Asian comparisons, country-level differences strongly favored the United States for achievement test scores, but favored Saudi Arabia for self-concept and aspirations. Latent mean gender differences, of particular interest because of Saudi Arabia’s single-sex school system, interacted with country for all constructs. The largest interaction was for achievement test scores; there were no significant gender differences for U.S. students (in coed schools), but in single-sex Saudi schools, Saudi girls performed substantially better than Saudi boys. Consistently with previous (mostly Western) research, but not previously evaluated with TIMSS, in each of the four (2 gender × 2 country) groups all three outcomes (self-concept, affect, and aspiration) were positively influenced by individual student achievement but negatively influenced by class-average achievement (the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: BFLPE). BFLPEs were similar in size for boys and girls in coeducational (United States) and in single-sex (Saudi) classrooms.

Test-taking skills are cognitive skills that enable students to undergo any test-taking situation in an appropriate manner. This study is aimed at assessing the relationship between students' test-taking skills and each of the following variables: motivation to learn mathematics; mathematics anxiety; attitudes towards mathematics; and attitudes towards tests. The study was conducted on a random sample of 626 (372 males and 254 females) secondary school students. The following instruments were used in the data collection: the Test-taking Skills Scale (TSS); the Mathematics Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MMSLQ); the Mathematics Anxiety Scale-Revised (MAS-R); the Mathematics Attitude Inventory (MAI); and the Attitude towards Tests Scale (ATS). A positive and significant relationship was reported between students' test-taking skills and each student's motivation to learn mathematics, attitudes towards mathematics, and attitudes towards tests; while mathematics anxiety was shown to have a significant negative relationship with test-taking skills. Test-taking skills account for more than 30% of the variation in motivation to learn mathematics, 25% in attitudes towards mathematics, 17% in mathematics anxiety, and more than 40% in attitude toward tests. The study concluded the improvement of secondary students' testing skills to be significantly correlated with variables that play a substantial role in a student's level of achievement in mathematics.

Extensive support for the seemingly paradoxical negative effects of school- and class-average achievement on academic self-concept (ASC)—the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE)—is based largely on secondary students in Western countries or on cross-cultural Program for International Student Assessment studies. There is little research testing the generalizability of this frame of reference effect based on social comparison theory to primary school students and or to matched samples of primary and secondary students from different countries. Using multigroup–multilevel latent variable models, we found support for developmental and cross-cultural generalizability of the BFLPE based on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data; positive effects of individual student achievement and the negative effects of class-average achievement on ASC were significant for each of the 26 groups (nationally representative samples of 4th- and 8th-grade students from 13 diverse countries; 117,321 students from 6,499 classes).