English abstract
The purpose of this study was to present a proposal that aimed at activating the academic communication of post-graduate students to teaching Faculty in universities in oman.
A quantitative method was used in this study. A sample of post-graduate students was randomly selected. The participants were 118; that is 39% of the total of the total number of the target subjects who were in different programs in the universities of Nizwa and Sohar during the second semester of 2009/2010. The research questions are as follows:
1- How effective is Academic communication of post- graduate students to teaching faculty on their academic life?
2- How does Academic communication of post-graduate students to teaching faculty look like in reality?
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3- Are there statisticaly significant differences at the level of (a=0.05) in Academic communication of post-graduate students to teaching faculty determined by university, gender?
4- What is the suggested proposal to activate Academic communication of post- graduate students to teaching faculty in universities in oman?
To collect the required data, the researcher used a questionnaire of that consisted of two parts with 29 items. The first part deals with the ways means of communication. The second part deals with certain dimensions of communication and they are fairness, respect, trust and caring.
The survey questions were rated on a 5-point Likert scale in order to assess the degree of the participants' responses. The reliability factor has been assessed as well by using the Cronbach alpha which showed a very high correlation coefficient (r=0.90),reliability. The researcher used the statistical analysis of different treatment, such as means, percentage weighs, one group t-test and two separate sets (independent t-test). The findings of this study are as follows:
1- The participants' responses show an interest in the variable of the academic communication with teaching faculty with a statistical significance at the level of significance of (0.05). This shows that they care for the importance of academic communication and it has an effective influence in their academic life.
2- The participant s' attitudes towards the variable of communication means and fairness are very positive compared to their attitudes towards variable of respect and trust. however the study shows a negative trend in general in the studies attitudes towards the variable of caring.
3- As the findings show, the traditional way of lecturing, asking for reports and research is considered as the main tool for imparting knowledge to students in the theoretical and scientific specializations, after that come the discussions, using the library and the group work. There is a minimum use of modern technology like using emails and telephone.
4- There are no statistical significant differences at the level of (a=0.05) in Academic communication of the post-graduate students to teaching faculty determined by university, gender.
With regards to those findings, the researcher has put some recommendations and suggestions:
1- The university should investigate the reasons behind the weak interest of the graduate students in the caring variable which is proved by previous studies. This can be done through conducting research focusing on this special variable.
2- Reducing the level of dependance on the traditional way of verbal and written communication and increasing the use of modern innovations in communication.
3- Conducting workshops inside the university to train the members of the teaching department and the students on effective communication which can have a positive impact in bridging the gap in academic communication.
4- Conducting informal meetings between the members of the teaching department and post-graduate students in order to bridge that hinder such communication.
