UMT Education Review

Schools Promoting Social and Life Skills among Secondary School Students in Pakistan

Aisha Naz Ansari — 2025-11-19

In the 21st century, schools around the world are expected to focus on the holistic development of children, inclusive of non-cognitive domains, such as Social and Life Skills (SLSs), since they can enable students to demonstrate social adaptability. International large-scale assessments emphasise non-cognitive domains, globally. Similarly, Pakistan and other developing countries consider the non-cognitive domain in educational policies to be important; however, little is known about the schools developing SLSs among students. This study aims to present evidence around schools promoting SLSs. The research employs a qualitative design, with the sample being selected purposively: students (16), teachers (8), and head teachers (4). Qualitative individual and group interviews were conducted and analysed thematically. The findings reveal that schools seem not to promote SCs and LSs among students explicitly, however, schools implicitly provide certain avenues for promoting such. Particularly, teachers have the power to stimulate social and life skills as teachers are considered role models for students. Moreover, the paper highlighted the unintended contribution of students’ socioeconomic status in the development of their SCs and LSs. Finally, it presents the implications and recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.

Developing Critical Analysis and Argumentation Competence in Higher Education: The Role of Multimodal Pedagogy

Oluwatoyin Ayodele Ajani — 2025-11-27

This scoping review explores how multimodal approaches enhance critical analysis and argumentation skills in university students. It maps existing literature to identify the multimodal strategies used, their contexts, and their impact on students' skills. After accessing 234 publications from Google Scholar and Scopus, 56 peer-reviewed English-language articles published between 2010 and 2023 were analyzed. Empirical studies and theoretical papers were included, while non-peer-reviewed publications, dissertations, conference abstracts, and unrelated articles were excluded. Through a rigorous screening process, the review assessed the quality and credibility of studies, offering valuable insights for educators and policymakers on effective multimodal techniques in higher education.

Metacognitive awareness and academic achievement: the mediating role of students engagement

Asfaw Tsega — 2025-12-02

Despite ongoing educational reforms in Ethiopia, a significant proportion of secondary school students experience low academic performance, which is mainly reflected in poor examination results and high dropout rates.This study was aimed to investigate how metacognitive awareness impacts academic academic achievement of secondary school students using students engagement as a mediating variable. Data was collected from 180 secondary school students (101 females,79 males) using metacogntive awareness inventory and students engagement scales. The collected data was analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation, stepwise regression, and path analyses. The findings revealed that metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation showed significant positive correlation with academic achievement.This indicates that students with higher levels of metacognitive awareness tend to achieve higher academic success. The finding also indicated metacognitive knowledge and metacogntive regulation emerged as significant predictors of academic achievement. However, path analysis indicated metacognitive knowledge was the only direct significant predictor of academic achievement.This implied that, improving students’ knowledge of cognition, connection with their school and curiosity about their learning tasks can boost students’ academic achievement of secondary school students.

EFFECT OF INQUIRY-BASED TEACHING ON PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL

Asma Sayyam — 2025-12-10

Inquiry-based teaching (IBT), coupled with the integration of Advance Organizers (AO), on the cultivation of problem-solving skills among students at the secondary level, is of considerable importance due to the nature of concepts and the ever-changing application of scientific concepts. In a world marked by the distinctive challenges of the 21st century, this study seeks to contribute to the ongoing discourse on education reform by addressing the pressing need to equip students with the skills necessary to navigate and solve complex problems effectively. The objective study was to enhance students' problem-solving skills, recognizing them as one of the pivotal competencies for success in both academic and real-world contexts. By concentrating on the realm of physics at the secondary level, the study aims to uncover insights that are not only academically relevant but also translatable to broader educational practices. This study investigated the effect of IBT and AO by using a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design with intact groups, focusing on the Kinematics and Dynamics units within the physics curriculum. Here in for this study, existing groups were taken to check the effect on students in natural settings. So, the intact groups were taken which minimized the possible effects of reactive arrangements. One of the groups was randomly taken as an experimental group and the other was considered as a control group. The intervention was done for 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday of each week for six weeks. The experimental group was taught using inquiry-based teaching and the inclusion of advanced organizers developed by the researchers. A test to measure problem-solving skills was developed by researchers and was used as pre and post-assessment. Analyzed data revealed that IBT using advance organizers has a positive effect in the areas of problem-solving skills of learners. It was concluded that in general IBT with the inclusion of Advance Organizers had a significant effect.

Impact of Human Resource Planning on Organisational Performance in Colleges of Education in Oyo State, Nigeria

Saheed Oyeniran — 2025-12-24

This study investigated how human resource planning impacts organizational performance in Colleges of Education in Oyo State, Nigeria. A descriptive-survey correlation design with a quantitative approach was used. Data were collected from 384 respondents using two researcher-developed questionnaires and analyzed with median and Partial Least Square Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via Smart PLS 4.3.2. The findings showed that both human resource planning and organizational performance levels in these Colleges of Education were high. Additionally, there was a significant positive relationship between human resource planning and organizational performance. The study concludes that effective human resource planning greatly enhances the organizational performance of teachers in Colleges of Education, contributing to the achievement of educational objectives. It recommends, among other things, sustaining high organizational performance by ensuring an adequate number of qualified staff to meet the rising student enrollment in Colleges of Education across the State.