Search results for: literacy skill
522 Digital Literacy, Assessment and Higher Education
Authors: James Moir
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Recent evidence suggests that academic staff face difficulties in applying new technologies as a means of assessing higher order assessment outcomes such as critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. Although higher education institutional mission statements and course unit outlines purport the value of these higher order skills there is still some question about how well academics are equipped to design curricula and, in particular, assessment strategies accordingly. Despite a rhetoric avowing the benefits of these higher order skills, it has been suggested that academics set assessment tasks up in such a way as to inadvertently lead students on the path towards lower order outcomes. This is a controversial claim, and one that this papers seeks to explore and critique in terms of challenging the conceptual basis of assessing higher order skills through new technologies. It is argued that the use of digital media in higher education is leading to a focus on students’ ability to use and manipulate of these products as an index of their flexibility and adaptability to the demands of the knowledge economy. This focus mirrors market flexibility and encourages programmes and courses of study to be rhetorically packaged as such. Curricular content has become a means to procure more or less elaborate aggregates of attributes. Higher education is now charged with producing graduates who are entrepreneurial and creative in order to drive forward economic sustainability. It is argued that critical independent learning can take place through the democratisation afforded by cultural and knowledge digitization and that assessment needs to acknowledge the changing relations between audience and author, expert and amateur, creator and consumer.Keywords: higher education, curriculum, new technologies, assessment, higher order skills
Procedia PDF Downloads 375521 Comparing the Effectiveness of Social Skills Training and Stress Management on Self Esteem and Agression in First Grade Students of Iranian West High School
Authors: Hossein Nikandam Kermanshah, Babak Samavatian, Akbar Hemmati Sabet, Mohammad Ahmadpanah
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This is a quasi-experimental study that has been conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of social skills training and stress management training on self-esteem and aggression in first grade high school students. Forty-five people were selected from research community and were put randomly in there groups of social skills training, stress management training and control ones. Collecting data tools in this study was devise, self-esteem and AGQ aggression questionnaire. Self-esteem and aggression questionnaires has been conducted as the pre-test and post-test. Social skills training and stress management groups participated in eight 1.5 hour session in a week. But control group did not receive any therapy. For descriptive analysis of data, statistical indicators like mean, standard deviation were used, and in inferential statistics level multi variable covariance analysis have been used. The finding result show that group training social skills and stress management is significantly effective on the self-esteem and aggression, there is a meaningful difference between training social skills and stress management on self-esteem that the preference is with group social skills training, in the difference between group social skills training and stress management on aggression, the preference is with group stress management.Keywords: social skill training, stress management training, self-esteem aggression, psychological sciences
Procedia PDF Downloads 469520 Investigating the Determinants and Growth of Financial Technology Depth of Penetration among the Heterogeneous Africa Economies
Authors: Tochukwu Timothy Okoli, Devi Datt Tewari
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The high rate of Fintech adoption has not transmitted to greater financial inclusion and development in Africa. This problem is attributed to poor Fintech diversification and usefulness in the continent. This concept is referred to as the Fintech depth of penetration in this study. The study, therefore, assessed its determinants and growth process in a panel of three emergings, twenty-four frontiers and five fragile African economies disaggregated with dummies over the period 2004-2018 to allow for heterogeneity between groups. The System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique reveals that the average depth of Mobile banking and automated teller machine (ATM) is a dynamic heterogeneity process. Moreover, users' previous experiences/compatibility, trial-ability/income, and financial development were the major factors that raise its usefulness, whereas perceived risk, financial openness, and inflation rate significantly limit its usefulness. The growth rate of Mobile banking, ATM, and Internet banking in 2018 is, on average 41.82, 0.4, and 20.8 per cent respectively greater than its average rates in 2004. These greater averages after the 2009 financial crisis suggest that countries resort to Fintech as a risk-mitigating tool. This study, therefore, recommends greater Fintech diversification through improved literacy, institutional development, financial liberalization, and continuous innovation.Keywords: depth of fintech, emerging Africa, financial technology, internet banking, mobile banking
Procedia PDF Downloads 129519 Mediating Health in Rural Ghana: An Exploratory Study of AI-Driven Health Communications Channels and Media Reportage in Accra
Authors: Amos Ekow Coffie
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This exploratory study investigates the impact of AI-driven health communications and media reportage on health outcomes in rural Ghana, focusing on rural communities within Accra. Despite the potential of AI-driven health communications in improving health outcomes, its adoption in rural Ghana is hindered by infrastructure challenges, digital literacy, and cultural factors. Media reportage plays a crucial role in shaping health perceptions and behaviors, but its impact is limited by inadequate health reporting, lack of specialized health journalists, and limited access to health information. This study aims to explore the integration of AI-driven health communications into media practices in rural Ghana, addressing the following research questions: How do AI-driven health communications impact health outcomes in rural Ghana? What role does media reportage play in shaping health perceptions and behaviors in Accra? How can AI-driven health communications and media reportage be optimized to improve health outcomes in rural Ghana? Using a mixed-methods approach, this study will combine surveys, interviews, and content analysis to investigate the impact of AI-driven Health Communication and media reportage on health outcomes in rural areas in Ghana. AI-driven health communications is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to design, deliver, and evaluate health messages, interventions, and campaigns. The study's findings will contribute to the development of effective health communication strategies, addressing the significant health disparities in rural areas in Ghana.Keywords: AI Driven Health Communication, Media Reporting, Rural Areas, Communication Channels
Procedia PDF Downloads 25518 Balancing Aesthetics, Sustainability, and Safety in Handmade Fabric Face Masks: A Testimony of Creativity and Adaptability
Authors: Anne Mastamet-Mason, Oluwatosin Onakoya, Karla Tissiman
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The COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the world in 2020 brought about the need for handmade fabric face masks in South Africa and beyond. These masks showcased individuality and environmental responsibility and effectively aided our battle against the virus. These practical masks held significant meaning, representing human creativity, resilience, and commitment to sustainability in adversity. This paper examines how aesthetics, sustainability, and safety were achieved in the Handmade Fabric Face Masks. It analyses how their integration signified human agility and resilience to the pandemic while promoting dignity and environmental welfare. The research conducted a qualitative analysis to choose handmade fabric face masks and assess their aesthetic, sustainable, and safety features. The study involved interviewing a group of mask designers and users who evaluated the masks' efficacy in providing protection, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability. Although the designers demonstrated a high level of knowledge in the design aspects, the results indicated a need for more information regarding the functional safety measures and some environmental factors in mask selection and production. The mask analysis also revealed that the masks available in the market combined aesthetics and environmental protection but had limited safety measures. Despite the lack of balance of aesthetics, sustainability, and safety among the designers and the users of hand-fabric masks, functional aspects of fabrics and sustainability literacy are essentialKeywords: sustainable fashion, fabric mask, aesthetics, safety measures
Procedia PDF Downloads 64517 Relative Influence of Self-Regulation, Emotional Intelligence, Self-Efficacy, and Goal Orientation on School Engagement among Public Secondary School Students in Ibadan, Nigeria
Authors: Ogunremi Beatrice, Oluwole David Adebayo
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Public secondary school students are face with some challenges from the parents, government and teachers in school. Some of the challenges that arises from the parents are lack of attention and adequate communication. From the government are unavailability of useful instructional materials, competent and professionally trained teachers for each subject the students do in school. The challenges that arise from the teachers most often are mismanagement of time, inability to understand the capacity of the student and lack class management and follow up. This study investigated self-regulation, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and goal orientation as predictors of school engagement among public secondary school students in Ibadan. A structured questionnaire was administered on 258 students from six mixed secondary schools in Ibadan. Pearson Product Moment Correlation method was used for data analysis. Four hypothesis were raised and answered, the results showed there is positive and significant relationships between school engagement among public secondary school students and each of the independent variable: Self-regulation, Emotional intelligence, Self-efficacy, Goal orientation. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that the parents have to encourage their children on how to be goal oriented ,build their self-efficacy skill, to be self-regulated and emotionally intelligent in order to be effective in school and be able to increase their intellectual ability.Keywords: emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, goal orientation, school engagement, self-regulation
Procedia PDF Downloads 485516 Design of Cylindrical Crawler Robot Inspired by Amoeba Locomotion
Authors: Jun-ya Nagase
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Recently, the need of colonoscopy is increasing because of the rise of colonic disorder including cancer of the colon. However, current colonoscopy depends on doctor's skill strongly. Therefore, a large intestine endoscope that does not depend on the techniques of a doctor with high safety is required. In this research, we aim at development a novel large intestine endoscope that can realize safe insertion without specific techniques. A wheel movement type robot, a snake-like robot and an earthworm-like robot are all described in the relevant literature as endoscope robots that are currently studied. Among them, the tracked crawler robot can travel by traversing uneven ground flexibly with a crawler belt attached firmly to the ground surface. Although conventional crawler robots have high efficiency and/or high ground-covering ability, they require a comparatively large space to move. In this study, a small cylindrical crawler robot inspired by amoeba locomotion, which does not need large space to move and which has high ground-covering ability, is proposed. In addition, we developed a prototype of the large intestine endoscope using the proposed crawler mechanism. Experiments have demonstrated smooth operation and a forward movement of the robot by application of voltage to the motor. This paper reports the structure, drive mechanism, prototype, and experimental evaluation.Keywords: tracked-crawler, endoscopic robot, narrow path, amoeba locomotion.
Procedia PDF Downloads 384515 A Review on Factors Influencing Implementation of Secure Software Development Practices
Authors: Sri Lakshmi Kanniah, Mohd Naz’ri Mahrin
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More and more businesses and services are depending on software to run their daily operations and business services. At the same time, cyber-attacks are becoming more covert and sophisticated, posing threats to software. Vulnerabilities exist in the software due to the lack of security practices during the phases of software development. Implementation of secure software development practices can improve the resistance to attacks. Many methods, models and standards for secure software development have been developed. However, despite the efforts, they still come up against difficulties in their deployment and the processes are not institutionalized. There is a set of factors that influence the successful deployment of secure software development processes. In this study, the methodology and results from a systematic literature review of factors influencing the implementation of secure software development practices is described. A total of 44 primary studies were analysed as a result of the systematic review. As a result of the study, a list of twenty factors has been identified. Some of factors that affect implementation of secure software development practices are: Involvement of the security expert, integration between security and development team, developer’s skill and expertise, development time and communication between stakeholders. The factors were further classified into four categories which are institutional context, people and action, project content and system development process. The results obtained show that it is important to take into account organizational, technical and people issues in order to implement secure software development initiatives.Keywords: secure software development, software development, software security, systematic literature review
Procedia PDF Downloads 377514 Developing Problem Solving Skills through a Project-Based Course as Part of a Lifelong Learning for Engineering Students
Authors: Robin Lok Wang Ma
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how engineering students’ motivation and interests are maintained in their journeys. In recent years, different pedagogies of teaching, including entrepreneurship, experiential and lifelong learning, as well as dream builder, etc., have been widely used for education purposes. University advocates hands-on practice, learning by experiencing and experimenting throughout different courses. Students are not limited to gaining knowledge via traditional lectures, laboratory demonstrations, tutorials, and so on. The capability to identify both complex problems and their corresponding solutions in daily life are one of the criteria/skill sets required for graduates to obtain their careers at professional organizations and companies. A project-based course, namely Mechatronic Design and Prototyping, was developed for students to design and build a physical prototype for solving existing problems in their daily lives, thereby encouraging them as an entrepreneur to explore further possibilities to commercialize their designed prototypes and launch them to the market. Feedbacks from students show that they are keen to propose their own ideas freely with guidance from the instructor instead of using either suggested or assigned topics. Proposed ideas of the prototypes reflect that if students’ interests are maintained, they acquire the knowledge and skills they need, including essential communication, logical thinking, and, more importantly, problem solving for their lifelong learning journey.Keywords: problem solving, lifelong learning, entrepreneurship, engineering
Procedia PDF Downloads 93513 The Pitfalls of Empowerment Initiatives in India: Overcoming Male Resistance to Women Empowerment Through Community Outreach, TVET, and Improved Sanitation
Authors: Christopher Coley, Srividya Sheshadri, Rao R. Bhavani
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Empowering marginalized populations, especially women, with greater economic, social, and other leadership roles has been shown to have a profound effect on entire communities. There are discernible links between sustainable development, poverty reduction, and skill training for empowerment; however, one of the major challenges with implementing empowerment programs is to establish an understanding within the community that investing in women’s education carries the potential of high return for everyone. Effective strategies that can both empower women, and overcome the complex social issues normally faced, need to be developed and shared across stakeholders. Amrita University’s AMMACHI Labs, a research lab engaged in women empowerment through Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), has launched a new initiative, WE: Sanitation, a project aiming to train women to build their own toilets and promote healthy sanitation practices in rural villages across India. While in some cases, the community has come together and toilets are being built, there has been resistance by the community, especially men, in many places. This paper will explore the experiences of field workers and the initial results of the WE: Sanitation project, including observations on the trends of community dynamics, raise important questions for the direction of development work in general, and especially for sanitation projects in rural India.Keywords: community-based development, gender dynamics, Indian sanitation, women empowerment, TVET
Procedia PDF Downloads 385512 Nigeria's Distressed Economy and Achievement of Child-Friendly School Model
Authors: Onyeke Paul Chuks
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Nigeria is ranked among the developing nations and a country with a low income per capita. The consequences of this economic situation have led to the low achievement records below UN benchmark especially in the area of basic education for her citizens. The country is, however, making relentless efforts at arresting the situation by making budgetary allocations to ensure the realization of Millennium Development Goal No. 2 which is achieving universal basic education, her distressed economy notwithstanding. Basic education which comprises primary and lower secondary education as well as pre-primary and/or adult literacy programs have suffered serious setbacks orchestrated by the dwindling of the nation’s economy. This category of education being the bedrock of all other levels of education is regarded as a priority by developing countries and also the focus of the Education for All Movement led by UNESCO. The introduction of child-friendly school model is one of the strategies designed by UNESCO to achieving this all important MDGs goal No. 2. Child-friendly education model is aimed at replacing the out-dated, mundane, regimented and officious school administrative model where the basic rights of school children are trampled upon with impunity and community participation in school activities is viewed as unnecessary interference by school managers. This paper ex-rayed the potential obstacles likely to impinge on the implementation of child-friendly school model in Nigeria especially from the angle of her distressed economy and the colossal effects of the corrupt practices bedeviling the nation. The paper as well outlines prospects for the successful implementation of the child-friendly school model in Nigeria.Keywords: child-friendly school, distressed economy, model, Nigeria
Procedia PDF Downloads 283511 Teacher Support and Academic Resilience in Vietnam: An Analysis of Low Socio-Economic Status Students in Programme for International Student Assessment 2018
Authors: My Ha, Suwei Lin, Huiying Zou
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This study aimed at investigating the association between teacher support and academic resilience in a developing country. Using the data from PISA 2018 Student Questionnaire and Cognitive Tests, the study provided evidence of the significant impact teacher support had on reading literacy among 15-year-old students from low socio-economic status (SES) homes in Vietnam. From a total of 5773 Vietnamese participants from all backgrounds, a sample of 1765 disadvantaged students was drawn for analysis. As a result, 32 percent of the low SES sample was identified as resilient. Through their response to the PISA items regarding the frequency of support they received from teachers, the result of Latent Class Analysis (LCA) divides children into three subgroups: High Support (74.6%), Fair Support (21.6%), and Low Support (3.8%). The high support group reported the highest proportion of resilient students. Meanwhile, the low support group scored the lowest mean on reading test and had the lowest rate of resilience. Also, as the level of support increases, reading achievement becomes less dependent on socioeconomic status, reflected by the decrease in both the slope and magnitude of their correlation. Logistic regression revealed that 1 unit increase in standardized teacher support would lead to an increase of 29.1 percent in the odds of a student becoming resilient. The study emphasizes the role of supportive teachers in promoting resilience, as well as lowering educational inequity in general.Keywords: academic resilience, disadvantaged students, teacher support, inequity, PISA
Procedia PDF Downloads 90510 Impact of Schools' Open and Semi-Open Spaces on Student's Studying Behavior
Authors: Chaithanya Pothuganti
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Open and semi-open spaces in educational buildings like corridors, mid landings, seating spaces, lobby, courtyards are traditionally have been the places of social communion and interaction which helps in promoting the knowledge, performance, activeness, and motivation in students. Factors like availability of land, commercialization, of educational facilities, especially in e-techno and smart schools, led to closed classrooms to accommodate students thereby lack quality open and semi-open spaces. This insufficient attention towards open space design which is a means of informal learning misses an opportunity to encourage the student’s skill development, behavior and learning skills. The core objective of this paper is to find the level of impact on student learning behavior and to identify the suitable proportions and configuration of spaces that shape the schools. In order to achieve this, different types of open spaces in schools and their impact on student’s performance in various existing models are analysed using case studies to draw some design principles. The study is limited to indoor open spaces like corridors, break out spaces and courtyards. The expected outcome of the paper is to suggest better design considerations for the development of semi-open and open spaces which functions as an element for informal learnings. Its focus is to provide further thinking on designing and development of open spaces in educational buildings.Keywords: configuration of spaces and proportions, informal learning, open spaces, schools, student’s behavior
Procedia PDF Downloads 309509 Analysis of Radial Pulse Using Nadi-Parikshan Yantra
Authors: Ashok E. Kalange
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Diagnosis according to Ayurveda is to find the root cause of a disease. Out of the eight different kinds of examinations, Nadi-Pariksha (pulse examination) is important. Nadi-Pariksha is done at the root of the thumb by examining the radial artery using three fingers. Ancient Ayurveda identifies the health status by observing the wrist pulses in terms of 'Vata', 'Pitta' and 'Kapha', collectively called as tridosha, as the basic elements of human body and in their combinations. Diagnosis by traditional pulse analysis – NadiPariksha - requires a long experience in pulse examination and a high level of skill. The interpretation tends to be subjective, depending on the expertise of the practitioner. Present work is part of the efforts carried out in making Nadi-Parikshan objective. Nadi Parikshan Yantra (three point pulse examination system) is developed in our laboratory by using three pressure sensors (one each for the Vata, Pitta and Kapha points on radial artery). The radial pulse data was collected of a large number of subjects. The radial pulse data collected is analyzed on the basis of relative amplitudes of the three point pulses as well as in frequency and time domains. The same subjects were examined by Ayurvedic physician (Nadi Vaidya) and the dominant Dosha - Vata, Pitta or Kapha - was identified. The results are discussed in details in the paper.Keywords: Nadi Parikshan Yantra, Tridosha, Nadi Pariksha, human pulse data analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 189508 Hacking the Spatial Limitations in Bridging Virtual and Traditional Teaching Methodologies in Sri Lanka
Authors: Manuela Nayantara Jeyaraj
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Having moved into the 21st century, it is way past being arguable that innovative technology needs to be incorporated into conventional classroom teaching. Though the Western world has found presumable success in achieving this, it is still a concept under battle in developing countries such as Sri Lanka. Reaching the acme of implementing interactive virtual learning within classrooms is a struggling idealistic fascination within the island. In order to overcome this problem, this study is set to reveal facts that limit the implementation of virtual, interactive learning within the school classrooms and provide hacks that could prove the augmented use of the Virtual World to enhance teaching and learning experiences. As each classroom moves along with the usage of technology to fulfill its functionalities, a few intense hacks provided will build the administrative onuses on a virtual system. These hacks may divulge barriers based on social conventions, financial boundaries, digital literacy, intellectual capacity of the staff, and highlight the impediments in introducing students to an interactive virtual learning environment and thereby provide the necessary actions or changes to be made to succeed and march along in creating an intellectual society built on virtual learning and lifestyle. This digital learning environment will be composed of multimedia presentations, trivia and pop quizzes conducted on a GUI, assessments conducted via a virtual system, records maintained on a database, etc. The ultimate objective of this study could enhance every child's basic learning environment; hence, diminishing the digital divide that exists in certain communities.Keywords: digital divide, digital learning, digitization, Sri Lanka, teaching methodologies
Procedia PDF Downloads 353507 Constraints and Opportunities of Wood Production Value Chain: Evidence from Southwest Ethiopia
Authors: Abduselam Faris, Rijalu Negash, Zera Kedir
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This study was initiated to identify constraints and opportunities of the wood production value chain in Southwest Ethiopia. About 385 wood trees growing farmers were randomly interviewed. Similarly, about 30 small-scale wood processors, 30 retailers, 15 local collectors and 5 wholesalers were purposively included in the study. The results of the study indicated that 98.96 % of the smallholder farmers that engaged in the production of wood trees which is used for wood were male-headed, with an average age of 46.88 years. The main activity that the household engaged was agriculture (crop and livestock) which accounts for about 61.56% of the sample respondents. Through value chain mapping of actors, the major value chain participant and supporting actors were identified. On average, the tree-growing farmers generated gross income of 9385.926 Ethiopian birr during the survey year. Among the critical constraints identified along the wood production value chain was limited supply of credit, poor market information dissemination, high interference of brokers, and shortage of machines, inadequate working area and electricity. The availability of forest resources is the leading opportunity in the wood production value chain. Reinforcing the linkage among wood production value chain actors, providing skill training for small-scale processors, and developing suitable policy for wood tree wise use is key recommendations forward.Keywords: value chain analysis, wood production, southwest Ethiopia, constraints and opportunities
Procedia PDF Downloads 93506 Revisiting the Surgical Approaches to Decompression in Quadrangular Space Syndrome: A Cadaveric Study
Authors: Sundip Charmode, Simmi Mehra, Sudhir Kushwaha, Shalom Philip, Pratik Amrutiya, Ranjna Jangal
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Introduction: Quadrangular space syndrome involves compression of the axillary nerve and posterior circumflex humeral artery and its management in few cases, requires surgical decompression. The current study reviews the surgical approaches used in the decompression of neurovascular structures and presents our reflections and recommendations. Methods: Four human cadavers, in the Department of Anatomy were used for dissection of the Axillae and the Scapular region by the senior residents of the Department of Anatomy and Department of Orthopedics, who dissected quadrangular space in the eight upper limbs, using anterior and posterior surgical approaches. Observations: Posterior approach to identify the quadrangular space and secure its contents was recognized as the easier and much quicker method by both the Anatomy and Orthopedic residents, but it may result in increased postoperative morbidity. Whereas the anterior (Delto-pectoral) approach involves more skill but reduces postoperative morbidity. Conclusions: Anterior (Delto-pectoral) approach with suggested modifications can prove as an effective method in surgical decompression of quadrangular space syndrome. The authors suggest more cadaveric studies to facilitate anatomists and surgeons with the opportunities to practice and evaluate older and newer surgical approaches.Keywords: surgical approach, anatomical approach, decompression, axillary nerve, quadrangular space
Procedia PDF Downloads 173505 Social Strategeries for HIV and STDs Prevention
Authors: Binu Sahayam
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HIV/AIDS epidemic is in its third decade and has become a virulent disease that threatens the world population. Many countless efforts had been made yet this has become a social and developmental concern. According to UNAIDS 2013 Report, In India around 2.4 million people are currently living with HIV and third in the infection rate. As every country is facing this health issue, this has become a social and developmental concern for India. In country like India, open discussion on sex and sexuality is not possible due to its conventional culture. Educational institution like schools and colleges can create awareness on sex education, life skill education, information on HIV and STD which is lacking. It is very clear that preventive knowledge remains low and this leads to increase in the HIV/AIDS infection rate. HIV/AIDS is a disease which is not curable but preventable, keeping this in mind religious leaders of various have come forward in addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS using various social strategies. The study has been focused on three main India religious teachings Hinduism, Christianity and Islam in addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS and its possible intervention in dealing with HIV/AIDS prevention. The study is important because it highlights the health issues, stigma discrimination, psychological disturbances and insecurity faced by the infected and affected persons. Therefore, this study privileges the role of religious leadership in the efforts and processes of preventing HIV/AIDS, caring and providing support to People living with HIV/AIDS and argues that intervention of religious leadership is an effective measure to confront many of the barriers associated with HIV/AIDS.Keywords: HIV and AIDS, STDs, religion and religious organisation
Procedia PDF Downloads 392504 Educating Empathy: Combining Active Listening and Moral Discovery to Facilitate Prosocial Connection
Authors: Erika Price, Lisa Johnson
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Cognitive and dispositional empathy is decreasing among students worldwide, particularly those at university. This paper looks at the effects of encouraging empathetic positioning in divisive topics by teaching listening skills and moral discovery to university students. Two groups of university students were given the assignment to interview individuals they disagreed with on social issues (e.g. abortion, gun control, legalization of drugs, involvement in Ukraine, etc.). One group completed the assignment with no other instruction. The second group completed the assignment after receiving instruction in active listening and Jonathan Haidt’s theory of moral foundations in politics. Results show that when students are given both active listening techniques and awareness of moral foundations, they are significantly more likely to have socially positive interactions with those they disagree with on issues as compared to those who listen passively to ideological opponents. As students interacted with those they disagreed with, they evidenced prosocial behaviors of acknowledgement, validation, and even commonalities with their opponents’ viewpoints, signifying a heartening trend of empathetic connection that is waning in students. The research suggests that empathy is a skill that can be nurtured by active listening but that it is more fully cultivated when paired with the concept of moral foundations underpinning political ideologies. These findings shed light on how to create more effective pedagogies for social and emotional learning, as well as inclusion.Keywords: empathy, listening skills, moral discovery, pedagogy, prosocial behavior
Procedia PDF Downloads 68503 Miller’s Model for Developing Critical Thinking Skill of Pre-Service Teachers at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Authors: Suttipong Boonphadung, Thassanant Unnanantn
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The research study aimed to (1) compare the critical thinking of the teacher students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University before and after applying Miller’s Model learning activities and (2) investigate the students’ opinions towards Miller’s Model learning activities for improving the critical thinking. The participants of this study were purposively selected. They were 3 groups of teacher students: (1) fourth year 33 student teachers majoring in Early Childhood Education and enrolling in semester 1 of academic year 2013 (2) third year 28 student teachers majoring in English and enrolling in semester 2 of academic year 2013 and (3) third year 22 student teachers majoring in Thai and enrolling in semester 2 of academic year 2013. The research instruments were (1) lesson plans where the learning activities were settled based on Miller’s Model (2) critical thinking assessment criteria and (3) a questionnaire on opinions towards Miller’s Model based learning activities. The statistical treatment was mean, deviation, different scores and T-test. The result unfolded that (1) the critical thinking of the students after the assigned activities was better than before and (2) the students’ opinions towards the critical thinking improvement activities based on Miller’s Model ranged from the level of high to highest.Keywords: critical thinking, Miller’s model, opinions, pre-service teachers
Procedia PDF Downloads 477502 Aquatic Intervention Research for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Mehmet Yanardag, Ilker Yilmaz
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Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enjoy and success the aquatic-based exercise and play skills in a pool instead of land-based exercise in a gym. Some authors also observed that many children with ASD experience more success in attaining movement skills in aquatic environment. Properties of the water and hydrodynamic principles cause buoyancy of the water and decrease effects of gravity and it leads to allow a child to practice important aquatic skills with limited motor skills. Also, some authors experience that parents liked the effects of the aquatic intervention program on children with ASD such as improving motor performance, movement capacity and learning basic swimming skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aquatic exercise training on water orientation and underwater working capacity were measured in the pool. This study included in four male children between 5 and 7 years old with ASD and 6.25±0.5 years old. Aquatic exercise skills were applied by using one of the error less teaching which is called the 'most to least prompt' procedure during 12-week, three times a week and 60 minutes a day. The findings of this study indicated that there were improvements test results both water orientation skill and underwater working capacity of children with ASD after 12-weeks exercise training. It was seen that the aquatic exercise intervention would be affected to improve working capacity and orientation skills with the special education approaches applying children with ASD in multidisciplinary team-works.Keywords: aquatic, autism, orientation, ASD, children
Procedia PDF Downloads 432501 Teachers Handbook: A Key to Imparting Teaching in Multilingual Classrooms at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS)
Authors: Sushree Sangita Mohanty
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The pedagogic system, which is used to work with indigenous groups, who have equally different socio-economic, socio-cultural & multi-lingual conditions with differing cognitive capabilities, makes the education situation complex. As a result, educating the indigenous people became just the dissemination of facts and information, but advancement in knowledge and possibilities somewhere hides. This gap arises complexities due to the language barrier and the teachers from a conventional background of teaching practices are unable to understand or connect with the students in the schools. This paper presents the research work of the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) project that has developed a creative pedagogic endeavor for the students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) for facilitating Multilingual Education (MLE) teaching. KISS is a home for 25,000 indigenous children. The students enrolled here are from 62 different indigenous communities who speak around 24 different languages with geographical articulation. The book contents include concept, understanding languages, similitudes among languages, the need of mother tongue in teaching and learning, skill development (Listening-Speaking-Reading-Writing), teachers activities for teaching in multilingual schools, the process of teaching, training format of multilingual teaching and procedures for basic data collection regarding multilingual schools and classroom handle.Keywords: indigenous, multi-lingual, pedagogic, teachers, teaching practices
Procedia PDF Downloads 289500 Exploring Labor Market Participation of Highly Skilled Immigrant Women in the United States: Barriers and Strategies
Authors: Yurdum Cokadar
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The United States is the country where the majority of highly skilled immigrants are hosted. Two-thirds of foreign-born migrants from Turkey - an underrepresented and understudied immigrant group in the United States - are highly skilled. Generated by the aim of filling this gap in the literature, the motivation of this research is to understand highly skilled Turkish immigrant women’s integration into the U.S. labor market, including barriers that they face and strategies they develop to rebuild their career after relocation. The in-depth interviews of 20 highly skilled Turkish women residing in the U.S. revealed that the majority of women participants are either not integrated into the labor market, occupy positions below their skill, or cannot reach the same upper segments of the labor market in the host country, arising from a range of structural and personal barriers interplaying in their career trajectories. Furthermore, many of them cannot transfer their social and cultural capital gained in their home country into the United States. The labor market participation process of these women is analyzed in the light of Bourdieu’s theory of capital and the intersectional approach of gender, class and ethnicity in order to understand the positions of highly skilled immigrant women in the host country labor market.Keywords: deskilling, gender, class and ethnicity, highly skilled women immigrants, integration into the U.S. the labor market, labor market participation, skilled migration, theory of capital
Procedia PDF Downloads 191499 Enhancement of Higher Order Thinking Skills among Teacher Trainers by Fun Game Learning Approach
Authors: Malathi Balakrishnan, Gananathan M. Nadarajah, Saraswathy Vellasamy, Evelyn Gnanam William George
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The purpose of the study is to explore how the fun game-learning approach enhances teacher trainers’ higher order thinking skills. Two-day fun filled fun game learning-approach was introduced to teacher trainers as a Continuous Professional Development Program (CPD). 26 teacher trainers participated in this Transformation of Teaching and Learning Fun Way Program, organized by Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia. Qualitative research technique was adopted as the researchers observed the participants’ higher order thinking skills developed during the program. Data were collected from observational checklist; interview transcriptions of four participants and participants’ reflection notes. All the data were later analyzed with NVivo data analysis process. The finding of this study presented five main themes, which are critical thinking, hands on activities, creating, application and use of technology. The studies showed that the teacher trainers’ higher order thinking skills were enhanced after the two-day CPD program. Therefore, Institute of Teacher Education will have more success using the fun way game-learning approach to develop higher order thinking skills among its teacher trainers who can implement these skills to their trainee teachers in future. This study also added knowledge to Constructivism learning theory, which will further highlight the prominence of the fun way learning approach to enhance higher order thinking skills.Keywords: constructivism, game-learning approach, higher order thinking skill, teacher trainer
Procedia PDF Downloads 294498 Visualisation in Health Communication: Taking Weibo Interaction in COVD19 as the Example
Authors: Zicheng Zhang, Linli Zhang
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As China's biggest social media platform, Weibo has taken on essential health communication responsibilities during the pandemic. This research takes 105 posters in 15 health-related official Weibo accounts as the analysis objects to explore COVID19 health information communication and visualisation. First, the interaction between the audiences and Weibo, including forwarding, comments, and likes, is statistically analysed. The comments about the information design are extracted manually, and then the sentiment analysis is carried out to verdict audiences' views about the poster's design. The forwarding and comments are quantified as the attention index for a reference to the degree of likes. In addition, this study also designed an evaluation scale based on the standards of Health Literacy Resource by the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (US). Then designers scored all selected posters one by one. Finally, combining the data of the two parts, concluded that: 1. To a certain extent, people think that the posters do not deliver substantive and practical information; 2. Non-knowledge posters(i.e., cartoon posters) gained more Forwarding and Likes, such as Go, Wuhan poster; 3. The analysis of COVID posters is still mainly picture-oriented, mainly about encouraging people to overcome difficulties; 4. Posters for pandemic prevention usually contain more text and fewer illustrations and do not clearly show cultural differences. In conclusion, health communication usually involves a lot of professional knowledge, so visualising that knowledge in an accessible way for the general public is challenging. The relevant posters still have the problems of lack of effective communication, superficial design, and insufficient content accessibility.Keywords: weibo, visualisation, covid posters, poster design
Procedia PDF Downloads 127497 A Study of Effect of Yoga on Choice Visual Reaction Time of Soccer Players
Authors: Vikram Singh, Parmod Kumar Sethi
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The objective of the study was to study the effectiveness of common yoga protocol on reaction time (choice visual reaction time, measured in milliseconds/seconds) of male football players in the age group of 16 to 21 years. The 40 boys were measured initially on parameters of years of experience, level of participation. They were randomly assigned into two groups i.e. control and experimental. CVRT for both the groups was measured on day-1 and post intervention (common yoga protocol here) was measured after 45 days of training to the experimental group after they had finished with their regular fitness and soccer skill training. One way ANOVA (Univariate analysis) and Independent t-test using SPSS 23 statistical package were applied to get and analyze the results. The experimental yoga protocol group showed a significant reduction in CVRT, whereas the insignificant difference in reaction times was observed for control group after 45 days. The effect size was more than 52% for CVRT indicating that the effect of treatment was large. Power of the study was also found to be high (> .80). There was a significant difference after 45 days of yoga protocol in choice visual reaction time of experimental group (p = .000), t (21.93) = 6.410, p = .000 (two-tailed). The null hypothesis (that there would be no difference in reaction times of control and experimental groups) was rejected. Where p< .05. Therefore alternate hypothesis was accepted.Keywords: reaction time, yoga protocol, t-test, soccer players
Procedia PDF Downloads 236496 An Empirical Study of the Effect of Robot Programming Education on the Computational Thinking of Young Children: The Role of Flowcharts
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There is an increasing interest in introducing computational thinking at an early age. Computational thinking, like mathematical thinking, engineering thinking, and scientific thinking, is a kind of analytical thinking. Learning computational thinking skills is not only to improve technological literacy, but also allows learners to equip with practicable skills such as problem-solving skills. As people realize the importance of computational thinking, the field of educational technology faces a problem: how to choose appropriate tools and activities to help students develop computational thinking skills. Robots are gradually becoming a popular teaching tool, as robots provide a tangible way for young children to access to technology, and controlling a robot through programming offers them opportunities to engage in developing computational thinking. This study explores whether the introduction of flowcharts into the robotics programming courses can help children convert natural language into a programming language more easily, and then to better cultivate their computational thinking skills. An experimental study was adopted with a sample of children ages six to seven (N = 16) participated, and a one-meter-tall humanoid robot was used as the teaching tool. Results show that children can master basic programming concepts through robotic courses. Children's computational thinking has been significantly improved. Besides, results suggest that flowcharts do have an impact on young children’s computational thinking skills development, but it only has a significant effect on the "sequencing" and "correspondence" skills. Overall, the study demonstrates that the humanoid robot and flowcharts have qualities that foster young children to learn programming and develop computational thinking skills.Keywords: robotics, computational thinking, programming, young children, flow chart
Procedia PDF Downloads 146495 Effectiveness of Using Phonemic Awareness Based Activities in Improving Decoding Skills of Third Grade Students Referred for Reading Disabilities in Oman
Authors: Mahmoud Mohamed Emam
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In Oman the number of students referred for reading disabilities is on the rise. Schools serve these students by placement in the so-called learning disabilities unit. Recently the author led a strategic project to train teachers on the use of curriculum based measurement to identify students with reading disabilities in Oman. Additional the project involved training teachers to use phonemic awareness based activities to improve reading skills of those students. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in words. We know that a student's skill in phonemic awareness is a good predictor of later reading success or difficulty. Using multiple baseline design across four participants the current studies investigated the effectiveness of using phonemic awareness based activities to improve decoding skills of third grade students referred for reading disabilities in Oman. During treatment students received phonemic awareness based activities that were designed to fulfill the idiosyncratic characteristics of Arabic language phonology as well as orthography. Results indicated that the phonemic awareness based activities were effective in substantially increasing the number of correctly decoded word for all four participants. Maintenance of strategy effects was evident for the weeks following the termination of intervention for the four students. In addition, the effects of intervention generalized to decoding novel words for all four participants.Keywords: learning disabilities, phonemic awareness, third graders, Oman
Procedia PDF Downloads 641494 From Colonial Outpost to Cultural India: Folk Epics of India
Authors: Jyoti Brahma
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Folk epics of India are found in various Indian languages. The study of folk epics and its importance in folkloristic study in India came into prominence only during the nineteenth century. The British administrators and missionaries collected and documented folk epics from various parts of the country. The paper is an attempt to investigate how colonial outpost appears to penetrate the interiors of Indian land and society and triggered off the Indian Renaissance. It takes into account the compositions of the epics of India and the attention it received during the nineteenth century, which in turn gave, rise to the national consciousness shaping the culture of India. Composed as oral traditions these folk epics are now seen as repositories of historical consciousness whereas in earlier times societies without literacy were said to be without history. So, there is an urgent need to re-examine the British impact on Indian literary traditions. The Bhakti poets through their nuanced responses in their efforts to change the behavior of Indian society gives us the perfect example of deferment in the clear cut distinction between the folk and the classical in the context of India. It evades a pure categorization and classification of the classical and constitutes part of the folk traditions of the cultural heritage of India. Therefore, the ethical question of what is ontologically known as ordinary discourse in the case of the “folk” forms metaphors and folk language gains importance once more. The paper also thus seeks simultaneously to outline the significant factors responsible for shaping the destiny of folklore in South India particularly the four political states of the Indian Union: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, what could be termed as South Indian “cultural zones”.Keywords: colonial, folk, folklore, tradition
Procedia PDF Downloads 310493 Personality Traits and Physical Activity among Staff Personnel of University of Southern Mindanao
Authors: Cheeze Janito, Crisly Dawang
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It is important to determine the personality traits that exist in the workplace and the contribution of these personality traits in the staff’s daily work routines; a sedentary lifestyle is harmful to one’s health. This study reports the personality traits of the University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Philippines, non-teaching staff, the physical activity involvement of the non-teaching staff, and the big five personality traits that shape the relationship of university non-teaching staff in engaging physical activities. A quantitative method approach, which comprised a three-part questionnaire, was used to collect the data. The fifty non-teaching staff complete the survey. The results revealed that among the big five personality traits, the university non-teaching staff scored higher in agreeableness as revealed, that there was a commonality among the respondents’ traits of consideration to the feelings of the co-workers in observance to not being rude and vividly display of respect to co-workers and workplace and scored least in the personality trait of neuroticism. The study also reported that the university non-teaching staff's main physical activity was house chores as a prime physical exercise in which respondents reported a physical activity frequency of once to twice a week; thus, this study reported that the respondents are less engaged in doing physical activities. Further, the relationship of personality traits and the physical activity of the non-teaching staff gained a p-value of .596 that indicates there is no significant relationship between the two variables, the personality trait and physical activities. This study recommends the tight promotion of staff in engaging in physical activity of at least one hundred fifty minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. Added to this, the use of different platforms containing physical exercise literacy and the benefits of physical exercise for the holistic development of the university community.Keywords: university staff, physical fitness, personality traits, physical activity
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