english essay topics for css 2023

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A test of thinking, not rote learning

On February 1, the Federal Public Service Commission held the yearly country-wide examination of Central Superior Services (CSS) for the recruitment of officers (BPS-17). The first paper was English Essay, the topics of which invited attention.

The essay paper was meant for exploring the CSS candidates’ whole gamut of abilities and skills such as exploring an issue, analyzing it critically in a coordinated organized way, and reaching a plausible conclusion. Critical analysis is a guarantee of success. Conversely, descriptive or narrative essays are unlikely to let a candidate pass the paper.

The paper astounded not only CSS candidates but it also flabbergasted CSS coaching academies which had dispensed guesses and conducted mock tests to beguile the candidates. The paper discouraged the regurgitation of parroted knowledge that CSS candidates were holding to express. The paper presented a fair chance to the candidates who had cultivated original understanding, creative exploration and critical analysis.

The paper circumvented all guess-able topics such as globalization, economy, climate change, democracy, energy crisis, human rights, terrorism, and so on. In the paper, whereas the topics given were easy, the compulsion was that an essay had to be developed then and there in the examination hall. Only those candidates who had practised writing original essays, could perform. The paper also obliterated any room for bespoke essays– to the disappointment of essay gurus and pundits. As a throwback to the thinking essays of 2017, the paper decides the viability of a CSS candidate, whether he or she should carry on or lose heart.

The first essay topic was this: “Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone.” Many candidates, who had memorized multiple themes on education eagerly mistook the word “youth” for “childhood”, and considered it a veiled topic on “early education”. In fact, it was not. The essay topic means that, at a young age, the youth are most amenable. Their personality can be moulded to affect the trajectory of the rest of their lives. Youth is the age when second nature is built such as discipline, punctuality, attitude, and so on. The second nature, whether positive or negative, can be superimposed on the primary nature to portend the youth’s success or failure in life. Environment plays a crucial role in constructing second nature. To make the essay analytical, discussion could be drifted to the debate between nature (inherited) and nurture (environment). Sources of nurture could be family, school, religion, and social and political groups.

The paper also obliterated any room for bespoke essays– to the disappointment of essay gurus and pundits. As a throwback to the thinking essays of 2017, the paper decides the viability of a CSS candidate, whether he or she should carry on or lose heart.

The next stirring topic was this: “One who uses force is afraid of reasoning.” The topic means that any person who is incapable of reasoning tends to use force to get heard. That is, any person with the power of reasoning prefers (or needs) not to fight. Here, reasoning means a sound argument that weighs both sides (pros and cons) to express one’s stance. Generally, politicians are disinclined to waging a war compared to generals running a country: war is too serious a matter to be left to generals.

Even after a conflict, the warring parties have to sit on a table to give reasons for truce and the way forward. The forum such as the United Nations is destined for reasoning, and condemning the use of force. For reasoning, a refined and educated brain is required, whereas force personifies a beast, which may still be hiding inside man. Reasoning is an expression of modern age, whereas force is an expression of the primitive age. For analysis, a comparison can be drawn between two ages and areas.

The next interesting topic was this: “The fool speaks and the wise listen.” The topic means that wise people grow the habit of listening to garner more information and then ruminate on it. That is, by not listening patiently, the listener may miss new propitious ideas. Moreover, an avid listener is less prone to committing mistakes than a habitual chatterer does. For instance, Einstein was a known keen listener. Similar examples are required to be argumentative.

The next absorbing topic was this: “Both parents should assume equal responsibility for raising a child.” The topic means that both parents are shirking equal responsibility for raising a child. To qualify the statement, a CSS candidate had to mention causes, effects and the way forward.

The next topic was this: “A friend walks in when everyone else walks out.” The topic means that a friend in need is a friend indeed. This could be a descriptive essay.

The next fascinating topic was this: “Online learning is not only convenient but often more effective than traditional classroom instruction.” The topic means that traditional teaching is less convenient and effective in conveying the message of education. A CSS candidate had to take a position and give arguments.

The next captivating topic was this: “People have become overly dependent on technology.” The topic means that, not dependence, but over-dependence, on technology invites certain hitches. Interestingly, the use of technology is unavoidable in the modern age. However, owing to technology’s indispensability, one may get addicted to it. A CSS candidate had to mention reasons for dependence, ooze effects (both favourable and unfavourable), and give ways to avoid overly dependence.

The next motivating topic was this: “To encourage healthy eating, higher taxes should be imposed on soft drinks and junk food.” The topic means that soft drinks and junk food be discarded for their being unhealthy eating. One of the ways to do so is by imposing taxes, though other ways to achieve the same objective are also available. A comparison can be drawn. The bottom line is that junk food does not replace main food. A critical analysis can entail that junk food may be required to attain instant energy in short times, especially in an industrial city on a busy day. Junk food also meets the need of taste and aroma to feel aesthetic about life.

The next exciting topic was this: “Boys will be boys.” The topic means that boys would remain boisterous and even rumbustious owing to their hormonal constitution. An implied point could be how to construct harmony with girls, whether or not feminization of boys in their attitude and behavior (by tempering them down) is possible and feasible.

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Detail Explanation: CSS 2023 Important Topics For Essay, CA, PA & IR

Detail explanation of css 2023 important topics for essay, current affairs, pakistan affairs.

Here, you will have all the essential topics of English Essay, Current Affairs and Pakistan affairs for CSS and PMS Exams 2023. These are the CSS Current Affairs, Pakistan Affairs, International relations and English Essay 2023 Guess Questions For the upcoming CE-2023 made by the qualified CSSMCQs team members while keeping in review all the major aspects of the Current scenarios. Insha’ALLAH, you will have 4-8 same nature questions in your real exam papers of PA, CA and IR and English Essay 2023. You can practice these questions right away, however, it will be updated with the lapse of time.

• ➤ CSS  Current Affairs Guess Paper For 2022 By CSS MCQs [ 35% Paper came from this guess paper… CHECK HERE ]

Important Topic for CSS and PMS Exams 2023

1) inflation:.

• Ukraine war and Inflation.
• Climate change, a factor of inflation.
• Covid-19, and Supply chain disruption.

Inflation in Pakistan

• Inflation, the way forward.

2) The Crisis Of Energy:

• Ukraine war and Energy Crisis.
• The issue of oil production.
• The Crisis of Energy in Pakistan.
• Energy Crisis, the way forward.

3) Islamophobia:

• Hiduvata Vs Islamophobia.
• Political gains and Islamophobia.
• Islamophobia and OIC.
• Potential Impacts of Islamophobia.
• Academic approach, the way forward.
• Tackling the issue of Islamophobia.

4) Climate Change:

• Climate Justice.
• Climate Change and The Economic Cost.
• Climate Emergency and its consequences
• Climate Crisis And Pakistan, 2022 Floods.
• Climate struggle, Impact of international conflicts.
• IPPC 6th Assessment Reports, Working Groups 1,2 &3.
• COP 26 Successes
• COP 27 and Way forward

5) Water Crisis.

• Manifestation, and Reports.
• Climate and Water Crisis.
• Dames, the Way Forward.
• Water Policies.
• Management of Water Resources.
• Potential Impacts and Recommendation.

6) Foreign Policy

• Geo-Political Dynamics, opportunity and challenges of Pakistan foreign policy.
• The Concept of independent foreign policy.
• Climate and Pakistan’s Foreign policy.
• The challenge of Balancing ties between major powers.
• Energy crisis and Pakistan’s Foreign policy.
• National security policy 2022-26, and foreign policy.
• International conflicts, and Pakistan foreign Policy.
• The challenges, IMF and FATF.

7) Afghanistan Issue:

• Taliban Govt., and Pakistan Concerns
• The role of OIC in Taliban recognition.
• Afghanistan, the issue of Human rights.
• Afghanistan Economic Collapse .
• Humanitarian Crisis.
• Tehreek e Taliban ( TTP)

8) Financial Action Task Force.

• What Pakistan lost due to its position on Gray list.
• Politicization of FATF.
• Role of Diplomacy in FATF.

9) Food Insecurity.

• World Population Reaches 8 Billion, U.N. Says. The rapid population growth has been driven by the world’s poorest countries and they are confronting food insecurity, how to mitigate these crises?
• International conflicts, and food insecurity.
• Climate change and food insecurity.
• Covid-19, and Food insecurity.
• Food insecurity, and Pakistan.
• Food insecurity the way forward.

10) Russian_Ukraine Crisis.

• Potential impacts on Pakistan.
• Energy Aspect of Russian_Ukraine Crisis
• Food security and Russian_Ukraine Crisis.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis and Nuclear option.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis and new new blocs.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis, the information warfare

11) Indo-Pacific:

• IPEF, pivot to Asia 2.0 and CPTPP AND RECEP.
• The crisis in Taiwan, New developments.
• USA, the strengthening of Indian Defense.
• Developments in South China Sea.
• $600, Partnership for global infrastructure.

12) The Emerging New World Order.

• The war in Ukraine and new world order.
• Sino-Russian, unlimited friendship.
• Strengthening of BRICS.
• Competition in Indo-Pacific.
• US Sanctions and New Payment Systems.
• Energy , factor in new world order.

13) The Decline of USD.

• Tough US sanctions, finding alternative payments.
• New payment systems, CIPS, SPFS, UPI.
• Yuan-Ruble trade.
• Indian rupee-rubble
• BRICS Business Forum, Putin proposal of New Trading Currency,
• Condition of Rubble Payment for Russian Gas.

14) Political Instability:

• Leading causes.
• Potential Impacts.

15) Constitutional Crisis:

• Developments and Judiciary Role.
• Constitutional Crisis and Development

16) Economic Crisis of Pakistan

• Political instability.
• Climate impacts on the Economy.
• Role of FATF Gray list.
• Structural issue.
• Issues of Industrial and Agricultural sectors,

17) Electoral Reforms.

• Facts and Observation.
• Obstacles in making reforms.
• EVMs and Its issues.
• i-voting, Criticism.

18) National Security Policy 2022-26.

• Description of NSP.
• Importance of NSP.
• Criticism of NSP.

19) The Crisis of Overpopulation.

• Manifestation, UN world population prospects 2022.
• A crisis of negligence.
• Responsible factors.
• Making population productive, investments in Hum. Resources.
• Urbanization and potential Impacts of overpopulation.

20) International Monitoring Fund, IMF.

• The eternal issue of BoP.
• IMF, the Lifeline.
• Drawbacks of IMF Funding.
• Way forward

21) Single National Curriculum (SNC) and Pakistan

• Is SNC implemented in Pakistan?
• What are the benefits of single national curriculum in Pakistan?
• Which curriculum is followed in Pakistan?
• What are the disadvantages of SNC?
• Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Single National Curriculum
• Single National Curriculum & Educational Disparities in Pakistan

These ESSAYS and CURRENT AFFAIRS CSS 2023, Special CSS 2023, Punjab PMS 2023. are prepared by Mr. Salah Uddin. Subject Specialist, Political Science. NOA Teacher

Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is a major problem that affects people all over the world, and it can have a variety of causes. Some of the major causes of food insecurity include international conflicts, climate change, and pandemics such as Covid-19. In this essay, we will explore each of these causes in more detail, as well as discuss food insecurity in Pakistan and the steps that can be taken to address this important issue.

International conflicts are a significant cause of food insecurity in many parts of the world. When countries are at war, it can be difficult for people to access the food and other resources that they need to survive. This is often because conflict disrupts transportation and distribution networks, making it hard for food to reach the people who need it. In addition, conflict can destroy agriculture and infrastructure, making it difficult for people to grow or access food. Finally, conflict can also cause people to flee their homes, leading to a displacement of the population and a lack of access to food.

Climate change is another major cause of food insecurity, as it can lead to changes in weather patterns that make it difficult to grow food. For example, droughts can reduce crop yields, while floods and other extreme weather events can destroy crops or make it difficult for people to access them. In addition, rising temperatures can lead to the spread of pests and diseases that can damage crops, further reducing food supplies.

Covid-19 has also contributed to food insecurity in many parts of the world. The pandemic has disrupted supply chains and caused economic downturns, making it harder for people to afford food. In addition, lockdowns and other measures put in place to control the spread of the virus have made it harder for people to access food, especially in urban areas where food is often more expensive.

Pakistan is a country that has been particularly affected by food insecurity. According to the World Food Programme, more than 40% of the population of Pakistan is food insecure, and this problem is exacerbated by a variety of factors. For example, Pakistan is a country that is prone to natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, which can damage crops and infrastructure and make it harder for people to access food. In addition, Pakistan has a large population that is growing quickly, which puts pressure on the country’s food supply. Finally, Pakistan is also affected by conflict, as it shares borders with several countries that have experienced war and instability.

There are several steps that can be taken to address food insecurity and help ensure that people have access to the food they need. One important step is to invest in agriculture and infrastructure, as this can help increase food production and make it easier for people to access food. In addition, it is important to support small farmers and ensure that they have the resources they need to grow food for their communities.

Another important step is to work to reduce conflict and promote peace, as this can help create the stability that is necessary for people to grow and access food. This can be done through a variety of means, including diplomacy, economic development, and education.

Finally, it is important to address the root causes of food insecurity, such as climate change and economic inequality. This can be done through a variety of means, including investing in clean energy, promoting sustainable agriculture practices, and supporting social safety nets that can help ensure that people have access to the resources they need to survive.

Here are some examples of how international conflicts, climate change, and Covid-19 have contributed to food insecurity:

International conflicts:

• In Syria, the ongoing civil war has disrupted transportation and distribution networks, making it hard for people to access food. In addition, the conflict has damaged agriculture and infrastructure, leading to a shortage of food. According to the World Food Programme, more than 13 million people in Syria are food insecure.
• In Yemen, the ongoing conflict has led to a collapse of the economy and a disruption of food supplies. According to the United Nations, more than 20 million people in Yemen are food insecure, and this number is expected to rise as the conflict continues.

Climate change:

• In Ethiopia, a series of droughts in recent years have reduced crop yields, leading to a shortage of food. In addition, the droughts have caused the price of food to rise, making it harder for people to afford to eat. According to the World Food Programme, more than 10 million people in Ethiopia are food insecure.
• In the Philippines, extreme weather events such as typhoons have destroyed crops and made it harder for people to access food. In addition, rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns have led to the spread of pests and diseases that can damage crops, further reducing food supplies. According to the World Food Programme, more than 3 million people in the Philippines are food insecure.
• In India, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and caused economic downturns, making it harder for people to afford food. In addition, lockdowns and other measures put in place to control the spread of the virus have made it harder for people to access food, especially in urban areas where food is often more expensive. According to the World Food Programme, more than 195 million people in India are food insecure.
• In Brazil, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and caused economic downturns, leading to a rise in food prices. In addition, lockdowns and other measures put in place to control the spread of the virus have made it harder for people to access food, especially in urban areas where food is often more expensive. According to the World Food Programme, more than 14 million people in Brazil are food insecure.

In conclusion, food insecurity is a major problem that affects people all over the world, and it has a variety of causes including international conflicts, climate change, and pandemics such as Covid-19. Pakistan is one country that has been particularly affected by this problem, and addressing food insecurity will require a multi-faceted approach that includes investing in agriculture and infrastructure, supporting small farmers, reducing conflict and promoting peace, and addressing the root causes of food insecurity such as climate change and economic inequality. High levels of inflation in Pakistan, which have been driven by factors such as government borrowing, high food and energy prices, and corruption, have also contributed to food insecurity in the country by making it harder for people to afford to buy food. Addressing food insecurity and reducing inflation will require a combination of short-term and long-term strategies, and will require the efforts of governments, NGOs, and international organizations.

Inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When prices are rising, the purchasing power of money is falling, and people need more money to buy the same goods and services. Inflation can be caused by a variety of factors, including an increase in the money supply, a decrease in the supply of goods and services, and an increase in production costs.

Pakistan has experienced high levels of inflation in recent years. According to data from the World Bank, the annual inflation rate in Pakistan reached a peak of 13.7% in 2018, and it has remained above 10% for much of the past decade. There are several factors that have contributed to this high level of inflation in Pakistan.

One factor is the country’s high level of government borrowing, which has led to an increase in the money supply. When the government prints more money, it can lead to an increase in prices, as there is more money chasing the same number of goods and services.

Another factor is the country’s high level of food and energy prices, which have driven up the cost of living. For example, Pakistan is heavily dependent on imported oil, and fluctuations in the price of oil can have a significant impact on the country’s inflation rate. In addition, Pakistan has experienced food shortages in recent years due to a variety of factors, including extreme weather events and conflict, which has led to a rise in food prices.

Finally, Pakistan has also experienced high levels of corruption, which can lead to an increase in production costs and a rise in prices. For example, if companies have to pay bribes in order to get licenses or permits, it can increase the cost of doing business and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Inflation can have a variety of negative impacts on an economy and its people. For example, high levels of inflation can lead to a decline in the value of money, making it harder for people to save and invest. In addition, high levels of inflation can lead to a decline in purchasing power, as people need more money to buy the same goods and services. Finally, high levels of inflation can also lead to economic instability, as people may be less likely to make long-term plans or investments if they are concerned about the rising cost of living.

There are several consequences of this high level of inflation in Pakistan, including a decline in the value of money, a decline in purchasing power, economic instability, a decrease in savings, a decrease in real wages, and an increase in poverty.

One consequence of inflation in Pakistan is a decline in the value of money. As prices rise, the purchasing power of money falls, and people need more money to buy the same goods and services. This decline in the value of money can make it harder for people to save and invest, as the money they save today will be worth less in the future. In addition, a decline in the value of money can also lead to a decline in purchasing power, as people need more money to buy the same goods and services. This decline in purchasing power can make it harder for people to meet their basic needs and can lead to an increase in poverty.

Another consequence of inflation in Pakistan is economic instability. High levels of inflation can lead to uncertainty about the future value of money, which can make people less likely to make long-term plans or investments. This can lead to a decline in business confidence and investment, which can hurt the overall economy. In addition, economic instability can also lead to a decrease in savings, as people may be less likely to save money if they are concerned about the declining value of money. This can have negative consequences in the long run, as a low savings rate can make it harder for people to cope with unexpected expenses or to plan for the future.

A decrease in real wages is another consequence of inflation in Pakistan. When wages do not keep up with the rising cost of living, people’s purchasing power declines. This can lead to an increase in income inequality and a decline in the standard of living for many people. In addition, a decrease in real wages can also contribute to an increase in poverty, as people may not be able to afford the rising cost of living. This can lead to an increase in hunger and malnutrition and can have serious negative consequences for people’s health and well-being.

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English Essay Topics for CSS | Important Essay Topics for CSS 2023

Table of Contents

Looking for the English Essay Topics For CSS that are most expected to come in this year’s CSS competitive examination then here is the list of all those important English Essay. Writing essays in the CSS exams is art what you need to do is just focus and learn that art then sees nothing will be difficult for you. The first thing to do is the CSS exams while Writing an English essay is that clear your mind about the Ideas and thoughts of the topic because the examiner expected a lot of knowledge from your side which is written in a mature writing style so your thoughts or ideas that you write should be based on some real facts so start expressing your thoughts in a proper way. The examiner is more consult of the general study of you on the topic, Your analysis and compare powers, your approach to various facts, and the way that you select to express those ideas.

English Essay Topics for CSS

Professor Zahid Ashraf who right now working in the CSS field now issue some important topics for essays that are mentioned below. These topics are most important and these days the same situations now exist in Pakistan like Food Crises, Political Instability, the Situation of Democracy, and Global Warming.

Important Essay Topics for CSS 2023

• Political Instability in Pakistan
• True Democracy to ensure / Fair Election
• Price Hike in Pakistan / Inflation
• Floods in Pakistan: Causes, Effect, and Remedies
• Global Warming and Pakistan. Flood Insecurity
• Global and Pakistan Energy / Food Crisis / Insecurity
• Energy and Water Crisis: Causes, effect, and Remedies
• Muslim Ummah and Role of OIC 8. Population Explosion

Also Check:

Which topic is best for an English essay?

• Baluchistan Crisis
• Future of Democracy in Pakistan
• Talibanization
• Women Empowerment
• Terrorism And The Role Of Pakistan
• Energy Crisis in Pakistan
• Water Crisis
• Failure of Democracy in Pakistan
• Foreign Policy of Pakistan
• Art critics and reviewers
• Alleviation of poverty
• Foreign direct investment (F.D.I) in Pakistan
• Global warming
• Personalization of Pakistani politics
• Formal and casual dressing codes
• Existentialism
• Socio-economic challenges faced by Pakistan
• Islam versus the west
• International crisis in terrorism
• Humor in Urdu literature
• Higher science education in the developing countries
• The search for the truth
• Nuclear weapons are not only a great peril but great hope
• Austerity, As a solution, go all our economic problems
• The economic prosperity of a nation is directly proportional to the level of literacy in it
• National Integration
• Risk of “Soviet syndrome” for Pakistan
• The higher economic problem in Pakistan and how to meet them
• Devolution of power in Pakistan
• Art and morality
• Need for serious planning in technical education in Pakistan
• Is the world ready for the Gene age?
• Public office is a public trust
• Piety at public expense
• The greatest of evil and the worst of crime is poverty
• The struggle to raise a nation’s living standard is fought first and foremost in the classroom
• Pakistan is rich in natural resources but very poor in their management
• Pleasure of idleness
• What are the hurdles in our way to becoming a truly independent state?
• A Critical Analysis of Education Systems in Pakistan
• Democracy is a culture rather than a process
• Role & Power of Media in the Modern World
• Social Networking

If you also think that you have some English topics for the CSS exam that is really important then you can let us know by commenting down there in the comment section below.

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I am committed to helping Pakistani students craft successful career paths by merging their individual passions with market trends. As a career counselor, we'll explore both well-established fields and modern industries to find the best fit for you. With personalized counseling and strategic planning, we aim to transform your educational journey into a thriving professional future.

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• CSS Syllabus 2025 |
• Past Paper MCQs |

CSS 2023 Important Topics For Essay, Current Affairs, Pakistan Affairs

Css 2023 important topics for essay, current affairs, pakistan affairs .

Here, you will have all the essential topics of English Essay, Current Affairs and Pakistan affairs for CSS and PMS Exams 2023. These are the CSS Current Affairs, Pakistan Affairs, International relations and English Essay 2023 Guess Questions For the upcoming CE-2023 made by the qualified CSSMCQs team members while keeping in review all the major aspects of the Current scenarios. Insha’ALLAH, you will have 4-8 same nature questions in your real exam papers of PA, CA and IR and English Essay 2023. You can practice these questions right away, however, it will be updated with the lapse of time.

• ➤ CSS  Current Affairs Guess Paper For 2022 By CSS MCQs [ 35% Paper came from this guess paper… CHECK HERE ]

Important Topic for CSS and PMS Exams 2023

Download in PDF

1) Inflation:

• Ukraine war and Inflation.
• Climate change, factor of inflation.
• Covid-19, and Supply chain disruption.
• Inflation in Pakistan
• Inflation, the way forward.

2) The Crisis Of Energy:

• Ukraine war and Energy Crisis.
• The issue of oil production.
• The Crisis of Energy in Pakistan.
• Energy Crisis, the way forward.

3) Islamophobia:

• Hiduvata Vs Islamophobia.
• Political gains and Islamophobia.
• Islamophobia and OIC.
• Potential Impacts of Islamophobia.
• Academic approach, the way forward.
• Tackling the issue of Islamophobia.

4) Climate Change:

• Climate Justice.
• Climate Change and The Economic Cost.
• Climate Emergency and its consequences
• Climate Crisis And Pakistan, 2022 Floods.
• Climate struggle, Impact of international conflicts.
• IPPC 6th Assessment Reports, Working Groups 1,2 &3.
• COP 26 Successes
• COP 27 and Way forward

5) Water Crisis.

• Manifestation, and Reports.
• Climate and Water Crisis.
• Dames, the Way Forward.
• Water Policies.
• Management of Water Resources.
• Potential Impacts and Recommendation.

6) Foreign Policy

• Geo-Political Dynamics, opportunity and challenges of Pakistan foreign policy.
• The Concept of independent foreign policy.
• Climate and Pakistan’s Foreign policy.
• The challenge of Balancing ties between major powers.
• Energy crisis and Pakistan’s Foreign policy.
• National security policy 2022-26, and foreign policy.
• International conflicts, and Pakistan foreign Policy.
• The challenges, IMF and FATF.

7) Afghanistan Issue:

• Taliban Govt., and Pakistan Concerns
• The role of OIC in Taliban recognition.
• Afghanistan, the issue of Human rights.
• Afghanistan Economic Collapse .
• Humanitarian Crisis.
• Tehreek e Taliban ( TTP)

8) Financial Action Task Force.

• What Pakistan lost due to its position on Gray list.
• Politicization of FATF.
• Role of Diplomacy in FATF.

9) Food Insecurity.

• World Population Reaches 8 Billion, U.N. Says. The rapid population growth has been driven by the world’s poorest countries and they are confronting food insecurity, how to mitigate these crises?
• International conflicts, and food insecurity.
• Climate change and food insecurity.
• Covid-19, and Food insecurity.
• Food insecurity, and Pakistan.
• Food insecurity the way forward.

10) Russian_Ukraine Crisis.

• Potential impacts on Pakistan.
• Energy Aspect of Russian_Ukraine Crisis
• Food security and Russian_Ukraine Crisis.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis and Nuclear option.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis and new new blocs.
• Russian_Ukraine Crisis, the information warfare

11) Indo-Pacific:

• IPEF, pivot to Asia 2.0 and CPTPP AND RECEP.
• The crisis in Taiwan, New developments.
• USA, the strengthening of Indian Defense.
• Developments in South China Sea.
• $600, Partnership for global infrastructure.

12) The Emerging New World Order.

• The war in Ukraine and new world order.
• Sino-Russian, unlimited friendship.
• Strengthening of BRICS.
• Competition in Indo-Pacific.
• US Sanctions and New Payment Systems.
• Energy , factor in new world order.

13) The Decline of USD.

• Tough US sanctions, finding alternative payments.
• New payment systems, CIPS, SPFS, UPI.
• Yuan-Ruble trade.
• Indian rupee-rubble
• BRICS Business Forum, Putin proposal of New Trading Currency,
• Condition of Rubble Payment for Russian Gas.

14) Political Instability:

• Leading causes.
• Potential Impacts.

15) Constitutional Crisis:

• Developments and Judiciary Role.
• Constitutional Crisis and Development

16) Economic Crisis of Pakistan

• Political instability.
• Climate impacts on the Economy.
• Role of FATF Gray list.
• Structural issue.
• Issues of Industrial and Agricultural sectors,

17) Electoral Reforms.

• Facts and Observation.
• Obstacles in making reforms.
• EVMs and Its issues.
• i-voting, Criticism.

18) National Security Policy 2022-26.

• Description of NSP.
• Importance of NSP.
• Criticism of NSP.

19) The Crisis of Overpopulation.

• Manifestation, UN world population prospects 2022.
• A crisis of negligence.
• Responsible factors.
• Making population productive, investments in Hum. Resources.
• Urbanization and potential Impacts of overpopulation.

20) International Monitoring Fund, IMF.

• The eternal issue of BoP.
• IMF, the Lifeline.
• Drawbacks of IMF Funding.
• Way forward

21) Single National Curriculum (SNC) and Pakistan

• Is SNC implemented in Pakistan?
• What are the benefits of single national curriculum in Pakistan?
• Which curriculum is followed in Pakistan?
• What are the disadvantages of SNC?
• Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Single National Curriculum
• Single National Curriculum & Educational Disparities in Pakistan

Detail Explanation: CSS 2023 Important Topics For Essay, CA, PA & IR

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These ESSAYS and CURRENT AFFAIRS CSS 2023, Special CSS 2023, Punjab PMS 2023. are prepared by Mr. Salah Uddin. Subject Specialist, Political Science. NOA Teacher

Click below to download in PDF CSS Essay, Current Affairs, Pakistan Affairs Important Topics For 2022.

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CSS English Essay Paper 2024

• February 29, 2024
• CSS Past Papers 2024

Here, you will find the CSS English Essay Paper 2024. You can view or download this CSS English Essay Past Paper 2024 . The English Essay paper of CSS was held on 29-02-2024.

See the CSS English Essays and Topics here.

English Essay Paper for CSS 2024

1. Hope: the greatest driving force.

2. CPEC and “Indo-Middle East – Europe”, new war fronts.

3. The power of propaganda and Muslim World.

4. Phase out of fossil fuel and Arab Economics.

5. Pragmatism vs Passion in politics.

6. Brics and Pakistan: Prospects of Recovery.

7. Artificial Intelligence : The death of creativity.

8. Pathways to Pakistan’s prosperity.

9. Globalization and National Economics .

10. Political Polarization; Governance and Society.

View CSS English Paper 2024 here:

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• November 20, 2023
• Best in Pak , Big Questions , CSS Past Papers

CSS Essays, CSS Solved Essays, PMS Essays, PMS Solved Essays, CSS 2024, CSS 2025, PMS 2024, PMS 2025, Sir Syed Kazim Ali,

CSS Essays up till 2023

The CSS essay and precis papers have been a nightmare for thousands of aspirants. However, since 2015, these papers have started eroding the future of 95% of aspirants each year, not because of aspirants but because of academies, young qualifiers, and inept teachers. They teach students only tips and tricks rather than teaching them the proper way of writing an essay: how to break the chosen topic down, how to write the thesis statement, what is a relevant and coherent outline, what the topic sentence is, and how to write it; how to articulate thoughts and give specific pieces of evidence to support them; and how to connect sentences or give transitions between them. However, to qualify for the essay paper, aspirants must understand the basics to differentiate between essay writing and daily conversation. For example, in your everyday conversation with your friends and family, you make assertions, and they understand because they know you and never challenge you to give reasons for your statements. On the other hand, the CSS examiner, who reads and evaluates your essays, does not even know you and needs support, reasons, and arguments for each of your assertions. 

Qualifying for the CSS and PMS English essay and precis papers moves around writing skills. Writing is the primary tool that helps an aspirant present his thoughts on the given topic on the exam paper. Therefore, cracking English essay and precis papers requires an aspirant to have good written communication skills. However, that greatly depends upon how rationally, analytically, and logically an aspirant writes and transfers his viewpoints and ideas to the examiner. Competitive aspirants think memorizing facts, figures, and data alone will help them crack these papers. Moreover, aspirants build an analytical approach by learning quality books and content alone; they do not even practice and learn to give their thoughts words. As a result, despite having a great deal of knowledge regarding subjects, aspirants cannot transfer their ideas to the examiner satisfactorily and fail the papers. Therefore, if you need to pass the CSS and PMS essay papers, you must communicate effectively and provide evidence for any point or claim you make. Simply, whoever learns how to support his ideas with specific and relevant reasons usually qualifies for the essay paper easily.

How Can These Solved Essays Help Me Prepare & Qualify for the Essay Paper?

All essays published on the Cssprepforum website have been attempted by Sir Syed Kazim Ali’s students, who either qualified for the CSS or PMS examinations or scored the highest marks in the essay papers. The essays are uploaded to help other CSS & PMS aspirants learn and practice essay writing techniques and patterns to qualify for the essay paper. Reading these essays with great consideration, from the outline to thesis statement and introduction to conclusion, can help you understand how to crack the essay topic, build a thesis statement, write an introduction, and present your arguments based on the thought process. The activity will also help you in several ways:

Developing a Strong Foundation in English Grammar and Usage

Sir Syed Kazim Ali is known for his in-depth English grammar and usage knowledge. His students’ essays can help you build a solid foundation in these areas, essential for writing clear, concise, and grammatically correct essays.

Enhancing Your Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills

The CSS English Essay Paper requires strong critical thinking and analytical skills. Sir Syed Kazim Ali’s teaching methods, present in the solved essays, can help you develop these skills by encouraging you to analyze complex issues, form well-structured arguments, and support your claims with evidence.

Improving Your Essay Writing Skills

Being Pakistan’s best CSS and PMS English essay teacher, Sir Syed Kazim Ali has extensive experience teaching essay writing. His students’ essays guide you through the process of crafting a well-structured essay, from developing a thesis statement to organizing your arguments and providing relevant evidence.

Expanding Your Vocabulary and Knowledge Base

A strong vocabulary and broad knowledge base are crucial for writing compelling essays. These essays can help you expand your vocabulary and enhance your understanding of various topics, enabling you to write informative and insightful essays.

Who is Sir Syed Kazim Ali?

Sir Syed Kazim Ali is a known English language writing coach, grammarian, educationist, and author. He is the founder of Cssprepforum , an online education platform that provides preparation for the Central Superior Services (CSS) and Provincial Management Services (PMS) exams to thousands of aspirants. He is also the founder of Howfiv , an online learning management system (LMS) used by millions of students in Pakistan and worldwide. Sir Syed Kazim Ali is known for his innovative and effective teaching methods. He has helped thousands of students improve their English language skills and succeed in competitive exams such as the CSS, PMS, GRE, GAT, SAT, GMAT, etc. He is a passionate advocate for education and social development. He believes that education is the key to unlocking the potential of individuals and societies. He is actively involved in various educational and social development projects and committed to making a difference in the lives of others.

He is Pakistan’s top CSS and PMS English essay and precis teacher with the highest success rate of his students. The way he explains and simplifies the concepts no other English teacher across the country can do. He knows that CSS and PMS aspirants’ approach to learning the English language is different, and over the years, he has developed a unique teaching methodology that helps his students crack English essays and precis papers easily. His online creative English writing sessions give aspirants the skills and confidence to get the best possible exam results. He focuses on aspirants’ exam’s critical areas, helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses, and equips them with the writing skills they need to correctly and confidently express their thoughts and opinions.

Click on any link to start reading the solved essays

1- * Inter-Cultural Communication is Panacea to Avoid 3rd World War *

Inter-Cultural Communication is Panacea to Avoid 3rd World War

2- * I Fall Upon The Thorns of Life, I bleed! *

I Fall Upon the Thorns of Life, I Bleed!

3- * Frailty Thy Name is Woman *

Frailty Thy Name Is Woman Essay

4- * The Controversial Issues of Feminism and the Contemporary Women’s Rights Movements *

The Controversial Issues of Feminism and the Contemporary Women’s Rights Movements

5- * Inter-Cultural Communication is Panacea to Avoid 3rd World War (2nd Essay) *

Intercultural Communication is Panacea to Avoid 3rd World War

6- * Uni-polar, Bipolar or Multi-polar: New Direction of the World *

Unipolar, Bipolar or Multipolar: New Direction of the World Essay

7- * Pakistani Women Have the Same Chances as Men *

Pakistani Women Have the Same Chances as Men.

8- * Social Media Has Destroyed Real Life Communication *

Social Media Has Destroyed Real Life Communication

9- * It Matters Not What Someone Is Born, But What They Grow To Be *

It Matters Not What Someone is Born, but What They Grow to Be

10- * Artificial Intelligence has Overstepped its Bounds *

Artificial Intelligence has Overstepped its Bounds

11- * Children Must be Taught How to Think, not What to Think *

Children Must be Taught How to Think, not What to Think

12- * The War on Terror has Contributed to the Growing Abuse of Human Rights *

The War on Terror has Contributed to the Growing Abuse of Human Rights

13- * The Cost of Inaction is Greater than the Cost of Action *

The Cost of Inaction is Greater than the Cost of Action

14- * Both Parents Should Assume Equal Responsibility in Raising a Child *

Both Parents Should Assume Equal Responsibility in Raising a Child

15- * Instruction in Youth is Like Engraving in Stone *

Instruction in Youth is like Engraving in Stone

16- * People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology *

People Have Become Overly Dependent On Technology

17- * A Friend Walks in When Everyone Else Walks Out *

A Friend Walks In When Everyone Else Walks Out

18- * Feminism is Not Really a Third World Issue *

Feminism Is Not Really a Third World Issue

19- * Cooperation, Not Competition, Leads the World Towards Peace and Prosperity *

Cooperation Not Competition Leads the World Towards Peace and Prosperity

20- * I Do Not Agree with What You Have to Say, But I Will Defend to Death Your Right to Say It *

I Do Not Agree With What You Have To Say, But I Will Defend To Death Your Right To Say It

21- * Development is About Transforming Lives of People Rather Than Economy of a State *

Development Is About Transforming Lives of People Rather Than the Economy of a State

22- * Governance Crisis in Pakistan: Need for Reforms and Institutional Building *

Governance Crisis in Pakistan: Need for Reforms and Institutional Building

23- * Education in Pakistan has Failed to Achieve Efficient Human Resource *

Education in Pakistan has failed to Achieve Efficient Human Resource

24- * Advancement in Science and Technology is the Gateway to the Economic Prosperity of a Country *

Advancement in Science and Technology is the Gateway to the Economic Prosperity of a Country

25- * Boys Will be Boys *

Boys Will Be Boys

26- * Digital Democracy: Social Media and Public Participation *

Digital Democracy: Social Media and Public Participation

27- * The Threat of Global Warming and the Ways to Counter it *

The Threat of Global Warming and the Ways to Counter it

28- * Democracy and Illiteracy Do Not Move Together *

Democracy and Illiteracy Do Not Move Together

29- * Classrooms Decide the Future of the Nations *

Classrooms Decide the Future of the Nations

30- * The Fool Speaks, and the Wise Listen *

The Fool Speaks, and the Wise Listen

* For more Essays Click on the Links Below *

* CSS Solved Essays *

https://cssprepforum.com/category/css/css-solved-essays

* PMS Solved Essays *

https://cssprepforum.com/category/pms/pms-essays/

* PMS Solved 20-Marks Paragraphs *

https://cssprepforum.com/category/pms/pms-solved-paragraphs/

* PMS Ministerial Solved Essays *

https://cssprepforum.com/category/featured/pms-ministerial-essays/

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• Brecht De Ruyte
• May 22, 2024

Modern CSS Layouts: You Might Not Need A Framework For That

• 22 min read
• CSS , Techniques , Design
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Brecht De Ruyte is a self-taught front-end developer located in Belgium with a passion for UX and Design. After more than a decade of working in tech, he … More about Brecht ↬

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Establishing layouts in CSS is something that we, as developers, often delegate to whatever framework we’re most comfortable using. And even though it’s possible to configure a framework to get just what we need out of it, how often have you integrated an entire CSS library simply for its layout features? I’m sure many of us have done it at some point, dating back to the days of 960.gs, Bootstrap, Susy, and Foundation.

Modern CSS features have significantly cut the need to reach for a framework simply for its layout. Yet, I continue to see it happen. Or, I empathize with many of my colleagues who find themselves re-creating the same Grid or Flexbox layout over and over again.

In this article, we will gain greater control over web layouts. Specifically, we will create four CSS classes that you will be able to take and use immediately on just about any project or place where you need a particular layout that can be configured to your needs.

While the concepts we cover are key, the real thing I want you to take away from this is the confidence to use CSS for those things we tend to avoid doing ourselves . Layouts used to be a challenge on the same level of styling form controls. Certain creative layouts may still be difficult to pull off, but the way CSS is designed today solves the burdens of the established layout patterns we’ve been outsourcing and re-creating for many years.

What We’re Making

We’re going to establish four CSS classes, each with a different layout approach. The idea is that if you need, say, a fluid layout based on Flexbox, you have it ready. The same goes for the three other classes we’re making.

And what exactly are these classes? Two of them are Flexbox layouts, and the other two are Grid layouts, each for a specific purpose. We’ll even extend the Grid layouts to leverage CSS Subgrid for when that’s needed.

Within those two groups of Flexbox and Grid layouts are two utility classes: one that auto-fills the available space — we’re calling these “fluid” layouts — and another where we have greater control over the columns and rows — we’re calling these “repeating” layouts .

Finally, we’ll integrate CSS Container Queries so that these layouts respond to their own size for responsive behavior rather than the size of the viewport. Where we’ll start, though, is organizing our work into Cascade Layers, which further allow you to control the level of specificity and prevent style conflicts with your own CSS.

Setup: Cascade Layers & CSS Variables

A technique that I’ve used a few times is to define Cascade Layers at the start of a stylesheet. I like this idea not only because it keeps styles neat and organized but also because we can influence the specificity of the styles in each layer by organizing the layers in a specific order. All of this makes the utility classes we’re making easier to maintain and integrate into your own work without running into specificity battles.

I think the following three layers are enough for this work:

Notice the order because it really, really matters. The reset layer comes first, making it the least specific layer of the bunch. The layout layer comes in at the end, making it the most specific set of styles, giving them higher priority than the styles in the other two layers. If we add an unlayered style, that one would be added last and thus have the highest specificity.

Related : “ Getting Started With Cascade Layers ” by Stephanie Eckles.

Let’s briefly cover how we’ll use each layer in our work.

Reset Layer

The reset layer will contain styles for any user agent styles we want to “reset” . You can add your own resets here, or if you already have a reset in your project, you can safely move on without this particular layer. However, do remember that un-layered styles will be read last, so wrap them in this layer if needed.

I’m just going to drop in the popular box-sizing declaration that ensures all elements are sized consistently by the border-box in accordance with the CSS Box Model.

Theme Layer

This layer provides variables scoped to the :root element. I like the idea of scoping variables this high up the chain because layout containers — like the utility classes we’re creating — are often wrappers around lots of other elements, and a global scope ensures that the variables are available anywhere we need them. That said, it is possible to scope these locally to another element if you need to.

Now, whatever makes for “good” default values for the variables will absolutely depend on the project. I’m going to set these with particular values, but do not assume for a moment that you have to stick with them — this is very much a configurable system that you can adapt to your needs.

Here are the only three variables we need for all four layouts:

In order, these map to the following:

• Automatically-sized columns that are at least 35 characters wide ,
• A layout with three repeated columns , and
• A gap between the layout items that is set to 3% of the largest side of the viewport .

Notice : The variables are prefixed with layout- , which I’m using as an identifier for layout-specific values. This is my personal preference for structuring this work, but please choose a naming convention that fits your mental model — naming things can be hard !

Layout Layer

This layer will hold our utility class rulesets, which is where all the magic happens. For the grid, we will include a fifth class specifically for using CSS Subgrid within a grid container for those possible use cases.

Now that all our layers are organized, variables are set, and rulesets are defined, we can begin working on the layouts themselves. We will start with the “repeating” layouts, one based on CSS Grid and the other using Flexbox.

Repeating Grid And Flex Layouts

I think it’s a good idea to start with the “simplest” layout and scale up the complexity from there. So, we’ll tackle the “Repeating Grid” layout first as an introduction to the overarching technique we will be using for the other layouts.

Repeating Grid

If we head into the @layout layer, that’s where we’ll find the .repeating-grid ruleset, where we’ll write the styles for this specific layout. Essentially, we are setting this up as a grid container and applying the variables we created to it to establish layout columns and spacing between them.

It’s not too complicated so far, right? We now have a grid container with three equally sized columns that take up one fraction ( 1fr ) of the available space with a gap between them.

This is all fine and dandy, but we do want to take this a step further and turn this into a system where you can configure the number of columns and the size of the gap. I’m going to introduce two new variables scoped to this grid:

• --_grid-repeat : The number of grid columns.
• --_repeating-grid-gap : The amount of space between grid items.

Did you notice that I’ve prefixed these variables with an underscore? This was actually a JavaScript convention to specify variables that are “private” — or locally-scoped — before we had const and let to help with that. Feel free to rename these however you see fit, but I wanted to note that up-front in case you’re wondering why the underscore is there.

Notice : These variables are set to the variables in the @theme layer. I like the idea of assigning a global variable to a locally-scoped variable. This way, we get to leverage the default values we set in @theme but can easily override them without interfering anywhere else the global variables are used.

Now let’s put those variables to use on the style rules from before in the same .repeating-grid ruleset:

What happens from here when we apply the .repeating-grid to an element in HTML? Let’s imagine that we are working with the following simplified markup:

If we were to apply a background-color and height to those divs, we would get a nice set of boxes that are placed into three equally-sized columns, where any divs that do not fit on the first row automatically wrap to the next row.

See the Pen [Layout Utility: Repeating Grid [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/gOJrqmL) by Geoff Graham .

Now, of course, we don’t have to have just three columns. Let’s say we want a product grid where we want to change the repeating columns from 3 to 5 while updating the gap from 2vw to 3vw using the same HTML, only with a new class we can use override those values.

See how this is shaping up? We have a grid layout based on a set of globally-scoped variables that we can re-assign to variables that are locally-scoped to the utility class and further customized with a class of our own that adds context to the element’s purpose and allows you to adjust the responsive behavior.

See the Pen [Layout Utility: Repeating Grid [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/YzbqBVy) by Geoff Graham .

The benefit is that we can overwrite our default values without polluting the HTML with superfluous classes. This is the overarching approach we will also use in the three other layout classes. Next up is the “Repeating Flex” version of what we just made.

Repeating Flex

The “Repeating Grid” layout is great, but you might not always want equally-sized columns. CSS Grid is certainly capable of auto-filling elements with whatever space is available, but Flexbox is extremely proficient at it.

Let’s say we have the same five divs from before. That leaves us with two divs on the second row next to an empty column on the right. Perhaps we want those last two leftover divs to stretch out and take up the space in the empty column.

Time to put the process we established with the Repeating Grid layout to use in this Repeating Flex layout. This time, we jump straight to defining the private variables on the .repeating-flex ruleset in the @layout layer since we already know what we’re doing.

Again, we have two locally-scoped variables used to override the default values assigned to the globally-scoped variables. Now, we apply them to the style declarations.

We’re only using one of the variables to set the gap size between flex items at the moment, but that will change in a bit. For now, the important thing to note is that we are using the flex-wrap property to tell Flexbox that it’s OK to let additional items in the layout wrap into multiple rows rather than trying to pack everything in a single row .

But once we do that, we also have to configure how the flex items shrink or expand based on whatever amount of available space is remaining. Let’s nest those styles inside the parent ruleset:

If you’re wondering why I’m using the universal selector ( * ), it’s because we can’t assume that the layout items will always be divs. Perhaps they are <article> elements, <section> s, or something else entirely. The child combinator ( > ) ensures that we’re only selecting elements that are direct children of the utility class to prevent leakage into other ancestor styles.

The flex shorthand property is one of those that’s been around for many years now but still seems to mystify many of us. Before we unpack it, did you also notice that we have a new locally-scoped --_gap-repeater-calc variable that needs to be defined? Let’s do this:

Whoa, we actually created a second variable that --_gap-repeater-calc can use to properly calculate the third flex value, which corresponds to the flex-basis property, i.e., the “ideal” size we want the flex items to be.

If we take out the variable abstractions from our code above, then this is what we’re looking at:

Hopefully, this will help you see what sort of math the browser has to do to size the flexible items in the layout. Of course, those values change if the variables’ values change. But, in short, elements that are direct children of the .repeating-flex utility class are allowed to grow ( flex-grow: 1 ) and shrink ( flex-shrink: 1 ) based on the amount of available space while we inform the browser that the initial size (i.e., flex-basis ) of each flex item is equal to some calc() -ulated value.

Because we had to introduce a couple of new variables to get here, I’d like to at least explain what they do:

• --_gap-count : This stores the number of gaps between layout items by subtracting 1 from --_flex-repeat . There’s one less gap in the number of items because there’s no gap before the first item or after the last item.
• --_gap-repeater-calc : This calculates the total gap size based on the individual item’s gap size and the total number of gaps between items.

From there, we calculate the total gap size more efficiently with the following formula:

Let’s break that down further because it’s an inception of variables referencing other variables. In this example, we already provided our repeat-counting private variable, which falls back to the default repeater by setting the --layout-default-repeat variable.

This sets a gap, but we’re not done yet because, with flexible containers, we need to define the flex behavior of the container’s direct children so that they grow ( flex-grow: 1 ), shrink ( flex-shrink: 1 ), and with a flex-basis value that is calculated by multiplying the repeater by the total number of gaps between items.

Next, we divide the individual gap size ( --_repeating-flex-gap ) by the number of repetitions ( --_flex-repeat) ) to equally distribute the gap size between each item in the layout. Then, we multiply that gap size value by one minus the total number of gaps with the --_gap-count variable.

And that concludes our repeating grids! Pretty fun, or at least interesting, right? I like a bit of math.

Before we move to the final two layout utility classes we’re making, you might be wondering why we want so many abstractions of the same variable, as we start with one globally-scoped variable referenced by a locally-scoped variable which, in turn, can be referenced and overridden again by yet another variable that is locally scoped to another ruleset. We could simply work with the global variable the whole time, but I’ve taken us through the extra steps of abstraction.

I like it this way because of the following:

• I can peek at the HTML and instantly see which layout approach is in use: .repeating-grid or .repeating-flex .
• It maintains a certain separation of concerns that keeps styles in order without running into specificity conflicts.

See how clear and understandable the markup is:

The corresponding CSS is likely to be a slim ruleset for the semantic .footer-usps class that simply updates variable values:

This gives me all of the context I need: the type of layout, what it is used for, and where to find the variables. I think that’s handy, but you certainly could get by without the added abstractions if you’re looking to streamline things a bit.

Fluid Grid And Flex Layouts

All the repeating we’ve done until now is fun, and we can manipulate the number of repeats with container queries and media queries. But rather than repeating columns manually, let’s make the browser do the work for us with fluid layouts that automatically fill whatever empty space is available in the layout container. We may sacrifice a small amount of control with these two utilities, but we get to leverage the browser’s ability to “intelligently” place layout items with a few CSS hints.

Once again, we’re starting with the variables and working our way to the calculations and style rules. Specifically, we’re defining a variable called --_fluid-grid-min that manages a column’s minimum width.

Let’s take a rather trivial example and say we want a grid column that’s at least 400px wide with a 20px gap. In this situation, we’re essentially working with a two-column grid when the container is greater than 820px wide. If the container is narrower than 820px , the column stretches out to the container’s full width.

If we want to go for a three-column grid instead, the container’s width should be about 1240px wide. It’s all about controlling the minimum sizing values in the gap.

That establishes the variables we need to calculate and set styles on the .fluid-grid layout. This is the full code we are unpacking:

The display is set to grid , and the gap between items is based on the --fluid-grid-gap variable. The magic is taking place in the grid-template-columns declaration.

This grid uses the repeat() function just as the .repeating-grid utility does. By declaring auto-fit in the function, the browser automatically packs in as many columns as it possibly can in the amount of available space in the layout container. Any columns that can’t fit on a line simply wrap to the next line and occupy the full space that is available there.

Then there’s the minmax() function for setting the minimum and maximum width of the columns. What’s special here is that we’re nesting yet another function, min() , within minmax() (which, remember, is nested in the repeat() function). This a bit of extra logic that sets the minimum width value of each column somewhere in a range between --_fluid-grid-min and 100% , where 100% is a fallback for when --_fluid-grid-min is undefined or is less than 100% . In other words, each column is at least the full 100% width of the grid container.

The “max” half of minmax() is set to 1fr to ensure that each column grows proportionally and maintains equally sized columns.

See the Pen [Fluid grid [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/GRaZzMN) by utilitybend .

That’s it for the Fluid Grid layout! That said, please do take note that this is a strong grid , particularly when it is combined with modern relative units, e.g. ch , as it produces a grid that only scales from one column to multiple columns based on the size of the content.

We pretty much get to re-use all of the code we wrote for the Repeating Flex layout for the Fluid Flex layout, but only we’re setting the flex-basis of each column by its minimum size rather than the number of columns.

That completes the fourth and final layout utility — but there’s one bonus class we can create to use together with the Repeating Grid and Fluid Grid utilities for even more control over each layout.

Optional: Subgrid Utility

Subgrid is handy because it turns any grid item into a grid container of its own that shares the parent container’s track sizing to keep the two containers aligned without having to redefine tracks by hand. It’s got full browser support and makes our layout system just that much more robust. That’s why we can set it up as a utility to use with the Repeating Grid and Fluid Grid layouts if we need any of the layout items to be grid containers for laying out any child elements they contain.

Here we go:

We have two new variables, of course:

• --subgrid-gap : The vertical gap between grid items.
• --subgrid-rows The number of grid rows defaulted to 4 .

We have a bit of a challenge: How do we control the subgrid items in the rows? I see two possible methods.

Method 1: Inline Styles

We already have a variable that can technically be used directly in the HTML as an inline style:

This works like a charm since the variable informs the subgrid how much it can grow.

Method 2: Using The :has() Pseudo-Class

This approach leads to verbose CSS, but sacrificing brevity allows us to automate the layout so it handles practically anything we throw at it without having to update an inline style in the markup.

Check this out:

The :has() selector checks if a subgrid row is the last child item in the container when that item is either the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on item. For example, the second declaration:

…is pretty much saying, “If this is the second subgrid item and it happens to be the last item in the container, then set the number of rows to 2 .”

Whether this is too heavy-handed, I don’t know; but I love that we’re able to do it in CSS.

The final missing piece is to declare a container on our children. Let’s give the columns a general class name, .grid-item , that we can override if we need to while setting each one as a container we can query for the sake of updating its layout when it is a certain size (as opposed to responding to the viewport’s size in a media query).

That’s a wild-looking selector, but the verbosity is certainly kept to a minimum thanks to the :is() pseudo-class, which saves us from having to write this as a larger chain selector. It essentially selects the direct children of the other utilities without leaking into .subgrid-rows and inadvertently selecting its direct children.

The container property is a shorthand that combines container-name and container-type into a single declaration separated by a forward slash ( / ). The name of the container is set to one of our variables, and the type is always its inline-size (i.e., width in a horizontal writing mode).

The container-type property can only be applied to grid containers — not grid items . This means we’re unable to combine it with the grid-template-rows: subgrid value, which is why we needed to write a more complex selector to exclude those instances.

Check out the following demo to see how everything comes together.

See the Pen [Grid system playground [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/mdYPvLR) by utilitybend .

The demo is pulling in styles from another pen that contains the full CSS for everything we made together in this article. So, if you were to replace the .fluid-flex classname from the parent container in the HTML with another one of the layout utilities, the layout will update accordingly, allowing you to compare them.

Those classes are the following:

• .repeating-grid ,
• .repeating-flex ,
• .fluid-grid ,
• .fluid-flex .

And, of course, you have the option of turning any grid items into grid containers using the optional .subgrid-rows class in combination with the .repeating-grid and .fluid-grid utilities.

Conclusion: Write Once And Repurpose

This was quite a journey, wasn’t it? It might seem like a lot of information, but we made something that we only need to write once and can use practically anywhere we need a certain type of layout using modern CSS approaches . I strongly believe these utilities can not only help you in a bunch of your work but also cut any reliance on CSS frameworks that you may be using simply for its layout configurations.

This is a combination of many techniques I’ve seen, one of them being a presentation Stephanie Eckles gave at CSS Day 2023 . I love it when people handcraft modern CSS solutions for things we used to work around. Stephanie’s demonstration was clean from the start, which is refreshing as so many other areas of web development are becoming ever more complex.

After learning a bunch from CSS Day 2023, I played with Subgrid on my own and published different ideas from my experiments . That’s all it took for me to realize how extensible modern CSS layout approaches are and inspired me to create a set of utilities I could rely on, perhaps for a long time.

By no means am I trying to convince you or anyone else that these utilities are perfect and should be used everywhere or even that they’re better than <framework-du-jour> . One thing that I do know for certain is that by experimenting with the ideas we covered in this article, you will get a solid feel of how CSS is capable of making layout work much more convenient and robust than ever.

Create something out of this, and share it in the comments if you’re willing — I’m looking forward to seeing some fresh ideas!

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• Open access
• Published: 24 May 2024

The mixed classroom: a pedagogical experiment with students and policymakers

• Peter Pelzer 1 ,
• Jesse Hoffman 2 &
• Maarten A. Hajer 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  669 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Environmental studies
• Science, technology and society
• Theatre and performance studies

The societal inability to respond accurately to the ecological crisis also requires a reflection on how universities can improve the impact of their practices. This paper reports on a prize-winning experiment aiming to strengthen the interaction of the university with the world of policymaking: a mixed classroom with students and policymakers. This classroom provides an environment in which policymakers and students co-produce insights, while giving policymakers direct access to academic knowledge and helping students to reflect on the dynamics of real-world contexts. The main goal of this study is to illuminate how learning in and through a mixed classroom experiment take places, for participants, teachers and organisational actors. To do so, we reflect on the continuous dialogue between our efforts as teachers and the experience of participants and others involved. To make sense of our teaching and institutional roles in this experiment, we suggest using the concept of ‘tinkering’. Further, to conceptualise the learning dynamics in a mixed classroom, we deploy the concept of ‘boundary crossing’, which turns out to be helpful in elucidating both individual learning (‘reflection’) and organisational learning (‘transformation’). Our study indicates that the notion of boundary crossing helps to effectively capture the learning situation we created and, as such, helps to redefine more generally how the science-policy interface can be understood and acted upon. For other educators interested in deploying mixed classroom-like approaches, we suggest that a tinkering approach can only work if there is sufficient room for experimentation, including failure and reflection, as well as ample time and funding. We also suggest critically looking at the constraints of the institutional logics and dynamics of higher education (e.g. the structure of semesters) and how their connection to the institutional logics and temporal dynamics of real-world contexts may be improved.

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Introduction.

It is well recognised that the ecological crisis requires us to rethink social practices, from the organisation of our cities, energy infrastructure and supply chains to what we as individuals should contribute in terms of changing behaviour (e.g. IPCC, 2023 , Yussof and Gabrys 2011 ). This collectively felt need for a ‘societal transformation’ repositions institutions of higher education as possible ‘agents of change’ (Fazey et al. 2020 ). Rather than focussing on analysing ecological degradation and societal developments, many feel that these institutions now must actively partake in the collective identification and fostering of pathways for societal transformations (Patterson et al. 2017 ). In light of this, the conventional ‘information deficit model’, which assumes that more insight into problems will also lead to solutions, seems less and less apt for the current day and age (e.g. Bulkeley, 2000 ). Many now suggest that, rather than just conveying information by providing more reports, articles and teaching modules, institutions of higher education should engage in co-productive and transdisciplinary endeavours, which typically involve a kind of reciprocal relationship between researchers and societal stakeholders (Gibbons et al. 1994 ; Funtowitz and Ravetz, 1993 ; Seidl et al., ( 2013 )). Moreover, what is called for is a continued ‘experimentation’ to find the appropriate responses (cf. Bulkeley, 2023 ). This argument applies not only to research, but also to the domain of education. In this paper we reflect on six years of experimentation with a mixed classroom , a course in which students and practitioners learn with and from each other about key societal challenges.

Education plays a key role in shaping the co-productive interfaces currently advocated, for instance through experiments with ‘community service learning’ and ‘transdisciplinary education’ (e.g. Chupp & Joseph, 2010 , Daneshpour & Kwegyir-Afful, 2022 ). In such initiatives, students are typically invited to contribute to finding solutions to real-world problems (e.g. Brundiers et al. 2010 ). Also rooted in real-world problems is the educational concept of ‘lifelong learning’. Traditionally, the assumption in this discourse has been that professionals need to ‘update’ their skills and expertise amidst a dynamic economic environment. As Colardyn and Bjornavold ( 2004 : 69) open a 2004 overview article on lifelong learning, ‘The knowledge-based economy, new technologies, the growing speed of technological changes and globalization all influence the needs to improve the population’s skills and competences.’ The current environmental and climatic crisis arguably asks for something different: a deep engagement with the grand challenges of our time (e.g. Streekstra et al. 2023 ). Conversely, as Biesta ( 2006 ) rightly puts it, this discourse places too strong an emphasis on the economic function of (lifelong) education and too little on individual development (‘subjectification’) and the role of education in democracies and the problems they face, such as rapid collective action to mitigate climate change.

Within this broader concern of a global environmental crisis and the search for suitable educational approaches, we are particularly interested in educational experiments that connect policy practice and academic research in novel ways. Typically, the science-policy interface is understood unidirectionally in terms of ‘turning science into policy’ (Watson, 2005 ), a vision that is in line with the information deficit model. Many intermediary players occupy this interface, including environmental assessment agencies, scientific councils, strategy departments, communication officers, and so on. Such actors work hard to broker and integrate scientific insights into policy processes, but unintentionally they also create a congested and fragmented landscape with many silos and barriers between research and policy practice. Moreover, many people active at this interface are trying to find new ways to connect knowledge to societal transformation (Wesselink et al. 2013 ). We argue that one way to do so is to create a direct and dialogical cross-boundary interaction between students, policy practitioners, and researchers in the form of a mixed classroom. While there clearly is no lack of experiments and literature about lifelong learning, the science-policy interface or transdisciplinary education, this paper has three distinctive contributions positioned at the crossroads between these debates. First, this paper pays attention to both the educational and the institutional dimensions of pedagogical experiments. We believe that attention to both dimensions is crucial for moving from one-off educational experiments to lasting novel practices. Second, we use this double lens to report on a unique case we have been engaged in for years in which students and policymakers learned together: a mixed classroom, which we define as a pedagogical experiment bringing together communities with the intention to spark reflection and learning among and across these communities . For the mixed classroom we were awarded the second Dutch Higher Education Premium in 2021. Third, by detailing how we as teachers organised and taught and tinkered with this course for six subsequent years, we have the ambition to help other teachers with shedding light on the key considerations in organizing a mixed classroom.

To fulfil these ambitions, we structured the paper as follows. In the next section, Tinkering at the science-policy interface , we describe our methodological approach of tinkering and provide context for our mixed-classroom experiment. Subsequently, we will discuss the literature on boundary crossing to frame our experiment in more detail ( Boundary crossing between communities ). Here we will focus on two learning mechanisms, ‘reflection’ and ‘transformation’, and will subsequently discuss how we tinkered with both individual and organisational learning. We conclude the paper with a section called Mixed classrooms of tomorrow , in which we describe i) the main conceptual insights from the paper and ii) the key lessons for teachers at institutions of higher education interested in developing mixed classrooms.

Tinkering at the science-policy interface

Experimenting with a classroom at the science-policy interface.

The mixed classroom is the product of an ‘inquiry’ (Dewey, 1938 ) into new forms of education at the crossover between academia and policy. The genesis of the mixed classroom was in late 2015, when we had the opportunity to set up a new university institute that would become the Urban Futures Studio at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Co-financed by the university and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, the initiative was prompted by the diagnosis that dominant forms of science-policy interactions based on ‘knowledge transfer’ premised on the information deficit model are no longer fit for the purpose for contemporary networked societies facing the challenges of climate change. We aimed to identify new, more direct, and productive forms of exchange. As the contract with the ministry stated, we were to work on ‘the development of a new, creative interaction between policy and science’.

Taking inspiration from American Pragmatism in particular (cf. Hoffman et al. 2021 ), we tried to see the work of the Urban Futures Studio in terms of finding a new role for research and teaching. This involved both finding innovative approaches to the challenges of real-world contexts and supporting practitioners in ‘getting a grip’ on difficult situations. Such a pragmatist approach departs less from ‘instructing and informing’ and a preconceived notion or theory, and more from a ‘conversation with the situation’ (Schön, 1992 ) informed by ‘hunches’ (Van Breda, Swilling ( 2019 )) about possible steps forward in difficult situations. In the words of Stark ( 2014 : 89):

the consequence of pragmatism’s revisionist ontology is that those who frame their work through the lens of pragmatism are not looking for “the Truth” but rather “what fits” for the situation (..) Small ‘t’ truth is constructed through interaction with the environment, and, at least for the Deweyan scholar, is always viewed as being situated within what Dewey calls the ‘contextual whole’.

Our first experiment at the science-policy interface was inspired by the hunch about the potential of a ‘mixed’ classroom. Education is typically either organised for students or professionals, which implies that the classroom itself is a site of untapped potential for developing new crossovers. Moreover, we realised that the social and professional distance between the worlds of the university and that of policymaking is often underestimated. From a pragmatist point of view, an ongoing conversation with the situation is required, which calls for a setting where this dialogue and social contact can occur (cf. Schön, 1992 ). Informed by the work of Lave and Wenger ( 1991 ) we conceived of university teachers and students on the one hand, and policymakers on the other, as members of different ‘communities of practice’ with distinct cultures, habits and routines, settings and dynamics that do not easily meet in practice. Wenger et al. ( 2002 : 4) define communities of practice as ‘groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.’ Scholars like Wenger understand learning as key to becoming (and remaining) a skilled practitioner in practices varying from carpentry to photography, from urban planning to marketing, and to obtaining membership in the community organised around that practice. Because of this close connection to group formation and group membership, learning is understood to be characterised as happening fragmentedly in ‘landscapes’ consisting of multiple, often disconnected communities (Wenger-Trayner et al. 2014 ). By bringing practically and institutionally separated communities together in a classroom setting, we hoped to foster deeper forms of both social and cognitive learning about the problems at stake and how those problems are collectively addressed, by whom, and how knowledge is shared in doing so. Building on a pragmatist logic of inquiry, and a search for what ‘fits’ given the problem context, the mixed classroom itself was also developed in a constant ‘conversation with the situation’ (Schön, 1992 ).

The role of the teacher: Six years of tinkering

To articulate our role as teachers we draw on the literature of science and technology, which can be seen as a field with an affinity to the history of American Pragmatism (Marres 2005 ). The notion of ‘tinkering’ in this literature helps to illuminate how the mixed classroom was created by learning by doing in response to the contextual constraints, challenges and opportunities that arose (e.g. Resnick and Rosenbaum, 2013 ; Wilkinson & Petrich, 2014 ). Knorr-Cetina introduced the notion of tinkering in her study of laboratory work to emphasise how research practitioners are constantly exercising creative and imaginative work, ad hoc playing into the situations that emerge. As ‘tinkerers’ they

are aware of the material opportunities they encounter at a given place, and they exploit them to achieve their projects. At the same time, they recognize what is feasible, and adjust or develop their projects accordingly. While doing this, they are constantly engaged in producing and reproducing some kind of workable object that successfully meets the purpose they have temporarily settled on. (Knorr-Cetina 1981 : 34)

We believe that the notion of tinkering can be usefully applied to experimentation outside the lab in which people search for new forms, deviate from conventional approaches, and in which material and social circumstances cannot be taken for granted. This includes our experimental search for a mixed classroom. Thematically, in line with our Urban Futures Studio work, we focused on the active engagement with the future or ‘futuring’, while leaving the precise form and pedagogical set-up open in different ways. The first challenge in the beginning was to embed the mixed classroom into the rules, procedures, and regulations of academic education and policymaking. For academic education, this concerns basics such as selecting a time slot and developing a study guide with formal learning aims and identifiable assessments, which would be in line with the number of credits available for the course. In the beginning, we largely followed the existing structures. This resulted in a course of 7.5 ECTS (20 hours per week) that would last for one period of ten weeks. We realized that policymakers could not commit the same number of hours as students, so we opted for a format in which the actual mixed classroom setting with both groups would take place on Wednesday afternoons and students would have the full Friday for seminars to work on their project on top of that. Our main concern at the beginning was whether policymakers would be interested to join and sign up. We were confident that the innovative appeal and the collaboration with policymakers would attract students but were less sure that the policymakers would recognise the value of engaging with students and see participation as appropriate. Accordingly, we went to great lengths to make the programme as appealing to them as possible. We selected a venue close to the policymakers’ office in The Hague, programmed a range of well-known, reputable guest speakers and coordinated with our contacts at the ministry to circulate the call for participation. Once the policymakers had signed up, we identified with them five key themes relevant to their work for the scenario assignment in the course. Along with the setting, the focus and guest appearances, we also constantly tinkered with the format to foster reflection. For example, we drew inspiration from the book and website Liberating Structures to stage biographical and reflective ‘celebrity interviews’ with guest speakers about their futuring work (Lipmanowicz and McCandless, 2017 ).

We redesigned our mixed classroom in the second year based on the experience from the first run. The mid-term and final evaluation revealed that, while the guest lectures were well-received, they also focused on conveying information at the cost of intensive interaction between students and policymakers. Hence it was the ‘mixing’ that was seen as intriguing. Some policymakers appreciated the ability to lean back, listen and learn, positively citing ‘back-to-school’ feelings but other policymakers, as well as most of the students, regretted the lack of time for interaction and community building. In the subsequent years, we continued to tinker with the format to improve the balance between learning, reflection, interaction and creative and imaginative work. One important challenge for us was how to connect the reflection with practitioners on their work and the more creative and imaginative work by students in a generative way. After the second edition we departed from the idea of teams with policymakers and students, and instead had them interact more loosely. To increase the available time devoted to the interaction between students and policymakers (see Table 1 for the adaptations) was an important challenge. Gradually the lectures (arguably an instantiation of the information deficit model) became less prominent, whereas the interaction between students and policymakers took a more central position. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when we taught the course online for two years, we learned how important physical settings are for staging the interaction. Within the limiting conditions of distance learning, we tried to create as much room for interaction as possible by creatively engaging with virtual meetings. For example, we played around with the fact that people in virtual meetings joined from their homes: we designed assignments in which we asked participants to select books and objects to discuss topics and organized ‘telephone walks’ in which students and policymakers interviewed each other while individually walking through their respective neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, our ability to facilitate the interaction between them was clearly constrained, and we once again appreciated how much the possibilities for fruitful interaction between the two groups depends on the creation of the right generative, informal conditions.

For each subsequent year, we observed a growth in the appetite for more interaction on both sides. As we increased the time and room for interaction, the desire for more time and room for interaction only seemed to grow (as the responses in evaluations suggested). We saw, in other words, an ‘unfolding desire’ to learn more about the other community. We realized that the mixed classroom activities did more than satisfy an existing need for interaction across boundaries; they created an appetite for more. These experiences and reflections convinced us of the intrinsic value of the interaction between students and policymakers and the potential of making that interaction the basis of mixed classroom pedagogy.

Boundary crossing between communities

The science-policy interface can be considered an instance of different communities learning with and from each other, in this case, students and policymakers. In educational sciences and learning scholarship, there is a burgeoning literature emphasising that meaningful learning occurs at boundaries, like those between communities at the science-policy interface (e.g. Akkerman and Bakker, 2011 ; Engeström et al. 1995 ; Gherardi and Nicolini, 2002 ; Oonk et al. 2022 ; Veltman et al. 2022 ; Wenger-Trayner et al. 2014 . Boundary crossing is seen as potentially beneficial to learning as the experience of sociocultural differences can lead to discontinuity in action or interaction, creating room for reflection and the development of new ideas (Akkerman and Bakker, 2011 ). The concept of boundary crossing is based on the pedagogical foundation of ‘dialogicality’, which does not conceive of learning as a linear process of building up a knowledge or capabilities drawn from a given source – akin to the information-deficit model – but as a reciprocal process of meaning-making that is particularly generative in undefined situations, such as those taking place at boundaries. From a boundary-crossing perspective, ‘learning is understood broadly as developing new ways of doing or new ways of making sense of doing, as triggered by collaboration with or participation across multiple practices’ (Akkerman and Bruining, 2016 : 247). Building on an extensive literature review, Akkerman and Bakker ( 2011 ) have identified four learning mechanisms involved in boundary crossing, two of which are particularly relevant for the mixed-classroom experiment: ‘reflection’ and ‘transformation’. In unpacking these mechanisms concerning the mixed classroom, we will focus on reflection as individual learning and transformation as organisational learning. Through this multilevel analysis, we concur with Akkerman and Bruining ( 2016 : 247), who argue that ‘boundary crossing can take place at institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels, possibly simultaneously’. In the subsequent two subsections, we will describe how the boundary-crossing mechanisms of reflection at the individual level and transformation at the organisational level played out over the course of the six years in which we tinkered with the mixed classroom.

Individual: reflection at the boundary between communities

Akkerman and Bakker ( 2011 ) define the boundary-crossing mechanism of reflection as follows:

the role of boundary crossing in coming to realize and explicate differences between practices and thus to learn something new about their own and others’ practices [which potentially] results in an expanded set of perspectives and thus a new construction of identity that informs future practice. ( ibid.: 144–145, 146)

In short, awareness of the diversity of perspectives is a precondition for reflection. This is of course a crucial element in any (critical) social science classroom. Yet Akkerman and Bakker ( ibid.) also distinguish between ‘perspective making’ and ‘perspective taking’.

Firstly, ‘ perspective making’ is about ‘making explicit one’s understanding and knowledge of a particular issue’ (ibid.: 145). For policymakers, we observed an apparent need to give words to all the tacit knowledge that defines the realm in which they operate. For students, we not only observed that they became aware of the qualities and limits of their disciplinary perspective and the logics of academic work, but they also had first-hand experience with how their academic knowledge could be of practical value for policymakers, helping shift perspectives. It was empowering for them as they could now feel how their academic study allowed them to make practical contributions.

Year after year, we observed that the students appreciated the policymakers’ efforts to give words to their professional reality. The ‘perspective making’ of policymakers contributed to a richer understanding of the policymaking process among students. One student (2016–2017) understood much better how policymaking works after finishing the course:

What I learned from the policymakers was an insight into the policymaking practice. Some of the experiences they shared really stuck with me, such as how participation is almost always a box to check, due to time and resource constraints.

These reflective insights were stimulated through a range of micro-interactions (interviews, conversations) during the course, as well as comprehensive assignments. A notable assignment is the ‘Practitioner Profile’, a format inspired by Forester ( 1999 ) in which students conduct interviews with policymakers to help understand their daily policy practice. Students then write a narrative about the interview using the first-person perspective, effectively taking up the position of the policymaker. This led to fine examples of perspective making, such as the following profile entitled The Heart is a Lonely Hunter:

During my time studying Sociology I had never expected that later I would be occupied with the parking policy of the city of Utrecht. And yes, it is rather funny, because there are few topics that sound as boring as parking policy. Moreover, I don’t even like cars. I don’t drive a car. I got my driver’s license a few years ago, but I rarely use it. I always use my bicycle. Still, this is where my heart lies: engaging with citizens, thinking and analysing future developments, and coming up with concrete parking and mobility solutions for our city. (policymaker 2018–2019, written up by student)

Secondly, there is ‘perspective taking’—‘[to] look at oneself through the eyes of other worlds’ (Akkerman and Bakker, 2011 : 145). This is also evident in the quote above. After all, while these words in the practitioner’s profile come from the policymaker, the framing comes from someone else: here it is a statement by a student developing a first-person perspective on the policymaker’s work. Another policymaker from the 2018–2019 edition highlighted the learning mechanism of perspective taking:

Because of the interaction with students you are continuously stimulated to look at your own work from a different perspective, both from a substance and a process perspective. (policymaker, 2018–2019)

In the mixed classroom, the relationship between perspective making and perspective taking tends to be somewhat asymmetrical; the policymaker’s perspective typically plays a more important role than that of the student. Because the course focused on the practice of policymaking, this uneven situation was probably inevitable. But at the same time, in the first year we learned that interaction between students and policymakers is only beneficial if the learning situation is largely reciprocal. We also tried to foster this from the second edition onwards, notably by addressing students and policymakers as equal learners who both have something to bring to the conversation (see Fig. 1 ). In this, we were also helped by unforeseen circumstances. To our surprise, language barriers turned out to be an equalizer in realizing this equal footing. While policymakers tend to have more expertise in the domain they are operating in, they are professionally operating in Dutch and were found to be much less fluent in English than students. This difference in proficiency at times led to discomfort and in a way erected another boundary. Yet over time, it also contributed to the reciprocity and balanced out the interaction. It was probably necessary that we actively recognised and shared this ‘handicap’ with the group. In doing so, we created a space in which the various insecurities of participants were made objects of reflection, coupled with the commitment to collectively find ways to work through that insecurity. A beautiful example was the practice in which students would help policymakers find the right English words in small group conversations.

Students and policymakers interacting during the mixed classroom.

Organizational: transformation towards novel practices

In the case of this mixed classroom experiment, not only did individuals learn, but also organisations. In this regard, organisations are concerned with the science-policy interface, which is necessarily related to both the university and governmental bodies, in particular, national ministries. In Akkerman and Bakker’s boundary crossing terminology, this type of organisational learning can be recast as transformation: ‘profound changes in practices, potentially even the creation of a new, in-between practice’ (Akkerman and Bakker, 2011 : 146). As the transformative education literature reveals, it is both conceptually and methodologically complex to distil transformative effects on individual learners (Aboytes and Barth, 2020 ). A similar problem exists with organisations; effects on organizational change cannot always be readily observed, and there are many other factors influencing this change. Yet, we can unpack how we tinkered with the organizational contexts we were involved in. In doing so, it is helpful to conceive tinkering as ‘institutional entrepreneurship’, which describes ‘change agents who initiate divergent changes, that is, changes that break the institutional status quo in a field of activity and thereby possibly contribute to transforming existing institutions or creating new ones’ (Battilana et al. 2009 : 67). The object of change, institutions, can be defined as the formal and informal rules of the game (North, 1990 ; Scott ( 2010 )). The main institution here is the science-policy interface, the way we exchange knowledge and organise continuing education between research and policymaking, which is traditionally characterised by a strong separation and based on the information deficit model. Our tinkering as institutional entrepreneurs diverged from this routinised practice, in which we logically had more influence on our own academic organisation than on the policy side of the science-policy interface.

In our activities as institutional entrepreneurs, we observe three distinct dimensions relating to transformation of the science-policy interface, again inspired by Akkerman and Bakker’s ( 2011 ) work on boundary crossing. Footnote 1 First, hybridization is the process by which ‘ingredients from different contexts are combined into something new and unfamiliar’ (Akkerman and Bakker, 2011 : 148). Throughout the years, we tinkered with the setup of the final event, which was always a staged public experience. In the first year, we experimented with an exhibition about the future. While positively reviewed, we realized that it remained somewhat of a curiosity and therefore needed a stronger conceptual underpinning to function as a ‘perceptual bridge’ between academia and policymaking (cf. Auger 2013). Over the years, this involved adapting a well-known ‘dramaturgical configuration’ Footnote 2 to a futuring setting in which students and policymakers could show their ideas and learnings, resulting in ‘museums of the future’ (2018–2021), an excursion (2017–2018) and a ‘sanatorium for temporal confusion’ (2021–2022). Footnote 3 The hybridization was a synthesis of three elements: (a) the aforementioned ‘dramaturgical reconfiguration’, such as of a museum or excursion, (b) the final product and event of a course, typically through project presentations and (c) a public debate with a thematic scope, such as the future of mobility or the circular economy. ‘The Museum of The Linear Economy’ (2019–2020), for example, was set up as a museum in a fictional, future urban night shop, which had gained a new meaning as a place of encounter in the transition away from a culture of consumerism (Hoffman et al. 2021 ). This setting not only connected the theme to the cultural context of consumption, but it also created a hybrid setting that facilitated a new conversation about the future. The Museum of the Linear Economy was ‘opened’ in a final event at the end of January 2020 and from there ‘travelled’ to the National Conference on the Circular Economy (NCCE) and the Pathways to Sustainability conference in Utrecht (March, 2020). Footnote 4 At the NCCE, alongside two presentations by students, two policymakers from the fictional ‘Ministry of Resources and Culture’ reflected as if they spoke in the year 2050 on how their ministry and its key policies had come into being, triggering an energetic discussion about the need to include values and cultural aspects into conversations about Circular Economy policy. At the January opening and the two other events, the museum in the night shop setting helped to stage a different, more values-based conversation about the circular economy, with an emphasis on the need for engaging with alternative future images. In response to this experienced need, multiple policymakers of the ministry signed up for an annual Summer School on futuring, and organized an in-house workshop, led by our colleagues. It was perhaps not a surprise, then, that at the NCEE event the then minister of Infrastructure and Waterworks, Stientje van Veldhoven, chose the museum as the setting to give her report on the conference for social media (Fig. 2 ). We were not always so successful, however. It remained a challenge to actively bring together academia and policymaking – in particular given the limited time frame of the period. Over the years we developed our understanding of the nature of this final event, but it never became a ‘model’, and tinkering remained necessary.

Opening of the Museum of the Linear Economy and a Ministerial report on Twitter.

Second, the mixed classroom did not only lead to new practices and cultural forms at the boundary between academia and policymaking, but it also resulted in what Akkerman and Bakker ( ibid.) call crystallisation: a process through which novel forms become embedded in existing practices. Importantly, the mixed classroom was followed by subsequent courses with a similar configuration, for instance, a comparable summer school (started in 2018), a mixed ‘challenge-based’ course at Utrecht University (2022) and, as a kind of culmination, a Continuing Education initiative (started in 2023) to transform other master courses drawing on the mixed classroom format. In each of these instances, we played a role ourselves in the crystallisation or acted as a sounding board for colleagues who were inspired by the concept. As the years went by, we became more (pro-)active in communicating the ideas behind the mixed classroom within the university and beyond. Importantly, in many instances the crystallisation did not concern the mixed classroom as a whole, but methods or formats we developed through our years of tinkering. For instance, the concept of the Museum of the Future circulated well beyond the mixed classroom and was hosted with our input at other events. Another example is the detective wall that students used to develop their futuring intervention, although this was developed in relative isolation from the interaction with policymakers (Fig. 3 ). Within Utrecht University, the mixed classroom to some extent became an ‘exemplar’ of how practice-oriented education can be organised, complementing more conventional forms such as consultancy projects. We became an even stronger exemplar when after winning the Dutch Higher Education Award in 2021. Since then, we have been frequently invited for interviews or to give talks about the concept in different educational contexts both within the Netherlands and abroad.

Students working with the ‘Detective Wall’.

Third and finally, Akkerman and Bakker ( 2011 : 149) observe that for the boundary mechanism of transformation to remain productive continuous joint work at the boundary is a requirement. At the start of the mixed classroom, which coincided with setting up the Urban Futures Studio, we realized that a new course like this would involve significant coordination efforts on all sides and require us to team up with ‘warm contacts’ in the partnering ministries. What we perhaps had not anticipated was the extent to which this ‘joint work’ remained crucial over the years. In each subsequent year, we experienced how in such a dynamic policy context our legitimacy and relevance needed to be reaffirmed by the policy groups involved. This compelled us to constantly check in with our non-academic counterparts and to listen to the issues they were struggling with. And this is perhaps where our mixed classroom course stands out. The transformative nature of the course largely stemmed from the fact that we never saw this course as a ‘training’ for individuals (‘we convey knowledge to you’); rather, we conceived of the course more as a collective space for staging a different kind of conversation around certain policy issues. The continuous work at the boundary can be seen as a form of tinkering or inquiry, in which the search is never fully finished or routinised.

The fact that continuous work at the boundary remained necessary also relates to a final observation on the type of institutional entrepreneurship we engaged in. Battilana et al. ( 2009 ) make a distinction between the development of a vision and its subsequent implementation. Admittedly, in most of the years discussed in this paper, the mixed classroom was about developing a vision and tinkering with that and less about the implementation of that vision. In later years this aspect became more important, in particular by functioning as an exemplar for colleagues and academic administrators. Importantly, we engaged less in ensuring the mixed classroom became part of the informal and formal institutions within our educational institute, because the mixed classroom remained a relatively shielded niche (see Boon et al. 2014 ) and the tinkering approach of continuous adaptation makes the overall format not easy to emulate without devoting significant time and resources. What is more, while both the boundary crossing literature and institutional entrepreneurship literature emphasize confrontation and the role of opponents (‘institutional defenders’), we experienced little of such friction. Probably because we saw our role more in the realm of inspiration and less in formalising this format, for instance, through the allocation of teaching hours and streamlining the flow of financial resources. In the last years discussed in this paper and the period beyond the scope of this paper, our attention shifted to this implementation issue.

Conclusion: mixed classrooms of tomorrow

Conceptual insights.

The societal inability to respond accurately to the ecological crisis also requires a reflection on how universities can improve the impact of their practices. We have argued that this predicament requires a phase of educational experimentation. Our mixed classroom is an example of such an experiment, one that is primarily situated at the science-policy interface. It is only one of the many possible and necessary interfaces between academia and the rest of society. This study shows that the perspective of boundary crossing, as developed by, among others, Akkerman and Bakker ( 2011 ), is a useful way to conceptually refine the challenges and potentials of organising education in such crossovers. The notion of boundary crossing helps to understand what kind of setting we as teachers have created (our ‘boundary work’) and how participants learn in and through such settings, including the learning about into the boundaries themselves (what Veltman et al., 2022 , call ‘boundary awareness’). More specifically, we have suggested to look at our work at the boundary between science and policy as a form of tinkering, which implies a continuous reflective role for the educator, who needs to combine the crafts of teaching and institutional entrepreneurship. Typically, these two forms of tinkering go hand in hand; the search for pedagogical and institutional practices can be analytically separated, but in practice, they are mutually reinforcing or even undistinguishable. Yet, this study shows that it is conceptually helpful to discern both the pedagogical and institutional dimensions of tinkering, because educational innovations at the interface (or boundaries) with society almost necessarily involves a form institutional entrepreneurship to embed the new practice in the existing contexts. The latter dimension is often overlooked. Accordingly, we concur with Akkerman and Bruining ( 2016 ) that boundary crossing should be addressed as a multilevel problem in this regard, referring to both (i) the individual and social learning through actual boundary crossing and (ii) the institutional learning about the new boundary-crossing practices developed. What is more, the perspective of tinkering adds to the boundary crossing literature as well as the literature on teacher expertise because of its emphasis on reflectively experimenting with an educational situation, complementing a focus on dimensions such as expertise or the mastery of constructive alignment in a university course (Biggs, 1996 ; Van Dijk et al. 2020 ).

While the approach of tinkering in the mixed classroom has been the strength of the course and has led to a lot of appreciation of students and other educators, near the end of the period discussed in this paper (2016–2022) the limits of this approach also became apparent. On the one hand, year after year, the course required a considerable time investment from both students and teachers. Moreover, it was at times stressful, because with tinkering comes a good deal of uncertainty until a very late stage. Additionally, by institutionalizing some aspects of the course, such as administrative aspects (registration, certificates etc.) and formats (such as the practitioner profile and interviews with experts by the teacher), room can be opened for tinkering in other dimensions. What particularly interests us is the prospect of experimenting with different communities beyond that of students and policymakers, such as artists, activists, and entrepreneurs (Streekstra et al. 2023 ).

Takeaways for educators

We have unpacked and illustrated our experiences as tinkering educators with the format of a mixed classroom. Clearly, our approach of inquiry precludes any cookbook-like suggestions, but we do hope to inspire other educators to tinker with educational settings at the boundary between different communities, in particular at the interface between science and society. What can other educational experimentalists learn from this study about the conditions for such experiments? Clearly, there needs to be time, space, and funding to experiment, fail, reflect and improve. In the first year, the Museum of the Future was in many ways not a suited hybridisation at the science-policy interface; yet both students and policymakers appreciated the intervention a lot, and it allowed us to refine the final event in the subsequent years. Moreover, while we believe that meaningful educational interventions at the boundary between science and society profit from a tinkering approach, we also acknowledge that a certain amount of stability is necessary. In our case, this was the team of educators, which remained largely the same, and a policy community, which consisted mostly of civil servants at ministries. In our practice at the science-policy interface, we for instance learned early on that in hierarchical organisations such as a ministry, early involvement and buy-in from high-level civil servants (directors, directors-general) is crucial for the participation of mid-level and junior civil servants. Moreover, over the years, we came to understand the social and cultural life of policymakers at the ministries better, including the policy discourse and effective ways to stage generative conversations with limited time. This allowed for a level of routinisation on our side.

Other dimensions never became routinised, however. We continuously struggled with the different ‘temporal logics’ of the university and policymaking organisations such as ministries. Whereas university education is predictable, it is also inflexible. We for instance were confined to a timeslot and period in the year, which precluded an appreciation of the temporal dynamics of policymaking, for instance electoral cycles or the procedure of coming to a vision or strategy. Such conflicting logics are not different for other science-society interfaces, if one collaborates with a museum there is typically a build up towards the opening of an exhibition. Our suggestion to fellow educators is to firstly reflect on these temporal logics and see what alignments are possible. Secondly, and more fundamentally, it would help if academic bachelor and master programs would have more flexibility to respond to the temporal logics of communities in society. While this may come at the cost of predictability and routinisation, it would provide more space for meaningful ways to connect education to societal developments.

Data availability

All documentation about the Mixed Classroom that does not interfere with privacy considerations is available on the following website https://www.uu.nl/en/research/urban-futures-studio/initiatives/mixed-classroom-techniques-of-futuring Transcripts from group evaluations and course evaluations are not shared because of privacy considerations.

We do not discuss all dimensions of the mechanism of transformation discerned by Akkerman and Bakker ( 2011 ) in their literature review, because some are less applicable to the case of the mixed classroom.

Examples of ‘dramaturgical configurations’ are theaters, classrooms, board meetings etc. See e.g. Hajer & Pelzer ( 2018 ).

Pelzer and Versteeg ( 2019 ) refer to this approach as a ‘defamiliarizing imaginative logic’.

After the Pathways to Sustainability conference, the journey of the Museum of the Linear Economy was prematurely ended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants and fellow lecturers in the first six editions of the mixed classroom for their experimental mindset and valuable insights. We would like to thank the Urban Futures Studio team for their feedback on early versions of this article. Peter Pelzer would like to thank Johannes Stripple and colleagues for kindly hosting him at Lund University to discuss and work on this paper. This stay in Lund was made possible by the Ronald van Kempen Urban Geography Fund. The mixed classroom experiment was funded by the Dutch Ministries of Infrastructure and Waterworks and the of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations. The research time of the first two authors to reflect on the mixed classroom experiment and conceptualize this article was made possible by the Higher Education Premium 2021 awarded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

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PP developed the initial outline of the paper. The conceptualization is developed by PP and JH, and refined by MH. The empirical material is collected and analysed by PP and JH. The text of the paper is written, refined, and edited by PP, JH, and MH.

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As this paper reports on a practice-based study, we were involved in the course as lecturers and were as such interested in a positive outcome of the different interventions we undertook. Throughout the paper, we have attempted to be transparent about our role and the trade-offs we encountered.

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This article reports on an educational innovation for which no ethical approval was requested. The ethical committee at the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University was not yet installed 2018, whereas this project commenced in 2015 and ended in 2022.

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Unless already published elsewhere, none of the reflections in this paper can be traced back to individual learners. All the quotes in the paper are anonymised and based on (group) interviews for which the interviewees gave their consent. While our tinkering with the course was naturally informed by course evaluations and self-assessment essays, these are not reported in this paper.

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Pelzer, P., Hoffman, J. & Hajer, M.A. The mixed classroom: a pedagogical experiment with students and policymakers. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 669 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03146-7

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How to Write Good TOEFL Integrated Essay- Pro Tips 2024

TOEFL Integrated Essay: In the TOEFL writing section, candidates encounter two distinct tasks: Task 1, known as the TOEFL Integrated Writing Task, and Task 2, referred to as the TOEFL Independent Writing Task. Together, these tasks constitute a 50-minute examination assessing candidates’ reading, writing, and listening abilities in English.

This article primarily focuses on Task 1, providing detailed insights into its structure and a sample question for better understanding.

What is TOEFL Writing Task 1? – TOEFL Integrated Writing Task 

In the Integrated Writing section of the TOEFL, candidates are required to utilize their reading, listening, and writing skills to complete the task. They are given three minutes to prepare for an essay by reading a brief passage and listening to an audio clip on a single topic.

Following the preparation time, candidates have 20 minutes to compose an essay in response to the two sources. These sources can present two scenarios:

• Contradictory: The audio clip contradicts the information presented in the passage.
• Supportive: The audio clip supports the content of the passage.

Regardless of the scenario, candidates must summarize the topic within a range of 150 to 225 words. Moreover, they are expected to establish a clear connection between the information provided in the passage and the content of the audio clip.

Relationship Between Passage and Audio Lecture

• Argumentative Style (Common): The passage presents a viewpoint, while the lecture presents a contrasting perspective.
• Problem-Solution Style (Less Common): The passage introduces an issue, and the lecture offers potential solutions.
• Solution-Problem Style (Less Common): The passage proposes solutions to a problem, and the lecture critiques or raises concerns about these solutions.

The Question

After the lecture finishes, the question will be shown.  It will look something like this:

• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they oppose specific points made in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they answer the specific problems presented in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on specific solutions presented in the reading passage.

After you see the question, you will get 20 minutes for planning, writing and revising the essay.

Note-Taking Tips

• Prepare your paper before the question begins by labeling sections as “reading” and “listening” and drawing arrows to indicate connections between them. Even though you’ll have access to the article as you write, it’s advisable to take notes during the reading period to ensure attentive comprehension.

TOEFL Integrated Essay

• Employ shorthand such as “grav” for gravity, “cond” for conditions, and “effec” for effects to save time while taking notes. Use “x” as a placeholder for negatives like “not,” “no,” or “can’t.”
• Immediately after the lecture concludes, expand upon your notes while the details are still fresh in your mind. Use a pencil for practice sessions, as this is the writing implement allowed on test day.

TOEFL Writing Integrated Task Exercises

Question 1: summarize the key points outlined in the passage and provide insights based on the lecture..

Sample Reading Passage: Sea Otters, once abundant along the west coast of North America from California to Alaska, have experienced a rapid decline in population in recent years. This decline has had a direct impact on the coastal ecosystem due to the important role Sea Otters play in maintaining balance. Investigators attribute this decline to two main factors: attacks by predators and environmental pollution. Environmental pollution, particularly from oil rigs along the Alaskan coast, has been identified as a significant contributor to the decline. Water samples taken by investigators revealed high chemical content that can affect the immune systems of marine life, leading to mortality. Similar declines in other sea mammals, such as seals, further support the hypothesis of water pollution as a primary cause. The uneven decline of Sea Otters along the coast is also attributed to pollution concentration influenced by ocean currents and natural factors.

Insights: The lecture provides additional insight into the decline of Sea Otter populations along the Alaskan coast. It emphasizes the role of environmental pollution, particularly from oil rigs, as a major contributing factor. The lecture highlights how pollution affects marine life’s immune systems, leading to increased mortality rates. Furthermore, it suggests that pollution concentration, influenced by ocean currents and natural factors, unevenly affects Sea Otter populations along the coast.

Question 2: Summarize the lecturer’s viewpoint and its relation to the provided reading passage.

Sample Reading Passage: The International Astronomical Union Conference announced the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet on August 24, 2006. Initially discovered in 1930, Pluto was thought to be similar in size to Earth but was later found to be smaller than Earth’s moon and other moons. The discovery of numerous planetary objects similar to Pluto, such as Eris, led to its reclassification. While the news may disappoint Pluto enthusiasts, it reflects the progress of science. Despite the emotional attachment to Pluto as a planet, its reclassification has been widely accepted, especially among current students who recognize only eight planets in the solar system.

Insights: The lecture reinforces the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet and its acceptance as a scientific advancement. It acknowledges the emotional attachment to Pluto as a planet but emphasizes the importance of scientific progress in understanding celestial bodies. Additionally, it highlights how current students recognize only eight planets in the solar system, reflecting the widespread acceptance of Pluto’s reclassification.

TOEFL Integrated Writing Template to Follow for Better Score

To effectively tackle the integrated writing task in the TOEFL exam, candidates should adhere to the recommended template outlined below:

• Introduction Paragraph: Commence the essay by stating that both the lecture and the reading passage address the topic of (topic). Highlight that while the reading passage supports the notion that (thought), the lecturer expresses a different viewpoint by stating (sayings). Emphasize that there are points of agreement/disagreement between the lecturer and the author, which will be elaborated upon in the subsequent essay.
• Body Paragraphs: In the first body paragraph, discuss the assertion made in the reading passage (statement 1) regarding (discussion). Provide context to the point and mention how it is either challenged or affirmed by the lecturer in the audio clip, who states (statement).
• Move on to the second body paragraph , focusing on the second statement mentioned in the reading passage. Explain the point made by the author and how it relates to the topic. Then, present the lecturer’s response, which either aligns with or contradicts the statement. Provide the lecturer’s perspective by including (audio content) and elaborating on their stance with (discussion).
• Transition to the third body paragraph , addressing the third statement proposed by the author. Clarify the suggestion made and its significance in the context of the topic. Subsequently, incorporate the lecturer’s stance, indicating whether they agree or disagree with the statement. Support the lecturer’s viewpoint with (statement) and provide further explanation with (explanation).
• Conclusion (Optional): Optionally, conclude with a brief summary of the main points discussed in the essay, reinforcing the key arguments presented and the relationship between the reading passage and the lecturer’s perspective.

Tips for TOEFL Writing Tasks

Here are essential strategies for TOEFL writing success:

• Allocate your time wisely, ensuring each paragraph fits within the 20-minute timeframe. Reserve the final 5 minutes for proofreading and correcting any grammatical mistakes.
• Develop a habit of concise writing from the outset of your preparation.
• While listening to the audio, actively jot down key points to ensure your essay encompasses all crucial details.
• Incorporate transitional phrases to enhance the coherence and cohesion of your writing.
• Utilize abbreviated notes during the listening phase to save time and aid in recall during the writing process.

TOEFL Integrated Essay is a chance for test-takers to show how well they understand and explain information from different sources. It’s not just about understanding—it’s about organizing thoughts clearly, giving reasons for ideas, and writing well.

To do well, it is important to practice and learn how to approach this task. With practice and focus, test-takers can do well on the TOEFL writing section.

Related Links

• TOEFL Full Form
• TOEFL Exam 2024
• R ole of TOEFL Score for US Universities 2024
• TOEFL Exam Dates 2024

TOEFL Integrated Essay- FAQs

What is the toefl integrated essay.

The TOEFL Integrated Essay is the first writing task on the TOEFL test. It requires test-takers to read a passage and listen to a lecture on the same topic. Then, they must write an essay that summarizes the key points and explains how they relate to each other.

How much time do I have for the TOEFL Integrated Essay?

Test-takers have a total of 20 minutes to complete the TOEFL Integrated Essay. This includes three minutes for reading the passage, listening to the lecture, and taking notes, and 17 minutes for writing the essay.

What is the structure of the TOEFL Integrated Essay?

The essay consists of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the introduction, test-takers introduce the topic and briefly mention the main points. Each body paragraph discusses one main point from the passage and the corresponding point from the lecture. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the main points and restates the overall relationship between the passage and the lecture.

How should I prepare for the TOEFL Integrated Essay?

To prepare for the TOEFL Integrated Essay, practice reading academic passages and listening to lectures on various topics. Work on taking effective notes during the reading and listening phases, and practice writing essays that summarize the main points and explain their relationship.

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