17 research outputs found

    Teaching English as a Language not Subject by Employing Formative Assessment

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    English is a second language (L2) in Sindh, Pakistan. Most of the public sector schools in Sindh teach English as a subject rather than a language. Besides, they do not distinguish between generic pedagogy and distinctive approaches used for teaching English as a first language (L1) and second language (L2). In addition, the erroneous traditional assessment focuses on only writing and reading skills and the listening and speaking skills of L2 remain excluded. There is a great emphasis on summative assessments, which contribute to a qualification; however, formative assessments, which provide timely and continuous appraisal and feedback, remain ignored. Summative assessment employs only paper-and- pencil based test, while the other current means of alternative assessments like self-assessment, peer-assessment, and portfolio assessment have not been incorporated, and explored yet. Teaching English as a subject not as a language, employing summative assessment not formative, depending on paper-and-pencil based test, and not using the alternative modes of assessment are some of the questions this study will deal with. The study under discussion suggests that current approaches employed for teaching English are misplaced as these take a subject teaching approach rather than a language teaching approach. It also argues for the paradigm shift from a product to process approach to assessment by administering modern alternative assessments

    Deposition of Aluminide Coatings onto AISI 304L Steel for High Temperature Applications

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    The nickel aluminides are commonly employed as a bond coat material in thermal barrier coating systems for the components of aeroengines operated at very high temperatures. However, their lifetime is limited due to several factors, such as outward diffusion of substrate elements, surface roughness at high temperatures, morphological changes of the oxide layer, etc. For this reason, inter-diffusion migrations were studied in the presence and absence of nickel coating. In addition, a hot corrosion study was also carried out. Thus, on one set of substrates, nickel electrodeposition was carried out, followed by a high activity pack aluminizing process, while another set of substrates were directly aluminized. The microstructural, mechanical, and oxidation properties were examined using different characterization techniques, such as SEM-EDS, optical microscopy, XRD, optical emission spectroscopy, surface roughness (Ra), and adhesion tests. In addition, the variable oxidation temperatures were employed to better understand their influence on the roughness, degree of spallation (DoS), and morphology. The results show that AISI 304L substrates do not respond to aluminizing treatment, i.e., no aluminide coating was formed; rather, a nearly pure aluminum (or alloy) was observed on the substrate. On the contrary, successful formation of an aluminide coating was observed on the nickel-electrodeposited substrates. In particular, a minimum amount of migrations were noted, which is attributed to nickel coating. Moreover, the scratch test at 10 N load revealed neither cracking nor peeling off, thereby indicating good adhesion of the aluminide coating before oxidation. The as-aluminized samples were oxidized between 700 °C to 1100 °C in air for 8 h each. The degree of spallation showed an incremental trend as temperatures increased. Likewise, oxide morphologies showed temperature dependence. On the other hand, average surface roughness (from Ra = 2.3 µm to 5.8 µm) was also increased as temperatures rose. Likewise, the mass gain showed linearity as temperatures increased during oxidation. The hot corrosion responses of electrodeposited-aluminized samples were superior among all specimens. An extensive discussion is presented based on the observations noted above

    Characterization of Microstructure, Phase Composition, and Mechanical Behavior of Ballistic Steels

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    For the protection of civil and military armored vehicles, advanced steels are used, due to their outstanding mechanical properties, high ballistic performance, ease of manufacturing and low cost. However, after retrofitting, weight is the prominent issue. In this regard, several strategies are being proposed, which include the surface engineering of either low-thickness ballistic steels or conventional steels, in addition to new alloys and composites. Therefore, to better understand the response of such materials under various stimuli, the existing state of the art ballistic steels was utilized in this study. The aim of this study was to better understand the existing materials and their corrosion behavior. Therefore, in this connection, two thicknesses were selected, i.e., thin (6.7–7.0 mm) and thick (13.0–15.0 mm), henceforth termed as low thickness (LT) and high thickness (HT), respectively. This was followed by characterization using tensile, Charpy, micro-Vickers, nanoindentation, XRD, SEM-EDS and corrosion tests. Microstructurally, the LT samples only exhibited ε-carbide precipitates, whereas the HT samples contained both ε-carbides and Mo2C (molybdenum carbides). However, both samples were found to be tempered martensite with a lath morphology. Moreover, higher hardness, and lower elastic modulus and stiffness were noticed in the HT samples compared with their LT counterparts. Fractured surfaces of both of these alloys were also examined, wherein a ductile mode of fracturing was observed. Further, a corrosion study was also carried out in brine solution. The results showed a higher corrosion rate in the HT samples than that of their LT counterparts. An extensive discussion is presented in light of the observed findings

    Synthesis and Characterization of Ti-Sn Alloy for Orthopedic Application

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    Titanium (Ti)-based alloys (e.g., Ti6Al4V) are widely used in orthopedic implant applications owing to their excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, their corrosion resistance needs to be optimized. In addition, the presence of aluminum and vanadium cause alzheimer and cancer, respectively. Therefore, in this study, titanium-based alloys were developed via powder metallurgy route. In these alloys, the Al and V were replaced with tin (Sn) which was the main aim of this study. Four sets of samples were prepared by varying Sn contents, i.e., 5 to 20 wt. %. This was followed by characterization techniques including laser particle analyzer (LPA), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), computerized potentiostate, vicker hardness tester, and nanoindenter. Results demonstrate the powder sizes between 50 and 55 µm exhibiting very good densification after sintering. The alloy contained alpha at all concentrations of Sn. However, as Sn content in the alloy exceeded from 10 wt. %, the formation of intermetallic compounds was significant. Thus, the presence of such intermetallic phases are attributed to enhanced elastic modulus. In particular, when Sn content was between 15 and 20 wt. % a drastic increase in elastic modulus was observed thereby surpassing the standard/reference alloy (Ti6Al4V). However, at 10 wt. % of Sn, the elastic modulus is more or less comparable to reference counterpart. Similarly, hardness was also increased in an ascending order upon Sn addition, i.e., 250 to 310 HV. Specifically, at 10 wt. % Sn, the hardness was observed to be 250 HV which is quite near to reference alloy, i.e., 210 HV. Moreover, tensile strength (TS) of the alloys were calculated using hardness values since it was very difficult to prepare the test coupons using powders. The TS values were in the range of 975 to 1524 MPa at all concentrations of Sn. In particular, the TS at 10 wt. % Sn is 1149 MPa which is comparable to reference counterpart (1168 MPa). The corrosion rate of Titanium-Sn alloys (as of this study) and reference alloy, i.e., Ti6Al4V were also compared. Incorporation of Sn reduced the corrosion rate at large than that of reference counterpart. In particular, the trend was in decreasing order as Sn content increased from 5 to 20 wt. %. The minimum corrosion rate of 3.65 × 10−9 mm/year was noticed at 20 wt. % than that of 0.03 mm/year of reference alloy. This shows the excellent corrosion resistance upon addition of Sn at all concentrations

    Teaching English as a Language not Subject by Employing Formative Assessment

    No full text
    English is a second language (L2) in Sindh, Pakistan. Most of the public sector schools in Sindh teach English as a subject rather than a language. Besides, they do not distinguish between generic pedagogy and distinctive approaches used for teaching English as a first language (L1) and second language (L2). In addition, the erroneous traditional assessment focuses on only writing and reading skills and the listening and speaking skills of L2 remain excluded. There is a great emphasis on summative assessments, which contribute to a qualification; however, formative assessments, which provide timely and continuous appraisal and feedback, remain ignored. Summative assessment employs only paper-and- pencil based test, while the other current means of alternative assessments like self-assessment, peer-assessment, and portfolio assessment have not been incorporated, and explored yet. Teaching English as a subject not as a language, employing summative assessment not formative, depending on paper-and-pencil based test, and not using the alternative modes of assessment are some of the questions this study will deal with. The study under discussion suggests that current approaches employed for teaching English are misplaced as these take a subject teaching approach rather than a language teaching approach. It also argues for the paradigm shift from a product to process approach to assessment by administering modern alternative assessments.</jats:p

    Bloom’s Taxonomy: Improving Assessment and Teaching-Learning Process

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    &lt;p&gt;This research study critically analyzes the scope and contribution of Bloom’s Taxonomy in both assessment and teaching-learning process. Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six stages, namely;remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating and moves from lower degree to the higher degree. The study applies Bloom’s Taxonomy to the prevailing assessment system at the level of secondary education in Sindh. The data are collected from the last five years’ question papers used by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Karachi, Hyderabad Sukkur at secondary level for the subject of English. The questions asked in these papers are classified and analyzed from the vintage point of Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine whether the present assessment system focuses on the lower degrees of learning like remembering, understanding, applying or it transcends to the higher degrees such as analyzing, evaluating and creating. The data are quantitative hence SPSS. 20 is used to analyze and draw conclusions and results. The findings of this study will help to improve both assessment and teaching-learning process, which will hopefully uplift the learner from the sheer practices of description, rote-learning and memorization to the profound level of analysis, evaluation and creativity.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

    Bloom’s Taxonomy: Improving Assessment and Teaching-Learning Process

    No full text
    This research study critically analyzes the scope and contribution of Bloom’s Taxonomy in both assessment and teaching-learning process. Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six stages, namely;remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating and moves from lower degree to the higher degree. The study applies Bloom’s Taxonomy to the prevailing assessment system at the level of secondary education in Sindh. The data are collected from the last five years’ question papers used by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Karachi, Hyderabad Sukkur at secondary level for the subject of English. The questions asked in these papers are classified and analyzed from the vintage point of Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine whether the present assessment system focuses on the lower degrees of learning like remembering, understanding, applying or it transcends to the higher degrees such as analyzing, evaluating and creating. The data are quantitative hence SPSS. 20 is used to analyze and draw conclusions and results. The findings of this study will help to improve both assessment and teaching-learning process, which will hopefully uplift the learner from the sheer practices of description, rote-learning and memorization to the profound level of analysis, evaluation and creativity

    Stylistic Analysis of Ahmed Ali’s Short Story Our Lane

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    The undertaken study is based on stylistic analysis of Ahmed Ali’s short story Our Lane. The study analyzes how the author has used linguistic features like noun, adjective, conjunction, sentence complexity to portray the social, political, economic, religious, psychological and cultural conditions of the colonized natives of the Indian subcontinent in the wake of the British colonial rule. The story portrays how the colonial rule has deteriorated the people socially, economically, politically and psychologically. Ahmed Ali’s use of adjective is in consonant with the established norm of using 7 to 8% of the total text (Hofland & Johansson, 1987:6). Whereas, the median of 343 sentences is 13, which is shorter than the length of an average modern sentence, which according to Ellegard is 17.8 words. While rebutting colonial narrative, he deviates from the standards of English language: excessive use of coordinating conjunction ‘and’ is evidence to it. Most adjectives of positive characteristics qualify to the past, whereas the adjectives referring to present are either of negative or of neutral characteristics, and thus the writer recognizes the glory of the past and condemns the disintegrating present and uncertain future in the colonized land

    Trends in Research on Latent Heat Storage Using PCM, A Bibliometric Analysis

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    Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is particularly noteworthy thermal energy storage (TES) technology due to its high energy storage density. LHTES involves the use of phase change materials (PCMs) to store thermal energy, which can subsequently be used for heating and cooling applications as well as power generation. This paper outlines the techniques and tools employed to analyze existing literature on TES and LHTES systems research. Bibliometric, a statistical approach to analyzing written publications in specific fields of research, is used to identify significant findings and determine the course of scientific output. A strategic analysis of knowledge development is crucial for detecting opportunities and advancements within the field. This research offers valuable insights into the publication trends within the fields of TES and LHTES over the last three decades. Additionally, the study conducts a thorough examination of the geometric configurations of LHTES systems and their potential impacts on ongoing and future research. By tracking publication rates over thirty years, this study provides a comprehensive overview of how research in TES and LHTES has evolved. Understanding these trends helps researchers and policymakers gauge the growth and relevance of these fields in the context of energy storage and thermal management.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author

    A Comparison of MLIS Curricula Taught in Pakistani Library and Information Science Schools with Higher Education Commission Curriculum

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    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare Pakistani LIS schools curricula with Higher Education Commission designed curriculum for LIS schools in Pakistan. The paper identified the most common course titles and the most unique course titles taught in Pakistani LIS schools. Design/methodology/approach – The author requested to the responsible focal persons of the LIS schools in Pakistan through personal phone calls and emails and collects the data through email and personal visits of LIS schools. Findings–The paper finds gaps of LIS schools curricula’s, most common course titles and the most unique titles. Practical implications–The paper helps in the design of LIS schools curricula according to the market needs. It also enables the higher authorities to know their LIS schools status on the world level. It helps in the LIS schools accreditation at International level. Originality/value – The study shows level of LIS schools with the help of course titles they offered. It is the first comprehensive study and based on pure research. Keywords – Curriculum, LIS Schools Curricula, LIS Education in Pakistan, Development of Education, Uniformity of LIS Education Paper type – Research pape
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