Search results for: school life
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10012

Search results for: school life

9472 Effects of a School-based Mindfulness Intervention on Stress Levels and Emotion Regulation of Adolescent Students Enrolled in an Independent School

Authors: Tracie Catlett

Abstract:

Students enrolled in high-achieving schools are under tremendous pressure to perform at high levels inside and outside the classroom. Achievement pressure is a prevalent source of stress for students enrolled in high-achieving schools, and female students, in particular, experience a higher frequency and higher levels of stress compared to their male peers. The practice of mindfulness in a school setting is one tool that has been linked to improved self-regulation of emotions, increased positive emotions, and stress reduction. A mixed methods randomized pretest-posttest no-treatment control trial evaluated the effects of a six-session mindfulness intervention taught during a regularly scheduled life skills period in an independent day school, one type of high-achieving school. Twenty-nine students in Grades 10 and 11 were randomized by class, where Grade 11 students were in the intervention group (n = 14) and Grade 10 students were in the control group (n = 15). Findings from the study produced mixed results. There was no evidence that the mindfulness program reduced participants’ stress levels and negative emotions. In fact, contrary to what was expected, students enrolled in the intervention group experienced higher levels of stress and increased negative emotions at posttreatment when compared to pretreatment. Neither the within-group nor the between-groups changes in stress level were statistically significant, p > .05, and the between-groups effect size was small, d = .2. The study found evidence that the mindfulness program may have had a positive impact on students’ ability to regulate their emotions. The within-group comparison and the between-groups comparison at posttreatment found that students in the mindfulness course experienced statistically significant improvement in the in their ability to regulate their emotions at posttreatment, p = .009 < .05 and p =. 034 < .05, respectively. The between-groups effect size was medium, d =.7, suggesting that the positive differences in emotion regulation difficulties were substantial and have practical implications. The analysis of gender differences, as they relate to stress and emotions, revealed that female students perceive higher levels of stress and report experiencing stress more often than males. There were no gender differences when analyzing sources of stress experienced by the student participants. Both females and males experience regular achievement pressures related to their school performance and worry about their future, college acceptance, grades, and parental expectations. Females reported an increased awareness of their stress and actively engaged in practicing mindfulness to manage their stress. Students in the treatment group expressed that the practice of mindfulness resulted in feelings of relaxation and calmness.

Keywords: achievement pressure, adolescents, emotion regulation, emotions, high-achieving schools, independent schools, mindfulness, negative affect, positive affect, stress

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9471 Prevalence of Emotional Problems among Adolescent Students of Corporation Schools in Chennai

Authors: Vithya Veeramani, Karunanidhi Subbaiah

Abstract:

Emotional problems were found to be the predominant cause of suicide and second leading cause of death among adolescents in India. Emotional problems seem to be the underlying cause for various other severe psycho-social problems experienced in adolescence and also in later years of life. The Corporation schools in Chennai city are named as Chennai High School or Chennai Higher Secondary School run by the Corporation of Chennai. These schools fulfill the educational needs of students who hail from lower socio-economic status living in slums of the Chennai city. Adolescent students of Chennai schools tend to lack basic needs like food, clothes, shelter, etc. Some of the other significant problems faced by them are broken family, lack of parental support, frequent quarrel between parents, alcoholic parents, drug abuse and substance abuse among parents and neighbors, extended family, illiterate parents, deprivation of love and care, and lack of sense of belongingness. This prevailing condition may affect them emotionally and could lead to maladaptive behaviour, aggressiveness, poor interpersonal relationship with others, school refusal behaviour, school drop-out, suicide, etc. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the emotional problems faced by the adolescent students studying in Chennai schools, Chennai. A cross-sectional survey design was used to find the prevalence of emotional problems among adolescent students. Cluster sampling technique was used to select the schools for the present study considering the school as a cluster. In total, there are 15 zones, under the control of Chennai Corporation, of which only 7 zones have Corporation Schools in Chennai city, comprising of 32 Chennai Higher Secondary Schools and 38 Chennai High Schools. Out of these 70 schools, 29 schools comprising of 17 high schools and 12 higher secondary schools were selected randomly using lottery method. A sample of 2594 adolescent students from 9th standard and 11th standard was chosen for the study. Percentage analysis was done to find out the prevalence rate of emotional problems among adolescents students studying in Chennai Schools. Results of the study revealed that, out of 2594 students surveyed, 21.04% adolescent students were found to have academic problems (n = 546), 15.99% adolescent students had social problems (n = 415), behaviour problems was found to be prevalent among 12.87% adolescent students (n = 334), depression was prevalent among 15.88% adolescent students (n = 412) and anxiety was prevalent among 14.42% adolescent students (n = 374). Prevalence of emotional problems among male and female revealed that academic problems were more prevalent compared to other problems. Behaviour problems were least prevalent among boys and anxiety was least prevalent among girls than other problems. The overall prevalence rate of emotional problems was found to be on an increasing trend among adolescent students of low socio-economic status in Chennai city. The findings indicated the need for intervention to prevent and rehabilitate these adolescent students.

Keywords: adolescents, corporation schools, emotional problems, prevalence

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9470 Developing Second Language Learners’ Reading Comprehension through Content and Language Integrated Learning

Authors: Kaine Gulozer

Abstract:

A strong methodological conception in the practice of teaching, content, and language integrated learning (CLIL) is adapted to boost efficiency in the second language (L2) instruction with a range of proficiency levels. This study aims to investigate whether the incorporation of two different mediums of meaningful CLIL reading activities (in-school and out-of-school settings) influence L2 students’ development of comprehension skills differently. CLIL based instructional methodology was adopted and total of 50 preparatory year students (N=50, 25 students for each proficiency level) from two distinct language proficiency learners (elementary and intermediate) majoring in engineering faculties were recruited for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods through a post-test design were adopted. Data were collected through a questionnaire, a reading comprehension test and a semi-structured interview addressed to the two proficiency groups. The results show that both settings in relation to the development of reading comprehension are beneficial, whereas the impact of the reading activities conducted in school settings was higher at the elementary language level of students than that of the one conducted out-of-class settings based on the reported interview results. This study suggests that the incorporation of meaningful CLIL reading activities in both settings for both proficiency levels could create students’ self-awareness of their language learning process and the sense of ownership in successful improvements of field-specific reading comprehension. Further potential suggestions and implications of the study were discussed.

Keywords: content and language integrated learning, in-school setting, language proficiency, out-of-school setting, reading comprehension

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9469 Prevention of Student Radicalism in School through Civic Education

Authors: Triyanto

Abstract:

Radicalism poses a real threat to Indonesia's future. The target of radicalism is the youth of Indonesia. This is proven by the majority of terrorists are young people. Radicalization is not only a repressive act but also requires educational action. One of the educational efforts is civic education. This study discusses the prevention of radicalism for students through civic education and its constraints. This is qualitative research. Data were collected through literature studies, observations and in-depth interviews. Data were validated by triangulation. The sample of this research is 30 high school students in Surakarta. Data were analyzed by the interactive model of analysis from Miles & Huberman. The results show that (1) civic education can be a way of preventing student radicalism in schools in the form of cultivating the values of education through learning in the classroom and outside the classroom; (2) The obstacles encountered include the lack of learning facilities, the limited ability of teachers and the low attention of students to the civic education.

Keywords: prevention, radicalism, senior high school student, civic education

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9468 The Impact of Purpose as a Principal Leadership Skill on the Performance Select Township Schools in South Africa

Authors: Pepe Marais, Krishna Govender

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the impact of “purpose” as a principal leadership skill on the performance of two township schools using a quantitative research design and collecting data from the school principals, teachers and matric learners, using the 28-scale Servant Leadership Test as well as Gallup’s Q12 Employee Engagement survey. The questionnaires addressed the key objectives, namely, the extent to which the principals of the participating schools exhibited servant leadership and their understanding of “purpose” as one word in leadership and how teachers and learners perceived the impact of a “one-word” purpose-driven leader on the performance of the selected schools. Although no relationship could be demonstrated between ‘’purpose’’ and the performance of the two township schools, it became evident that a significant increase in Servant Leadership leads to a significant increase in engagement and performance, as measured by the matric pass rate. It is recommended that workshops be facilitated with principals and teachers in order to entrench ‘’purpose’’ deeper throughout the schools. In addition, Servant Leadership training has to be conduced to increase the leadership ability of the school principals. Future research in the area of ‘’purpose as one word’’, as well as Servant Leadership as a principal skillset within South Africa’s public school leadership, is recommended.

Keywords: school leadership, servant leadership, one-word purpose, engagement, leadership

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9467 The Impact of Low-Systematization Level in Physical Education in Primary School

Authors: Wu Hong, Pan Cuilian, Wu Panzifan

Abstract:

The student’s attention during the class is one of the most important indicators for the learning evaluation; the level of attention is directly related to the results of primary education. In recent years, extensive research has been conducted across China on improving primary school students’ attention during class. During the specific teaching activities in primary school, students have the characteristics of short concentration periods, high probability of distraction, and difficulty in long-term immersive learning. In physical education teaching, where there are mostly outdoor activities, this characteristic is particularly prominent due to the large changes in the environment and the strong sense of freshness among students. It is imperative to overcome this characteristic in a targeted manner, improve the student’s experience in the course, and raise the degree of systematization. There are many ways to improve the systematization of teaching and learning, but most of them lack quantitative indicators, which makes it difficult to evaluate the improvements before and after changing the teaching methods. Based on the situation above, we use the case analysis method, combined with a literature review, to study the negative impact of low systematization levels in primary school physical education teaching, put forward targeted improvement suggestions, and make a quantitative evaluation of the method change.

Keywords: attention, adolescent, evaluation, systematism, training-method

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9466 Promoting Early Learning of Children under Five Years in an Economically Disadvantaged Community in Sri Lanka through Health Promotion Approach

Authors: Najith Duminda Galmangoda Guruge, Nadeeka Rathnayake, Vinodani Wimalasena, Dinesha Wijesooriya

Abstract:

Investing in Early Learning can improve children’ interests for education and makes them ready for school. Children in economically disadvantaged communities may have reduced readiness for schools. Health Promotion approach enables communities including disadvantaged to control over their health. Mothers of children under the age five in ‘Alapathwewa’ community (n=40) were selected as the sample with the aim to promote early learning of children to improve their school readiness. Mothers in ‘Morakeewa’ community (n=40) were the control. Interventions were for a period of 2 years and children of these mothers were followed up to school entry. Importance of early learning and possibility of providing quality learning environments for children at a low cost was discussed with mothers in an experimental setting by facilitators. Mothers were enabled to make age-appropriate baby rooms which provide learning opportunities. Collective community playhouses and play areas were developed by mothers to provide opportunities for children to interact and learn with each other. Mothers started discussing with each other and sharing experiences. The progress was monitored by mothers at regular intervals. Data regarding school competencies of children were obtained from school teachers. School teachers measured thirteen competencies of children on a scale of ‘very good, good, moderate and weak’. All children in the experimental group were in ‘very good’ level in two competencies, ‘communicate friendly with others’ and ‘express ideas well’. Children in the experimental group reported a significantly higher achievement of all thirteen competencies (p < .05) than children in control. Providing quality early learning environments for children even in economically disadvantaged settings makes them ready for schools. Through a Health Promotion approach, early learning experiences for children can be provided at a low cost.

Keywords: disadvantaged, early learning, economically, health promotion

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9465 Electronic Media and Physical Activity of Primary School Children

Authors: Srna Jenko Miholic, Marta Borovec, Josipa Persun

Abstract:

The constant expansion of technology has further accelerated the development of media and vice versa. Although its promotion includes all kinds of interesting and positive sides, the poor functioning of the media is still being researched and proven. Young people, as well as children from the earliest age, resort to the media the most, so it is necessary to defend the role of adults as it were parents, teachers, and environment against virtual co-educators such as the media. The research aim of this study was to determine the time consumption of using electronic media by primary school children as well as their involvement in certain physical activities. Furthermore, to determine what is happening when parents restrict their children's access to electronic media and encourage them to participate in alternative contents during their leisure time. Result reveals a higher percentage of parents restrict their children's access to electronic media and then encourage children to socialize with family and friends, spend time outdoors, engage in physical activity, read books or learn something unrelated to school content even though it would not be children's favorite activity. The results highlight the importance of parental control when it comes to children's use of electronic media and the positive effects that parental control has in terms of encouraging children to be useful, socially desirable, physically active, and healthy activities.

Keywords: elementary school, digital media, leisure time, parents, physical engagement

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9464 Efficiency and Equity in Italian Secondary School

Authors: Giorgia Zotti

Abstract:

This research comprehensively investigates the multifaceted interplay determining school performance, individual backgrounds, and regional disparities within the landscape of Italian secondary education. Leveraging data gleaned from the INVALSI 2021-2022 database, the analysis meticulously scrutinizes two fundamental distributions of educational achievements: the standardized Invalsi test scores and official grades in Italian and Mathematics, focusing specifically on final-year secondary school students in Italy. Applying a comprehensive methodology, the study initially employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess school performances. This methodology involves constructing a production function encompassing inputs (hours spent at school) and outputs (Invalsi scores in Italian and Mathematics, along with official grades in Italian and Math). The DEA approach is applied in both of its versions: traditional and conditional. The latter incorporates environmental variables such as school type, size, demographics, technological resources, and socio-economic indicators. Additionally, the analysis delves into regional disparities by leveraging the Theil Index, providing insights into disparities within and between regions. Moreover, in the frame of the inequality of opportunity theory, the study quantifies the inequality of opportunity in students' educational achievements. The methodology applied is the Parametric Approach in the ex-ante version, considering diverse circumstances like parental education and occupation, gender, school region, birthplace, and language spoken at home. Consequently, a Shapley decomposition is applied to understand how much each circumstance affects the outcomes. The outcomes of this comprehensive investigation unveil pivotal determinants of school performance, notably highlighting the influence of school type (Liceo) and socioeconomic status. The research unveils regional disparities, elucidating instances where specific schools outperform others in official grades compared to Invalsi scores, shedding light on the intricate nature of regional educational inequalities. Furthermore, it emphasizes a heightened inequality of opportunity within the distribution of Invalsi test scores in contrast to official grades, underscoring pronounced disparities at the student level. This analysis provides insights for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders, fostering a nuanced understanding of the complexities within Italian secondary education.

Keywords: inequality, education, efficiency, DEA approach

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9463 The Effect of Group Counseling Program on 9th Grade Students' Assertiveness Levels

Authors: Ismail Seçer, Kerime Meryem Dereli̇oğlu

Abstract:

This study is conducted to determine the effects of group counseling program on secondary school 9th grade students’ assertiveness skills. The study group was formed of 100 students who have received education in Erzurum Kültür Elementary School in 2015-2016 education years. RAE-Rathus Assertiveness Schedule developed by Voltan Acar was applied on this group to gather data. 40 students who got lower grades from the inventory were divided randomly into experimental and control groups. Each group is formed of 20 students. Group counseling program was carried out on the experimental group to improve the students’ assertiveness skills for 8 weeks. Single-way and two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used in the analysis of the data. The data was analyzed by using the SPSS 19.00. The results of the study show that assertiveness skills of the students who participate in the group counseling program increased meaningfully compared to the control group and pre-experiment. Besides, it was determined that the change observed in the experimental group occurred separately from the age and socio-economic level variables, and it was determined with the monitoring test applied after four months that this affect was continued. According to this result, it can be said that the applied group counseling program is an effective means to improve the assertiveness skills of secondary school students.

Keywords: high school, assertiveness, assertiveness inventory, assertiveness education

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9462 Evidence of Social Media Addiction and Problematic Internet Use Among High School and University Students in Cyprus

Authors: Costas Christodoulides

Abstract:

Excessive use of social networking sites (SNS) and the Internet by high school pupils and university students, can cause consequences similar to those observed in substance or gambling related addictions, negatively influence individual well-being notwithstanding self-assessments that people make about their life and experiences. The present study examined, for the first time in Cyprus, the levels of problematic use of the Social Media and the Internet among Cypriot pupils and students aiming at contributing to the discussion about the need for a more conclusive policy framework in the island. The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS-2) were adapted to a Cypriot version and along with a sociodemographic questionnaire were introduced to a sample of 1059 young persons in order to respectively assess the addiction risk for Social Media Use and the risk of Problematic Internet Use. The sample consisted of 59% females, aged 15 to 35 (M=18.9 years, SD=3.20), 465 of them were high school students and 594 university students. Of 1059 respondents from 4 high-schools and 5 Universities (HEI) in Cyprus, 8.3% of the sample had BSMAS scores suggestive of addiction. Approximately a quarter of the sample (24%), demonstrated GPIUS-2 scores suggestive of high risk for problematic internet use. It is notable that differences seem to exist across gender with the score of the female population (11.1%) reaching levels of addiction to social media more than twice the level of addiction of the male population (4.3%). Also, the female population of high school students seems to be at the most vulnerable position for problematic internet use (28%). The 26% of the sample often or very often used some SNSs to forget of personal problems. The results of this study show that half of those surveyed used the Internet to feel better when they were upset or to escape the isolation they felt. Among the sample population, the study reports that 60% of the pupils and female university students are in agreement with the relevant statements. Conclusively, this study suggests that SNSs addiction levels among pupils and students in Cyprus ought to be an important public health concern. The same if not more alarming is the identified by the study prevalence of problematic Internet use among the same population. These results confirm international trends reported by scholarly research while also suggest that particular categories such as high school pupils and young females may be more exposed to problem SNSs and Internet use. Preventive strategies need first to acknowledge the problem in order to then formulate an effective strategy for prevention and intervention. For relevant authorities it is of primary importance to “exploit” the fact that high schools and universities can be seen as small communities and units potentially available for forging alliances for healthy Social Media and Internet use.

Keywords: problematic internet use, social media addiction, social networking sites, well-being

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9461 Confidence in Practice of Debate at Senior High School Student in Jakarta, Indonesia

Authors: Arista Mayang Sari Slamet

Abstract:

This study was conducted to see the shape or behavior that shows the attitude of confidence in the practice of debate on science program students in Senior High School. This research is a descriptive qualitative study by explaining the forms of behavior of each indicator (there are ten indicators) confidence of Santrock. Data collection using interviews with Indonesian language teachers, direct observation, and documents. In this study, it was found that there is one item that is not visible indicator of the high school students of class X, which is the fourth item ‘Sitting with others in social activities’. This is caused by the forum examined are debating forum, so there is a social activity can’t be seen. The result of this study there are two students who do not show the behavior of confidence, their name is Dea and Audria (from the pro team). This indicates that the head of a pro team dominated the debate. The time for the debate is 45 minutes. Therefore all students in both of team can’t demonstrate their debate skill. In each team is only dominated by one student. The most common forms of confidence behavior are expressing opinion, look at the other person (speaker), and keeping eye contact with the other person. This indicates that the attitude of confidence by looking at the other person makes them more confident about their opinion. The most uncommon indicators is to direct or instruct to the other person. This shows that the attitude of self-confidence shown by the students isn’t lead.

Keywords: confidence, debate, senior high school, Jakarta

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9460 Parents' Attitudes towards a School-Based Family Program in Early Literacy in Qatari Preschool Settings

Authors: Fathi Ihmeideh

Abstract:

The study aimed at investigating parents’ attitudes towards a school-based family program in developing kindergarten children’s literacy skills. The study surveyed 160 parents of preschool children, gathering information about their attitudes toward the development of children’s early literacy. Results indicated that parents hold positive attitudes towards the school-based family literacy program. The results also revealed statistically significant differences among parents due to a number of study variables. The study concludes with putting forward a number of practical and theoretical recommendations for the field of study. Acknowledgment: This paper was made possible by NPRP grant # (NPRP 8-921-5-122) from the Qatar national research fund (a member of Qatar foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Keywords: parents, literacy development, preschool children, family involvement

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9459 Gender, Tutoring, and Track in Egyptian Education

Authors: Eman Shady, Ray Langsten

Abstract:

In Egypt, girls have traditionally been educationally disadvantaged. This disadvantage, however, has been focused on the failure to enter school. Increasingly it is recognized that girls who ever-enroll are at least as likely to complete primary and secondary education as boys. Still the belief persists that girls, especially those from poor families, will be disadvantaged in terms of school expenditures and the transitions to secondary and higher education. We use data from the 2005-06 Egypt Household Education Survey to examine expenditures on tutoring during the final year of preparatory school, and the transition to specific tracks of secondary education. Tests during the last year of preparatory largely determine a student’s educational future. Results show that girls, even girls from poor families, are not disadvantaged in terms of expenditures, whether for tutoring, fees or general expenses. Moreover, girls are more likely than boys to advance to general secondary education, the track that leads to higher education.

Keywords: gender, tutoring, track, Egypt

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9458 The Effects of the Parent Training Program for Obesity Reduction on Health Behaviors of School-Age Children

Authors: Muntanavadee Maytapattana

Abstract:

The purposes of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the Parent Training Program for Obesity Reduction (PTPOR) on health behaviors of school-age children. An Ecological Systems Theory (EST) was approached the study and a randomized control trial was used in this study. Participants were school-age overweight or obese children and their parents. One hundred and one parent-child dyads were recruited and random assigned into the PTPOR (N=30), Educational Intervention or EI (N=32), and control group (N=39). The parents in the PTPOR group participated in five sessions including an educational session, a cooking session, aerobic exercise training, 2-time group discussion sessions, and 4-time telephoned counseling sessions. Repeated Measure ANCOVA was used to analyze data. The results presented that the outcomes of the PTPOR group were better than the EI and the control groups at 1st, 8th, and 32nd weeks after finishing the program such as child exercise behavior (F(2,97) = 3.98, p = .02) and child dietary behavior (F(2,97) = 9.42, p = .00). The results suggest that nurses and health care providers should utilize the PTPOR for child weight reduction and for the health promotion of a lifestyle among overweight and obese children.

Keywords: parent training program, obesity reduction, child health behaviors, school-age children

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9457 Public-Private Partnership for Community Empowerment and Sustainability: Exploring Save the Children’s 'School Me' Project in West Africa

Authors: Gae Hee Song

Abstract:

This paper aims to address the evolution of public-private partnerships for mainstreaming an evaluation approach in the community-based education project. It examines the distinctive features of Save the Children’s School Me project in terms of empowerment evaluation principles introduced by David M. Fetterman, especially community ownership, capacity building, and organizational learning. School Me is a Save the Children Korea funded-project, having been implemented in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone since 2016. The objective of this project is to reduce gender-based disparities in school completion and learning outcomes by creating an empowering learning environment for girls and boys. Both quasi-experimental and experimental methods for impact evaluation have been used to explore changes in learning outcomes, gender attitudes, and learning environments. To locate School Me in the public-private partnership framework for community empowerment and sustainability, the data have been collected from School Me progress/final reports, baseline, and endline reports, fieldwork observations, inter-rater reliability of baseline and endline data collected from a total of 75 schools in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. The findings of this study show that School Me project has a significant evaluation component, including qualitative exploratory research, participatory monitoring, and impact evaluation. It strongly encourages key actors, girls, boys, parents, teachers, community leaders, and local education authorities, to participate in the collection and interpretation of data. For example, 45 community volunteers collected baseline data in Cote d’Ivoire; on the other hand, three local government officers and fourteen enumerators participated in the follow-up data collection of Sierra Leone. Not only does this public-private partnership improve local government and community members’ knowledge and skills of monitoring and evaluation, but the evaluative findings also help them find their own problems and solutions with a strong sense of community ownership. Such community empowerment enables Save the Children country offices and member offices to gain invaluable experiences and lessons learned. As a result, empowerment evaluation leads to community-oriented governance and the sustainability of the School Me project.

Keywords: community empowerment, Cote d’Ivoire, empowerment evaluation, public-private partnership, save the children, school me, Sierra Leone, sustainability

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9456 Water Education in the Middle East: Case Study of Iran and Turkey

Authors: Seyedeh Zahra Seyed Sharifi, M. R. M. Tabatabaei

Abstract:

Due to increase of population and healthy food demand, management and conservation of water resources have become one of the main concerns of governments, scientists and economists. In recent years, Iran has exposed to water scarcity as a result of which its rivers, lakes and wetlands have dried up or are in the drying process. Therefore, water crisis has become the most important environmental issue in the country. Under these circumstances, increasing public awareness by promoting their culture as well as public collaboration to protect water resources could only be possible by making courses to reflect water importance. This could be approached by school and high-school students to learn optimum use of water resources. This study initially focuses on the current position of water courses in levels of school and high-school educations in Iran and Turkey and then deals with the challenges to be faced for the promotion of the system. The course titles and number of pages related to water in all primary and secondary textbooks of the education system of Iran and Turkey were determined using content analysis method and the results were presented. The results indicate that primary and secondary textbooks in both countries must focus on water shortage and water protection and teach children the optimum use of water in order to promote water protection.

Keywords: educational system, environmental awareness, Iran, Turkey, water crisis

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9455 Architecture and Students with Autism: Exploring Strategies for Their Inclusion in Society Mainstream

Authors: Safaa Mahmoud Issa

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Architecture, as an art and science of designing, has always been the medium to create environments that fulfill their users’ needs. It could create an inclusive environment that would not isolate any individual regardless of his /her disabilities. It could help, hopefully, in setting the strategies that provide a supportive, educational environment that would allow the inclusion of students with autism. Architects could help in the battle against this neuro-developmental disorder by providing the accommodating environment, at home and at school, in order to prevent institutionalizing these children. Through a theoretical approach and a review of literature, this study will explore and analyze best practices in autism-friendly, supportive, teaching environments. Additionally, it would provide the range of measures, and set the strategies to deal with the students with autism sensory peculiarities, and that, in order to allow them to concentrate in the school environment, and be able to succeed, and to be integrated as an important addition to society and the social mainstream. Architects should take into consideration the general guidelines for an autism-friendly built environment, and apply them to specific buildings systems. And that, as certain design elements have great effect on children’s behavior, by appropriating architecture to provide inclusive accommodating environments, the basis for equalization of opportunities is set allowing these individuals a better, normal, non-institutional life, as the discussion presented in this study would reveal.

Keywords: architecture, inclusion, students with autism, society mainstream

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9454 Computer-Based versus Paper-Based Tests: A Comparative Study of Two Types of Indonesian National Examination for Senior High School Students

Authors: Faizal Mansyur

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to find out whether there is a significant difference in the English language scores of senior high school students in the Indonesia National Examination for students tested by using computer-based and paper-based tests. The population of this research is senior high school students in South Sulawesi Province who sat the Indonesian National Examination for 2015/2016 academic year. The samples of this research are 800 students’ scores from 8 schools taken by employing the multistage random sampling technique. The data of this research is a secondary data since it is obtained from the education office for South Sulawesi. In analyzing the collected data, the researcher employed the independent samples T-Test with the help of SPSS v.24 program. The finding of this research reveals that there is a significant difference in the English language scores of senior high school students in the Indonesia National Examination for students tested by using computer-based and paper-based Tests (p < .05). Moreover, students tested by using PBT (Mean = 63.13, SD = 13.63) achieve higher score than those tested by using CBT (Mean = 46.33, SD = 14.68).

Keywords: computer-based test, paper-based test, Indonesian national examination, testing

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9453 Learning from Inclusive Education of Exceptional and Normal Children in Primary School for Architectural Design

Authors: T. Pastraporn, J. Panida, P. Gasamapong, N. Jintana

Abstract:

The study of inclusive educational environment of exceptional and normal children at the regional centre for special education aimed to establish guidelines for creating an environment for inclusive education. Buildings utilization of thirty-five elementary schools providing inclusive educational program in Bangkok were analyzed to study the following aspects: 1) The environment of exceptional and normal students’ inclusive classes at the regional centre for special education 2) The patterns of the environment suited to the exceptional and normal students’ inclusive classes 3) Environmental management policies for the inclusive classes of exceptional and normal students. Information was gathered from surveys, observations, questionnaires, document analysis, interviews, and non-experimental research. The findings showed that the usable spaces in school buildings were designated to enhance the three kinds of social learning experience: 1) Support class control 2) Help developing students’ personality consisting of physical, verbal and emotional expressions that are socially accepted 3) Recognition and learning, which are needed for the increasing of learning experience, were caused by having an interaction with the environment. Thus, the school buildings’ space designation positively affected the environmental management of exceptional and normal students’ inclusive classes.

Keywords: learning environment, inclusive education, school buildings, exceptional and normal children

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9452 Transforming Gender Norms through Play: Qualitative Findings from Primary Schools in Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique

Authors: Geetanjali Gill

Abstract:

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and development assistance donors have been implementing education projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and the global South that respond to gender-based inequities and that attempt to transform socio-cultural norms for greater gender equality in schools and communities. These efforts are in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number four, quality education, and goal number five, gender equality. Some INGOs and donors have also championed the use of play-based pedagogies for improved and more gender equal education outcomes. The study used the qualitative methods of life history interviews and focus groups to gauge social norm change amongst male and female adolescents, families, and teachers in primary schools that have been using gender-responsive play-based pedagogies in Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique. School administrators and project managers from the INGO Right to Play International were consulted in the selection of two primary schools per country (in both rural and urban contexts), as well as the selection of ten male and ten female students in grades four to six in each school, using specific parameters of social norm adherence. The parents (or guardians) and grandparents of four male and four female students in each school who were determined to be ‘outliers’ in their adherence to social norms were also interviewed. Additionally, sex-specific focus groups were held with thirty-six teachers. The study found that gender-responsive play-based pedagogies positively impactedsocio-cultural norms that shape gender relations amongst adolescents, their families, and teachers. Female and male students who spoke about their beliefs about gender equality in the roles and educational and career aspirations of men/boys and women/girls made linkages to the play-based pedagogies and approaches used by their teachers. Also, the parents and grandparents of these students were aware of generational differences in gender norms, and many were accepting of changed gender norms. Teachers who were effectively implementing gender-responsive play-based pedagogies in their classrooms spoke about changes to their own gender norms and how they were able to influence the gender norms of parents and community members. Life history interviews were found to be well-suited for the examination of changes to socio-cultural norms and gender relations. However, an appropriate framing of questions and topics specific to each target group was instrumental for the collection of data on socio-cultural norms and gender. The findings of this study can spur further academic inquiry of linkages between gender norms and education outcomes. The findings are also relevant for the work of INGOs and donors in the global South and for the development of gender-responsive education policies and programs.

Keywords: education, gender equality, ghana, international development, life histories, mozambique, rwanda, socio-cultural norms, sub-saharan africa, qualitative research

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9451 The Multi-Lingual Acquisition Patterns of Elementary, High School and College Students in Angeles City, Philippines

Authors: Dennis Infante, Leonora Yambao

Abstract:

The Philippines is a multilingual community. A Filipino learns at least three languages throughout his lifespan. Since languages are learned and picked up simultaneously in the environment, a student naturally develops a language system that combines features of at least three languages: the local language, English and Filipino. This study seeks to investigate this particular phenomenon and aspires to propose a theoretical framework of unique language acquisition in the elementary, high school and college in the three languages spoken and used in media, community, business and school: Kapampangan, the local language; Filipino, the national language; and English. The study randomly selects five students from three participating schools in order to acquire language samples. The samples were analyzed in the subsentential, sentential and suprasentential levels using grammatical theories. The data are classified to map out the pattern of substitution or shifting from one language to another.

Keywords: language acquisition, mother tongue, multiculturalism, multilingual education

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9450 An Exploration of Architecture Design Methods in Urban Fringe Belt Based on Typo-Morphological Research- A Case of Expansion Project of the Second Middle School in Xuancheng, China

Authors: Dong Yinan, Zhou Zijie

Abstract:

Urban fringe belt is an important part of urban morphology research. Different from the relatively fixed central district of city, the position of fringe belt is changing. In the process of urban expansion, the original fringe belt is likely to be merged by the new-built city, even become new city public center. During the change, we are facing the dialectic between restoring the organicity of old urban form and creating new urban image. There are lots of relevant research in urban scale, but when we focus on building scale, rare design method can be proposed, thus some new individual building cannot match the overall urban planning intent. The expansion project of the second middle school in Xuancheng is facing this situation. The existing campus is located in the south fringe belt of Xuancheng, Anhui province, China, adjacent to farmland and ponds. While based on the Xucheng urban planning, the farmland and ponds will be transformed into a big lake, around which new public center will be built; the expansion of the school becomes an important part of the boundary of the new public center. Therefore, the expansion project faces challenges from both urban and building scale. In urban scale, we analyze and summarize the fringe belt characters through the reading of existing and future urban organism, in order to determine the form of the expansion project. Meanwhile, in building scale, we study on different types of school buildings and select appropriate type which can satisfy to both urban form and school function. This research attempts to investigate design methods based on an under construction project in Xuancheng, a historic city in southeast China. It also aims to bridge the gap from urban design to individual building design through the typo-morphological research.

Keywords: design methods, urban fringe belt, typo-morphological research, middle school

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9449 Disconnect between Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Related Behaviours of Children in School and Family

Authors: Rehan Mohammad

Abstract:

Background: Improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices in schools ensure children’s health, well-being and cognitive performance. In India under various WASH interventions in schools, teachers, and other staff make every possible effort to educate children about personal hygiene, sanitation practices and harms of open defecation. However, once children get back to their families, they see other practicing inappropriate WASH behaviors, and they consequently start following them. This show disconnect between school behavior and family behavior, which needs to be bridged to achieve desired WASH outcomes. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the factors causing disconnect of WASH-related behaviors between school and the family of children. It also suggests behavior change interventions to bridge the gap. Methodology: The present study has chosen a mixed- method approach. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection have been used in the present study. The purposive sampling for data collection has been chosen. The data have been collected from 20% children in each age group of 04-08 years and 09-12 years spread over three primary schools and 20% of households to which they belong to which is spread over three slum communities in south district of Delhi. Results: The present study shows that despite of several behavior change interventions at school level, children still practice inappropriate WASH behaviors due to disconnect between school and family behaviors. These behaviors show variation from one age group to another. The inappropriate WASH behaviors being practiced by children include open defecation, wrong disposal of garbage, not keeping personal hygiene, not practicing hand washing practices during critical junctures and not washing fruits and vegetables before eating. The present study has highlighted that 80% of children in the age group of 04-08 years still practice inappropriate WASH behaviors when they go back to their families after school whereas, this percentage has reduced to 40% in case of children in the age group 09-12 years. Present study uncovers association between school and family teaching which creates a huge gap between WASH-related behavioral practices. The study has established that children learn and de-learn the WASH behaviors due to the evident disconnect between behavior change interventions at schools and household level. The study has also made it clear that children understand the significance of appropriate WASH practices but owing to the disconnect the behaviors remain unsettled. The study proposes several behavior change interventions to sync the behaviors of children at school and family level to ensure children’s health, well-being and cognitive performance.

Keywords: behavioral interventions, child health, family behavior, school behavior, WASH

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9448 Effects of Music Training on Social-Emotional Development and Basic Musical Skills: Findings from a Longitudinal Study with German and Migrant Children

Authors: Stefana Francisca Lupu, Jasmin Chantah, Mara Krone, Ingo Roden, Stephan Bongard, Gunter Kreutz

Abstract:

Long-term music interventions could enhance both musical and nonmusical skills. The present study was designed to explore cognitive, socio-emotional, and musical development in a longitudinal setting. Third-graders (N = 184: 87 male, 97 female; mean age = 8.61 years; 115 native German and 69 migrant children) were randomly assigned to two intervention groups (music and maths) and a control group over a period of one school-year. At baseline, children in these groups were similar in basic cognitive skills, with a trend of advantage in the control group. Dependent measures included the culture fair intelligence test CFT 20-R; the questionnaire of emotional and social school experience for grade 3 and 4 (FEESS 3-4), the test of resources in childhood and adolescence (FRKJ 8-16), the test of language proficiency for German native and non-native primary school children (SFD 3), the reading comprehension test (ELFE 1-6), the German math test (DEMAT 3+) and the intermediate measures of music audiation (IMMA). Data were collected two times at the beginning (T1) and at the end of the school year (T2). A third measurement (T3) followed after a six months retention period. Data from baseline and post-intervention measurements are currently being analyzed. Preliminary results of all three measurements will be presented at the conference.

Keywords: musical training, primary-school German and migrant children, socio-emotional skills, transfer

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9447 A Study on the Calculation of Bearing Life of Electric Motor Using Accelerated Life Test

Authors: Youn-Hwan Kim, Hae-Joong Kim, Jae-Won Moon

Abstract:

This paper introduces the results of the study on the development of accelerated life test methods for the motor used in machine tools. In recent years, as well as efficiency for motors, there is a growing need for research on life expectancy of motors. It is considered impossible to calculate the acceleration coefficient by increasing the rotational load or temperature load as the acceleration stress in the motor system because the temperature of the copper exceeds the wire thermal class rating. This paper describes the equipment development procedure for the highly accelerated life test (HALT) of the 12kW three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors (SCIMs). After the test, the lifetime analysis was carried out and it is compared with the bearing life expectancy by ISO 281.

Keywords: acceleration coefficient, bearing, HALT, life expectancy, motor

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9446 Data and Biological Sharing Platforms in Community Health Programs: Partnership with Rural Clinical School, University of New South Wales and Public Health Foundation of India

Authors: Vivian Isaac, A. T. Joteeshwaran, Craig McLachlan

Abstract:

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Rural Clinical School has a strategic collaborative focus on chronic disease and public health. Our objectives are to understand rural environmental and biological interactions in vulnerable community populations. The UNSW Rural Clinical School translational model is a spoke and hub network. This spoke and hub model connects rural data and biological specimens with city based collaborative public health research networks. Similar spoke and hub models are prevalent across research centers in India. The Australia-India Council grant was awarded so we could establish sustainable public health and community research collaborations. As part of the collaborative network we are developing strategies around data and biological sharing platforms between Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Hyderabad and Rural Clinical School UNSW. The key objective is to understand how research collaborations are conducted in India and also how data can shared and tracked with external collaborators such as ourselves. A framework to improve data sharing for research collaborations, including DNA was proposed as a project outcome. The complexities of sharing biological data has been investigated via a visit to India. A flagship sustainable project between Rural Clinical School UNSW and PHFI would illustrate a model of data sharing platforms.

Keywords: data sharing, collaboration, public health research, chronic disease

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9445 The Role of Student Culture in Beginning Music Teachers’ Instruction in Urban School Settings

Authors: Kiana Williams

Abstract:

The purpose of this case study was to examine beginning music teachers’ perspectives of cultural relevance in relation to music instruction in urban school settings within a large Southwestern city. Research questions focused on the role of student culture in beginning music teachers’ instruction. Data were collected based on Seidman’s (2013) three interview series, consisting of audio recordings from two semi-structured individual interviews for each participant, a 15-20-minute video recording from each participant teaching in their classroom, and an audio recording of one focus group interview. Participants included three beginning music teachers currently employed in urban schools in a major metropolitan city in the Southern United States. In this study, a teacher was considered a beginning teacher if they had zero to three years of experience teaching music in urban school settings. The results revealed three broad themes related to connectivity and relatability, concerts, and differentiated instruction. Implications for current music educators as well as music teacher educators in higher education are included in this study. Further research should consider examining the effect of culturally relevant pedagogy on student retention in urban school music programs.

Keywords: culture, instruction, music, pedagogy, teacher, urban

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9444 Joint Training Offer Selection and Course Timetabling Problems: Models and Algorithms

Authors: Gianpaolo Ghiani, Emanuela Guerriero, Emanuele Manni, Alessandro Romano

Abstract:

In this article, we deal with a variant of the classical course timetabling problem that has a practical application in many areas of education. In particular, in this paper we are interested in high schools remedial courses. The purpose of such courses is to provide under-prepared students with the skills necessary to succeed in their studies. In particular, a student might be under prepared in an entire course, or only in a part of it. The limited availability of funds, as well as the limited amount of time and teachers at disposal, often requires schools to choose which courses and/or which teaching units to activate. Thus, schools need to model the training offer and the related timetabling, with the goal of ensuring the highest possible teaching quality, by meeting the above-mentioned financial, time and resources constraints. Moreover, there are some prerequisites between the teaching units that must be satisfied. We first present a Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) model to solve this problem to optimality. However, the presence of many peculiar constraints contributes inevitably in increasing the complexity of the mathematical model. Thus, solving it through a general purpose solver may be performed for small instances only, while solving real-life-sized instances of such model requires specific techniques or heuristic approaches. For this purpose, we also propose a heuristic approach, in which we make use of a fast constructive procedure to obtain a feasible solution. To assess our exact and heuristic approaches we perform extensive computational results on both real-life instances (obtained from a high school in Lecce, Italy) and randomly generated instances. Our tests show that the MIP model is never solved to optimality, with an average optimality gap of 57%. On the other hand, the heuristic algorithm is much faster (in about the 50% of the considered instances it converges in approximately half of the time limit) and in many cases allows achieving an improvement on the objective function value obtained by the MIP model. Such an improvement ranges between 18% and 66%.

Keywords: heuristic, MIP model, remedial course, school, timetabling

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9443 The Education Quality Management by the Participation of the Community in Northern Part of Thailand

Authors: Preecha Pongpeng

Abstract:

This research aims to study the education quality management to solve the problem of teachers shortage by the communities participation. This research is action research by using the tools is questionnaire to collect the data whit, students and community representatives and final will interview to ask the opinions of people in the community to help and support instruction in problems in teaching. Results found that people in the community are aware and working together to solve the lack the of teachers by collaboration between school personnel and community members by finding people who are knowledgeable, organized into local wisdom in the community, compound money to donate and hire someone in the community to teaching between classroom with people in the community. In addition, researcher discovered this research project contributes to cooperation between the school and community and there was a problem including administrative expenses and the school's academic quality management.

Keywords: education quality management, local wisdom, northern part of Thailand, participation of the community

Procedia PDF Downloads 285