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This study examines whether racial/ethnic differences in personal dispositions, such as self-efficacy, cultural orientation, habitual explanations for good or poor academic outcomes, and age (as an index of life experience) exist among students enrolled in a general education course at a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). Furthermore, the study examines the extent to which such dispositions may contribute differently to the academic success of students at such an institution depending on their race/ethnicity. Although the study uncovered only minor racial/ethnic differences in student dispositions, dissimilar patterns of contributions to course-specific performance and cumulative performance (as measured by grade point average) were observed for Latino/a/x/Hispanic and White students. Taken together, these findings suggest the importance of assessing the contribution of variables to academic success above and beyond the mere measurement of group differences. Applications of our findings to students at minority-serving institutions are discussed.

This work investigates potential benefits deriving from the integration of CSP plants with other renewable technologies, such as PV and Wind. An optimization tool, based on mixed-integer linear programming, is used to derive the optimal design of a hybrid plant located in the south of Italy (Sicily) with the objective of satisfying a fraction of the national-shaped, hourly variable, electrical load. A sensitivity analysis is performed to explore the Pareto front of solutions satisfying different dispatchability requirements in terms of demand coverage. As expected, increasingly oversized and expensive plant designs, characterized by high Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), are necessary to satisfy larger fractions of the imposed load. Subsequently, the benefits of hybrid plants with respect to conventional standalone or partially integrated solutions are investigated: in particular, the results of this analysis clearly demonstrated that integrated CSP+PV+Wind configurations can reach the same or higher dispatchability level (i.e. 80%) at a much lower electricity cost with respect to (i) separate production (stand-alone PV, Wind and CSP) and (ii) configurations characterized by a lower level of integration (36% and 12% reduction of LCOE with respect to CSP+PV and CSP+Wind, respectively).

AbstractAfter a disruptive event, such as the pandemic, it is reasonable to re-assess the status of past educational disparities. Re-assessment is particularly important for female college students from a traditionally patriarchal society attempting to promote gender equity in education. During the pre-pandemic era, such students preferred non-STEM programs over STEM programs at disproportionate rates. The present study examined indices of performance during the freshman year before and after the pandemic to determine whether choice and performance differences exist between female students enrolled in STEM and non-STEM programs. Comparisons involved the number of courses completed and the grades obtained in mandatory general education courses devoted to communication, computational, and professional competencies. In the pre-pandemic period, STEM students outperformed non-STEM students in all three competencies. In the post-pandemic period, STEM students outperformed non-STEM students only in communication competencies and professional competencies. Yet, in both student groups, post-pandemic performance was lower, even though STEM students completed fewer general education courses. These findings suggest that female students’ re-adjustment to on-campus instruction was challenging, particularly in STEM majors. Although female STEM learners remained a minority and faced performance challenges in the post-pandemic environment, their numbers increased. Because the pursuit of gender equity in education and employment rests on the academic success of such students, these results along with qualitative data obtained from on-campus interviews demand a retooling of academic support systems. A discussion of the available options for early interventions is put forth.

Background: Valuable safeguards against fast-spreading conjectures about learning in times of fear and uncertainty are evidence-based approaches to the assessment of the impact of sudden and unforeseen disruptions on learning practices. The present research focused on physics learning in such times because conceptual and computational literacy in physics is critical to the development of a scientifically and technologically literate society. Objectives: The present research aimed (a) to offer an objective assessment of whether performance differences in a physics course of the general education curriculum existed between the face-to-face medium (familiar mode of instruction) and the online medium (unfamiliar mode of instruction) for both male and female students, and then (b) to develop a response to the evidence collected to ensure a quality education for all parties involved. The research intended to fill two critical gaps in the extant literature: mixed findings concerning students' performance in the face-to-face and online mediums as well as scarce coverage of specific domains of knowledge that are critical to STEM learners. Methods: Students' performance was examined as a function of the type of assessment (formative and summative), instructional mode (online and face-to-face), and gender. An understudied student population of STEM students of Middle Eastern descent without prior formal exposure to online instruction was targeted. Results and Conclusions: In both formative and summative assessments, male students performed better online than face-to-face, whereas the performance of female students was either higher online or equivalent between instructional mediums. The evidence collected suggested that consideration be given to remedies that foster academic success in the face-to-face instructional medium, particularly for male students. Takeaways: An evidence-based approach to learning dismantled emotion-driven expectations regarding the impact of the online medium on physics learning, and encouraged new perspectives about instruction.

In this action-research study, the inquiry phase aims to examine the extent to which self-evaluations of Math prerequisite competency relate to the past and current Math performance of STEM female students from a society emerging from strict patriarchy. Its ancillary aim is to determine whether attitudes toward Math and its instruction and assessment are related to past and current performance. Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science students were surveyed at the start of a Calculus course. As per earlier courses, Calculus was taught through an inquiry-based learning model. Findings illustrated that Math prerequisite competency was underestimated relative to past performance but accurate relative to current performance. Positive attitudes towards Math were correlated with past but not current performance. Students’ preferences for modes of instruction and assessment suggested areas of improvement. During the pragmatic phase of the study, these findings informed instructional changes to enhance Math learning in Engineering and Computer Science.

Summary: The selection of renewable energy technologies is widely based on the economic index levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). However, the LCOE ignores the potential temporal mismatch between electricity generation and actual grid demand: this aspect is accounted for in the new index named actual cost of electricity (ACOE), here proposed. This index provides a more accurate economic assessment of renewable energy, minimizing the number of assumptions to be made and outlining the benefits of including a storage. The proposed index is tested across ten cases encompassing three renewable technologies: wind, photovoltaic, and concentrated solar power. The outcomes show that the actual renewable electricity generation of a plant can be reduced by 40%–50% when accounting for the actual electricity demand, resulting in an ACOE exceeding the LCOE by up to 100/150 $/MWh. In addition, the ACOE enables the identification of breakthrough conditions that make storage adoption economically feasible.

In the present field experiment, we examined the effects of a self-assessment exercise conducted in the middle of the semester on metacognitive awareness (i.e., the accuracy of self-assessment and its subjective confidence) and final test performance of college students of Middle Eastern descent. Effects were measured in the classroom against a business-as-usual control condition. It was hypothesized that if the exercise focuses students' attention on internal causes (e.g., effort) in response to specific task demands, metacognitive awareness, metacognitive control, and, ultimately, final test performance would be enhanced. In poor performers, the exercise indeed improved the accuracy of self-assessment (as measured by grade estimates) and final performance. There was no evidence of the illusion of knowing phenomenon (i.e., the unrealistic belief that one knows or is able to perform a given task) among poor-performing students as their confidence in estimates remained low. Furthermore, the exercise did not change students' causal attribution preferences, thereby suggesting that other dynamics are responsible for the effects of the self-assessment exercise.

Existing research has identified gender as a driving variable of student success in higher education: women attend college at a higher rate and are also more successful than their male peers. We build on the extant literature by asking whether specific cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy and causal attribution habits) distinguish male and female students with differing academic performance levels. Using a case study, we collected data from students enrolled in a general education course (sample size N = 400) at a large public university in the United States. Our findings indicate that while students' course grades and cumulative college grades did not vary by gender, female and male students reported different self-efficacy and causal attribution habits for good grades and poor grades. To illustrate, self-efficacy for female students is broad and stretches across all their courses; in contrast, for male students, it is more limited to specific courses. These gender differences in cognition, particularly in accounting for undesirable events, may assist faculty members and advisors in understanding how students respond to difficulties and challenges.

The present pilot study examines the extent to which particular individual differences (i.e., general self-efficacy, goal orientation, and decision-making styles) may shape academic success in courses conforming to the principles of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy ("CRP"). End-of-semester course grades were used as a coarse, institutionally mandated measure of academic success. Gender differences were observed. For female students, a learning orientation was related to academic success. However, female students' academic success was also related to their reliance on specific decision-making styles (i.e., vigilance and hypervigilance). Male students' academic success was not significantly related to any of the individual difference measures. These findings suggest that applications of "CRP" may benefit from the recognition of students' preexisting dispositions and that such dispositions may differ between sexes. A discussion follows regarding how information regarding students' preexisting differences may benefit "CRP" instruction.

The present study examines the challenges and the rewards of assessing learning in a seminar on corruption which is taught in a country (Iraq) where political corruption is seen as the main source of structural instability and sectarian tensions. It specifically focuses on the role of culturally relevant pedagogy in defining the most suitable summative assessment. To this end, essay test questions were developed concerning the relevance of political corruption, the impact of investigative journalism, the role of humor in investigative journalism, and the appropriate remedies (besides journalism) to political corruption. In students' responses, investigative journalism (with or without humor) was consistently reported to be a dangerous undertaking, but disagreement emerged on its effectiveness as one of the possible remedies for corruption. Dishonesty was seen as the universal cancer of political systems and thus difficult to extirpate, albeit some systems (e.g., Al-Muhasasa) were seen as tolerating it more than others. In our study, the qualitative examination of students' responses served three objectives: (1) it offered evidence about the extent to which culturally relevant pedagogy was realized in the course; (2) it served to put forth a proposal on how students' test responses can inform teaching and assessment in future offerings of the course; and more broadly (3) it synopsized the views of a sample of college students who represent the population upon whom the country heavily relies for its economic and political recovery.

The fungi Botryosphaeriaceae are involved in olive declines in both the world hemispheres and in all continents where this species is cultivated. In Salento (Apulia, Italy), the Botryosphaeriaceae Neofusicoccum mediterraneum and N. stellenboschiana have been reported as the agents of a branch and twig dieback that overlaps with olive quick decline syndrome caused by Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca. In this study, we report the finding of Diplodia seriata, another Botryosphaeriaceae species, in Salento in Xylella fastidiosa-infected olive trees affected by symptoms of branch and twig dieback. Given that its presence was also reported in olive in the Americas and in Europe (Croatia) with different degrees of virulence, we were prompted to assess its role in the Apulian decline. We identified representative isolates based on morphological features and a multilocus phylogeny. In vitro tests showed that the optimum growth temperature of the isolates is around 25–30 °C, and that they are highly thermo-tolerant. In pathogenicity trials conducted over eleven months, D. seriata expressed a very low virulence. Nonetheless, when we imposed severe water stress before the inoculation, D. seriata significatively necrotized bark and wood in a time frame of 35 days. Moreover, the symptoms which resulted were much more severe in the trial performed in summer compared with that in autumn. In osmolyte-supplemented media with a water potential from −1 to −3 Mpa, the isolates increased or maintained their growth rate compared with non-supplemented media, and they also grew, albeit to a lesser extent, on media with a water potential as low as −7 Mpa. This suggests that olives with a low water potential, namely those subjected to drought, may offer a suitable environment for the fungus’ development. The analysis of the meteorological parameters, temperatures and rainfall, in Salento in the timeframe 1989–2023, showed that this area is subjected to a progressive increase of temperature and drought during the summer. Thus, overall, D. seriata has to be considered a contributor to the manifestation of branch and twig dieback of olive in Salento. Coherently with the spiral decline concept of trees, our results suggest that heat and drought act as predisposing/inciting factors facilitating D. seriata as a contributor. The fact that several adverse factors, biotic and abiotic, are simultaneously burdening olive trees in Salento offers a cue to discuss the possible complex nature of the olive decline in Salento.

One of the challenges of sustainable education in the post-pandemic world is students' writing anxiety. The present study aimed to answer two key questions about writing in a second language for Arabic-English speakers enrolled in a written communication course after a return to on-campus instruction. First, it examined whether early exposure to English would predict diminished anxiety. Then, it assessed whether anxiety predicted specific writing deficits in the quality and quantity of students' writing. Students completed a writing anxiety questionnaire, answered questions about their exposure to English and their attitudes toward English writing, and responded in writing to the query "Who am I?". In this correlational study, overall anxiety increased with students' later exposure to English and decreased with exposure to English-speaking media, and favorable attitudes toward English writing. Overall anxiety was linked to particular writing qualities, such as increased use of concrete words, and brevity of exposition. Yet, somatic anxiety, appraisal concerns, communication apprehension, and avoidance behaviors were differentially related to measures of English exposure and attitudes as well as to writing quality and quantity. For instance, late exposure to English writing was related to increased levels of appraisal concerns, somatic anxiety, and communication apprehension, but not to avoidance behaviors. Except for appraisal concerns, all other forms of anxiety were accompanied by decreases in word and sentence outputs and increases in the use of concrete words. Appraisal concerns were related to a decreased use of low-frequency (i.e. unfamiliar) words. Applications and implications for sustainable education in the post-pandemic world are examined.

Little is known about the reading habits and interests of college students in the post-pandemic environment, especially those of the understudied student populations of the Middle East. Thus, a convenient sample of female undergraduate students of Saudi Arabian descent was asked to report reading habits and interests. First, the study asked whether the responses of students organized by field of study (STEM versus non-STEM) differed. Then, it assessed the extent to which reading habits (as indexing reading comprehension skills) predicted college attainment (as measured by GPA) in each of the selected subsamples. Although habits and attitudes did not differ between STEM and non-STEM students, attitudes predicted reading habits differently for the two groups. Furthermore, habits and attitudes were better predictors of academic attainment for STEM than non-STEM learners. These findings underscored the need for institutions of higher education to carry out periodical assessments of their students' reading habits and interests. Results can then inform library policies and instructional interventions that will benefit STEM students the most.

In law and business schools, culturally relevant/responsive curricula can aid students' academic success. In this paper, we examine the use of culturally responsive narratives to illustrate principles and practices of dispute resolution (mediation and arbitration) in the Middle East as distinct or similar to those prescribed under Common Law. Through narratives embedded in familiar historical and socio-cultural contexts, we argue that students of Middle Eastern descent can achieve a greater understanding and retention of the curriculum as it is translated from theory into practice, exercise critical thinking skills, and enhance their motivation to learn. Teaching that taps into a reservoir of knowledge within Middle Eastern communities can also become a transformative experience for students, since it not only recognizes their communities of origin as noteworthy, but also makes their socio-cultural identities a key ingredient of the instructional process. As evidence of methodological effectiveness, we examine students' reflections on the use of culturally familiar narratives to illustrate principles and practices of dispute resolution (mediation and arbitration) in the Middle East as distinct or similar to those adopted by the Western world.

Why do students vary in their performance on exams? It may be that their test preparation is insufficient because they overestimate their anticipated grade. Our study investigates four issues related to performance on a final examination. First, we analyze whether students' ability to accurately predict their grade and their subjective confidence in this prediction may account for their grade. Second, we ask whether students at different levels of performance vary in their ability to accurately predict their grade, and if so, whether subjective confidence also differs. Third, we ask whether the accuracy and confidence of learners' predictions are conditioned by self-efficacy beliefs and causal attribution habits, which serve as indices of motivation for test preparation. Fourth, we ask whether different causal attribution preferences contribute to self-efficacy. We use statistical analysis of data from a general education course at a large public university in the United States. Our results indicate that poor performers' overestimates are likely to be wishful thinking as they are expressed with low subjective confidence. Self-efficacy is a significant contributor to the inaccuracy of students' predicted grades and subjective confidence in such predictions. Professors' understanding of learners' forecasting mechanisms informs strategies devoted to academic success.

IntroductionThis study examines the applicability of the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) to a population of 857 native Arabic-speaking Saudi Arabian female university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL).MethodsParticipants were divided into two groups. The first of these consisted of 430 students who participated in the testing portion of the study. The second group consisted of 427 students who participated in the replication portion of this study. The instrument used was the Second Language Writing Anxiety Index (SLWAI). Exploratory factor analysis was first conducted on the testing group to determine which items of this instrument applied to this population. A second factor analysis was then used to confirm the results found with the testing group.ResultsSLWAI is typically used to assess the degree of EFL writing anxiety across three dimensions: somatic anxiety, avoidance behavior, and cognitive anxiety. However, factor analysis of the data collected from both groups revealed that these dimensions are not entirely pertinent to the population studied. The three dimensions that emerged are somatic anxiety and two distinct aspects of cognitive anxiety: proficiency anxiety and appraisal anxiety. No evidence of avoidance behavior was found.DiscussionThese results suggest that the dimensions measured by the SLWAI may not be universal across differing sociocultural populations. This highlights the importance of assessing anxiety in individual populations with consideration to the unique circumstances in which they learn to write in English as a foreign language. By determining unique aspects of writing anxiety in differing populations, EFL instructors may be better able to identify and then target the needs of their students as they work through the process of developing English-language writing skills.

The present research aimed to uncover individual differences that can be used to predict, at the start of a course, performance difficulties in female students of an understudied population who are at the beginning of their academic journey. Measures of active and passive procrastination and general self-efficacy were collected at the start of the semester from students enrolled in one of two courses representative of the general education curriculum at a university in the Middle East. Grades on the first homework assignment and test in each course were used as indices of students' early performance. Measures of procrastination and self-efficacy failed to adequately predict either early performance or attendance rates. Yet, attendance predicted a portion of the variance in assignment performance. This study suggests that class presence, rather than dispositional individual differences, can shape the early academic success of an understudied student population.

Abstract Little is known about the reading habits and interests of college students in the post-pandemic environment, especially those of the understudied student populations of the Middle East. Thus, a convenient sample of female undergraduate students of Saudi Arabian descent was asked to report reading habits and interests. First, the study asked whether the responses of students organized by field of study (STEM versus non-STEM) differed. Then, it assessed the extent to which reading habits (as indexing reading comprehension skills) predicted college attainment (as measured by GPA) in each of the selected subsamples. Although habits and attitudes did not differ between STEM and non-STEM students, attitudes predicted reading habits differently for the two groups. Furthermore, habits and attitudes were better predictors of academic attainment for STEM than non-STEM learners. These findings underscored the need for institutions of higher education to carry out periodical assessments of their students’ reading habits and interests. Results can then inform library policies and instructional interventions that will benefit STEM students the most.

The main aim of the present investigation was to examine conditional reasoning skills in college students whose educational past had emphasized verbatim learning. A successive independent-samples design was utilized to explore the effects of instruction that explicitly targeted critical thinking principles in either freshman students or sophomores. Conditional reasoning scores of freshman students were not higher than those of sophomores, even when the impact of either GPA or self-efficacy was statistically controlled. Furthermore, the students in our sample performed as well as students with a similar educational past, whereas both scored below students whose education had de-emphasized verbatim learning. In addition to past educational practices, differences in performance arose from processing load. Not surprisingly, self-efficacy and processing load (as determined by a test read in the second language), but not GPA, predicted conditional reasoning scores. We conclude that demanding cognitive computations, such as those of a conditional reasoning test taken in a second language, not only reflect the test-taker's knowledge, but also are sensitive to processing load, and past educational practices, as well as self-efficacy since confidence in one's abilities translates into effort and persistence.

Evidence exists that the pandemic has brought about stress, and altered study habits and academic performance. No evidence exists regarding whether metacognition has also been altered. The present field study examined the accuracy and confidence with which college students make grade predictions in a general education course after the pandemic. It tested whether one of three types of biases affected students’ predictions as a way to cope with the uncertainty of a final exam’s outcome: illusion-of-knowing, optimism, and pessimistic bracing. Students made predictions both before and after completing the final exam (summative assessment) to determine the impact of each of the hypothesized biases on estimates made in a context of varying uncertainty. Accuracy was computed as the difference between expected and actual grades on the final exam. Confidence in the predictions made was measured on a Likert scale. Exam performance was categorized as good, poor, or inadequate. In this study, less-than-desirable performance was accompanied by overestimations. However, overestimations were made with little confidence and benefited from the information acquired from completing the exam. This pattern of results suggests that students who are not doing well are not under the spell of the illusion-of-knowing phenomenon. Indeed, their optimistic predictions are punctured by the awareness of a likely undesirable outcome (as indicated by their weak confidence in the predictions made). Implications and applications of these findings are discussed.

AbstractOne of the challenges of sustainable education in the post-pandemic world is students’ writing anxiety. The present study aimed to answer two key questions about writing in a second language for Arabic-English speakers enrolled in a written communication course after a return to on-campus instruction. First, it examined whether early exposure to English would predict diminished anxiety. Then, it assessed whether anxiety predicted specific writing deficits in the quality and quantity of students’ writing. Students completed a writing anxiety questionnaire, answered questions about their exposure to English and their attitudes toward English writing, and responded in writing to the query “Who am I?”. In this correlational study, overall anxiety increased with students’ later exposure to English and decreased with exposure to English-speaking media, and favorable attitudes toward English writing. Overall anxiety was linked to particular writing qualities, such as increased use of concrete words, and brevity of exposition. Yet, somatic anxiety, appraisal concerns, communication apprehension, and avoidance behaviors were differentially related to measures of English exposure and attitudes as well as to writing quality and quantity. For instance, late exposure to English writing was related to increased levels of appraisal concerns, somatic anxiety, and communication apprehension, but not to avoidance behaviors. Except for appraisal concerns, all other forms of anxiety were accompanied by decreases in word and sentence outputs and increases in the use of concrete words. Appraisal concerns were related to a decreased use of low-frequency (i.e. unfamiliar) words. Applications and implications for sustainable education in the post-pandemic world are examined.

The present study examines the extent to which models of honesty predict the magnitude of current or future self-serving assessment of performance in Middle Eastern students, a population often neglected in the extant literature. Specifically, the study asks whether Middle Eastern students’ predictions regarding future performance rectify prior self-serving inflated assessment, thereby restoring honesty, or glorify it through enhanced optimism, thereby discounting prior dishonesty. In this study, students believed that their self-assessment of performance would be either anonymous, allowing them to cheat, or identifiable. Before self-assessment, participants were exposed to reminders of honesty or dishonesty (i.e., priming conditions) or neutral reminders (i.e., the control condition). In agreement with the self-concept maintenance model and evidence of earlier studies conducted in the Western world, students inflated their self-assessments very little, and even less when presented with either secular or religious reminders of honesty. However, reminders were ineffective on participants’ predictions of future performance, which were biased in favor of optimism. The study offers concrete evidence on the presumed generality of a theoretical model of ethical conduct while it also adds evidence on its limitations.

The present research examined the extent to which the initial approach to a research-writing course by STEM and non-STEM second-language learners may entail the contribution of different dispositions to course performance and ultimately be responsible for dissimilar outcomes. Individual differences in dispositions and behavior were assessed during the first four weeks of the semester. They pertained to an understudied college population of young women from a society (Saudi Arabia) that has only recently begun to address gender inequalities in education and the workforce by placing women at the center stage of its economic development. There were no differences in generic and research-specific writing skills, but performance on the first assignment was higher in non-STEM students, whereas general confidence (i.e., self-efficacy) and confidence specific to research writing were higher in STEM students. Nevertheless, STEM students were more likely to complete the course successfully than non-STEM students. It was concluded that the former treated initial poor performance as a warning call to increase engagement, thereby independently addressing their own difficulties. Instead, the latter required additional instruction and counseling as engagement by itself was insufficient to lead to academic success. These findings underscore the relevance of targeted, evidence-driven interventions that acknowledge the different academic needs of STEM and non-STEM students.

Purpose: The present field research aimed to assess whether gender differences exist in academic entitlement among college students of a society in rapid transition from a patriarchal system to one fostering gender equity. It then aimed to determine whether particular dimensions of academic entitlement or a simplified one-factor measure can be used as an early indicator of course-related academic difficulties. Design/methodology/approach: College students completed a questionnaire about academic entitlement. Records of test and assessment performance, as well as attendance, were collected for the first half of an academic semester. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, instruction was delivered online synchronously. Findings: A few gender differences were found that departed from the largely consistent finding in the extant literature of greater academic entitlement in males. For female students, selected dimensions of academic entitlement, but not class attendance, weakly predicted poor performance. For male students, dimensions of academic entitlement were ineffective predictors of both performance and attendance, thereby suggesting that demographic characteristics may define the sensitivity of academic entitlement measures to early, course-related academic difficulties. Research limitations/implications: The current study has limitations to be addressed in future research. For instance, the insensitivity of male students' academic entitlement to early performance measures needs to be investigated further. It may be the byproduct of the weakening of the view of male superiority typical of patriarchal societies, which arises from top-down interventions intended to promote gender equity. Yet, it may also underline males' reluctance to express a view that is counter to institutional messages of gender equity as well as religious and cultural values of modesty (Al-Absi, 2018), and personal responsibility (Asrorovna, 2020; Smither and Khorsandi, 2009). Another limitation is the extent to which specific items or dimensions of academic entitlement map into specific cultural dimensions, such as individualism and collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity and femininity (Hofstede, 2011). Practical implications: Academic entitlement is of concern to educators at universities and colleges across the world for several reasons. High levels of stress (Barton and Hirsch, 2016) and frustration (Anderson et al., 2013) usually accompany academic entitlement along with students' self-reports of lower exerted effort (Kopp et al., 2011). In self-reports, academic entitlement is found to be correlated with an external locus of control, lower academic motivation and lower ratings of class attendance (Fromuth et al., 2019). Boswell (2012) has also reported it as linked to lower students' confidence in their ability to complete with success the courses in which they are enrolled (i.e. course self-efficacy). Thus, the availability of early measures of academic risk in core courses, which prepare students for advanced courses in their major, can be particularly valuable to educators and administrators. Social implications: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) represents a society in rapid transition (Nowak and Vallacher, 2019) from a gender-segregated system to one in which gender equity in educational as well as occupational opportunities and choices is promoted and sustained through top-down institutional changes (e.g. decrees, declarations, investments, etc.; Mansyuroh, 2019). The study's findings suggest that college students, the main targets of institutional efforts promoting gender equity, may be responsive to such efforts. Originality/value: The present study is a snapshot of a moment at which the impact of top-down institutional actions for gender equity has become palpable mostly due to its spreading across the large youth population of KSA (Assaad and Roudi-Fahimi, 2007). In this research, the authors asked how the target recipients (i.e. college students) of institutional gender-equity efforts might react.

Academic entitlement (AE) is the expectation of academic success without the recognition, exercised through thought and action, of personal responsibility for attaining that success. In the present exploratory study, we examined the extent to which AE is present in female college students enrolled in Arabic culture and religious courses at a Middle Eastern university with a secular curriculum. The study also examined whether AE accounted for poor course performance. Arabic culture and religious courses promote inner modesty. Such courses, however, exist in a society with contradictory values, with Islam and tribal traditions promoting modesty and unity while capitalistic forces promote immodesty and competition through unfettered marketing and consumption. Although evidence of AE was minimal, overall less endorsement of AE emerged as students moved from earlier to later courses, gaining academic experience. Specific aspects of AE were found to be related to lower course performance. The procedure of this study and its findings can serve as a roadmap to implement proactive interventions for students enrolled in such courses.

Purpose: In the present study, the authors examined whether academic performance [grade point average (GPA)] can be predicted by self-reported frequency of memorization and recitation, verbatim memory performance, and self-efficacy in a sample of college students from Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach: Students' verse memory, word memory, experience with memorization and recitation, as well as general self-efficacy were measured. GPA was provided by the Office of the Registrar. Findings: Verbatim memory performance for individual words and verses moderately predicted GPA. Research limitations/implications: To be determined is the extent to which memory skills for different materials are related to memorization and recitation practice as well as encoding preferences. Practical implications: The findings indicate that even though in college a premium is placed on activities that transform the format of the materials to be learned, activities that replicate materials may still be helpful. Social implications: In Western pedagogy, memorization and recitation are considered counterproductive modes of information acquisition. The findings of this study illustrate that retention is an essential processing step upon which the complex cognitive activities that are embedded in college-level curricula rely. Originality/value: The extant literature illustrates the benefits of exceptional memorization and recitation training. The findings suggest that academic success is positively related to what would be judged as moderate practice, thereby supporting the notion that benefits exist.

Study region: Valle Camonica basin and Lake Iseo in the Italian pre-alpine and alpine region. Study focus: This paper provides the first hydraulic reconstruction of the terminal part of the Gleno dam break with the propagation of the flood wave along a wide pre-alpine valley. The reconstruction of this part of the event, accomplished with a new 2D Shallow Water Equations solver, provides the occasion to tackle some important issues related to the computation of flood damage, a topic of paramount practical importance for which there is no widely accepted procedure in the literature. New hydrological insights for the region: The hydraulic reconstruction provides insights into the propagation of the flood through the floodplain as far as the inlet of Lake Iseo. A methodology for damage computation is presented that considers a physically based criterion for the vulnerability of human life, with significant implications with respect to the use of simpler approaches based only on the density of the population. The economic evaluation of the damage to the built environment and to agricultural activities is included through a comprehensive recent approach. We discuss the variations of the expected damage due to the hydraulic works accomplished over the last 100 years to decrease the flood hazard, showing that its reduction has been followed by an increase in the expected damage in the surrounding areas.

Prediction allows learners to adjust behavior toward the future by exploiting information pertaining to the present and the past. Through a field study, we examined whether poor performing students are truly unaware of not knowing their deficiencies as the illusion of knowing (IoK) phenomenon implies. College students' ability to predict their final test performance was surveyed as a function of experience (before and after the test), performance level, and self-efficacy. In this study, high performers' prospective and retrospective predictions were more accurate and confident than those of poor performers. Although poor performers overestimated their grades (as predicted by IoK), they were less confident in their predictions. Furthermore, both their prediction accuracy and confidence benefited from the experience of taking the test. These findings, coupled with the lower self-efficacy of poor performers, suggest that prediction errors involving inflated estimations reflect the wishful thinking exhibited by students who are aware of their lack of competence but may have little confidence in their abilities.

In the present manuscript, we report the findings of a study that surveyed female college students' views of revamped Islamic and Arabic Culture courses embedded in the curriculum of a secular academic program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Of interest were students' views of and responses to recently implemented features of the curriculum and instruction that exemplified active learning. The ancillary aim was to determine whether views and responses were linked to performance. At the end of the semester, students recognized that the courses' curriculum and instruction fostered active learning opportunities, and expressed an appreciation for learning that is impactful. Results involving performance were mixed though. In fact, whereas recitation and final test performance decreased with students' recognition that instruction prioritized understanding of facts and ideas, greater discussion of matters that engaged students' attention, such as cognitive distortions and personal views, was associated with higher midterm and final test performance. It was concluded that the novelty of activities capable of engaging students in the learning process might explain students' appreciation of active learning as well as such activities' mixed relationship with performance outcomes.