Extracurricular Activities: A Powerful Pedagogical Tool for Improving Saudi Students’ Dispositions and Skills in Higher Education

  • Amani K Hamdan Alghamdi University of Dammam

Abstract

This paper aims to identify how extracurricular activities (ECAs), is a powerful pedagogical tool for improving female Saudi students’ dispositions and skills in higher education. It reports the impact of ECAs on the achievement of Saudi female university students. Furthermore, this study illustrates how culturally acceptable ECAs can be developed to supplement academic programs with reasonable levels of cost and effort. This mixed-methods study involved semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires across three ECAs. The synthesis results indicate that these Saudi Arabian female undergraduates showed improvements in their communication skills, speaking and writing, and psychological well-being. Saudi policymakers and faculty members should consider how to include ECAs for female students as part of the university environment to support and capitalize upon the learning that happens beyond the conventional classroom.

Author Biography

Amani K Hamdan Alghamdi, University of Dammam

Amani K. Hamdan is an Associate Professor at the University of Dammam in Saudi Arabia. She is an award winning scholar her book: Muslim Women Speak A Tapestry of Lives And Dreams won the Canadian Women’s Studies Association Book Prize in 2011. She has obtained her M.A. in Education from Mount Saint Vincent University MSVU in Halifax Nova Scotia and Doctorate of Philosophy in Education Studies specializing in Curriculum and Pedagogy from the University of Western Ontario UW in London Ontario in 2006.
Her research interest is multifaceted includes education and curricula in Saudi Arabia, analytical and critical thinking and their infusion in the teaching, online education and cultural manifestation, higher education, narrative research, critical multicultural education. Dr. Amani has over 19 years of international teaching experience. She presented in various international conferences and is publishing in American, Canadian, and Australian high impact factors journals. Since 2011 she joined the University of Dammam and appointed a Vice Dean at the Faculty of Education.

Published
2016-07-31
How to Cite
HAMDAN ALGHAMDI, Amani K. Extracurricular Activities: A Powerful Pedagogical Tool for Improving Saudi Students’ Dispositions and Skills in Higher Education. Başkent University Journal of Education, [S.l.], v. 3, n. 2, p. 86-98, july 2016. ISSN 2148-3272. Available at: <http://buje.baskent.edu.tr/index.php/buje/article/view/61>. Date accessed: 25 apr. 2024.
Citation Formats
Issue
Vol 3 No 2 (2016)
Section
Makaleler / Articles

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