Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 31 - 60 of 67

Full-Text Articles in Education

A Secondary Science Teacher’S Beliefs About Environmental Education And Its Relationship With The Classroom Practices, Salima Begum Jan 2012

A Secondary Science Teacher’S Beliefs About Environmental Education And Its Relationship With The Classroom Practices, Salima Begum

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

Global environmental issues are increasing due to the rapid developments in science and technology. To address these environmental issues there is a need to create awareness about environmental education among the masses. This can only be possible through teachers and teacher educators. It is assumed that science teachers are teaching environmental concepts as scientific facts, without creating awareness about environmental education. The ultimate purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs of a secondary science teacher about environmental education and how his stated beliefs matched with his classroom practices. The study was conducted in one of the co-operative schools …


The Unforgettable Experience Of A Workshop On Pythagoras Theorem, Salima Shahzad Arwani Nov 2011

The Unforgettable Experience Of A Workshop On Pythagoras Theorem, Salima Shahzad Arwani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Science Teachers Through Action Research: A Case Study From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai, Manzoor Ali Khan Jun 2011

Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Science Teachers Through Action Research: A Case Study From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai, Manzoor Ali Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The aim of this study is to analyze the action research undertaken by Khan as a teacher researcher in a private school as part of the degree requirement of his M.Ed. program in Teacher Education at the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development. The purpose of this analysis undertaken by the first author and supervisor of the study in collaboration with Khan was to understand the development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of the teacher researcher through action research in a science classroom in the context of Pakistan. Khan taught the concepts of heat and temperature using an inquiry …


One Step On A New Journey, Salima Shahzad Arwani May 2011

One Step On A New Journey, Salima Shahzad Arwani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Understanding A Pakistani Science Teacher’S Practice Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai Jan 2011

Understanding A Pakistani Science Teacher’S Practice Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of the single case life history study was to understand a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science as explicit in her practice. While this paper highlights these understandings, an additional purpose is to give a detailed account of the process of creating a life history account through more than 13 in-depth interviews. It includes a discussion of what the author calls composite observations where the observations of the teacher and the researcher are presented as a single unified story. Also discussed are ethical issues specific to life history created due to the intimacy created by …


Teachers’ Knowledge About The Nature Of Mathematics: A Survey Of Secondary School Teachers In Karachi, Pakistan, Munira Amirali, Anjum Halai Dec 2010

Teachers’ Knowledge About The Nature Of Mathematics: A Survey Of Secondary School Teachers In Karachi, Pakistan, Munira Amirali, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study presents the findings from a study which explored patterns in teachers’ knowledge about the nature of mathematics. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 200 secondary school mathematics teachers teaching in public and private schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Exploratory factor analysis was performed which showed patterns in teachers’ view about the nature of mathematics. The analysis illustrates that teachers hold contradicting views about the nature of mathematics i.e. mathematics, both as discovered as well as invented body of knowledge. Moreover, teachers irrespective of their professional qualification, considered mathematical knowledge as ‘truth’, where mathematical rules can never be …


Students’ Conceptions Of The Nature Of Mathematics And Attitudes Towards Mathematics Learning, Munira Amirali Jun 2010

Students’ Conceptions Of The Nature Of Mathematics And Attitudes Towards Mathematics Learning, Munira Amirali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Students’ conceptions of the nature of mathematics have a great influence towards mathematics learning. In order to understand gender-wise students’ conceptions and attitudes towards mathematics this study has been conducted in Karachi, Pakistan. This paper examines patterns in students’ conception and attitude towards mathematics by analyzing survey data obtained from 82 students studying in grade eight in a private school context. The survey was conducted using a five-point Likert scale ranging from ‘strongly agree’ through ‘neutral’ to ‘strongly disagree’. The survey findings illustrate that students consider mathematics as a useful subject which is used in daily life routines and facilitates …


Mathematical Notation: Help Or Hindrance?, Geoff D. Tennant Dr Jan 2010

Mathematical Notation: Help Or Hindrance?, Geoff D. Tennant Dr

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

This article puts forward a range of reasons for using mathematical notation, emphasizing the need to allow children learning it time and space to come to terms with it. Examples are given in furthering the argument that the time to introduce notation is after the concept is already fully understood.


Teaching Teachers And Students About The Nature Of Science, Nelofer Halai Jan 2010

Teaching Teachers And Students About The Nature Of Science, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This article advocates the teaching about the nature of science to both pupils in schools and teachers in teacher education institutions in Pakistan. Not knowing about science; teachers tend to continue to teach science as fixed knowledge and not as inquiry and this cycle continues. This cycle needs to be broken. This article first discusses the salient features about the concept of the nature of science and then illustrates these ideas with the help of a simple but a powerful activity which could be used both with teacher educators and pupils in secondary and lower secondary classrooms.


An Appraisal Of The Criticisms Of Educational Research In Recent Years, Sherwin Rodrigues Jan 2008

An Appraisal Of The Criticisms Of Educational Research In Recent Years, Sherwin Rodrigues

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

According to Hodkinson (2001) educational research in the UK has been passing through "a crisis of confidence" in the last decade as a result of several attacks upon its quality. The scope of this paper is to briefly highlight these „attacks‟ on educational research and then focus on one of its primary criticisms for an in-depth analysis. I mainly draw upon the work of Hargreaves (1996), Hammersley (1997) and Hillage, Pearson, Anderson and Tamkin (1998) but allude to other sources as well.


Curriculum Reform In Science Education In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jan 2008

Curriculum Reform In Science Education In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.


New Ways Of Teaching Science, Naheed Anwar Nov 2007

New Ways Of Teaching Science, Naheed Anwar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Breaking The Math Barrier, Bilqees Patel Sep 2007

Breaking The Math Barrier, Bilqees Patel

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Making Use Of Bilingual Interview Data: Some Experiences From The Field, Nelofer Halai Sep 2007

Making Use Of Bilingual Interview Data: Some Experiences From The Field, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper describes the challenges faced, and rules devised, while dealing with bilingual interview data as part of a life history study of a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science while teaching in a school in Karachi. The interview data generated was both in Urdu and English, which underwent a number of processes (transcription, translation, and transliteration) to evolve into “interim texts,” to finally become a part of the data analysis process. I have called these translated materials “transmuted texts,” as they reflect the original, but have been recreated. This paper is significant because as globalization connects …


Learning Mathematics In English Medium Classrooms In Pakistan: Implications For Policy And Practice, Anjum Halai Jun 2007

Learning Mathematics In English Medium Classrooms In Pakistan: Implications For Policy And Practice, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This is an in-depth qualitative study of students learning mathematics in classrooms where the medium of instruction was English which was the second or third language of the learners i.e. they were multilingual classrooms. Moreover, to promote reasoning and learning with understanding, the teachers had introduced group work, mathematical discussion, and mathematics tasks employing everyday contexts and language. Focus of the paper is the complex relationship between the language of instruction and the process of learning mathematics. The study demonstrates that learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms brings added complexity because students moved back and forth from the language of instruction …


Learning To Use Innovative Pedagogy: The Experience Of A Primary Science Teacher In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jun 2006

Learning To Use Innovative Pedagogy: The Experience Of A Primary Science Teacher In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they weThis study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they were exposed to a new and innovative teaching strategy and the process that they followed in using the strategy in the class- room for the first time. Four primary science teachers, among the 22 participants of an 8-week Certificate in Education (Science) in Karachi, were observed and interviewed after the four-day teaching session where they were instructed how to use "Discrepant Events" to teach science content. Only the case of Farhana Batool, a teacher in a private school, …


Reconceptualising The Professional Development Of In-Service Science Teachers In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jan 2006

Reconceptualising The Professional Development Of In-Service Science Teachers In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Pakistan is a society in transition in more ways than one: politically it is still trying to find its place in the democratic nations of the world; economically it is taking steps to move closer to a market-based economy; and socially it is nurturing a more liberal and just society by reining in the religious extremists. In the aftermath of 9/11 stress has been on educational reform in a number of areas including – updating curriculum, improving access to schooling and developing teacher education. Teacher as the agent of reform is slowly gaining currency in Pakistan. The Institute for Educational …


Teachers’ Experiences Of Learning Science: A Case Of Autobiographical Reflection, Nelofer Halai Dec 2005

Teachers’ Experiences Of Learning Science: A Case Of Autobiographical Reflection, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper analyzes the experience of learning science in school of 34 teachers enrolled in a science methods course in the M.Ed. programme offered by the Aga Khan University, Pakistan. The participants were expected to write their reflections after recalling their experience of learning science in school. The findings reveal that the majority of teachers recalled negative experiences of learning science and that the teaching style of their teachers influenced the way they feel about science even to this day. It follows that if teachers are helped to recall their own experience of learning science in the classroom, it opens …


Action Research For Female Science Teacher Development: Case Pakistan, Harcharan Pardhan Jun 2005

Action Research For Female Science Teacher Development: Case Pakistan, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.


Prospective Teachers’ Ability To Pose Word Problems, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi Oct 2004

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 Sep 2004

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 Sep 2004

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 Sep 2004

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 Sep 2004

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 Sep 2004

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 …


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 Jan 2004

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 …


Learning To Teach Science Using A New Strategy: A Case Study Of A Primary Science Teacher, Nelofer Halai Aug 2003

Learning To Teach Science Using A New Strategy: A Case Study Of A Primary Science Teacher, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Constructivism has emerged as the dominant learning model in science educational reform. Despite this, there is a paucity of research studies on instructional strategies that might help the construction of knowledge that is in consonance with the established body of science. The use of activities based on discrepant events in teaching science at the primary level is seen as one way of encouraging this construction. Hence, Science Teachers enrolled in science methods courses / programmes at AKU-IED are exposed to this instructional strategy. The four-member team of science teacher educators, teaching on an eight-week in-service programme, chose to look at …


Ongoing Impact Of The “Advanced Diploma In Education: Mathematics”, Anjum Halai, Munira Amirali, Nadeem Kirmani, Razia Fakir Mohammad Aug 2003

Ongoing Impact Of The “Advanced Diploma In Education: Mathematics”, Anjum Halai, Munira Amirali, Nadeem Kirmani, Razia Fakir Mohammad

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

The Action Research Project in Mathematics Education was undertaken to study the impact on teaching and learning, of strategies introduced in the Advanced Diploma Programme in Education: Mathematics (2003), offered by AKU-IED. This programme is a one-year field-based programme. The main aim of the programme is to develop exemplary teachers who are reflective practitioners. Teachers from sponsoring schools participate in the programme which is designed such that seminars are held at AKU-IED during summer and winter breaks and on Saturdays, when most schools are off. During term time tutors visit the participants in the school. The purposes of field visits …


Mathematics Association Of Pakistan (Map): A Network For Teachers’ Learning, Sikunder Ali Baber Aug 2003

Mathematics Association Of Pakistan (Map): A Network For Teachers’ Learning, Sikunder Ali Baber

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Mathematics Association of Pakistan (MAP) came into being on July 4, 1997, after the conclusion of a course with the Andover Dartmouth Institute of Philips Academy, USA. The participants of the course decided to form a forum that would enable them to take charge of their own professional needs on a sustained and ongoing basis. Since its inception, MAP has initiated several innovative programmes with the aim to create a positive culture of learning of mathematics. Over the period, the qualitative increase in both MAP’s programmatic activities and membership demonstrate that the members value its work and see it as …


Science Teacher Education And The Nature Of Science: A Voice From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai Jun 2003

Science Teacher Education And The Nature Of Science: A Voice From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of this paper is to advocate that tenchcrs be encouraged nnd helped to develop an overt and deaf epistemological understanding of the methods and structure of science, i.e., the nature of science (NOS). I have tried to define the concepts that constitute NOS essential for school science. I also want to highlight some of the challenges faced in attempts to introduce NOS in inservice teacher education in Pakistan.