PFDP

Bios of PhD Scholars

PhD Grantee Profiles
Cohort 1
 
Ahmed Al Noubani was raised in a rural West Bank village among a family that highly values education. Six of eight of his siblings have also graduated from university. Ahmed is expansive upon his Masters of Science degree from the University of Aberdeen in the UK by earning a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Planning from the University of Washington in Seattle, which he will receive upon defending his dissertation in the fall of 2010. Ahmed has been a faculty member in the Geography Department at Birzeit University since 2004 where he has taught courses in remote sensing, biogeography, and the environment. To his credit, Ahmed also has NGO and government experience having worked at the Ministry of Planning’s Palestinian Geographic Center and the Land Research Center as a GIS and land cover expert. When asked to describe a life changing event, Ahmed explained, “Bee keeping is a major life event that changed my career direction. Before that I had not seen the beauty and benefits of wildlife. Bee keeping turned me into a guard to my local environment and affected my decision to study and teach environmental remote sensing.” Ahmad successfully completed his coursework and comprehensive exams, and is currently preparing to defend his dissertation on land use and land cover dynamics, using Palestine as a case study.  
 
Ammar Al-Dwaik earned a degree in law from Al Yarmouk University in 1994. At the age of twenty-two, he was a First Lieutenant commanding the Birzeit Police Station. He later worked for the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights, eventually becoming the head of the legal department.
Tagged under:

Winners of the 2010 Teaching Excellence Awards

 
Bassem Shraydeh is a Professor of Chemistry at An-Najah University. Professor Shraydeh has over thirty years of service to the field of education in chemistry. One of the subjects he teaches is what his colleague and Chemistry Department Chairman Dr. Samar al-Shakshir calls “the most difficult branch of chemistry”—Quantum Chemistry. After receiving his PhD from the University of Wales/Cardiff in 1980 Dr. Shraydeh mentions having accidentally discovered his teaching abilities at Bethlehem University—and he has not left teaching since. In discussing his love for teaching he notes that he sees his students as very important people he goes to meet for class sessions. Many of his colleagues in the science department at An-Najah University were his former students.  He also produced the lab manual that has been used at An-Najah University since 1984. In an interview with him, Dr. Shraydeh demonstrated some of his strategies for linking his chemistry lectures to the real world so that his students can have an easier and more dynamic time understanding the material. In his lesson plans he also includes demonstrations of chemical reactions and, while they are conducting experiments he encourages his students to look for new chemical research ideas.
 
Ahmad Atawneh is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at Hebron University, where he began teaching in 1991 after completing his PhD. His philosophy as a teacher was affected by his own professors when he was a student. He recalls that his most inspiring teachers were those who were caring and appreciative towards their students. Dr. Atawneh makes his private home and office libraries available to his students for their research. The care and attention that Dr.
Tagged under:

Winners of 2010 Teaching Excellence Awards

PFDP is proud to announce the following winners of the Teaching Excellence Awards for 2010:

Tagged under:

4th Annual Academic Colloquium Press Release

Ramallah, West Bank, July 31, 2010 — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its partner AMIDEAST, opened a two-day conference today that addresses partnership in teaching excellence in higher education. Held at the Leaders Hall in the Prico Building, the event was launched by Her Excellency Ms. Lamis Al-Alami, Minister of Education and Higher Education and USAID’s Director of Education Development Office, Ms. Karen Excel.   
 
The first day included opening remarks by PFDP’s Chief of Party, Mr. John FitzGibbon, Dr. Joe Glicksberg, the Program Manager at the Open Society Institute, PFDP’s implementing partner in the US, and Mr. Steven Keller, AMIDEAST Country Director. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Aziza Ellozy, Director of the Center for Learning and Teaching at the American University of Cairo. Three joint presentations were delivered by US and Palestinian academics on teaching strategies such as a case study of excellence in teaching using the University of Washington, the use of serious games in higher education, and the use of professional certificates in higher education.
Tagged under:

Update on Centers for Teaching Excellence

Between September 16 and 17of 2010, PFDP held a preparatory workshop titled "Center for Teaching Excellence Proposal Development Workshop" which aimed to assist the Palestinian universities in developing their proposals for the establishment of such centers. The workshop included Dr. Denis Drane, Jennifer Criswell, and Dr. Gregory Light from Northwestern University, and Dr. Kevin Kescskes from Portland State University. The US profesors worked closely with Palestinian univeristy professors and officials in order to identify the main needs of the Palestinian universities and assist in identifying the correct method of approach for the establishment of Centers for Teaching Excellence.

Tagged under:

PhD Fellows

Abdrabu Abu Alyan graduated with a PhD in education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

His dissertation focused on intercultural communicative competences. His interest in this subject was shaped during his teaching experience while earning his masters from the US.

Abdrabu earned his master’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont after being awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 1996.

He notes, “Teaching of culture has become a pivotal part of teaching education. Language teachers ought to receive both experimental and academic training, with the aim of becoming mediators in cultural teaching”.

Tagged under:

Centers for Teaching Excellence

Two local universities are finalists for receiving PFDP funds in support of establishing Centers for Teaching Excellence. Bethlehem University and An-Najah National University will collaborate with two partner US universities (Portland State University and Northwestern University) in their efforts to establish these centers of Excellence.

Plans of Action


External Evaluator Position

Tagged under:
Syndicate content