Search results for: middle and high school education
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 27981

Search results for: middle and high school education

23211 Speech and LanguageTherapists’ Advices for Multilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorders

Authors: Rudinë Fetahaj, Flaka Isufi, Kristina Hansson

Abstract:

While evidence shows that in most European countries’ multilingualism is rising, unfortunately, the focus of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) is still monolingualism. Furthermore, there is sparse information on how the needs of multilingual children with language disorders such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are being met and which factors affect the intervention approach of SLTs when treating DLD. This study aims to examine the relationship and correlation between the number of languages SLTs speak, years of experience, and length of education with the advice they give to parents of multilingual children with DLD regarding which language to be spoken. This is a cross-sectional study where a survey was completed online by 2608 SLTs across Europe and data has been used from a 2017 COST-action project. IBM-SPSS-28 was used where descriptive analysis, correlation and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed.SLTs mainly advise the parents of multilingual children with DLD to speak their native language at home. Besides years of experience, language status and the level of education showed to have no association with the type of advice SLTs give. Results showed a non-significant moderate positive correlation between SLTs years of experience and their advice regarding the native language, whereas language status and length of education showed no correlation with the advice SLTs give to parents.

Keywords: quantitative study, developmental language disorders, multilingualism, speech and language therapy, children, European context

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23210 Fire Resistance Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Member Strengthened by Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Authors: Soo-Yeon Seo, Jong-Wook Lim, Se-Ki Song

Abstract:

Currently, FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) materials have been widely used for reinforcement of building structural members. However, since the FRP and the epoxy material for attaching it have very low resistance to heat, there is a problem in application where high temperature is an issue. In this paper, the resistance performance of FRP member made of carbon fiber at high temperature was investigated through experiment under temperature change. As a result, epoxy encapsulating FRP is damaged at not high temperatures, and the fibers are degraded. Therefore, when reinforcing a structure using FRP, a separate refractory heat treatment is necessary. The use of a 30 mm thick calcium silicate board as a fireproofing method can protect FRP up to 600ᵒC outside temperature.

Keywords: FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer), high temperature, experiment under temperature change, calcium silicate board

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23209 The Psychology of Virtual Relationships Provides Solutions to the Challenges of Online Learning: A Pragmatic Review and Case Study from the University of Birmingham, UK

Authors: Catherine Mangan, Beth Anderson

Abstract:

There has been a significant drive to use online or hybrid learning in Higher Education (HE) over recent years. HEs with a virtual presence offer their communities a range of benefits, including the potential for greater inclusivity, diversity, and collaboration; more flexible learning packages; and more engaging, dynamic content. Institutions can also experience significant challenges when seeking to extend learning spaces in this way, as can learners themselves. For example, staff members’ and learners’ digital literacy varies (as do their perceptions of technologies in use), and there can be confusion about optimal approaches to implementation. Furthermore, the speed with which HE institutions have needed to shift to fully online or hybrid models, owing to the COVID19 pandemic, has highlighted the significant barriers to successful implementation. HE environments have been shown to predict a range of organisational, academic, and experiential outcomes, both positive and negative. Much research has focused on the social aspect of virtual platforms, as well as the nature and effectiveness of the technologies themselves. There remains, however, a relative paucity of synthesised knowledge on the psychology of learners’ relationships with their institutions; specifically, how individual difference and interpersonal factors predict students’ ability and willingness to engage with novel virtual learning spaces. Accordingly, extending learning spaces remains challenging for institutions, and wholly remote courses, in particular, can experience high attrition rates. Focusing on the last five years, this pragmatic review summarises evidence from the psychological and pedagogical literature. In particular, the review highlights the importance of addressing the psychological and relational complexities of students’ shift from offline to online engagement. In doing so, it identifies considerations for HE institutions looking to deliver in this way.

Keywords: higher education, individual differences, interpersonal relationships, online learning, virtual environment

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23208 The Effects of Vocational Training on Offender Rehabilitation in Nigerian Correctional Institutions

Authors: Hadi Mohammed

Abstract:

The introduction of vocational education and training (VET) in correctional institutions as part of prisoner rehabilitation program is to help offenders develop marketable job skills and reduce re-offending thereby increasing the likely hood of successful reintegration back to their community. Offenders who participate in vocational education and training are significantly less likely to return to prison after released and are more likely to find employment after released than offenders who do not received such training. Those who participated in vocational training were 28% more likely to be employed after released from prison than those who did not received such training. This paper examined the effects of vocational training on offender rehabilitation as well as the effects of vocational training on the relationship between reformation and reintegration in Nigerian correctional institution. To address this two research question were formulated to guide the research. A survey research was employed. The participants were 200 offenders in Nigerian correctional institutions. Questionnaire items were administered. Mean, standard deviation and Partial Correlation were used for the data analysis. The findings revealed that vocational training has helped in offender rehabilitation in Nigerian correctional institutions. Similarly there was a moderate significant positive partial correlation between reformation and reintegration, controlling for vocational training, r=0.461, n=221, p<0.005 with moderate level of reformation and being associated with moderate level of reintegration. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Nigerian Correctional Institutions should strengthen their vocational training program for offenders to be properly rehabilitated.

Keywords: correctional institutions, vocational education and training, offender rehabilitation

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23207 Students’ Opinions Related to Virtual Classrooms within the Online Distance Education Graduate Program

Authors: Secil Kaya Gulen

Abstract:

Face to face and virtual classrooms that came up with different conditions and environments, but similar purposes have different characteristics. Although virtual classrooms have some similar facilities with face-to-face classes such as program, students, and administrators, they have no walls and corridors. Therefore, students can attend the courses from a distance and can control their own learning spaces. Virtual classrooms defined as simultaneous online environments where students in different places come together at the same time with the guidance of a teacher. Distance education and virtual classes require different intellectual and managerial skills and models. Therefore, for effective use of virtual classrooms, the virtual property should be taken into consideration. One of the most important factors that affect the spread and effective use of the virtual classrooms is the perceptions and opinions of students -as one the main participants-. Student opinions and recommendations are important in terms of providing information about the fulfillment of expectation. This will help to improve the applications and contribute to the more efficient implementations. In this context, ideas and perceptions of the students related to the virtual classrooms, in general, were determined in this study. Advantages and disadvantages of virtual classrooms expected contributions to the educational system and expected characteristics of virtual classrooms have examined in this study. Students of an online distance education graduate program in which all the courses offered by virtual classrooms have asked for their opinions. Online Distance Education Graduate Program has totally 19 students. The questionnaire that consists of open-ended and multiple choice questions sent to these 19 students and finally 12 of them answered the questionnaire. Analysis of the data presented as frequencies and percentages for each item. SPSS for multiple-choice questions and Nvivo for open-ended questions were used for analyses. According to the results obtained by the analysis, participants stated that they did not get any training on virtual classes before the courses; but they emphasize that newly enrolled students should be educated about the virtual classrooms. In addition, all participants mentioned that virtual classroom contribute their personal development and they want to improve their skills by gaining more experience. The participants, who mainly emphasize the advantages of virtual classrooms, express that the dissemination of virtual classrooms will contribute to the Turkish Education System. Within the advantages of virtual classrooms, ‘recordable and repeatable lessons’ and ‘eliminating the access and transportation costs’ are most common advantages according to the participants. On the other hand, they mentioned ‘technological features and keyboard usage skills affect the attendance’ is the most common disadvantage. Participants' most obvious problem during virtual lectures is ‘lack of technical support’. Finally ‘easy to use’, ‘support possibilities’, ‘communication level’ and ‘flexibility’ come to the forefront in the scope of expected features of virtual classrooms. Last of all, students' opinions about the virtual classrooms seems to be generally positive. Designing and managing virtual classrooms according to the prioritized features will increase the students’ satisfaction and will contribute to improve applications that are more effective.

Keywords: distance education, virtual classrooms, higher education, e-learning

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23206 Coping Strategies Used by Pregnant Women in India to Overcome the Psychological Impact of COVID-19

Authors: Harini Atturu, Divyani Byagari, Bindhu Rani Thumkunta, Sahitya Bammidi, Manasa Badveli

Abstract:

Introduction: Biological, psychological and social domains influence the outcomes of pregnancy. The COVID19 pandemic had a significant effect on the psychological and social domains of pregnant women all over the world. Everyone has inherent coping mechanisms which ultimately determine the actual impact of such external stimulus on outcomes of pregnancy. This study aims to understand the coping strategies used by pregnant women to overcome the psychological impact of the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. Methods: Institutional ethics permission was sought. All pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the institution during September 2020 were included in the study. Brief-COPE, a self-rated questionnaire, was provided to understand the coping strategies used by them. The Questionnaire consists of 28 questions that fall into 14 themes. These 14 themes were mapped into four domains consisting of Approaching coping (APC) styles, Avoidant Coping (AVC) styles, Humor and Religion. The results were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Factor analysis was performed to identify themes that are most frequently used. Results: 162 pregnant women were included in the study. The majority of the women were aged between 18 and 30 (90.1%). 60.9% of the respondents were having their first pregnancy and were in the 2nd trimester (59.6%). The majority of them were living in the city (74%), belonged to the middle class (77.6%) and were not working (70.1%). 56 respondents (34.6%) reported that they had contact with suspected or Covid positive patients. Many were worried that their pregnancy might be complicated (43%), their baby may contract COVID (45%) and their family members could get COVID during the hospital visits for antenatal check-ups. 33.6% of women admitted missing their regular antenatal check-ups because of the above concerns. All respondents used various coping strategies to overcome the psychological impact of COVID 19. Out of the 4 coping strategies, participants scored high on Religion with a mean of 5.471.45 followed by Approaching Coping (APC) styles (5.131.25), Humor (4.592.07) and Avoidant Coping (AVC) styles (4.130.88). Religion as a coping strategy scored high for all respondents irrespective of age, parity, trimester, social and employment status. Exploratory Factor analysis revealed two cluster groups that explained 68% of the variance, with Component 1 contributing to 58.9% and component 2 contributing 9.13% of the variance. Humor, Acceptance, Planning, and Religion were the top 4 factors that showed strong loadings. Conclusion: Most of the pregnant women were worried about the negative impact of COVID 19 on the outcomes of their pregnancy. Religion and Approaching coping styles seem to be the predominant coping strategies used by them. Interventionists and policymakers should consider these factors while providing support to such women.

Keywords: coping strategies, pregnancy, COVID-19, brief-COPE

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23205 Pre-service Social Studies Teachers Readiness in Promoting 21st Century Learning: Evidence from a Ghanaian University

Authors: Joseph Bentil

Abstract:

Successful acquisition of 21st-century competencies needed by students to navigate through the ever-changing world requires that they are taught and molded by 21st-century teachers with the needed professional competencies. Accordingly, this study sought to understand the readiness and how efficacious pre-service Social Studies specialism students are towards the implementation of the Common Core Social Studies Curriculum in the Junior High Schools in Ghana. Theory of Experience served as the theoretical lens for the study. Working within the pragmatist paradigm, this study utilized the cross-sectional descriptive survey design with a mixed method approach where, through census sampling technique, all the 120 pre-service Social Studies specialism students were sampled for the study. A structured questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments employed for data collection. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics like independent samples t-test, one-way between groups ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation) were employed in the analysis the research questions and hypotheses with the aid of version 28 of SPSS while the qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings discovered that pre-service Social Studies teachers were highly ready and efficacious towards implementing the Common Core Junior High School Social Studies curriculum. However, male pre-service teachers were highly efficacious and ready than their female counterparts. Besides, it was disclosed that pre-service teachers within the 31-40 years age bracket were found to be highly efficacious and ready than their colleagues with 20-30 and below 20 years age bracket respectively. The findings further revealed that there was a moderate and statistically significant positive relationship between pre-service teachers’ readiness and efficacy in implementing the Common Core Social Studies curriculum. Therefore, the study recommended that interventional programmes aimed at raising the readiness and efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers should be targeted towards female preservice teachers and those below 20 years age bracket for successful implementation and realization of the competencies enshrined in the common core social Studies curriculum.

Keywords: pre-service, readiness, social studies, teachers

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23204 Effectiveness of Teacher Training in Bangladeshi Context

Authors: Sabina Mohsin

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The need for grounding of teachers and the trend of using innovative ways to deal with students of various abilities in schools, colleges and universities has always been essential in any part of the world. Teacher edification programs, and qualifications standards, all too repeatedly lack enough rigidity, extensiveness and profundity, resulting in high levels of unskilled teachers and squat student performance. Accordingly, the solution, from this viewpoint, lies in making the entry and training necessities for teaching deeper and more exact. Teachers’ continuous professional development is necessary to reach all kinds of learners in class. The training provided is a direct opportunity for new teachers to interact better and motivate students in a two way discussion class. The intention of the study was to scrutinize whether the teachers’ training played an important role to fabricate lectures and classroom activities and reflected the objectives of the training provided in various schools and universities. It also aims to examine the current practices used in the various teacher training programs and if there is any other method that can be associated to enhance the effectiveness of these programs further. This research uses qualitative data collected from interviews, peer discussions, classroom observations, reviews, feedback of students and teachers to study teacher training and teaching methods used in school and universities in Bangladesh. The study finds teacher training to be effective though it has some limitations. It also includes some suggestions to make teacher training more effective.

Keywords: current practices in teacher training, enhancing effectiveness, limitation, student motivation, teacher training

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23203 Concept Mapping of Teachers Regarding Conflict Management

Authors: Tahir Mehmood, Mumtaz Akhter

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The global need for conflict management is greater now in the early 21st century than ever before. According to UNESCO, half of the world’s 195 countries will have to expand their stock of educationist significantly, some by tens of thousands, if the goal development targets are desired to achieve. Socioeconomic inequities, political instability, demographic changes and crises such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic have engendered huge shortfalls in teacher supply and low teacher quality in many developing countries. Education serves as back bone in development process. Open learning and distance education programs are serving as pivotal part of development process. It is now clear that ‘bricks and mortar’ approaches to expanding teacher education may not be adequate if the current and projected shortfalls in teacher supply and low teacher quality are to be properly addressed. The study is designed to measure the perceptions of teaching learning community about conflict management with special reference to open and distance learning. It was descriptive study which targeted teachers, students, community members and experts. Data analysis was carried out by using statistical techniques served by SPSS. Findings reflected that audience perceives open and distance learning as change agent and as development tool. It is noticed that target audience has driven prominent performance by using facility of open and distance learning.

Keywords: conflict management, open and distance learning, teachers, students

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23202 Application on Metastable Measurement with Wide Range High Resolution VDL Circuit

Authors: Po-Hui Yang, Jing-Min Chen, Po-Yu Kuo, Chia-Chun Wu

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This paper proposed a high resolution Vernier Delay Line (VDL) measurement circuit with coarse and fine detection mechanism, which improved the trade-off problem between high resolution and less delay cells in traditional VDL circuits. And the measuring time of proposed measurement circuit is also under the high resolution requests. At first, the testing range of input signal which proposed high resolution delay line is detected by coarse detection VDL. Moreover, the delayed input signal is transmitted to fine detection VDL for measuring value with better accuracy. This paper is implemented at 0.18μm process, operating frequency is 100 MHz, and the resolution achieved 2.0 ps with only 16-stage delay cells. The test range is 170ps wide, and 17% stages saved compare with traditional single delay line circuit.

Keywords: vernier delay line, D-type flip-flop, DFF, metastable phenomenon

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23201 Structuring Paraphrases: The Impact Sentence Complexity Has on Key Leader Engagements

Authors: Meaghan Bowman

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Soldiers are taught about the importance of effective communication with repetition of the phrase, “Communication is key.” They receive training in preparing for, and carrying out, interactions between foreign and domestic leaders to gain crucial information about a mission. These interactions are known as Key Leader Engagements (KLEs). For the training of KLEs, doctrine mandates the skills needed to conduct these “engagements” such as how to: behave appropriately, identify key leaders, and employ effective strategies. Army officers in training learn how to confront leaders, what information to gain, and how to ask questions respectfully. Unfortunately, soldiers rarely learn how to formulate questions optimally. Since less complex questions are easier to understand, we hypothesize that semantic complexity affects content understanding, and that age and education levels may have an effect on one’s ability to form paraphrases and judge their quality. In this study, we looked at paraphrases of queries as well as judgments of both the paraphrases’ naturalness and their semantic similarity to the query. Queries were divided into three complexity categories based on the number of relations (the first number) and the number of knowledge graph edges (the second number). Two crowd-sourced tasks were completed by Amazon volunteer participants, also known as turkers, to answer the research questions: (i) Are more complex queries harder to paraphrase and judge and (ii) Do age and education level affect the ability to understand complex queries. We ran statistical tests as follows: MANOVA for query understanding and two-way ANOVA to understand the relationship between query complexity and education and age. A probe of the number of given-level queries selected for paraphrasing by crowd-sourced workers in seven age ranges yielded promising results. We found significant evidence that age plays a role and marginally significant evidence that education level plays a role. These preliminary tests, with output p-values of 0.0002 and 0.068, respectively, suggest the importance of content understanding in a communication skill set. This basic ability to communicate, which may differ by age and education, permits reproduction and quality assessment and is crucial in training soldiers for effective participation in KLEs.

Keywords: engagement, key leader, paraphrasing, query complexity, understanding

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23200 Mirror of Princes as a Literary Genre in Classic Arabic Literature

Authors: Samir Kittaniy

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The “Mirrors of Princes” is considered one of the most important literary types in Arabic and Islamic heritage. The term can be found in various types of “Adab”. The paper deals with the phrase: “Mirrors of princes” itself, showing its nature and the extent of its spread among researchers. Thus, the article relates to one of the main cultural pillars of the literary heritage. Creative individuals within the framework of this type of “Adab” have viewed the rulers as the ultimate goal they try to reach in their classification efforts, with the aim of educating, entertaining and amusing. Most literary classifications were submitted as a gift to the rulers, in an attempt to get closer to them. Pragmatic moral and political advices were among the most prominent issues to gain the approval of rulers.

Keywords: Islam, Arabic, literature, Middle East, mirrors of princes

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23199 Impact of Quality Assurance Mechanisms on the Work Efficiency of Staff in the Educational Space of Georgia

Authors: B. Gechbaia, K. Goletiani, G. Gabedava, N. Mikeltadze

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At this stage, Georgia is a country which is actively involved in the European integration process, for which the primary priority is effective integration in the European education system. The modern Georgian higher education system is the process of establishing a new sociocultural reality, whose main priorities are determined by the Quality System as a continuous cycle of planning, implementation, checking and acting. Obviously, in this situation, the issue of management of education institutions comes out in the foreground, since the proper planning and implementation of personnel management processes is one of the main determinants of the company's performance. At the same time, one of the most important factors is the psychological comfort of the personnel, ensuring their protection and efficiency of stress management policy. The purpose of this research is to determine how intensely the relationship is between the psychological comfort of the personnel and the efficiency of the quality system in the institution as the quality assurance mechanisms of educational institutions affect the stability of personnel, prevention and management of the stressful situation. The research was carried out within the framework of the Internal Grant Project «The Role of Organizational Culture in the Process of Settlement of Management of Stress and Conflict, Georgian Reality and European Experience » of the Batumi Navigation Teaching University, based on the analysis of the survey results of target groups. The small-scale research conducted by us has revealed that the introduction of quality assurance system and its active implementation increased the quality of management of Georgian educational institutions, increased the level of universal engagement in internal and external processes and as a result, it has improved the quality of education as well as social and psychological comfort indicators of the society.

Keywords: quality assurance, effective management, stability of personnel, psychological comfort, stress management

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23198 Participation of Juvenile with Driven of Tobacco Control in Education Institute: Case Study of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Authors: Sakapas Saengchai

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This paper studied the participation of juvenile with driven of tobacco control in education institute: case study of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is qualitative research has objective to study participation of juvenile with driven of tobacco control in University, as guidance of development participation of juvenile with driven of tobacco control in education institute the university is also free-cigarette university. There are qualitative researches on collection data of participation observation, in-depth interview of group conversation and agent of student in each faculty and college and exchange opinion of student. Result of study found that participation in tobacco control has 3 parts; 1) Participation in campaign of tobacco control, 2) Academic training and activity of free-cigarette of university and 3) As model of juvenile in tobacco control. For guidelines on youth involvement in driven tobacco control is universities should promote tobacco control activities. Reduce smoking campaign continues include a specific area for smokers has living room as sign clearly, staying in the faculty / college and developing network of model students who are non-smoking. This is a key role in the coordination of university students driving to the free cigarette university. Including the strengthening of community in the area and outside the area as good social and quality of country.

Keywords: participation, juvenile, tobacco control, institute

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23197 Unveiling the Dynamics of Preservice Teachers’ Engagement with Mathematical Modeling through Model Eliciting Activities: A Comprehensive Exploration of Acceptance and Resistance Towards Modeling and Its Pedagogy

Authors: Ozgul Kartal, Wade Tillett, Lyn D. English

Abstract:

Despite its global significance in curricula, mathematical modeling encounters persistent disparities in recognition and emphasis within regular mathematics classrooms and teacher education across countries with diverse educational and cultural traditions, including variations in the perceived role of mathematical modeling. Over the past two decades, increased attention has been given to the integration of mathematical modeling into national curriculum standards in the U.S. and other countries. Therefore, the mathematics education research community has dedicated significant efforts to investigate various aspects associated with the teaching and learning of mathematical modeling, primarily focusing on exploring the applicability of modeling in schools and assessing students', teachers', and preservice teachers' (PTs) competencies and engagement in modeling cycles and processes. However, limited attention has been directed toward examining potential resistance hindering teachers and PTs from effectively implementing mathematical modeling. This study focuses on how PTs, without prior modeling experience, resist and/or embrace mathematical modeling and its pedagogy as they learn about models and modeling perspectives, navigate the modeling process, design and implement their modeling activities and lesson plans, and experience the pedagogy enabling modeling. Model eliciting activities (MEAs) were employed due to their high potential to support the development of mathematical modeling pedagogy. The mathematical modeling module was integrated into a mathematics methods course to explore how PTs embraced or resisted mathematical modeling and its pedagogy. The module design included reading, reflecting, engaging in modeling, assessing models, creating a modeling task (MEA), and designing a modeling lesson employing an MEA. Twelve senior undergraduate students participated, and data collection involved video recordings, written prompts, lesson plans, and reflections. An open coding analysis revealed acceptance and resistance toward teaching mathematical modeling. The study identified four overarching themes, including both acceptance and resistance: pedagogy, affordance of modeling (tasks), modeling actions, and adjusting modeling. In the category of pedagogy, PTs displayed acceptance based on potential pedagogical benefits and resistance due to various concerns. The affordance of modeling (tasks) category emerged from instances when PTs showed acceptance or resistance while discussing the nature and quality of modeling tasks, often debating whether modeling is considered mathematics. PTs demonstrated both acceptance and resistance in their modeling actions, engaging in modeling cycles as students and designing/implementing MEAs as teachers. The adjusting modeling category captured instances where PTs accepted or resisted maintaining the qualities and nature of the modeling experience or converted modeling into a typical structured mathematics experience for students. While PTs displayed a mix of acceptance and resistance in their modeling actions, limitations were observed in embracing complexity and adhering to model principles. The study provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of integrating mathematical modeling into teacher education, emphasizing the importance of addressing pedagogical concerns and providing support for effective implementation. In conclusion, this research offers a comprehensive understanding of PTs' engagement with modeling, advocating for a more focused discussion on the distinct nature and significance of mathematical modeling in the broader curriculum to establish a foundation for effective teacher education programs.

Keywords: mathematical modeling, model eliciting activities, modeling pedagogy, secondary teacher education

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23196 Game of Funds: Efficiency and Policy Implications of the United Kingdom Research Excellence Framework

Authors: Boon Lee

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Research publication is an essential output of universities because it not only promotes university recognition, it also receives government funding. The history of university research culture has been one of ‘publish or perish’ and universities have consistently encouraged their academics and researchers to produce research articles in reputable journals in order to maintain a level of competitiveness. In turn, the United Kingdom (UK) government funding is determined by the number and quality of research publications. This paper aims to investigate on whether more government funding leads to more quality papers. To that end, the paper employs a Network DEA model to evaluate the UK higher education performance over a period. Sources of efficiency are also determined via second stage regression analysis.

Keywords: efficiency, higher education, network data envelopment analysis, universities

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23195 Conceptualizing a Biomimetic Fablab Based on the Makerspace Concept and Biomimetics Design Research

Authors: Petra Gruber, Ariana Rupp, Peter Niewiarowski

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This paper presents a concept for a biomimetic fablab as a physical space for education, research and development of innovation inspired by nature. Biomimetics as a discipline finds increasing recognition in academia and has started to be institutionalized at universities in programs and centers. The Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center was founded in 2012 at the University of Akron as an interdisciplinary venture for the advancement of innovation inspired by nature and is part of a larger community fostering the approach of bioimimicry in the Great Lakes region of the US. With 30 faculty members the center has representatives from Colleges of Arts and Sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, geoscience, and philosophy) Engineering (e.g., mechanical, civil, and biomedical), Polymer Science, and Myers School of Arts. A platform for training PhDs in Biomimicry (17 students currently enrolled) is co-funded by educational institutions and industry partners. Research at the center touches on many areas but is also currently biased towards materials and structures, with highlights being materials based on principles found in spider silk and gecko attachment mechanisms. As biomimetics is also a novel scientific discipline, there is little standardisation in programming and the equipment of research facilities. As a field targeting innovation, design and prototyping processes are fundamental parts of the developments. For experimental design and prototyping, MIT's maker space concept seems to fit well to the requirements, but facilities need to be more specialised in terms of accessing biological systems and knowledge, specific research, production or conservation requirements. For the education and research facility BRIC we conceptualize the concept of a biomimicry fablab, that ties into the existing maker space concept and creates the setting for interdisciplinary research and development carried out in the program. The concept takes on the process of biomimetics as a guideline to define core activities that shall be enhanced by the allocation of specific spaces and tools. The limitations of such a facility and the intersections to further specialised labs housed in the classical departments are of special interest. As a preliminary proof of concept two biomimetic design courses carried out in 2016 are investigated in terms of needed tools and infrastructure. The spring course was a problem based biomimetic design challenge in collaboration with an innovation company interested in product design for assisted living and medical devices. The fall course was a solution based biomimetic design course focusing on order and hierarchy in nature with the goal of finding meaningful translations into art and technology. The paper describes the background of the BRIC center, identifies and discusses the process of biomimetics, evaluates the classical maker space concept and explores how these elements can shape the proposed research facility of a biomimetic fablab by examining two examples of design courses held in 2016.

Keywords: biomimetics, biomimicry, design, biomimetic fablab

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23194 Developing a Toolkit of Undergraduate Nursing Student’ Desirable Characteristics (TNDC) : An application Item Response Theory

Authors: Parinyaporn Thanaboonpuang, Siridej Sujiva, Shotiga Pasiphul

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The higher education reform that integration of nursing programmes into the higher education system. Learning outcomes represent one of the essential building blocks for transparency within higher education systems and qualifications. The purpose of this study is to develop a toolkit of undergraduate nursing student’desirable characteristics assessment on Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher education and to test psychometric property for this instrument. This toolkit seeks to improve on the Computer Multimedia test. There are three skills to be examined: Cognitive skill, Responsibility and Interpersonal Skill, and Information Technology Skill. The study was conduct in 4 phases. In Phase 1. Based on developed a measurement model and Computer Multimedia test. Phase 2 two round focus group were conducted, to determine the content validity of measurement model and the toolkit. In Phase 3, data were collected using a multistage random sampling of 1,156 senior undergraduate nursing student were recruited to test psychometric property. In Phase 4 data analysis was conducted by descriptive statistics, item analysis, inter-rater reliability, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The resulting TNDC consists of 74 items across the following four domains: Cognitive skill, Interpersonal Skill, Responsibility and Information Technology Skill. The value of Cronbach’ s alpha for the four domains were .781, 807, .831, and .865, respectively. The final model in confirmatory factor analysis fit quite well with empirical data. The TNDC was found to be appropriate, both theoretically and statistically. Due to these results, it is recommended that the toolkit could be used in future studies for Nursing Program in Thailand.

Keywords: toolkit, nursing student’ desirable characteristics, Thai qualifications framework

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23193 Re-Thinking Design/Build Curriculum in a Virtual World

Authors: Bruce Wrightsman

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Traditionally, in architectural education, we develop studio projects with learning agendas that try to minimize conflict and reveal clear design objectives. Knowledge is gleaned only tacitly through confronting the reciprocity of site and form, space and light, structure and envelope. This institutional reality can limit student learning to the latent learning opportunities they will have to confront later in practice. One intent of academic design-build projects is to address the learning opportunities which one can discover in the messy grey areas of design. In this immersive experience, students confront the limitations of classroom learning and are exposed to challenges that demand collaborative practice. As a result, design-build has been widely adopted in an attempt to address perceived deficiencies in design education vis a vis the integration of building technology and construction. Hands-on learning is not a new topic, as espoused by John Dewey, who posits a debate between static and active learning in his book Democracy and Education. Dewey espouses the concept that individuals should become participants and not mere observers of what happens around them. Advocates of academic design-build programs suggest a direct link between Dewey’s speculation. These experiences provide irreplaceable life lessons: that real-world decisions have real-life consequences. The goal of the paper is not to confirm or refute the legitimacy and efficacy of online virtual learning. Rather, the paper aims to foster a deeper, honest discourse on the meaning of ‘making’ in architectural education and present projects that confronted the burdens of a global pandemic and developed unique teaching strategies that challenged design thinking as an observational and constructive effort to expand design student’s making skills and foster student agency.

Keywords: design/build, making, remote teaching, architectural curriculum

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23192 Encouraging Collaboration and Innovation: The New Engineering Oriented Educational Reform in Urban Planning, Tianjin University, China

Authors: Tianjie Zhang, Bingqian Cheng, Peng Zeng

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Engineering science and technology progress and innovation have become an important engine to promote social development. The reform exploration of "new engineering" in China has drawn extensive attention around the world, with its connotation as "to cultivate future diversified, innovative and outstanding engineering talents by taking ‘fostering character and civic virtue’ as the guide, responding to changes and shaping the future as the construction concept, and inheritance and innovation, crossover and fusion, coordination and sharing as the principal approach". In this context, Tianjin University, as a traditional Chinese university with advantages in engineering, further launched the CCII (Coherent-Collaborative-Interdisciplinary-Innovation) program, raising the cultivation idea of integrating new liberal arts education, multidisciplinary engineering education and personalized professional education. As urban planning practice in China has undergone the evolution of "physical planning -- comprehensive strategic planning -- resource management-oriented planning", planning education has also experienced the transmutation process of "building foundation -- urban scientific foundation -- multi-disciplinary integration". As a characteristic and advantageous discipline of Tianjin University, the major of Urban and Rural Planning, in accordance with the "CCII Program of Tianjin University", aims to build China's top and world-class major, and implements the following educational reform measures: 1. Adding corresponding English courses, such as advanced course on GIS Analysis, courses on comparative studies in international planning involving ecological resources and the sociology of the humanities, etc. 2. Holding "Academician Forum", inviting international academicians to give lectures or seminars to track international frontier scientific research issues. 3. Organizing "International Joint Workshop" to provide students with international exchange and design practice platform. 4. Setting up a business practice base, so that students can find problems from practice and solve them in an innovative way. Through these measures, the Urban and Rural Planning major of Tianjin University has formed a talent training system with multi-disciplinary cross integration and orienting to the future science and technology.

Keywords: China, higher education reform, innovation, new engineering education, rural and urban planning, Tianjin University

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23191 Solutions for Food-Safe 3D Printing

Authors: Geremew Geidare Kailo, Igor Gáspár, András Koris, Ivana Pajčin, Flóra Vitális, Vanja Vlajkov

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Three-dimension (3D) printing, a very popular additive manufacturing technology, has recently undergone rapid growth and replaced the use of conventional technology from prototyping to producing end-user parts and products. The 3D Printing technology involves a digital manufacturing machine that produces three-dimensional objects according to designs created by the user via 3D modeling or computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software. The most popular 3D printing system is Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) or also called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). A 3D-printed object is considered food safe if it can have direct contact with the food without any toxic effects, even after cleaning, storing, and reusing the object. This work analyzes the processing timeline of the filament (material for 3D printing) from unboxing to the extrusion through the nozzle. It is an important task to analyze the growth of bacteria on the 3D printed surface and in gaps between the layers. By default, the 3D-printed object is not food safe after longer usage and direct contact with food (even though they use food-safe filaments), but there are solutions for this problem. The aim of this work was to evaluate the 3D-printed object from different perspectives of food safety. Firstly, testing antimicrobial 3D printing filaments from a food safety aspect since the 3D Printed object in the food industry may have direct contact with the food. Therefore, the main purpose of the work is to reduce the microbial load on the surface of a 3D-printed part. Coating with epoxy resin was investigated, too, to see its effect on mechanical strength, thermal resistance, surface smoothness and food safety (cleanability). Another aim of this study was to test new temperature-resistant filaments and the effect of high temperature on 3D printed materials to see if they can be cleaned with boiling or similar hi-temp treatment. This work proved that all three mentioned methods could improve the food safety of the 3D printed object, but the size of this effect variates. The best result we got was with coating with epoxy resin, and the object was cleanable like any other injection molded plastic object with a smooth surface. Very good results we got by boiling the objects, and it is good to see that nowadays, more and more special filaments have a food-safe certificate and can withstand boiling temperatures too. Using antibacterial filaments reduced bacterial colonies to 1/5, but the biggest advantage of this method is that it doesn’t require any post-processing. The object is ready out of the 3D printer. Acknowledgements: The research was supported by the Hungarian and Serbian bilateral scientific and technological cooperation project funded by the Hungarian National Office for Research, Development and Innovation (NKFI, 2019-2.1.11-TÉT-2020-00249) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The authors acknowledge the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences’s Doctoral School of Food Science for the support in this study

Keywords: food safety, 3D printing, filaments, microbial, temperature

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23190 Professional Reciprocal Altruism in Education: Aligning Core Values and the Community of Practice for Today’s Educational Practitioners

Authors: Jessica Bogunovich, Kimberly Greene

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As a grounded theory, Professional Reciprocal Altruism in Education (PRAE) offers an empowering means of understanding how the predominant motivator of those entering the teaching profession, altruism, serves as a shared value to inspire the individual’s personal practice beyond a siloed experience and into one of authentic engagement within the Community of Practice (CoP) of professional educators. The process of aligning one’s personal values, attitudes, and preconceived cultural constructs with those of the CoP, affords the alignment of the authentic and professional self; thus, continuously fostering one’s intrinsic motivation to remain engaged in their individual continuous process of growth and development for their students, community, profession, and themselves.

Keywords: altruism, Community of Practice. cultural constructs, teacher attrition, reciprocal altruism, value congruence

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23189 Determinants of Contraceptive Demand among Young Nulliparous Women in India: Evidence from National Family Health Survey-4

Authors: Bhawna Verma

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Looking at the contraceptive use and unmet need specific to the different age groups would help to understand various determinants and characteristics of women from different age groups, which are often being neglected. The study explores contraceptive behavior, unmet need for family planning and its correlates among young nulliparous women aged 15-29, using data from NFHS-4 (2015-16), India. Method: The study utilized information from 26,924 currently married women, who has no child or who have had first terminated pregnancy and was aged 15-29 at the time of the survey. Chi-Square and logistic regression analysis have been used to assess the effects of socio-economic characteristics. Results: Of all the considered explanatory variables religion, caste, education, current age, age at marriage, media exposure and regional differences were found to be significantly affecting the behavior of contraceptive use. Women of the 25-29 age group are 0.6 percent less likely to have an unmet need than women of 12-19 age group. Unmet need is increasing with the increased level of education. Muslim women are 0.3 percent less likely to have an unmet need than women of Hindu category. Conclusion: Separate considerations must be given to the needs for family planning formation among nulliparous women along with the factors associated with the use and non-use of contraceptives among them. Separate considerations must be given for effective promotion of FP knowledge through print, electronic media, towards the unequal access to the contraceptives among nulliparous women. Marriages after legal minimum age and encouraging women for higher education may address existing socio-economic barriers.

Keywords: contraceptive use, unmet need, family planning, contraceptive behavior

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23188 The Examination of Prospective ICT Teachers’ Attitudes towards Application of Computer Assisted Instruction

Authors: Agâh Tuğrul Korucu, Ismail Fatih Yavuzaslan, Lale Toraman

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Nowadays, thanks to development of technology, integration of technology into teaching and learning activities is spreading. Increasing technological literacy which is one of the expected competencies for individuals of 21st century is associated with the effective use of technology in education. The most important factor in effective use of technology in education institutions is ICT teachers. The concept of computer assisted instruction (CAI) refers to the utilization of information and communication technology as a tool aided teachers in order to make education more efficient and improve its quality in the process of educational. Teachers can use computers in different places and times according to owned hardware and software facilities and characteristics of the subject and student in CAI. Analyzing teachers’ use of computers in education is significant because teachers are the ones who manage the course and they are the most important element in comprehending the topic by students. To accomplish computer-assisted instruction efficiently is possible through having positive attitude of teachers. Determination the level of knowledge, attitude and behavior of teachers who get the professional knowledge from educational faculties and elimination of deficiencies if any are crucial when teachers are at the faculty. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify ICT teachers' attitudes toward computer-assisted instruction in terms of different variables. Research group consists of 200 prospective ICT teachers studying at Necmettin Erbakan University Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education CEIT department. As data collection tool of the study; “personal information form” developed by the researchers and used to collect demographic data and "the attitude scale related to computer-assisted instruction" are used. The scale consists of 20 items. 10 of these items show positive feature, while 10 of them show negative feature. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) coefficient of the scale is found 0.88 and Barlett test significance value is found 0.000. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the scale is found 0.93. In order to analyze the data collected by data collection tools computer-based statistical software package used; statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance are utilized. It is determined that the attitudes of prospective instructors towards computers do not differ according to their educational branches. On the other hand, the attitudes of prospective instructors who own computers towards computer-supported education are determined higher than those of the prospective instructors who do not own computers. It is established that the departments of students who previously received computer lessons do not affect this situation so much. The result is that; the computer experience affects the attitude point regarding the computer-supported education positively.

Keywords: computer based instruction, teacher candidate, attitude, technology based instruction, information and communication technologies

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23187 In Search of High Growth: Mapping out Academic Spin-Off´s Performance in Catalonia

Authors: F. Guspi, E. García

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This exploratory study gives an overview of the evolution of the main financial and performance indicators of the Academic Spin-Off’s and High Growth Academic Spin-Off’s in year 3 and year 6 after its creation in the region of Catalonia in Spain. The study compares and evaluates results of these different measures of performance and the degree of success of these companies for each University. We found that the average Catalonian Academic Spin-Off is small and have not achieved the sustainability stage at year 6. On the contrary, a small group of High Growth Academic Spin-Off’s exhibit robust performance with high profits in year 6. Our results support the need to increase selectivity and support for these companies especially near year 3, because are the ones that will bring wealth and employment. University role as an investor has rigid norms and habits that impede an efficient economic return from their ASO investment. Universities with high performance on sales and employment in year 3 not always could sustain this growth in year 6 because their ASO’s are not profitable. On the contrary, profitable ASO exhibit superior performance in all measurement indicators in year 6. We advocate the need of a balanced growth (with profits) as a way to obtain subsequent continuous growth.

Keywords: Academic Spin-Off (ASO), university entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial university, high growth, New Technology Based Companies (NTBC), University Spin-Off

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23186 The Relevance of Sustainability Skills for International Students

Authors: Mary Panko, Rashika Sharma

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Sustainability often appears to be an unfamiliar concept to many international students that enrol in a New Zealand technological degree. Lecturers’ experiences with classroom interactions and evaluation of assessments indicate that studying the concept enlightens and enhances international students understanding of sustainability. However, in most cases, even after studying sustainability in their degree programme, students are not given an opportunity to practice and apply this concept into their professions in their home countries. Therefore, using a qualitative approach, the academics conducted research to determine the change in international students understanding of sustainability before and after their enrolment in an Applied Technology degree. The research also aimed to evaluate if international students viewed sustainability of relevance to their professions and whether the students felt that they will be provided with an opportunity to apply their knowledge about sustainability in the industry. The findings of the research are presented in this paper.

Keywords: education for sustainability, international students, vocational education

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23185 The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Education on Emotional, Psychological, and Social Well-Being in 12th Grade Students in Tehran City

Authors: Fariba Dortaj, H. Bashir Nejad, Akram Dortaj,

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Investigate the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Education on Emotional, Psychological, and Social Well-being in 12th grade students in Tehran city is the aim of present study. The research method is semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population of the study includes all 12th grade students of the 12th district of Tehran city in the academic year of 2017 to 2018. From the mentioned population, 60 students had earned low scores in three dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire of Keyes and Magyar-Moe (2003) by using random sampling method and they were selected and randomly assigned into 2 experimental and control groups. Then experimental groups were received a Mindfulness protocol in 8 sessions during 2 hours. After completion of the sessions, all subjects were re-evaluated. Data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance. The findings of this study showed that in the emotional well-being aspect with the components of positive emotional affection (P < 0.025, F = 17/80) and negative emotions (P <0.025, F = 5/41), in the psychological well-being of the components Self-esteem (P < 0.008, F = 25.26), life goal (P < 0.008, F = 38.19), environmental domination (P <0.008, F=82.82), relationships with others (P < 0.008, F = 19.12), personal development with (P < 0.008, F = 87.38), and in the social well-being aspect, the correlation coefficients with (P<0.01, F=12/21), admission and acceptability with (P <0.01, F =18.09) and realism with (P <0.01, F = 11.30), there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups and it can be said that the education of mindfulness affects the improvement of components of psychological, social and emotional well-being in students.

Keywords: mindfulness, emotional well-being, psychological well-being, social well-being

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23184 Spiritual Health in View of Islamic Mysticism

Authors: Maryam Bakhtyar-Pegah Akrami

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The relationship between spiritual health and spirituality is one of the important is that in recent years, the research about it is expanding and due to the rich heritage of the in this field of study and research in this important field more than before and we will come to spiritual life and healthier than before. In this research, we provide the following and the basics of Islamic Mysticism in the realm of spiritual health thoughts. This research is based on a descriptive method and comparison with analytical-method to data collected. The findings show that human beings due to this pivotal topic of full Islamic slab, and mental and physical education with the sought to reach the human place are complete, we can provide the basics along with new discussions of spiritual health help human beings to spiritual education along with our faiths in the reconstruction of the spiritual foundations of spiritual health are extremely helpful

Keywords: spirituality, health, Islam, mysticism, perfect human

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23183 Increase Women's Knowledge and Attitude about Breast Cancer and Screening: Using an Educational Intervention in Community

Authors: Mitra Savabi-Esfahani, Fariba Taleghani, Mahnaz Noroozi, Maryam Tabatabaeian, Elsebeth Lynge

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Breast cancer is a health concern in worldwide. All women have not adequate information about breast cancer, resulting in undetected some tumors until advanced stages. Therefore awareness of people was recommended as a strategy to control that. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an educational intervention on women's knowledge and attitude about breast cancer and screening. This study was conducted in 2016 on 191 women. All women living in one of big cities were invited to enroll in training classes. Inclusion criteria consisted women who were 20 - 69 years and not participated in any educational intervention. The lecture with group discussion was used as educational methods. Data collection tool was a structured questionnaire which filled out before and after intervention. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined by Cronbach's alpha. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The average age was 44/4 ± 11.5 and 42.6% of the women had obtained high school. Of the 191 women, 70(36.6%) and 76(39.8%) had low and medium level of knowledge respectively and half of them, 95(50%) had medium level of attitude in before intervention. There was significant difference between mean scores of knowledge and attitude before and after the intervention by Paired T test (p < 0/001). It seems applying effective educational interventions can increase knowledge and attitude women about breast cancer particularly in community that they have insufficient levels. Moreover, the lecture method along with group discussion can be proposed as effective and conventional methods for this purpose.

Keywords: attitude, breast cancer, educational intervention, knowledge

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23182 Exploring Academic Writing Challenges of First Year English as an Additional Language Students at an ODeL Institution in South Africa

Authors: Tumelo Jaquiline Ntsopi

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This study explored the academic writing challenges of first-year students who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) registered in the EAW101 module at an ODeL institution. Research shows that academic writing is a challenge for EAL teaching and learning contexts across the globe in higher education institutions (HEIs). Academic writing is an important aspect of academic literacy in any institution of higher learning, more so in an ODeL institution. This has probed research that shows that academic writing is and continues to pose challenges for EAL teaching and learning contexts in higher education institutions. This study stems from the researcher’s experience in teaching academic writing to first-year students in the EAW101 module. The motivation for this study emerged from the fact that EAW101 is a writing module that has a high number of students in the Department of English Studies with an average of between 50-80 percent pass rate. These statistics elaborate on the argument that most students registered in this module struggle with academic writing, and they need intervention to assist and support them in achieving competence in the module. This study is underpinned by Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and Transactional distance theory. This study adopted a qualitative research methodology and utilised a case study approach as a research design. Furthermore, the study gathered data from first year students and the EAW101 module’s student support initiatives. To collect data, focus group discussions, structured open-ended evaluation questions, and an observation schedule were used to gather data. The study is vital towards exploring academic writing challenges that first-year students in EAW101 encounter so that lecturers in the module may consider re-evaluating their methods of teaching to improve EAL students’ academic writing skills. This study may help lecturers towards enhancing academic writing in a ODeL context by assisting first year students through using student support interventions.

Keywords: academic writing, academic writing challenge, ODeL, EAL

Procedia PDF Downloads 105