ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Higher Secondary Biology Instruction in Pakistan in Constructivist Perspectives
Author: Zareen, Rafia
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Biology,Science Instruction,Constructivism (Learning),Science Teachers,Secondary School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Teaching Methods,Lecture Method,College Students,College Faculty

The main objective of this study was to investigate the higher secondary biology instruction in Pakistan in light of constructivism. The present study is concerned with, the examination of higher secondary biology instruction, taking into account constructivism as a learning theory, that can be largely examined without considering broader philosophical or the epistemological standpoint of constructivism. Two hundred biology teachers, and one thousand biology students, from one hundred higher secondary schools/colleges were randomly selected out of five districts of Punjab. A questionnaire was developed and used for the collection of data from both kind of respondents (i.e., higher secondary biology teachers, and the higher secondary biology students). The questionnaire was primarily structured to keep the study within the predefined boundaries. Analysis and interpretation was done after data collection. Findings of the study were that constructive understanding occurs in the brains of learners, and teachers can assist their students in enabling more valid understanding to be constructed. Evidence from the present study showed that those teachers who were aware of this, was minimal. Teachers tended to lecture/use telling as an instruction method and were purveyors of knowledge to be memorized and recalled later. Though teachers do use different teaching strategies in addition, but this was minimal. There was little evidence of the teacher acting as a facilitator, guide or mentor to enhance learning, although teachers and students both seem to say that higher secondary teachers take care of students' previous knowledge, and use that prior knowledge to update their current learning. It is found that higher secondary biology students are more positive to consider that their teachers do help them in carrying out different learning tasks. It is also found from the response of students and teachers, that teachers offer support to them and give feedback when and where required, but to a lesser extent.
Perceptions of Teacher Educators&apos; Regarding Teacher Education Program in KPK Pakistan
Author: Reba, Amjad
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Educators,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Education Programs,Teaching Methods,Evaluation Methods,Instructional Effectiveness,Instructional Materials,Educational Technology,Educational Environment

The paper was design to investigate the teacher training institutes in Khyber-Pakhtonkhwa viz-a-viz perceptions of the teacher educators referred to three aspects of teacher training institutes. A survey questionnaire with 31 items grouped under three categories was used to collect data of Regional Institutes of Teacher education (RITES) and Institutes of Education &amp; Research (IER), teacher educators. To achieve the objective, ten RITES and five (IERs) were selected. From each institute five teacher educators were selected randomly. Thus seventy five teacher educators constituted the sample size of this paper. Although the questionnaire was administered to all the respondents, only sixty questionnaires were received after the completion by the respondents.
A Study of Mother&apos;s Knowledge about Childcare and Care Practices in Lahore, Pakistan
Author: Ch, Abdul Qayyum
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mothers,Knowledge Level,Child Care,Foreign Countries,Parent Child Relationship,Infants,Nutrition,Food

The objective of the present study was to investigate the mother's knowledge about childcare and care practices. Data was collected through survey technique from 50 mothers of the different areas of Lahore city including Township, Green Town, Nawab Town and WAPDA Town by convenient sampling strategy. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool which had 24 close-ended questions. The data was analyzed by SPSS to make sure objectivity in the results. The study revealed that majority of mothers are well aware about child care and care practices. The results also explored that how mother's knowledge, education and child ratio affect the quality of child care. The study found that effective mother's knowledge regarding child care had a profound impact on the delivery of quality care practices. The study suggested that the mothers should consult with childcare specialists regularly to take guidance about the proper diet and proper care for their children and should read the magazines and articles related to the childcare practices regularly.
Effect of Teaching of Fractions through Constructivist Approach on Learning Outcomes of Public Sector Primary Schools Teacher
Author: Ilyas, Bhutto Muhammad
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Mathematics Instruction,Fractions,Faculty Development,Professional Continuing Education,Elementary School Teachers,Teaching Methods,Student Centered Learning,Active Learning,Cooperative Learning,Teacher Attitudes,Grade 2,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Program Effectiveness,Constructivism (Learning)

A 6-day (April 11th to 16th, 2011) experimental study as a part of Continuous Professional Development was launched at three districts i.e. Dadu, Naushahro Feroz, Mirpurkhas to enable public sector primary school teachers (PSTs) to translate the abstract concepts of fractions (grade 2 to 5) into concrete learning using low or no cost available resources through a module based on collaborative, activity-based, and learner-centered approach. The present mixed research focuses to evaluate the said training at District Dadu quantitatively and qualitatively. One-group pre and posttest model was used for this experimental study. The 30 (14 male, 16 female) public primary school teachers represented two-stage sample. The t-test analyses revealed that overall the treatment yielded extremely positive and significant learning; however, no significant statistical difference found between male and female trainees' previous knowledge and training effect. The phenomenological qualitative data analysis revealed that the said training was unique. Respondents overall believed that for the first time they practically observed and practiced activity-based teaching through individual and group work, think-pair-share, two-way questioning, discussion, KWL, problem solving, and empathic listening techniques. However there was language barrier to comprehend the module provided in English that was fully tackled by the resource persons who used local language (Sindhi). The researcher suggested measures to overcome the weaknesses for similar projects in future.
Gender Differential Academic Achievement of Students in Single-Sex and Coeducational Primary Schools in Pakistan
Author: Malik, Ra'ana
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Gender Differences,Academic Achievement,Single Sex Schools,Coeducation,Grade 5,Educational Environment,Elementary School Students

Single or separate sex schools have traditionally been a trend in the public sector in Pakistan whilst only in Sindh province, there are coeducational schools in the public sector. The present study was designed to find out the differential academic performance of boys and girls in the separate sex and coeducational schools. From eight randomly selected districts of Punjab, eight coeducational and eight separate sex (equally divided by sex) schools were selected randomly yielding a total sample of 128 schools. All the students in 5th grade of the selected schools constituted the sample of the study making a total of 4448 students, 957 girls and 943 boys from the separate sex schools and 2548 students from the coeducational schools. The age of students (for both boys and girls) ranged from 9 to 12 years with the mean age of 10 years. The academic achievement was operationalized in terms of students' scores in 5th grade primary board examination. The 2x2 Analysis of Variance was carried out to explore the significance of the two main effects i.e. gender and type of school and the interaction of the two variables on the scores obtained by the students. The t-test was also applied to compare the mean scores of boys and girls in the separate sex and coeducational schools. The results indicated better academic achievement for students in the separate sex as compared to that in the coeducational schools. The study concludes that the academic achievement of students, (both boys and girls), was better in separate sex schools as than those in coeducational schools. The study also found that girls' academic achievement was more adversely affected in coeducational schools as compared with boys.
Development of Self as a Concept in the University Students
Author: Rashid, Khalid
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Self Concept,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Questionnaires,Correlation

The current study was conducted to explore contributory factor of self concept among the under graduate university students. BS students of university of education studying in first, second and third years were the population. The sample was selected (70, 70 and 60) in succession of the years. A pilot tested self developed questionnaire was administered. The questionnaire was comprised of 30 items and addressed 14 different dimensions which cause the development of self concept and affect it either way. The questionnaire was distributed to students by the researcher. The data was analyzed through SPSS.
Organizational Learning Culture and Its Effects on Critical Thinking Skills on Female Teachers of Public Sector Higher Education Institutions
Author: Sami Ullah Sabri, Pirzada
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Organizational Culture,Critical Thinking,Thinking Skills,Foreign Countries,Public Sector,Higher Education,Factor Analysis,Women Faculty

Present study determines the effects of organizational learning culture on female teachers' critical thinking skills of public sector higher education institutes (HEI) of the Punjab, Pakistan. The questionnaire from Yang (2003) (21-item) of organizational learning culture and from Naieni (2005) (30-item) questionnaire on critical thinking skills was adopted. All items are developed on five point Likert scale. The values of Cronbach's alpha computed for both constructs are high which represent that data on both constructs are reliable. The KMO measure of sample adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity authenticate that our data are appropriate for the use of factor analysis. The study employed principal component analysis in order to find the validity of the measure of organizational culture and critical thinking skills. This study collects data from 250 full time female permanent teachers in higher education institutes of Punjab, Pakistan. The findings represent that organizational learning culture significantly affects the critical thinking skills of female higher education female teachers of Punjab.
School Social Behavior of Hearing-Impaired Adolescents from Public and Private Schools
Author: Bashir, Sobia
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Social Behavior,Hearing Impairments,Adolescents,Public Schools,Private Schools,Interpersonal Competence,Gender Differences,Severity (of Disability),Grade 9,Grade 1,Special Schools

The present study purports to measure the school social behavior of hearing-impaired adolescents from public and private schools. It was hypothesized that hearing-impaired adolescents from private school are likely to have better school social behavior as compared to hearing-impaired adolescents from public school. For this purpose, School Social Behavior Scale (Ismail, 2002) was used to measure social competence and antisocial behavior. Hearing-impaired adolescents (N = 110) were taken from public and private schools. Findings indicated significant mean differences in school social behavior between hearing-impaired adolescents of public and private schools. Moreover, results revealed significant differences across gender, and hearing levels of hearing impaired adolescents. Mild hearing impaired adolescents scored significantly higher on social competence as compared to severe hearing impaired adolescents who scored significantly higher on anti-social behavior. Mild hearing impaired adolescents scored significantly higher on school social behavior. Hearing-impaired boys scored significantly higher on antisocial social behavior as compared to hearing-impaired girls. Findings are pretty insightful in understanding the role of level of hearing impairment, gender, public and private school system in school social behavior among hearing-impaired adolescents.
Learning Experiences of Higher Education Students: Approaches to Learning as Measures of Quality of Learning Outcomes
Author: Qureshi, Shazia
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learning Experience,College Students,Higher Education,Learning Strategies,Cognitive Development,Educational Quality,Outcomes of Education,Educational Environment,Student Attitudes,Correlation,Measures (Individuals),Study Habits

Learning environment is a vast area and varies from time to time and place to place. In the broader spectrum, a learning environment may be teacher-centered or student-centered. The teacher-centered learning environment lacks active participation of students in the teaching learning process, and lecturing is a predominant mode of instruction. Here, there is considerably less interaction among students as well as between teacher and students. In this approach, a teacher acts as a transmitter of knowledge rather than a facilitator of learning. Student-centered learning environment, on the other hand, is characterized by active participation of students in the teaching learning process. This paper is an attempt to examine the relationship between students' perceptions of learning environment, their approaches to learning and the quality of learning outcomes. The paper is mainly based on secondary sources of information and the review of the literature shows the intimate relationship between perceptions and approaches. The findings of this research show that quality of the students' learning is determined by their approaches to learning; the deep approach leads to better quality learning, and the surface approach to poor quality learning outcomes.
Postgraduate Students&apos; Attitudes towards Research
Author: Shaukat, Sadia
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Student Attitudes,Teacher Education Programs,Student Research,Value Judgment,Anxiety,Positive Attitudes,Relevance (Education),Difficulty Level,College Students,Gender Differences,Age Differences,Intellectual Disciplines,Institutional Characteristics

Students often rate courses in research methods negatively and regard them as difficult. This study used the Attitudes towards Research Scale (Papanastasiou, 2005) to assess the attitudes of 201 randomly selected postgraduate students of teacher education programs from public and private universities in Pakistan. It was hypothesized that students hold positive attitudes toward different aspects of research. This scale consisted of 32 items having 5 constructs: usefulness of research in a career, research anxiety, positive attitudes toward research, research relevance to life, and research difficulty. Data were collected by self-administered approach. Data were gathered from the trainee teachers during their class time. Three programs (B.S honors/ M.A education, (N = 63), M.Phil / MS education (N = 114), and PhD education (N = 24) were selected as a sample of the study. Data were analyzed by using t-test and ANOVA. Results indicated that the males had significantly positive attitudes towards research than the females. Similarly significant results were found on age, different programs of study, and university type.
Approaches to Learning, Perceptions of Educational Environment, Academic Motivation and Learning Preferences: Analysis of Two Universities in Pakistan
Author: Ullah, Raza
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Environment,Preferences,Student Attitudes,Universities,Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Honors Curriculum,Masters Programs,Learning Strategies,Graduate Students,Student Motivation

This study investigated the students? perceptions of the educational environment, approaches to learning, academic motivation and learning preferences at two universities in Lahore. Multistage random sampling procedure was used to draw samples from the two universities. The total sample consisted of 912 students; 570 students from one university and 342 from the second university. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ; Wilson et al., 1997) was used to measure the students? perceptions of the educational environment. Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory (ALSI; Entwistle, McCune, and Hounsell, 2003) was used to measure the students? approaches to learning. The students at the two universities perceived their educational environment more positively in terms of generic skills that they had acquired during the course of study (critical thinking, communication skills etc.) than in terms of instructional practices, workload, assessment and learning resources. They showed greater preference for the educational environment that supports understanding than the educational environment that supports transmission of information. They tended to use all the four approaches to learning (deep, surface, organized and monitoring studying). According to the results of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), the students at the two universities differed in their perceptions of the educational environment, academic motivation and approaches to learning.
Evaluation of the Improvement in the Quality of PhD Theses Produced during 2001-2012: A Case Study of Pakistani Universities
Author: Ahsan, Muhammad
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Doctoral Dissertations,Graduate Students,Doctoral Programs,Student Research,Supervisors,Student Motivation

It goes without saying that the national development of every country greatly depends upon the development of higher education and research. Unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging behind in this area. This can be judged from the fact that since the creation of this country in 1947, Pakistani universities have produced very few PhDs. Therefore, at the dawn of twenty-first century, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was established to improve this sector and since then thousands of students have completed their doctorate programmes and many more are in the pipeline. In quantitative terms, it is a tremendous and commendable development in such a short span of time. However, it is important to establish if this increase in quantitative terms has translated into an increase in quality as well. This is the main focus of the present research. Unfortunately, the outcome of this research highlights that there has been little development in this area. On the basis of these findings, the paper also suggests some measures for further improvement.
School Mapping in Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Author: Sabir, Muhammad Majaid
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Management Information Systems,Geographic Information Systems,Maps,Educational Facilities Planning

School mapping being a form of local planning is dealt as a local subject but has national and international impacts. This is a dynamic process which initiates with detailed diagnoses of the local situation, and on the basis of national objectives and international norms, provides for future educational needs at the local level and to indicates the obligatory measure required to achieve these needs. Ironically, local and national planners in Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan still show reluctance in using School Mapping Techniques. As a result the resources are misused, supervision becomes difficult and ghost and un-operational schools are not uncommon. This qualitative study focuses to address the customary conditions of school mapping in twenty four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for diagnosis of the major factors that make the educational planners reluctant and in addition to determine the causes of not realizing its importance in Educational Management Information System (EMIS). This makes the study unique as no such effort has ever made before in the area to probe the matter and suggest remedies. Data were collected by means of interview schedule with dealing EMIS managers at provincial level of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and Executive District Officers of Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Kohat, Karak, Charsadda, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts while from the rest of sixteen districts telephonic conversation was focused as a major tool for collecting data. The results show that respondents both at Provincial and District level are well aware of the importance of school mapping but were reluctant to implement it practically due to very minor or no reasons.
Implementing State Policy: Effects on Enrollment at One University
Author: Zientek, Linda Reichwein
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Program Implementation,State Policy,Educational Policy,Universities,Enrollment,Predictor Variables,Grade 11,High School Students,College Freshmen,Mathematics Achievement,Student Placement,Acceleration (Education),Exit Examinations,Enrollment Trends,Scores,College Mathematics

Statewide policies can impact enrollment patterns of students. At one Texas University, 11th-grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores were predictive of success in students' first college-level mathematics course, but many students--those most at risk of failure--seem to have avoided taking a mathematics course in their first year at the institution. When placement accelerates a student's path through precollege-level sequences, it is not clear that the reduction of time to college-level coursework is concomitantly achieved. We recommend emphasizing the importance of completing mathematics courses early in students' academic careers.
Career Selection: Role of Parent&apos;s Profession, Mass Media and Personal Choice
Author: Saleem, Noshina
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Influence,Occupations,Mass Media Effects,Career Choice,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,College Students,Student Characteristics

This study explores the effects of &quot;parent?s profession,&quot; &quot;mass media&quot; and &quot;personal choice&quot; on students? career selection. The data was collected through online survey method by employing Systematic Random Sampling technique from the first semester students of three leading business schools of Lahore. This study validates that &quot;parent's profession&quot; has influence on students? career choice. Similarly, &quot;personal choice&quot; has strong and direct impact on students? career selection. Moreover, this study claims that media is also playing a significant role in career selection. In addition, all three factors including &quot;parent?s profession,&quot; &quot;mass media&quot; and &quot;personal choice&quot; have mutual influence on career choice of students as well. The study claims that &quot;mass media&quot; and &quot;personal choice&quot; have more impact than parents profession influence on students? career choices.