Gulf College, General Foundation Program Quality Audit, Mar 2018
 
Dr. Barry Hughes
 
Dr Barry Hughes has been an academic staff member of the University of Melbourne since 1986, and is now a Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, he undertook undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland. After doctoral studies in applied mathematics at the Australian National University, he undertook postdoctoral work in the United States at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester; the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland; and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota. Before joining the University of Melbourne, he worked at the Australian National University, and the Royal Military College of Australia. His research interests include stochastic modelling (random walks, random environments, power-law phenomena, stochastically evolving networks), continuum modelling, and methods of applied mathematics, with applications in the physical, social and life sciences and increasingly directed towards developmental biology. He is the author of the two-volume book, “Random Walks and Random Environments” (Oxford University Press). Dr Hughes is actively involved in higher education policy. He was Chair of Selection Procedures Committee at the University of Melbourne (2005-2014), was Executive Director of the National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences Research in Australia (which reported in 2006) and contributed to the development of the Decadal Plan for the Mathematical Science in Australia 2016-2025. He has participated in and chaired discipline reviews of mathematics at several universities for the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment, Saudi Arabia. 
 
Prof. David Palfreyman
 

Prof. David Palfreyman teaches in University College at Zayed University, UAE, contributes to faculty and curriculum development for the university, and edits an online journal, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives http://lthe.zu.ac.ae. He holds a PhD in Language Studies and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Before joining Zayed University, he worked with students and educators in Turkey and in the UK, as well as teaching in Italy and Spain. His current research interests include student learning styles, e-learning and the contributions of sociocultural context to university learning. He has published several articles in the field of language and university education, and co-edited two collections, Learner Autonomy Across Cultures and Learning and Teaching Across Cultures in Higher Education, both published by Palgrave Macmillan.


 
Dr. Salim Abdullah Al-Naibi
 
Dr. Salim Abdullah Al-Naibi works for the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman, in the College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa (CAS-Nizwa). He is an Associate Professor of Educational Technology. He worked as a Dean of CAS-Nizwa from July 2005 to June 2008 and from July 2011 to June 2014. Before that he worked as a Deputy Director General for the Colleges of Education for one year from 2003 to 2004, and the Head of the Learning Resources Centre in CAS-Nizwa from 1995-2003. From 1985 to 1995 he worked in the Ministry of Education as a teacher and a supervisor of English in general education, as well as a teacher trainer.He received a B.Ed. in the teaching of English as a second language (TESL) from Bristol University, UK in 1990 and an MA in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from the Ohio State University, USA in 1994. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Technology from the University of Birmingham, UK in 2002. His research interests are in educational technology, e-learning and teacher education.