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In this study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we investigated college students’ perceptions of their past experience of receiving one-to-one tutoring support in mathematics when they were in secondary school. In addition, we also explored students’ reasons for taking one-to-one tutoring in mathematics, the perceived impact of one-to-one tutoring in overcoming shortcomings of school mathematics teaching and on their mathematics achievement, and whether the learning environment at school influenced decisions about having one-to-one tutoring. Eight case-study students were involved in recalling how beneficial one-to-one tutoring was through semi-structured interviews. Because of the small sample size, the research involved only qualitative data based on the recollections of college students who were attending a one-year course in the General Education department of Abu Dhabi Men’s College. The research provided valuable insights into how some students considered having a one-to-one tutor beneficial for their achievement when they were in secondary school. Educators must consider students’ learning environment as being one of the main reasons for deciding whether or not to undertake one-to-one tutoring to raise their achievement in mathematics.

ﻓﻲ ھذه اﻟد را ﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ دوﻟ ﺔ ا ﻹﻣﺎ را ت اﻟ ﻌرﺑﯾﺔ اﻟ ﻣﺗ ﺣدة، د رﺳﻧﺎ ﺗ ﺻورا ت طﻼب اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌﺎ ت ﻋن ﺗ ﺟرﺑﺗﮭم اﻟ ﺳﺎﺑﻘﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻘدﯾم د ﻋم ﺗﻌﻠﯾﻣ ﻲ ﻓ رد ي ﻓﻲ اﻟ رﯾﺎ ﺿﯾﺎ ت ﻋﻧدﻣﺎ ﻛﺎﻧ وا ﻓﻲ اﻟ ﻣد رﺳﺔ اﻟﺛﺎﻧ وﯾﺔ. ﺑﺎ ﻹ ﺿﺎﻓﺔ إ ﻟ ﻰ ذ ﻟ ك ، ا ﺳ ﺗ ﻛ ﺷ ﻔ ﻧ ﺎ أ ﯾ ﺿً ﺎ أ ﺳ ﺑ ﺎ ب ا ﻟ ط ﻼ ب ﻹ ﺟ ر ا ء د ر و س ﻓ ر د ﯾ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟر ﯾﺎ ﺿ ﯾﺎ ت ، وا ﻟﺗﺄﺛﯾ ر اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣو ظ ﻟﻠ د رو س اﻟﻔ ردﯾ ﺔ ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﺗ ﺣ ﺻ ﯾﻠ ﮭم ﻓ ﻲ اﻟر ﯾﺎ ﺿ ﯾﺎ ت ، وﻣ ﺎ إذا ﻛﺎﻧ ت ﺑﯾﺋﺔ اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠم ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﻣد رﺳﺔ ﻗد أﺛ ر ت ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟﻘ را را ت اﻟ ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺎ ﻟ ﺣ ﺻ ول ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﺗد ر ﯾ ب ﻓ ر د ي . د ر س وا ﺣ د. ﺷ ﺎ ر ك ﺛ ﻣﺎﻧ ﯾ ﺔ ﻣ ن ط ﻼ ب د ر ا ﺳ ﺔ اﻟﺣ ﺎﻟ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺗذﻛﯾ ر ﺑ ﻣد ى ﻓﺎﺋدة اﻟﺗد رﯾ س اﻟﻔ رد ي ﻣ ن ﺧﻼل ﻣ ﻘ ﺎ ﺑ ﻼ ت ﺷ ﺑ ﮫ ﻣ ﻧ ظ ﻣ ﺔ . ﻧ ظ رً ا ﻟ ﺻ ﻐ ر ﺣ ﺟ م ا ﻟ ﻌ ﯾ ﻧ ﺔ ، ﺗ ﺿ ﻣ ن ا ﻟ ﺑ ﺣ ث ﻓ ﻘ ط ﺑ ﯾ ﺎ ﻧ ﺎ ت ﻧ و ﻋ ﯾ ﺔ ا ﺳ ﺗ ﻧ ﺎ دًا إ ﻟ ﻰ ذ ﻛ ر ﯾ ﺎ ت ط ﻼ ب ا ﻟ ﺟ ﺎ ﻣ ﻌ ﺎ ت ا ﻟ ذ ﯾ ن ﺣ ﺿ ر و ا دو رة ﻣدﺗ ﮭﺎ ﻋﺎم وا ﺣد ﻓ ﻲ ﻗ ﺳم اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠﯾم اﻟ ﻌﺎم ﻓ ﻲ ﻛﻠﯾﺔ أﺑو ظ ﺑ ﻲ ﻟ ﻠ ط ﻼ ب . ﻗ د م ا ﻟ ﺑ ﺣ ث ر ؤ ى ﻗ ﯾّﻣ ﺔ ﺣ و ل ﻛﯾ ﻔﯾ ﺔ ﻧ ظر ﺑ ﻌ ض اﻟ طﻼب ﻓ ﻲ وﺟود ﻣد ر س وا ﺣد ﻣﻔﯾد ﻟﺗ ﺣﻘﯾﻘ ﮭم ﻋﻧدﻣ ﺎ ﻛﺎﻧ وا ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﻣد رﺳﺔ اﻟﺛﺎﻧ وﯾ ﺔ. ﯾ ﺟ ب ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟ ﻣﻌﻠ ﻣﯾ ن ا ﻋﺗﺑﺎ ر ﺑﯾﺋ ﺔ ﺗ ﻌﻠم اﻟ طﻼب وا ﺣدة ﻣ ن ا ﻷﺳﺑﺎ ب اﻟ رﺋﯾ ﺳﯾ ﺔ ﻟﺗ ﻘ ر ﯾ ر ﻣﺎ إ ذا ﻛﺎ ن ﯾ ﺟ ب ﻋ ﻠﯾﮭم إ ﺟ ر ا ء د ر و س ﻓ ر دﯾ ﺔ أ م ﻻ ﻟ ر ﻓ ﻊ ﻣ ﺳ ﺗ و ى ﺗ ﺣ ﺻ ﯾﻠﮭم ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ر ﯾﺎ ﺿ ﯾﺎ ت .

A report is provided of an evaluation of two “Senior Colleges” designed to offer viable alternatives to traditional secondary education for students above the age of compulsory schooling. The evaluation involved several researchers working independently and information collected using a variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods (including student and staff interviews and questionnaire surveys, nominal group procedures with staff and administration of instruments assessing student perceptions of classroom‐level and teacher perceptions of school‐level environment). The most striking finding emerging from almost every aspect of the evaluation was the success of the Colleges in creating a positive ethos for both students and staff. Some of the areas of concern which were identified included a relatively low level of student cohesiveness, confusion about the purpose of the Colleges, the distracting behaviour of some younger students and staff's conditions of service.

The School‐Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ) is a new instrument measuring teachers' perceptions of the following eight psychosocial dimensions of the environment of primary or secondary schools: Affiliation, Student Supportiveness, Professional Interest, Achievement Orientation, Formalisation, Centralisation, Innovativeness and Resource Adequacy. Noteworthy features of the SLEQ are its consistence with the literature, coverage of Moos's three general categories for conceptualising all human environments, salience to practising teachers, specific relevance to schools, minimal overlap with classroom environment instruments, and economy. Administration of the SLEQ to two samples of 83 and 34 teachers, respectively, revealed that each seven‐item scale possessed satisfactory internal consistency and discriminant validity. Preliminary use of the SLEQ provided evidence of its usefulness in research into the effects of school‐level environment on classroom‐level environment and on teachers' pedagogical attitudes.

Investigates relationships between school and classroom environment. Explains how in Australian secondary schools, instruments were developed and validated for assessing seven dimensions of school environment (empowerment, student support, affiliation, professional interest, mission consensus, resource adequacy and work pressure) and seven dimensions of classroom environment (student affiliation, interactions, co‐operation, task orientation, order and organization, individualization and teacher control). The study involved a sample of 2,211 students in 104 year nine and year 12 religious education and science classes and 208 teachers of religious education and science in Catholic and government secondary schools. Indicates that weak relationship between school and classroom environments emerged, suggesting that the school environment cannot be assumed to transmit automatically to the classroom.

People’s images of the world and parts of it are important influences on their behaviour in school and elsewhere. Metaphors can be used as tools to enable school leaders and others to gain some insight into these images, and “Images of school through metaphor” (ISM) is a questionnaire, consisting of 26 metaphors, which can be employed to this end. The development of ISM in its actual and ideal forms involved extensive field testing. ISM was used in a large study and the resulting data were subjected to a number of tests to assess further the validity of the instrument. Six clusters of metaphors were identified. ISM is simple, economic, easy to use and is sufficiently valid and reliable for use with teachers in schools, and its potential as a workshop stimulus appears to be considerable.

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

This chapter will explore how different feminist theories and theorists have informed what counts as research, what is defined as a research issue, and methodological approaches to research in higher education. It will consider the theoretical and methodological tools feminist academics have mobilized in order to develop more powerful explanations of how gender and other forms of difference work in the relation to the positioning of the individual, higher education and the nation state within globalized economies. It pays particular regard to the feminist political project of social justice.

In Western liberal democracies over the last decade or so, community development, housing policy and neighbourhood renewal have been increasingly underscored by a philosophy of participatory decision-making (see Imre & Raco, 2003; Lo Piccolo & Thomas, 2003; Maginn, 2004). At one level, it appears that central and local governments have experienced a policy and democratic epiphany. This is reflected in a ‘new’ acknowledgment that ‘when citizens themselves are the key to the quality of neighbourhoods, a new avenue of policy intervention is opened up’ (Lelieveldt, 2004, p. 534; see also Crenson, 1983). In this context, participatory models of decision-making are seen as having the potential to ‘empower’ local residents who were previously the subject of ‘top-down’ or command and control forms of planning (Healey, 1999; Meredyth, Ewing, & Thomas, 2004; Barry, Osborne, & Rose, 1996; Rose, 1996; Dean, 2002). On another level, however, there is caution, suspicion even, about this paradigm shift. A perception exists that governments are essentially displacing, redistributing and/or retreating from their historical welfare responsibilities (Chaskin, 2003, 2001; Fraser, Lepofsky, Lick, & Williams, 2003; Pierre, 1999).

The moral hazard problem which obstructs external equity financing of farm businesses is studied using the principal‐agent framework. We assume that the supplier of external equity capital (the principal) cannot directly observe the farmer’s (agent’s) effort, but can observe the random outcome of the effort. We solve for the optimal farm income‐sharing rule that includes an extra share to the agent. The extra share is dependent on the random outcome and is provided to induce optimal effort from the agent. Results show a farmer’s effort is inversely related to the level of risk aversion and the riskiness of the project. Thus, an investor must share more income when a farmer is more risk averse or a project is more risky.