Search results for: school learners

Authors: Dr. Rebecca Kimelman

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Teaching students to self-advocate has become a central topic in special education literature and practice. However, many special education programs do not address this important skill area. To this end, I created and implemented the Self Advocacy Made Easy (S.A.M.E.) program of instruction, intended to enhance the self-advocacy skills of young adults with mild to moderate disabilities. The effectiveness of S.A.M.E., the degree to which self-advocacy skills were acquired and demonstrated by the students, the level of parental support, and the impact of culture on the process, and teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about the role of self-advocacy skills for their students were measured using action research that employed mixed methodology. Conducted at an overseas American International School, this action research study sought answers to these questions by providing an in-depth portrayal of the S.A.M.E. program, as well as the attitudes and perceptions of the stakeholders involved in the study (thirteen students, their parents, teachers and counsellors). The findings of this study were very positive. The S.A.M.E. program was found to be a valid and valuable instructional tool for teaching self-advocacy skills to students with learning disabilities and ADHD. The study showed participation in the S.A.M.E. program led to an increased understanding of the important elements of self-advocacy, an increase in students’ skills and abilities to self-advocate, and a positive increase in students’ feelings about themselves. Inclusion in the Student-Led IEP meetings, an authentic student assessment within the S.A.M.E. program, also yielded encouraging results, including a higher level of ownership of one’s profile and learning needs, a higher level of student engagement and participation in the IEP meeting, and a growing student awareness of the relevance of the document and the IEP process to their lives. Without exception, every parent believed that participating in the Student-Led IEP led to a growth in confidence in their children, including that it taught them how to ‘own’ their disability and an improvement in their communication skills. Teachers and counsellors that participated in the study felt the program was worthwhile, and led to an increase in the students’ ability to acknowledge their learning profile and to identify and request the accommodations (such as extended time or use of a calculator) they need to overcome or work around their disability. The implications for further research are many, and include an examination of the degree to which participation in S.A.M.E. fosters student achievement, the long-term effects of participation in the program, and the degree to which student participation in the Student-Led IEP meeting increases parents’ level of understanding and involvement.

Keywords: self-advocacy, learning disabilities, ADHD, student-led IEP process

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Authors: Adel S. Alanazi

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The transition of a student with a disability from school to work is the most crucial phase while moving from the stage of adolescence into early adulthood. In this process, young individuals face various difficulties and challenges in order to accomplish the next venture of life successfully. In this respect, this paper aims to examine the challenges encountered by the individuals with intellectual disabilities in transition to work in Saudi Arabia. For this purpose, this study has undertaken a qualitative research-based methodology; wherein interpretivist philosophy has been followed along with inductive approach and exploratory research design. The data for the research has been gathered with the help of semi-structured interviews, whose findings are analysed with the help of thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of persons with intellectual disabilities, officials, supervisors and specialists of two vocational rehabilitation centres providing training to intellectually disabled students, in addition to that, directors of companies and websites in hiring those individuals. The total number of respondents for the interview was 15. The purposive sampling method was used to select the respondents for the interview. This sampling method is a non-probability sampling method which draws respondents from a known population and allows flexibility and suitability in selecting the participants for the study. The findings gathered from the interview revealed that the lack of awareness among their parents regarding the rights of their children who are intellectually disabled; the lack of adequate communication and coordination between various entities; concerns regarding their training and subsequent employment are the key difficulties experienced by the individuals with intellectual disabilities. Training in programmes such as bookbinding, carpentry, computing, agriculture, electricity and telephone exchange operations were involved as key training programmes. The findings of this study also revealed that information technology and media were playing a significant role in smoothing the transition to employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, religious and cultural attitudes have been identified to be restricted for people with such disabilities in seeking advantages from job opportunities. On the basis of these findings, it can be implied that the information gathered through this study will serve to be highly beneficial for Saudi Arabian schools/ rehabilitation centres for individuals with intellectual disability to facilitate them in overcoming the problems they encounter during the transition to work.

Keywords: intellectual disability, transition services, rehabilitation centre, employment

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Authors: Ruth Nalugya, Claire Nimusiima, Elizabeth Kawesa, Harriet Nambejja, Geert van Hove, Janet Seeley, Femke Bannink Mbazzi

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Background: ‘Obuntu bulamu’, an intervention for children, parents, and teachers to improve the participation and inclusion of children with disabilities (CwD) through peer-to-peer support, was developed and tested in central Uganda between 2017 and 2019. The intervention consisted of children, parents, and teachers' training sessions and peer to peer support activities directed at disability inclusion using an African disability framework. In this paper, we discuss parent participation in and parent evaluation of the ‘Obuntu bulamu’ intervention. Methods: This qualitative Afrocentric intervention study was implemented in 10 communities in the Wakiso district in Central Uganda. We purposely selected children aged 8 to 14 years with different impairments, their peers, and parents, with different levels of household income and familial support, who were enrolled in primary schools in the ten communities with on average three children with disabilities per community. Sixty four parents (33 parents of CwDs and 31 peers) participating in the ‘Obuntu bulamu’ study were interviewed at baseline and endline. Two focus group discussions were held with parents at the midline. Parents also participated in a consultative meeting about the intervention design at baseline, and two evaluation workshops held at midline and endline. Thematic data analysis of the interview and focus group data was conducted. Results: Findings showed parents found the group-based activities inspiring and said they built hope and confidence. Parents felt the intervention was acceptable, culturally appropriate, and supportive as it built on values and practices from their own traditions. Parents reported the intervention enhanced a sense of togetherness and belonging through the group meetings and follow-up activities. Parents also mentioned that the training helped them develop more positive attitudes towards CwD and disability inclusion. Parents felt that the invention increased a child’s participation and inclusion at home, school, and in communities. Conclusion: The Obuntu bulamu peer to peer support intervention is an acceptable, culturally appropriate intervention that has the potential to improve the inclusion of CwD. A larger randomized control trial is needed to evaluate the impact of the intervention model.

Keywords: inclusion, participation, inclusive education, peer support, belonging, Ubuntu, ‘Obuntu bulamu’

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Authors: Sareh Edalati, Nasrin Omidvar, Arezoo Haghighian Roudsari, Delaram Ghodsi, Azizollaah Zargaran

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Background and aim: Improving consumer’s food choices and providing a healthy food environment by governments is one of the essential approaches to prevent non-communicable diseases and to fulfill the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The present study aimed to provide an analysis of the nutrition labeling policy as one of the main components of the healthy food environment to provide learning lessons for the country and other low and middle-income countries. Methods: Data were collected by reviewing documents and conducting semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. Respondents were selected through purposive and snowball sampling and continued until data saturation. MAXQDA software was used to manage data analysis. A deductive content analysis was used by applying the Kingdon multiple streams and the policy triangulation framework. Results: Iran is the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region, which has implemented nutrition traffic light labeling. The implementation process has gone through two phases: voluntary and mandatory. In the voluntary labeling, volunteer food manufacturers who chose to have the labels would receive an honorary logo and this helped to reduce the food-sector resistance gradually. After this phase, the traffic light labeling became mandatory. Despite these efforts, there has been poor involvement of media for public awareness and sensitization. Also, the inconsistency of nutrition traffic light colors which are based on food standard guidelines, lack of consistency between nutrition traffic light colors, the healthy/unhealthy nature of some food products such as olive oil and diet cola and the absence of a comprehensive evaluation plan were among the pitfalls and policy challenges identified. Conclusions: Strengthening the governance through improving collaboration within health and non-health sectors for implementation, more transparency of truthfulness of nutrition traffic labeling initiating with real ingredients, and applying international and local scientific evidence or any further revision of the program is recommended. Also, developing public awareness campaigns and revising school curriculums to improve students’ skills on nutrition label applications should be highly emphasized.

Keywords: nutrition labeling, policy analysis, food environment, Iran

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Authors: Karen V. Lee

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The background and significance of this study involves an autoethnographic story that shares research results about how music and movies influence the suicide of a new music teacher working in a public school. The performative narrative duet demonstrates how music and movies highlight social issues when the new teacher cannot cope with allegations surrounding professional issues. Both university advisors are drawn into deep reflection about the wider political issues that arise around the transition from the student-teacher internship process to the teaching career with the stark reality of teaching profession in the 21st century. This performance of story and music creates a transformative composition of reading, hearing, feeling while provoking visceral and emotional responses. Sometimes, young teachers are forced to take a leave of absence to reflect upon their practice with adolescents. In this extreme circumstance, the outcome was suicide. The qualitative research method involves an autoethnographic story as the author is methodologist, theoretician, and participant. Sub-themes surround film, music education and how movie resources have influenced his tragic misguided decision regarding social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and practical strategies to cope with the allegations. Major findings from this story demonstrate how lived experiences can resonate the importance of providing more education and resources to new teachers. The research provides substantive contribution, aesthetic merit, as the impact of movies and music influences the suicide. The reflexive account of storied sensory experiences situated in culture settings becomes a way to describe and seek verisimilitude by evoking lifelike and believable feelings from others. Sadly, the circumstance surrounding the story involving the allegations of a teacher sexually harassing a student is not uncommon in society. However, the young teacher never received counseling to cope with the allegations but instead was influenced by music and movies and opted for suicide. In conclusion, stories share the implications for film and media studies as music and movies can encourage a moral mission to empower individuals with despair and emotional impairment to embrace professional support to assist with emotional and legal challenges encountered in the field of teaching. It is from media studies that education and awareness surrounding suicide can disseminate information about the tragic outcome.

Keywords: music, movies, suicide, narrative, autoethnography

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Authors: Kavita Goel, Donald Winchester

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In a world of information overload and work complexities, academics often struggle to create an online instructional environment enabling efficient and effective student learning. Research has established that students’ learning styles are different, some learn faster when taught using audio and visual methods. Attributes like prior knowledge and mental effort affect their learning. ‘Cognitive load theory’, opines learners have limited processing capacity. Cognitive load depends on the learner’s prior knowledge, the complexity of content and tasks, and instructional environment. Hence, the proper allocation of cognitive resources is critical for students’ learning. Consequently, a lecturer needs to understand the limits and strengths of the human learning processes, various learning styles of students, and accommodate these requirements while designing online assessments. As acknowledged in the cognitive load theory literature, visual and auditory explanations of worked examples potentially lead to a reduction of cognitive load (effort) and increased facilitation of learning when compared to conventional sequential text problem solving. This will help learner to utilize both subcomponents of their working memory. Instructional design changes were introduced at the case site for the delivery of the postgraduate business subjects. To make effective use of auditory and visual modalities, video recorded lectures, and key concept webinars were delivered to students. Videos were prepared to free up student limited working memory from irrelevant mental effort as all elements in a visual screening can be viewed simultaneously, processed quickly, and facilitates greater psychological processing efficiency. Most case study students in the postgraduate programs are adults, working full-time at higher management levels, and studying part-time. Their learning style and needs are different from other tertiary students. The purpose of the audio and visual interventions was to lower the students cognitive load and provide an online environment supportive to their efficient learning. These changes were expected to impact the student’s learning experience, their academic performance and retention favourably. This paper posits that these changes to instruction design facilitates students to integrate new knowledge into their long-term memory. A mixed methods case study methodology was used in this investigation. Primary data were collected from interviews and survey(s) of students and academics. Secondary data were collected from the organisation’s databases and reports. Some evidence was found that the academic performance of students does improve when new instructional design changes are introduced although not statistically significant. However, the overall grade distribution of student’s academic performance has changed and skewed higher which shows deeper understanding of the content. It was identified from feedback received from students that recorded webinars served as better learning aids than material with text alone, especially with more complex content. The recorded webinars on the subject content and assessments provides flexibility to students to access this material any time from repositories, many times, and this enhances students learning style. Visual and audio information enters student’s working memory more effectively. Also as each assessment included the application of the concepts, conceptual knowledge interacted with the pre-existing schema in the long-term memory and lowered student’s cognitive load.

Keywords: cognitive load theory, learning style, instructional environment, working memory

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Authors: Kamrun Nahar Koly, Saimul Islam

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Overweight and obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and a leading risk factor for morbidity throughout the world. In a country like Bangladesh where under nutrition and overweight both co-exist at the same time, but this issue has been underexplored as expected. The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and identify the barriers of the physicians regarding overweight and obesity management on an urban hospital of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. A simple cross sectional study was conducted at two selected government and two private hospital to assess the knowledge, attitude and common barriers regarding overweight and obesity management among healthcare professionals. One hundred and fifty five physicians were surveyed. A standard questionnaire was constructed in local language and interview was administrated. Among the 155 physicians, majority 53 (34.20%) were working on SMC, 36 (23.20%) from DMC, 33 (21.30%) were based on SSMC and the rest 33 (21.30%) were from HFRCMH. Mean age of the study physicians were 31.88±5.92. Majority of the physicians 80 (51.60%) were not able to answer the correct prevalence of obesity but also a substantial number of them 75(48.40%) could mark the right answer. Among the physicians 150 (96.77%) reported BMI as a diagnostic index for overweight and obesity, where as 43 (27.74%) waist circumference, 30 (19.35%) waist hip ratio and 26 (16.77%) marked mid-arm circumference. A substantial proportion 71 (46.70%) of the physicians thought that they do not have much to do controlling weight problem in Bangladesh context though it has been opposed by 42 (27.60%) of the physicians and 39(25.70%) was neutral to comment. The majority of them 147 (96.1%) thought that a family based education program would be beneficial followed by 145 (94.8%) physicians mentioned about raising awareness among mothers as she is the primary caregiver. The idea of a school based education program will also help to early intervene referred by 142 (92.8%) of the physicians. Community based education program was also appreciated by 136 (89.5%) of the physicians. About 74 (47.7%) of them think that the patients still lack in motivation to maintain their weight properly at the same time too many patients to deal with can be a barrier as well assumed by 73 (47.1%) of them. Lack of national policy or management guideline can act as an obstacle told by 60 (38.7%) of the physicians. The relationship of practicing as a part of the general examination and chronic disease management was statistically significant (p<0.05) with physician occupational status. As besides, perceived barriers like lack of parents support, lack of a national policy was statistically significant (p<0.05) with physician occupational status. For the young physician, more training programme will be needed to transform their knowledge and attitude into practice. However, several important barriers interface for the physician treatment efforts and need to address.

Keywords: obesity management, physician, awareness, barriers, Bangladesh

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Authors: Sunday Moses Ojelabi

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Safety is the protection of the crew, passenger and equipment itself, as well as those living and working near bodies of water, from hazardous situations. To assure safety, watch keeping is paramount because neglecting your watchkeeping can lead to hazardous situations. Navigation is the assignment of a sailor to a specific route on a vessel to operate. Navigation is the process of planning, managing, and directing a vessel safely to the desired destination with the aid of intense and efficient watch keeping. Safety, i,e, all measures done to preserve the welfare of marine life, maritime infrastructure, facilities, ships, offshore installations, crew, and passengers, as well as the preservation of navigation and the ease of maritime trade, are referred to as safety measures;. When it comes to health, the absence of a proper first aid kit will affect injured sailors and passengers. Not using goggles while shipping, ear muffs, etc., in the course of maintenance can be hazardous. Watchkeeping: i.e the specific dutiies assigned to a personnel in a vessel to see to its continous smooth functionality. Your lookout or watch officer [officer on navigational duty] must be active at all times in the course of duty. Navigation refers to the technique of precisely determining a craft or vehicle's position and directing its motion along a particular course. The seafarers are not being put through regular seminars, training, and orientations. In parts of West Africa, sailors go to school without being able to secure jobs until their papers expire. For that, they won’t go for another Standard Trainning Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers to upgrade their certificate. In light of this, they are not familiar with the new vessels in the country, and for this, they can`t meet the safety, watch keeping, and navigation standards. Also, shipping companies and ship owners are being selfish by not putting the proper things needed onboard regarding safety, watchkeeping, and navigational equipment. The questions raised in these presentations are the breakdown of the safety activities, watch keeping effectiveness, and navigational accuracy. All safety and watch keeping regulations should be applied efficiently. The problem identified includes a lack of safety instruments onboard vessels in African waters. Also, inadequate proper watchkeeping due to the excess workload on the seafarers can lead to an improper lookout, which gives room to collision, hijacking, and piracy. The impact of this research is to inform African seafarers, shipping companies, and ship owners of the necessary information concerning the safety of their lives and that of their passengers, cargo, and equipment.

Keywords: standard of training, certification, watch keeping for seafarers, navigation, safety, watchkeeping

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Authors: P. Thachitasing, N. Jansawang, W. Rakrai, T. Santiboon

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The aim of this study is to investigate of the comparing the instructional design models between the Think-Pair-Share and Conventional Learning (5E Inquiry Model) Processes to enhance students’ learning achievements and their problem solving skills on stoichiometry issue for concerning the 2-instructional method with a sample consisted of 80 students in 2 classes at the 11th grade level in Chaturaphak Phiman Ratchadaphisek School. Students’ different learning outcomes in chemistry classes with the cluster random sampling technique were used. Instructional Methods designed with the 40-experimenl student group by Think-Pair-Share process and the 40-controlling student group by the conventional learning (5E Inquiry Model) method. These learning different groups were obtained using the 5 instruments; the 5-lesson instructional plans of Think-Pair-Share and STEM Education Method, students’ learning achievements and their problem solving skills were assessed with the pretest and posttest techniques, students’ outcomes of their instructional the Think-Pair-Share (TPSM) and the STEM Education Methods were compared. Statistically significant was differences with the paired t-test and F-test between posttest and pretest technique of the whole students in chemistry classes were found, significantly. Associations between student learning outcomes in chemistry and two methods of their learning to students’ learning achievements and their problem solving skills also were found. The use of two methods for this study is revealed that the students perceive their learning achievements to their problem solving skills to be differently learning achievements in different groups are guiding practical improvements in chemistry classrooms to assist teacher in implementing effective approaches for improving instructional methods. Students’ learning achievements of mean average scores to their controlling group with the Think-Pair-Share Model (TPSM) are lower than experimental student group for the STEM education method, evidence significantly. The E1/E2 process were revealed evidence of 82.56/80.44, and 83.02/81.65 which results based on criteria are higher than of 80/80 standard level with the IOC, consequently. The predictive efficiency (R2) values indicate that 61% and 67% and indicate that 63% and 67% of the variances in chemistry classes to their learning achievements on posttest in chemistry classes of the variances in students’ problem solving skills to their learning achievements to their chemistry classrooms on Stoichiometry issue with the posttest were attributable to their different learning outcomes for the TPSM and STEMe instructional methods.

Keywords: comparisons, students’ learning achievements, think-pare-share model (TPSM), stem education, problem solving skills, chemistry classes, stoichiometry issue

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Authors: Noor Ismael, Somaya Malkawi, Sherin Al Awady, Taleb Ismael

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Background/Significance: Cancer is a serious health condition that affects individuals’ quality of life during and after the course of this condition. Children who have survived cancer and their caregivers may deal with residual physical, cognitive or social disabilities. There is little research on caregivers’ health and wellbeing after cancer. To the authors’ best knowledge; there is no specific research about how caregivers cope with everyday stressors after cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the coping strategies that caregivers of children who have survived cancer utilize to overcome everyday stressors. Methods: This study utilized a descriptive survey design. The sample consisted of 103 caregivers, who visited the health and wellness clinic at a national cancer center (additional demographics are presented in the results). The sample included caregivers of children who were off cancer treatments for at least two years from the beginning of data collection. The institution’s internal review board approved this study. Caregivers who agreed to participate completed the survey. The survey collected caregiver reported demographic information and the Brief COPE which measures caregivers' frequency of engaging in certain coping strategies. The Brief COPE consisted of 14 coping sub-scales, which are self-distraction, active coping, denial, substance use, use of emotional support, use of instrumental support, behavioral disengagement, venting, positive reframing, planning, humor, acceptance, religion, and self-blame. Data analyses included calculating sub-scales’ scores for the fourteen coping strategies and analysis of frequencies of demographics and coping strategies. Results: The 103 caregivers who participated in this study were 62% mothers, 80% married, 45% finished high school, 50% do not work outside the house, and 60% have low family income. Result showed that religious coping (66%) and acceptance (60%) were the most utilized coping strategies, followed by positive reframing (45%), active coping (44%) and planning (43%). The least utilized coping strategies in our sample were humor (5%), behavioral disengagement (8%), and substance-use (10%). Conclusions: Caregivers of children who have survived cancer mostly utilize religious coping and acceptance in dealing with everyday stressors. Because these coping strategies do not directly solve stressors like active coping and planning coping strategies, it is important to support caregivers in choosing and implementing effective coping strategies. Knowing from our results that some caregivers may utilize substance use as a coping strategy, which has negative health effects on caregivers and their children, there must be direct interventions that target these caregivers and their families.

Keywords: caregivers, cancer, stress, coping

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Authors: Sajee A. Gamage, Champa J. Wijesinghe, Patricia Burtner, Ananda R. Wickremasinghe

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Background: Teachers working in the context of special education have an enormous responsibility of enhancing performance skills of children in their classroom settings. Fine Motor Skills (FMS) are essential functional skills for children to gain independence in Activities of Daily Living. Children with Down Syndrome (DS) are predisposed to specific challenges due to deficits in FMS. This study is aimed to determine the teachers’ experience on improving FMS of children with DS in the context of special education of Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among all consenting eligible teachers (n=147) working in the context of special education in government schools of Southern Province of Sri Lanka. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on literature and expert opinion to assess teachers’ experience regarding deficits of FMS, limitations of classroom activity performance and barriers to improve FMS of children with DS. Results: Approximately 93% of the teachers were females with a mean age ( ± SD) of 43.1 ( ± 10.1) years. Thirty percent of the teachers had training in special educationand 83% had children with DS in their classrooms. Major deficits of FMS reported were deficits in grasping (n=116; 79%), in-hand manipulation (n=103; 70%) and bilateral hand use (n=99; 67.3%). Paperwork (n=70; 47.6%), painting (n=58; 39.5%), scissor work (n=50; 34.0%), pencil use for writing (n=45; 30.6%) and use of tools in the classroom (n=41; 27.9%) were identified as major classroom performance limitations of children with DS. Parental factors (n=67; 45.6%), disease specific characteristics (n=58; 39.5%) and classroom factors (n=36; 24.5%), were identified as major barriers to improve FMS in the classroom setting. Lack of resources and standard tools, social stigma and late school admission were also identified as barriers to FMS training. Eighty nine percent of the teachers informed that training fine motor activities in a special education classroom was more successful than work with normal classroom setting. Conclusion: Major areas of FMS deficits were grasping, in-hand manipulation and bilateral hand use; classroom performance limitations included paperwork, painting and scissor work of children with DS. Teachers recommended regular practice of fine motor activities according to individual need. Further research is required to design a culturally specific FMS assessment tool and intervention methods to improve FMS of children with DS in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: classroom activities, Down syndrome, experience, fine motor skills, special education, teachers

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Authors: Betul Altinok

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The aim of this study is researching servant leadership behaviors of sports managers. For this purpose, Servant Leadership behaviors of Sport Managers (N=69) working as Dean, School Principal and Head of Department in Sport Sciences Faculties, Physical Education and Sport Schools and Departments educating Physical Education and Sport investigated via questionnaires applied to academicians (N=1185) working in these institutions. Servant Leadership Questionnaire sent via e-mail to all Academicians working in Physical Education and Sport educating Faculties, Schools of Universities and Departments in Turkey. 406 survey which is responded and accurately completed by Academicians were evaluated. In this study, Servant Leadership Questionnaire developed and conducted validity and reliability analysis by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) used to investigate sports managers servant leadership behaviors. Scale translated into Turkish then validity and reliability analysis were conducted. After measurement model of servant leadership questionnaire verified, Shapiro Wilk normality test was applied to obtained data to determine whether has got a normal distribution or not, depending on gender, job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. Results of practiced normality test showed that data has not got a normal distribution (nonparametric). After normality test, Mann Whitney-U test applied at 0.05 value for determining whether there is a difference between servant leadership scores according to gender and Kruskal Wallis Test applied at 0.05 value for determining whether there is a difference between servant leadership scores according to job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. Test results showed that there were not differences between Altruistic Calling (p>0.05), Emotional Healing (p>0.05), Wisdom (p>0.05), Persuasive Mapping (p>0.05) and (p>0.05), Organizational Stewardship sub-dimensions according to gender. Test results showed that there were not differences between Altruistic Calling (p>0.05), Emotional Healing (p>0.05), Wisdom (p>0.05), Persuasive Mapping (p>0.05) and (p>0.05), Organizational Stewardship sub-dimensions according to job title, profession time, department and evaluated manager. In the light of study results, it can be said that applied survey is objective and unfurls evaluated managers servant leadership behaviors. Empirical and practical contribution of this study is to test sports managers servant leadership behaviors in Turkey for the very first time.

Keywords: academicians, management, servant leadership, sport

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Authors: Suzan Duygu Bedir Erişti

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The present study tried to make a general evaluation of the dissertations conducted in the last decade in the field of art education in the Department of Fine Arts Education in the Institutes of Education Sciences in Turkey. In the study, most of the universities which involved an Institute of Education Sciences within their bodies in Turkey were reached. As a result, a total of a hundred dissertations conducted in the departments of Fine Arts Education at several universities (Anadolu, Gazi, Ankara, Marmara, Dokuz Eylul, Ondokuz Mayıs, Selcuk and Necmettin Erbakan) were determined via the open access systems of universities as well as via the Thesis Search System of Higher Education Council. Most of the dissertations were reached via the latter system, and in cases of failure, the dissertations were reached via the former system. Consequently, most of the dissertations which did not have any access restriction and which had appropriate content were reached. The dissertations reached were examined based on document analysis in terms of their research topics, research paradigms, contents, purposes, methodologies, data collection tools, and analysis techniques. The dissertations conducted in institutes of Education Sciences could be said to have demonstrated a development, especially in recent years with respect to their qualities. It was also found that a great majority of the dissertations were carried out at Gazi University and Marmara University and that a similar number of dissertations were conducted in other universities. When all the dissertations were taken into account, in general, they were found to differ a lot in their subject areas. In most of the dissertations, the quantitative paradigm was adopted, while especially in recent years, more importance has been given to methods based on the qualitative paradigm. In addition, most of the dissertations conducted with quantitative paradigm were structured based on the general survey model and experimental research model. In terms of statistical techniques, university-focused approaches were used. In some universities, advanced statistical techniques were applied, while in some other universities, there was a moderate use of statistical techniques. Most of the studies produced results generalizable to the levels of postgraduate education and elementary school education. The studies were generally structured in face-to-face teaching processes, while some of them were designed in environments which did not include results generalizable to the face-to-face education system. In the present study, it was seen that the dissertations conducted in the departments of Fine Arts Education at the Institutes of Education Sciences in Turkey did not involve application-based approaches which included art-based or visual research in terms of either research topic or methodology.

Keywords: fine arts education, dissertations, evaluation of dissertations, research trends in fine arts education

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Authors: Eriko Ochiai, Fumiko Satoh, Keiko Miyashita, Yu Kakimoto, Motoki Osawa

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Sudden and unexpected deaths from unknown causes occur in infants and youths. Recently, molecular links between a part of these deaths and several genetic diseases are examined in the postmortem. For instance, hereditary long QT syndrome and Burgada syndrome are occasionally fatal through critical ventricular tachyarrhythmia. There are a large number of target genes responsible for such diseases, the conventional analysis using the Sanger’s method has been laborious. In this report, we attempted to analyze sudden deaths comprehensively using the next generation sequencing (NGS) technique. Multiplex PCR to subject’s DNA was performed using Ion AmpliSeq Library Kits 2.0 and Ion AmpliSeq Inherited Disease Panel (Life Technologies). After the library was constructed by emulsion PCR, the amplicons were sequenced 500 flows on Ion Personal Genome Machine System (Life Technologies) according to the manufacture instruction. SNPs and indels were analyzed to the sequence reads that were mapped on hg19 of reference sequences. This project has been approved by the ethical committee of Tokai University School of Medicine. As a representative case, the molecular analysis to a 40 years old male who received a diagnosis of Brugada syndrome demonstrated a total of 584 SNPs or indels. Non-synonymous and frameshift nucleotide substitutions were selected in the coding region of heart disease related genes of ANK2, AKAP9, CACNA1C, DSC2, KCNQ1, MYLK, SCN1B, and STARD3. In particular, c.629T-C transition in exon 3 of the SCN1B gene, resulting in a leu210-to-pro (L210P) substitution is predicted “damaging” by the SIFT program. Because the mutation has not been reported, it was unclear if the substitution was pathogenic. Sudden death that failed in determining the cause of death constitutes one of the most important unsolved subjects in forensic pathology. The Ion AmpliSeq Inherited Disease Panel can amplify the exons of 328 genes at one time. We realized the difficulty in selection of the true source from a number of candidates, but postmortem genetic testing using NGS analysis deserves of a diagnostic to date. We now extend this analysis to SIDS suspected subjects and young sudden death victims.

Keywords: postmortem genetic testing, sudden death, SIDS, next generation sequencing

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Authors: Athena Daniilidou, Maria Platsidou

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Resilience is considered to greatly affect the personal and occupational wellbeing and efficacy of individuals; therefore, it has been widely studied in the social and behavioral sciences. Given its significance, several scales have been created to assess resilience of children and adults. However, most of these scales focus on examining only the internal protective or risk factors that affect the levels of resilience. The aim of the present study is to create a reliable scale that assesses both the internal and the external protective factors that affect Greek teachers’ levels of resilience. Participants were 136 secondary school teachers (89 females, 47 males) from urban areas of Greece. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-Risc) and Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) were used to collect the data. First, exploratory factor analysis was employed to investigate the inner structure of each scale. For both scales, the analyses revealed a differentiated factor solution compared to the ones proposed by the creators. That prompt us to create a scale that would combine the best fitting subscales of the CD-Risc and the RSA. To this end, the items of the four factors with the best fit and highest reliability were used to create the ‘Teachers' resilience scale’. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale assesses the following protective/risk factors: Personal Competence and Strength (9 items, α=.83), Family Cohesion Spiritual Influences (7 items, α=.80), Social Competence and Peers Support (7 items, α=.78) and Spiritual Influence (3 items, α=.58). This four-factor model explained 49,50% of the total variance. In the next step, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the 26 items of the derived scale to test the above factor solution. The fit of the model to the data was good (χ2/292 = 1.245, CFI = .921, GFI = .829, SRMR = .074, CI90% = .026-,056, RMSEA = 0.43), indicating that the proposed scale can validly measure the aforementioned four aspects of teachers' resilience and thus confirmed its factorial validity. Finally, analyses of variance were performed to check for individual differences in the levels of teachers' resilience in relation to their gender, age, marital status, level of studies, and teaching specialty. Results were consistent to previous findings, thus providing an indication of discriminant validity for the instrument. This scale has the advantage of assessing both the internal and the external protective factors of resilience in a brief yet comprehensive way, since it consists 26 items instead of the total of 58 of the CD-Risc and RSA scales. Its factorial inner structure is supported by the relevant literature on resilience, as it captures the major protective factors of resilience identified in previous studies.

Keywords: protective factors, resilience, scale development, teachers

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Norah Alosayl

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English is considered the most important foreign language in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) because of the usefulness of English as a global language compared to Arabic. As students’ desire to improve their English language skills has grown, English writing has been identified as the most difficult problem for Saudi students in their language learning. Although the English language in Saudi Arabia is taught beginning in the seventh grade, many students have problems at the university level, especially in writing, due to a gap between what is taught in secondary and high schools and university expectations- pupils generally study English at school, based on one book with few exercises in vocabulary and grammar exercises, and there are no specific writing lessons. Moreover, from personal teaching experience at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University, students face real problems with their writing. This paper revolves around the blackboard-based collaborative writing to help the undergraduate Saudi EFL students, in their first year enrolled in two sections of ENGL 101 in the first semester of 2021 at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University, practice the most difficult skill they found in their writing through a small group. Therefore, a sequential mixed methods design will be suited. The first phase of the study aims to highlight the most difficult skill experienced by students from an official writing exam that is evaluated by their teachers through an official rubric used in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University. In the second phase, this study will intend to investigate the benefits of social interaction on the process of learning writing. Students will be provided with five collaborative writing tasks via discussion feature on Blackboard to practice a skill that they found difficult in writing. the tasks will be formed based on social constructivist theory and pedagogic frameworks. The interaction will take place between peers and their teachers. The frequencies of students’ participation and the quality of their interaction will be observed through manual counting, screenshotting. This will help the researcher understand how students actively work on the task through the amount of their participation and will also distinguish the type of interaction (on task, about task, or off-task). Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with students to understand their perceptions about the blackboard-based collaborative writing tasks, and questionnaires will be distributed to identify students’ attitudes with the tasks.

Keywords: writing difficulties, blackboard-based collaborative writing, process of learning writing, interaction, participations

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Marija Mihajlovic Pereira

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Teaching and learning a musical instrument is challenging for both teachers and students. Teachers generally use diverse strategies to resolve students' particular issues in a one-to-one context. Considering individual sessions as a supportive educational context, the teacher can play a decisive role in stimulating and promoting self-regulated learning strategies, especially with beginning learners. The teachers who promote self-controlling behaviors, strategic monitoring, and regulation of actions toward goals could expect their students to practice more qualitatively and consciously. When encouraged to adopt self-regulation habits, students' could benefit from greater productivity on a longer path. Founded on Bary Zimmerman's cyclical model that comprehends three phases - forethought, performance, and self-reflection, this work aims to articulate self-regulated and music learning. Self-regulated learning appeals to the individual's attitude in planning, controlling, and reflecting on their performance. Furthermore, this study aimed to present an observation grid for perceiving teaching instructions that encourage students' controlling cognitive behaviors in light of the belief that conscious promotion of self-regulation may motivate strategic actions toward goals in musical performance. The participants, two teachers, and two students have been involved in the social inclusion project in Lisbon (Portugal). The author and one independent inter-observer analyzed six video-recorded string instrument lessons. The data correspond to three sessions per teacher lectured to one (different) student. Violin (f) and violoncello (m) teachers hold a Master's degree in music education and approximately five years of experience. In their second year of learning an instrument, students have acquired reasonable skills in musical reading, posture, and sound quality until then. The students also manifest positive learning behaviors, interest in learning a musical instrument, although their study habits are still inconsistent. According to the grid's four categories (parent codes), in-class rehearsal frames were coded using MaxQda software, version 20, according to the grid's four categories (parent codes): self-regulated learning, teaching verbalizations, teaching strategies, and students' in-class performance. As a result, selected rehearsal frames qualitatively describe teaching instructions that might promote students' body and hearing awareness, such as "close the eyes while playing" or "sing to internalize the pitch." Another analysis type, coding the short video events according to the observation grid's subcategories (child codes), made it possible to perceive the time teachers dedicate to specific verbal or non-verbal strategies. Furthermore, a coding overlay analysis indicated that teachers tend to stimulate. (i) Forethought – explain tasks, offer feedback and ensure that students identify a goal, (ii) Performance – teach study strategies and encourage students to sing and use vocal abilities to ensure inner audition, (iii) Self-reflection – frequent inquiring and encouraging the student to verbalize their perception of performance. Although developed in the context of individual string instrument lessons, this classroom observation grid brings together essential variables in a one-to-one lesson. It may find utility in a broader context of music education due to the possibility to organize, observe and evaluate teaching practices. Besides that, this study contributes to cognitive development by suggesting a practical approach to fostering self-regulated learning.

Keywords: music education, observation grid, self-regulated learning, string instruments, teaching practices

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Carolina Beltran, Carlos De Los Reyes

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Acquired brain injury (ABI) is any physical and functional injury secondary to events that affect the brain tissue. It is one of the biggest causes of disability in the world and it has a high annual incidence in the pediatric population. There are several causes of ABI such as traumatic brain injury, central nervous system infection, stroke, hypoxia, tumors and others. The consequences can be cognitive, behavioral, emotional and functional. The cognitive rehabilitation is necessary to achieve the best outcomes for pediatric people with ABI. Cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) is an individualized client-centered, performance-based, problem-solving approach that focuses on the strategy used to support the acquisition of three client-chosen goals. It has demonstrated improvements in the pediatric population with other neurological disorder but not in Spanish speakers with ABI. Aim: The main objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of cognitive orientation to daily occupational performances (CO-OP) adapted to Spanish speakers, in the level of independence and behavior in a pediatric population with ABI. Methods: Case studies with measure pre/post-treatment were used in three children with ABI, sustained at least before 6 months assessment, in school, aged 8 to 16 years, age ABI after 6 years old and above average intellectual ability. Twelve sessions of CO-OP adapted to Spanish speakers were used and videotaped. The outcomes were based on cognitive, behavior and functional independence measurements such as Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VINELAND, Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS) and others neuropsychological measures. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Universidad del Norte in Colombia. Informed parental written consent was obtained for all participants. Results: children were able to identify three goals and use the global strategy ‘goal-plan-do-check’ during each session. Verbal self-instruction was used by all children. CO-OP showed a clinically significant improvement in goals regarding with independence level and behavior according to parents and teachers. Conclusion: The results indicated that CO-OP and the use of a global strategy such as ‘goal-plan-do-check’ can be used in children with ABI in order to improve their specific goals. This is a preliminary version of a big study carrying in Colombia as part of the experimental design.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation, acquired brain injury, pediatric population, cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Meng-Fei Cheng, Wei-Lun Chen, Han-Chang Ma, Chi-Che Tsai

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Recent K–12 Taiwan Science Education Curriculum Guideline emphasize the essential role of modeling curriculum in science learning; however, few modeling curricula have been designed and adopted in current science teaching. Therefore, this study aims to develop modeling curriculum on electric circuits to investigate any learning difficulties students have with modeling curriculum and further enhance modeling teaching. This study was conducted with 44 10th-grade students in Central Taiwan. Data collection included a students’ understanding of models in science (SUMS) survey that explored the students' epistemology of scientific models and modeling and a complex circuit problem to investigate the students’ modeling abilities. Data analysis included the following: (1) Paired sample t-tests were used to examine the improvement of students’ modeling abilities and conceptual understanding before and after the curriculum was taught. (2) Paired sample t-tests were also utilized to determine the students’ modeling abilities before and after the modeling activities, and a Pearson correlation was used to understand the relationship between students’ modeling abilities during the activities and on the posttest. (3) ANOVA analysis was used during different stages of the modeling curriculum to investigate the differences between the students’ who developed microscopic models and macroscopic models after the modeling curriculum was taught. (4) Independent sample t-tests were employed to determine whether the students who changed their models had significantly different understandings of scientific models than the students who did not change their models. The results revealed the following: (1) After the modeling curriculum was taught, the students had made significant progress in both their understanding of the science concept and their modeling abilities. In terms of science concepts, this modeling curriculum helped the students overcome the misconception that electric currents reduce after flowing through light bulbs. In terms of modeling abilities, this modeling curriculum helped students employ macroscopic or microscopic models to explain their observed phenomena. (2) Encouraging the students to explain scientific phenomena in different context prompts during the modeling process allowed them to convert their models to microscopic models, but it did not help them continuously employ microscopic models throughout the whole curriculum. The students finally consistently employed microscopic models when they had help visualizing the microscopic models. (3) During the modeling process, the students who revised their own models better understood that models can be changed than the students who did not revise their own models. Also, the students who revised their models to explain different scientific phenomena tended to regard models as explanatory tools. In short, this study explored different strategies to facilitate students’ modeling processes as well as their difficulties with the modeling process. The findings can be used to design and teach modeling curricula and help students enhance their modeling abilities.

Keywords: electric circuits, modeling curriculum, science learning, scientific model

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: Adem Peker, Yüksel Eroğlu, İsmail Ay

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As the information and communication technologies have become embedded in everyday life of adolescents, both their possible benefits and risks to adolescents are being identified. The information and communication technologies provide opportunities for adolescents to connect with peers and to access to information. However, as with other social connections, users of information and communication devices have the potential to meet and interact with in harmful ways. One emerging example of such interaction is cyber bullying. Cyber bullying occurs when someone uses the information and communication technologies to harass or embarrass another person. Cyber bullying can take the form of malicious text messages and e-mails, spreading rumours, and excluding people from online groups. Cyber bullying has been linked to psychological problems for cyber bullies and victims. Therefore, it is important to determine how internet addiction contributes to cyber bullying. Building on this question, this study takes a closer look at the relationship between internet addiction and cyber bullying. For this purpose, in this study, based on descriptive relational model, it was hypothesized that loss of control, excessive desire to stay online, and negativity in social relationships, which are dimensions of internet addiction, would be associated positively with cyber bullying and victimization. Participants were 383 high school students (176 girls and 207 boys; mean age, 15.7 years). Internet addiction was measured by using Internet Addiction Scale. The Cyber Victim and Bullying Scale was utilized to measure cyber bullying and victimization. The scales were administered to the students in groups in the classrooms. In this study, stepwise regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationships between dimensions of internet addiction and cyber bullying and victimization. Before applying stepwise regression analysis, assumptions of regression were verified. According to stepwise regression analysis, cyber bullying was predicted by loss of control (β=.26, p<.001) and negativity in social relationships (β=.13, p<.001). These variables accounted for 9 % of the total variance, with the loss of control explaining the higher percentage (8 %). On the other hand, cyber victimization was predicted by loss of control (β=.19, p<.001) and negativity in social relationships (β=.12, p<.001). These variables altogether accounted for 8 % of the variance in cyber victimization, with the best predictor loss of control (7 % of the total variance). The results of this study demonstrated that, as expected, loss of control and negativity in social relationships predicted cyber bullying and victimization positively. However, excessive desire to stay online did not emerge a significant predictor of both cyberbullying and victimization. Consequently, this study would enhance our understanding of the predictors of cyber bullying and victimization since the results proposed that internet addiction is related with cyber bullying and victimization.

Keywords: cyber bullying, internet addiction, adolescents, regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Marina Wagdy Nageeb Eskander

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A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Prasita Sooksamran, Wareerat Kaewurai

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STEM is an integrated teaching approach promoted by the Ministry of Education in Thailand. STEM Education is an integrated approach to teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It has been questioned by Thai teachers on the grounds of how to integrate STEM into the classroom. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop a science instructional model based on the STEM approach to enhance scientific mind and problem-solving skills for primary students. This study is participatory action research, and follows the following steps: 1) develop a model 2) seek the advice of experts regarding the teaching model. Developing the instructional model began with the collection and synthesis of information from relevant documents, related research and other sources in order to create prototype instructional model. 2) The examination of the validity and relevance of instructional model by a panel of nine experts. The findings were as follows: 1. The developed instructional model comprised of principles, objective, content, operational procedures and learning evaluation. There were 4 principles: 1) Learning based on the natural curiosity of primary school level children leading to knowledge inquiry, understanding and knowledge construction, 2) Learning based on the interrelation between people and environment, 3) Learning that is based on concrete learning experiences, exploration and the seeking of knowledge, 4) Learning based on the self-construction of knowledge, creativity, innovation and 5) relating their findings to real life and the solving of real-life problems. The objective of this construction model is to enhance scientific mind and problem-solving skills. Children will be evaluated according to their achievements. Lesson content is based on science as a core subject which is integrated with technology and mathematics at grade 6 level according to The Basic Education Core Curriculum 2008 guidelines. The operational procedures consisted of 6 steps: 1) Curiosity 2) Collection of data 3) Collaborative planning 4) Creativity and Innovation 5) Criticism and 6) Communication and Service. The learning evaluation is an authentic assessment based on continuous evaluation of all the material taught. 2. The experts agreed that the Science Instructional Model based on the STEM Education Approach had an excellent level of validity and relevance (4.67 S.D. 0.50).

Keywords: instructional model, STEM education, scientific mind, problem solving

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Eva Maged Hosni Sadek

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Kotomi Yamashita, Hiromi Kawasaki, Satoko Yamasaki, Susumu Fukita, Risako Sakai

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Lifestyle-related diseases develop from the long-term accumulation of health consequences from a poor lifestyle. Thus, schoolchildren, who have not accumulated long-term lifestyle habits, are believed to be at a lower risk for lifestyle-related diseases. However, schoolchildren rarely receive blood tests unless they are under treatment for a serious disease; without such data on their blood, the impacts of their young lifestyle could not be known. Blood data from physical measurements can help in the implementation of more effective health education. Therefore, we examined the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and blood sugar/serum lipid (BS/SL) levels. From 2014 to 2016, we measured the blood data of fourth-grade students living in a city in Japan. The present study reported on the results of 281 fourth-grade boys only (80.3% of total). We analyzed their BS/SL levels by comparing the blood data against the criteria of the National Center for Child Health and Development in Japan. Next, we examined the correlation between BMI and BS/SL levels. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 was used for analysis. A total of 69 boys (24.6%) were within the normal range for BMI (18.5–24), whereas 193 (71.5%) and 8 boys (2.8%) had lower and higher BMI, respectively. Regarding BS levels, 280 boys were within the normal range (70–90 mg/dl); 1 boy reported a higher value. All the boys were within the normal range for glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) (4.6–6.2%). Regarding SL levels, 271 boys were within the normal range (125–230 mg/dl) for total cholesterol (TC), whereas 5 boys (1.8%) had lower and 5 boys (1.8%) had higher levels. A total of 243 boys (92.7%) were within the normal range (36-138mg/dL) for triglycerides (TG), whereas 19 boys (7.3%) had lower and 19 boys (7.3%) had higher levels. Regarding high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), 276 boys (98.2%) were within the normal range (40-mg/dl), whereas 5 boys (1.8%) reported lower values. All but one boy (280, 99.6%) were within the normal range (-170 mg/dl) for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C); the exception (0.4%) had a higher level. BMI and BS didn’t show a correlation. BMI and HbA1c were moderately positively correlated (r = 0.139, ｐ＝0.019). We also observed moderate positive correlations between BMI and TG (r = 0.328, p < 0.01), TC (r=0.239, p< 0.01), LDL-C (r = 0.324, p < 0.01), respectively. BMI and HDL-C were low correlated (r = -0.185, p = 0.002). Most of the boys were within the normal range for BS/SL levels. However, some boys exceeded the normal TG range. Fourth graders with a high TG may develop a lifestyle-related disease in the future. Given its relation to TG, food habits should be improved in this group. Our findings suggested a positive correlation between BMI and BS/SL levels. Fourth-grade schoolboys with a high BMI may be at high risk for developing lifestyle-related diseases. Lifestyle improvement may be recommended to lower the BS/SL levels in this group.

Keywords: blood sugar level, lifestyle-related diseases, school students, serum lipid level

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Garry Gorman, Nigel McKelvey, James Connolly

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This study will evaluate a growth mindset intervention with Junior Cycle Coding and Senior Cycle Computer Science students in Ireland, where gamification will be used to incentivise growth mindset behaviour. An artificial intelligence (AI) driven personalised learning system will be developed to present computer programming learning tasks in a manner that is best suited to the individuals’ own learning preferences while incentivising and rewarding growth mindset behaviour of persistence, mastery response to challenge, and challenge seeking. This research endeavours to measure mindset with before and after surveys (conducted nationally) and by recording growth mindset behaviour whilst playing a digital game. This study will harness the capabilities of AI and aims to determine how a personalised learning (PL) experience can impact the mindset of a broad range of students. The focus of this study will be to determine how personalising the learning experience influences female and disadvantaged students' sense of belonging in the computer science classroom when tasks are presented in a manner that is best suited to the individual. Whole Brain Learning will underpin this research and will be used as a framework to guide the research in identifying key areas such as thinking and learning styles, cognitive potential, motivators and fears, and emotional intelligence. This research will be conducted in multiple school types over one academic year. Digital games will be played multiple times over this period, and the data gathered will be used to inform the AI algorithm. The three data sets are described as follows: (i) Before and after survey data to determine the grit scores and mindsets of the participants, (ii) The Growth Mind-Set data from the game, which will measure multiple growth mindset behaviours, such as persistence, response to challenge and use of strategy, (iii) The AI data to guide PL. This study will highlight the effectiveness of an AI-driven personalised learning experience. The data will position AI within the Irish educational landscape, with a specific focus on the teaching of CS. These findings will benefit coding and computer science teachers by providing a clear pedagogy for the effective delivery of personalised learning strategies for computer science education. This pedagogy will help prevent students from developing a fixed mindset while helping pupils to exhibit persistence of effort, use of strategy, and a mastery response to challenges.

Keywords: computer science education, artificial intelligence, growth mindset, pedagogy

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Arjumand Warsy

Abstract:

Among the Muslims, the Holy Quran is taught from early childhood and generally by the age of 7-8 years the reading of the entire Quran is completed by most of the children in Muslim families. During this period excellent reciter’s are selected to teach and emphasis is laid on correct reading, pronunciation and memorization. Following these years, the parents lay emphasis on the recitation of the Quran on daily basis. During the month of Ramadan the entire Quran is read one or more times and there are considerable number of Muslims who complete the entire Quran once or more each calendar month. Many Muslims do not know Arabic and for them message in the Quran is what others tell them and often they have no idea about this Guidance sent to them. This deficiency is reflected in many ways, both among people living in Muslim or non-Muslim countries. Due to the deficiency in knowledge about Islamic teachings, the foundations of Islam are being eroded by a variety of forces. In an attempt to guard against the non-Islamic influences, every Muslim must have a clear understanding of the Islamic teachings and requirements. The best guidance can be provided by the understanding of the Holy Quran. However, we are faced with the problem that often the Quran is taught in a way that fails to develop an interest and understanding of the message from Allah. Looking at the teaching of other subjects both scientific and non-scientific, at school, college or University levels, it is obvious that the advances in teaching methodologies using electronic technology have had a major impact, where both the understanding and the interest of the students are significantly elevated. We attempted to teach the meaning of the Holy Quran to children and adults using a scientific and modern approach using slide presentation and animations. The results showed almost 100% increase in the understanding of the Quran message; all attendees claimed they developed an increased interest in the study of the Holy Quran and did not lose track or develop boredom throughout the lectures. They learnt the information and remembered it more effectively. The love for Allah and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) increased significantly. The fear of Allah and love of Heaven developed significantly. Historical facts and the stories of the past nations became clearer and the Greatness of the Creator was strongly felt. Several of attendees wanted to become better Muslims and to spread the knowledge of Islam. In this presentation, the adopted teaching method will be first presented and demonstrated to the audience using a short Surah from the Quran, followed by discussion on the results achieved during our study. We will endeavor to convey to the audience that there is a need to adopt a more scientific approach to teach the Quran so that a greater benefit is achieved by all.

Keywords: The Holy Quran, Muslims, presentations, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: Rania Melad Kamel Hakim

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. These have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these ‘syndrome’ forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or ‘non-syndrome’ autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way to improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co-morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties (‘sticky attention’), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Moshe Leiba, Doron Zohar

Abstract:

Computer Science (CS) and programming is still considered a boy’s club and is a male-dominated profession. This is also the case in high schools and higher education. In Israel, not different from the rest of the world, there are less than 35% of female students in CS studies that take the matriculation exams. The Israeli matriculation exams are written in a masculine form language. Gender-fair language (GFL) aims at reducing gender stereotyping and discrimination. There are several strategies that can be employed to make languages gender-fair and to treat women and men symmetrically (especially in languages with grammatical gender, among them neutralization and using the plural form. This research aims at exploring computer science teachers’ beliefs regarding the use of gender-fair language in exams. An exploratory quantitative research methodology was employed to collect the data. A questionnaire was administered to 353 computer science teachers. 58% female and 42% male. 86% are teaching for at least 3 years, with 59% of them have a teaching experience of 7 years. 71% of the teachers teach in high school, and 82% of them are preparing students for the matriculation exam in computer science. The questionnaire contained 2 matriculation exam questions from previous years and open-ended questions. Teachers were asked which form they think is more suited: (a) the existing form (mescaline), (b) using both gender full forms (e.g., he/she), (c) using both gender short forms, (d) plural form, (e) natural form, and (f) female form. 84% of the teachers recognized the need to change the existing mescaline form in the matriculation exams. About 50% of them thought that using the plural form was the best-suited option. When examining the teachers who are pro-change and those who are against, no gender differences or teaching experience were found. The teachers who are pro gender-fair language justified it as making it more personal and motivating for the female students. Those who thought that the mescaline form should remain argued that the female students do not complain and the change in form will not influence or affect the female students to choose to study computer science. Some even argued that the change will not affect the students but can only improve their sense of identity or feeling toward the profession (which seems like a misconception). This research suggests that the teachers are pro-change and believe that re-formulating the matriculation exams is the right step towards encouraging more female students to choose to study computer science as their major study track and to bridge the gap for gender equality. This should indicate a bottom-up approach, as not long after this research was conducted, the Israeli ministry of education decided to change the matriculation exams to gender-fair language using the plural form. In the coming years, with the transition to web-based examination, it is suggested to use personalization and adjust the language form in accordance with the student's gender.

Keywords: compter science, gender-fair language, teachers, national exams

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Sara Asham Mahrous Kamel

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Dina Moheb Rashid Michael

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 55