Kuwait University and its evaluation program |
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| Authors: | A Qayum Safi |
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| Institution: | 1. Center for Evaluation and Measurement, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Kuwait
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| Abstract: | As the only institution of higher education in Kuwait offering a four-year degree program, Kuwait University is expected to provide its society and its rapidly changing labor market with professionally trained Kuwaiti nationals in fields requiring up-to-date scientific and technical knowledge. Its location in the Arabian Gulf region requires KU to honor and preserve the Arab and Islamic tradition. Thus, the success of KU graduates in the job market and in society will depend on a combination of scientific knowledge and appreciation for local and regional values. With the introduction of the graduate studies program, KU is on the threshold of becoming a major institution of research and scholarship. With this step forward, KU increases its responsibility to offer a diversified academic program designed to meet the specialized manpower requirements of Kuwait as a major commercial center in the Middle East. To evaluate its programs, KU established the Center for Evaluation and Measurement in 1977 which introduced the Course and Instructor Evaluation project, and later expanded its activities through the KU Academic Evaluation Committee, to include program evaluation. The office of the Vice-Rector for Research was established in 1981 to encourage, support, and develop scientific research activities at Kuwait University. At present, KU has fully realized the importance of educational reform. A few of the issues, identified in this paper, can be outlined as follows: - The need for an admission policy to recruit more students competent in general subject matter knowledge as well as in English proficiency, and to assign them fairly to the subject areas of choice.
- The need to design a research oriented curriculum with stronger emphasis on general education as required of an undergraduate studies program rather than stressing professionalism.
- The need for an instructional program that deemphasizes students' total reliance on memorization and examinations for completing course requirements.
- The need to improve instructional and research facilities, as well as make them available to students and to train students in their proper use.
- The need to reappraise employment conditions for non-Kuwaiti teaching staff providing them with job security and career certainty.
- The need for an administratively and financially independent KU, and long-range plan for a campus to accommodate the increasing number of students, faculty, and support staff.
fa]This report is based on studies conducted at the Center for Evaluation and Measurement and on the status reports of several foreign consultants, members of the KUAE Committee, who evaluated various departments. The author has highlighted those issues and added his interpretations in various areas of the academic program dealing with admission and recruitment of students and their career preparation, as well as curriculum, instruction, faculty, research, facilities, and introduction of graduate studies at Kuwait University. |
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