Search results for: culturally relevant education

Authors: Frederick Gooding

Abstract:

This paper explores how many Hip Hop artists have intentionally and strategically invoked sustainability principles of people, planet and profits as a means to create community, compensate for and cope with structural inequalities in society. These themes not only create community within one's country, but the powerful display and demonstration of these narratives create community on a global plane. Listeners of Hip Hop are therefore able to learn about the political events occurring in another country free of censure, and establish solidarity worldwide. Hip Hop therefore can be an ingenious tool to create self-worth, recycle positive imagery, and serve as a defense mechanism from institutional and structural forces that conspire to make an upward economic and social trajectory difficult, if not impossible for many people of color, all across the world. Although the birthplace of Hip Hop, the United States of America, is still predominately White, it has undoubtedly grown more diverse at a breath-­taking pace in recent decades. Yet, whether American mainstream media will fully reflect America’s newfound diversity remains to be seen. As it stands, American mainstream media is seen and enjoyed by diverse audiences not just in America, but all over the world. Thus, it is imperative that further inquiry is conducted about one of the fastest growing genres within one of the world’s largest and most influential media industries generating upwards of $10 billion annually. More importantly, hip hop, its music and associated culture collectively represent a shared social experience of significant value. They are important tools used both to inform and influence economic, social and political identity. Conversely, principles of American exceptionalism often prioritize American political issues over those of others, thereby rendering a myopic political view within the mainstream. This paper will therefore engage in an international contextualization of the global phenomena entitled Hip Hop by exploring the creative genius and marketing appeal of Hip Hop within the global context of information technology, political expression and social change in addition to taking a critical look at historically racialized imagery within mainstream media. Many artists the world over have been able to freely express themselves and connect with broader communities outside of their own borders, all through the sound practice of the craft of Hip Hop. An empirical understanding of political, social and economic forces within the United States will serve as a bridge for identifying and analyzing transnational themes of commonality for typically marginalized or disaffected communities facing similar struggles for survival and respect. The sharing of commonalities of marginalized cultures not only serves as a source of education outside of typically myopic, mainstream sources, but it also creates transnational bonds globally to the extent that practicing artists resonate with many of the original themes of (now mostly underground) Hip Hop as with many of the African American artists responsible for creating and fostering Hip Hop's powerful outlet of expression. Hip Hop's power of connectivity and culture-sharing transnationally across borders provides a key source of education to be taken seriously by academics.

Keywords: culture, education, global, hip hop, mainstream music, transnational

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: A. Afrashi

Abstract:

Introduction: Synaesthesia is a term denoting the perception or description of the perception of one sense modality in terms of another. In literature, synaesthesia refers to a technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one sense like hearing, seeing, smell etc. at a given time. In everyday language too we find many examples of synaesthesia. We commonly hear phrases like ‘loud colors’, ‘frozen silence’ and ‘warm colors’, ‘bitter cold’ etc. Empirical cognitive studies have proved that synaesthetic representations both in literature and everyday languages are constrained ie. they do not map randomly among sensory domains. From the beginning of the 20th century Synaesthesia has been a research domain both in literature and structural linguistics. However the exploration of cognitive mechanisms motivating synaesthesia, have made it an important topic in 21st century cognitive linguistics and literary studies. Synaesthetic metaphors are linguistic representations of those mental mechanisms, the study of which reveals invaluable facts about perception, cognition and conceptualization. According to the main tenets of cognitive approach to language and literature, unified and similar cognitive mechanisms are active both in everyday language and literature, and synaesthesia is one of those cognitive mechanisms. Main objective of the present research is to answer the following questions: What types of sense transfers are accessible in Persian synaesthetic metaphors. How are these types of sense transfers cognitively explained. What are the results of cross-linguistic comparative study of synaestetic metaphors based on the existing observations? Methodology: The present research employs a cognitive - corpus based method, and the theoretical framework adopted to analyze linguistic synaesthesia is the contemporary theory of metaphor, where conceptual metaphor is the result of systemic mappings across cognitive domains. Persian Language Data- base (PLDB) in the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies which consists mainly of Persian modern prose, is searched for synaesthetic metaphors. Then for each metaphorical structure, the source and target domains are determined. Then sense transfers are identified and the types of synaesthetic metaphors recognized. Findings: Persian synaesthetic metaphors conform to the hierarchical distribution principle, according to which transfers tend to go from touch to taste to smell to sound and to sight, not vice versa. In other words mapping from more accessible or basic concepts onto less accessible or less basic ones seems more natural. Furthermore the most frequent target domain in Persian synaesthetic metaphors is sound. Certain characteristics of Persian synaesthetic metaphors are comparable with existing related researches carried on English, French, Hungarian and Chinese synaesthetic metaphors. Conclusion: Cognitive corpus based approaches to linguistic synaesthesia, are applicable to stylistics and literary criticism and this recent research domain is an efficient approach to study cross linguistic variations to find out which of the five senses is dominant cross linguistically and cross culturally as the target domain in metaphorical mappings , and so forth receiving dominance in conceptualizations.

Keywords: cognitive semantics, conceptual metaphor, synaesthesia, corpus based approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 562

Authors: Yuliana Wahyu, Ambros Leonangung Edu

Abstract:

The learning praxis that is proposed by 2013 Curriculum (K-13) is no longer school-oriented as a supply-driven, but now a demand-driven provider. This vision is connected with Jokowi-Kalla Nawacita program to create a competitive nation in the global era. Competition is a social fact that must be faced. Therefore the curriculum will design a process to be the innovators and entrepreneurs.To get this goal, K-13 implements the character education. This aims at creating the innovators and entrepreneurs from an early age (primary school). One part of strengthening it is literacy formations (reading, numeracy, science, ICT, finance, and culture). Thus, science literacy is an integral part of character education. The above outputs are only formed through the innovative process through intra-curricular (blended learning), co-curriculer (hands-on learning) and extra-curricular (personalized learning). Unlike the curriculums before that child cram with the theories dominating the intellectual process, new breakthroughs make natural, social, and cultural phenomena as learning sources. For example, Science in primary schoolsplaceBiology as the platform. And Science places natural, social, and cultural phenomena as a learning field so that students can learn, discover, solve concrete problems, and the prospects of development and application in their everyday lives. Science education not only learns about facts collection or natural phenomena but also methods and scientific attitudes. In turn, Science will form the science literacy. Science literacy have critical, creative, logical, and initiative competences in responding to the issues of culture, science and technology. This is linked with science nature which includes hands-on and minds-on. To sustain the effectiveness of science learning, K-13 opens a new way of viewing a contextual learning model in which facts or natural phenomena are drawn closer to the child's learning environment to be studied and analyzed scientifically. Thus, the topic of elementary science discussion is the practical and contextual things that students encounter. This research is about to contextualize Science in primary schools at Manggarai, NTT, by placing local wisdom as a learning source and media to form the science literacy. Explicitly, this study discovers the concept of science and mathematics in Mbaru Niang. Mbaru Niang is a forgotten potentials of the centralistic-theoretical mainstream curriculum so far. In fact, the traditional Manggarai community stores and inherits much of the science-mathematical indigenous sciences. In the traditional house structures are full of science and mathematics knowledge. Every details have style, sound and mathematical symbols. Learning this, students are able to collaborate and synergize the content and learning resources in student learning activities. This is constructivist contextual learning that will be applied in meaningful learning. Meaningful learning allows students to learn by doing. Students then connect topics to the context, and science literacy is constructed from their factual experiences. The research location will be conducted in Manggarai through observation, interview, and literature study.

Keywords: indigenous science, Mbaru Niang, science literacy, science

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Alexandria Carey, Angela Starkweather, Ann Horgas, Hwayoung Cho, Jason Beneciuk

Abstract:

Background/Significance: Over 3.4 million acute axial low back pain (aLBP) cases are treated annually in the United States (US) emergency departments (ED). ED patients with aLBP receive varying verbal and written discharge routine care (RC), leading to ineffective patient self-management. Ineffective self-management increase chronic low back pain (cLPB) transition risks, a chief cause of worldwide disability, with associated costs >$60 million annually. This research addresses this significant problem by evaluating an ED digital pain self-management intervention (EDPSI) focused on improving self-management through improved knowledge retainment, skills, and self-efficacy (confidence) (KSC) thus reducing aLBP to cLBP transition in ED patients discharged with aLBP. The research has significant potential to increase self-efficacy, one of the most potent mechanisms of behavior change and improve health outcomes. Focusing on accessibility and usability, the intervention may reduce discharge disparities in aLBP self-management, especially with low health literacy. Study Questions: This research will answer the following questions: 1) Will an EDPSI focused on improving KSC progress patient self-management behaviors and health status?; 2) Is the EDPSI sustainable to improve pain severity, interference, and pain recurrence?; 3) Will an EDPSI reduce aLBP to cLBP transition in patients discharged with aLBP? Aims: The pilot randomized-controlled trial (RCT) study’s objectives assess the effects of a 12-week digital self-management discharge tool in patients with aLBP. We aim to 1) Primarily assess the feasibility [recruitment, enrollment, and retention], and [intervention] acceptability, and sustainability of EDPSI on participant’s pain self-management; 2) Determine the effectiveness and sustainability of EDPSI on pain severity/interference among participants. 3) Explore patient preferences, health literacy, and changes among participants experiencing the transition to cLBP. We anticipate that EDPSI intervention will increase likelihood of achieving self-management milestones and significantly improve pain-related symptoms in aLBP. Methods: The study uses a two-group pilot RCT to enroll 30 individuals who have been seen in the ED with aLBP. Participants are randomized into RC (n=15) or RC + EDPSI (n=15) and receive follow-up surveys for 12-weeks post-intervention. EDPSI innovative content focuses on 1) highlighting discharge education; 2) provides self-management treatment options; 3) actor demonstration of ergonomics, range of motion movements, safety, and sleep; 4) complementary alternative medicine (CAM) options including acupuncture, yoga, and Pilates; 5) combination therapies including thermal application, spinal manipulation, and PT treatments. The intervention group receives Booster sessions via Zoom to assess and reinforce their knowledge retention of techniques and provide return demonstration reinforcing ergonomics, in weeks two and eight. Outcome Measures: All participants are followed for 12-weeks, assessing pain severity/ interference using the Brief Pain Inventory short-form (BPI-sf) survey, self-management (measuring KSC) using the short 13-item Patient Activation Measure (PAM), and self-efficacy using the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) weeks 1, 6, and 12. Feasibility is measured by recruitment, enrollment, and retention percentages. Acceptability and education satisfaction are measured using the Education-Preference and Satisfaction Questionnaire (EPSQ) post-intervention. Self-management sustainment is measured including PSEQ, PAM, and patient satisfaction and healthcare utilization (PSHU) requesting patient overall satisfaction, additional healthcare utilization, and pain management related to continued back pain or complications post-injury.

Keywords: digital, pain self-management, education, tool

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: Sanaa Riaz

Abstract:

The free people, Amazigh (plural Imazighen), often known by the more popular exonym, Berber, are spread across several North African countries with the highest population in Morocco have been substantially misunderstood and differentially showcased by entities from western-school educated scholars to human, health and women’s rights organizations, to the State to the international community. This paper is an examination of the various conceptualization of the Imazighen. With the popularity of the Arab Spring movement to oust monarchical and dictatorial rulers across the Middle East and North Africa in Morocco, the Moroccan monarchy introduced various reform programs to win public favor. These included social, economic and educational reforms to incorporate marginalized groups such as the Imazighen. The monarchy has ushered Amazigh representation in public offices and landscape through Amazigh script, even though theirs has been an oral culture. After the Arab Spring, the Justice and Development party, an Islamist party took over in Morocco due to its accessibility to the masses, In Sept. 2021, unlike the case of Egypt and Tunisia where military and constitutional means were sought, Morocco successfully removed it from power through the ballot, resulting in a real victory for the neutral monarchy and its representation as a moderate, secular and liberal force for the nation. As a result, supporting the perpetuation of Amazigh linguistic identity also became synonymous to making a secular statement as a Muslim. It has led to the telling of Amazigh identity at state museums as one representing the indigenous, pure, diverse, culturally-rich and united Morocco. Reform efforts have also prioritized an amiable look towards the economic and familial links of Moroccan Jews with the few thousand families still left in the country and a showcasing through museums and cultural centers of the Jewish identity as Moroccan first. In that endeavor, it is interesting to note the coverage of Jews as the indigenous of Morocco through the embracing of their “folk” cultural and religious practices, those that are not continued outside Morocco. In this epistemology, the concept of the Moroccan Jew becomes similar to the indigenous Amazigh, both cherished as the oldest peoples of Morocco and symbols of its unity and resilience. In the urban discourse, Amazigh identity is a concept that continues to be part of the deliberations of elites and scholars graduating from French schools on the incorporation of rural and illiterate Morocco in economic and educational advancement. Yet, with the constant influx of migrants from Western Sahara into cities like Fez and Marrakesh, Amazigh has often been described as the umbrella term of those of “mixed” ethnic ancestry who constitute the country’s free population. In sum, Amazigh identity highlights the changing discourse on marginalized communities, human rights, representation, Moroccan nationhood, and regional and transnational politics. The aim of this paper is to analyze perceptions of Amazigh identity in Morocco post-2021 ousting of the Islamist party using data from state-sponsored museum displays and cultural centers collected in Summer 2022 and scholarly analyses of Amazigh identity, representation and rights in Morocco.

Keywords: Amazigh identity, Morocco, representation, state politics

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Scarlet Alejandra Romano, Joni Kareco

Abstract:

The three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental) are relevant concepts to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry because of the increase of international agreements and guidelines related to this topic during the last years. Considering these three pillars, the AEC industry faces important challenges, for instance, to decrease the carbon emissions (environmental challenge), design sustainable spaces for people (social challenge), and improve the technology of this field to reduce costs and environmental problems (economic and environmental challenge). One alternative to overcome these challenges is Building Information Modelling program (BIM) because according to several authors, this technology improves the performance of the sustainable buildings in all their lifecycle phases. The main objective of this paper is to explore and analyse the current advantages and disadvantages of the BIM implementation in the life-cycle of sustainable buildings considering the three pillars of sustainability as analysis parameters. The methodology established to achieve this objective is exploratory-descriptive with the literature review technique. The partial results illustrate that despite the BIM disadvantages and the lack of information about its social sustainability advantages, this software represents a significant opportunity to improve the three sustainable pillars of the sustainable buildings.

Keywords: building information modelling, building lifecycle analysis, sustainability, sustainable buildings

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Joseph Mouallem, Seyed Reza Amini Niaki, Norman Chavez-Cussy, Christian Costa Milioli, Fernando Eduardo Milioli

Abstract:

Sub-grid closures for filtered two-fluid models (fTFM) useful in large scale simulations (LSS) of riser flows can be derived from highly resolved simulations (HRS) with microscopic two-fluid modeling (mTFM). Accurate sub-grid closures require accurate mTFM formulations as well as accurate correlation of relevant filtered parameters to suitable independent variables. This article deals with both of those issues. The accuracy of mTFM is touched by assessing the impact of gas sub-grid turbulence over HRS filtered predictions. A gas turbulence alike effect is artificially inserted by means of a stochastic forcing procedure implemented in the physical space over the momentum conservation equation of the gas phase. The correlation issue is touched by introducing a three-filtered variable correlation analysis (three-marker analysis) performed under a variety of different macro-scale conditions typical or risers. While the more elaborated correlation procedure clearly improved accuracy, accounting for gas sub-grid turbulence had no significant impact over predictions.

Keywords: fluidization, gas-particle flow, two-fluid model, sub-grid models, filtered closures

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Bărbuță Alina

Abstract:

The inter-causal relationship between social inequalities and the digital divide raises the relation issue of gender and information and communication technologies (ICT) - a key element in achieving sustainable development. In preparing generations as future digital citizens and for active socio-economic participation, ICT plays a key role in respecting gender equality. Although several studies over the years have shown that gender plays an important role in digital exclusion, in recent years, many studies with a focus on economically developed or developing countries identify an improvement in these aspects and a gap narrowing. By measuring students' digital competencies level, this paper aims to identify and analyse the existing gender digital inequalities among students. Our analyses are based on a sample of 1526 middle school students residing in rural areas from Republic of Moldova (54.2% girls, mean age 14,00, SD = 1.02). During the online survey they filled in a questionnaire adapted from the (yDSI) ”The Youth Digital Skills Indicator”. The instrument measures the level of five digital competence areas indicated in The European Digital Competence Framework (DigiCom 2.3.). Our results, based on t-test, indicate that depending on gender, there are no statistically significant differences regarding the levels of digital skills in 3 areas: Information navigation and processing; Communication and interaction; Problem solving. However, were identified significant differences in the level of digital skills in the area of ”Digital content creation” [t(1425) = 4.20, p = .000] and ”Safety” [t(1421) = 2.49, p = .000], with higher scores recorded by girls. Our results contradicts the general stereotype regarding the low level of digital competence among girls, in our sample girls scores being on pear with boys and even bigger in knowledge related to digital content creation and online safety skills. Additional investigations related to boys competence on digital safety are necessary as the implication of their low scores on this dimension may suggest boys exposure to digital threats.

Keywords: digital divide, education, gender digital divide, digital literacy, remote learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Chaiwat Wuthinitikornkit

Abstract:

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inevitably affects the landscape of the political economy of the host country. It is, therefore, significant to review and uncover how and in what way(s) FDI shapes the preferences of the interest groups within the host country, as such preferences may, in turn, influence the policies of the host country. By conducting a review of relevant literature, this paper attempts to outline the key forces behind such preferences and identify potential gaps for future studies. This paper argues that while existing theories have specified endowment and political and institutional factors as key explanations behind the preferences of domestic interest groups, other qualitative attributes of the foreign investors' side, such as their nationalities, have yet to be adequately investigated empirically and may potentially also possess explanatory power. This is particularly important in the current global economic landscape, where key global investors hail from origins from both developed and developing countries with diverse political systems and business practices. This paper aims to provide the groundwork for future studies on these potential gaps, which may provide not only contributions to the academic sphere but also practical insight into policymaking and business communities.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, interest groups, international political economy, political economy

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Sadek Salah

Abstract:

The determination of the strength characteristics of waste materials is essential when evaluating the stability of waste fills during initial placement and at the time of closure and rehabilitation of the landfill. Significant efforts, mostly experimental, have been deployed to date in attempts to quantify the mechanical properties of municipal wastes various stages of decomposition. Even though the studies and work done so far have helped in setting baseline parameters and characteristics for waste materials, inherent concerns remain as to the scalability of the findings between the laboratory and the field along with questions as to the suitability of the actual test conditions. These concerns are compounded by the complexity of the problem itself with significant variability in composition, placement conditions, and levels of decay of the various constituents of the waste fills. A complimentary, if not necessarily an alternative approach is to rely on field observations of behavior and instability of such materials. This paper describes an effort at obtaining relevant shear strength parameters from back-analyses of failures which have been observed at a major un-engineered waste fill along the Mediterranean shoreline. Results from the limit-equilibrium failure back-analyses are presented and compared to results from laboratory-scale testing on comparable waste materials.

Keywords: solid waste, shear strength, landfills, slope stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: Abosede Mosunmola Odeseye

Abstract:

The sustainability of nations’ economies today have proven to be unrealistic in a constantly changing world without appropriate accordance to entrepreneurship role and its processes. This role has therefore proven to be a product of the available and discoverable opportunities by an individual/organisation in any pattern – innovation, discovery, diffusion, imitation amidst possible challenges. In light of these, this paper examined the relationship between opportunity development and entrepreneurial processes as well as the factors determining individual’s opportunity development and the success of entrepreneurial processes. Systematic review method was adopted for selecting relevant academic materials. The theoretical base of this paper was anchored on Schumpeter’s entrepreneurial innovation model and Drucker and Stevenson’s opportunity-based entrepreneurship theory. Based on the reviewed literature, it was discovered that rough business idea “opportunity” in any form – techniques/product encounter various obstacles to achieve its development, acceptability and sustainability. In essence, the findings revealed that the birth of every opportunity is as a result of the individual/organisation and environmental factors to be able to scale through the whole process successfully. Due to the outcome of this paper, it was recommended that the organisations/government should endeavour to create an enabling environment for a rough business idea to come to life amidst the hurdles of the entrepreneurial process.

Keywords: entrepreneurial process, entrepreneurship, opportunity, opportunity development, organisation, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Zhai Yujia

Abstract:

None of the scholars and researchers has ever stepped into this field, though there are quite a few papers worked on various topics relevant to cultural and economic globalization separately. Economic globalization is earlier than cultural globalization. Since the invention of currency, people have had the sense of making money for the purpose of living, supporting their families, or other personal reasons. Their strong desire for earning a living is one of the incentives to propel the trade, tourism and other related economic activities that provide the service within the homeland at first and expand into the whole world later, as the global markets grow and mature. The need for operation impels international communication or interaction. To achieve this, it is vital to realize or recognize other cultures to some degree, concluding language, customs, social etiquette and history of different nations. All this drives the cultural globalization process. In contrast, it is clear that the development of cultural globalization does accelerate the process of economic globalization in return. Under the guidance of Skopos theory (first proposed by Hans Vermeer, and its core principle is that the translation process is determined by the purpose), this paper aims to demonstrate that cultural globalization is not a process in isolation by analyzing its driving forces and retroaction thoroughly with an approach of overview. It intertwines with economic globalization. The two push each other to proper gradually during their development, serving as the indispensable parts of the globalization process.

Keywords: cultural globalization, driving forces, retroaction, Skopos theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Pintu Modak

Abstract:

The core strength is essential not only for athletes but also for everyone to perform everyday's household chores with ease and efficiency. Core strength means to strengthen the muscles deep within the abdomen which connect to the spine and pelvis which control the position and movement of the central portion of the body. Strengthening of core muscles is important for injury prevention (lower back pain) and performance enhancement in sports. The purpose of the study was to review the literature and findings on the effects of Yoga exercise as a part of sports training method and fitness programs. Fifteen papers were found to be relevant for this review. There are five simple yoga poses: Ardha Phalakasana (Low plank), Vasisthasana (side plank), Purvottanasana (inclined plane), Sarvangasana (shoulder stand), and Virabhadrasana (Warrior) are found to be very effective for strengthening core muscles. They are the most effective poses to build core strength and flexibility to the core muscles. The study suggests that sports and fitness trainers should include these yoga exercises in their programs to strengthen core muscles.

Keywords: core strength, yoga, injuries, lower back

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Ajish K. Abraham

Abstract:

Hearing aid is the most fundamental technology employed towards rehabilitation of persons with sensory neural hearing impairment. Hearing in noise is still a matter of major concern for many hearing aid users and thus continues to be a challenging issue for the hearing aid designers. Several techniques are being currently used to enhance the speech at the hearing aid output. Most of these techniques, when implemented, result in reduction of intelligibility of the speech signal. Thus the dissatisfaction of the hearing aid user towards comprehending the desired speech amidst noise is prevailing. Multichannel Wiener Filter is widely implemented in binaural hearing aid technology for noise reduction. In this study, Wiener filter based noise reduction approach is experimented for a single microphone based hearing aid set up. This method checks the status of the input speech signal in each frequency band and then selects the relevant noise reduction procedure. Results showed that the Wiener filter based algorithm is capable of enhancing speech even when the input acoustic signal has a very low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). Performance of the algorithm was compared with other similar algorithms on the basis of improvement in intelligibility and SNR of the output, at different SNR levels of the input speech. Wiener filter based algorithm provided significant improvement in SNR and intelligibility compared to other techniques.

Keywords: hearing aid output speech, noise reduction, SNR improvement, Wiener filter, speech enhancement

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Maho Komura

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to determine from a questionnaire survey of teachers the status of implementation of individualized support for the pupils with suspected developmental disabilities in regular elementary school classes in Japan. In inclusive education, the goal is for all pupils to learn in the same place as much as possible by receiving the individualized support they need. However, in the Japanese school culture, strong "homogeneity" sometimes surfaces, and it is pointed out that it is difficult to provide individualized support from the viewpoint of formal equality. Therefore, we decided to conduct this study in order to examine whether there is a difference in the frequency of implementation depending on the content of individualized support and to consider the direction of future individualized support. The subjects of the survey were 196 public elementary school teachers who had been in charge of regular classes within the past five years. In the survey, individualized support was defined as individualized consideration including rational consideration, and did not include support for the entire class or all pupils enrolled in the class (e.g., reducing the amount of homework for pupils who have trouble learning, changing classroom rules, etc.). (e.g., reducing the amount of homework for pupils with learning difficulties, allowing pupils with behavioral concerns to use the library or infirmary when they are unstable). The respondents were asked to choose one answer from four options, ranging from "very much" to "not at all," regarding the degree to which they implemented the nine individual support items that were set up with reference to previous studies. As a result, it became clear that the majority of teachers had pupils with developmental disabilities or pupils who require consideration in terms of learning and behavior, and that the majority of teachers had experience in providing individualized support to these pupils. Investigating the content of the individualized support that had been implemented, it became clear that the frequency with which it was implemented varied depending on the individualized support. Individualized support that allowed pupils to perform the same learning tasks was implemented more frequently, but individualized support that allowed different learning tasks or use of places other than the classroom was implemented less frequently. It was suggested that flexible support methods tailored to each pupil may not have been considered.

Keywords: inclusive education, ndividualized support, regular class, elementary school

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Isabela Thomas Mkude

Abstract:

This research was done to assess how the community is involved in waste management activities and their willingness to pay for services. Mnadani and Madukani are among the old wards in Dodoma urban. These two areas are similar and face numerous environmental problems, poor solid waste management practices being among them. People realize problems because they live with them daily but the study advice that the only way to stay off problems is to find appropriate measures. The findings recognized some problems that led to poor community involvement solid waste management the study areas. Lack of community education on how to deal with solid wastes, poor responsibility of ward leaders in issues concerning the environment and in active participation of communities in environmental meeting are among other major problems found during the research. The research also revealed that there is low willingness to pay for waste collection among communities and financial problems that make environmental committee inactive; that leading to a poor disposal and unavailable collection facilities in urban area. Although the municipal improves disposal activities by increasing amount of waste to be disposed off by 11% in three years, the amount of waste that collected is also increasing by 41% each day. It is advised that some corrective measures need to be put in place so that the communities are well involved in managing solid wastes as the best way to attain achievement in keeping the urban free from solid waste. Environmental education dissemination to the communities is needed so that they become responsible and dedicated citizen on the environment. There should be some incentives from government to the wards local government and CBOs so that they can practically implement solid waste management programs and to attract formation of more groups and motivate the present groups. Capacity building programs to the ward leaders need to be given priority so that leaders are well organized and able to plan, coordinate and cooperate with various governmental institutions, and NGOs responsible for development and environmental management.

Keywords: solid waste, waste management, public involvement, rapid urbanized region

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Cindy Davis

Abstract:

Higher education is changing globally and there is increasing pressure from professional social work accreditation bodies for academic programs to demonstrate how students have successfully met mandatory graduate competencies. As professional accreditation organizations increase their demand for evidence of graduate competencies, strategies to document and recording learning outcomes becomes increasingly challenging for academics and students. Studies in higher education have found support for the pedagogical value of ePortfolios, a flexible personal learning space that is owned by the student and include opportunity for assessment, feedback and reflection as well as a virtual space to store evidence of demonstration of professional competencies and graduate attributes. Examples of institutional uses of ePortfolios include e-administration of a diverse student population, assessment of student learning, and the demonstration of graduate attributes attained and future student career preparation. The current paper presents a case study on the introduction of ePortfolios for social work graduates in Australia as part of an institutional approach to technology-enhanced learning and e-learning. Social work graduates were required to submit an ePortfolio hosted on PebblePad. The PebblePad platform was selected because it places the student at the center of their learning whilst providing powerful tools for staff to structure, guide and assess that learning. The ePortofolio included documentation and evidence of how the student met each graduate competency as set out by the social work accreditation body in Australia (AASW). This digital resource played a key role in the process of external professional accreditation by clearly documenting and evidencing how students met required graduate competencies. In addition, student feedback revealed a positive outcome on how this resource provided them with a consolidation of their learning experiences and assisted them in obtaining employment post-graduation. There were also significant institutional factors that were key to successful implementation such as investment in the digital technology, capacity building amongst academics, and technical support for staff and students.

Keywords: accreditation, social work, teaching, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Teresa B. King

Abstract:

In the millennial age, with more students desiring a fashion major yet fewer having sewing and manufacturing knowledge, this increases demand on academicians to adequately educate. While fashion museums have a prominent place for historical preservation, the need for apparel education via working collections of handmade or mass manufactured apparel is lacking in most universities in the United States, especially in the Southern region. Created in 1988, Middle Tennessee State University’s historic clothing collection provides opportunities to study apparel construction methods throughout history, to compare and apply to today’s construction and manufacturing methods, as well as to learn the cyclical nature/importance of historic styles on current and upcoming fashion. In 2019, a class exercise experiment was implemented for which students researched their family genealogy using Ancestry.com, identified the oldest visual media (photographs, etc.) available, and analyzed the garment represented in said media. The student then located a comparable garment in the historic collection and evaluated the construction methods of the ancestor’s time period. A class 'fashion' genealogy tree was created and mounted for public viewing/education. Results of this exercise indicated that student learning increased due to the 'personal/familial connection' as it triggered more interest in historical garments as related to the student’s own personal culture. Students better identified garments regarding the historical time period, fiber content, fabric, and construction methods utilized, thus increasing learning and retention. Students also developed increased learning and recognition of custom construction methods versus current mass manufacturing techniques, which impact today’s fashion industry. A longitudinal effort will continue with the growth of the historic collection and as students continue to utilize the historic clothing collection.

Keywords: ancestry, clothing history, fashion history, genealogy, historic fashion museum collection

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Michal Pachocki

Abstract:

This study investigates the effects of mobility in the context of a different environment and work culture through analysing the learners perception of their international work experience. Since this kind of professional training abroad is becoming more popular in Europe, mainly due to the EU funding opportunities, it is of paramount importance to assess its long-term impact on educational and career paths of former students. Moreover, the tracer study aimed at defining what professional, social and intercultural competencies were gained or developed by the interns and to which extent those competences proved to be useful meeting the labor market requirements. Being a populous EU member state which actively modernizes its vocational education system (also with European funds), Poland can serve as an illustrative case study to investigate the above described research problems. However, the examined processes are most certainly universal, wherever mobility is included in the learning process. The target group of this research was the former mobility participants and the study was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods, such as the online survey with over 2 600 questionnaires completed by the former mobility participants; -individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 20 Polish graduates already present in the labour market; - 5 focus group interviews (FGIs) with 60 current students of the Polish vocational schools, who have recently returned from the training abroad. As the adopted methodology included a data triangulation, the collected findings have also been supplemented with data obtained by the desk research (mainly contextual information and statistical summary of mobility implementation). The results of this research – to be presented in full scope within the conference presentation – include the participants’ perception of their work mobility. The vast majority of graduates agrees that such an experience has had a significant impact on their professional careers and claims that they would recommend training abroad to persons who are about to enter the labor market. Moreover, in their view, such form of practical training going beyond formal education provided them with an opportunity to try their hand in the world of work. This allowed them – as they accounted for them – to get acquainted with a work system and context different from the ones experienced in Poland. Although the work mobility becomes an important element of the learning process in the growing number of Polish schools, this study reveals that many sending institutions suffer from a lack of the coherent strategy for planning domestic and foreign training programmes. Nevertheless, the significant number of graduates claims that such a synergy improves the quality of provided training. Despite that, the research proved that the transnational mobilities exert an impact on their future careers and personal development. However, such impact is, in their opinion, dependant on other factors, such as length of the training period, the nature and extent of work, recruitment criteria and the quality of organizational arrangement and mentoring provided to learners. This may indicate the salience of the sending and receiving institutions organizational capacity to deal with mobility.

Keywords: learning mobility, transnational training, vocational education and training graduates, tracer study

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Omar Bataineh

Abstract:

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a principle-based method that aims to get a high-level production with no breakdowns, no slow running and no defects. Key principles of TPM were applied in this work to improve the performance of the glass production line at United Beverage Company in Kuwait, which is producing bottles of soft drinks. Principles such as 5S as a foundation for TPM implementation, developing a program for equipment management, Cause and Effect Analysis (CEA), quality improvement, training and education of employees were employed. After the completion of TPM implementation, it was possible to increase the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) from 23% to 40%.

Keywords: OEE, TPM, FMEA, CEA

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Göksel Şimşek

Abstract:

Celebrities are admired, appreciated and imitated all over the world. As a natural result of this, today many brands choose to work with celebrities for their advertisements. It can be said that the more the brands include celebrities in their marketing communication strategies, the tougher the competition in this field becomes and they allocate a large portion of their marketing budget to this. Brands invest in celebrities who will represent them in order to build the image they want to create. This study aimed to bring under spotlight the perceptions of Turkish customers regarding the use of celebrities in advertisements and marketing communication and try to understand their possible effects on subsequent purchasing decisions. In addition, consumers’ reactions and perceptions were investigated in the context of the product-celebrity match, to what extent the celebrity conforms to the concept of the advertisement and the celebrity-target audience match. In order to achieve this purpose, a quantitative research was conducted as a case study concerning Mavi Jeans (textile company). Information was obtained through survey. The results from this case study are supported by relevant theories concerning the main subject. The most valuable result would be that instead of creating an advertisement around a celebrity in demand at the time, using a celebrity that fits the concept of the advertisement and feeds the concept rather than replaces it, that is celebrity endorsement, will lead to more striking and positive results.

Keywords: celebrity endorsement, product-celebrity match, advertising, social sciences

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Ya-Hui Lee, Ching-Yi Lu, Chien Hung, Hsieh

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to explore the difference between state-owned-enterprise employees and the civil servants regarding their future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. The researchers investigated 687 middle age and older adults (345 state-owned-enterprise employees and 342 civil servants) through survey research, to understand the relevance between and the prediction of their future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. The findings of this study are: 1.There are significant differences between these two professions regarding future-oriented thinking but not retirement planning. The results of the future-oriented thinking of civil servants are overall higher than that of the state-owned-enterprise employees. 2. There are significant differences both in the aspects of future-oriented thinking and retirement planning among civil servants of different ages. The future-oriented thinking and retirement planning of ages 55 and above are more significant than those of ages 45 or under. For the state-owned-enterprise employees, however, there is no significance found in their future-oriented thinking, but in their retirement planning. Moreover, retirement planning is higher at ages 55 or above than at other ages. 3. With regard to education, there is no correlation to future-oriented thinking or retirement planning for civil servants. For state-owned-enterprise employees, however, their levels of education directly affect their future-oriented thinking. Those with a master degree or above have greater future-oriented thinking than those with other educational degrees. As for retirement planning, there is no correlation. 4. Self-assessment of economic status significantly affects the future-oriented thinking and retirement planning of both civil servants and state-owned-enterprise employees. Those who assess themselves more affluently are more inclined to future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. 5. For civil servants, there are significant differences between their monthly income and retirement planning, but none with future-oriented thinking. As for state-owned-enterprise employees, there are significant differences between their monthly income and retirement planning as well as future-oriented thinking. State-owned-enterprise employees who have significantly higher monthly incomes (1,960 euros and above) have more significant future-oriented thinking and retirement planning than those with lower monthly incomes (1,469 euros and below). 6. The middle age and older adults of both professions have positive correlations with future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. Through stepwise multiple regression analysis, the results indicate that future-oriented thinking and retirement planning have positive predictions. The authors then present the findings of this study for state-owned-enterprises, public authorities, and older adult educational program designs in Taiwan as references.

Keywords: state-owned-enterprise employees, civil servants, future-oriented thinking, retirement planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Prandesha Govender, Chris Cloete

Abstract:

Purpose: The objective of the paper is to develop a tool for the evaluation of the financial risk of a shopping center. Methodology: Important factors that indicate the success of a shopping center were identified from the available literature. Weights were allocated to these factors and a risk rating was calculated for 505 shopping centers in the largest province in South Africa by taking the factor scores, factor weights, and category weights into account. The ratings for ten randomly selected shopping centers were correlated with consumer feedback and standardized against the ECAI (External Credit Assessment Institutions) data for the same centers. The ratings were also mapped to corporates with the same risk rating to provide a better intuitive assessment of the meaning of the inherent risk of each center. Results: The proposed risk tool shows a strong linear correlation with consumer views and can be compared to expert opinions, such as that of fund managers and REITs. Interpretation of the tool was also illustrated by correlating the risk rating of selected shopping centers to the risk rating of reputable and established entities. Conclusions: The proposed Shopping Centre Risk Tool, used in conjunction with financial inputs from the relevant center, should prove useful to an investor when the desirability of investment in or expansion, renovation, or purchase of a shopping center is being considered.

Keywords: risk, shopping centres, risk modelling, investment, rating tool, rating scale

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Fan Yu

Abstract:

An atrium is a place for natural climate exchanging of indoor and outdoor space of buildings, which plays an active role in the overall energy conservation, climate control and environmental purification of buildings. Its greatest contribution is serving as a natural light collector and distributor to solve the problem of natural lighting in large and deep spaces. However, in real situations, the atrium space often results in energy consumption due to improper design in considering its big size and large amount use of glass. Based on the purpose of energy conservation of buildings, this paper emphasizes the significance of natural lighting of atriums. Through literature research, case analysis and other methods, four factors, namely: the light transmittance through the top of the atrium, the geometric proportion of the atrium space, the size and position of windows and the material of the surface of walls in the atrium, were studied, and the influence of different architectural compositions on the natural light distribution of the atrium is discussed. Relying on the analysis of relevant cases, it is proposed that when designing the natural lighting of the atrium, the height and width of the atrium should be paid attention to, the atrium walls are required being rough surfaces and the atrium top-level windows need to be minimized in order to introduce more natural light into the buildings and achieve the purpose of energy conservation.

Keywords: energy conservation, atrium, natural lighting, architectural design

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Arvin Ludovice

Abstract:

The modern way of communicating and connecting people has been in its easiest forms nowadays, one of it is blog. Blogs, nowadays, are truly relevant in informing people of different as aspects, interests, and fields through these blogs. The evidentiality and testimony of collective people are easily been accessed. However, the description of blog in the making is persuading people, choice of language is one—adverbial intensifiers. Measuring the language on a scale of its intensity subdue the intensity per se. The present study determines, scrutinizes and analyses the adverbial intensifiers used in Filipino and Malaysian. The corpus consists of 30 top travel blogs written by Filipinos and 30 top travel blogs written by Malaysian for a total of 60 travel blogs. The application AntConc was utilized to tag the necessary intensifiers. A frequency distribution of the scores is used to identify the most common intensifiers used by travel bloggers from the Philippines and Malaysia. The scale or degree of intensifier is taken from Quirk Degree of Intensifiers as the basis for the functions of intensifiers. The result found that Malaysian travel blogs are more expressive with the use of the adverbial intensifiers vis-à-vis Filipino travel bloggers, consequently, ranking of the intensifiers, boosters are most used one in expressing and utilizing the language choice a more. The conclusion states that Malaysian travel bloggers are of using the functionality of the adverbial intensifiers. The distinction on the pedagogical implications are hereunto stated as well to deepen and give its significant and importance in language teaching.

Keywords: adverbial intensifiers, blogs, Filipino and Malaysian blogs, AntConc

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Concepcion Gonzalez-Concepcion, Maria Candelaria Gil-Fariña, Celina Pestano-Gabino

Abstract:

We analyze six relevant economic and financial variables for the period 2000M1-2015M3 in the context of the Spanish economy: a financial index (IBEX35), a commodity (Crude Oil Price in euros), a foreign exchange index (EUR/USD), a bond (Spanish 10-Year Bond), the Spanish National Debt and the Consumer Price Index. The goal of this paper is to analyze the main relations between them by computing the Wavelet Power Spectrum and the Cross Wavelet Coherency associated with Morlet wavelets. By using a special toolbox in MATLAB, we focus our interest on the period variable. We decompose the time-frequency effects and improve the interpretation of the results by non-expert users in the theory of wavelets. The empirical evidence shows certain instability periods and reveals various changes and breaks in the causality relationships for sample data. These variables were individually analyzed with Daubechies Wavelets to visualize high-frequency variance, seasonality, and trend. The results are included in Proceeding 20th International Academic Conference, 2015, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences (IISES), Madrid.

Keywords: economic and financial variables, Spain, time-frequency domain, wavelet coherency

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Theodrose Sisay, Kindie Tesfaye, Mengistu Ketema, Nigussie Dechassa, Mezegebu Getnet

Abstract:

Agriculture is a sector that is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change and contributes to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere. By lowering emissions and adjusting to the change, it can also help to reduce climate change. Utilizing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technology that can sustainably boost productivity, improve resilience, and lower GHG emissions is crucial. This study sought to identify the CSA technologies used by farmers and assess adoption levels and factors that influence them. In order to gather information from 384 smallholder farmers in the Great Rift Valley (GRV) of Ethiopia, a cross-sectional survey was carried out. Data were analysed using percentage, chi-square test, t-test, and multivariate probit model. Results showed that crop diversification, agroforestry, and integrated soil fertility management were the most widely practiced technologies. The results of the Chi-square and t-tests showed that there are differences and significant and positive connections between adopters and non-adopters based on various attributes. The chi-square and t-test results confirmed that households who were older had higher incomes, greater credit access, knowledge of the climate, better training, better education, larger farms, higher incomes, and more frequent interactions with extension specialists had a positive and significant association with CSA technology adopters. The model result showed that age, sex, and education of the head, farmland size, livestock ownership, income, access to credit, climate information, training, and extension contact influenced the selection of CSA technologies. Therefore, effective action must be taken to remove barriers to the adoption of CSA technologies, and taking these adoption factors into account in policy and practice is anticipated to support smallholder farmers in adapting to climate change while lowering emissions.

Keywords: climate change, climate-smart agriculture, smallholder farmers, multivariate probit model

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: My Ali El Khakani

Abstract:

Single-wall Carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) possess an unprecedented combination of unique properties that make them highly promising for suitable for a new generation of photovoltaic (PV) devices. Prior to discussing the integration of SWCNTs films into effective PV devices, we will briefly highlight our work on the synthesis of SWCNTs by means of the KrF pulsed laser deposition technique, their purification and transfer onto n-silicon substrates to form p-n junctions. Some of the structural and optoelectronic properties of SWCNTs relevant to PV applications will be emphasized. By varying the SWCNTs film density (µg/cm2), we were able to point out the existence of an optimum value that yields the highest photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of ~10%. Further control of the doping of the p-SWCNTs films, through their exposure to nitric acid vapors, along with the insertion of an optimized hole-extraction-layer in the p-SWCNTs/n-Si hybrid devices permitted to achieve a PCE value as high as 14.2%. Such a high PCE value demonstrates the full potential of these p-SWCNTs/n-Si devices for sunlight photoconversion. On the other hand, by examining both the optical transmission and electrical conductance of the SWCNTs’ films, we established a figure of merit (FOM) that was shown to correlate well with the PCE performance. Such a direct relationship between the FOM and the PCE can be used as a guide for further PCE enhancement of these novel p-SWCNTs/n-Si PV devices.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNTs-silicon hybrid devices, photoconversion, photovoltaic devices, pulsed laser deposition

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Tazeen Fatima

Abstract:

Use of project management in web & software development projects is very significant. It has been observed that even with the application of effective project management, projects usually do not complete their lifecycle and fail. To minimize these failures, key performance indicators have been introduced in previous studies to counter project failures. However, there are always gaps and problems in the KPIs identified. Despite of incessant efforts at technical and managerial levels, projects still fail. There is no substantial approach to identify and avoid these failures in the very beginning of the project lifecycle. In this study, we aim to answer these research problems by analyzing the concept of predictive analytics which is a specialized technology and is very easy to use in this era of computation. Project organizations can use data gathering, compute power, and modern tools to render efficient Predictions. The research aims to identify such a predictive analytics approach. The core objective of the study was to reduce failures and introduce effective implementation of project management principles. Existing predictive analytics methodologies, tools and solution providers were also analyzed. Relevant data was gathered from projects and was analyzed via predictive techniques to make predictions well advance in time to render effective project management in web & software development industry.

Keywords: project management, predictive analytics, predictive analytics methodology, project failures

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Ramadhan Febriansyah, Sarah Novianti, Santi Agustini

Abstract:

Indonesia is a big country with Moslem population. The government must fulfill all needs of the people. However, we do not have a good policy yet especially on healthy, safety and halal food. We try to offer a new solution to overcome this with ASUH (Aman, Sehat, Utuh, Halal) or in English is SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact, Halal) as alternative Indonesian policy on food security. This policy is Indonesian Government’s commitment to support Sustainability Development Goals program for the zero hunger (end hunger, to achieve food security and improved nutrition for Indonesian people, of course, to promote sustainable agriculture). Hopefully, it not only can increasing quality on food especially on livestock goods (meat, egg, milk) but also to guarantee the halal food. However, this policy can be an example to others country especially Moslem countries to support SDG’s programs. This research conducted means of the descriptive method; the authors find compare the secondary data obtained from journals, textbook and scientific articles in order to determine the factors that influence food safety and food security. Relevant data used and contain a description of SDG’s as well as about the system food safety and food security that SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact and Halal) so these ideas can be implemented.

Keywords: food safety, food security, food sovereignty, halal SDG's

Procedia PDF Downloads 383