Abstract :
Abstract In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift towards learner-centered pedagogies that emphasize the importance of active student engagement. Holistic personality development and lifelong learning of students is the main cause behind their involvement in learning activities. Transversal competencies serve as foundational skills for lifelong learning which extend beyond subject-specific knowledge and encompass skills essential for success in diverse contexts. As a nation we are interested in development of transversal competencies since inception of Pakistan, but up till now we could not succeed to instill transversal competencies among students. The integration of student’s social interaction offers a promising avenue to nurture student’s organizational skills, communication skills, teamwork, reasoning, and reflective thinking. This research aims to find correlation between classroom social interactions and development of science-based transversal competencies among elementary level students. Correlational research design is adopted to achieve this objective. Population constituted elementary level science teachers and their intact students at public schools of Rawalpindi. Multistage clusters sampling technique was adopted to reach six teachers and their intact 200 students. Data was collected using two research instruments observation sheet for teachers, observation sheet for students. Data collected from both instruments was correlated through Pearson correlation coefficient. Results showed that involving students in learning by posing contextual questions, waiting for and acknowledging responses, positive and critical participation within classroom conversations, is positively correlated with development of organizational skills, teamwork, communication skills and reasoning, however a moderate level of correlation is found with development of reflective thinking with gradual increase over time. It is concluded that social interaction in classroom is positively correlated with development of science-based transversal competencies. It is suggested that teachers should pose open ended questions in relation to real world situations to encourage students to participate confidently in social interactions for developing competencies.
Keyword :
Keywords: Student’s social interaction, organizational skills, teamwork, communication skills, reflective thinking, reasoning