Education Commons^™

Prospective Teachers’ Ability To Pose Word Problems, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of this study was to assess difference in prospective teachers’ ability to pose word problems for mathematical expressions involving division before and after an instruction intervention. After the initial assessment of participants’ ability to pose word problems for division expressions, the researcher introduced an alternative model i.e. rate or ratio to represent division involving whole numbers. After the intervention it was assessed whether the model helped the prospective teachers develop word problems for division of fractions. The findings revealed that the prospective teachers successfully posed word problems for division of whole numbers based on intuitive model of fair …

Engagement Enhance Interest In Physics, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

How To Make The Teaching Of Transfer Of Heat More Effective, Muhammad Nabi Khan, Amos Ngugi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Teachers’ Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science: A Comparative Study From Pakistan And Uk, Nelofer Halai, Jane Mcnicholl

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Curriculum designers in both Pakistan and the UK accept that science education for today’s young people should not just be about learning science, it should also include learning about the nature of science. However, together with other research evidence, this article suggests that for many science teachers, teaching about the nature of science might be problematic as they do not have the necessary understanding of the nature of science themselves. This article also argues that there are benefits in teachers across cultural divides sharing their understandings about the nature of science.

Helping Children To Understand Particulate Nature Of Matter, Muhammad Riaz

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Whenever I taught about the particulate nature of matter in solids, liquids and gases, I often had difficulty explaining this abstract concept to my students. The students, in turn, had much difficulty conceptualizing the structure and behavior of the particles, which ultimately led to difficulties in understanding the complex configuration of particles in matter at various levels. This article focuses on studies that reveal students’ alternative frameworks for the particulate nature of matter in solids, liquids and gases. Also, I suggest factors that contribute to these alternative frameworks, incorporating my own experiences in developing an understanding of this concept. Finally, …

Reflection On Learning About Forces, Mir Zaman Shah, Mahmood Ghaznavi, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Force is a basic concept in the physical sciences. It is included in Pakistan’s national curriculum from the primary level through the higher levels. Because of the abstract nature of the concept of force, both students and teachers have alternative frameworks in this area. This was revealed in our classroom discussions on force during the Lower Secondary Science Module of the M.Ed. program at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) in Karachi, Pakistan. In-depth discussions and a variety of activities we carried out while teaching about forces challenged our previous concepts and allowed us to think critically …

How We Think About And Prepare To Teach Physics, Dewey I. Dykstra

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have been preparing physics teachers in the same manner for many decades. Yet, physics education research reveals for some observers disturbing evidence of little or no change in understanding the phenomena occurs as a direct result of physics instruction from elementary school through the college years. The apparent compatibility between these learning results and prevailing paradigm enables the construction of a description the paradigm. If it can be demonstrated that there is even just one alternative paradigm from which powerful alternative pedagogical practice is derived, are we not obligated to change how we prepare to teach physics?

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

Higher Education

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …

The Libraries Role In The Reinvention Of Undergraduate Education, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

Shifting Library Culture:

- Traditional Model
- New Model

Some In-house Strategies:

- focus on instruction as related to collections
- redefine role of liaison
- clarify expectations — link to performance review
- provide professional development
- build prestige (rewards) around instruction
- emphasize faculty voices

Annual Report: October 2003 - September 2004, Care International

Sudan Basic Education Program (SBEP)

No abstract provided.

Why Do Students Abandon Programs Prior To Completion?: An Investigation Into The Phenomenon Of Dropout Students From The Diploma In Hotel And Catering Management, Dit., Ann Teresa

Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine how students experience education at the Dublin Institute of

Technology. What happens to them that influences their decision to leave their course of choice and what can we do to help? In this thesis I have looked at the phenomenon of dropout students from the Diploma in Hotel and Catering Management in DIT and the factors that influence their choice of course and then subsequent withdrawal from this course. I have interviewed a student who has left another course to pursue the Diploma in Hotel and Catering Management to examine if her …

The Future At Risk: Child Labour, Bernadette L. Dean

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Increasing The Angle Of Educational Reform In Pakistan: Through Professional Development, Nilofar Vazir, Alan Wheeler

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper documents the development of a “grassroots” teacher professional development model from Pakistan and region designed around three critical aspects: (a) the impact on classroom teaching and learning, (b) the provision for capacity building, and (c) a mechanism for ongoing support and sustainability. The development and evolution of the innovation is presented in terms of three stages designed to increase the angle of educational reform through total school improvement. The implications of the model as a promising prototype are discussed in relation to the wider professional development needs of teachers in the developing world.

Leadership And Management - Are They Alike?, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper tries to distinguish between the leadership and management constructs to clarify the confusion caused by the loose usage of the terms in popular language. The two concepts should be understood as distinct for theoretical clarifications but not to argue for any hierarchical relationship. The paper tries to define both management and leadership, and then describes several ways the leadership construct is presented in the literature followed by a resolution of leadership definitions. Finally, the paper shares four criteria to distinguish between the leadership and the management functions. The paper concludes by arguing that leadership should be seen as …

Munazza’S Story: Shedding Light On A Science Teacher’S Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai, Derek Hodson

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Life history research creates a broader understanding of teaching by providing illustration of the relationships among various aspects of teachers’ lives and their teaching practice, both inside and beyond the classroom. This article focuses on the life history of Munazza, a young science teacher at the Karachi Model Secondary School (KMSS), a private, co‐educational, English‐medium school for children from middle‐income families. Its purpose is to gain insight into a female science teacher's understanding of teaching science in a school in Pakistan, ascertain what aspects of this science teacher's conceptions of the nature of science are explicit in her practice, and …

Improving Practices In Early Childhood Classroom In Pakistan: Issues And Challenges From Field, Audrey Juma

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This article focuses on an early childhood programme that has been initiated by the Institute for Educational Development at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. The programme is a Certificate in Education and involves training teachers so as to enable them to understand early childhood education and development, and to become effective practitioners in their classrooms. The early childhood education and development programme is a field-based programme of six months’ duration, where the emphasis is on supporting and mentoring course participants as they implement the High/Scope approach in their classrooms and engage children in active learning. The article outlines …

Action Research To Study Classroom Impact: Is It Possible?, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

In recent years, a discourse is emerging in education that emphasises the study of the impact of in-service teacher education on student outcomes (more often than not student outcomes are seen in the form of test scores of academic achievement). Implicit in this discourse is the view that the impact of in-service teacher education is directly observable on students' outcomes, suggesting that the variables in a school or classroom are connected in some kind of a causal link. However, it is problematic to view variables in a social setting such as a school or a classroom as being in causal …

Research Ethics: Significance, Application And Obligation To The Practice Of Research, Nilofar Vazir

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The following article draws upon literature to define the term "ethics" and its application to the practice of educational research. It reflects on ethical obligations that a researcher can take on generally and more particularly for research study specifically on children.