Lok Raj Sharma’s scientific contributions

Background: Teaching English poetry is a complex task that demands imaginative, creative, experienced, dedicated, and resourceful teachers. Effective poetry instruction helps students develop a sound evaluation, veritable appreciation, and balanced interpretation of poetic works. Understanding teachers’ priorities in teaching poetry can enhance pedagogical strategies and improve student engagement with literary texts. Objective: This study aims to explore the key focus areas prioritized by teachers while teaching English poetry in grades XI and XII. The research specifically examines instructional emphases in 20 academic institutions within Hetauda sub-metropolitan city, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional research survey design was employed. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 50 English teachers in 2024. The sample was drawn from a population of 57 using a simple random sampling technique with a 5% margin of error. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret the data. Additionally, secondary data from books and journal articles were reviewed to provide context and support the primary findings. Findings: The study identified key areas emphasized in teaching English poetry, including title, theme, speaker, tone, setting, diction, figurative language, sound devices, historical and cultural context, and form and structure. Among these, title, theme, and speaker were the most frequently prioritized aspects. Conversely, elements such as epigraph, motif, layout, punctuation, and epitaph were given minimal attention in poetry instruction. Conclusion: The findings suggest that teachers focus primarily on thematic and structural aspects of poetry, with less emphasis on certain literary and stylistic devices. This highlights potential gaps in poetry instruction and suggests the need for a more comprehensive teaching approach that incorporates overlooked poetic elements. Novelty: This study contributes to the pedagogical literature on English poetry education by systematically identifying and analyzing teachers' instructional priorities. It provides empirical insights into poetry teaching practices, offering valuable guidance for curriculum design and teacher training to enhance poetry appreciation and literary analysis skills among students.

Co-existence is a pleasing word to converse, but an intricate word to believe and follow in a real-life situation. This article aims to suggest effective strategies for enhancing co-existence in diverse social groups. To attain these objectives, the secondary data were congregated through a comprehensive review on co-existence and the strategies for enhancing co-existence from books, journal articles, and website materials published from the year 1971 to 2024. The article employed exploratory research and operated thematic analysis as its qualitative research design. It identifies. promoting inclusive education, encouraging intercultural dialogue, supporting community engagement initiatives, implementing anti-discrimination policies, promoting social integration programs, facilitating interfaith initiatives, encouraging multicultural policies, supporting civil society organizations, and promoting economic inclusion as the effective strategies for enhancing co-existence in diverse social groups. This article provides exquisite insights for leaders, policymakers and citizens, emphasizing that the feeling of co-existence is essential for the overall well-being of a nations and its citizens.

Background: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is critical in equipping students to meet the demands of the 21st century. This era is characterized by rapid technological advancements and an increasingly interconnected global economy. Despite its significance, STEM education faces several challenges that hinder its effectiveness and inclusivity. Objective: The primary objective of this study is to identify the key challenges in STEM education and propose strategies to overcome these obstacles, thereby fostering success in the 21st century. Methods: This research adopted an exploratory approach, utilizing qualitative secondary data from books, journal articles, and online resources published between 1938 and 2024. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to gain insights into the challenges and potential strategies associated with STEM education. Findings: The study reveals several challenges hindering the effectiveness of STEM education, including inadequate teacher preparation, lack of professional training, and a shortage of qualified educators. Gender disparities and the underrepresentation of women and minorities remain critical issues, alongside limited access to resources, technology integration difficulties, and societal perceptions that deter student interest. Low engagement levels, skill gaps in STEM fields, and challenges in cohesive curriculum development further exacerbate the problem. Additionally, time constraints and scheduling issues contribute to the complexity of addressing these challenges. To counter these obstacles, the study proposes strategies such as enhancing teacher training, promoting gender diversity, improving resource accessibility, integrating real-world applications, encouraging early STEM exposure, fostering student engagement, leveraging technology, creating collaborative learning environments, designing effective curricula, involving communities and parents, and utilizing continuous assessment and feedback mechanisms. These measures aim to build a more inclusive and dynamic STEM education framework. Conclusion: Addressing the challenges in STEM education requires a concerted effort from educators, policymakers, and stakeholders. By implementing these strategies, it is possible to create a more equitable and dynamic STEM learning environment, better preparing students for future demands. Novelty: This study offers a comprehensive synthesis of the challenges and actionable strategies in STEM education, combining historical perspectives with contemporary insights. It emphasizes the importance of inclusivity, resource accessibility, and innovative curriculum design to ensure the success of STEM education in the 21st century.

Determining a proper sample size is a critical aspect of research design as it influences the reliability and validity of study findings. The key objective of writing this article is to suggest some rudimentary formulae, easy software tools and a general sample size table to determine an applicable sample size to be used in research studies. To attain this objective, relevant books and journal articles have been taken as the sources of secondary data. After a comprehensive overview of the literature regarding the sample size, this article concludes that the confidence level, the margin of error, the population size, and the population proportion statistically determine the sample size in quantitative research studies. Similarly, the nature of population, and types of research studies are the vital factors that confer us the basic idea about the sample size before computing the ideal or required sample size that homogeneous population and qualitative research studies generally require a smaller sample size, whereas heterogeneous population and quantitative research studies necessitate a larger sample size. Researchers, practitioners, and students will find this article valuable in guiding their decisions on sample size determination for robust and meaningful research outcomes.

The prime objectives of this article are to evaluate the bachelor level first year major English students’ performance in consonant sound identification within word structures, and examine the effectiveness of an intuitive-imitative approach in teaching consonant phonemes of the spellings. To attain these objectives, the researchers employed the one-group pretest posttest research design in which 200 phoneme recognition test items as data collection tools regarding the consonant sounds of English were administered to 30 students at Makawanpur Multiple Campus, Hetauda, Nepal in 2023 before and after teaching them the sounds through the intuitive-imitative approach for 30 teaching periods. Population being low, this study involved the census for collecting data. After observing their performance in consonant phoneme identification, it was found that their performance was bad at identifying the phonemes of the spelling's “g” in “Genre”, “c” in “Cello”, “th” in “Thailand”, etc. Their performance was not so good at identifying the phonemes of the spellings “j” in “Join”, “y” in “Yak”, etc. Their performance was satisfactory in identifying the phonemes of the spelling's “g” in “Gene”, “g” in “Gem”, “n” in “Donkey”, etc. Similarly, they were good at identifying the phonemes of spelling “p” in “Punch”, “b” in “Boat’, “k’ in “Book”, etc. A related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test value (p  .05) implies that there was a significant difference in the median scores of the posttest scores and the pretest scores of the students. It suggests that the intuitive-imitative approach was an effective method of teaching sounds. This article is significant in a phonological process and pronunciation, resulting in phonemic awareness.

Background: Research paradigms are the underlying philosophical and theoretical frameworks that guide research studies. This article identifies and discusses key research paradigms: positivism, postpositivism, pragmatism, constructivism, interpretivism, and advocacy. Additionally, it explores their prominent constituents: ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology. Methodology: The article has been prepared through a thorough review of key texts regarding research paradigms in books and journal articles. This literature review method ensures a detailed and accurate portrayal of the paradigms and their constituents. Findings: Positivism emphasizes empirical evidence. Postpositivism recognizes the role of values and subjectivity. Pragmatism evaluates theories based on practical usefulness. Constructivism views knowledge as constructed by individuals through experiences. Interpretivism emphasizes understanding and interpreting the meanings people attach to their experiences. Advocacy or participatory research stresses the active involvement of community members and stakeholders in the research process. Ontology studies the nature of existence. Epistemology involves discerning the characteristics and limits of knowledge. Axiology examines values and what is considered good and valuable. Methodology systematically analyzes methods in a field of study. Conclusion: Understanding research paradigms has practical implications for researchers. It aids in pursuing the research process, selecting appropriate methodologies, and enhancing the credibility of their studies. This understanding ensures that research is methodologically sound, ethically robust, and socially impactful. Novelty: This article provides a synthesized overview of the major research paradigms and their key components, offering a valuable resource for researchers to understand and navigate the complexities of research methodologies and philosophical frameworks.

Humility is the quality or condition of having a modest opinion and a candid acknowledgement of one's own and others' strengths and weaknesses. A rudimentary objective of this article is to unveil humility as an influential virtue in various aspects of human interaction and societal dynamics through overviewing secondary qualitative data garnered from books, journal articles and web documents published between 1967 and 2021. Although historical perceptions hold humility as a passive or subservient trait, it emerges as a robust force capable of fostering meaningful connections, enhancing leadership effectiveness, and promoting overall well-being. The research employs a thematic analysis under a qualitative research design, drawing on insights from psychology, philosophy, and religions to unravel the subtle impact of humility on our day-to-day lives. The research findings indicate humility as a virtue that contributes to the establishment of trust, collaboration, and positive social dynamics, thereby influencing the overall structure of communities and organizations. This article is significant as it makes readers recognize the strength of humility that contributes not only to personal development but also to the cultivation of healthier, more collaborative, and more resilient societies.

Critical thinking skills in the present dynamic and rapidly changing world are crucial skills that enable individuals to engage in rational and independent thinking to make decent and consistent decisions. This article aims at exploring multifarious underlying ways of enhancing critical thinking skills. It provides readers with definitions of critical thinking and critical thinking skills. It pinpoints key components of critical thinking, barriers to critical thinking, and the major strategies for enhancing these skills. Qualitative data related to critical thinking skills were gathered in the forms of lexes and lexical expressions through a scrupulous review of journal articles, website documents and relevant books published between 1984 and 2023. They served as secondary sources of qualitative data that were explored and analyzed through instances that led to broader concepts regarding critical thinking skills. It is concluded that both acquisition and application of these skills were imperative for individuals to adeptly formulate their fair decisions. Teachers, students, researchers and critics will find this article highly valuable as it equips them with the necessary skills to think critically and make well-versed decisions about a given subject matter.

Forgiveness, defined as a deliberate and voluntary act to release oneself from resentment, grievances and the urge for revenge, plays a prominent role in promoting compassion, harmony, and peace. Despite its profound prominence, different people retain a different understanding of its existence. The key objective of this article is to scrutinize the understanding of forgiveness among the bachelor level students enrolled in the faculties of Education and Management at Makawanpur Multiple Campus in Hetauda, Nepal during the academic year 2022-2023. Employing a cross-sectional survey research design, 329 students were randomly gleaned from a pool of 2240 by maintaining a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%. The respondents were selected using computer-generated random numbers. Primary data were collected through close-ended questions regarding the students' understanding of forgiveness, while secondary data were compiled from extensive reviews of books, journal articles, and website documents spanning the years 1978 to 2013. The findings based on frequency and percent statistics reveal that 170 students (51.7%) perceived forgiveness as a strength, whereas 159 students (48.3%) regarded it as a weakness. Chi-square test shows that there was no significant association between gender and the students’ understanding of forgiveness (χ² = 1.6, df=1, p > .05), whereas there was a significant association between faculty and the students’ understanding of forgiveness (χ² = 55.755, df= 1, p < .05). The practical implication of this article lies in underscoring the need for targeted educational interventions and curriculum enhancements aimed at promoting a deeper comprehension of forgiveness among students for enhancing human relationships and reducing negative emotions.

Imagination is one of the significant characteristics of Romantic poetry. Romantic poetry is subjective and clairvoyant. The subjectivity and extrasensory instinct are revived due to sharp imagination. The principal purpose of this article is to explicate imagination as dynamism in shaping Romantic poetic expressions. For this purpose, poetic works of Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats and Byron have been analyzed by considering imagination as the core of poems. This article employed a qualitative approach, drawing upon an extensive compilation of primary and secondary sources pertaining to Romantic poetry and the role of imagination in shaping literary expressions during the Romantic era. The primary sources consisted of poems by Romantic poets, while secondary sources encompassed scholarly articles, books, and critical essays, all of which contributed valuable insights into the topic and enhanced the comprehension of Romantic poetry and imagination. Materials for the study included terms, phrases, and assertions related to Romantic Imagination, and the method employed for analysis consisted of critical analysis. The primary focus of the analysis was to examine how Romantic poets explored and portrayed imagination across a wide range of their poetic works. This analytical process was executed subsequent to an extensive literature review on the subject matter. The study of this article will not only offer a comprehensive analysis of how imagination served as a dynamic force in shaping Romantic poetic expressions, but will also explore the broader implications of imagination in literature, culture, and art.