The flourishment of a modern society greatly depends on the nature & standard of higher education (Monem and Baniamin, 2010). Hence, the role of higher education to prepare competent, knowledgeable and far-sighted people for assuming various higher responsibilities is essential (Ibid). The growing significance of knowledge in the modern world can hardly be overemphasized, especially in the era of globalization and in a global environment which is fiercely competitive (Ibid). In the global knowledge economy, higher education has a crucial impact in flourishing human capital, which promotes economic growth, brings forth social transformation, and solutions to national development impediments (Boye and Mannan, 2014).  Hence, at the backdrop of the significance of higher education, Bangladesh government focused on increasing the rate of higher education, as before that, higher education used to be considered as a luxury in a society of mass illiteracy in Bangladesh (Kabir et al., 2023; Monem and Baniamin, 2010). 

However, towards the turn of the last century the need for highly skilled manpower started to be acutely felt every sphere of the society for self-sustained develop-ment and poverty alleviation, as highly trained man-power not only contributes towards human resource development of a society through supplying teachers, instructors, researchers and scholars in the feeder institutions like schools, colleges, technical institutes and universities, but they are also instrumental in bringing about technological revolution in the field of agriculture, industry, business and commerce, medi-cine, engineering, transport and communication etc (Ibid) (UGC, 2005). As the State of Bangladesh had the monopoly of catering higher education (university level) until 1992 (Banglapedia, 2021), the emergence of private universities was prompted by the govern-ment due to basically two factors, firstly, the demand for higher education rose much faster than the public university system could cope with; and secondly, due to scarcity of public fund and other resources, the government could not mobilize the necessary infras-tructures, financial and human resources to adjust with the rapidly increasing demand (Ibid). With continuous widening of the gap between the supply and demand for higher education the private entrepreneurs, philanthropists and social leaders in Bangladesh discovered novel opportunities to serve the society by establishing private universities (Ibid). On the other hand, the government comprehended that without public-private partnership the rapidly enhancing demand for higher education could not be met. Hence, government formulated the Private Universities Act 1992 (subsequently replaced by Private University Act 2010) to cater a legal framework for the establishment of private universities with the assumption that these universities would be supplemental to the government efforts in fulfilling the demand for tertiary education. Under this Act any private individual or group of individuals and philanthropic organizations (Trusts or Foundations) can establish and conduct a degree-awarding self-financed university by fulfilling certain conditions mentioned in the Private University Act (Ibid). Hence, 108 private universities (Wikipedia, 2022) have been established in Bangladesh to provide ‘Right to Education in tertiary level. But, high incidence of unemployment amongst the graduates indicate to low levels of internal and external efficiency respectively (Khaled, n.d). The quality of the education provided by these universities and learning by the students are still not the mark. It is stated that private universities with inadequate full time faculty members bank heavily on part-time teachers drawn primarily from public universities, which adversely affect quality of education in those universities (Ibid). With a few notable exceptions, most private universities impart education of uncertain quality, and high tuition fees charged by such institutions make them accessible only to the affluent sections in the society (Ibid), despite that the quality learning is not ensured as yet. Moreover, the quality of education in the university level is very poor with a number of issues such as class size, insufficient resources, unequal access such as gender and economic disparity, students lacking in soft skills and overall learning skills such as time management, organization, work habit and transferable skills (Ibid). Moreover, poverty, cost of education, parental unemployment, earning for family, early marriage of girl students, pressure of household chores, etc get in the way of effective learning which ultimately takes a toll. 

In the context of, Bangladesh various Education Com-missions were set up for unlocking potential at all levels of society and creating a pool of highly trained individuals to contribute to the national development, i.e, National Education Commission-2000 under the title ‘Higher Education inter alia states that the goal of higher education will be acceleration and inventing new knowledge and creating skilled persons (Monem and Baniamin, 2010) (Ministry of Education, 2000). But achieving these objectives remains a farce without achieving quality education. Moreover, according to Bangladesh Education Statistics 2021, the number of students enrolled in private universities increased dramatically between 2019 and 2021, rising from 120,276 to a whopping 328,689, and there are no signs of the numbers slowing down anytime soon (Hasan, 2022). This enormous rising in student enrolment raises grave fundamental questions regarding accommodations and quality of education (Ibid). To face this challenge, universities must be proactive in taking proper initiatives which will ensure quality teaching. Students must also thrive their best to make themselves fit for competitive era by quality and effective learning. The concept of effective learning is so vital in the students lives that now it is an intrinsic part of the National Curriculum and EYFS Statutory Framework in the UK (Twinkl, n.d) which promotes strategies which make right to education more meaningful and make students not only educated, but also effectively educated, so that they can be better human resources of a country (Ibid). Todays teachers and students all over the world are encouraged to apply effective teaching and learning methods and techniques in their day-to-day teaching and learning (Ibid). To be part of this global practice, universities of Bangladesh, especially private universities and their students must give focused attention on achieving quality education through effective learning by various strategies. 

Objectives of the study

The objectives of the research are articulated as follows:

1. To clarify the conceptual framework of effective learning.
2. To find out the underlying issues of demotivation of the private university students in Bangladesh.
3. To find out the obstacles of effective learning of the private university students in Bangladesh.
4. To apprehend whether effective study strategies have been known and applied by the private university students in Bangladesh or not.
5. To suggest how the obstacles and issues can be successfully reduced with a view to ensuring effective learning. 

For conducting research, conceptual clarity is necessary. To that end, a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative approach have been adopted-qualitative for collecting necessary secondary data and quantitative for primary data. For quantitative method, a questionnaire has been formed with 28 questions with closed and open options which has been provided to total 40 students on ‘Random Selection Basis of 8 (Eight) departments of a selected private university. For convenience, students of Green University of Bangladesh have been selected as a sample population, as it is a renowned and among top ten of the private universities in Bangladesh.

Conceptual Framework of Effective Learning

Definition of Effective Learning

What is Effective Learning?

Although the term “effective” has been widely used, it only makes sense when context and goals are specified. Effective for when? Effective for what? The contemporary context has these important features:

• The knowledge base in society is increasing rapidly, and now doubles every 373 days. Teaching knowledge is an anachronism.
• A wider range of the population process and generate knowledge. Information is not the possession of a few “experts”.
• Employment prospects relate more to the ability to enhance and transfer learning. The accumulation of qualifications is not enough.
• The landscape of learning is much wider and richer, involving multiple contexts, modes and sources. Learning is no longer the province of special institutions: it is a way of being.

In such a context the goals of learning need to focus less on knowledge acquisition by individuals, and more on knowledge-generation with others. Effective learners have gained understanding of the individual and social processes necessary to become effective learners. This is not just acquisition of particular strategies, but the monitoring and reviewing of learning to see whether strategies are effective. This has been described as “learning how to learn” and “meta-learning”. Effective learning includes this extra crucial ingredient “which actively involves the student in meta-cognitive processes of planning, monitoring and reflecting”

Learning is -

• an activity of construction,
• handled with (or in the context of) others,
• driven by learners agency.

Effective learning is all of these at their best, PLUS the monitoring and review of whether approaches and strategies are proving effective for the particular goals and context. Effective learning denotes any strategy enabling students in their better learning and applying their knowledge or skill more frequently, effortlessly, enjoyably, deeply and permanently (EduFund UK, n.d.) This term also implies the techniques of teaching and learning which increase active involvement of the students in their self-learning and personal development (Twinkl, n.d).  Hence, an effective learner is a versatile student who can successfully make use of varied strategies and approaches for varied contexts of study and for varied purposes (EduFund UK, n.d)

Elements of Effective Learning

Achieving Study Skills

Achieving study skills is crucial for students. Getting upper hand over a few basic study skills facilitate learning of the students. Through time management skill, (Future Learn, 2022) (Trinity College Dublin, 2019) (The University of Edinburgh, 2022) students must design their independent study to cover all of the necessary materials. Again, effective learning implies organized learning (Future Learn, 2022) (The Univer-sity of Edinburgh, 2022), where students need to manage all materials within easy reach, and should form an organized system for learning from them, which means skimming through everything, identi-fying problem areas, circling back, dividing days up into key topics and poring through them, one by one. Effective note-taking is another significant segment of effective learning (The University of Hong Kong, 2020) (Future Learn, 2022) (Trinity College Dublin, 2019) (The University of Edinburgh, 2022) as it is claimed that writing by hand assists in deepening the information into the brain of the students (Future Learn, 2022).  Moreover, essay writing is a great way of demonstrating ones knowledge and identifying the knowledge gap of the students (Future Learn, 2022). 

Achieving Writing Skill

For writing better essays, students need to follow cer-tain steps, such as, scheduling which means deter-mining date of submission and planning to complete it ahead of time, understanding the question, doing initial research, creating an outline, doing the final research, writing the first draft, revising the draft, and last but not the least, proofreading (Trinity College Dublin, 2019).

Achieving Presentation Skill

Presentation skill is a distinguishing skill, for achieve it, the following steps are necessary 

Fig. 1: Steps of Presentation Skill (Trinity College Dublin, 2019).

Problems which may be encountered by students

During studies, students may encounter many issues which can get in the way of personal and academic progress of the students, such as, procrastination, low motivation, ill health, personal problems, anxiety, depression, self-doubt etc. However, applying the basic study strategies can be very useful in getting students back on track. Moreover, successfully achieving goals will contribute positively to ones sense of effectiveness as a student, boost confidence and encourage them to keep achieving (The University of the Sunshine Coast of Australia, n.d).

Study Strategies for Effective Learning

As applying study strategies are crucial for effective learning and for encountering the varied issues regarding study, the following study strategies can be adopted by the students.

1. Being consistent in study in lieu of occasional study (Future Learn, 2022)
2. Sleeping properly (Ibid)
3. Trying the Pomodoro method (Ibid). This method propagates for breaking study time into twenty-five-minute ‘sprints, during which students will work intensively on a task, after that, they will take a five-minute break and one can then take a slightly longer break after a couple of hours of practicing this method once (Ibid).
4. Creating the right environment for effective study, that means, having a dedicated space to devote to the practice. One may prefer to study either with a certain kind of music or in complete silence. Noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs can be invaluable (Ibid).
5. Creating flashcards which can cater a handy way to familiarize students with key concepts and pieces of information (Ibid).
6. Breaking everything down, i.e, breaking down long lists of information into groups, that will facilitate retaining the knowledge easily (Ibid), which can be termed as spaced learning (The University of Edinburgh, 2022)
7. Teaching other people (Ibid)
8. Getting some exercise improves memory and concentration and reduces the stress linked with intensive study. So, finding a form of exercise and making it a part of study schedule is important, but it must be borne in mind that exercise should be supported by a healthy and balanced diet (Ibid).
9. Setting deadlines. Setting short-term deadlines will allow students to avoid procrastination and the eventual stress that comes from procrastination. 
10. Setting Goal. Students should set their study goals and deadlines to finish those (Ibid). But these goals have to be specific, achievable, and measurable and with a time frame (The University of Hong Kong, 2020). Creating a daily “to-do” list and setting weekly goals can be great ideas to lean on. 

Fig. 2: Blueprint for weekly goal-setting (The University of the Sunshine Coast of Australia, n.d).

1. Meditating or practicing mindfulness, which are associated with reducing stress levels, enhancing concentration, and improving wellbeing.) (Ibid)
2. Going to class regularly (The University of Hong Kong, 2020), because, when students skip class, they are missing out on a ton of advent-ages that they might not fully be appreciating (Smart Student Secrets, 2021) such as, being liked by teachers, getting more options after making mistakes, securing attendance, not miss-ing test hints, learning some stuff (even when they think they wont.)
3. Asking questions (Ibid)
4. Thinking critically (Ibid) (Trinity College Dublin, 2019)
5. Finding study partners (Ibid) (Trinity College Dublin, 2019)
6. Self-testing (The University of Edinburgh, 2022)

At the backdrop of the above contextual background, a questionnaire consisting of 28 questions was formed and conducted. After conducting the questionnaire on the 40 students of 8 departments in Green University of Bangladesh, a prominent private university of Bangladesh, the findings have been processed as follows.

Understanding Study Patterns

Students are the assets of the country. Effective learning will transform them into more responsible human resource and effective leaders of the country. Only increasing the rate of so-called educated force cannot prepare them to meet future challenge. Further, privatization in the higher education opened up the possibilities to the thousands of students to attain their goals, but without well-grooming, this huge educated force will only create pressure on job sector and produce low-quality products and services. Hence, students must understand their future challenges and individually prepare ‘A blue print of their strategies and actions to reach their goal by learning positive habits and unlearning negative habits. For assisting them in this journey, the role of educational institutions and teachers along with their family can be the most influential and through a proper and effective educational system followed by effective learning, students can be transformed into the most valuable assets for the society, country and the world. To ensure effective learning of the students, the following recommendations have been suggested, which have been divided into two parts: Part A and Part B.

Recommendations (Part A)

This part of recommendations is formed from the students answers of question no. 1-9.

1. As 52.5% students express that their weakness in English is creating barrier in maintaining motivation for studies, they must individually focus on increasing skill on their basics of English, which will enhance their confidence and help them in better learning and in reaching career goal.
2. To reduce financial stress which 67.5% students are facing after admission, 22.5% during initial study and 30% during the mid-stage of the study, before admission, students must give a reality check by calculating the opportunity cost and whether they are able to pay the tuition fee without stress or not. If the stress is too much, they can better trade it off by choosing da different department or private university.
3. They must know how to handle personal emotional issues (personal emotional issues-22.5% during initial study, 25% during middle of the study, they can take psychosocial facilities from university and outside hospitals and clinics. For reaching career goal, focus is the vital point and successful handling of personal emotional issues is crucial.
4. As 30% students express that poor study techniques demotivate them in their initial study, they should take assistance from educational institutions, teachers, good seniors, from internet regarding study technique, and adopt such techniques to reach study and career goals.
5. To reduce fear of future career insecurity which 52.5 students are suffering from, they must learn positive habits, unlearn negative habits, and in-crease their skills.
6. Students must properly learn time-management, organizing study materials, making class note at class and home for each course, preparing assignments and presentations in time to avert last moment obstacles.
7. Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep is a common health issue for students in higher education, which has several underlying and negative consequences (Wikipedia, 2022). Based on the Treatment for Sleep Disorders, the recommended amount of sleep needed for college/university students is around 8 hours (Ibid). In this research, 77.5% are sleeping below 8 hours, which poses a negative impact on their effective learning.
8. Students must learn good habits of preparing daily (2.5% only prepare daily list regularly) and weekly (17.5% only prepare weekly list regu-larly) ‘To do list, regularly attending classes without missing (75% regularly attend classes), studying with partner or group (27.5% only have study partner/group), adopting ‘Mentor mode (50% uses this method only), using flash cards (25% only use flash cards regularly), regularly meditating/praying (42.5% only meditate/pray regularly) to maintain the mental sanity etc. Besides the above, as 45% students claimed that they maintain positive study habits, the rest 55% need to improve in this regard.
9. Students must have a goal and they must follow necessary practices. Only 60% students set their goal, while 7.5% did not fix yet and 32.5% (around one-third) students are confused regarding their career goal.
10. For better learning, students should dedicate a fixed place for their studying and it is found that 70% students study in a fixed study place.
11. Educational institutions must be more cautious in providing necessary trainings as it is found that 27.5%, 17.5% and 20% students express that their educational institutions provide necessary trainings on study techniques on regular, most of the times and sometimes basis consecutively. 
12. Educational institutions must ensure providing necessary career guidelines, as it is found that only 32.5% students claim that they get such guidelines on regular basis and 20% claim that they get most of the times, though not always.
13. Teachers should share necessary study techniques to help weaker students to cope with the study stress, as it is found that only 55% teachers share necessary study techniques with students.

Recommendations (Part B)

This part of recommendations has been accumulated from the students answers of question no. 10 and 11:

1. Educational institutions/private universities must appoint appropriate teachers to ensure effective learning.
2. They must encourage students for extracurricular activities.
3. They must cater proper facilities to acquire practical knowledge.
4. They must train students regarding study techniques.
5. They should create research facilities for students.
6. They should give extra care to the weak students
7. They should arrange awareness program for better mental health of the students.
8. They should ensure proper administrative and IT service.
9. They should organize and design effective classroom for the students.
10. They should create opportunities for better study and career.
11. Practical learning sessions should be organized by the educational institutions.
12. Industry-affiliated course curriculum should be ensured.
13. Career seminars or fest must be regularly arranged to provide proper career guideline.
14. They should focus on creating strong alumni network for career prospects of the existing students.
15. As approximately 50% private university students are weak in English due to their poor early schooling, universities can take special planning and course curriculum to help the weak students improve their English basics.
16. Teachers should focus on catering practical learning by preparing creative, authentic and interesting class materials before conducting classes.
17. Teachers should properly guide the students regarding their study and career goal.
18. Teachers have to be very conscious and considerate to avoid any kind of biasness towards students.

I do hereby acknowledge that this research paper is submitted only to the UniversePG journal and has not been published already, neither it is under considera-tion for publication or in press elsewhere. For con-ducting the questionnaire survey, I acknowledge the assistance of few students: Tanvir, Anannya, Cinthia, Jannatul of 222 batch and Ashik and Alomgir of 223 batch.

I do declare that I have substantially participated in research work and preparation of this research paper and do not contain any material taken from other copy-right sources and wherever such material has been included, proper citation is included in reference sec-tion without any conflict.