UMT Education Review

Professional Competence of Teachers and School Climate: A Conceptual Perspective

Hamid Ali Nadeem — 2024-06-28

This paper explores the conceptual perspective of professional competence of teachers and the school climate. Professional competence is explained in terms of professional knowledge, teachers’ disposition, and their professional skills. Professional education courses in teacher training institutes play a crucial role in developing professional competence among teachers. These courses equip teachers for instructional planning, classroom management, assessment and evaluation and creating and managing a conducive learning environment. They also emphasize building a congenial relationship between the school and the community, aligning with various domains of school climate. School climate encompasses the cumulative experiences of students, teachers, and head teachers about different aspects of the institution. This conceptual paper conducts an extensive theoretical review of over 135 research articles on both professional competence and school climate, examining their concepts, dimensions, and measuring methods. Given the common factors of both the concepts, a conceptual linkage has been established. This paper aims to enhance understanding of professional competence and school climate and their interrelationship with various influencing factors.

Educational Research for the Future

Norman Reid — 2024-06-28

This review paper reflects on the findings of two major educational texts. These reveal some of the underlying principles that underpin aspects of learning. The two books also shed light on why much educational research today is making minimal impact, in terms of benefiting both teachers and learners. Although the two books start from very different perspectives, there is a considerable overlap in the findings they present, and offer common ground in suggesting ways forward in developing educational research of much higher quality. These books, along with the numerous references cited in them, offer a clear framework for the future. This review paper seeks to summarise some of the key findings, drawing in selected related literature as needed. The findings are relevant for teachers, teacher trainers, researchers as well as education policy-makers.

Elementary Science Teachers’ Perceptions of Science Quizzes

Farkhunda Rasheed Choudhary — 2024-06-28

This study investigated the perception of science teachers about science quizzes at elementary level employing survey method. The population of this study comprised all science teachers working at elementary level in public schools of District Rawalpindi during 2019. The sample consisted of 105 science teachers working in public schools of tehsil Kallar Syedan, District Rawalpindi. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher and validated by experts, which was then administered to the sample. Frequency and percentage of each statement were calculated to analyze the data. The study examined the perception of science teachers about usefulness of quizzes, effect of quizzes on instructor and effect of quizzes on improving academic performance. Findings of the study showed that teachers perceive quizzes as an effective way of improving students’ grades of. Quizzes serve multiple beneficial purposes, including promoting regularity among students, improving study habits, motivating them, fostering, and ultimately increasing both students’ learning and retention. Additionally, administration of quizzes particularly at the start of day can drift learners directly into the topic and provide a quick review of previously learnt material. Regularly scheduled quizzes enable teachers to know whether certain topics need to be taught again or not. It is recommended that work load of teachers be reduced and facilities be provided, particularly to science teachers to conduct frequent quizzes. This, in turn, is expected to enhance students’ performance at end of course exam.

Effectiveness of Outdoor Learning Activities: Perspectives of Primary School Teachers

Sehar Rashid — 2024-06-28

Students who participate in a variety of outdoor activities improve their problem-solving skills, acquire useful knowledge, strengthen their resilience in the face of adversity, and form a closer bond with nature. Engaging students in outdoor learning activities offers a means of fostering nature interactions within the school setting. The study aimed to explore teachers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of outdoor learning activities. This study was descriptive in nature and adopted survey method to collect data from the participants. The sample comprised of 270 primary school teachers in the Sialkot district. A questionnaire was developed to assess the effectiveness of outdoor learning at primary level, comprising 21 statements related to cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning of primary school students. Findings of the study revealed that primary school teachers perceive outdoor learning activities effective for the development of cognitive, affective and psychomotor abilities of primary school students. However, there are significant differences in perspectives between male and female teachers regarding the effectiveness of outdoor learning at primary school level. It is recommended that professional training should be conducted to train teachers to incorporate outdoor learning activities effectively into primary education.

Impact of Academic Stress on Motivation and Academic Achievement of Undergraduates

Hina Jabeen — 2024-06-28

The current study analyzes the impact of academic stress on motivation and academic achievement of undergraduates. The nature of the study is quantitative and survey research design was used. Students of University of Sargodha were selected as the population for this research. The sample was taken from four faculties and seven departments through multistage convenient sampling technique. Data was collected from 565 undergraduate students by using two adaptive questionnaires. Students’ academic performance was measured through cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Data was analyzed through SPSS version 22. The descriptive statistics (mean, media, mode, standard deviation and normality test) and inferential statistics (correlation, regression and t-test) were used for data analysis. The findings showed insignificant gender differences among academic stress, learning motivation, and the academic performance of the university students.

Effects of Social Support on Academic Resilience of Undergraduate Students

Tooba Saleem — 2024-06-28

The current study aims at investigating the effect of social support on the academic resilience of undergraduate students. Students experience multiple academic challenges due to their transition to higher education. These challenges pave way for social support to significantly reduce stressful academic experiences to foster persistence among the learners. The support experiences by students focuses on informational support, esteem support, motivational support, and venting support. These support experiences facilitate students in resolving academic issues while preparing for their assignments, quizzes and exams. The current research used causal comparative research to study the above-mentioned constructs. The multistage stratified sampling technique was used to draw the sample (n=600) of undergraduate students from Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU). The findings of the study revealed that social support significantly influence academic resilience (p= .000) and its sub constructs perseverance (p= .000), reflective and adaptive-help seeking (p= .000), and negative affect and emotional response (p= .000). Furthermore, esteem support, motivational support, and venting support significantly influence academic resilience (p= .000) of students. It can be concluded that students experience high levels of social support in sorting their academic problems and receiving emotional assistance. It can be further suggested that interactive learning strategies should be adopted for thorough understanding of concepts and ensuring hands-on experiences for students to instill soft/digital skills.

Balancing Work-Life: Examining the Career Decisions of Women Educational Leaders

Diana Ambrose — 2024-06-28

This research study explores the growth of career patterns in women and the factors affecting their career decisions. For women to participate in society, the male-dominated culture was challenged when women decided to have a strong footing in leadership positions and at the same time balance work and life. Therefore, it was necessary to investigate what made these women career-oriented, while simultaneously managing their homes. This qualitative research using the narrative technique examined the causes that led women leaders to work toward their career development. It also investigated as to how this decision affected their lives. Through purposive sampling, eight department heads from different universities in Karachi were selected and interviewed. Through thematic analysis, the data was analyzed. This study implies that women are aware of the effects of their decisions still they pursue their careers because their cause is more important to them. In conclusion, this study contributes to understanding the factors influencing women's career decisions and the impact of these decisions on their lives.