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A GENDER BASED COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FACTORS LEADING TO ORGANIZATIONAL SILENCE AT HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL Organizational Silence in the workplace occurs in situations in which employees opt to keep silent. Teachers decided not to express their ideas, opinions, problems within the organization. Teachers choose to remain quite because of fear of isolation, lack of trust, fear of damaging and keeping himself away to avoid any negative consequences. The aim of the current study was to compare the factors leading to Organizational Silence at Higher Education Level among male and female teachers of public universities of Islamabad. Researcher used the quantitative research approach in this study. The population of the study was consisted of 1160 teachers among them 630 were male teachers and 530 were female teachers. Stratified proportionate sampling was used to draw sample from two strata. The sample was consisted of 291 teachers of public university of Islamabad among them 159 (25%) were male teachers and 132 (25%) were female teachers. The return response rate of the current study was 235 among them 108 were male teachers and 127 were female teachers. An adapted questionnaire of Dasci & Cemalouglu (2016) was used by the researcher as a tool to collect the data from participants. Moreover, for the current study, researcher used both descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean and independent t-test was calculated to analyze the data. The analysis of data demonstrates that teachers display more colleagues related factor with 3.50 mean value among five dimensions of organizational silence (Individual characteristics 3.36, Administrative factor 3.21, Organizational culture 3.33 and Pressure Groups 3.15) at university level. Furthermore, results of independent t-test show that there is a significant difference in Organizational Silence of male and female teachers of public universities of Islamabad. Results of independent t-test also indicate that female teachers display more Organizational silence at university level as compare to male teachers.
AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING TEACHER RETENTION IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS This research was planned to investigate the factors affecting retention of teachers in private schools of Islamabad. The objectives were to assess the role of Growth Need Fulfillment, RelatednessNeed Fulfillment and Existence Need Fulfillment in retention of teachers as well as gender-based differences in retention of private secondary school teachers. The conceptual framework of this research is based on ERG theory by Alderfer in which three basic human needs are highlighted known as Growth needs, relatedness needs and existence needs. It was quantitative research by nature. Thisstudy included 490 teachers which is the whole population due to census sampling technique. The data was collected using two questionnaires. The items were adapted from Naseer (2014). The first questionnaire includes demographics and items based on variables highlighted by Alderfer’s theory. The second questionnaire was based on teacher retention having closed ended questions. The responses were gathered on five point likert scale. Statistical techniques of Correlation and t- test were used to analyze the data. It was found that all three human needs (i.e. Growth Needs, Relatedness Needs and Existence Needs) measured in this study have a strong relationship with teachers’ retention in Private schools of Islamabad. It was also found that there were gender based differences regarding Growth Needs, Relatedness Needs and Existence Needs with regards to retention of teachers in private schools. Retention of male teachers is more affected if Growth needs and relatedness needs are not fulfilled as compared to female teachers. However retention of female teachers is more affected by Existence needs in comparison to male teachers. It was recommended that schools may facilitate teachers and give consideration to job characteristics like adequate salary, safety measures, acknowledgment and praise for accomplishing tasks including promotions and avenues for professional development.
AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF TEACHERS’ CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ETHICS The aim of the present study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers regarding the code of professional conduct and ethics. It was also aimed to identify the problems teachers face, regarding the knowledge and awareness of professional code of conduct and ethics at in an academic institution. The research approach was quantitative, and the design was descriptive. The faculty members of the NUML, Islamabad, were the participants of the study and purposive sampling technique was used. The questionnaire was validated and data was collected with closed-ended questionnaire with five point Likert scale. Data was analysed through descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. The significant finding of the study indicated that faculty members at NUML had agreed and supported the idea that there is a need of document to be presented. The finding of the study also indicated that faculty members were facing problems in understanding codes and faculty members were not involved in the process while making these policies. The study concludes that there is need to explicitly present the codes in documented form to avoid any sort of uncertainties and guide the faculty members. This study recommended that teachers may be involved while making these policies and proper training session should be conducted in order to get insight of the issues that remain untouched due to certain ambiguities. For the future researchers it is also recommended that extend the research to other regional campuses of NUML University and other public and private universities to get diverse views of the faculty members.
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PROFESSIONAL CRITERIA FOR UNIVERSITY TEACHERS IN PAKISTAN This study aimed to critically analyses the professional criteria for university teachers in Pakistan. The study focused on the exploration of the domains of the global framework of professional teaching standards of university faculty with respect to HEC and to investigate the perception of professional teaching standards in the context of the framework of the study amongst university faculty at public sector universities in Islamabad. The study is descriptive by method and a mixed methods approach is used. Sequential exploratory mix method research design type is used in the present study. Data was collected by personal visit and analyzed by using the mean score and standard deviation. Whereas for qualitative data, two standard documents by HEC were taken as a sample. Content analysis was done by analyzing the documents with the domains of the theoretical framework. self developed validated according to the adopted framework themes questionnaire was designed, having 3 sections each section has 12 statements and total 36 statements were there in the questionnaire. The total population of the study is 732. The sample was selected through a purposive sampling technique, including males (90) and females (110) from public sector universities in Islamabad. Hence, the findings reveal that the Best University Teacher Award (BUTA), revised in 2016 is highly consistent with the domains of the framework, whereas quality assurance agency Performa's are less consistent. It was analyzed that there are best university teacher award criteria and evaluating criteria for university faculty, but there are no set standards for university faculty in Pakistan at university level. The quantitative section findings reveal that most teachers agree on teacher teaching knowledge and understanding, teacher teaching practice, and teacher teaching relationships as it possesses a high mean value. It is recommended that professional knowledge and practice may be improved to enhance quality teaching. It is recommended that teachers may be marked by some standards, at the time of hiring. There must be a criteria for university faculty that will show their competency and professionalism in teacher that either they are capable of teaching at higher level, do they have teaching skills like knowledge, professional practice and professional relationship in them.
EFFECTS OF TEACHERS’ CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON STUDENTS’ SELFREGULATED LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL This study pursued to identify level of continuous professional development (CPD) among university teachers, to assess self-regulated learning (SRL) of university students, to compare demographic differences, i.e., gender and teaching experience regarding university teachers’ CPD, to compare gender-based difference regarding SRL of students at university level, and to analyze the effect of CPD of teachers on SRL of the students, in the universities of Islamabad. Descriptive type research was followed, using survey technique. Study population consisted of the teachers and students in the universities of Islamabad with Social and Management Sciences Faculties. The study used both purposive and systematic random sampling. Five public-sector universities with these faculties were shortlisted and three from them were randomly selected as population. Hundred CPD qualified teachers from BS class-rooms were purposively selected in these three universities. Around five students from each class were selected for SRL data. Two questionnaires were used for data collection, i.e., self-devised questionnaire to assess teachers’ CPD, and a standardized tool, MSLQ for SRL of their students. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the obtained data. Hypotheses testing was done by using ttest and regression analysis. Discussion was based on five objectives. It was concluded from the study findings that CPD for teachers in the universities of Islamabad was strong. But CPD related to out of institute learning was found to be the weakest. Demographic variables like gender and teaching experience had insignificant role in CPD of teachers. It was also found that SRL was being practiced by the students of universities in Islamabad. Gender played significant role in SRL of the students. Inferential statistics found that CPD of the university teachers in Islamabad had no significant effect on the SRL of the students. It was concluded that CPD of teachers was positively related with SRL of their students. The study recommended that CPD of University teachers may include focus on SRL of their students to make such learning practices more productive and across the gender. It would require inclusion of such training sessions in universities’ training cycle and by sensitizing the teachers about significance of this form of learning.
TEACHERS’ REFLECTIVE PRACTICES IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SOHAWA: A CASE STUDY The aim of the study was to investigate the reflective practices of secondary school of Sohawa. For this purpose, researcher conduct a case study to investigate the reflective practices of secondary school teachers of Sohawa, a small tehsil of district Jhelum. To conduct study on reflective practices researcher used reflective practitioner theory by Donald A Schon (1938) and Gibbs reflective cycle (1983). The approach pf the study was mixed method and design was case study. The participants of the study were 13 secondary school teachers at Seena Academy School Sohawa. The researcher used Purposive Sampling Technique. Data were collected through questionnaire, open ended questions, and observations. Data were analyzed through mean, percentages, t-test, and thematic analysis. The findings of the study indicated that teachers at secondary school are involved in the process of reflection and perform reflective practices unconsciously, but they were unaware of the concept and specifically the term ‘reflective practice’, ‘reflection-in-action’ and ‘reflection-on-action’. The study also concludes that secondary school teachers perform reflection-on-action more than reflection-in-action. The data also concludes that secondary school teachers have a file where they keep record of their lesson plans, but they don’t have reflective diary to record their experiences of teaching on daily or weekly basis. Therefore, it is recommended that to understand the concept and process of reflection, there should be sessions on which teachers at secondary school of Sohawa learn the importance of reflection in teaching and the reflection-in-action-and reflection-on-action is important in professional development of teachers. Teachers at secondary school of Sohawa may keep diary with themselves to record their teaching experiences. Teachers should set discipline rules for each class to avoid the discipline problems during teaching.
FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ CAREER CHOICES AT HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL The current study was conducted to determine the factors affecting students’ career choices at higher secondary school in district Gilgit. Objectives for the current study were, identify predetermined factors such as Gender, media, academic reasons, Family influence, Peer influence, Teacher influence and Personal interest affecting students’ career choices.; to investigate the effect of these predetermined factors on students’ career choices at higher secondary school level; to compare the effect of career choices factors on male and female students at secondary school students; and to explore other factors rather than (Gender, media, academic reasons, Family, Peers, Teacher and personal interest) that affect students’ career choices at higher secondary school level. Krumboltz’s social learning theory of career decision making (CDM) was used in the current study. A mixed method approach was used to measure few predetermine factors and explore other factors affecting students’ career choices and adopted convergent research design where the data was collected through closed ended questions and in-depth interviews and analyzed statistically by using mean and percentage. The questionnaire was adapted at five-point Likert. Data was collected through simple random sampling technique from selected sample. Result of the quantitative data showed that students were undecided in gender, media and academic reasons’ affect on career choices and remaining factors were affecting students’ career choices. Qualitative data showed that Career choice of students affected by economic factors, religious factors, job opportunities and social status. Parents, teachers and students may take effective measures to improve academic performance of students. Family may pay proper guidance, respect and care according to their children’s maximum level of satisfaction and may present a healthy environment in the family.
INFLUENCE OF “SCHOOL MANAGEMENT MANUAL” ON IMPROVEMENT AT SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL UNDER THE FEDERAL DIRECTORATE OF EDUCATION The qualitative descriptive study was undertaken to describe and interpret the practices and experiences of the secondary school heads in the context of School Management Manual and its influence on improving schools working under the Federal Directorate of Education Islamabad. The researcher used conceptual framework and purposive sampling technique to select twelve male and female participants for the study who are heading secondary schools in their respective sectors under the Federal Directorate of Education, Islamabad. To begin with, semi structured interview protocol and checklist for document analysis were used. After the collection and analysis of data collection done through semi structured interviews and document analysis, it was found out that the schools are not following the guidelines of the School Management Manual, therefore, focused group discussion was consequently planned and conducted with the same participants to investigate the possible reasons for the shortfall in the practicing status and sought recommendations for improving its practical application in schools. The data collected through focused group discussion was transcribed and analyzed to generate themes and sub themes through qualitative content analysis. The qualitative descriptive study design appropriately allowed thematic as well as content analysis to establish the understanding of the phenomenon under study. The findings of the study revealed that the School Management Manual could not influence improvement due to various reasons i.e. deficiency of resources of various kinds, overall resistance of teachers towards change and new initiatives, insufficient capacity building of teaching faculty and lack the required ownership from the higher management to implement the guiding principles of the School Management Manual. The research findings also concluded that regular and systematic capacity building of heads as well of teachers, provision of required human and physical resources, close supervision of the Federal Directorate of Education, Islamabad are essential to support school heads in improving the implementation status of the School Management Manual at secondary level.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES Quality is a very essential aspect in any sector of service in the competitive world. Quality management plays a very important role in achieving competitive advantages in an educational institution. The present study focuses on comparative analysis of quality management practices in public and private universities with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 reference. All the directors of quality enhancement cells, heads of departments, and teachers were considered population from public and private universities. Purposive sampling was applied to select the sample of universities. The research study sample comprised fourteen universities (seven public and seven private) with due representation of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). Stakeholders like heads of departments, teachers, and directors of quality assurance cells from different universities were selected through stratified sampling. The present study adopted a mixed method design. A self-developed questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used for data collection. Data were analyzed with mean, standard deviation, percentage, t-test (SPSS), and QDA Miner Lite. The findings indicated that quality management practiced were being practiced in Pakistani universities to some extent and respondents' satisfaction was medium. The widest principle was evidence-based decision making and the lowest principle practiced was leadership, improvement, and process approach. Data shows that there was a medium potential for adopting ISO 9001:2015 in the public and private sector universities. As public and private sector universities, respondents highlighted challenges as lack of awareness, shortage of funds, lack of technical knowledge, time management, workload, lack of internal audits, lack of involvement of people, lack of resources, time management, lack of commitment of top management, lack of training, the existence of accreditation, inappropriate culture, lack of incentives and rewards, lack of resources, lack of planning, and resistance to change. If the higher education commission set criteria and orders notification for international accreditation then the university becomes part of ISO 9001 quality management at a global level.
EFFECT OF SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING ON STUDENTS’ RESEARCH SKILLS AT HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL The current study aimed to find out the effect of self-directed learning on students’ research skills at higher education level. Objectives of this research were, to identify self-directed learning of students at higher education level; to investigate students’ research skills at higher education level and to find out the effect of self-directed learning on students’ research skills at higher education level. Self-directed learning was selected as independent variable and research skills selected as dependent variable. Conceptual framework was based on two theories; first theory given by Garrison’s (1997) the three-dimensional model of self-directed learning as cited by (Shahrouri, 2016) and second theory for research skills selected for this study is based on the research work of (Griffioen, 2020). Target population of the study were 319 university level students, out of which a sample size of 175(n) was finalized from three Faculties; Faculty of Social Sciences, English and Management Sciences of three public sector universities of Islamabad, National University of Modern Languages, AIR and International Islamic University. These universities were selected due to the four common departments, i.e. Department of English, Education, Psychology and Management Sciences. Nature of the study was descriptive and quantitative survey research method was employed for which; two adapted questionnaires were used, first questionnaire had 23 survey statements and the second had 30 statements measured through Likert scale 1-5. Stratified random sampling technique was used by the researcher. A range of statistical tests including demographic evaluation, descriptive statistics, mean and linear regression were applied to analyze the data through SPSS. Findings lead to conclude that there exist significant effect of self-directed learning on research skills of students at higher education level. Similarly, results signify that there exist significant effect of self-management on research skills of students at higher education level. There exist significant effects of self-monitoring on research skills of students at higher education and there exist significant effect of motivation on research skills of students at higher education level. It is recommended that, Higher Education Commission and Universities may organize workshops and seminars that could grant students learning autonomy to support their self-directed learning. Students need to participate in their education programs whole-heartedly to learn new research skills.
EFFECT OF SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING ON STUDENTS’ RESEARCH SKILLS AT HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL The current study aimed to find out the effect of self-directed learning on students’ research skills at higher education level. Objectives of this research were, to identify self-directed learning of students at higher education level; to investigate students’ research skills at higher education level and to find out the effect of self-directed learning on students’ research skills at higher education level. Self-directed learning was selected as independent variable and research skills selected as dependent variable. Conceptual framework was based on two theories; first theory given by Garrison’s (1997) the three-dimensional model of self-directed learning as cited by (Shahrouri, 2016) and second theory for research skills selected for this study is based on the research work of (Griffioen, 2020). Target population of the study were 319 university level students, out of which a sample size of 175(n) was finalized from three Faculties; Faculty of Social Sciences, English and Management Sciences of three public sector universities of Islamabad, National University of Modern Languages, AIR and International Islamic University. These universities were selected due to the four common departments, i.e. Department of English, Education, Psychology and Management Sciences. Nature of the study was descriptive and quantitative survey research method was employed for which; two adapted questionnaires were used, first questionnaire had 23 survey statements and the second had 30 statements measured through Likert scale 1-5. Stratified random sampling technique was used by the researcher. A range of statistical tests including demographic evaluation, descriptive statistics, mean and linear regression were applied to analyze the data through SPSS. Findings lead to conclude that there exist significant effect of self-directed learning on research skills of students at higher education level. Similarly, results signify that there exist significant effect of self-management on research skills of students at higher education level. There exist significant effects of self-monitoring on research skills of students at higher education and there exist significant effect of motivation on research skills of students at higher education level. It is recommended that, Higher Education Commission and Universities may organize workshops and seminars that could grant students learning autonomy to support their self-directed learning. Students need to participate in their education programs whole-heartedly to learn new research skills.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT AT HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL: A STUDY OF SELECTED UNIVERSITIES DURING PANDEMIC COVID-19 The study aims to assess change management process at higher education level and determine the challenges faced by the stakeholders with reference to teaching, examination and technological facilities in education system during (Covid-19). The study also compare universities on the bases of change management process. Mixed method approach was used in the study based on convergent parallel design to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data concurrently. Population of the study was teachers and administrators of Public Sector Universities of Islamabad. Multistage sampling techniques was used in the study to select the desired sample size of teachers with a ratio of 20% sample fraction of 172 teachers through stratified sampling technique, whereas the sample size of administrators (exam and IT) were taken through census technique was 30. Three separate Change Management Process scale survey questionnaire was self-developed to assess change management process in teaching, examination and IT section. For analysis of quantitative data mean and ANOVA were used, whereas for qualitative data thematic analysis was used. The findings of the study shows that change event was treated as a project of online education in pandemic. The mean score in this study reported the Define phase of change management process was more frequently used by the teachers and administrators while providing teaching learning process, technological facilities and conduction of examination procedures in education purposes during pandemic. Furthermore it was explored that there is no significance university wise difference in phases of change management process with reference to teaching, assessment and technology facility. Similarly it was reported that teacher’s faced major challenge of limited resources and classroom management, whereas administrators of exam section faced challenges regarding difficulty in assessment and IT staff encountered challenge of limited resources and workload. It was suggested that university management arrange platform for both teachers and administrators to exchange information while keeping this change management model as a sample to initiate the change according to the need, encourage communication among employees, avoid reluctance and strategically plan the process. Teachers and administrators of different universities may identify gaps in strategies and styles of change management while integrating and incorporate this change management model that may target the planned/ unplanned or uncertain situations among different sections of universities.
EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND PERSONAL FACTORS ON SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY The current study aimed to investigate the effect of organizational and personal factors on school teachers’ psychological safety. The primary objective was to examine the effect of organizational factors (leadership behavior, organizational culture & team effectiveness) and personal factors of teachers (gender, generation type, organizational tenure, employment status and professional experience) on their psychological safety. The moderation effect of team effectiveness (goals, roles, processes and interpersonal relationships) on the relationship between leadership and psychological safety was also analyzed. The study population was delimited to O/A level school teachers of the private sector within the geographical limits of urban Islamabad, Pakistan, out of which 600 teachers from 46 schools were surveyed using structured questionnaires. The instruments used for data collection were standardized scales: The Managerial Grid, Psychological Safety Scale, Team Effectiveness Questionnaire and Organizational Culture Scale. The results indicated that organizational culture and leadership had a significant effect on psychological safety of school teachers. Further analysis on effects of personal factors on psychological safety showed a significant effect of generation types and employment status of teachers on their psychological safety and no effect of gender, professional experience and organizational tenure. Additionally, team effectiveness not only significantly moderates the relationship between leadership and psychological safety but also has a significant effect on psychological safety. The study concluded that teachers’ psychological safety is significantly affected by factors at both organizational and personal level. School leadership is recommended to provide organizational culture that is collaborative, values teamwork and synergy with high psychological safety, and train leaders to focus on both task and relations within teams. Teacher teams may be assessed for increasing team effectiveness by ensuring clarity in team roles, goals, processed and developing inter-personal team relations. Practitioners are recommended to provide trainings to educational leaders on managing different generation types at the workplace. Furthermore, providing permanent employment status or fixed term contracts to teachers on probation may also increase their psychological safety.
ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR TEACHERS’ RESEARCH SKILLS AT HIGHER EDUCATION LEVEL The present study aimed to analyze the support mechanism for teachers’ research skills at higher education level at Islamabad. The main objectives of this study were: to assess the availability of support mechanism, to examine the level of support mechanism for teachers research skills, to examine the level of teachers’ research skills and to measure contribution of support mechanism in teachers research skills at higher education level. Theoretical framework of this study was based on teachers’ support mechanism model by Lucas, & Oliveira (2017) and Teachers’ research skills model was based on the work of Vitea (2010). This study approach was quantitative and research design was correlation. The population of the research was based on 297 university teachers serving in social sciences faculty in public and private universities of Islamabad, having three years or less than three years of teaching experience. The sample was consisted of 100% of the population, while 50 teachers were selected for pilot testing. The teachers who contributed in pilot testing were not included in final data collection. In final data collection out of 247 teachers 236 teachers returned the questionnaire thus the rate of return was 95%. The study tool was self-developed by the researcher. Teachers Support Mechanism Scale (TSMS) and Teacher’s Research Skills Scale (TRSS) were used as the data collection tool. Croanbachs’ Alpha reliability of support mechenism scale was calculated as 0.97. Cronbach's Alpha reliability of teachers’ research skills scale was calculated as 0.90. Data was personally collected by the researcher and analyzed by using SPSS 22nd version. It was concluded that teachers were agreed that support mechanism was available in the universities. It was also found that average level of support mechanism was found among 116 teachers. It was also found that above average level of teachers’ research skills was found among 116 teachers. It is recommended that through the orientation program and weekly meeting administration can inform teachers about the availability of new university facilities. It is recommended that departmental discussions may be arranged once in a month for sharing of new ideas with new teachers. Senior colleagues offer more support to less experienced teachers such as in learning new teaching skills.