TheOutsiderStudent:

HBKUstudentcrossregisteredinTAMUQ

WhatarethedifficultiesfacingbyHamadBinKhalifa
UniversitystudentatTexasA&MUniversity?

EthnographicStudy
BashayerAbduallaAlMohammed
Supervisedby:Dr.Mysti
Date:November10,2016

Introduction
IhaveadreamthatonedayIwillbesomeone,notonlyapersonmyfamilywillbeproud
of,alsooneofthemostsuccessfulwomeninmycountry.Wearealluniqueandspecialina
way.Somemaytrytoimitateothersandbelikethem.Theydontseethepowerofindividuality.
EventhoughIlooklikemymotherandmysisterbutsometimesItrytoseparatemyselffrom
themsothatIcanlearnmoreaboutmyselfandwhataremyinterests. Imfascinatedhow
scienceandengineeringchangedtheworldweliveinthelasttwodecades.Iwantedtolearnhow
thingsworkandmostimportantlyhowtheydevelopedthatswhyIchosecomputerengineering
asamajortostudyinHamadBinKhalifaUniversitystudent(HBKU). AfterIfinishedhigh
school,IjoinedAcademicBridgeProgramtoimprovemyskillsinmathandEnglishtoapplyfor
HBKU. Iknow that it willbea major that willallow meto becreative. Ilike Computer
Engineerbecauseofmanyreasons.Initially,IwillbewiththefirstHBKUcomputerengineering
graduate,secondly,Iwilltaketheclassesinthreedifferentuniversitieswhichwillgivemeafull
lifeofexperiences!Iwillgraduatewiththreecertificatesfromthreewellknownuniversities:
Texas A&M University at Qatar, Carnegie Mellon university at Qatar and HBKU. At the
beginning,IthoughttheuniversitylifewouldbeeasierthanhighschooloreventheAcademic
BridgeProgram.However,itwasentirelydifferentfromthosetwo.
Iwasnervousaboutembarkingonmynewexperiencesatmultipleuniversities.Thefirst
semesteratTAMUQwentperfectlywithoutanyproblems.Ineverfeltlikeanoutsiderinthe
Aggiescommunity.Iwasapartofthem.Theywerefriendlyandhelpful.Iwasnevertreated
differentlybythefacultyandthestudents.WhenFall2015finishedandwehadtoregisterfor
thecoursesthatweshouldtakeinspring2016.IwasshockedtoknowthatHBKUstudentscant
registerfortheircourseuntilallTAMUQstudentsfinishtheirregistration.Thiscausesalotof
problemsforHBKUstudents.becauseTAMUQstudentsregisterfirst,itsreallyhardchoose
professorswewanttostudywiththembecausemostoftheclassesarefull.Myemotionsgot
mixedbetweendisappointed,andunfairness.Thesecondproblemisthatmygraduationmightbe
delayedbecauseofnotregisteringinspecificcoursesinspecificsemesters. Ihaveconducted
thisresearchpapertostudythedifficultiesfacedbyHBKUStudentswhocrossregisteredat
TAMUQinFall2016?

ContextandMethodologyoftheStudy
HamadBinKhalifaUniversity(HBKU)wasestablishedin2010.ItisamemberofQatar
Foundation(QF)forEducation,CommunityDevelopment,andScience.TheCollegeofScience
andEngineeringatHBKUhasdevelopedauniqueprogram.ItisComputerEngineering(CE)
cooperateswithTexasA&MUniversityinQatar(TAMUQ)andCarnegieMellonUniversityin
Qatar(CMUQ)optionaltotheoverallrangeofcoursepresentfromHBKU.Inthisprogram,the
studentwillexploretheworldofcomputerengineeringsystemsandexposedthelifeofvarious
studentsandfacultywithouthavingtoleavehome.Inthisresearch,IfocusedonHBKUstudents
whostudyCEandarecrossregisteredinTAMUQFall2016.Theaimofthisresearchistofind

thestrugglesfacingHBKUstudentsatTAMUQandtopreventthesamedifficultiesforthenext
HBKUcohorts.IconductedasurveyandaninterviewwithaHBKUStudent.
TheonlinesurveywassentinagroupofWhatsAppwereallthestudentin(seefigure
one).Thesurveytookfivedaystogetrespondfromthestudents.Sixteenrespondedwerefound
fromtheonlinesurveythatmadeupoftenquestionsbyGoogleforms(Seeappendixone).In
additiontogatheringthedata,IhaveinterviewedonefemalesophomorestudentinHBKU.The
interviewdidnottakelongerthan45minutesbetweenconversationsandtheinterviewquestions.
Theinterviewwasaudiorecordedwithherapproval.

Figureone:
TheMessagethatsenttoHBKUEngineergroup.

Results and Discussion

Results of Survey
Looking at of figure 2 we can see that half of the students who responded are females and the
other half is males however the majority were freshman and the minority were sophomore. This
data was not surprising for me because the program is new and start admitting only 20 students
in 2015. This may add pressure on HBKU students because if we wanted some changes to be
made, its harder because we are a small group.

I have asked students how many courses did they take in this Fall 2016 at TAMUQ. Eight
students were taken four courses, four students took three courses, three students were taken two
courses, and one student has taken five. This question is related to the registration process for
HBKU Student were we all the last student that register for the courses.

Furthermore,thesurveyquestionsbecamemorespecificabouttheresearchquestion.The
followingquestionwashowmuchdotheygivewantoffive,oneisneverandfivemostofthe
timethattheyfeelanoutsideratTAMUQ.Fivestudentsneverfeeltheyareanoutsider;four
givestwooutoffive,threegivesthreeoutoffive,fourgivesfouroutoffive,andnoone
responsetogivefivethatmostofthetime.Onobservationofthisquestion,mostofthestudent
feelanoutsideratTAMUQ.TheymightnotdoanyfriendshipwithTAMUQstudent.In
addition,theprofessorssometimesdonotexciteus.WhenIsaidthatIamHBKUStudentthey
saidWhatisHBKU?

The following question was about if they are thinking to transfer to another university. 50%
responded no, 18% yes and 31% maybe they are thinking to transfer. It might confuse if most of
the student feel that they are an outsider why they are not thinking to transfer to another
university?

The next quotation about the reasons why do they thinking to transfer to another university. The
answers were: It is very hard being an HBKU Student because we do not usually get the
priority, or the professor we want, or even enough credit and that makes us very late to
graduate. Also, Unorganized advising, no students to ask for advice since we are the first
batch, and having courses in different campuses and, People often try to tell you that the
certificate in HBKU is not very good (compared to other Education City Universities). However,
when we think about it, a greater percentage of the certificate comes from TAMUQ and CMUQ.
Anyway, I will still consider somewhere better if I get the chance. Lastly, So I will be able to
choose my courses freely and study what I want. It is clearly shows that most of the student
upset with the courses registration and the priority of choosing the professor.

In addition, I asked the student about what do they most like about TAMUQ community? I
received a variety of answers for example, Friendly, cooperation between students, helpful, the
event they host, the faculty (professors): they try their possible best to see us succeed,
challenging, and the last comment Its very diverse and there are many activities to participate
it. Consequently, most the student like TAMUQ community as said they are friendly and
helpful.
To know how the HBKU Student are involved in the TAMUQ community, I asked them if they
are a part of one of the TAMUQ clubs or not. Ten students responded as No, I do not have
time, three students responded No, I do not feel comfortable to join the clubs., moreover, two
students responded by Yes. Since most of the student do not have time to join clubs. It might
because of the over loud of course, or they did not feel welcome to accede to the clubs, this
makes sense to the question about a range of how do they feel an outsider in TAMUQ. If HBKU
Student joins TAMUQ clubs, they will feel more welcome as they will cooperate with TAMU
Student.

Moreover, the last two questions were about if they are facing any struggles at TAMUQ if yes
they should list them. In this question, nine of the students said No, five students Sometimes,
and two students Yes. The list of the difficulties was: Difficulty in choosing my professor.,
Not getting the grades that I deserve., Difficulty of courses, I feel sometimes I'm an
outsider just like you said., Taking the course with the professor I want., Registration for
courses and grading system, and the last one Too much work to do.

The last question in the survey was open to feel free to share any experiencers with TAMUQ.
Most of the comment said that great experience, great friends, nothing complain about, and the
last funny comment was Free cold Stone.

Results of Interview
I had an interview with a female sophomore student in HBKU. She is purposive sampling
of this research. I have chosen her specifically because she is the most active student want to
change our problems. She always goes to HBKU admission to find solutions. The interview
made up with eight questions and it was audio recorded with her approval. The first question had
been asked that what made her apply for HBKU? She was applying for engineering in general.
She applied for TAMUQ at first, but she did not get accepted. She heard about HBKU from her
school. She got interested in computer engineering. The next question was how long she has
been in TAMUQ? She had taken three semesters and one course summer. The following
questions was How is your experience in TAMUQ community so far? She said We began with
the hard question. First, I do not feel that I fit so much because you have classes with different
group of people. You do not have the same group of people always. In addition, sometime as I
am cross registered student if I found problem with any professor or I would to change my
section because I do not like the professor. For sure, I do not have the preference as the TAMUQ
student have. Whenever I would like to change any courses or any professor, I cannot. Which is
so bad. In this semester I have to drop one course, I do not prefer to drop any courses. I feel it is
too risky. It will late you graduate. The fourth question was if she is a part of one of the
TAMUQ clubs. She is depending coordinator inside the club. She is not that much active in the
clubs as she has a HBKU class from 12 to 1 pm and most of the activates of the clubs at that
time. She is very comfortable with them. She added They are treat me equally, clubs are
different.
Moreover, I asked her if she wanted to change something in HBKU, what would you
change? She paused for a two second then said This question needs a whole page!
everything. I need them to offer or courses from HBKU. The second thing, we need from them to
give more advice section, because each one of us does not know what should take for the next
semesters. We need advice section as TAMUQ student have and to now our degree plan. The
next question was if you could go back would you go to apply for HBKU again? She sat in silent
then she answers No, because too many problems. The project is not stable till now. If the
system develops, I might apply again. Finally, I asked if she is thinking of transferring to
another university. She said No at all, I would like to present the university even with those all
problems. The last question was if she feels an outsider in TAMUQ. In sometime she felt that
she is outsider. She said Especially the professors, to be fair not all of them. But, when they
know that you are HBKU, their interest decreased. It was very helpful as she talks with
comfortably about her experience as HBKU student cross registered at TAMUQ.
By the end of this research, I obverse that I am not the only HBKU student who faced
struggles cross registering courses at TAMUQ. The survey results showed that most HBKU the
student have the same difficulties. In addition, we mostly need to have advice section for each
student separately. At least we will know to who we went if we have problems with TAMUQ
professors or even course. I hope this research will find succeed to next cohorts student in
computer engineering and the HBKU admission takes consider of all the problems that faced the
student.

Work Cited

"Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (Academics Overview)." Bachelor of Science in

Computer Engineering (Academics Overview) | Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 2016. Web. 24
Nov. 2016.
A Sophomore, HBKU Student. Personal interview. 17 November 2016.
"Purposive Sampling." Purposive Sampling | Lrd Dissertation, 2012.
http://dissertation.laerd.com/purposive-sampling.php. 25 Nov. 2016.

Appendixone