title: Digital competencies of high school mathematics teachers in Pakistan

authors: Jafri, Mairaj

abstract: The dynamic demands of the contemporary educational landscape, which includes a variety of digital tools and resources, require teachers to develop digital competencies. This need is particularly pertinent for mathematics teachers in developing countries like Pakistan, where there is a requirement to bridge the digital divide and equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to integrate digital resources into their teaching practices. Prior research has acknowledged the importance of integrating digital resources in education; however, there is limited research on the challenges and opportunities that high school mathematics teachers encounter when using digital resources in resource-constrained environments like Pakistan.
This study aimed to investigate the digital competencies of high school mathematics teachers in Pakistan, focusing on their knowledge, beliefs, practices, and experiences in integrating digital resources into mathematics teaching and learning. To achieve this aim, the study adapted the “Digital Competencies for Teaching Mathematics with Technology” (DCTMT) framework. Employing a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, the study was divided into two phases for data collection. In Phase 1, quantitative data were collected through an online survey, which received a total of 306 responses. I analysed the survey data using descriptive (Mean, Mode, Median, and Standard Deviation) and inferential (intra- and inter-construct Spearman’s rho (⍴) correlation tests) statistics. To further understand and explain important quantitative results, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Phase 2 with six (Phase 1) teachers. I analysed the qualitative data using pre-identified themes and sub-themes based on the constructs of the DCTMT framework.
The results of both phases indicated that teachers held firm beliefs about various aspects of mathematics education. Teachers expressed strong beliefs about pedagogical practices and held positive beliefs about the importance of digital resources for teaching and learning mathematics. Correlations were observed between beliefs, teachers' reported ability to create videos, knowledge of dynamic graphing software (DGS) and equation editors, and participation in professional training. The findings revealed that most teachers possessed some level of digital competency. Teachers predominantly relied on videos and graphics, indicating potential bias and a gap in their professional development and training. They lacked access to (particularly at school) and possessed a weak knowledge of mathematics-specific digital resources like Dynamic Graphing Software (DGS). Other factors, such as lack of resources, inadequate formal training, and limited professional development opportunities, hindered their ability to integrate digital resources into their teaching and learning of mathematics. However, the results indicated that teachers could overcome some of these challenges through resilience and self-learning initiatives.
The study findings suggest that equipping teachers with appropriate resources and targeted professional development could enhance their digital competencies. This would consequently promote equitable and diverse use of digital resources in mathematics education. Within the confines of resource-constrained environments, these findings support for nurturing teachers' resilience and cultivating a self-learning attitude among them. Teachers who equip themselves with digital skills receive training and have the confidence to integrate digital resources to develop digital competencies, irrespective of resource constraints.
This thesis contributes to the understanding of high school mathematics teachers' digital competencies in Pakistan and indicates the opportunities and obstacles they encounter while using digital resources. This research inquiry provides empirical evidence for the modified DCTMT framework and reveals significant interconnections between the five constructs of the framework. The study reveals critical insights into the intricate relationship between beliefs, access to resources, and competencies in utilizing digital tools for mathematics education. This thesis establishes a compelling link between training, self-learning, teachers' resilience, and their digital competencies, highlighting the dynamic interplay that shapes mathematics teachers' digital competencies. This thesis offers implications for teachers’ professional development, curriculum design, and policy formulation. It emphasizes the importance of supporting teachers with the resources and knowledge to integrate digital resources and enhance mathematics education in resource-constrained contexts.

text: Digital competencies of high school mathematics teachers in Pakistan The dynamic demands of the contemporary educational landscape, which includes a variety of digital tools and resources, require teachers to develop digital competencies. This need is particularly pertinent for mathematics teachers in developing countries like Pakistan, where there is a requirement to bridge the digital divide and equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to integrate digital resources into their teaching practices. Prior research has acknowledged the importance of integrating digital resources in education; however, there is limited research on the challenges and opportunities that high school mathematics teachers encounter when using digital resources in resource-constrained environments like Pakistan.
This study aimed to investigate the digital competencies of high school mathematics teachers in Pakistan, focusing on their knowledge, beliefs, practices, and experiences in integrating digital resources into mathematics teaching and learning. To achieve this aim, the study adapted the “Digital Competencies for Teaching Mathematics with Technology” (DCTMT) framework. Employing a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, the study was divided into two phases for data collection. In Phase 1, quantitative data were collected through an online survey, which received a total of 306 responses. I analysed the survey data using descriptive (Mean, Mode, Median, and Standard Deviation) and inferential (intra- and inter-construct Spearman’s rho (⍴) correlation tests) statistics. To further understand and explain important quantitative results, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Phase 2 with six (Phase 1) teachers. I analysed the qualitative data using pre-identified themes and sub-themes based on the constructs of the DCTMT framework.
The results of both phases indicated that teachers held firm beliefs about various aspects of mathematics education. Teachers expressed strong beliefs about pedagogical practices and held positive beliefs about the importance of digital resources for teaching and learning mathematics. Correlations were observed between beliefs, teachers' reported ability to create videos, knowledge of dynamic graphing software (DGS) and equation editors, and participation in professional training. The findings revealed that most teachers possessed some level of digital competency. Teachers predominantly relied on videos and graphics, indicating potential bias and a gap in their professional development and training. They lacked access to (particularly at school) and possessed a weak knowledge of mathematics-specific digital resources like Dynamic Graphing Software (DGS). Other factors, such as lack of resources, inadequate formal training, and limited professional development opportunities, hindered their ability to integrate digital resources into their teaching and learning of mathematics. However, the results indicated that teachers could overcome some of these challenges through resilience and self-learning initiatives.
The study findings suggest that equipping teachers with appropriate resources and targeted professional development could enhance their digital competencies. This would consequently promote equitable and diverse use of digital resources in mathematics education. Within the confines of resource-constrained environments, these findings support for nurturing teachers' resilience and cultivating a self-learning attitude among them. Teachers who equip themselves with digital skills receive training and have the confidence to integrate digital resources to develop digital competencies, irrespective of resource constraints.
This thesis contributes to the understanding of high school mathematics teachers' digital competencies in Pakistan and indicates the opportunities and obstacles they encounter while using digital resources. This research inquiry provides empirical evidence for the modified DCTMT framework and reveals significant interconnections between the five constructs of the framework. The study reveals critical insights into the intricate relationship between beliefs, access to resources, and competencies in utilizing digital tools for mathematics education. This thesis establishes a compelling link between training, self-learning, teachers' resilience, and their digital competencies, highlighting the dynamic interplay that shapes mathematics teachers' digital competencies. This thesis offers implications for teachers’ professional development, curriculum design, and policy formulation. It emphasizes the importance of supporting teachers with the resources and knowledge to integrate digital resources and enhance mathematics education in resource-constrained contexts.

year: 2024-07-15

title: MacKinder meets Buzan: A Geopolitical Extension to Security complex Theory with an emphasis on the Polar Regions

authors: Gibbs, Denis Richard

subjects: Shatterbelts

abstract: Throughout the centuries interstate wars have been fought over territory to satisfy the requirement of states’ to secure sufficient land and resources to meet the lifestyle needs and economic aspirations of their citizens. While in the past, the conditions precipitating war were predominantly anthropogenic in their origin, in the twenty-first century, wars are increasingly likely to be the consequence of worldwide environmental degradation. Two environmental conditions that have paralleled humanity’s unceasing drive for wealth and prosperity are becoming significant threats to the security of every state: these threats are global climate change and natural resource scarcity. Although these two threats are global in stature, their impact will initially influence security interdependencies at the state and regional levels. Regional security complex theory is a methodological attempt to explain why traditional – military and political – security interdependencies trigger the aggregation of geographically contiguous states into regional groupings defined by the social condition of amity or enmity. However, strictures embedded within this typology prevent the same methodology from being used to explain regionalisation when threats arise from non-traditional sources or the affected states lack geographic contiguity. To overcome this methodological impediment, this thesis proposes a theoretical enlargement – a “hybrid” theory – which combines methodologies drawn from sector security analysis with essential elements of “externalities” and “Shatterbelts” drawn from Regional Orders and Geopolitics ontologies respectively. To test the authority of the “hybrid” theory, two futuristic scenarios are composed, each representing a possible, even probable, future for the two Polar Regions. Each scenario depicts the world in the year 2035, when the human population and individual wealth will likely be of a magnitude greater than they are today and when the world is also detrimentally affected by an increasingly inclement climate and the declining availability of natural resources. Common to both scenarios are potential changes to the political world order and the growing worldwide influence of emerging great powers in Asia and Latin America. In the contemporary Arctic, the future is already being determined by the inimical politics of oil. In a scenario where the Arctic region has become progressively less sanguine, the “hybrid” theory suggests that antagonisms between Arctic-rim countries will forge the establishment of at least one security complex. There will, therefore, be a security response to the region-wide competition for resources. As the twenty-first century unfolds, the presence in the Arctic of non-Arctic states as resource competitors heightens the probability that established security complexes will transmute into conflict prone shatterbelts. The Antarctic Treaty currently prohibits both the commercialisation and militarisation of the continent. It is an institutional regime that is not due to be reviewed until mid-century. Antarctica is a continent like no other for its legal status remains ill-defined and the existing seven territorial claims attract no universal endorsement. Given this political environment, the “hybrid” theory suggests, that in a world experiencing a severe shortage of resources no security complex will form in Antarctica but, instead the region will become a shatterbelt or the loci for resource wars.

text: MacKinder meets Buzan: A Geopolitical Extension to Security complex Theory with an emphasis on the Polar Regions Throughout the centuries interstate wars have been fought over territory to satisfy the requirement of states’ to secure sufficient land and resources to meet the lifestyle needs and economic aspirations of their citizens. While in the past, the conditions precipitating war were predominantly anthropogenic in their origin, in the twenty-first century, wars are increasingly likely to be the consequence of worldwide environmental degradation. Two environmental conditions that have paralleled humanity’s unceasing drive for wealth and prosperity are becoming significant threats to the security of every state: these threats are global climate change and natural resource scarcity. Although these two threats are global in stature, their impact will initially influence security interdependencies at the state and regional levels. Regional security complex theory is a methodological attempt to explain why traditional – military and political – security interdependencies trigger the aggregation of geographically contiguous states into regional groupings defined by the social condition of amity or enmity. However, strictures embedded within this typology prevent the same methodology from being used to explain regionalisation when threats arise from non-traditional sources or the affected states lack geographic contiguity. To overcome this methodological impediment, this thesis proposes a theoretical enlargement – a “hybrid” theory – which combines methodologies drawn from sector security analysis with essential elements of “externalities” and “Shatterbelts” drawn from Regional Orders and Geopolitics ontologies respectively. To test the authority of the “hybrid” theory, two futuristic scenarios are composed, each representing a possible, even probable, future for the two Polar Regions. Each scenario depicts the world in the year 2035, when the human population and individual wealth will likely be of a magnitude greater than they are today and when the world is also detrimentally affected by an increasingly inclement climate and the declining availability of natural resources. Common to both scenarios are potential changes to the political world order and the growing worldwide influence of emerging great powers in Asia and Latin America. In the contemporary Arctic, the future is already being determined by the inimical politics of oil. In a scenario where the Arctic region has become progressively less sanguine, the “hybrid” theory suggests that antagonisms between Arctic-rim countries will forge the establishment of at least one security complex. There will, therefore, be a security response to the region-wide competition for resources. As the twenty-first century unfolds, the presence in the Arctic of non-Arctic states as resource competitors heightens the probability that established security complexes will transmute into conflict prone shatterbelts. The Antarctic Treaty currently prohibits both the commercialisation and militarisation of the continent. It is an institutional regime that is not due to be reviewed until mid-century. Antarctica is a continent like no other for its legal status remains ill-defined and the existing seven territorial claims attract no universal endorsement. Given this political environment, the “hybrid” theory suggests, that in a world experiencing a severe shortage of resources no security complex will form in Antarctica but, instead the region will become a shatterbelt or the loci for resource wars.

year: 2011

title: Māori, Tongan and Chinese households: Medications and elder care

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: medications

abstract: Research reveals that medicines are frequently not taken as intended, stockpiled for future use, discontinued when symptoms fade or passed to others. Medications are material objects with therapeutic uses that enter into and take on meaning within people’s lives. In this way they are culturally embedded phenomena that carry meanings and shape social relationships and practices. The symbolic meanings given to medications and cultural relations are important for understanding variations in medication practices. Households with elders often contain more medications and have more complex age-related medical conditions. In households where members are engaged in the reciprocation of care among two or three generations, medications within and between these relationships take on a range of dynamic meanings. In this paper, we explore how interactions between household members affect medicines-taking practices of elders and their families from three cultural groups: Māori, Tongan and Chinese. This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

text: Māori, Tongan and Chinese households: Medications and elder care Research reveals that medicines are frequently not taken as intended, stockpiled for future use, discontinued when symptoms fade or passed to others. Medications are material objects with therapeutic uses that enter into and take on meaning within people’s lives. In this way they are culturally embedded phenomena that carry meanings and shape social relationships and practices. The symbolic meanings given to medications and cultural relations are important for understanding variations in medication practices. Households with elders often contain more medications and have more complex age-related medical conditions. In households where members are engaged in the reciprocation of care among two or three generations, medications within and between these relationships take on a range of dynamic meanings. In this paper, we explore how interactions between household members affect medicines-taking practices of elders and their families from three cultural groups: Māori, Tongan and Chinese. This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

year: 2010