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Students have diverse learning needs and unique learning styles. Providing options in assessments to address those needs helps eliminate rote learning and also addresses learner diversity (Pauline & Collings,2018). This study aims to promote student learning by designing teaching activities and assessments to support all students. This experimental study addressed learners having different learning styles and investigated the impact of equitable assessment practice grounded on universal design for learning on the academic achievement of 64 9th graders in a Physics course at a Secondary School in Pakistan. The relationship of VARK learning style on academic achievement was also investigated. The results indicated a significant difference (p = 0.00 < 0.05; Mean difference = 4.031) between the academic achievement of the control and the experimental group supporting equitable assessments and the UDL approach. The correlation between the learning style and academic achievement was not significant. The outcomes of the study recommend that consideration of learning style and needs of students while designing the learning and assessment content can bring better learning outcomes. The results also showed that there is a moderately positive correlation between bimodal learning style and a moderately negative correlation between auditory learning style with the academic achievement of students. It is recommended that the learning style and individual needs of the students should be addressed during the learning and assessment phase.

The substantial disruption caused by the COVID-19 epidemic to the world's education system is only one of the many setbacks the world has recently experienced. The transition of the students from their offline learning mode to a fully digital approach was not easy from the beginning for them. The online teaching readiness heavily relied on their competencies and skills to adapt the pedagogy, training, technical skills, a proper mindset and new roles. This research endeavors to evaluate the readiness of the teachers belonging to higher education institutions (HEIs) to handle online education based on the online teaching readiness model. A systematic questionnaire with 30 statements was used by the researcher to collect and analyse data from 296 HEI lecturers in Saudi Arabia. Smart PLS3 was used to attain reliability, convergent, discriminate validity and model fitness. These programs will help equip the teachers with the necessary technical skills, pedagogy, competency and readiness to comprehend the requisite techniques of online teaching and the vital strategies for keeping their students engaged. Technical proficiency, pedagogy, competency and teaching readiness show a direct relationship with online education. On the other hand, attitude and training do not show any relationship with online education.

Academic librarians deliver information literacy instruction (ILI) to students, engage with a range of stakeholders, and work in a range of learning environments that are continually changing. While past research has focused on the perceptions of librarians regarding their role in ILI, this has not been a significant focus of research in the Australian higher education context. This study set out to explore the perceptions of six practising academic librarians at a regional Australian university, seeking to understand their perceptions of information literacy (IL), their role in ILI and the challenges they face in this role. The participants did not have a consensus on the nature of IL, despite having a clear definition from the institution. Librarians felt they had both an educative and supportive role and that they brought expertise and authority to ILI. Librarians note­­d that their ILI supported the broader function of the university to meet internal policies and external regulatory requirements. Librarians suggested that an integrated approach to ILI at the institution would improve librarians' agency in supporting students. The analysis of the findings led to the development of a model for the delivery of effective ILI for this institution. The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of IL research by (a) giving voice to the views of academic librarians working in a regional Australian university, and (b) highlighting the challenges that academic librarians face when delivering ILI at their institution.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the use of WhatsApp in education and discover the opinions of all stakeholders towards the teaching and learning process in private schools. The study was designed in descriptive research using quantitative as well as qualitative data. We used close-ended questionnaires for quantitative data and semistructured interviews for qualitative data. The sample of the study consisted of all the key stakeholders of the education system: principals, students, teachers, and parents. We conducted interviews with school principals and gathered quantitative data from parents, teachers, and students. The study was limited to private sector schools of Mandi Bahauddin district, Phalia city, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. We used thematic analysis and descriptive statistics to identify the opinions of all the stakeholders about the role of WhatsApp in the teaching-learning process. The use of WhatsApp was encouraged as a supportive technology and recommended by the stakeholders. We also discussed the theoretical and practical implication of using WhatsApp.

This study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners' English language proficiency levels and their perceptions of the educational experience in the Preparatory Year Program using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This study employed a mixed-method approach to explore learners' perceptions of the educational environment using the DREEM survey with 225 female participants across three proficiency levels. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 20 learners to gain deeper insights into their experiences. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners in their first year held more positive than negative perceptions of their educational environment, as evidenced by a mean score of 2.92/4 and predominantly positive perceptions across the five sub-scales of DREEM. The chi-square statistical analysis indicated a significant relationship between proficiency levels and perceptions of the educational environment, with advanced-level learners perceiving it as excellent in 16% of cases, compared to 6.7% for intermediate learners and 22% for beginners. Notably, only 49.3% of beginner-level learners perceived the environment as more positive than negative, but 22.7% considered it excellent. The study identified some problematic areas, such as authoritative teachers and the need for a better support system for stressed students. The findings have important pedagogical implications for English language teachers, teacher trainers, and policymakers.

This paper reports on the findings from a quantitative study regarding the correlation between teachers' beliefs about their practices as leaders and the available leadership opportunities in six dimensions: developmental focused, recognition, collegiality, communication, autonomy and positive environment. The data were collected by administering a survey questionnaire among all the 220 teachers working in different schools under the umbrella of a private school system in Karachi, Pakistan. The analysis has revealed the existence of a significant correlation between teachers' beliefs about their practices as leaders and available leadership opportunities in the six dimensions to a varying extent -- strong in the dimension of positive environment, moderate in collegiality and communication and weak in developmental focus, recognition and autonomy. The existence of significant correlation implies that teachers' practices as leaders can be enhanced through intentional intervention by providing them with opportunities in the schools. Further analysis of teachers' responses toward the items has revealed that teachers' practices as leaders can be improved through developing a positive environment in the school, providing teachers with ongoing professional development opportunities and involving them in the decision-making process.

This article reports data from a qualitative study conducted within the elitist English-medium schools in three cities of Pakistan to claim that theory building, and English teaching practices are still modeled on monolingual biases inherent in the orthodox notions of linguistic purism and Anglo-normative traditions of the 1990s. Orthodoxy is manifest in schools' strong emphasis on direct method and communicative language teaching, and essentialist language management where English is enforced as the sole legitimate language of academic and non-academic transactions. Native language use is attached a stigma and viewed as deficiency in the English language. Such Anglo-normative culture invokes guilty conscience in teachers and students as they disapprove native languages even when they know that they can serve as useful meditating tools for effective content transfer. Crucially, amid English gatekeepers' celebratory attitudes toward English as the sole legitimate language, some teachers still demonstrate deviation from the pervasive linguistic norms. Showing reflexivity and agency, these teachers ideologically oppose the official policy. They discursively generate spaces for negotiating and appropriating the official policies, which signifies that language policy can be a complex multi-layered process rather than a linear, discrete, or top-down phenomenon. Teachers' agency is interpreted as 'decolonial performativity'.

This study investigated multilingual students' linguistic challenges at English-medium instruction (EMI) universities in Kazakhstan. Using language policy and planning as a theoretical lens, this study looked at EMI policy in general, particularly the academic English challenges of students due to a haphazard implementation of the EMI policy in Kazakhstani universities. The data were collected through an online survey and semi-structured interviews held with students and instructors at eight purposefully selected EMI universities in Kazakhstan. The data analysis revealed that over 70% of students had no prior exposure to EMI, 66.9% were dissatisfied with their English proficiency, 65.3% were dissatisfied with their literacy skills, and 72.6% did not enjoy reading and writing in English. Therefore, their transition to the EMI environment was chaotic and stressful. The EMI policy and practice seem to have failed because the macro-level policy from the top is not in sync with the resources and preparation at the micro-level (teachers and students). The ambitious goals of internationalization, global competitiveness, and human capital development through EMI cannot be achieved without careful planning, systematic implementation, and appropriate support mechanisms for students and instructors.

The purpose of this study is to compare the capacity of students to write Makassar Lontara script before and after utilizing the letter card medium. This investigation used three steps: pre-test, therapy, and posttest. This study included fifty public Yunior High School students in the Makassar city, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Participatory observation, testing, and interviews were employed to obtain data for this study. Data description, average similarity test, and analysis requirement test are among the data analysis approaches employed. The findings revealed that learning through the medium of letter cards was more successful. The post-test analysis demonstrates the usefulness of using the letter card medium. Using Makassar Lontara's letter card medium, the level of achievement is higher than the pre-test result. Furthermore, when employing letter card media in the learning process, pupils are more active than when not using the media. Teachers of local content subjects are encouraged to use learning methods and enjoyable media for students to achieve more effective learning. The Makassar Lontara' letter card media is one of the methods employed. Because the media can contribute significantly to both the learning process and the desired outcomes, it is intended that by using the Makassar Lontara' letter card learning media, students will be more interested in and motivated to study local content themes that have previously been intimidating to them. Further research is needed to increase the quality of learning, and it is hoped that future researchers will address any flaws found in this study.

The term Assessment and Verification is an integral part of the student achievement and considered as a fundamental function of higher education. Assessment and verification confirm and assures the academic integrity and standard which has a vital impact on student behaviour, colleagues' involvements, the university reputation and finally the student's future lives. The research aimed to explore various academic and industry-based literatures to analyse the importance of assessment and verification and to identify areas to ensure reliability in assessment by testing skills and knowledge. The research used experimental research methods (primarily reflection) using literary forms to analyse the theory with the reinforcement of the practice from the university experiences. It also has collected data using semi-structured interview from mutually agreed department colleagues from five different higher educational institutes consists of three universities and two alternative providers based in London, United Kingdom. The result showed that assessment in higher educational institutes have not kept pace with the changes and no longer justify the outcomes we expect from a university education in relation to wide-ranging knowledge, skills, and employability. The research findings enable the educators to help create and implement an inclusive teaching and learning environment to improve the learner's expectation and academic performance.

Digital literacy is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create a teaching and learning media which enables adults and youth to understand complex communication. Fintech has transformed the history of the financial sectors and places an individual at significant advantages. Therefore, this research study has examined how digital knowledge could provide an opportunity to learn financial capability. For this research, the authors have selected Bankers, Teachers, Information Technology (IT) professionals, and university students from Bangladesh and United Kingdom to respond to our questions. In this research study, the authors aim to determine the participant's financial literacy level and digital knowledge about individual adults' advantages. The authors have developed hypotheses, financial literacy tests, survey questionnaires. The survey was carried out by financial professionals and university students in the UK and Bangladesh. A small group of participants was selected on a later stage using convenience sampling to conduct a small-scale interview. The research findings have found that present financial decision-making and assets' growth depend on an individual adult's financial capability.

Economic development has encouraged innovation in a range of industries; however, the education industry has been following traditional modes of teaching until recently across the world. This has not only affected the capabilities of the youth but has also led to the problem of unemployment and diminished success rates at the workplace. One of the factors contributing to this situation is the lack of student engagement. In this research, we examined the factors affecting student engagement among higher education students and determining the impact of pedagogical approaches with active leaning on influencing the engagement level. Analysis of 50 higher education level 3-7 students has shown that the major hinderance in student engagement is assessing their current knowledge levels to teach lessons effectively. Hence, using practical knowledge impartation mechanisms such as gamification, collaborative and peer learning would improve the cognitive, learning, and emotional behaviour of students; thus, boosting the engagement level.

Sustainability is a lifestyle designed for permanence. Sustainability is the comparatively simpler idea, which can be explained in purely descriptive terms as the capacity of any given system to exist and reproduce on a long-term basis. The development adds a value judgment by implying the desired evolution of human society. Sustainability in Higher Education calls us to new sets of relationships-with our students, with each other, with what we learn, and with ourselves. In this reflective review the researcher has attempted to reveal some common facts relating to COVID-19 and sustainability in the higher education.

Persuasion in media discourses produces certain meanings and mobilizes public attitudes in a set direction. Logical appeals, for instance, are created to gather public support for a particular viewpoint, which propagates a specific cause. This paper critically investigates the newspaper's use of persuasion strategies employed by editorial writers to represent the 2011 Arab Spring conflict. The data consist of 20 newspaper editorials published in the Arab News (AN) belonging to the Arab region yet presumed as a newspaper's voice from a non-Arab spring country. The purpose is to probe journalistic roles and discursive positions taken in representing the conflict. The content analysis technique is used to examine the selected editorials. Findings reveal that the newspaper (AN) constructed the events persuasively and portrayed different aspects of the uprising. This study points out that editorial writers relied on several logical appeals to, almost, set a pro-Arab Spring stage. In addition, it has been noticed that the AN adopted a more compassionate attitude towards protesters' losses, and their ambitions for bringing a 'change' were justified, generally, than the ruling authorities. Overall, the findings reaffirm the media's contribution to represent conflicts in different societies under social, cultural, political, and national parameters by using certain tools of persuasion. This study recommends that future research should draw a comparison between news reports and editorial opinions, and investigate post-Arab Spring situations.

Teaching and learning process can be defined as a transformation process of knowledge from teachers to students. It is referred as the combination of various elements within the process where an educator identifies and establish the learning objectives and develop teaching resources and implement the teaching and learning strategy. On the other hand, learning is a cardinal factor that a teacher must consider while teaching students. The paper evaluated various academic journals, pedagogy, and inclusive practices to assess the teaching effectiveness within the higher education setting. The objective of the research is to assess the teaching effectiveness in a higher education setting. The research used experimental research methods (primarily reflection) using literary forms to analyse the theory with the reinforcement of the practice from the university experiences. The research findings suggest that providing positive and adequate formative and developmental feedback, introduction of role-play has a profound positive impact on the students' confidence and self-esteem. It was also revealed that, active learning environment promotes inclusivity and improve the faculty and student academic performances. The research findings will enable the educators to help create and implement an inclusive teaching and learning environment to improve the learner's expectation and academic performance.

Saudi Vision 2030 is a scheme; the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has formulated to realize its mainstream economic, social, and administrative goals. Accordingly, the Kingdom strategizes to implement this transformative Vision. The current research aims to analyze how American media has reported several events, actions, and policies in line with Saudi Vision 2030. Thus, the question posed is how an image of the transformative Saudi Kingdom has been presented by American media discourse, in line with Vision 2030. The study is substantial for the Kingdom to ascertain how the world has responded to its Vision. Moreover, in a world with media as a dominant directing agency, it is imperious for the Kingdom to keep an eye on its image in the global community. The research is primarily a quantitative study based on the corpus approach to study the designated media discourse. A specialized corpus of 150,000 words is compiled and analyzed through a variety of corpus tools. The results reveal that American newspapers have given limited representation of the Vision and related activities. Their media usually highlights the pre-existing features of the Kingdom. On the other hand, there are very occasional references to some new aspects like the transformation of the economy, promotion of tourism, revision of the society, etc., which are being implemented in the Kingdom. The study suggests that the Kingdom needs to brief the Western world for an enriched campaign of its contemporary image.

The research investigates and understands how poverty creates risk and affects the ability to actively engage with education using a case study from an alternative provider's perspective--the research considered case study methods where data was collected using the qualitative research approach. The collection of data used data triangulation (focus groups and interviews of the students and senior staff members) using open-ended questions at the undergraduate level. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel to assess the impact poverty has on educational attainment. Different ethical aspects and challenges were considered during the research process to ensure anonymity, confidentiality, power, and authority. Based on the case study research, the institution developed their five years strategic plan, which submitting to the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and also Office for Students (OFS) for their approval. The institution also introduced the Employers' Forum, which will continue to be effectively utilizing to enhance the student experience and retention and progression rates. The research only considered one case study institution and thus was limited to the data set. The research could have produced a comparative study if more institutions were choosing with a more significant data set.

Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) are specific goals that are aligned with the vision and mission of an institution of higher learning. The PEOs describe the expected achievements of the graduates in their career and professional accomplishment after graduation. At Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, the PEOs of undergraduate programmes are particularly designed to ensure that the graduates are well-equipped with a broad foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge in various electrical engineering areas of interest and to prepare them for the rapidly changing engineering technology. These PEOs are carefully aligned with the vision and mission of the university and faculty and should be achieved by the graduates 3 to 4 years after graduating. These PEOs must be assessed and evaluated to determine the PEOs' attainment of the programme. Therefore, assessment and evaluation activities must be available to plan and organize the process of obtaining the PEOs' attainment. Surveys on graduate attributes need to be conducted to gain feedbacks from stakeholders 3 to 4 years after graduation. In this study, anonymous online questionnaire survey was created to obtain the feedbacks from the alumni. These feedbacks are then analysed to assess the PEOs' attainment. In order to evaluate the performance of the PEOs, performance indicators are developed and used in the evaluation. Outcomes from this study are used to determine the achievement of PEOs and to propose the improvement as part of continuous quality improvement (CQI). [Note: The publication month (December) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct month of publication is October.]

Recently, many high schools and universities have promoted community service learning program by making it part of the admission process; therefore, students participate in community service learning program to get admission in an institution of their choice. Moreover, after completing the community service program, they see themselves as more socially responsible citizens. This qualitative study aimed to explore the impact of community service learning on the social skills of students. The study employed a qualitative method by randomly selecting twenty five male and female students for focused group interviews from five different O-level schools situated in a middle socio-economic locality. The results revealed that community service learning program has a positive impact on the social skills of O-level students. Besides, students had also a positive learning experience. The findings of the study indicated that the awareness to encourage community service in schools is grounded on the acceptance that it does not only give students extra credit points, but serving others or one's own community also makes them better citizens. Based on the advantages and positive experiences of students, the study recommends to include a more inclusive model of service learning in school curriculum.

The study was conducted to compare the performance of students working in chemistry laboratory with those working in chemistry laboratory supplemented with simulations at secondary school level. The study was experimental in nature and post-test only control group design was used. The sample comprised of 55 males and 60 female students and 02 Chemistry teachers of class IX of Public schools. At the end of the treatment, practical examination was conducted on the pattern of Peshawar Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education. The scores of both control and experimental groups were compared by using independent sample t-test in three main areas i.e. written, viva voce and notebook. The result of independent sample t test of school No 1(male) indicated that there is a significance difference between the performance of control group (M=8.9, SD=2.13) and experimental group (M=10.5, SD=3.04) at a=0.05 and df=53. The result of independent sample t test of school No 2(female) indicated that there is a significance difference between the performance of control group (M=10, SD=1.91) and experimental group (M=11.7, SD=2.13) at a=0.05 and df=58. The qualitative data was collected by means of interviews from chemistry teachers. Both the interviewees were motivated and showed keen interest in the simulated software. The performance of the students of experimental groups showed improvement results in the rejection of hypotheses that there is no significant difference between the performance of students taught by conventional demonstration in laboratory and laboratory work facilitated with simulation.

Discourse markers, as words or phrases, play a significant role in promoting coherent segments of discourse. This paper investigates the use of discourse markers (DMs) in newspaper articles. By applying Fraser's framework, this study aims at investigating the functions and positions of DM "but" (English) and its equivalent "lakin" (Arabic) in newspaper articles written by native and nonnative speakers of English and Saudi and Egyptian speakers of Arabic. It also highlights the similarities and differences in the functions and positions of DMs "but" and "lakin." This quantitative study adopts a corpus-based approach. The data consist of articles collected from 12 newspapers categorized as: Arabic language newspapers published in Saudi Arabia ("Alriyadh," "Al Jazirah," "AlHayat") and Egypt ("Al-Ahram," "Al-Gomhuria," "Eltahrir") and English language newspapers published in Saudi Arabia ("Arab News," "Saudi Gazette," "Asharq Al-Awsat") and the USA ("Washington Post," "The New York Times," "USA TODAY"). Findings demonstrate, first, that DM "but" is used frequently as a confirmation or addition marker by both native and non-native speakers. However, second, "lakin," functions as the primary correction DM in standard Arabic. Moreover, third, the native Arabic speakers mostly share the same functions of using "lakin" despite different dialects they have. This study also reveals that "lakin" can be found only in the medial position, whereas, "but" is found in the initial and medial position. It concludes that DMs "but" and "lakin" evidence that functions of DMs proposed by Fraser are universal and they could be generalized.

Leadership plays an important role in an educational establishment as they help to manage the day-to-day activities. Instructional leadership has always played a distinct role in higher education as the role of instructional leadership was always to influence on effective teaching and learning processes. The purpose of this research is intended to identify the role of instructional leadership, including the relationship between instructional leadership and the role of module leaders in higher education using their own institution as a case study. The author conducted a small scale semistructured interview where two programme leaders were selected from the School of Business and Health and Social Care and were approached directly by sending formal email and also over the phone and asked if they were willing to participate. Research findings suggest that instructional leadership enables the programme/module leaders to establish a shared belief around the learning and can improve the learner's achievement.

Purpose: This paper focusses on demonstrating the role of social media engagement and considering emotional intelligence (hereafter EI) as a critical concept to successful employment, mainly when individuals fail to reach the desired employment despite "meeting" the role requirements. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a qualitative approach through semi-structured in-depth interviews of some randomly selected university students in the UK, young adults aged 19-32. The participants were selected based on different demographics to provide a broader and less biased representation of young adults in the UK. Findings: This research suggests that recruitment organisations should introduce the latest requirements and trends of employers to ensure that the expectations of employers and potential candidates are aligned to improve the employment rate in young adults. Originality/value: This research extends the literature regarding EI in social media engagement and successful employment. It also brings new perspectives on successful employment in young adults by demonstrating the role of social media engagement and EI traits leading to a conceptual framework exploring successful employment based on the role of social media engagement and EI.

The impact and changes due to sudden internal or external occurrence are difficult scenarios faced by many business organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nation's economic, social, and technological progressions. The effects of the sudden, extreme changes and uncertainty toward the environment require business organizations to further adapt and change to improve their survivability. Dynamic leadership requires leaders to make sudden changes improving adaptability or marketing capabilities to stay resilient and relevant to the mass market. Thus, the goal of the present study was to investigate the influence of dynamic leadership and marketing planning on organizational resilience in the context of Malaysian Private Higher Learning Institutions (PHLI). In this paper, the study performed PLS-SEM on the data collected using purposive sampling of 224 respondents, consisting of managers from colleges and universities in urban areas of Malaysia. The SEM was used to test on the levels of relation and whether there was any mediation between the tested variables. The study revealed that the dynamic leadership and marketing planning of Private Higher Learning Institutions' (PHLI) managers can improve organizational resilience. It highlighted the impact of leadership values has on improving overall market plans and affecting their resilience. Marketing planning should not be neglected as it is one of the crucial factors in achieving resiliency. The study's results are timely as they provide information for users to improve their overall survivability. The value of marketing planning should not be lightly treated as it has a serious impact toward organizational resilience. It is an important element for organizations in the current state of where survivability is essential in an unpredictable environment.

Established and well-known employers in Bangladesh often complain that suitable candidates are not available for employment in their organizations, despite the millions of unemployed graduates in the country. This bears clear witness that graduates in Bangladesh are mostly unable to fulfill the needs and expectations of established and well-known employers. Employing a qualitative research approach, this article explores the desired employability skills and graduates' work readiness from the perspective of established and well-known employers in Bangladesh. The study identified the desired skills and traits as 'communication' 'teamwork and collaboration', 'problem solving', 'computer literacy and technical skill', 'honesty and integrity', 'hardworking and willingness to take on extra work', 'achievement orientation', 'adaptability', 'time management', 'leadership', 'personality' and 'academic results and knowledge'. The study also revealed that graduates mostly lack the necessary skills as envisaged by Bangladeshi employers. As employers have outright authority in the selection of graduates, it is suggested that universities work together with industries to develop the skills and traits they demand. This is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, to explore employability skills and graduates' work readiness from the perspective of established and well-known employers in Bangladesh.

In the modern world of today, English language is frequently used as a medium of communication at the international level and among the multilingual speakers. The grand significance of the English language in the global village stresses all the stakeholders and policymakers in Pakistan to initiate and execute appropriate teaching methods for successful learning of English language. In view of the demands of the modern world, the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan implemented the revised English curriculum and inducted new teachers with better qualification to ensure its desired outcomes. Revised English curriculum, handed over to the newly inducted teachers to implement was supposed to pose a variety of challenges. The current study investigated those challenges faced by these newly inducted teachers implementing revised English curriculum. The study was limited to the newly inducted teachers teaching English at secondary level in district Abbottabad (KPK), Pakistan. Employing a mixed-method research based on purposeful sampling, the data was initially collected through semi structured interviews of the focussed group of the research participants and further validated by means of survey questionnaire filled by the entire research population. The findings of the study revealed that inappropriate classrooms with deficient resources posed major challenges for the teachers to effectively communicate the revised curriculum. Moreover, lack of students' involvement in the lessons and teachers' insufficient awareness to curriculum impeded the curriculum implementation as desired. The current study stressed on the remedial measures to be taken on part of the government officials and the school administration to ensure the availability of resources required for English language learning and encouragement of learners' involvement in the lessons. Moreover, teachers should be provided with appropriate training to meticulously implement the revised English curriculum.

The buoyant shift from form and structure to the fluid constructs of meaning turned discernible in Jacques Derrida's "Deconstruction." Meaning or reality that had so long been enjoying a fixed and definite status was worn out with the advent of the theory of deconstruction. The turnaround of what was considered real or true became subjacent while challenging all the existing binaries that had been hegemonizing human comprehension of the world (Derrida, 1997). Relying on the theory of deconstruction by Jacques Derrida, the study examines the shift from form and structure to the text itself regarding its privileged and marginal aspects of meaning with particular reference to the novel "A Case of Exploding Mangoes." The study suggests that the interplay between privileged and marginal aspects of meaning can constructs multiple meanings and interpretations of a single text. It has further been added that the nature of the theory of deconstruction--change in the fixed status of meaning/reality--at the same time, is a representation of the indefinite nature of modern man who has experienced a bumpy ride of social and religious values resulted due to the political, industrial, economic and technological revolutions. The paper finds that the fluidity of meaning that is the sole characteristic of the theory of deconstruction traverses the contemporary Pakistani fiction in its dealing of the sensitive matters such as religious extremism and dictatorship etc., and Muhammad Hanif's selected novel is the perfect example of it.

At this pandemic situation worldwide, most of the Universities are offering online teaching as an alternative of face-to-face study through Technology-enhanced learning (TEL). To ensure pedagogies and practice for online teaching, we have chosen and critically analyzed the theory "Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education" by Chickering and Gamson for effective online teaching that researchers highly appreciated. Based on two case studies of two different UK universities and research review, we have also proposed recommendations to implement these seven good practices for online teaching. We have realized that there should be different group discussion forums like café, forums, a conference to engage students to share their ideas, justify their ideas with reliable sources, and finally, reflective thinking and writing, which is essential for learning. Wiki is a good example for group working where everybody shares their ideas about Seven Principles of good practices, then we moderated poster contents and finally prepared the poster the product of knowledge.

The article aimed to make a critical investigation and analysis on working from home vs learning from home during the COVID-19. Small-scale research was conducted only targeting parents (having at least one school going child) to capture the view of how they deem the concept of working from home vs learning from home and whether there are any reservations among both concepts. The findings from the 36 respondents' feedback suggest that parents often prefer working from home (wherever possible) but the same parent does not want their child to learn from home. The research shows that most parents believe remote working leads to higher productivity and leads to cost-effectiveness and remote learnings deteriorate creativity.

Proficiency in English language depends on the knowledge of its vocabulary possessed by the second and foreign language learners and even the native speakers. Though developing the vocabulary is vital, it poses several problems, especially, to non-native students of English. Students with a low vocabulary knowledge show weak academic performance in different courses related to the language skills, linguistics, literature, and translation at the university level of education. This study, in particular, aims to investigate the problems faced by English majors in learning the vocabulary at Prince Stattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU) in Saudi Arabia. It also puts forward some vocabulary-learning strategies to minimize the potential problems. The data consist of the responses of 100 student-participants (undergraduates) randomly picked up from five different levels (four, five, six, seven, and eight) of 4-Year BA English Program at PSAU. This quantitative study uses an online questionnaire, as an instrument, to collect the data. The results reveal that the English majors at PSAU face several problems in learning the vocabulary such as knowing the meanings of new words, pronouncing new words, using new words correctly, memorizing and spelling new vocabulary and so on. To its contribution, this study emphasizes the importance of learning the English vocabulary, draws students' attention towards it, highlights the problems encountered by students, and raises their awareness of the vocabulary. Future research may explore teachers' perspectives on students' vocabulary-learning problems and instructional methods implemented to teach the vocabulary in English language classrooms.

Since its independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has initiated major reforms to upgrade its education system. However, significant disparities exist in the quality of educational provision in rural and urban schools. This study presents the stakeholders' -- school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and education managers -- vision, priorities, and aspirations of quality of education, as well as the opportunities, resources, and support available to them, and the disparities and challenges they face in achieving the quality of education they aspire for.

This article intended to analyze a current piece of international education practice in terms of its underlying values, culture, and philosophy, including the concept of international education (e.g., a curriculum model, an organizational or institutional structure, or a management style), and have particularly selected curriculum model to discuss. Furthermore, the article aims to explore and analyze international students' learning experience in the selected educational curriculums designed for them. Moreover, the article will assess how values, culture, and philosophy influence the learners' experience in the curriculums.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan was established in 2002. Since its establishment, HEC has introduced many interventions and inputs in higher education and emerged a major initiative in Pakistan. Many studies about HEC initiatives were undertaken to explore improvements made by HEC interventions. No study was done to explore impact of HEC inputs on students' attitude. This study was an attempt to explore the attitudes of students towards higher education in changed context in public universities of Pakistan. The sample of the study was the students enrolled in teacher education programs in different public universities of Pakistan. Four universities were conveniently selected including Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of the Punjab, the pioneer institute in teacher education. Self-reporting method was adopted to facilitate the respondents to reflect their attitudes regarding higher education. An instrument named "Students' Attitude Scale" was administered by the author. The purpose of the study was to explore impact of different factors on students' attitudes towards higher education, impact of program inputs on students' attitudes towards higher education and find out the difference between the attitudes of male and female students towards higher education. Independent sample t-test was applied to find out the difference between male and female responses. This test indicates that there is no difference in attitudes towards higher education between male and female students of different universities. The results of the study suggest how different inputs and contexts makes positive attitudes towards higher education in different universities. The findings of the study have implications for teacher educators and curriculum developers how to enhance attitudes towards higher education by providing appropriate inputs. This study also has implications for policy makers at HEC and university administration to plan need based inputs to make conducive environment for shaping students' positive attitudes towards higher education.

This study aims to analyze the types, and frequency of errors in written sentences by undergraduate Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, following a quasi-experimental design. Data were collected from two groups: the control group (CG) and the experimental group (EG) through written sentences. The control group (CG) did not receive the treatment whereas the experimental group (EG) did to show the effect of writing exercises in the classroom on the production of written sentences. The experimental group (EG) received extra 3 hours of teaching and writing practice in a week to show the effect of classroom writing on the production of written sentences. The researcher assigned extra writing exercises in the classroom for the experimental group (EG) from the coursebook (Unlock 1, and 2) for 2 months. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 25. The findings revealed that both groups committed overall errors with a significantly different frequency such as the control group with 199, whereas the experimental group with 116. Moreover, the control group committed errors in 9 categories out of 11 like "wrong word order", "wrong use of preposition", "wrong use of article", "wrong com-adjectives", "wrong subject verb-tense", "faulty capitalization", "punctuations", "spelling errors", and "wrong word choice". In contrast, the experimental group produced errors only in 7 categories out of 11, and these are, "wrong use of preposition", "wrong use of article", "wrong subject verb-tense", "faulty capitalization", "punctuations", "spelling errors", and "wrong word choice". The study has important implications for the teachers to modify their instructional strategies and focus on writing exercises in the classroom, and course designers to add more writing course content consisting of writing materials to provide a wide range of opportunities to the EFL learners and minimize their errors in writing skills.

The Teachers' Portal (teachers.gov.bd) is an online platform for Bangladeshi teachers designed to store and retrieve digital educational contents of different subjects useful for classroom teaching and students' learning. The portal also facilitates professional networking among teachers across the country. This study aims to find out the benefits of using this Portal and associated challenges from teachers' perspective. Following a mixed methods research approach Teachers, head teachers, teacher educators from primary, secondary, madrasa and vocational educational institutions and specialists on teachers' Portal (N=410) were interviewed and consulted for the study. Telephone interviews, online surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KII), Focused Group Discussions (FGD), Face-to-Face interviews, and large consultative workshops were used to collect data. The results suggest that teachers are motivated to use the Portal as its contents stimulate students' creativity and encourage students' active participation in classrooms learning. Besides, it empowers teachers in a number of ways. However, internet connectivity, slow Internet speed, power failure, technical issues, high cost of Internet and unavailability of equipment are found as major challenges. In short, the Teachers' Portal is a key driver for changing Bangladeshi education and preparing the young generation with quality education.

This study investigates the current practices in higher education institutes and gap reduction between Industry and Academia. This study is based on literature review. Its objective is to review the current practices in higher education institutes and point out gaps. This reduced gap will balance demand and supply of graduates to industry and it has been practically observed that industry always complains for qualified graduates according to their expectations. Current practices in higher education institutes such as Internships, University based Incubation (UBI), Case study teaching and field trips. In this research paper systematic review approach of literature has been adopted for the conclusion of this study. All relevant studies published on this topic's current practices and industry-academia from 1970 to 2014 were identified from databases such as Google, Scopus and Web of science in various forms such as book, research articles, reports and websites. Based on results through literature review, current all studied practices can help to reduce the gap between Industry and Academia. In previous studies researchers explored current studied practices individually. This research paper will help a triangle such as higher education institutes, industries and graduates for better mutual based relationship in future. This study can be extended in comparative analysis between developed and less developed countries.

The presented work is a student marks and grade prediction system using supervised machine learning techniques, the system is developed on the historic performance of students. The data used in this research is collected from Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Islamabad Pakistan, there are 7 regions in FBISE i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and overseas. The aims of this work is to analyze the education quality which is closely tightened with the sustainable development goals. The implementation of the system has produced an excess of data which must be processed suitably to gain more valuable information that can be more useful for future development and planning. Student marks and grade prediction from their historic academic data is a popular and useful application in educational data mining, so it is becoming a valuable source of information which can be used in different manners to improve the education quality in the country. Related work shows that several method for academic grade prediction are developed for the betterment of teaching and administrative staff of an educational organizational system. In our proposed methodology, the obtained data is preprocessed to improve the quality of data, the labeled student historic data (29 optimal attributes) is used to train decision tree classifier and regression model. The classification system will predict the grade while the regression model will predict the marks, finally the results obtained from both the model are analyzed. The obtain results show the effectiveness and importance of machine learning technology in predicating the students performance.

This study aimed to explore the principal's perceptions about, and strategies for, increasing students' active participation in the day-to-day affairs and decision-making at a secondary school located in a rural, mountainous region of Pakistan. By exploring the principal's leadership practices, this study aims to answer the question, 'how can school principals promote students' participation in school leadership and, in turn, how can such participation ultimately lead to a socially just and democratic community?' To us 'school leadership' is not a set of skills or positional authority that lies in one individual -- the principal -- but it is a practice which is widely distributed and engaged by a range of people including students in the day-to-day affairs and business of the school. Although, students' participation in curricular and co-curricular activities and decision-making processes in schools is widely studied elsewhere, there is hardly any study on this topic in the context of Pakistan, particularly with reference to rural schools. Therefore, an empirical investigation based on a qualitative case study method was conducted to collect data from the principal as well as from other members of the school community regarding the leadership practices that promote students' active participation in school affairs. The findings of the study reveal a number of interesting and contextually relevant strategies used by the principal as well as the gaps between his beliefs and practices and the challenges he faces in increasing students' participation in various activities and decisions at the school.

In the present study, the authors deliberate that there are no separate boxes in human brain to restrict two different languages to interact with each other. The practice on ground is strongly in favour of allowing L1 to support target language (TL). The paper contests the status quo of maximal input hypothesis and documents enough research in the field of human psychology, code-switching, bilingualism and Socio-Cultural Theory (SCT). The Canadian French Immersion Programme has also been referred to, in the article. The real life teaching and learning experiences have been shared and are connected to the latest theory and research, and it is concluded that this issue has serious sociopolitical and academic dimensions. The study postulates that the extent of L1 to be used is highly context-dependent. A "judicious" use of L1 should, however, be practiced in target language (TL) class without malign.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in higher education regarding distance learning system in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method research design was used in this study. The population of the study was all the previous students of research work and all the teachers of these students working at MPhil and PhD level in AIOU in Pakistan. Stratified random sampling technique was used in this study. This study used the questionnaire and interview technique to collect data. Data of questionnaire was in numbers and data of interview was narrative. So it was the need of the study that a mixed-method approach, i.e. both quantitative and qualitative techniques should be used in this study. Findings: The findings of the study show that AIOU has also strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in higher education related to distance education like all the formal and distance universities of Pakistan and World. This study reflected that AIOU is a great blessing for those who cannot acquire their education regularly because of financial/family problems or they are job holders. But this study also described that at higher level students are facing a lot of problems especially there is a delay in research process and provision of no scholarships to students. The teachers have a low salary package than the other public universities of Pakistan and a lot of responsibilities to attend meetings, seminars, conferences and workshops. So they have less time for research work. And AIOU provides them fewer opportunities to go abroad for further studies or to attend conferences/seminars. This study recommended that there should be adopted such policies in AIOU that students could get their study materials, assignments duration, workshops schedule and degrees in time, the teachers of the concerned departments should allow to take more in numbers the students under their supervision, the pay package for the teachers working at MPhil and PhD level should be raised and the opportunities for the faculty members to go. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to analyze the higher education system especially the distance learning system in Pakistan. Practical implications: This study has indicated the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in higher education which the AIOU is facing recently and the policymakers can develop plans/strategies to make better the distance learning system especially at higher level in Pakistan. This study can be helpful for the stakeholders who are interested in distance learning system. This study was conducted at higher level in the distance learning system but it can open the ways for the other researchers to conduct research in other disciplines related to distance education, i.e. at matric level, F.A/F.SC, B.Sc programs, Master level and M.Sc programs at AIOU. Social implications: Through this study, it can be acknowledged how the AIOU is providing the opportunity of education to a large number of people in the society who cannot study regularly in the formal institutions especially those who are job holders, some financial problems and women who have some family problems and above one million people are benefitting from AIOU in Pakistan and world. Originality/value: This study is original in this respect because the data has been collected from the participants, i.e. students and teachers of AIOU. And it has also great value because this is the first SWOT analysis which has been conducted in this university to examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing AIOU at present time. This study can also become a base for the stakeholders', i.e. policymakers, administration and higher education depart. of Pakistan in developing strategies to improve and amend the distance learning system of Pakistan especially at higher level in AIOU.

The major objective of the study was to elicit the effect of three instructional methods for teaching of mathematics on low, average and high achiever elementary school students. Three methods: traditional instructional method, computer assisted instruction (CAI) and teacher facilitated mathematics learning software were employed for the teaching of three chapters of six class mathematics textbook (Integers, Algebra and Geometry). Interactive software was developed, using the contents of these three chapters. Two urban and two rural schools were selected containing a male and a female school. Seventy eight students from each of the four randomly selected schools were randomly selected and assigned in to three groups. On the basis of pretest the students were identified as low, average and high achievers. After the treatment a post test was conducted. The score of the students were analyzed that revealed teacher facilitated mathematics instructional method produced better score when compared with CAI and traditional instructional methods of teaching mathematics for low and average achievers, but no significant difference was observed between instructional techniques for high achievers. It raises the questions; why instructional techniques not affected the high achievers scores? What kind of provisions may be added in the next version of the instructional software?

This article analyses the status of early childhood education in Pakistan. The education systems in place in Pakistan are mainly framed within a didactic approach to teaching and learning, which addresses certain areas of education but does not teach the child as a whole. Domains of children's holistic development such as social, ethical, cultural, intellectual, emotional and physical well-being, and some other key academic skills, are not fully covered. In this kind of education, students are taught to follow rules without question and do as instructed, which corresponds to an autocratic view of learning. In the context of early childhood education in Pakistan, teachers occupy dominant roles, which positions them as the imparters and sources of knowledge and children as dependent and the receivers of knowledge, rather than considering them as potential, curious and powerful learners with unlimited capabilities. The literature indicates that this approach to teaching and learning does not privilege the holistic development and well-being of children. In contrast, many developed countries use research-based contemporary approaches to children's education and development, giving children a more central role in their learning to ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop to their full potential. This kind of approach reminds teachers to view all children not as needy or deficient individuals.

Purpose: Over 200,000 young people in the UK embark on a smoking career annually, thus continued effort is required to understand the types of interventions that are most effective in changing perceptions about smoking amongst teenagers. Several authors have proposed the use of social norms programmes, where correcting misconceptions of what is considered normal behaviour lead to improved behaviours. There are a limited number of studies showing the effectiveness of such programmes for changing teenagers' perception of smoking habits, and hence this paper reports on the results from one of the largest social norms programmes that used a variety of interventions aimed at improving teenagers' perceptions of smoking. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: A range of interventions were adopted for 57 programmes in year nine students, ranging from passive interventions such as posters and banners to active interventions such as student apps and enterprise days. Each programme consisted of a baseline survey followed by interventions and a repeat survey to calculate the change in perception. A clustering algorithm was also used to reveal the impact of combinations of interventions. Findings: The study reveals three main findings: the use of social norms is an effective means of changing perceptions, the level of interventions and change in perceptions are positively correlated, and that the most effective combinations of interventions include the use of interactive feedback assemblies, enterprise days, parent and student apps and newsletters to parents. Originality/value: The paper presents results from one of the largest social norm programmes aimed at improving young people's perceptions and the first to use clustering methods to reveal the impact of combinations of intervention.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore/investigate various issues of teachers ' motivation in public sector Higher Educational Institutions of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: This is an exploratory research where surveys have been conducted in the well known public sector Universities of Pakistan; primary data have been collected through questionnaire and in depth face to face interviews. Findings: Findings of the research have shown that although compensation packages and financial incentives are important factors for employees in the competitive market environment of the higher education sector but some other factors like job design and working environment, performance management system, and training and development are also significant. The research has also explored various issues being faced by teachers in public sector HEIs related to the above mentioned factors. Originality/value: This study can play a vital role in compelling the higher education authorities to ponder over the motivational issues of teachers in universities. The research can prove to be an effectual document for other worldwide universities where teachers are facing similar issues.

This study explored the cointegration and causality between education and economic growth in Pakistan by using time series data on real gross domestic product (RGDP), labour force, physical capital and education from 1970-1971 to 2008-2009 were used. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model of Cointegration and the Augmented Granger Causality Approach given by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) were applied. Cointegration among economic growth and education has been found. The findings of this study also indicate the existence of the feedback causality between education and all levels of education with economic growth. Among all levels of education, general higher education causes economic growth highly and most significantly while the level of confidence of causing economic growth to school education is found to be the highest. Labour force as compare to physical capital appeared to be a key factor in understanding the relationship between education and economic growth. This study recommends more investment in university education so that economic growth can be further accelerated, that in turn, leads to further education and hence economic growth. (Contains 8 tables.)

The Iranian educational system would benefit from major refinement in order to better develop the creativity of children. The extension of teachers' understanding of creativity is one of the main factors in facilitating change. A theory and practice based professional development program was designed, therefore, to assist teachers to acquire knowledge, attitudes and skills associated with improved student creativity. In this research, the effect of creativity-oriented teaching on students' creativity was examined using the Solomon four-group design method. The teachers and students were divided in experimental, treatment and control groups. The control group was further subdivided into two groups. Students from the experimental and one control group were pre-tested using the torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT). Teachers of the experimental group and treatment group completed a creativity training program and then used the techniques demonstrated with their students. Following the intervention, students of each of the experimental, treatment and control groups completed the TTCT a second time and the teachers completed a creativity checklist questionnaire for each student. The results indicated that teachers' involvement in the training program had a positive effect on the creativity of their students. These results provide basic evidence that teacher professional development programs associated with the improved understanding of creativity-oriented techniques can make a positive contribution to development of Iranian students' creativity. (Contains 4 tables.)