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Tuesday, 1 December 2020

What Is Social Intellegence

 

Social Intelligence



Definition

Social Intelligence (SI) is the ability to get along well with others, and to get them to cooperate with you. ... A continued pattern of toxic behavior indicates a low level ofsocial intelligence -the inability to connect with people and influence them effectively.

Social intelligence is the capacity to know oneself and to know others. Social Intelligence develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is more commonly referred to as "tact," "Common sense," or "street smarts.

Social intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand and manage interpersonal relationships. It is distinct from a person’s IQ or “book smarts.” It includes an individual’s ability to understand, and act on, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of other people. This type of intelligence can take place “in the moment” of face-to-face conversations but also appears during times of deliberate thinking. It involves emotional intelligence and self-awareness.

Example of Social Intelligence

Examples of social intelligence include knowing when to talk or listen, what to say, and what to do. Timing is a big part of social intelligence. For example, someone who is imperceptive may tell a funny joke but at the wrong time, or not show enough interest when meeting someone new.

What abilities does social intelligence convey?

Social intelligence manages the required abilities for effective communication based on empathy, self-knowledge, listening, and reading of emotions. These abilities are:

1. Verbal and non-verbal fluency

Conversational skills are the most basic form of social intelligence. Verbal and non-verbal expressions are the primary platforms for sending any message. The use of the right words, the ideal tone, and clear intention underlies the first step to effective communication.

2. Knowledge of social rules and roles

When you interact with a group, knowing their social rules, customs, and idiosyncrasies is a fundamental skill for socially intelligent people. This facilitates interaction with individuals who belong to different social groups, like people of different ages, countries, religion, or cultural identities.

3. Listening skills

Active listening is instrumental in the development of social intelligence. It helps to connect with other people, prevents conflict, and enables learning through dialogue. This contributes significantly to personal growth.

4. Understanding how other people's emotions work



Understanding what triggers people's emotions (either negatively or positively) is a key component in the exercise of empathy. This competency enables communication that takes into consideration the attributes and sensibilities of other people, which makes the message authentic and effective.

5. Playing social roles efficiently

This ability allows people to adapt to different social environments. Having a clear idea of what’s expected of us in a variety of different settings reduces stress in any situation and enables more constructive interactions.

6. Self-Image and impression management

This is the ability to present ourselves in a way that connects with others without stretching too far from our natural personality. The objective is to maintain a sincere demeanor that appeals to others, shows empathy, and reinforces our idea of self.

Importance of Social intelligence

Social intelligence helps individuals build relationships and is important to numerous aspects of a person’s life. It allows an individual to form friendships and alliances. And, it assists a person against being taken advantage of. People with social intelligence can “read” other people’s faces and know what motivates them. Social intelligence builds over time and as a person ages. In this sense, it is similar to the character strength of perspective.

Social intelligence is essential for unlocking the skills of effective communication, dialogue, and teamwork to create an optimal and productive work environment. Until recently, social intelligence was a priority that few people had, mostly because they already had the right mindset for it and picked up the associated skills along the way, but training to develop social intelligence is relatively new.

Today, teaching social intelligence is indispensable because it is the best resource to build and maintain a good work culture and to protect jobs in an era of increasing automation. Students need the tools to develop social intelligence beginning in the first levels of education so they can acquire it through their school years and master it in their adult lives.

Social intelligence vs. emotional intelligence

Social intelligence is extension or a superset of emotional intelligence. It is a broader concept than emotional intelligence. So, in a way, where emotional intelligence leaves, Social Intelligence takes it up from there, and makes it more of a tangible applicable skill.

Social intelligence, Chou says, is more about the future. ... In contrast, emotional intelligence is more about the present, and thus more closely related to emotions and feelings.

Monday, 30 November 2020

What is Tools Of Assessment Strategies : Checklists, Rating Scales and Rubrics

 

Checklists, Rating Scales and Rubrics

Assessment Strategies and Tools



Checklists, rating scales and rubrics are tools that state specific criteria and allow teachers and students to gather information and to make judgements about what students know and can do in relation to the outcomes. They offer systematic ways of collecting data about specific behaviours, knowledge and skills.

The quality of information acquired through the use of checklists, rating scales and rubrics is highly dependent on the quality of the descriptors chosen for assessment. Their benefit is also dependent on students’ direct involvement in the assessment and understanding of the feedback provided.

The purpose of checklists, rating scales and rubrics is to:

  • provide tools for systematic recording of observations
  • provide tools for self-assessment
  • provide samples of criteria for students prior to collecting and evaluating data on their work
    record the development of specific skills, strategies, attitudes and behaviours necessary for demonstrating learning
  • clarify students' instructional needs by presenting a record of current accomplishments.

Tips for Developing Checklists, Rating Scales and Rubrics

  1. Use checklists, rating scales and rubrics in relation to outcomes and standards.
  2. Use simple formats that can be understood by students and that will communicate information about student learning to parents.
  3. Ensure that the characteristics and descriptors listed are clear, specific and observable.
  4. Encourage students to assist with constructing appropriate criteria. For example, what are the descriptors that demonstrate levels of performance in problem solving?
  5. Ensure that checklists, rating scales and rubrics are dated to track progress over time.
  6. Leave space to record anecdotal notes or comments.
  7. Use generic templates that become familiar to students and to which various descriptors can be added quickly, depending on the outcome(s) being assessed.
  8. Provide guidance to students to use and create their own checklists, rating scales and rubrics for self-assessment purposes and as guidelines for goal setting.

Checklists usually offer a yes/no format in relation to student demonstration of specific criteria. This is similar to a light switch; the light is either on or off. They may be used to record observations of an individual, a group or a whole class.

Rating Scales allow teachers to indicate the degree or frequency of the behaviours, skills and strategies displayed by the learner. To continue the light switch analogy, a rating scale is like a dimmer switch that provides for a range of performance levels. Rating scales state the criteria and provide three or four response selections to describe the quality or frequency of student work.

Teachers can use rating scales to record observations and students can use them as self-assessment tools. Teaching students to use descriptive words, such as alwaysusuallysometimes and neverhelps them pinpoint specific strengths and needs. Rating scales also give students information for setting goals and improving performance. In a rating scale, the descriptive word is more important than the related number. The more precise and descriptive the words for each scale point, the more reliable the tool.

Effective rating scales use descriptors with clearly understood measures, such as frequency. Scales that rely on subjective descriptors of quality, such as fairgood or excellent, are less effective because the single adjective does not contain enough information on what criteria are indicated at each of these points on the scale.

Added value

Increase the assessment value of a checklist or rating scale by adding two or three additional steps that give students an opportunity to identify skills they would like to improve or the skill they feel is most important. For example:

  • put a star beside the skill you think is the most important for encouraging others
  • circle the skill you would most like to improve
  • underline the skill that is the most challenging for you.

Rubrics use a set of criteria to evaluate a student's performance. They consist of a fixed measurement scale and detailed description of the characteristics for each level of performance. These descriptions focus on the quality of the product or performance and not the quantity; e.g., not number of paragraphs, examples to support an idea, spelling errors. Rubrics are commonly used to evaluate student performance with the intention of including the result in a grade for reporting purposes. Rubrics can increase the consistency and reliability of scoring.

Rubrics use a set of specific criteria to evaluate student performance. They may be used to assess individuals or groups and, as with rating scales, may be compared over time.

Developing Rubrics and Scoring Criteria

Rubrics are increasingly recognized as a way to both effectively assess student learning and communicate expectations directly, clearly and concisely to students. The inclusion of rubrics in a teaching resource provides opportunities to consider what demonstrations of learning look like, and to describe stages in the development and growth of knowledge, understandings and skills. To be most effective, rubrics should allow students to see the progression of mastery in the development of understandings and skills.

Rubrics should be constructed with input from students whenever possible. A good start is to define what quality work looks like based on the learning outcomes. Exemplars of achievement need to be used to demonstrate to students what an excellent or acceptable performance is. This provides a collection of quality work for students to use as reference points. Once the standard is established, it is easy to define what exemplary levels and less-than-satisfactory levels of performance look like. The best rubrics have three to five descriptive levels to allow for discrimination in the evaluation of the product or task. Rubrics may be used for summative purposes to gauge marks by assigning a score to each of the various levels.

When developing a rubric, consider the following:

  • What are the specific outcomes in the task?
  • Do the students have some experience with this or a similar task?
  • What does an excellent performance look like? What are the qualities that distinguish an excellent response from other levels?
  • What do other responses along the performance quality continuum look like?
  • Is each description qualitatively different from the others? Are there an equal number of descriptors at each level of quality? Are the differences clear and understandable to students and others?

Begin by developing criteria to describe the Acceptable level. Then use Bloom's taxonomy to identify differentiating criteria as you move up the scale. The criteria should not go beyond the original performance task, but reflect higher order thinking skills that students could demonstrate within the parameters of the initial task.

When developing the scoring criteria and quality levels of a rubric, consider the following guidelines.

  • Level 4 is the Standard of excellence level. Descriptions should indicate that all aspects of work exceed grade level expectations and show exemplary performance or understanding. This is a "Wow!"
  • Level 3 is the Approaching standard of excellence level. Descriptions should indicate some aspects of work that exceed grade level expectations and demonstrate solid performance or understanding. This is a "Yes!"
  • Level 2 is the Meets acceptable standard. This level should indicate minimal competencies acceptable to meet grade level expectations. Performance and understanding are emerging or developing but there are some errors and mastery is not thorough. This is a "On the right track, but …".
  • Level 1 Does not yet meet acceptable standard. This level indicates what is not adequate for grade level expectations and indicates that the student has serious errors, omissions or misconceptions. This is a "No, but …". The teacher needs to make decisions about appropriate intervention to help the student improve.

Creating Rubrics with Students

Learning increases when students are actively involved in the assessment process. Students do better when they know the goal, see models and know how their performance compares to learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes are clarified when students assist in describing the criteria used to evaluate performance. Use brainstorming and discussion to help students analyze what each level looks like. Use student-friendly language and encourage students to identify descriptors that are meaningful to them. For example, a Grade 3 class might describe levels of quality with phrases such as the following.

  • Super!
  • Going beyond
  • Meets the mark
  • Needs more work.

Use work samples to help students practise and analyze specific criteria for developing a critical elements list. They can also use samples to practise assigning performance levels and compare criteria from level to level.

Although rubrics are often used as assessment of learning tools, they can also be used as assessment for learning tools. Students can benefit from using rubrics as they become more competent at judging the quality of their work and examining their own progress.
Example:

  • Involve students in the assessment process by having them participate in the creation of a rubric. This process facilitates a deeper understanding of the intended outcomes and the associated assessment criteria.
  • After a rubric has been created, students can use it to guide their learning. Criteria described in a rubric serve to focus student reflection on their work and facilitate the setting of learning goals for a particular performance assessment. Through self-assessment or peer-assessment, students can use a rubric to assess work completed to date and use it to guide their planning for the "next steps" 

How HEC’s Cancellation of 2 Year BA and BSc Programs acourding to Old And New Policy

 How HEC’s Cancellation of 2 Year BA and BSc Programs is Affecting Students



The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has abolished the two-year Bachelor’s degree programs at its affiliated institutions across the country. According to its notification, students will no longer be able to pursue two-year degrees like B.Com and B.Sc. This measure is reportedly expected to be enforced in January 2021.

The HEC’s notification has led to students resorting to social media to voice their concerns and questions regarding their futures

Why Has the HEC Introduced This Policy?

Graduate degree programs around the world are typically either 3-year or 4-year programs. Students with two-year B.Com or B.Sc. degrees cannot qualify for international postgraduate studies with their qualifications. Simply put, students with two-year degrees will not be able to apply for foreign Master’s degree programs that require applicants to have completed 16 years of education. Students enrolled in B.Com or B.Sc. programs will qualify for admission to foreign postgraduate programs only if they have completed both their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

According to the HEC, this is not the first time the policy has been introduced. “We have been working on it for the past two years,” it stated.

In March 2017 and July 2019, a notification issued by the HEC had called upon its affiliated universities to immediately discontinue their two-year academic programs. It had been observed by the HEC that despite its notification, the aforementioned programs are still being offered at institutions.

Local institutions will be held responsible for not acknowledging the HEC’s revised policies if the cancelled degrees are still active.

What is HEC’s New Policy?

The HEC will not recognize two-year Bachelor’s degrees including Bachelor’s of Arts (BA) and Bachelor’s of Science (B.Sc.), undertaken after the calendar year 2018. It also issued notifications to its affiliated schools and Degree Awarding Institutions (DAIs ) that it will not recognize these programs in the event of their certifications being awarded to their candidates.

The notification highlighted that students who had enrolled in the discontinued programs at higher education institutes before 31 December 2018 will be allowed to complete them until December 2020. Students who fail in these programs will be awarded the new Associate Degree (AD) upon their completion.

For the avoidance of doubt, students admitted to two-year post-higher secondary or equivalent programs after 31 December 2018 shall have been and shall continue to be admitted to Associate Degree programs.

Through the AD program, the HEC intends for its affiliated institutions to provide general education that has a broader spectrum of application in society. The enrolled students will be trained in the metrics of marketing, financial literacy, and ethics.

Will the Degrees of B.Com. and BA Students be Considered Now, or Will They Have to Reapply?

According to the HEC, these degrees will be accepted. Additionally, the degrees that had commenced prior to December 2019 will also be accepted.

Will Institutions be Fined if They Continue to Offer the Cancelled Programs?

Currently, this option is not under consideration primarily due to the on-going transition from the outdated degree programs to the international standard.

Will the HEC Cancel All the Programs Starting After December 2020?

All the HEC-affiliated institutions are liable to address this query. According to the HEC’s refined plans for the AD programs, the BA/B.Sc. degrees can be converted into ADs with minimum changes in the courses during the first year transition period. To facilitate this change, institutions offering AD programs will be allowed to convert their offered pre-existing program into the new one.

The HEC has also directed institutions to proceed with transient changes in their BA/B.Sc. curricula for the AD program. Although conditionally, the HEC-affiliates should continue transitioning to the AD programs with additions that are in accordance with the policies and guidelines that are periodically provided by the HEC.

What are AD Programs?

AD programs are two-year programs that extend two-year BA or B.Sc. degrees to four years to enable them to be internationally recognized. The goal of an AD program is to provide broad-based education to students along with experiential learning via skill-based courses.

As per the National Qualifications Framework developed by the HEC, AD programs are equivalent to 14 years of education. Prior to their completion, students can enroll themselves in the fifth semester of Bachelor’s programs of their choice after an evaluation of their transcripts by the concerned universities.

Do the Affected Students Have to Apply to Other Schools From Scratch? What About the One Year That They Have Passed?

The HEC’s semester guidelines only allow the exemption of some course credits according to its credits transfer policy.

Students can look for enrollment options in either four-year BS degree programs or BS AD programs. They can take the courses that they have studied in their transcripts. All individual cases will be considered by universities on the basis of the courses that have already been studied, and the universities will decide if the credit hours can be transferred or not.

Do the Affected Students Have to Apply to Other Schools From Scratch? What About the One Year That They Have Passed?

The HEC’s semester guidelines only allow the exemption of some course credits according to its credits transfer policy.

Students can look for enrollment options in either four-year BS degree programs or BS AD programs. They can take the courses that they have studied in their transcripts. All individual cases will be considered by universities on the basis of the courses that have already been studied, and the universities will decide if the credit hours can be transferred or not.

Are Master’s Degree Programs Being Terminated as Well?

According to the HEC, Master’s degree programs are not being terminated. However, candidates can apply for them only after completing a four-year Bachelor’s degree. For students who will have completed their B.Com/BSc programs by 2020, the decision will be taken by their universities.