The College of Basic Education at the University of Mosul discussed a PhD dissertation entitled “A Proposed Program Based on Connectivism Theory for Acquiring Sustainable Development Concepts among Arabic Language Teachers in Special Education Classes and Developing Their Effective Teaching Skills.” The discussion was held on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Umm Al-Rabi‘ain Hall at the College.

The study, submitted by researcher Zeina Taha Hassoun Abdulqader, focused on developing a proposed program based on Connectivism Theory, aimed at enabling Arabic language teachers in special education classes to acquire concepts of sustainable development and develop their effective teaching skills. The proposed program included a range of communicative activities and was implemented with a group of special education teachers to investigate its effectiveness in developing their understanding of sustainable development concepts and effective teaching skills.

The study adopted the descriptive method to develop the proposed program and prepare the research instruments, as well as the experimental method to examine the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variables. A one-group pre-test/post-test design was employed. The Sustainable Development Concepts Test was administered as a post-test, while an observation checklist was used to measure the participants’ effective teaching skills before and after implementing the proposed program.

The dissertation reached several findings, most notably the presence of statistically significant differences between the post-test results and the hypothesized mean in the Sustainable Development Concepts Test, in favor of the post-test. It also found a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-measurements on the observation checklist for effective teaching skills, in favor of the post-measurement. These findings confirm the effectiveness of the proposed program based on Connectivism Theory in enabling Arabic language teachers in special education classes to acquire sustainable development concepts and in developing their effective teaching skills.

The study recommended that the Teacher Preparation and Training Departments in the General Directorates of Education pay greater attention to developing programs and organizing training courses for male and female teachers focusing on sustainable development concepts and contributing to the achievement of sustainable professional development goals.

The discussion committee was chaired by Prof. Dr. Nidal Muzahim Rashid, with the membership of:

• Prof. Dr. Maad Saleh Fayyad
• Assistant Prof. Dr. Saif Ismail Ibrahim
• Assistant Prof. Dr. Shihab Ahmed Hanash
• Assistant Prof. Dr. Lubna Yousif Hassan
• Prof. Dr. Fathi Taha Mishal Al-Jubouri, Member and Supervisor

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