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The purpose of this paper is to examine the case of the Aspiration, Communication and Transformation campaign conducted by journalism students to counter extremism as a form of experiential learning in Lebanese higher educational context. It documents the views and experiences of students in a service learning (SL) project for redressing a timely social issue.

This study employed a descriptive case study methodology involving a portraiture naturalistic approach for data gathering. It conducted semi-structured interviews with three participating students to learn from their experiences in countering extremism. This was complemented by two interviews with the instructor in charge of the project and an external stakeholder.

Results emphasized the combination of applying the broadcast technical skills of the course to countering extremism in a volatile political context.

The findings are only a mild reflection of countering extremism through SL since it focused on a single case study involving a limited number of participants. However, the study offered common sense conclusions having broader applicability.

This topic is of particular importance to higher educational institutions and communities working on countering extremism through education, particularly in contexts rife with violence and ideological indoctrination.

This paper has social implications on promoting awareness about extremism as a challenging social debacle. It presents workable recommendations for fostering a stronger relationship between higher education institutions and communities to defy extremism. It shows the importance of connecting curricula to community needs.

This paper fills a gap in the literature pertaining to the role of higher education institutions in countering extremism through SL in Lebanon and the MENA region.

The purpose of this paper is to: (1) explore existing practices of STEM faculty at a private Lebanese university and (2) assess the extent of implementation of active learning among faculty members of selected STEM departments.

The Working Group on “Integrating Modern Scientific teaching methodologies in STEM” (IM-STEM) at a tertiary university in Lebanon advocates for novel research-based methods to enhance STEM education. This pilot study investigated, using a modified version of the Wieman and Gilbert “Teaching Practices Inventory”, the current teaching methods used by faculty members in selected STEM departments.

Remarkably, most respondents admit a willingness to incorporate new teaching methods. Main findings indicate that traditional teaching via didactic lecturing remains prevalent in the STEM classrooms at the tertiary academic institution in Lebanon despite sporadic individual efforts by faculty members to utilize unconventional methods and active learning.

One major limitation that influenced the efficiency of this study is the small number of respondents (71 faculty members). More in-depth data collection combining quantitative and qualitative data should be done in future studies.

Gaining insight into the actual methods used in STEM fields in various departments can help the university management to better understand the key importance of educational reform.

The main value of this paper is to serve as a prelude for educational reform at a tertiary academic institution.

Health-care simulation has evolved rapidly in the past few decades; it has become an integral component of education and training to improve the efficacy of both individuals and teams. Designing an optimal simulation-based learning space is a multitiered and multidisciplinary process involving architects, engineers and simulation educators. The purpose of this paper is to present the experience of designing a simulation center for a tertiary academic hospital.

The study is based on an in-depth analysis of the final structural blueprint of the center and qualitative thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with persons involved in the design process

Thematic analysis led to three thematic categories, namely, organization of space, equipment and administrative and staff requirements.

The paper describes the experience of designing one center within an academic tertiary setting. This experience may lack external validity and generalizability. Moreover, the operationality and functionality of the center have not been studied yet. Finally, the interviewees were interviewed post-design, which may pose as recall bias.

For future simulationists or educators attempting to undertake a simulation center design, this paper will help guide them to anticipate the needed human and technical resources and potential challenges.

The study offers recommendations meant to guide others attempting to design a simulation center within an academic institution.

Determining the attributes of effective business teachers is critical to schools as they strive to attract and retain students, assure learning, obtain and maintain reputation and accreditations, and place their alumni in the competitive job market. The purpose of this paper is to examine students and faculty perceptions of teaching effectiveness in five culturally disparate countries: Colombia, France, Lebanon, Sweden, and the USA.

A survey was designed based on previous research complemented by an extensive literature review as well as personal communications with faculty in different international business schools. The survey considered 39 teaching attributes related to three specific dimensions: class delivery, class preparation and design, and instructional traits and personal characteristics. The survey targeted students and faculty from seven business schools located in five countries.

This study offers new conceptual and analytical analyses from a cross-country comparative perspective. Rankings of the importance of perceived teaching attributes for both major groups involved in the teaching of business, faculty and students, are reported. The attributes are also ranked by teaching taxonomy and examined across countries.

This study provides practical results that can be useful to instructors wishing to increase their teaching effectiveness and to universities considering revising their student evaluation forms.

This study includes data collected from faculty and students from several schools located in culturally disparate countries and, thus, increases the applicability of the results in a cross-cultural manner and provides implications for practice internationally.

The purpose of this paper is to determine students’ and instructors’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of implementing active learning strategies in higher education courses conducted at a tertiary institution in Lebanon.

Pre-service education students completed a questionnaire, professors were interviewed, and class sessions were observed.

Main findings indicate that the majority of the learners as well as the instructors favoured active learning and are strong proponents of putting into effect this approach in all their courses. These findings indicate the positive perceptions towards active learning strategies and the possible impact that these perceptions have on students’ performance and learning.

Three major limitations have influenced the efficiency of this study. The number of participants is rather small. Only 37 education students were involved in this study. Furthermore, an additional limitation is that all the participants were females. Yet, it is worth noting that the majority of the students, who are majoring in education at that particular university, are females. Finally, it is worth mentioning that one of the researchers conducted the non-participant observations which might have influenced the data in one way or another.

Implications from the results of the study are far reaching. A major implication is for the programmes to reconsider the organization of the classrooms to have rooms that allows for cooperative and group work. Also, classroom organization should be student centred with the teacher’s place not necessarily at the front of the room but possibly at different places in the room or even sitting with the student for some of the assignments. A second implication is that the classroom is to be viewed as a learning situation where the teacher is a guide, a facilitator in the teaching/learning context which would be blended with the lecture method when needed. A further implication is that teacher professional development is a priority for the agenda of educational institutions to help promote teaching effectiveness of this clearly important active learning. After all, the students are doing the learning and the teachers need to guide them in this process.

The main value of this paper is to encourage university faculty members to change their teaching methods in order to engage and motivate learners.

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in students' perceptions of quality and satisfaction with their educational experience among four types of higher educational models, American, French, Egyptian and Lebanese, in Lebanon.

A sample of over 200 students from each of the seven universities included in the research study were surveyed. Their perceptions were sought on a range of demonstrable performance outcomes. These outcomes include the observance of democratic practices, the effectiveness of the teaching/learning experiences, the quality of academic and non‐academic services, and relationships and destination upon graduation.

The findings indicate that universities adopting the American and French academic model, including the Lebanese university, tend to more readily involve students in institutional decision making at both the academic and non‐academic levels in comparison to the university following the Egyptian academic model encouraging democratic practice among youth. Despite the considerable differences among the various institutional types in the philosophy of education, the perceptions of the purposes of higher education and the pedagogical approaches they adopt, students generally expressed satisfaction in the quality of their university education.

With the continuous establishment of universities in Lebanon and the region following different academic models, the research findings may serve to inform policy makers and academic leaders of students' perceptions of quality and satisfaction.

No such comparative study has been conducted to determine the satisfaction of students with their overall higher education experience in Lebanon and the region.

Service-learning as a pedagogical avenue to apply students’ knowledge and skills, relate such knowledge and skills to communal needs, and prompt students’ civic participation has been emphasized in higher education for decades. It has been highlighted as one of the major roles, if not the most major, of universities in modern times, transitioning such universities toward becoming more socially vibrant, responsible, and connected institutions rather than being isolated think tanks explicit to a specific audience. Nonetheless, service-learning might seem neither a very spontaneous learning process for some theoretical courses (e.g., language, civilization, communication, and math courses) nor a very practical approach to implement during unprecedented times of lockdown and physical distancing such as that of the COVID-19. This chapter presents and analyzes the case study of a Lebanese higher education institution, in emphasizing service-learning through the “Learning in the Workplace and Community” (LiWC) approach across various theoretical and practice-based courses prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter asserts that prior to the pandemic, service-learning enabled universities to equip their students to become agents of social, economic, and technological change and development. On the other hand, the chapter argues that during and post-COVID-19, service-learning will empower universities to play a more critical and vital role in preparing their students to become agents of support, resilience, agility, and sustainable growth within a global era of social, economic, technological, and healthcare chaos and change. In other words, service-learning will equip students to become avant-garde of certainty in such an uncertain, complex world.

Business schools need to prepare students for effective, ethical decision-making. When faced with stressful life events that negatively affect wellbeing, making decisions can become more challenging. As future managers, students will need to learn how to make decisions when they are at the same time faced with stress and cognitive overload. In such situations, the brain looks for mental shortcuts in making choices to make things faster and easier, which leads to less optimal decision-making. Research shows that mindfulness meditation can effectively decrease stress and anxiety. Mindfulness meditation increases metacognition and, in the process, reduces the effects of biases, ethical blind spots, and psychological traps. Therefore, introducing students to these techniques has significant pedagogical potential for business education as students learn mindfulness meditation and show a need to include such practices in the curriculum. This chapter sheds light on two mindfulness technique cases with business school students in Lebanon and Switzerland. In these cases, the authors explore the impact of mindfulness practices on students by applying the emotional intelligence mood metre and mindfulness meditation. The authors also apply the ‘response time testing’ (RTT) methodology in the Swiss case to measure students’ attitudes. As a result, the authors provide simple confirmations from their classrooms that engaging in mindfulness activities and meditation is a simple and productive exercise that is essential for student wellbeing, learning, and decision-making. Therefore, the authors’ purpose is to encourage and give mindfulness practices a viable place in business education.