UMT Education Review

Challenges of Work-Life Balance for Women Academics: A Case Study of Universities in Lahore, Pakistan

Samra Bashir, Muhammad Ilyas Khan — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

To maintain a balance between personal and professional life is important for professionals including academics. Work-life balance helps in achieving and sustaining a healthy work routine that enhances an academic’s effectiveness and satisfaction. In traditional societies, working women often have responsibilities both at their work place and homes. The present study explored that how female academics balance their personal and professional life and what challenges they face in Lahore, Pakistan. The sample consisted of ten female academics selected from two universities in Lahore, Pakistan. Data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data The findings revealed that women academics faced several problems at their homes as well as their workplace. These problems include lack of departmental support in performing tasks and completing assignments. Also, additional duties are assigned to the women academics, other than their teaching jobs. Women academics were also found to have insufficient time for themselves, leaving an adverse impact on their physical and mental wellbeing. The positive aspect found is that women academics have the courage and potential to cope with these challenges by using different strategies. These strategies include not doing work related tasks at home, sharing problems with family members, and remaining calm and determined.

Instructional Leadership Expenditures at Texas Schools: A Multiyear, Statewide Analysis

Tania M. Merik, John R. Slate — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 07:09:52 +0000

This study was conducted to determine the degree to which differences were present in the distribution of Instructional Leadership dollars spent per student at the elementary, middle, and high school levels for the 2009-2010 through the 2018-2019 school years in Texas. Through the use of inferential statistical procedures, statistically significant differences were established. The amount of Instructional Leadership dollars spent per pupil were highest at the high school level, followed by the middle school level, and were lowest at the elementary school level. From the 2009-2010 school year through the 2018-2019 school year, expenditures for elementary, middle, and high schools across the State of Texas increased by only $42, $40, and $48, respectively. Implications and recommendations for future research were discussed.

Keywords: Instructional Leadership, Professional Development, Principal; Funding, Financial Expenditures, Texas Education Agency, Public Education Information Management System, Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Impact of Internship on the Employability Skills of Students at University Level

Faiza Shaheen, Maham Muzamil, Maria Shiraz — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Internships are a great opportunity for university students to engage in job-relevant activities and enhance their chances of employability. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between internships and the employability of students. The target population for this quantitative study was students of the graduate level in government universities of Lahore, Pakistan. The sample of the study was 291 students selected through convenience sampling from four universities in Lahore. All data were collected through a self-administered and closed-ended questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed using Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result of the correlation between internship and employability showed a significant positive correlation between internships towards the employability of the students at (p<0.001). Independent sample t-test showed that the students having higher CGPA perform better in the workplace compared to the students with lower CGPA. The results of the ANOVA test indicated that Human resource management and Information technology students performed better in terms of getting employability skills which are essential for job employment compared to the Banking, Finance, and Marketing students. We recommend that future research studies should be conducted in other areas of experiential learning emphasizing the importance of internships in relation to employability that is directly linked to the student's job opportunities.

Keywords: Internship, Employability Skills, University Graduate Students

Translation, Adaptation and Cross Language Validation of Revised Version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire’07 (DCDQ’07) in Urdu Language (DCDQ-UR)

Naveed Shahzad, Hafiz Tahir Jameel — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 07:55:58 +0000

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulty in learning physical and performing movement skills, learning new physical tasks and applying self-help skills in day to day life. These limitations at times lead towards range of other psychological and emotional problems. Application of valid and reliable screening and diagnostic tool is a prerequisite to start appropriate rehabilitation services. As there is no screening tool available in Urdu language, the present study aims to translate and validate DCDQ’07 into Urdu language for Pakistani population to identify children with DCD. So far children with DCD have severely been understudied in Pakistan. The study was divided into two phase, preliminary and main studies. The preliminary phase revealed the process of translation and cross language validation of the scale whereas main study was conducted on a sample of 70 children with at risk of DCD to establish psychometric properties of DCDQ-UR. Results demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability, significant inter-item correlation, item total correlation and item loading scores. The DCDQ-UR has proved to be a valid and reliable scale for screening of children with DCD age ranging from 5 to 15 years among Pakistani population.

Keywords: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ), Reliability, Validity

A link between Parental Punishment and Academic Achievement of Secondary Level Students

Mushtaq Ahmad, Muhammad Naveed Khalid, Taskeen Zafar — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 07:58:58 +0000

Despite numerous studies on parental punishment. The present study was conducted to explore the link of parental punishment with the academic achievement of secondary school students. The sample of 400 students (200 male and 200 female) was conveniently selected from private and public secondary schools of tehsil Sargodha. A self-developed questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Major findings were; majority of the students were physically punished, whereas, few were psychologically and emotionally punished by their parents. Moreover, it was found that parental punishment result out as low academic achievement of students. It is recommended that parents should not punish their children and this practice may be discouraged by guiding parents in parent’s teacher meetings.

Keywords: Parental punishment, physical punishment, emotional punishment, psychological punishment, academic achievement, secondary level students

A Study of Promoting the Leadership Effectiveness in HEC Organizations of Southern Punjab Pakistan

Syed Adnan Bukhari, Aqib Ali, Samreen Naeem — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:17:50 +0000

This study inquiries about and explores the mediating role of psychological safety in the relationship between Servant leadership and Voice Behavior (Promotive and Prohibitive). The sample of the study consists of 176 full-time employees of Private HEC institutes of South Punjab and the results showed that Psychological Safety partially mediates (beta value of IV-DV reduced to 0.505) and has a positive impact on Servant Leadership and Servant Leadership has a positive impact on Psychological Safety (Std. Beta 0.487**) and Voice Behavior (Std. Beta 0.664**). The Practically and theoretical implications have been discussed as well as the results confirmed the hypothesis.

Keywords: Servant leadership, Psychological Safety, Voice Behavior, Promotive Voice Behavior, Prohibited Voice Behavior

Analyzing the Relationship between Corporal Punishment and Motivation of Students at Secondary Schools

Asia Zulfqar, Bashir Hussain, Nadia Gilani — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 06:18:31 +0000

The study intends to map the relationship between corporal punishment and students’ motivation in public secondary schools. A correlational research design was adopted to conduct a quantitative survey measuring the relationship between corporal punishment and students’ motivation at public secondary schools. Two self-developed questionnaires were used to collect data from students of public secondary schools. The reliability of both questionnaires was acceptable according to the prescribed benchmarks. A simple random sampling technique was applied to collect data from students of rural and urban public secondary schools. Simple linear regression and independent sample t-test were applied to analyze the collected data. Findings suggested that there was no relationship between corporal punishment and the level of motivation of students. Thus, our first hypothesis was accepted. The second hypothesis was also accepted, which shows that the students of rural secondary schools were facing more corporal punishment in contrast to urban students and, consequently, their level of motivation was low. Recommendations for future research were presented.

Principal as Instructional Supervisor: Role of Supervisory Practices in Professional Development of APS & CS and FGEIS Teachers

Sayyam Bin Saeed, Noor ul Ain — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Supervision process has a direct impact on teachers as well as students in a school. This study revolves around the comparison of instructional supervision practices carried out by the principals of FGEIs and APS&Cs in Pakistan and its impact on professional development of teachers. Quantitative approach has been used in the study. Sampling was carried out through Multi stage stratified random sampling technique. The study comprised of 600 teachers and 120 principals from APS&Cs and FGEIs. Collection of data was carried out through questionnaires, the reliability of questionnaires were .871 and .766 respectively. Statistical techniques; t-test, standard deviation, and mean used for analysis of data acquired. The findings of the study revealed that the concept of supervision is much broader phenomenon than inspection, and it is the duty of the heads of the institutions to develop an interactive, healthy, and accommodating environment for teacher as well as taught. The principals need to utilise available resources in the institution in such a way that it results in overall enhancement of teaching-learning process. Moreover, the head of institutions should collaborate and guide the teachers. It will help the teachers to reinforce their competencies in field of teaching and ultimately result in overall performance.

An Investigation of Effective Problem-Solving Techniques for Mathematics Used by Primary Students in Private Sector Schools of Islamabad

Tooba Saleem, Mahreen Farooq , Nasir Mahmood — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Problem-solving takes up a significant place in the field of mathematics and math education. It is important to observe the most effective method used in problem-solving of mathematics. The main research objectives were to examine the effective problem-solving technique used by the students in mathematics at primary level in private sector schools of Islamabad. The study was limited to the private schools because they focus more on learning through 21^st century skills. This research was quantitative in nature. A cross-sectional survey design, achievement test and background Performa were used to investigate the effective problem-solving technique used by the primary students at private sector school of Islamabad. Achievement test consisted of 30 items having 3 score each and questionnaire consisted of 30 items. The rating scale used for questionnaire was 6. Likert scale. Background Performa was made on general interests, age, gender, parent support, previous grades and practice time for mathematics. The validity of questionnaire was ensured by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Reliability of tools was checked through Cronbach’s alpha using SPSS. For this research data were collected from the (n= 400) students of 16 campuses of Roots Millennium School. Students were selected through cluster random sampling technique. It was found in descriptive analysis that students use metacognitive problem solving techniques more frequently as compared to heuristic techniques at primary level. It was found through analysis that the higher and lower achievers were using different strategies under heuristic and metacognitive technique of problem solving. Higher achievers were using more than one strategy sometimes related to heuristic and sometimes using both techniques. The results revealed that male students were preferinhg heuristic visualization of word problem strategy more frequently than female students.

Impact of Teachers' Instructional Techniques on Students' Involvement in Class: A Case Study

Ayesha Afzal, Shahid Rafiq — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The current research aimed to explore the relationship between university students' class involvement and teachers' instructional techniques. The major goal of this research was to identify the elements of university teachers' instructional techniques that are most important in ensuring that students participate in class to the maximum. Students from the University of Education, Lahore was the study's population. 300 students, chosen at random from the university's several faculties, made up the sample. To gather data, a standardized, structured questionnaire was utilized. The data was analyzed using SPSS 22nd, and multiple linear regression and correlation were used to determine the relationship between the variables. The findings showed that teachers' instructional strategies are critical in enhancing student involvement in class. In order to ensure that students participate in class, it was also discovered that different teachers use different instructional techniques. Teachers implement a variety of strategies to enhance student participation in class. The research indicates that supportive and concerned teachers are more successful than those who focus on content knowledge and challenging situation. Findings also showed that although students participate in class interactions, they make less attempts to start them. The study came to the additional conclusion that because teachers' instructional techniques positively impact students' class involvement, innovative instructional techniques learned by university teachers can optimize students' class involvement, which ultimately leads to excellent academic achievement for students.