دور العرب فی ازدھار الثقافۃ الاندلسیۃ الاسلامیۃ واسبہ

This article shows the Islam and its followers (Arabs) had created a civilization that played very important role on the world stage for more than a thousand years. One of the most important specific qualities of the Islamic civilization is that it is a well-balanced civilization that brought together science and faith, struck a balance between spirit and matter and did not separate this world from the Hereafter. The Islamic civilization in Spain encompasses many fields that left a profound imprint in the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. The cultural climate of Spain in the era of Muslim rule (711-1492) brought about a prospering of different aspects of science and culture. Numerous schools and libraries were established and books were procured due to which the majority of the people were literate. Literature and art flourished. Buildings were constructed and Islamic art with its specific qualities was cultivated. Because of that movement, Cordoba became the civilization capital of both Spain and the West in general. Many schools were established in it, such as medical and technical schools in addition to the general education and other vocational schools. Hospitals, chemical plants and observatories were also built.  

Enabling Lower Secondary School Mathematics Teachers to Incorporate Cooperative Learning Strategies in Their Teaching

The purpose of the research was to help two lower secondary school mathematics teachers incorporate cooperative learning in their teaching. This study was conducted in a private English medium school in Chitral. Collaborative action was employed for the study. Data were collected through conducting semi-structured interviews and classroom observation, writing reflections and maintaining field-notes during different action cycles of the study. Data were coded to find themes and subthemes. Furthermore, the large bulk of data were analyzed to make meaning and present findings. The findings of the study revealed that teachers need to be facilitated in forming groups, selecting appropriate content, designing cooperative learning activities, ongoing assessment and classroom management practices in order to help them implement cooperative learning in their teaching. In addition, different cycles of this action research helped teachers acquire some understanding of cooperative learning in order to engage students in mathematics in small groups. Teachers were convinced with the positive impacts of cooperative learning on students' motivation, engagement and attitudes towards mathematics. They were with the opinion that mathematical tasks demanding deep thinking should be taught through cooperative learning strategy. Teaching social skills to students is prerequisite for implementing cooperative learning sharing their mathematical thinking helps them expand their mathematical understanding in groups. According to them the selection of content and designing of activities are two important aspects which a teacher should focus during planning for cooperative learning lesson. Furthermore, engaging with cooperative learning in mathematics also enhanced teachers' motivation for teaching. Moreover, teachers' lack of lessons planning skills, isolated teaching and the existing dominant culture of conventional assessment system based on individual performances of students were some of the hindering factors found during this study.