An Exploration of Undergraduates Writing Motivational Strategies
The development of SRL strategies is an important challenge for teachers and learners in the context of academic writing. In addition, research in the essential field of academic writing is lacking, which adheres to traditional teaching methods and techniques for language teaching. The current study tends to fill the gap by exploring the undergraduates writing motivational strategies and gender differences. This project aims to analyze the contextual factors, including the cultural impact of their choice of techniques used in English writing tasks. Data was collected via self-reported questionnaires on motivational writing strategies (Teng & Zhang, 2015). The results revealed mixed findings in the use of motivational writing strategies and gender disparities concerning motivational techniques.
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Motivational Strategies, Writing Strategies, Academic Writing
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(1) Samreen Zaheer
PhD. Scholar, Air University Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Wasima Shehzad
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Air University Islamabad, Pakistan.
Assessing the Impact of Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) for Human Capital Development in Balochistan
Technical Vocational Education and Training Program, also known as TVET, is broadly recognized as one of the most prominent disciplines in the education system. Technical education, as included in Pakistan's national education policy, is concerned with the quality technological human capital leading to a national pool of skilled and self-reliant artisans, technicians and technologists in the fields of vocational and technical education. The descriptive research design was used, and a total of 625 students and 137 TVET institutes of Balochistan participated in the study. The instrument for data collection was an adopted, and amended questionnaire based on study constructs, and data were collected by the researchers. Opportunities lie in the emerging demand for skills in CPEC projects, global markets of Europe, the Middle East and neighboring Gulf states for conventional work and profits, national skills requirements, human capital optimization through workforce skills development, provincial incorporation of skills in major projects.
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Balochistan, TVET System, TVET Practices, Human Capital Development, Government Policies & Strategies, Curriculum Design, Curriculum Delivery
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(1) Shoaib Younis
MS Scholar, Institute of Management Sciences, University of Balochistan Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(2) Saubia Ramzan
Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences Business and IT, University of Balochistan Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(3) Nagina Gul
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences, Faculty of Management Sciences, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering & Management Sciences, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakist
Development and Validation of Tool for Assessment of Prospective Teachers Professional Dispositions of Instructional Planning and Strategies (DIPS).
The present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument by employing quantitative measures for the assessment of prospective teachers’ professional ‘Dispositions of Instructional Planning and Strategies’ (DIPS) in line with National Professional Standard for Teachers in Pakistan (NPST) developed by Ministry of Education (MoE) as policy guideline in the context of Pakistan. The instrument was employed to 424 prospective teachers in the Institute of Education and Research University of Punjab using stratified sampling with the representation of prospective teachers form all programs, semesters, and gender. Five dimensions of DIPS Scale namely, Critical Thinking and Multiple-ways of Problem Solving, Team Work and Cooperative Learning, Collaboration and Cooperation, Enabling Students for Independent Learning, Attainment of Curriculum Goals were identified. The Cronbach Alpha reliability of the instrument was found 0.8. The finding provides preliminary evidence of a valid and reliable tool for the pre-service teachers in Pakistan.
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Dispositions, Instructional Planning and Strategies, Perceptions, Values, Commitment
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(1) Huma Lodhi
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Education, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Ghazal Khalid Siddiqui
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Education, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Multiculturalism and Integration: Challenges, Strategies and Prospects of Students Integration in Educational Environment and Society
The study presents arguments on multiculturalism and integration and aims to look into the challenges, strategies, and prospects of the students integration in the educational environment and society. Reasonable literature exists on its different aspects and the assumed relationship of multiculturalism and academic integration into the educational environment in different countries. The existing literature was identified to review and discuss the concerning arguments on the issue. Different strategies have been reviewed to acculturate with the main emphasis on academic integration before focusing on the interplay of the processes of multiculturalism and integration and the probability for students integration in the academic culture. It was found that multiculturalism and integration interplay in varying ways, and there is a likelihood that students can integrate into a multicultural environment of an educational institute where culturally diverse groups of the students respect diversity and intercultural strategies supported by the host institute which helps them integrate.
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Multiculturalism, Student Integration, Institutional Environment, Acculturation, Intercultural strategies, Diversity.
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(1) Nadia Gilani
Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher Education, University of Okara, Okara, 56300, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Syed Abdul Waheed
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Research & Assessment, University of Okara, Okara, 56300, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Bashir Hussain
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies for Academic Materials: A Study of Undergraduate Students in Pakistan
Metacognitive awareness of reading strategies measures how readers of a text engage with it and think about their own reading processes. This paper presents the findings of a descriptive study on the metacognitive awareness of reading strategy use on the undergraduate students of Lahore, Pakistan. The study makes use of the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), which is a selfreport instrument, and has 30 items on a 5-point Likert scale; it was administered to 500 public and private sector universities students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for analysis through the use of SPSS, version 22. The results reported that problem-solving and support strategies are equally preferred over global strategies. Results of the t-test revealed that students from the public sector demonstrate greater strategy awareness than those from the private sector in all the subscales of MARSI, while no overall significant difference between Humanities and Sciences was found.
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Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), Non-Native Speakers of English, Reading Strategies, T-Test, Undergraduate Students.
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(1) Asma Shahid Kazi
Assistant Professor, Department of Professional Studies,Lahore College for Women University, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Shagufta Moghal
Lecturer,Department of Professional Studies,Lahore College for Women University, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Zoobia Asad
PhD Scholar,Research and Evaluation Department, Lahore College for Women University, Punjab, Pakistan.
Learner Autonomy and its Existing Practices: A Comparison between EFL Students of Various Disciplines in the Context of Pakistan
Learner autonomy refers to a state where a learner seeks the understanding of the concepts more independently, takes charge of his own learning and becomes more motivated and self-supportive towards the learning procedures. The present study explored the existing practices of EFL learners with reference to autonomy practices, in the context of Punjab, Pakistan. The autonomy of the learners was examined through their use of foreign language learning strategies. The sample of the study consisted of 104 university students from arts and science groups. The results indicated that the students of science group were using more autonomous learning strategies as compared to the arts group.
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Learner Autonomy, English as a Foreign Language, Foreign Language Learning, Language Learning Strategies
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(1) Ayesha Butt
Assistant Professor, TESOL, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Faisal Anis
Assistant professor, Department of Education, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Amna Yousaf
Assistant professor, Department of Education, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Developing Entrepreneurship in Pakistan through Higher Education
This research intended to explore deficit and strategies to improve entrepreneurship regarding higher education in Pakistan. The study was descriptive in nature. It would utilize quantitative cum qualitative research techniques. Quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires and qualitative data from interviews. The population was comprised of all teachers and students who are getting entrepreneurship education in Business Incubation Centres (BIC) supported by Higher Education Commission in public sector universities. The sample of the research were 40 teachers and 200 students selected through random sampling technique. Data were analyzed through descriptive and thematic approach. The findings of the study showed that HEC was not playing an active role regarding entrepreneurship and demanded that special funds, infrastructure, and faculty should be provided to promote entrepreneurship. Institutions may offer useful training programs in colleges and universities for better career prospect and also focused on continuous professional development of teachers to enhance entrepreneurship education.
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Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, Business Incubation Centres, Deficits, Strategies
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(1) Nisar Ahmed
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Education,The University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Arshad
SST – Science, School Education Department,Govt. Fazilka Islamia Model High School Pakpattan, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Hameed Nawaz
Associate Professor, Department of Education,The University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Effect of Teaching Reading Strategies on the Students' Reading Comprehension
Reading is an important tool for getting access to information which provides a base to the learning process. Comprehension is a basic pre-requisite for reading to be meaningful. Various reading strategies have been associated with better reading comprehension. The current experimental study conducted in the Pakistani context explored the effect of teaching reading strategies on reading comprehension of students in the subject of English at the higher secondary school level. The experimental pretest-posttest equivalent research design was adopted to conduct the study. The sample consisted of 60 higher secondary school students of a private girls college in Mansehra, Pakistan. Findings indicate that teaching reading strategies have a positive impact on the reading comprehension of students at the higher secondary level. The study has important implications for teachers, students, curriculum planners, policymakers in the field of education and school leaders.
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Higher Secondary School, Reading Comprehension, Teaching of English, Teaching strategies, Pedagogy
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(1) Malik Abdul Shakoor
Ph.D. Scholar,Department of Education, Hazara University, Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Ilyas Khan
Assistant Professor, Department of Education,Hazara University, Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Imran Iqbal Majoka
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Hazara University, Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
Growth and Productivity Analysis of Micro Finance Sector: A Case Study of Pakistan
This study reviews the growth strategies and their effect on the efficiency and productivity of the microfinance sector of Pakistan. The sector needs to have adopted intensive growth strategy instead of extensive strategies of wide expansion in term of physical infrastructure and human resources, which had increased the financial sustainability risks for the credit constrain institutions. The sixdimension model of outreach used in this study also shows that the sector does not achieve the targets set forth for these micro finance institutes with respect to its active borrowers’ outreach. The sector has mainly focused the big cities and urban areas whereas the poverty levels are higher in rural areas. The government has also shown its interest by launching two different types of loan schemes. Among the three different types of institution, the microfinance banks dominate the sector.
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Micro Finance, Growth Strategies, efficiency, sixdimension model.
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(1) Adnan Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Studies and Leadership, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Ilyas
Lecturer, Institute of Business Studies and Leadership, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Nisar Khan
Lecturer Department of Management Studies, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, KP, Pakistan.
Policy Considerations for Designing Effective Anti-Corruption Strategies in Pakistan
This article focuses on analyzing essential ingredients to initiate and sustain a successful anticorruption strategy. The basic objective of this policy paper is to recommend a set of policies based on the lessons drawn from the success of anti-corruption strategies in other countries. Taking Pakistan as the test-bed, it relates to the design, initiation, and pursuit of anti-corruption activities. The article elaborates a six-step anti-corruption strategy suggesting that to eradicate corruption effectively, the country must initiate these preconditions. It should: (1) restore the public confidence by showing political will to fight corruption; (2) restructure its main anti-corruption agency; (3) establish an anti-corruption inter-agency coordinating board; (4) reform the police, (5) initiate programs and curriculum for anti-corruption awareness; (6) establish a watchdog from the civil society with an advisory role. The strategies suggested in this article are based on the successes of anti-corruption agencies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Georgia.
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Anti-Corruption, Accountability, Corruption Strategies, Developing Nations, Pakistan
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(1) Saranjam Muhammad Baig
Assistant Professor,Department of Political Science,Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Oman.