Teaching Pedagogy

Nigerian schooling system is divided into three levels. Students’ academic performance in science at both the secondary and tertiary level of this schooling system has been to many factors. One of these factors is teacher’s strategy of teaching. That is why this paper is advocating for a shift in the pedagogy of teaching in science education. Based on the weaknesses of the lecture and other teaching pedagogy in science, the paper considered Peer Instruction (PI) to be a better alternative. Peer Instruction is a research-based pedagogy developed for teaching large introductory science courses. It is a method created to help make lectures more interactive and to get students intellectually engaged with what is going on. Lectures in PI consist of short presentations on key points, each followed by short conceptual questions called ConcepTest, typically posed in a multiple-choice format, on the subject being discussed. The choice of PI is based on several research studies that confirmed its effectiveness. The underpinning theories for this paper are social constructivism and constructive controversy because they viewed learning through interactions and argumentation. The paper suggested some recommendations.

The pandemic of COVID-19 has been declared a Public Health Emergency and is of International concern. In the 21st century, everyone is a global citizen. Keeping in mind that the teachers are powerful agents of change and caregivers for the next generation of scientists and doctors, their professional needs cannot be compromised due to the uncertainties that will occur post-pandemic. Sustaining safe school operations or reopening schools after a closure requires many considerations. Similarly, the professional growth of teachers of all types of educational institutions also needs reconsideration. The present situation (of the year 2020) in the world demands teachers and educators to adopt blended learning teaching practices. These practices will not just be for teaching but also for learning. There are several digital educational resources, such as the SWAYAM MOOCs and NPTEL courses are available for the teachers. Along with, many premium global institutions are conducting skill development webinars, short term courses, etc to train and better equip teachers with e-learning tools and technologies. The present study addresses the attitude of 313 teachers towards blended learning approach and its six dimensions viz. learning flexibility, online learning, study management, technology, classroom learning and online interaction as a strategy to meet their professional needs post COVID 19 pandemic era. The present study investigated the attitude of male and female teachers towards blended learning and its dimensions. Also, the study aimed to find the difference in attitude of teachers teaching in English medium institutes and those teaching in institutes having other languages like Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, etc as their medium of instruction. The results indicated that the attitude of male teachers is greater than that of female teachers with respect to online learning. Also, teachers teaching in English medium institutes have a positive attitude towards Learning Flexibility dimension of blended learning when compared to those teaching in institutes having other medium of instruction. There is a need for a paradigm shift in the education system to create and enable technology dependent learning environments post COVID-19 pandemic which will help in maintaining safety and enhance learning experiences not just for students but for teachers' professional growth.

The study analyses the scope and role of Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) in reforming teaching-learning practices in the classroom by employing a systematic balance of questions from both the lower and higher domains of learning in the summative assessment. Thus, this study analyses the annual question papers designed by the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, and Mirpurkhas for the subject of English grade XII from the year 2014 to 2018. It employs Bloom's Taxonomy to analyze and categorize each item included in these annual question papers to ascertain the higher and lower domains of learning. At Sindh province level, it has been found that 74% of questions refer to the lower domains whereas only 26% are used for higher domains. Given the formative assessment practices, teachers and students remain focused only on the lower domains, but by altering the course, the pedagogical practices and teachinglearning process in Sindh province can remarkably be reformed and transformed from sheer memorization and rote-learning to critical thinking, solution-making, knowledge-building process, and analytical skills.

English has been designated as a source of intercultural communication among the people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. A range of linguistic and cultural theories contribute meaningful insights on the development of competence in intercultural communication. The speculations suggest the use of communicative strategies focusing on the development of learners’ efficiency in communicating language through cultural context. However, the teaching of culture in communication has not been paid due importance in a number of academic and language settings of Pakistan and Iran. This assignment study indicates problems in view of teaching English as a medium of instruction in public sector colleges of interior Sindh, Pakistan and prescribed textbooks in Iranian schools. It also aims to identify drawbacks and shortcoming in prescribed textbooks for intermediate students at college level and schools. Therefore, the assignment study recommends integration of cultural awareness into a language teaching programme for an overall achievement of competence in intercultural communication.

Conventional teaching methods pose issues in the implementation of Outcome-based education and in producing skilled graduates required of the workforce. Achieving learning outcomes through engaging teaching approaches has been an everyday challenge faced by lecturers. This research aims to examine the impacts of service learning approach on achieving course learning outcomes (CLOs) in a pre-university course. Service learning pedagogy was used in this research to encourage practical applications of Professional Communication course allowing students to communicate with professionals in the community and enhance teamwork and academic performance. A research design of two groups (service learning group and conventional learning group) with quantitative and qualitative approaches was administered. Data were collected from written and oral presentation assessments, pre and post self-assessment questionnaires and reflective journals. This study was conducted to 40 pre-university students. The results showed service learners' higher mean scores in written assessment and oral presentation compared with the conventional group. The findings from the self-assessment questionnaires also indicated that although both groups showed significant improvement, service learners were inferior to conventional groups in communications skills and teamwork. However, service learners gained higher improvement in academic development than conventional group. These self-assessment results showed contradictions from the qualitative data conveying greater improvement in communication skills, teamwork, and academic achievement among all service learners. These findings affirm that service learning approach helps attain course learning outcomes, aids conventional teaching method, and would hopefully contribute in realizing the aims of Malaysia's Outcome-based Education system.

Purpose This paper aims to propose a classroom teaching orchestration technique, analogically drawing a reference from the movie, Prestige (2006). The generation of post-millennials has shorter attention span and motivation and prefers a learner-centric teaching style. This paper attempts to mitigate such challenges by bringing an analogy with a magic trick along with proposing a “divergent-convergent diamond structure” to anchor and synthesise teaching deliverables for the learners. Design/methodology/approach This is a practitioner’s study where practical experiences of the authors have led to the conceptualisation of the central theme discussed. Findings From a practitioner’s opinion and interpretation, the proposed “divergent-convergent diamond structure” has the potential to make postgraduate classes more engaging. The proposed structure may suggestively promote self-efficacy, trigger curious minds, bring relevance, indulge participatory learning and consolidate the concepts.