Professor Dr. Syed Arif Kamal
Project Director, the NGDS Pilot Project; HEC-Approved PhD Supervisor
Program
Coördinator, the Early Talent Research Participation Program
MS (Indiana, Bloomington, USA); MA (Johns Hopkins, USA); PhD; Member AIAA (USA), IBRO (France)
Member, Expert Panel (Mathematics),
National Curriculum Council, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan
Convener, National Curriculum Revision Committee
(Mathematics), Higher Education Commission
Member, Senate, Academic Council, Board of Faculty, Board of Studies;
Ex-Chairman
Professor (BPS-21),
Department of Mathematics
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
Office: Room
No. 6, Department of Mathematics, University of Karachi, University Road
Paper Mail: University of Karachi, Post Office
Box No. 8406, Karachi 75270 (Pakistan)
Homepage: http://ngds-ku.org/kamal • e-mail: kamal(at the rate of)ngds-ku.org
Telephones: (92 21) 9926 1300-6 ext. 2293
(secretary), ext. 2380 (direct)
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½ Profile ½ Leadership
Vision ½ Professional Skills ½ Research ½ Pedagogical ½ Community Outreach ½ Biodata ½ Publications ½ |
Pedagogical Synopsis
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1. Philosophy
To cultivate habits of creative thinking
and critical
analysis, by providing highly-
motivated students sufficient depth as
well as adequate breadth of the core
and the related subjects, so that they
can make informed,
independent
decisions, under stressful situations.
To integrate the
various aspects of
curriculum development (why to teach
– philosophy; what
to teach – contents;
how to teach –
pedagogical techniques)
in such way that
the student is educated
to become a manager
of resources of
the universe (not a
thief) and shall know
relationship with
Allah, self and
environment (cf.
Fig. 1).
2. Methodology
What to learn is the main factor in
TRAINING. A trained person “knows”
the techniques, which can be repeated
under standard situations. How to learn
is the essence of EDUCATION. An educated
person “knows”, “can explain” and “can
apply” the concepts and the techniques. Emphasis is
placed on concept building (through debates, discussion sessions, activities)
and technique developing (smart approaches to problem solving, problem broken
down into ‘data’, ‘objective’, 'solvability', ‘strategy’, ‘setting up of
problem’, ‘solution’ and ‘result to proper significant figures’) Please click
"Problem Solving" hyperlink on my homepage. A motivational session
(comprising of historical evolution, applications and relation-ship to the
students’ own discipline, in particular, and the society, in general) is
conducted before start of every course. Students’ level is deter-mined in the
beginning (through pretest, life-history essay and discussions). A system of
conti-nuous feedback (to set pace and depth) in addition to end-of-term
confidential evaluation is established. Each course is divided into one-week
duration units. The mode of instruction consists of pre reading (before the
start of unit) and pre quiz; lectures accompanied by activity and followed by
tutorial and discussion/ problem-solving session; one-minute post lecture
summary (by students and, afterwards, by the instructor), post reading,
assignment of homework problems and post quiz (not all the described methods
are applied in a single course).
3. Accomplishments
Undergraduate Students (sophomore level) of University of
Karachi having no background in
problem solving were trained in a four-month period to solve problems from the PhD qualifying examinations of the top US
institutions. Freshman-level students (who did not
study mathematics beyond grade 10) were taught linear interpolation and extrapolation
while reading and interpreting NCHS growth charts. Physics was integrated with mathematics, special emphasis
given to conservation laws, with implications and applications in different
branches of science and engineering. As
Member of Expert Panel (Mathematics), National Curriculum Council, Ministry of
Education, Government of Pakistan, I reviewed outline for Classes I-XII
Mathematics Curricula as well as developed and applied criteria for review of
text-books. This exercise has helped National Curriculum Review Committee
(NCRC) for Mathematics, Higher Education Commission to interface BS curricula
with pre-university curricula. As Convener of NCRC, which prepared 4-year BS, 2-year MS (MS to replace the existing MPhil
Program) and 2-year PhD Programs during year 2005 for possible implemen-tation
in Pakistani institutions. The committee reviewed undergraduate mathematics
curricula taught in the ational institutions for content and pedagogical
techniques, striking a proper balance between pure and applied mathematics. The
programs have been revised again last year (2008).
3.1 BS Program
Salient
features of this program may be summarized as:
3.1.1 Prioritization of Courses
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a) |
Must know (Foundation Courses) |
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b) |
Should know (Major Courses) |
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c) |
Nice to know (Electives) |
3.1.2 Depth and Breadth of Courses
Given in
terms of precedence graphs (flow charts) [depth: pre-requisites] and influence
graphs [breadth: co-requisites], respectively
3.1.3 Syllabus
Course
Supervisor is required to distribute syllabus breakdown into 14 units, each
unit completed within a week.
3.1.4
Pedagogical Techniques
Lecture sessions of each unit (normally, 2-3 lectures) are
followed by a tutorial session (reinforcing the concepts taught through
examples, alternate derivations and proofs) as well as a problem-solving
session (teaching skills of problem formulation, qualitative analysis and
finding solutions), each of these sessions conducted, separately, by the
Associate Instructor at the end of lecture session of every unit. In addition,
a review session should be arranged prior to each monthly test (hourly) and a
comprehensive review before the final examination, both sessions conducted by
the Course Supervisor.
Receiving shield from
my mentor, Prof. Idrees Khan, because of whom I opted basic sciences instead of
engineering, after delivering lecture on Gauss’ Law during Workshop on Physics
at Government College, Hyderabad (April 21, 2009)
3.1.5 Continuous-Evaluation Report
Course
Supervisor (Instructor) is required to prepare a progress report after each
hourly mentioning tentative grade (cumulative grade based on all hourlies,
quizzes, problem sets and assignments taken to date) and attendance record
(pilot tested at IBA and SZABIST). It may, also, include qualitative
description of student’s weaknesses and areas needing special attention.
Laboratory and theory portions are separate passing heads. This report is
discussed with the student as well as student’s parents, if unsatisfactory.
3.2 MS (PhD) Program
Important
features of these programs are listed below:
3.2.1 Entrance Requirements
For MS: BS (Mathematics) or equivalent; GRE
(General); written test; personal interview
For PhD: MS in Mathematics or equivalent; GRE
(General) and GRE (Mathematics); personal interview
3.2.2 Masters Examinations [PhD-Qualifying
Examinations]
Masters’
Examinations (written + oral) must be passed before starting thesis research;
any student, who fails to qualify these examinations in 2 attempts, or by the
end of first year of study, is asked to withdraw from the program. Masters’
Examinations are to be offered by the department 4 times during an academic
year. Written examination may consist of selected questions from PhD-Qualifying
Examination, testing the student in core areas. Oral examination, testing the
student in the area of specialization, is scheduled only after the student
passes the written examination. During the oral examination the student is,
also, required to describe the proposed research work. Committees formed by
Board of Advanced Studies and Research conduct these examinations. In order to
help prepare the student for these examinations, the department shall offer
non-credit courses Masters-Examination (PhD-Qualifying-Examination) Preparation
during the first and the second semesters of graduate studies.
3.2.3 Pedagogical Techniques
Lecture
sessions of each unit (normally, 2-3 lectures) are followed by a
problem-discussion session (reinforcing the concepts taught through examples,
alternate derivations and proofs, innovative solutions to the problems),
conducted by the Associate Instructor. In addition, a review session should be
arranged prior to each monthly test and a comprehensive review before the final
examination, both sessions conducted by the Course Supervisor.
3.2.4 Mathematics Undergraduate Teaching
Student acts
as Associate Instructor (Teaching Assistant) in a BS course. This is an
opportunity for a student to gain teaching experience at the university level.
Each course taught by the student earns a practical-experience credit and is
graded according to at least two of the following evaluation criteria:
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a) |
Feedback from students |
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b) |
Lecture/Tutorial/Problem-solving
session observation by senior teachers |
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c) |
Videotaped lecture/tutorial/problem-solving
session evaluation by experts |
4. Honors
Rated as best teacher in undergraduate and graduate courses taught at Hamdard
Institute of Information Technology (1999) and SZABIST (2001); highest rating by experienced college teachers in
the Six-Day-In-Service-Training Course conducted by HEC (2004); Chief Guest in
the Sindh Educational Conference (2009).
5. Goals
Mathematics curricula need to be
developed taking into account the breadth (reinforcing and building on the
concepts and the techniques taught in other allied branches, say, physics,
without duplicating) and the depth (preparing content-outline chart, containing
the level, the concept, the activity/the experiment to reinforce this concept,
the reference and the philosophy behind teaching this concept). Preliminary
work has been done for pre-university
curricula.
Foundation courses in mathematics should train students in the following
disciplines:
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a) |
Analysis |
d) |
Mechanics |
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b) |
Algebra |
e) |
Number Theory |
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c) |
Geometry |
f) |
Topology |
In addition, the students should be taught methods of mathematical
physics, statistical techniques, probability theory, measure theory, set theory
and logic, modeling and simulation. The students should be able to see the
bridge leading them from mathematics to technology passing through physics and
engineering. Please review "Articles on Science and Modeling":
6. Educational Conference
National Workshop on Teaching
of Physics
Department of Physics,
APWA Government College for Women, Karachi, December 26-28, 1987
(Member, Organizing Committee)
7. Teachers’ Trainings
Six-Day-In-Service-Training
Course (Mathematics for College Teachers)
HEC
Regional Office, Karachi, August 16-21, 2004 (Course Coördinator)
Correction Strategies
at the Intermediate Level
Commecs Educational Trust, Karachi,
April 17, 2004 (resource person for the module)
FDP Intensive Workshop
Commecs Institute of Business and
Emerging Sciences, Karachi, 1999 (Subject Expert in Mathematics)
Science Teachers’
Training
The International School, Clifton,
Karachi, 1997 (Master Trainer)
8. Selected Talks
BS, MS and PhD Schemes of Studies Prepared by NCRC (HEC)
Research Seminar, Department of
Mathematics, University of Karachi, September 2, 2006
How to Motivate the
Students to Learn?
Seminar, the Aga Khan University, January
21, 1998
The Making of a
Physicist
The Karachi Physics Society Seminar, FG Urdu Science College, Karachi,
November 25, 1986
9. Selected Books
The first and the last titles are hyperlinks to complete document in PDF format.
Mathematics—
Revised Curriculum (BS Scheme of Studies)
Kamal
SA, Convener, National Curriculum Revision Committee in
Mathematics, Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2008
[Editor]
National Curriculum for General Mathematics—
Grades XI-XII
Kamal SA, Member, Expert Penal, National Curriculum Council, Ministry
of Education, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2008 [National
Advisory Committee]
National
Curriculum for General Mathematics— Grades IX-X
Kamal SA, Member, Expert Penal, National Curriculum Council, Ministry
of Education, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2007 [National
Advisory Committee]
National Curriculum for Mathematics— Grades I-XII
Kamal SA, Member, Expert Penal, National Curriculum Council, Ministry
of Education, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2006 [National
Advisory Committee]
Mathematics—
Revised Curriculum (BS, MS and PhD Schemes of Studies)
Kamal SA, Convener, National
Curriculum Revision Committee in Mathematics, Higher Education Commission,
Islamabad, Pakistan, 2005 [Editor]
Paper titles are hyperlinks to abstracts of papers.
Gauss’ law: Choice of the Gaussian Surface and Form of the Electric-Field
Vector
Kamal
SA, Workshop on Physics, Government
College, Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan, 2009 (invited lecture)
The Integrated Educational System: A Pre-University Educational System
for the Third Millennium
Kamal
SA, the Sindh Educational
Conference, the Jamia Millia Government College
of Education, Karachi,
Pakistan, 2009 (keynote lecture)
From Mathematics to Technology: A Bridge Through Physics and Engineering
Kamal
SA, the International Conference on Physics
and the World of Today, Depart-ment of Physics, University of Karachi,
Karachi, Pakistan, 2008, p 32 (invited paper)
Vision of the Academic Community of Science and Physics Concepts at High
School
Ara J, Kamal
SA, Rahim T, Naseeruddin, the
International Conference on Physics for World and Society, Celebration of
World Year of Physics and Third Annual Session of Rajasthan Physics
Association, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, 2005
Mathematics Research and Teaching in University of
Karachi: Challenges and Opportunities
Kamal SA, the Winter Conference in
Mathematics, Center for Advanced Studies in Mathematics, Lahore University of
Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan, 2004, abstract # 24, p 18
Kamal SA, the Second International Conference on Physics Education, Center of
Physics Education, National Center for Physics & Department of Physics, University of Karachi, 2003
Basic Requirements to Train a Physicist
Kamal SA,
Siddiqui KA, Physics Education (India),
April‑June 1989, pp 53‑61
A Survey of School and Pre‑University Physics
Education in Pakistan
Siddiqui KA, Kamal SA, in Physics
Education in Asia (Proceedings of the Regional Physics Education Symposium and
the Aspen General Conference, 1986), Edited by Aidid SB, Ismail MZ, Koh AK, Singh MM, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, 1987, pp 81‑89
How to
Develop Creative Thinking and Critical Analysis?
Kamal SA, Siddiqui KA, Proceedings
of the Second Workshop on Teaching of Physics, Edited by Hasnain AF, Karachi, Pakistan, 1986, pp 51‑56
Physics
Makes the Deaf and the Dumb Equations of Mathematics to Speak
Siddiqui KA, Kamal SA, Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Teaching of Physics, Edited by Hasnain AF, Karachi,
Pakistan, 1986, pp 40‑49
Professional Development Short Course,
”Mission Design for
Satellite-Launch Vehicle”
at Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
(September 2008)
Updated:
October 1, 2009 (0000h GMT)
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PDF Version
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½ Profile ½ Leadership
Vision ½ Professional Skills ½ Research ½ Pedagogical ½ Community Outreach ½ Biodata ½ Publications ½ |
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Microsoft Internet Explorer. Copyright: 1998-2009 Professor Dr. Syed Arif Kamal