Faculty Members' Satisfaction with the Educational Café Program at IAU-Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the degree of satisfaction of the faculty members working at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University – Saudi Arabia  about the Educational Cafe program. This Café program offers special opportunities to share valuable learning and teaching experiences, ideas and academic skills. The sample, which was selected by the convenient method, consisting of (157) female faculty participants who attended the program. The questionnaire, consisted of 17 items distributed over three dimensions: program objectives, session management and presentations, and logistics. The methods of analysis included descriptive statistics, t-test for the purpose of identifying significant differences between two independent groups, and the Kruskal-Walls test for the purpose of identifying significant differences between more than two independent groups. The results showed that the participants were satisfied with the program in all three dimensions with the program objectives ranking the highest. Major differences appeared between the various faculty specializations regarding the post-session management and presentations, and evaluation of the program as a whole in favor of academic disciplines. There were also differences based on the 'college' variable regarding the dimensions of the program objectives, management of the session and presentations. The study concluded with a recommendation to disseminate this type of program to other colleges for its effect in supporting the culture of experience sharing.

Keywords: Educational Programs, Higher Education, Learning Communities, Saudi Arabia, Training