Search results for: online teaching practicum

Authors: Chaima Babi, Said Gadri

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The rapid increase in fake news continues to grow at a very fast rate; this requires implementing efficient techniques that allow testing the re-liability of online content. For that, the current research strives to illuminate the fake news problem using deep learning DL and machine learning ML ap-proaches. We have developed the traditional LSTM (Long short-term memory), and the bidirectional BiLSTM model. A such process is to perform a training task on almost of samples of the dataset, validate the model on a subset called the test set to provide an unbiased evaluation of the final model fit on the training dataset, then compute the accuracy of detecting classifica-tion and comparing the results. For the programming stage, we used Tensor-Flow and Keras libraries on Python to support Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) that are being used for developing deep learning applications.

Keywords: machine learning, deep learning, natural language, fake news, Bi-LSTM, LSTM, multiclass classification

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Authors: Muhammad Awais Kiani, Maryam Kiani

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In today's digital age, the field of electronics engineering is experiencing unprecedented growth and innovation. To keep pace with this rapidly evolving industry, effective sales and marketing strategies are crucial, especially when combined with the power of e-commerce. This study explores the significance of integrating sales and marketing techniques with e-commerce platforms in the context of electronics engineering. It highlights the benefits, challenges, and best practices in leveraging e-commerce for sales and marketing in this industry. By embracing e-commerce, electronics engineering companies can reach a wider customer base, enhance brand visibility, and personalize customer experiences. Furthermore, this abstract delves into the importance of utilizing digital marketing tools such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and content creation to optimize online sales. Therefore, this research aims to provide insights and recommendations for electronics engineering professionals to effectively navigate the dynamic landscape of sales and marketing in conjunction with e-commerce.

Keywords: electronics engineering, marketing, sales, E-commerce

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Authors: Idha Novianti, Suci Nurhayati, Puryati, Elang Krisnadi

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Community service activities are activities of the academic community in practicing and cultivating science, knowledge, and technology to advance the general welfare and educate the nation's life as described in the Higher Education Law. Training activities on the use of GeoGebra software are an option because GeoGebra software is software that is easy to operate and complete in the presentation of graphic design. The training activity was held for 3 hours online via teams and 3 hours offline. Involving 15 junior high school mathematics teachers located around south Tangerang. As a result, all teachers were satisfied with the activity, and they had additional new knowledge and skills to teach mathematics in the topic of geometry and algebra. The existence of new knowledge made the participants increase their confidence in developing mathematical science for students at school.

Keywords: geogebra, Ms. teams, junior high school teacher, mathematics

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Authors: Dinmukhamed T., Vassiliy S.

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This article suggests the idea of fitting clothes and accessories based on augmented reality. A logical data model has been developed, taking into account the decision-making module (colors, style, type, material, popularity, etc.) based on personal data (age, gender, weight, height, leg size, hoist length, geolocation, photogrammetry, number of purchases of certain types of clothing, etc.) and statistical data of the purchase history (number of items, price, size, color, style, etc.). Also, in order to provide information to the user, it is planned to develop an augmented reality system using a QR code. This system of selection and fitting of clothing and accessories based on augmented reality will be used in stores to reduce the time for the buyer to make a decision on the choice of clothes.

Keywords: augmented reality, online store, decision-making module, like QR code, clothing store, queue

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Authors: Genute Gedviliene, Vidmantas Tutlys

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The aim of this paper is to reveal the deployment and development of the social competence in the higher education programmes of adult education and in the continuing training and competence development of the andragogues. There will be compared how the issues of cooperation and communication in the learning and teaching processes are treated in the study programmes and in the courses of continuing training of andragogues. Theoretical and empirical research methods were combined for research analysis. For the analysis the following methods were applied: 1) Literature and document analysis helped to highlight the communication and cooperation as fundamental phenomena of the social competence, it’s important for the adult education in the context of digitalization and globalization. There were also analyzed the research studies on the development of social competence in the field of andragogy, as well as on the place and weight of the social competence in the overall competence profile of the andragogue. 2) The empirical study is based on questionnaire survey method. The population of survey consists of 240 students of bachelor and master degree studies of andragogy in Lithuania and of 320 representatives of the different bodies and institutions involved in the continuing training and professional development of the adult educators in Lithuania. The themes of survey questionnaire were defined on the basis of findings of the literature review and included the following: 1) opinions of the respondents on the role and place of a social competence in the work of andragogue; 2) opinions of the respondents on the role and place of the development of social competence in the curricula of higher education studies and continuing training courses; 3) judgements on the implications of the higher education studies and courses of continuing training for the development of social competence and it’s deployment in the work of andragogue. Data analysis disclosed a wide range of ways and modalities of the deployment and development of social competence in the preparation and continuing training of the adult educators. Social competence is important for the students and adult education providers not only as the auxiliary capability for the communication and transfer of information, but also as the outcome of collective learning leading to the development of new capabilities applied by the learners in the learning process, their professional field of adult education and their social life. Equally so, social competence is necessary for the effective adult education activities not only as an auxiliary capacity applied in the teaching process, but also as a potential for improvement, development and sustainability of the didactic competence and know-how in this field. The students of the higher education programmes in the field of adult education treat social competence as important generic capacity important for the work of adult educator, whereas adult education providers discern the concrete issues of application of social competence in the different processes of adult education, starting from curriculum design and ending with assessment of learning outcomes.

Keywords: adult education, andragogues, social competence, curriculum

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Authors: Alejandro Adorjan

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Universities are motivated to understand the factor contributing to low retention of engineering undergraduates. While precollege students for engineering increases, the number of engineering graduates continues to decrease and attrition rates for engineering undergraduates remains high. Calculus 1 (C1) is the entry point of most undergraduate Engineering Science and often a prerequisite for Computing Curricula courses. Mathematics continues to be a major hurdle for engineering students and many students who drop out from engineering cite specifically Calculus as one of the most influential factors in that decision. In this context, creating course activities that increase retention and motivate students to obtain better final results is a challenge. In order to develop several competencies in our students of Software Engineering courses, Calculus 1 at Universidad ORT Uruguay focuses on developing several competencies such as capacity of synthesis, abstraction, and problem solving (based on the ACM/AIS/IEEE). Every semester we try to reflect on our practice and try to answer the following research question: What kind of teaching approach in Calculus 1 can we design to retain students and obtain better results? Since 2010, Universidad ORT Uruguay offers a six-week summer noncompulsory bridge course of preparatory math (to bridge the math gap between high school and university). Last semester was the first time the Department of Mathematics offered the course while students were enrolled in C1. Traditional lectures in this bridge course lead to just transcribe notes from blackboard. Last semester we proposed a Hands On Lab course using Geogebra (interactive geometry and Computer Algebra System (CAS) software) as a Math Driven Development Tool. Students worked in a computer laboratory class and developed most of the tasks and topics in Geogebra. As a result of this approach, several pros and cons were found. It was an excessive amount of weekly hours of mathematics for students and, as the course was non-compulsory; the attendance decreased with time. Nevertheless, this activity succeeds in improving final test results and most students expressed the pleasure of working with this methodology. This teaching technology oriented approach strengthens student math competencies needed for Calculus 1 and improves student performance, engagement, and self-confidence. It is important as a teacher to reflect on our practice, including innovative proposals with the objective of engaging students, increasing retention and obtaining better results. The high degree of motivation and engagement of participants with this methodology exceeded our initial expectations, so we plan to experiment with more groups during the summer so as to validate preliminary results.

Keywords: calculus, engineering education, PreCalculus, Summer Program

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Authors: A. Boulanoir, B. Ould Bouamama, A. Debiane, N. Achour

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The paper deals with robust Fault Detection and isolation with respect to parameter uncertainties based on linear fractional transformation form (LFT) Bond graph. The innovative interest of the proposed methodology is the use only one representation for systematic generation of robust analytical redundancy relations and adaptive residual thresholds for sensibility analysis. Furthermore, the parameter uncertainties are introduced graphically in the bond graph model. The methodology applied to the nonlinear industrial Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMA) used in avionic systems, has determined first the structural monitorability analysis (which component can be monitored) with given instrumentation architecture with any need of complex calculation and secondly robust fault indicators for online supervision.

Keywords: bond graph (BG), electro mechanical actuators (EMA), fault detection and isolation (FDI), linear fractional transformation (LFT), mechatronic systems, parameter uncertainties, avionic system

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Authors: Wipanee Maen-In

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The objectives of the research are i) to study the motivations of european and scandinavian tourists who select Ranong province as their destinations ii) to study their perception towards the Ranong Province and iii) to study the visitors’ decision making while visiting Ranong Province. The samples of the study are 220 European and Scandinavian tourists’ visitors at the Ranong by accidental sampling and in clouding online questionnaires for 53 sampling. The data analysis includes Percentage, Frequency and One-way ANOVA. The findings from the research are the motivation level of the visitors is considered prominent, the average score of the motivational factors ranks higher than the average of the pull factors to visit the Ranong province when considering the factors analysis, the research shows that the reason that most tourists visit the Ranong is for relaxation while the purity of the natural mineral hot springs is the most important pull factor.

Keywords: European and Scandinavian, Ranong province, tourists’ perceptions, visitors’ decision making

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Authors: Oluwaseun Adeleke, Samuel O. Ikani, Simeon Christian Chukwu, Fidelis Edet, Anthony Nwala, Mopelola Raji, Simeon Christian Chukwu

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Background: Health service providers are offered in-service training periodically to strengthen their ability to deliver services that are ethical, quality, timely and safe. Not all capacity-building courses have successfully resulted in intended service delivery outcomes because of poor training content, design, approach, and ambiance. The Delivering Innovations in Selfcare (DISC) project developed a Moment of Truth innovation, which is a proven training model focused on improving consumer/provider interaction that leads to an increase in the voluntary uptake of subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) self-injection among women who opt for injectable contraception. Methodology: Six months after training on a moment of truth (MoT) training manual, the project conducted two intensive rounds of qualitative data collection and triangulation that included provider, client, and community mobilizer interviews, facility observations, and routine program data collection. Respondents were sampled according to a convenience sampling approach, and data collected was analyzed using a codebook and Atlas-TI. Providers and clients were interviewed to understand their experience, perspective, attitude, and awareness about the DMPA-SC self-inject. Data were collected from 12 health facilities in three states – eight directly trained and four cascades trained. The research team members came together for a participatory analysis workshop to explore and interpret emergent themes. Findings: Quality-of-service delivery and performance outcomes were observed to be significantly better in facilities whose providers were trained directly trained by the DISC project than in sites that received indirect training through master trainers. Facilities that were directly trained recorded SI proportions that were twice more than in cascade-trained sites. Direct training comprised of full-day and standalone didactic and interactive sessions constructed to evoke commitment, passion and conviction as well as eliminate provider bias and misconceptions in providers by utilizing human interest stories and values clarification exercises. Sessions also created compelling arguments using evidence and national guidelines. The training also prioritized demonstration sessions, utilized job aids, particularly videos, strengthened empathetic counseling – allaying client fears and concerns about SI, trained on positioning self-inject first and side effects management. Role plays and practicum was particularly useful to enable providers to retain and internalize new knowledge. These sessions provided experiential learning and the opportunity to apply one's expertise in a supervised environment where supportive feedback is provided in real-time. Cascade Training was often a shorter and abridged form of MoT training that leveraged existing training already planned by master trainers. This training was held over a four-hour period and was less emotive, focusing more on foundational DMPA-SC knowledge such as a reorientation to DMPA-SC, comparison of DMPA-SC variants, counseling framework and skills, data reporting and commodity tracking/requisition – no facility practicums. Training on self-injection was not as robust, presumably because they were not directed at methods in the contraceptive mix that align with state/organizational sponsored objectives – in this instance, fostering LARC services. Conclusion: To achieve better performance outcomes, consideration should be given to providing training that prioritizes practice-based and emotive content. Furthermore, a firm understanding and conviction about the value training offers improve motivation and commitment to accomplish and surpass service-related performance outcomes.

Keywords: training, performance outcomes, innovation, family planning, contraception, DMPA-SC, self-care, self-injection.

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Authors: Shynn Lim, Ching Tan

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The paper presents the PASSION Programme designed by a government school in Singapore, guided by national goals as well as research-based pedagogies that aims to nurture students to become lifelong learners with the strength of character. The design and enactment of the integrated approach to develop in students good character, resilience and social-emotional well-being, future readiness, and active citizenship is guided by a set of principles that amalgamates Biesta’s domains of purposes of education and authentic learning. Data in terms of evidence of students’ learning and students’ feedback were collected, analysed, and suggests that the learning experience benefitted students by boosting their self-confidence, self-directed and collaborative learning skills, as well as empathy.

Keywords: lifelong learning, character and citizenship education, education and career guidance, 21CC, teaching and learning empathy

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Authors: Lesley Clack, Rachel Ellison, Elizabeth Chambers

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A belief exists that there are huge gender and racial disparities among hospital CEO’s in the United States, and historically, male, Caucasian healthcare executives have made significantly larger salaries than females and other races. With a recent focus on reducing barriers and disparities in healthcare, it remains to be seen whether there have been changes in these disparities over time. The purpose of this study was to explore disparities among salaries of hospital executives in the United States. Analysis of salary data was conducted utilizing online hospital salary databases. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine the significance of the differences. Results indicated that there had been improvements in disparities among some ethnicities. Gender disparities remain the largest gap. The implications of this study are significant for the field of healthcare management as disparities can affect both social dynamics and organizational culture. Understanding where disparities lie is the first step towards bridging the gap and reducing barriers for cultural diversity within healthcare management.

Keywords: health care, disparities, management, executives

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Authors: Rory Patrick O'Kane

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More universities and third level institutions now require at least an IELTS Band 6 for entry into courses of study for non-native speakers of English. This presentation focuses on IELTS Academic Writing Tasks 1 and 2 and in particular on the marking criterion of Coherence and Cohesion. A requirement for candidates aiming at Band 6 and above is that they produce answers which show a clear, overall progression of information and ideas and which use cohesive devices effectively. With this in mind, the presenter will examine what exactly is meant by coherence and cohesion and various strategies which can be used to assist students in improving their scores in this area. A number of classroom teaching ideas will be introduced, and participants will have the opportunity to compare and discuss sample answers written by candidates for this examination with a specific focus on coherence and cohesion. Intended audience: Teachers of IELTS Academic Writing.

Keywords: coherence, cohesion, IELTS, strategies

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Authors: Winnie Wing Mui So, Yu Chen

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This study investigated primary school teachers’ and students’ perceptions of science learning in an e-learning environment. This study used a multiple case study design and involved eight science teachers and their students from four Hong Kong primary schools. The science topics taught included ‘season and weather’ ‘force and movement’, ‘solar and lunar eclipse’ and ‘living things and habitats’. Data were collected through lesson observations, interviews with teachers, and interviews with students. Results revealed some differences between the teachers’ and the students’ perceptions regarding the usefulness of e-learning resources, the organization of student-centred activities, and the impact on engagement and interactions in lessons. The findings have implications for the more effective creation of e-learning environments for science teaching and learning in primary schools.

Keywords: e-learning, science education, teacher' and students' perceptions, primary schools

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Authors: Milind D. Meshram

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Ascarids are the most frequent worm parasite of dogs and cats. There are two species that commonly infect dogs: Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina. Adult roundworms live in the stomach and intestines and can grow to 7 inches (18 cm) long. A female may lay 200,000 eggs in a day. The eggs are protected by a hard shell. They are extremely hardy and can live for months or years in the soil. A dog aged about 6 years, from Satara was referred to Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex (TVCC) with a complaint of abdominal pain, anorexia, loss of condition and dull body coat with mucous pale membrane. The clinical examination revealed Anaemia, palpation of abdomen revealed enlargement of liver, slimy feel of the intestine loop, diarrhea.

Keywords: therapeutic management, Toxocara canis, induced hepatitis, dogs

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Authors: Silvia Sommella

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Islamic terrorism has gained a lot of media attention in the last years also because of the striking increase of terror attacks since 2014. The main aim of this paper is to illustrate the phenomenon of Islamic terrorism by applying frame semantics and metaphor analysis to German and Italian press headlines of the two online weekly publications Der Spiegel and L’Espresso between 2014 and 2019. This study focuses on how media discourse – through the use of conceptual metaphors – let arise in people a particular reception of the phenomenon of Islamic terrorism and accept governmental strategies and policies, perceiving terrorists as evildoers, as the members of an uncivilised group ‘other’ opposed to the civilised group ‘we’: two groups that are perceived as opposed. The press headlines are analyzed on the basis of the cognitive linguistics, namely Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptualization of metaphor to distinguish between abstract conceptual metaphors and specific metaphorical expressions. The study focuses on the contexts, frames, and metaphors. The method adopted in this study is Konerding’s frame semantics (1993). Konerding carried out on the basis of dictionaries – in particular of the Duden Deutsches Universalwörterbuch (Duden Universal German Dictionary) – in a pilot study of a lexicological work hyperonym reduction of substantives, working exclusively with nouns because hyperonyms usually occur in the dictionary meaning explanations as for the main elements of nominal phrases. The results of Konerding’s hyperonym type reduction is a small set of German nouns and they correspond to the highest hyperonyms, the so-called categories, matrix frames: ‘object’, ‘organism’, ‘person/actant’, ‘event’, ‘action/interaction/communication’, ‘institution/social group’, ‘surroundings’, ‘part/piece’, ‘totality/whole’, ‘state/property’. The second step of Konerding’s pilot study consists in determining the potential reference points of each category so that conventionally expectable routinized predications arise as predictors. Konerding found out which predicators the ascertained noun types can be linked to. For the purpose of this study, metaphorical expressions will be listed and categorized in conceptual metaphors and under the matrix frames that correspond to the particular conceptual metaphor. All of the corpus analyses are carried out using Ant Conc corpus software. The research will verify some previously analyzed metaphors such as TERRORISM AS WAR, A CRIME, A NATURAL EVENT, A DISEASE and will identify new conceptualizations and metaphors about Islamic terrorism, especially in the Italian language like TERRORISM AS A GAME, WARES, A DRAMATIC PLAY. Through the identification of particular frames and their construction, the research seeks to understand the public reception and the way to handle the discourse about Islamic terrorism in the above mentioned online weekly publications under a contrastive analysis in the German and in the Italian language.

Keywords: cognitive linguistics, frame semantics, Islamic terrorism, media

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Authors: Shatha Alkhalaf

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This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the English Speaking Practice App in improving the speaking skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The participants were 44 diploma students at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. They used the app for 30 minutes per week over a 12-week period. A survey questionnaire was used to measure their perceptions of the app's effectiveness, usability, and impact on motivation. The questionnaire showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89). The findings suggest that the app was perceived positively by the participants in terms of its effectiveness in improving speaking skills, usability, and motivation. This research contributes to the field of language teaching by highlighting the potential of technology-enhanced language learning.

Keywords: second language, English, speaking, technology

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Authors: M. Fikriansyah Wicaksono, Rafael Arief Budiman, M. Very Setiawan

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Currently, a wide range of innovative mobile library (M-Library) service is provided for the users in the library. The M-Library service is an innovation that aims to bring the collections of the library to users who currently use their smartphone so often. With M-Library services, it is expected that the users can fulfill their information needs more conveniently and practically. This study aims to find out how users use M-Library services provided by UGM library. This study applied a quantitative approach to investigate how to use the application M-Library. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory is applied to perform the analysis in terms of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards behavior, behavioral intention and actual system usage. The results show that overall the users found that the M-Library application is useful to meet their information needs. Such as facilitate user to access e-resources, search UGM library collections, online booking collections, and reminder for returning book.

Keywords: m-library, mobile library services, technology acceptance, library of UGM

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Authors: Shieh Shiow-fang

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Superstitious thoughts or actions often occur during athletic competitions. Often "superstitious rituals" have a positive impact on the performance of competitive athletes. Athletes affirm the many psychological benefits of religious beliefs mostly in a positive way. Method: By snowball sampling, we recruited 10 experienced competitive athletes as participants. We used in-person and online one-to-one in-depth interview to collect their experiences about sport superstition. The total interview time was 795 minutes. We analyzed the raw data with the grounded theory processes suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Results: The factors affecting athlete performance are ritual beliefs, taboo awareness, learning norms, and spontaneous attribution behaviors. Conclusion: We concluded that sports superstition reflects several psychological implications. The analysis results of this paper can provide another research perspective for the future study of sports superstition behavior.

Keywords: superstition, taboo awareness, learning norms, competitive athlete

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Authors: V. Iakovoglou, G. N. Zaimes, M. P. Arraiza Bermúdez-Cañete, J. L. García, M. C. Giménez, C. Calderón-Guerrero, F. Ioras, I. Abrudan

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A new fast growing trend in tourism is ecotourism, in which tourists visit natural ecosystems under low impact, non-consumptive and locally oriented activities. Through these activities species and habitats are maintained and typically, underdeveloped regions are emphasized. Ecotourism provides a great alternative, especially for rural and undeveloped area. At the same time, despite its many benefits, it also poses many risks for the naturally protected areas. If ecotourism is practiced improperly degradation and irreversible damages could be the unwanted result. In addition, the lack of MSc programs in the field of Ecotourism in Europe makes it a necessity to be developed. Such an MSc program is being implemented with the lead partner the Technical University of Madrid. The entire partnership has six Universities, seven SMEs and one National Park from seven different countries all over Europe. The MSc will have 10 educational modules that will be available online and will prepare professionals that will be able to implement ecotourism in a sustainable way. Only through awareness and education a sustainable ecotourism will be achieved in the protected areas of Europe.

Keywords: ERASMUS, MSc program, protected Areas, sustainability

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Authors: Mustafa Oz

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This study compares how do people express their opinions on the Facebook versus on Twitter. It was sought to understand whether people were more willing to express their opinions on some social media channels than others. It was assumed that fear of isolation and affordances may influence users’ opinion expression behaviors on social media websites. Thus two most popular social media websites, Twitter and Facebook, were compared. This study aims to provide the comprehensive understanding of political expression on social media platforms. An online survey (N=535) was conducted to understand respondents’ opinion expression behaviors. Overall, the results suggested that people were more likely to express their opinion on Twitter than Facebook when they think the majority does not support their opinion. The study concluded that people operate differently on Facebook versus Twitter.

Keywords: social media, spiral of silence, affordances, political expression

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Authors: Maggie Shen

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Ever since the late 20th century, business giants have been competing to provide better experiences for their users. One way they strive to do so is through more efficiently connecting users with their goals, with recommendation systems that filter out unnecessary or less relevant information. Today’s top online platforms such as Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb, Tiktok, Facebook, and Google all utilize algorithmic recommender systems for different purposes—Product recommendation, movie recommendation, travel recommendation, relationship recommendation, etc. However, while bringing unprecedented convenience and efficiency, the prevalence of algorithmic recommendation systems also influences society in many ways. In using a variety of primary, secondary, and social media sources, this paper explores the impacts of algorithms, particularly algorithmic recommender systems, on different sectors of society. Four fields of interest will be specifically addressed in this paper: economy, international relations, political ideologies, and education.

Keywords: algorithms, economy, international relations, political ideologies, education

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Authors: Jasmin H. Kwon , Thomas M. Brinthaupt

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There is a general lack of consumer behavior research on seasonal shopping events. Studying these kinds of events is interesting and important for several reasons. First, global shopping opportunities have implications for cross-cultural shopping events and effects on seasonal events in other countries. Second, seasonal shopping events are subject to economic conditions and may wane in popularity, especially with e-commerce options. Third, retailers can expand the success of their seasonal shopping events by taking advantage of cross-cultural opportunities. Fourth, it is interesting to consider how consumers from other countries might take advantage of different countries’ seasonal shopping events. Many countries have seasonal shopping events such as Black Friday. Research on these kinds of events can lead to the identification of cross-cultural similarities and differences in consumer behavior. We compared shopping motivations of college students who did (n=36) and did not (n=81) shop on Cyber Monday. The results showed that the groups did not differ significantly on any of the shopping motivation subscales. The Cyber Monday shoppers reported being significantly more likely to agree than disagree that their online shopping experience was enjoyable and exciting. They were more likely to disagree than agree that their experience was overwhelming. In addition, they agreed that they shopped only for deals, purchased the exact items they wanted, and thought that their efforts were worth it. Finally, they intended to shop again at next year’s Cyber Monday. It appears that there are many positive aspects to online seasonal shopping, independent of one’s typical shopping motivations. Different countries have seasonal events similar to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping holiday (e.g., Boxing Day, Fukubukuro, China’s Singles Day). In Korea, there is increasing interest in taking advantage of U.S. Black Friday and Cyber Monday opportunities. Government officials are interested in adapting the U.S. holiday to Korean retailers, essentially recreating the Black Friday/Cyber Monday holiday there. Similarly, the Japanese Fukubukuro ('Lucky Bag') holiday is being adapted by other countries such as Korea and the U.S. International shipping support companies are also emerging that help customers to identify and receive products from other countries. U.S. department stores also provide free shipping on international orders for certain items. As these structural changes are occurring and new options for global shopping emerge, the need to understand the role of shoppers’ motivations becomes even more important. For example, the Cyber Monday results are particularly relevant to the new landscape with e-commerce and cross-cultural opportunities, since many of these events involve e-commerce. Within today’s global market, physical location of a retail store is no longer a limitation to growing one’s market share. From a consumer perspective, it is important to investigate how shopping motivations are related to e-commerce seasonal events. From a retail perspective, understanding the shopping motivations of international customers would help retailers to expand and better tailor their seasonal shopping events beyond the boundaries of their own countries. From a collaborative perspective, research on this topic can include interdisciplinary researchers, including those from fashion merchandising, marketing, retailing, and psychology.

Keywords: Black Friday, cross-cultural research, Cyber Monday, seasonal shopping behavior

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Authors: Abdeljalil Metioui

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The purpose of this article is to present the results of two-stage qualitative research. The first involved the identification of the alternative conceptions of 80 elementary pre-service teachers from Quebec in Canada about the operation of simple electrical circuits. To do this, they completed a two-choice questionnaire (true or false) with justification. Data analysis identifies many conceptual difficulties. For example, for their majority, whatever the electrical device that composes an electrical circuit, the current source (power supply), and the generated electrical power is constant. The second step was to develop a double multiple-choice questionnaire based on the identified designs. It allows teachers to quickly diagnose their students' conceptions and take them into account in their teaching.

Keywords: development, electrical circuits, two-tier diagnostic test, secondary and high school

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Authors: Phillipa Evans, Christopher Trotter

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Aims: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a practice skills framework implemented in three youth detention centres in Juvenile Justice in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The study is supported by a grant from and Australian Research Council and NSW Juvenile Justice. Recent years have seen a number of incidents in youth detention centres in Australia and other places. These have led to inquiries and reviews with some suggesting that detention centres often do not even meet basic human rights and do little in terms of providing opportunities for rehabilitation of residents. While there is an increasing body of research suggesting that community based supervision can be effective in reducing recidivism if appropriate skills are used by supervisors, there has been less work considering worker skills in youth detention settings. The research that has been done, however, suggest that teaching interpersonal skills to youth officers may be effective in enhancing the rehabilitation culture of centres. Positive outcomes have been seen in a UK detention centre for example, from teaching staff to do five-minute problem-solving interventions. The aim of this project is to examine the effectiveness of training and coaching youth detention staff in three NSW detention centres in interpersonal practice skills. Effectiveness is defined in terms of reductions in the frequency of critical incidents and improvements in the well-being of staff and young people. The research is important as the results may lead to the development of more humane and rehabilitative experiences for young people. Method: The study involves training staff in core effective practice skills and supporting staff in the use of those skills through supervision and de-briefing. The core effective practice skills include role clarification, pro-social modelling, brief problem solving, and relationship skills. The training also addresses some of the background to criminal behaviour including trauma. Data regarding critical incidents and well-being before and after the program implementation are being collected. This involves interviews with staff and young people, the completion of well-being scales, and examination of departmental records regarding critical incidents. In addition to the before and after comparison a matched control group which is not offered the intervention is also being used. The study includes more than 400 young people and 100 youth officers across 6 centres including the control sites. Data collection includes interviews with workers and young people, critical incident data such as assaults, use of lock ups and confinement and school attendance. Data collection also includes analysing video-tapes of centre activities for changes in the use of staff skills. Results: The project is currently underway with ongoing training and supervision. Early results will be available for the conference.

Keywords: custody, practice skills, training, youth workers

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Authors: Laszlo Vari

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In the digital age, the spread of the mobile world and the nature of the cyberspace, offers many new opportunities for the prevalence of the fundamental right to free expression, and therefore, for free speech and freedom of the press; however, these new information communication technologies carry many new challenges. Defamation, censorship, fake news, misleading information, hate speech, breach of copyright etc., are only some of the violations, all of which can be derived from the harmful exercise of freedom of expression, all which become more salient in the internet. Here raises the question: how can we eliminate these problems, and practice our fundamental freedom rightfully? To answer this question, we should understand the elements and the characteristic of the nature of freedom of expression, and the role of the actors whose duties and responsibilities are crucial in the prevalence of this fundamental freedom. To achieve this goal, this paper will explore the European practice to understand instructions found in the case-law of the European Court of Human rights for the rightful exercise of freedom of expression.

Keywords: collision of rights, European case-law, freedom opinion and expression, media law, freedom of information, online expression

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Authors: Salomé Elizabeth Scholtz

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Reviewers are the gatekeepers of knowledge dissemination and promote the scientific validity of the research. However, the literature indicates that authors often receive questionable feedback on qualitative manuscripts. Thus, this qualitative descriptive study sought to explore the qualitative knowledge and experiences of reviewers of psychology journals. A purposive and snowball sample (n=27) of psychology journal reviewers completed an online questionnaire, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Reviewers felt their postgraduate education, reading, and the process of reviewing qualitative articles equipped them to review qualitative manuscripts. Less than half of the reviewer’s published articles were qualitative and male reviewers published more than females. Despite not expecting authors to have the same level of research skills, reviewers still experienced authors as unskilled and biased, creating difficulty in accepting and reviewing qualitative articles. The applicability of the qualitative method and recommendations in preparing qualitative manuscripts for reviewing are reported.

Keywords: journal reviewers, psychology, qualitative research, research method, research skills

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Authors: Brandy Yee, Dianne Yee

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Through the exploration of the lived experiences, beliefs and values of instructional leaders, teachers and students in Finland, Germany and Canada, we investigated the factors which contribute to developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments for early adolescents. Student-centred leadership dimensions, effective instructional practices and student agency were examined through the lens of current policy and research on middle-level learning environments emerging from the Canadian province of Manitoba. Consideration of these three research perspectives in the context of early adolescent learning, placed against an international backdrop, provided a previously undocumented perspective on leading, teaching and learning in the middle years. Aligning with a social constructivist, qualitative research paradigm, the study incorporated collective case study methodology, along with constructivist grounded theory methods of data analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured individual and focus group interviews and document review, as well as direct and participant observation. Three case study narratives were developed to share the rich stories of study participants, who had been selected using maximum variation and intensity sampling techniques. Interview transcript data were coded using processes from constructivist grounded theory. A cross-case analysis yielded a conceptual framework highlighting key factors that were found to be significant in the establishment of developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments. Seven core categories emerged from the cross-case analysis as common to all three countries. Within the visual conceptual framework (which depicts the interconnected nature of leading, teaching and learning in middle-level learning environments), these seven core categories were grouped into Essential Factors (student agency, voice and choice), Contextual Factors (instructional practices; school culture; engaging families and the community), Synergistic Factors (instructional leadership) and Cornerstone Factors (education as a fundamental cultural value; preservice, in-service and ongoing teacher development). In addition, sub-factors emerged from recurring codes in the data and identified specific characteristics and actions found in developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments. Although this study focused on 12 schools in Finland, Germany and Canada, it informs the practice of educators working with early adolescent learners in middle-level learning environments internationally. The authentic voices of early adolescent learners are the most important resource educators have to gauge if they are creating effective learning environments for their students. Ongoing professional dialogue and learning is essential to ensure teachers are supported in their work and develop the pedagogical practices needed to meet the needs of early adolescent learners. It is critical to balance consistency, coherence and dependability in the school environment with the necessary flexibility in order to support the unique learning needs of early adolescents. Educators must intentionally create a school culture that unites teachers, students and their families in support of a common purpose, as well as nurture positive relationships between the school and its community. A large, urban school district in Canada has implemented a school cohort-based model to begin to bring developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments to scale.

Keywords: developmentally responsive learning environments, early adolescents, middle level learning, middle years, instructional leadership, instructional practices, intellectually engaging learning environments, leadership dimensions, student agency

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Authors: José L. Jiménez

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The use of technology in the classroom is an issue that is constantly evolving. Digital age students learn differently than their teachers did, so now the teacher should be constantly evolving their methods and teaching techniques to be more in touch with the student. In this paper a case study presents how were used some of these technologies by accompanying a classroom course, this in order to provide students with a different and innovative experience as their teacher usually presented the activities to develop. As students worked in the various activities, they increased their digital skills by employing unknown tools that helped them in their professional training. The twenty-first century teacher should consider the use of Information and Communication Technologies in the classroom thinking in skills that students of the digital age should possess. It also takes a brief look at the history of distance education and it is also highlighted the importance of integrating technology as part of the student's training.

Keywords: digital tools, on-line learning, social networks, technology

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Authors: Loghman Ansarian, Teoh Mei Lin

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In an attempt to increase oral proficiency of Iranian EFL learners, the researchers compared the effect of problem-based mobile-assisted language learning with the conventional language learning approach (Communicative Language Teaching) in Iran. The experimental group (n=37) went through PBL instruction and the control group (n=33) went through conventional instruction. The results of quantitative data analysis after 26 sessions of treatment revealed that PBL could positively affect participants' knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, spoken fluency, and pronunciation; however, in terms of task achievement, no significant effect was found. This study can have pedagogical implications for language teachers, and material developers.

Keywords: problem-based learning, spoken intelligibility, Iranian EFL context, cognitive learning

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Authors: Agi Sunday

Abstract:

A descriptive analysis of reported cases of sickle cell disease and the level of awareness about genetic counselling in 30 hospitals were carried out. Additionally, 150 individuals between ages 16-45 were randomly selected for evaluation of genetic counselling awareness. The main tools for this study were questionnaires which were taken to hospitals, and individuals completed the others. The numbers of reported cases of sickle cell disease recorded in private, public and teaching hospitals were 14 and 57; 143 and 89; 272 and 57 for the periods of 1995-2000 and 2001-2005, respectively. A general informal genetic counselling took place mostly in the hospitals visited. 122 (86%) individuals had the knowledge of genetic disease and only 43 (30.3%) individuals have been exposed to genetic counselling. 64% of individuals agreed that genetic counselling would help in the prevention of genetic disease.

Keywords: sickle disease, genetic counseling, genetic testing, advocacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 389