Education in Lebanon

This is my own writings about the education in Lebanon.

By analyzing and comparing the Eastern and Western education philosophies and study the way they bring up an individual, both Eastern and Western education have distinct contrast between them.

Lebanon can be considered in the middle between east and west, but as education, Lebanon is more attractive toward eastern education, teachers in Eastern education are seen as “knowledge providers” and students act as “knowledge receiver”, students have limited opportunity to voice their thoughts, as most teachers handle the teaching and learning process by their own without listen to students’ idea.

The education in Lebanon lacks on the practice of student-centered learning, where most of students gain knowledge through spoon-feeding, instead of self-discovery. As a result, they become dependent to the teachers. Therefore, nowadays the teachers are being trained to guide the students by giving them guidelines in managing their learning process and discover their abilities and potentials by allowing them to do what they want and encourage them to try their best.

The study technique that is more towards memorizing among the student most probably because of exam-oriented and too depend on teachers and these approaches limit the space for creative and critical thinking. The learning process based on book learning and memorization. They focus on classics and exams. Teachers often have to rush through the textbooks to meet the deadline of every monthly examination. Hence, students learn from memorizing facts, which are often forgotten after a short period of time, rather than understanding.

After asking some students in Lebanon, we noticed that recently teachers tried to train them in the ability to analyze and organize information they receive, but exams put pressure on students to ignore this, since memorizing information is the key to winning points. This is parallel with the education system from Eastern philosophy that emphasizes on memorizing, while Western education emphasizes on understanding. This makes students to memorize the facts in the textbooks rather than understanding it as they are lacking of time.

In Lebanon, teachers are meant to be respected. However, teachers also need to build good interpersonal relationship with the students because it will influence students learning outcomes and enhance the quality of learning. Thus, teachers should treat students as friends and show their love and concern.

Considering the Lebanese curriculum, “it was used since 1997, this curriculum didn’t get any assessment and evaluation since that date” as teacher Ali Dalal (Physics teacher at Al-Qastal Sec. School) said after asking him some question about the education in Lebanon. He also added that the schools suffer from lack of resources, since there is no material in most of schools laboratories to do experiments “since students to understand the concept lessons they need to see how it works” he said.

In addition, teacher Dalal commented on the amount of information founded in the curriculum, since if any teacher want to use technology in his classroom it will need a lot of time since the studied material is huge and the teacher cannot do experiments with it due to the lack of time.

Concerning the role of the teacher, He said that most of class work is done by the teacher, the students are listener and they take notes form the board after the teacher. For the way of studying, the students memorize the notes and practice some exercises to be prepared for the monthly examination. The students don’t have the time to be creative, they have ideas but they can’t apply it or think about more creative ideas.

Lebanon also contain some religious schools that have their own way of teaching and  curriculum, where they teach some subject that are related to religion. Also there is public and private schools and they have different styles of learning and different teaching methods.

As a conclusion, the education in Lebanon is in between the western and eastern education but more attracted toward eastern, in Lebanon they are working on following the technology in learning process by preparing the future teachers and by doing some changes to the curriculum but slowly.

Cyclotron

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is about a type of accelerators.

The first cyclotron was developed and patented by Ernest Lawrence in 1932 at the University of California, Berkeley. A graduate student, M. Stanley Livingston, did much of the work of translating the idea into working hardware. At the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley Lawrence constructed a series of cyclotrons which were the most powerful accelerators in the world at the time; a 69 cm (27 in) 4.8 MeV machine (1932), a 94 cm (37 in) 8 MeV machine (1937), and a 152 cm (60 in) 16 MeV machine (1939). Lawrence received the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for this work.

Construction

It consists of a hollow metal cylinder divided into two sections D1 and D2 called Dees, enclosed in an evacuated chamber. The Dees are kept separated and a source of ions is placed at the center in the gap between the Dees. They are placed between the pole pieces of a strong electromagnet. The magnetic field acts perpendicular to the plane of the Dees. The Dees are connected to a high frequency oscillator.

Application In medicine

Cyclotrons can also be used to treat cancer. Ion beams from cyclotrons can be used, as in proton therapy, to penetrate the body and kill tumors by radiation damage, while minimizing damage to healthy tissue along their path. The PET/CT machines rely on positron-emitting fluorine-18,which is a drug, that contain radioactive nuclei which undergo beta decay by the emission of positrons.
It is produced by proton cyclotrons and are used for imaging and study of organ function.

The big Rip

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is about how will the universe ends.

The first theory claims the Universe will end with a Big Rip, as the pull of the Universe's expansion gets stronger than the gravity it contains. This would tear apart galaxies, followed by black holes, stars and even our own planet.

Earth, and humanity with it, could slowly decay into radiation, collapse in on itself or be ripped apart as the Universe's expansion ramps up. This would leave the Universe full of single, disconnected particles.

Until around five billion years ago, the Universe's growth was slow due to its strong gravitational pull. More recently, this expansion increased, with many attributing it to the effects of dark energy. For a Big Rip to occur, dark energy must win in its battle with gravity to such a point that it can rip apart individual atoms.

Last year, Marcelo Disconzi, assistant professor of mathematics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, in collaboration with physics professors Thomas Kephart and Robert Scherrer, devised a new mathematical model for the Big Rip.

This model suggests that the expansion of the Universe will eventually become infinite. Previous models largely ignored viscosity, but in Disconzi's hypothesis, it is viscosity of the Universe that drives its violent destruction. His theory is based on proposals made by French mathematician André Lichnerowicz in the 50s.

List of radioactive isotopes used in medicine

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is part of my senior project.

1.    Molybdenum-99 (66 h): Used as the 'parent' in a generator to produce technetium-99m.

2.    Technetium-99m (6 h): Used in to image the skeleton and heart muscle in particular, but also for brain, thyroid, lungs (perfusion and ventilation), liver, spleen, kidney (structure and filtration rate), gall bladder, bone marrow, salivary and lacrimal glands, heart blood pool, infection and numerous specialised medical studies.

3.    Bismuth-213 (46 min): Used for TAT.

4.    Chromium-51 (28 d): Used to label red blood cells and quantify gastro- intestinal protein loss.

5.    Cobalt-60 (10.5 mth): Formerly used for external beam radiotherapy.

6.    Copper-64 (13 h): Used to study genetic diseases affecting copper metabolism, such as Wilson's and Menke's diseases.

7.    Dysprosium-165 (2 h): Used as an aggregated hydroxide for synovectomy treatment of arthritis.

8.    Erbium-169 (9.4 d): Use for relieving arthritis pain in synovial joints.

9.    Holmium-166 (26 h): Being developed for diagnosis and treatment of liver tumours.

10.                    Iodine-125 (60 d): Used in cancer brachytherapy (prostate and brain), also diagnostically to evaluate the filtration rate of kidneys and to diagnose deep vein thrombosis in the leg. It is also widely used in radioimmuno- assays to show the presence of hormones in tiny quantities.

11.                     Iodine-131 (8 d): Widely used in treating thyroid cancer and in imaging the thyroid; also in diagnosis of abnormal liver function, renal (kidney) blood flow and urinary tract obstruction. A strong gamma emitter, but used for beta therapy.

12.                    Iridium-192 (74 d): Supplied in wire form for use as an internal radiotherapy source for cancer treatment (used then removed).

13.                    Iron-59 (46 d): Used in studies of iron metabolism in the spleen.

14.                    Lutetium-177 (6.7 d): Lu-177 is increasingly important as it emits just enough gamma for imaging while the beta radiation does the therapy on small (eg endocrine) tumours. Its half-life is long enough to allow sophisticated preparation for use.

15.                    Palladium-103 (17 d): Used to make brachytherapy permanent implant seeds for early stage prostate cancer.

16.                    Phosphorus-32 (14 d): Used in the treatment of polycythemia vera (excess red blood cells). Beta emitter.

17.                    Potassium-42 (12 h): Used for the determination of exchangeable potassium in coronary blood flow.

18.                    Rhenium-186 (3.8 d): Used for pain relief in bone cancer. Beta emitter with weak gamma for imaging.

19.                    Rhenium-188 (17 h): Used to beta irradiate coronary arteries from an angioplasty balloon.

20.                    Samarium-153 (47 h): Sm-153 is very effective in relieving the pain of secondary cancers lodged in the bone, sold as Quadramet. Also very effective for prostate and breast cancer. Beta emitter.

Webinar ( STEAM learning in school)

after attending webinar i get the following information:

Many will ask about the meaning of STEAM learning, STEAM is an integrated approach to learning which requires an intentional connection between standards, assessments and lesson design/implementation. True STEAM experiences involve two or more standards from Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the Arts.

During the webinar they discuss the steps to create and use STEAM as following:

1-focus:First we select a question to answer or problem to solve. It’s important to have a clear focus on both how this question or problem relates to the STEM and the Arts content areas you’ve chosen.

2-detail: During the detail phase, you’re looking for the elements that are contributing to the problem or question.we begin to unearth a lot of key background information, skills or processes that students already have to address the question.

3-discovery: In this step, students are researching current solutions, as well as what ISN’T working based on the solutions that already exist. As a teacher, you can use this stage to both analyze the gaps your students may have in a skill or process and to teach those skills or processes explicitly.

4-application: In this step, After students have dived deep into a problem or question and have analyzed current solutions as well as what still needs addressed, they can begin to create their own solution or composition to the problem.  This is where they use the skills, processes and knowledge that were taught in the discovery stage and put them to work.

5-presentation: Once students have created their solution or composition, it’s time to share it.It’s important that the work is presented for feedback and as a way for expression based on a student’s own perspective surrounding the question or problem at hand.  This is also an important opportunity to facilitate feedback and help students learn how to give and receive input.

6-link: Finally in this step is what closes the loop.Students have a chance to reflect on the feedback that was shared and on their own process and skills.  Based on that reflection, students are able to revise their work as needed and to produce an even better solution.

The Use of Iodine I-131 in Radiotherapy

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is part of my senior project.

Radioactive iodine treatment is a type of internal radiotherapy. The treatment uses a radioactive form of iodine called iodine 131 (I-131). The radioactive iodine circulates throughout the body in the bloodstream. Thyroid cancer cells pick up the iodine wherever they are in your body. The radiation in the iodine then kills the cancer cells.

Radioactive iodine is a targeted treatment. It is mainly taken up by thyroid cells, having little affect on other cells.

Iodine 131 is a radioisotope with a very short half-life of 8 days.

Brain PET Scan

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is part of my senior project.

A brain positron emission tomography (PET) scan uses a radioactive substance called a tracer to look for disease or injury in the brain. A PET scan shows how the brain and its tissues are working. Other imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans only reveal the structure of the brain.

Imaging procedure:

A PET scan requires a small amount of radioactive material (tracer). This tracer is given through a vein. The tracer travels through your blood and collects in organs and tissues. You wait nearby as the tracer is absorbed by your body. This usually takes about 1 hour. Then, you lie on a narrow table, which slides into the PET scanner that detects signals from the tracer. A computer changes the results into 3-D pictures. The images are displayed on a monitor for your provider to read.

My E90 💓

Owning a BMW was my biggest dreams of my life,and having a powerful car with special abilities and sport look was a dream for me. working hard and never giving up makes my dream come true, it took me 3 years to save its price.

Now I have my own BMW E90 2008 third series sport package.
Accelerates from 0 to 100 in 6.4 seconds.
Petrol engine type N52 3.0L
Gives a power of 172kW and 231 hp with touque of 271 N.m
Engine consuming of fuel from 21 to 28 MPG 

So if you have a dream work for it, fight and make it true.

Philosophy of Education

This post is from my own research about different types of philosophy of education.


Philosophy of Education


Al-Farabi:

Introduction:

Al-Farabi also known as Alpharabius, was a philosopher and a jurist who wrote in the fields of political philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and logic. He was born in Turkestan, in 872 AD, but he relocated to Baghdad where he studied grammar, logic, philosophy, mathematics and science. He had a great desire to understand the universe and humanity. He was a Muslim philosopher and one of the preeminent thinkers of medieval Islam, he was regarded in the medieval Islamic world as the greatest philosophical authority after Aristotle. (Corbin, 2001)


In al-Farabi’s view, the goal of education is to lead the individual to perfection, where in his view the perfect human being “Al-insan Al-kamil” was one how obtained and combined morality and intellectual knowledge thus becoming a worthy role model for society. This perfection, which he expects from education, combines knowledge and virtuous behavior. This should be one of the main goals of education. The second major aim of education is to produce political leaders.


Al-farabi is also credited with preserving the original Greek texts during the middle age because of his commentaries and treatises, for which he become well known in the east as well as in the west.


Method of education:


Al-Farabi suggests a suitable method of instruction for elite and general class. It may be appropriate to the level of learner keeping in view, whether people belong to the common class or the elite. (Fakhry, 1983) Farabi says that education is necessary for all in the nation. Where in the absence of education, nobody would be able to reach perfection and get happiness. Moreover, according to al-Farabi education should be available to all. Therefore, he says that there are two basic method of instruction one for the common people, persuasion based and for the elite the method is demonstration based.


Curriculum:

in Farabi’s opinion, language comes before rules to enrich the mind. so learning must start with the language, the learner must be like the people who speak that language to communicate with them, without this ability he will not be able to understand them. Which will affect his personality. Next to languages comes logic, which is the instrument of the sciences. After language and logic comes mathematics. Al-Farabi divides mathematics into seven parts: numbers (arithmetic), geometry, the science of perspectives, scientific astronomy (contrasted with astrology), music, dynamics and the science of machines. Following sciences comes theology or metaphysics, then the human sciences (political science in particular), then jurisprudence, law and academic theology.


Teachers role:

According to Al-Farabi morality and learning are important conditions for the teacher. (Shahsavari, 2012) He has to bear a good character and seeks truth in all conditions (Fakhry, 1983). . Al-Farabi knows characteristics of teacher as following:

1- Be healthy.

2- Has a good ability to understand and think.

3- Be a clever and smart.

4- Be a well-spoken.

5- Be a training borrower and its use.

6- Is not greedy in eating and drinking.

7- Be an enemy of a lie and lying.

8- Be a noble and borrower generosity.

9- Worldly comfort in mind not is a much.

10- Justice and people inherently borrower mighty, and the enemy be an evil and oppressive people.

11- Be a mild person, not stubborn, strict and lax.

12- Will have a strong, not cowardly and timid.


Students role:


For students to reach the happiness, they try to connect to the active intellect (Shahsavari, 2012), but there are individual differences in the students. Therefore, al-Farabi divides intellect into three types:

1- potential intellect that studies human talent

2- actual intellect that understands physical object intellect

3- meant intellect that understand abstract forms

So according to al-Farabi students must do all their effort to connect to the active intellect, by this they will earn the highest perfection and happiness.


conclusion:

It can be concluded of research findings that al-Farabi’s metaphysical thoughts are based on Plato’s and Aristotle views. He has integrated the three basic issues, God, the emanation and hierarchy of beings and the internal structure of beings. In addition, according to al-Farabi, the main goals of education the concept of perfect human being is human prosperity. The second major aim of education is to produce political leaders. also it may be concluded that Al-Farabi’s thoughts on education contains ethical morality along with acquisition of knowledge in the fields of language, mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences, jurisprudence, law and academic theology.


Al-Ghazali:

Introduction:


Al-Ghazali was born between March 1058 to February 1059 CE with the original name of Abu Hamind ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali. To many Westerners he is known as Algazel. Al-Ghazali was a Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and a mystic descending from the Persians. He was born in the town of Tabaran in the district of Tus, which is now situated in modern day Iran.

According to al-Ghazali the aim of education divided into long term aim and short term aim. The long term aim is building up a closer approach to god, while the short term aim is the achievement of humans profession based on their talent and proficiencies.


Method:


According to al-Gazali a learning process leads to the right character building (SOUSSI, 2016), so his method divided into three parts:

1- Learning method principle:

· Giving the whole focus of attention

· Considering the knowledge purpose that will be given

· Learning the knowledge staring from the most simple thing to the most complex one

· Learning the knowledge with the critism system

2- Teaching method principle:

· Considering the students thinking levels

· Giving the clear explanation

· Teaching knowledge from concrete to abstract

· Teaching knowledge gradually

3- Educating method principle:

· Giving exercises / practices

· Giving understanding and advice

· Protecting students from bad social interaction


Curriculum:

In Al-Ghazali’s curriculum of education was not strictly defined, but it was flexible allowing students to choose the subjects they aim to study. Since Al-Ghazali did not consider aims of education as different from the aim of life, he essentially suggested a curriculum for student’s whole life (SOUSSI, 2016).


Teachers role:


1- The teachers should be sympathetic towards students and they should treat them as their own children.

2- The teachers must follow the noble example of the life of Prophet Muhammad and teach for giving knowledge only and not for seeking praise or fee.

3- The teachers should adopt progressive methodology whereby, they should make students learn gradually by mastering one stage and then proceeding to the next.

4- The teachers should also encourage students to leave bad habits in a suggestive manner and compassionately, rather than aggressively and embarrassingly.

5- The teachers should respect all sciences, including those that they are not teaching and should not derogate them.


Students role:

1- The students should purify their spirit by freeing themselves of bad habits and other spiritual maladies. Thereafter they will become a vessel where knowledge can be stored.

2- The students must separate themselves as much as possible from their connection with the worldly affairs, as these ties will pull them away from the focus on seeking knowledge.

3- The students should not consider themselves superior to their teachers and should accept the knowledge and learning provided by them. The students should accept advice of their teachers and trust the guidance received.

4- The students should ignore the opinions in contradiction to their thoughts in their selected field and focus on mastering the one and only praiseworthy way as guided by the teachers.

5- Serious students should get knowledge of all branches of science, because all types of knowledge are related and linked to each other.



Behaviorism:


Introduction:

Behaviorism is a learning theory that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts any independent activities of the mind. Behavior theorists define learning as the acquisition of new behavior based on environmental conditions.

Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts as a clean slate and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. the most known contributors are J. Watson, I. Pavlov and B.F. Skinner.


Method:

This theory is relatively simple to understand because it relies only on observable behavior and describes several universal laws of behavior. Its positive and negative reinforcement techniques can be very effective– such as in treatments for human disorders including autism, anxiety disorders and antisocial behavior. Teachers who reward or punish student behaviors often use behaviorism.

Behaviorism is often seen in contrast to constructivism Constructivists are more likely to allow for experimentation and exploration in the classroom and place a greater emphasis on the experience of the learner. In contrast to behaviorists, they feel that an understanding of the brain informs teaching.


Curriculum:

· Organized so students experience the subject matter

· Prescriptive approach

· Step by step structured methods for learning

· Careful analyzing of the learners needs and behavior

· Programmed instructions

· Specify the desire outcome to know what needs to be changed and how it will be evaluated


Teacher’s role:

· Motivates and facilitates learning

· Provide positive reinforcement

· Teachers should offer rewards for correct responses

· Teacher should use repetition and lots of practice
Student’s role:

· students should work and do effort for rewards

· Students behavior is diverse based on their environmental surrounding so they respond differently

· Students respond to stimuli



Realism:


Introduction:


Realism believe that knowledge acquired by senses is true; hence, whatever we perceive by our sense is real nature and the true entity of the world. According to Butler “Realism is the reinforcement of our common acceptance of this world as it appears to us”, and according to Ross “Realism is the real world of things behind and corresponding to the objects of our perception”.

Realist have accepted education as a social institution by which an individual is constructed, the aim of education according to Realism:

1. To teach truth rather than beauty, to understand the present practical life

2. To provide the students with essential knowledge that he will need to survive in the natural world

3. Importance of material studies such as science



Method:


Realism change the traditional system of knowledge to be gaining knowledge through senses by:

· Emphasis on critical reasoning through observation

· Supports accountability and performance teaching

· Education should proceed from simple complex and from concrete to abstract



Curriculum:


According to Ross “just as naturalism comes on the educational scene as a protest against system of training that have become artificial, so realism tends to appear as a reaction against the curriculum consisting od studies that have become bookish, sophisticated and abstruse”. Therefore, curriculum should be:

· Practical and useful

· Highly organized and systematic

· Use the object in education

· Physical activity have educational value

· Extensive use of pictures



Teacher’s role:



· Teacher should be educated and well versed with the customs of belief and rights of people.

· Teacher must have full mastery of knowledge of present life

· Teacher must be able to expose and guide the student toward the hard realities of life

· Teacher must be able to relate between utility in daily life and education

· Teacher should define simple rules

· Teacher should deliver students to perfection



Student’s role:



Student is considered as a focal point of education, hence the student’s feelings, tendencies and faculties cannot be overlooked. The student will have to be enabled to proceed from ignorance to knowledge and to know the knowledge of real, the realist want to educate a student how to become a man so that he can face the real challenges of life.

My experience throughout EDUC560

During this course we learn about creating google account, using google drive for saving info, working on google form to create quizzes...
During that course we learn so much about google applications; google doc., google slides, google drive and google forms. We also used Webinar, which is a nice application that allow students, teachers and anyone interesting in a topic to attend an online lecture about it. In addition to webQuest which we can use to create a website to use in classroom to make thing easier to students. In addition to many other interested applications like kahoot, quizlet, irubric and many more.