Professor
Dr. Syed Arif Kamal
Project Director, the NGDS Pilot Project; HEC-Approved PhD Supervisor
Program Convener, 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,
Sub-Committee (Schools), the Education Committee, Transparency International
Pakistan
Convener, National Curriculum Revision Committee
(Mathematics), Higher Education Commission
Convener, Subject
Committee (Mathematics), National Testing Service
Member,
Senate, Academic Council, Board of Faculty, Board of Studies; Ex-Chairman
Professor, Department of
Mathematics
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
Office: Room
No. G-5, Department of Mathematics, University of Karachi, University Road
Paper Mail: University of Karachi, Post Office Box No. 8406, Karachi
75270 (Pakistan)
Link
on KU Site: http://www.uok.edu.pk/faculties/mathematics/faculty.php#kamal
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)
Public Profile: http://pk.linkedin.com/pub/dr-syed-arif-kamal/12/b71/400
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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”
Fig. 1. Philosophy, contents and pedagogical techniques
the techniques, which can be repeated
— their relationship with curriculum development
(Mathematics Curriculum of HEC 2008)
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’)
A motivational session (comprising of historical evolution, applications and
relationship to the students’ own discipline, in particular, and the society,
in general) is conducted before start of every course. Students’ level is
determined in the beginning (through pretest, life-history essay and discussions). A system of continuous 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).
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Old
Chinese Saying |
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
textbooks. 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 implementation 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 in
the 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, on the occasion of delivering lecture on Gauss’ Law (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).The titles given by students reflect their
immense regard and respect as well as their occasional comments,
notable among them is the comment by Syeda Afeera Khatoon (BS, Class of 2010,
University of Karachi), “We have not been so close to anyone during the last 4
years as we are to you”.
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
The NGDS Workshop Series:
Improving the Quality of Mathematics Education in Pakistan
Beacon Light Academy, ‘O’ Levels, Karachi, August 12-26, 2009 (Master
Trainer) Details
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
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.
Curbing Corruption in the
Pre-University Education
Kamal SA, Seminar
on Curbing Corruption in the Education Sector, the
Education Committee, Transparency International Pakistan, Ambassador III, Hotel
Marriott, Karachi, 2011, p 1
Concept Building in
the Undergraduate Mathematics and Physics Curricula
Kamal SA, Siddiqui KA,
Naseeruddin, Karachi University Journal of Science, 37(1&2), 2009, 1‑6
Mathematics of Experimentation
Kamal
SA, National Conference on Physics and the World of Today,
in memory of Prof. Dr. Muhammed Rafi and Prof. Dr. Muhammed Razi Hussain, Department
of Physics, University of Karachi, 2009, abstract # 1, pp 9-10 (Prof. Dr.
Muhammed Rafi and Prof. Dr. Muhammed Razi Hussain memorial lecture)
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, p 1 (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:
November 1, 2011 (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 |
Best viewed with 800 x 600 screen resolution using
Microsoft Internet Explorer. Copyright: 1998-2011 Professor Dr. Syed Arif Kamal