Assessing Generic Competence Development among Higher Education Students

Present study intended to assess the generic competences of higher education students. Self-perceived level of generic competences of the students in the beginning and the end of an academic session was recorded to explore the role of higher education in imparting them the generic competences. All the students entering the University of Sargodha (Pakistan) during 2012, constituted the population of the study. Cluster sampling technique was used to carry out the panel survey. The same cohort of the students was surveyed twice over a period of one academic year. This study adopted a version of the Reflex Project instrument, consisting of 19 competences, to collect data from students of both genders in public-sector universities in Pakistan. Data were collected from 932 students (cluster sampling) studying at 10 (randomly) selected departments. There were 408 male and 525 female students in the study. The students rated themselves on a seven-point scale whose reliability was 0.82. The results indicated that higher education played its role in imparting and promoting the existing set of generic competences from the beginning to the end of the academic session; but the increase in the competence level was noted only to a modest level. Gender differences were found among the students in a few of the generic competences.

PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF ENGAGEMENT IN ACTIVE LEARNING THROUGH PEER TEACHING AND PEER ASSESSMENT

The study intends to investigate the perceptions of higher education students about their engagement in active learning through peer-teaching and peer-assessment. A group of 22 students comprising nine female and thirteen males participated in the study. The researchers taught the course within six weeks, and then divided it amongst students through assignments. The students prepared it, discussed with researchers, shared and taught the assigned part of the course to their peers in the classroom in the presence of one of the researchers. The peers assessed the quality of presentation and mastery of the content and teaching skills of their peers against a given rubric. Three instruments namely: questionnaire, interviews and focussed group discussion were used to investigate students’ perceptions. The analysis of data revealed that students felt actively engaged in their studies through peer teaching and peer-assessment. Moreover correlation between peer assessment and teacher assessment was also calculated. Peer teaching and peer assessment can be confidently used in higher education in Pakistan on condition that teacher as a supervisor is highly vigilant

Does Higher Education System of United Kingdom Produce Enough Graduates?

In this discourse the researcher tried to make the readers view the three-dimensional image of the productivity and contribution of higher education of United Kingdom, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, through the prism of comparison with that of USA and France. The researcher presented information regarding population, economic status, graduate enrolment and entrance trend of the higher education students in the United Kingdom. And at the end the researcher gave the data depicting the impact of higher education on the UK economy. Although, UK comes to the second place (after the USA, a giant in knowledge and economy) in the world, yet the competing situation in France could not be overlooked. The researcher thinks it will make the reader able to have, not only, some knowledge of the higher education system but also the relationship of higher education and labour market. It will also help the reader to dig out into the efficacy and efficiency of the system with regards to the economic development of the state

Self-Assessment of Students’ Anxiety during High Stake Laboratory Work Examinations

The present study intends to explore the level of practical examination anxietyamong secondary and higher secondary school students and its causes andremedies. A self-developed Perceived Science Practical Anxiety Scale (PSPAS)was used to collect quantitative data from 900 science students of two districts of central Punjab: Sargodha and Faisalabad. Moreover, 50 students were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the causes of science practical examination anxiety and the remedies to reduce it. All students had recently taken science practical examination and therefore had first-hand vivid experience of science practical examination anxiety. The analysis of responses in the questionnaire revealed that on an average more than half (61.50 %) of the students experienced anxiety during practical examination. Fourteen sources of anxiety during practical examination were ranked and synthesis of qualitative data from interviews recorded five categories of anxiety causes: shortage and unavailability of the materials, lack of practice, harsh behaviour of laboratory personnel, over loaded syllabus and lack of guidance. The students’ opinion regarding reducing anxiety was synthesized into four themes: relaxation during practical examination, individual level preparation, completion of practical syllabus well before time and training of laboratory personnel. The findings of the study may be beneficial for teachers, school mangers and policy makers and those who are responsible for the preparation and execution of examination policies, to reduce anxiety among students.Keywords: high stake examinations, higher secondary schools, laboratory work examinations, self-assessment, student anxiet

Quality of School Work Life of Public School Teachers: Cases from Turkey and Pakistan

The Quality of Work life (QWL) is the employees’ feeling or perception of being comfortable with their work. The objective of the present study was to compare Quality of School Work Life (QSWL) of public school teachers from Turkey and Pakistan. A QSWL scale developed by Ilgan, Ata, Zepeda and Ozu-Cengiz (2014) having 30 items was used as the research instrument. The sample included 995 Turkish teachers (from 8 cities) and 716 Pakistani teachers (from 5 cities of Punjab). Reliability coefficient of QSWL scale was 0.81. Further, five subscales within the QSWL tools were identified through its exploratory factor analysis. On all these 5 subscales of QSWL (when analysed separately), Turkish and Pakistani teachers differed significantly in their perceptions; however, they were found appreciating similar QSWL in the aggregate analyses. In detailed analyses of various subgroups only female teachers from Pakistan were found better on QSWL than their Turkish counterparts

Apports et limites de l'auto-évaluation des compétences par les diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur

This work presents a continuum of competence. On one extreme of which there is a subtlety of concept of competence. On the other, there are rigorous econometric analyses to find the answer to a critical question: ―to what extent is the assessment of competence reliable? ‖ Quest into the etymology helped us providing a rationale in favour of the preferred use of competence over competency. Moreover, we come to trace its roots in French literature where it was in use long before its emergence in English literature. We found that competences were common among various geopolitical locations and inferred that interest in competence has been internationalised realistically. Both English and French literature helped us in this regard. Before carrying out econometric analyses it is apt to probe into the literature on the assessment of competence. Rigorous analyses revealed that self assessment of competence is reliable to a modest level. We probed into the reliability of competence (self) assessment by the higher education graduates and by the young knowledge workers. We come to affirm reliability for both of the cases; however, to a modest extent. We simplified the research question by bifurcating it as in the following. 1. To what extent is the self assessment of acquired levels of competence by the higher education graduates reliable? 2. To what extent is the assessment of required levels of competence by the young knowledge workers reliable? We tested for both of these questions and found affirmative response each time. Karl Popper's criterion of falsifiability facilitated us to accept the theses that 1. firstly, the self assessment of acquired levels of competence by the higher education graduates is reliable, however, to a modest extent. 2. secondly, the assessment of required levels of competence by the young knowledge workers' is reliable, however, to a modest extent. The data set used in this study was provided by the Reflex team. We made use of SPSS and Stata for the analyses. A number of statistical techniques have been manipulated including ordered probit, OLS regression, and parametric and non parametric analyses of variances. We observed startling similarity in the levels of significance of coefficient estimates of ordered probit and OLS regression. Large data sets may exhibit such behaviour. This might invoke some deeper reflection for statisticians. The fact that we remained confined to one data set is main limitation to this study. We suggest its replication with more variables and with other data sets of comparable size.Ce travail présente un large spectre de l'approche et de l'usage empirique du concept de compétences. A un extrême, on trouve la nécessaire discussion des subtilités du concept de compétence. A l'autre, des analyses économétriques rigoureuses pour répondre à une question essentielle: "Dans quelle mesure l'auto-évaluation des compétences est-elle fiable? ". Une investigation étymologique nous a aidé à fournir une justification en faveur de l'utilisation préférentielle, en anglais, du terme de " compétence " par rapport à celui de " competency ". En outre, nous avons retrouvé les racines du concept dans la littérature française, où il était en service bien avant son apparition dans la littérature anglaise. De plus, nous avons trouvé que l'utilisation du concept de compétences était répandu dans les différentes régions du globe et on en a déduit que l'intérêt pour la compétence est vraiment devenu internationalisé. La littérature anglaise et française nous a aidé à cet égard. Avant de procéder aux analyses économétriques, il a été nécessaire d'analyser scrupuleusement la littérature sur l'évaluation des compétences. Les analyses rigoureuses ont révélé que l'auto-évaluation des compétences est fiable à un niveau modeste. Nous avons testé la fiabilité de l'auto-évaluation des compétences acquises et requises, effectuée par les diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur. Nous pouvons affirmer la fiabilité dans les deux cas, cependant, à un niveau modeste. Nous avons simplifié la question de recherche de la façon suivante. : 1. Dans quelle mesure les niveaux de l'auto-évaluation des compétences acquises par les diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur sont-ils fiables? 2. Dans quelle mesure les niveaux de l'évaluation des compétences requises par l'emploi des diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur jeunes travailleurs sont-ils fiables? Nous avons testé les données pour les deux questions précédentes et nous avons trouvé une réponse positive pour chacune des deux. Le critère de falsifiabilité de Karl Popper nous a aidé à conclure que : 1. l'auto-évaluation des niveaux des compétences acquises par les diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur est fiable, quoiqu'à un niveau modeste. 2. l'évaluation des niveaux des compétences requises par les jeunes travailleurs est fiable, quoiqu'à un niveau modeste. L'ensemble des données utilisées dans cette étude a été fourni par l'équipe de Reflex. Nous avons fait usage de SPSS et Stata pour les analyses. Un certain nombre de techniques statistiques ont été utilisées, comme le probit ordonné, la régression par les moindres carrés ordinaires et des analyses paramétriques ainsi que non paramétriques sur les écarts. On a remarqué une similitude assez étonnante aux niveaux de signification pour les coefficients des estimations du probit ordonné et de régression MCO. Cela pourrait induire une réflexion plus profonde pour les statisticiens. La limitation primordiale de cette étude est le fait que nous soyons restés confiné à un ensemble de données. Nous proposons de reproduire ces analyses avec plus de variables et sur d'autres ensembles de données de taille comparable

Developing English Speaking Skill Indigenously among the Prospective Teachers

Present research experimentally studied the effectiveness of indigenously developed Content and Language Integrated Modular Approach (CLIMA) especially designed for developing English language ability among university students. CLIMA is a blend of Content and Language Integrated Approach and the Modular Approach. Two equated groups of total 52 students from Bachelor of Education Programme (semester-I) participated in this randomised pre-test post-test control group experiment. The content used herein comprised a purposefully designed module of 5 units. Both groups were taught by the same specifically trained teacher on same days with an interval of one hour between the sessions with the two groups. Experiment was completed in 30 sessions (1.5 hour each) during 10 weeks. For both pre- and post-testing, the researchers used the Analytic Rubric of Fairfax County Public Schools (Virginia, USA). This Analytic Rubric has been termed as the Performance Assessment for Language Students (PALS). The experimental group witnessed (pre-testing = 31.6%, post-testing = 80.8%) a value addition of 49.2%; and the control group witnessed (pre-testing = 31.2%, post-testing = 66.2%) a value addition of 35.0%. Compared with TOEFL and IELTS, conclusively, CLIMA was found highly effective. Results are discussed in detail in the paper

How students perceive Moral values indicated in Islamic Studies (compulsory) textbook?

The present study aims to Analyze “Student’s perception of values indicated in secondary level Islamic Studies (compulsory) textbook”. It was quantitative research and survey research was used in the study. All the Secondary schools’ students of district Sargodha, province Punjab was population of the study. Through convenient sampling 480 students from 24 secondary schools from district Sargodha were selected. Questionnaire was constructed by the researcher consisted of the Ayats of Surah Al Hujurat (Parah no 26, Chapter no 49) were taken from Islamic Studies (compulsory) textbook of 9th class i.e. equality(V:9), verification of reports(V:6), backbiting(V:12), don’t mock others(V:11), quarrelling(V:10), maintenance of peace and brotherhood (V:10). Results showed that female students of secondary schools scored higher on practicing of values as compared to male students, which were indicated in Islamic Studies (compulsory) textbook. It was recommended that policy makers should develop policies on practicing Islamic values in the curriculum at all levels. Teachers may be sensitized through in-service courses for promoting and practicing the Islamic values

Evaluation of students’ Engagement and Academic Achievement at University Level

The effectiveness of an educational organization depends highly on the performance of its students and teachers. This study was intended the relationship of academic engagement with academic achievement of university students. Purpose were to explore student engagement of physical and social sciences students of university of Sargodha, compare the student engagement of physical and social sciences student of university of Sargodha, Determining the relationship of student engagement and academic achievement in physical and social sciences student at university of Sargodha. A questionnaire was adapted for measuring students’ academic engagement indicators from National survey of student engagement (NSSE, 2019). Total 400 respondent of social sciences and physical sciences student in different departments of university of Sargodha were selected as sample of the study. Questionnaire was administered on the sample of the study. Data were analyze through SPSS. Descriptive statistics mean and standard deviation were calculated to find out the differences between the academic indicators. There was no significant difference found in the Academic challenge, Experience with faculty, Campus environment, and Overall engagement with respect to gender. There was no significant difference found in the academic engagement of students of faculty of physical sciences and faculty social sciences. A positive relationship was found between student engagement and academic achievement of students