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This classroom observation study explored how science teachers (N = 22) teach for creativity in grades 5-10 in Oman. We designed an observation form with 4 main categories that targeted the instructional practices related to teaching for creativity: questioning strategy, teacher's responses to students' ideas, classroom activities to support creativity, and whole-lesson methods that foster creativity. An open-ended survey was also designed to explore participants' justifications for their instructional decisions and practices. The findings indicate that the overall level of teaching for creativity was low and that participants' performance was the highest for teacher's responses to students' ideas category and the lowest for classroom activities to support creativity category. We observed that a teacher-centered approach with instructional practices geared toward preparing students for examinations was dominant and that these science teachers were bound to the textbook, following cookbook-style activities. Participants believed that they did not have enough time to cover the content and teach for creativity and that they were not prepared to teach for creativity. Based on these findings, we recommend that programs be developed to prepare science teachers to teach for creativity.

This study describes a distance learning professional development program that we designed for the purpose of training science teachers to teach for creativity. The Moodle platform was used to host the training. To ensure that trainees would benefit from this distance learning program, we designed the instructional activities according to the Community of Inquiry framework, which consists of three main elements: cognitive presence, teaching presence and social presence. Nineteen science teachers in Oman engaged in the training, which lasted for 36 working days. To measure the effectiveness of the training program on science teachers' instructional practices related to teaching for creativity, we used a pre-post one-group quasi-experimental design. An observation form was used to assess and document participants' practices. Paired t test results showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in science teachers' practices related to teaching for creativity. During the implementation of the training program, we observed that cognitive presence and teaching presence were the two most successful elements of the program. The training program involved participants in different instructional activities which were designed to help them understand the role of creativity in science; a wide range of instructional techniques designed to nurture students' creativity was discussed. The program also provided participants with opportunities to relate their practices to teaching for creativity and to design and implement lesson plans geared toward teaching for creativity. However, the social presence element was not satisfying. Participants' virtual interactions with each other and their engagement in online discussion forums were limited. This paper provides some recommendations to overcome such pitfalls.

al‐Tikha is a mid to large Umm an‐Nar (c. 2700–2000 BC) settlement situated near Rustaq at the back of the Southern Batinah coastal plain in the Sultanate of Oman that was discovered (or rediscovered) in 2014. The site is unique because its layout and spatial organisation are very largely (possibly completely) visible on the surface. This includes two separate areas of stone‐built housing, a large pottery scatter of varying density, three or four typical Umm an‐Nar round towers and a small cemetery consisting of at least four tombs, along with a few other features. The layout of the site is described and discussed in detail, in particular, in relation to what it might tell us about the nature of Umm an‐Nar settlement and social organisation more generally. The location of the site within a pattern of repeating Umm an‐Nar settlement along Wadi Far (Wādī al‐Farʿī) is also described and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Umm an-Nar Culture was identified after the first scientific archaeological excavations took place in the Oman Peninsula (modern-day Oman and United Arab Emirates) during the late 1950s by the Danish team at the Umm an-Nar Island in Abu-Dhabi (Frifelt 1991, 1995). Since then, several sites have been excavated by different teams in the region, such as Hili (Cleuziou 1980 , 1982), Ras al-Jinz (Cleuziou and Tosi 2000), Bat (Thornton, Cable, and Possehl 2016), Meyaser (Weisgerber 1978 , 1981), Bisya/Salut (Orchard and Stanger 1999 ; Orchard and Orchard 2002), Tell Abraq (Potts 1989 , 1990 , 1991 , 2000), and Asimah (Vogt 1994). These excavations have revealed abundant material about the culture of these third-millennium BCE (2700–2000 BCE) communities. The inhabitants of this region had developed an intensive and complex long-distance trade network with societies in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley (Cleuziou 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on studying the pottery sherds collected in the period 2018–19 from settlement DH7 in the northern al‐Batinah region in north‐eastern Oman. The material mainly comes from stratified contexts from the largest building at the settlement, building S42, whose function is interpreted as a warehouse. Three main classes of pottery are recognised: The Indus red micaceous ware, the Umm an‐Nar fine red ware and the Dahwa sandy buff ware. Compared with most of the other known Umm an‐Nar settlements, the black‐slipped jars (Indus red micaceous ware) are clearly over‐represented at DH7. Intriguingly, local pottery Dahwa sandy buff ware shows a typical Indus rim form. This is presumably a result of existing Indus potters in the al‐Batinah region who adapted to the local market. Radiocarbon dating places the beginning of the occupation of settlement DH7 to c.2500 cal. BCE. Such a date accords well with the results of stylistic comparisons of DH7 pottery with other sites of the Umm an‐Nar period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al‐Ghoryeen, located 95 km southwest of Muscat, is a unique settlement dating to the Umm an‐Nar period and is built upon a Late Hafit period settlement. It was found in 2004 and excavation began in 2018. Preliminary analysis of the results revealed two major occupation phases with an occupational gap in between. A change occurred between the earlier and later phases of the settlement system reflected mainly in the difference in building sizes and plan. We excavated either partially or completely a stone round tower and more than 10 domestic structures. The distribution of the architectural features including the round tower, domestic structures and burials showed some kind of organised settlement structure. The Hafit period settlement was tested in two trenches where 14C analysis dated the earliest occupation to the late Hafit period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The present study concerns measurement of the radon concentration in drinking and irrigation waters obtained from the eastern part of Oman, in particular in regard to water quality assessment of the region. The samples were collected from different places covering most types of water sources in the region. A passive and time-integrated track etch detector (LR-115 type II) combined with a high-resolution optical microscope has been used to obtain the radon concentration in the studied samples. Values of dissolved radon in water varied among the water sources; the highest concentration of radon was found to be 363 Bq m−3 in a drinking water sample while well water used for irrigation showed the lowest value, at 140 Bq m−3. Measured data for all water sources are below the permissible limit of 11.1 kBq m−3 recommended by the US-EPA. Annual effective doses for the studied samples were in the range 0.38–0.99 μSv y−1 which is significantly less than the action level recommended by the WHO (0.1 mSv y−1), indicating that the water sources in the Jalan BBH region of Oman are safe to use. The obtained data may serve as a reference for any future radiological study of the waterbody of this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]