Search results for: discourse and genre analysis

Authors: Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic

Abstract:

It is broadly assumed that participation in field experiences will help pre-service teachers (PSTs) bridge theory to practice. However, this is often not the case since PSTs who are placed in classrooms with large numbers of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds (culturally diverse students (CDS)) usually observe ineffective mathematics teaching practices that are in contrast to those discussed in their teacher preparation program. Over the past decades, the educational research community has paid increasing attention to investigating out-of-school learning contexts and how participation in such contexts can contribute to the achievement of underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and their expanded participation in STEM fields. In addition, several research studies have shown that students display different kinds of mathematical behaviors and discourse practices in out-of-school contexts than they do in the typical mathematics classroom since they draw from a variety of linguistic and cultural resources to negotiate meanings and participate in joint problem solving. However, almost no attention has been given to exploring these contexts as field experiences for pre-service mathematics teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore how participation in a community based after-school field experience promotes understanding of the content pedagogy concepts introduced in elementary mathematics methods courses, particularly as they apply to teaching mathematics to CDS. This study draws upon a situated, socio-cultural theory of teacher learning that centers on the concept of learning as situated social practice, which includes discourse, social interaction, and participation structures. Consistent with exploratory case study methodology, qualitative methods were employed to investigate how a cohort of twelve participating pre-service teacher's approach to pedagogy and their conversations around teaching and learning mathematics to CDS evolved through their participation in the after-school field experience, and how they connected the content discussed in their mathematics methods course with their interactions with the CDS in the after-school. Data were collected over a period of one academic year from the following sources: (a) audio recordings of the PSTs' interactions with the students during the after-school sessions, (b) PSTs' after-school field-notes, (c) audio-recordings of weekly methods course meetings, and (d) other document data (e.g., PST and student generated artifacts, PSTs' written course assignments). The findings of this study reveal that the PSTs benefitted greatly through their participation in the after-school field experience. Specifically, after-school participation promoted a deeper understanding of the content pedagogy concepts introduced in the mathematics methods course and gained a greater appreciation for how students learn mathematics with understanding. Further, even though many of PSTs' assumptions about the mathematical abilities of CDS were challenged and PSTs began to view CDSs' cultural and linguistic backgrounds as resources (rather than obstacles) for learning, some PSTs still held negative stereotypes about CDS and teaching and learning mathematics to CDS in particular. Insights gained through this study contribute to a better understanding of how informal mathematics learning contexts may provide a valuable context for pre-service teacher's learning to teach mathematics to CDS.

Keywords: after-school mathematics program, pre-service mathematical education of teachers, qualitative methods, situated socio-cultural theory, teaching culturally diverse students

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Sujit K. Basak

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparison of reference management software between RefWorks and Zotero. The results were drawn by comparing two software and the novelty of this paper is the comparative analysis of software and it has shown that ReftWorks can import more information from the Google Scholar for the researchers. This finding could help to know researchers to use the reference management software.

Keywords: analysis, comparative analysis, reference management software, researchers

Procedia PDF Downloads 528

Authors: Rita Darmayanti

Abstract:

This study aims at investigating the discourse pattern and structure of research article abstracts. The characteristics of the language used in abstracts written by non-native English-speaking (NNES) novice researchers are mainly examined in terms of rhetorical moves and the degree of variability of the rhetorical features as indicated by the structure of clauses and the linguistic features of the text. To this end, 20 abstracts written by undergraduate students of the accounting department at the State Polytechnic of Malang in 2018-2019 were employed as the data of this study. Findings showed that the most frequently used pattern of the rhetorical move is I(Introduction)-P(Purpose)-M(Method)-Pr(Product or Result)-C(Conclusion) with the significant use of active sentence and present and past tense. The findings of the study are projected to be utilized for evaluating the quality of students’ abstracts and generating a pedagogical proposal of ESP writing course or at least providing a critical review of current practices in ESP program intended for non-native English students at tertiary level.

Keywords: rhetorical features, rhetorical moves, non-native English-speaking novice researchers, research abstract

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Saeed Anwar

Abstract:

Foreign aid has long been a prominent tool in the pursuit of economic development in recipient countries. This research paper aims to analyze the impact of foreign aid on economic development and explore the effectiveness of aid in promoting sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and improvements in human development indicators. Drawing upon a comprehensive review of existing literature, both theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence are synthesized to provide insights into the complex relationship between foreign aid and economic development. The paper examines various channels through which foreign aid influences economic development, including infrastructure development, education and healthcare investments, technology transfer, and institutional capacity building. It explores the potential positive effects of aid in stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, and enhancing human capital formation. Additionally, it investigates the potential challenges and limitations associated with aid, such as aid dependency, governance issues, and the potential crowding out of domestic resources. Furthermore, the study assesses the heterogeneity of aid effectiveness across different types of aid modalities, recipient country characteristics, and aid allocation mechanisms. It considers the role of aid conditionality, aid fragmentation, and aid targeting in influencing the effectiveness of aid in promoting economic development. The findings of this research contribute to the ongoing discourse on foreign aid and economic development by providing a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature. The study highlights the importance of context-specific factors, recipient country policies, and aid effectiveness frameworks in determining the impact of foreign aid on economic development outcomes. The insights derived from this research can inform policymakers, donor agencies, and practitioners in designing and implementing effective aid strategies to maximize the positive impact of foreign aid on economic development.

Keywords: foreign aid, economic development, sustainable growth, poverty reduction, human development indicators, infrastructure development, education, healthcare, technology transfer, institutional capacity building, aid effectiveness, aid dependency, governance, crowding out, aid conditionality, aid fragmentation, aid targeting, recipient country policies, aid strategies, donor agencies, policymaking

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Manthan Patel, Vinit Ahlawat, Anshh Singh Claire, Pijush Samui

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the analysis of quicksand condition for a dam foundation. The quicksand condition occurs in cohesion less soil when effective stress of soil becomes zero. In a dam, the saturated sediment may appear quite solid until a sudden change in pressure or shock initiates liquefaction. This causes the sand to form a suspension and lose strength hence resulting in failure of dam. A soil profile shows different properties at different points and the values obtained are uncertain thus reliability analysis is performed. The reliability is defined as probability of safety of a system in a given environment and loading condition and it is assessed as Reliability Index. The reliability analysis of dams under quicksand condition is carried by Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). Reliability index and factor of safety relating to liquefaction of soil is analysed using GPR. The results of reliability analysis by GPR is compared to that of conventional method and it is demonstrated that on applying GPR the probabilistic analysis reduces the computational time and efforts.

Keywords: factor of safety, GPR, reliability index, quicksand

Procedia PDF Downloads 470

Authors: C. E. Laburu, M. A. Barros, A. F. Zompero, O. H. M. Silva

Abstract:

The work presents a teaching strategy that employs syntagmatic and paradigmatic linguistic relations in order to monitor the understanding of physics students’ concepts. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations are theoretical elements of semiotics studies and our research circumstances and justified them within the research program of multi-modal representations. Among the multi-modal representations to learning scientific knowledge, the scope of action of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations belongs to the discursive writing form. The use of such relations has the purpose to seek innovate didactic work with discourse representation in the write form before translate to another different representational form. The research was conducted with a sample of first year high school students. The students were asked to produce syntagmatic and paradigmatic of Newton’ first law statement. This statement was delivered in paper for each student that should individually write the relations. The student’s records were collected for analysis. It was possible observed in one student used here as example that their monemes replaced and rearrangements produced by, respectively, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, kept the original meaning of the law. In paradigmatic production he specified relevant significant units of the linguistic signs, the monemas, which constitute the first articulation and each word substituted kept equivalence to the original meaning of original monema. Also, it was noted a number of diverse and many monemas were chosen, with balanced combination of grammatical (grammatical monema is what changes the meaning of a word, in certain positions of the syntagma, along with a relatively small number of other monemes. It is the smallest linguistic unit that has grammatical meaning) and lexical (lexical monema is what belongs to unlimited inventories; is the monema endowed with lexical meaning) monemas. In syntagmatic production, monemas ordinations were syntactically coherent, being linked with semantic conservation and preserved number. In general, the results showed that the written representation mode based on linguistic relations paradigmatic and syntagmatic qualifies itself to be used in the classroom as a potential identifier and accompanist of meanings acquired from students in the process of scientific inquiry.

Keywords: semiotics, language, high school, physics teaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Fernando Valerio-Holguin

Abstract:

Over the recent three decades, the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic has had an enormous impact on the country’s culture. The arrival of tourists from Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States has rewritten Dominican cultural identity and created a cultural palimpsest in the areas of language, gastronomy, habits, fashion, values, and gender relations. As a consequence of tourism, a prostitution network has flourished across the country. In the film Sand Dollars (2015) directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas, Noelí (Janet Mojica), a young mulatto woman, altogether with her boyfriend (Ricardo Ariel Toribio), strips tourists of dollars and euro through prostitution. One of her frequent clients is Anne, a mature French woman (Geraldine Chaplin). While Noeli’s goal is to get all the euros she can, Anne falls in love with her and tries to bring her to France. Both the content of the film and its cinematographic languages are analyzed in light of theory of coloniality. This concept shows how European and American tourism, through the power of money, perpetuates colonial discourse, i. e., how race and ethnocentrism permeate cultural activities in their former colonies. Moreover, in the content analysis of the film the concepts of exchange value and fetishism are crucial to understanding how the colonial body becomes sexual commodity. They facilitate grasping the film’s inequity in terms of power in the relationship between the two women: the white old European woman and the young, poor, third-world mulatta. Even though the film attempts to break away from compulsory heterosexuality, the power relation between the two women persists due to the presence of the axis of race, ethnicity, age and gender. Both the novel Les dollars des sables written by Jean-Noel Pancrazi, and the film Sand Dollars offer an interesting insight into sex tourism and coloniality and shed additional light on the power relations between the former colonizers and its colonies.

Keywords: coloniality, ethnocentrism, exchange value, Europe, fetishism, money, power, prostitution, sex tourism, United States of America

Procedia PDF Downloads 431

Authors: Claudia Pisano

Abstract:

The Italian shockumentary Mondo cane (1962), directed by Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco Prosperi, has often been criticized for its supposed racist and colonialist stances. Several critics consider it a film that proclaims, without explicitly mentioning it, the superiority of the white Euro-American individual over the people who do not belong to white-western societies. This paper proposes a different interpretation of the way in which Mondo cane engages with the discourse of race. Through an analysis of crucial scenes and of the relationship between images and voice-over, and through a comparison between the representation of non-white societies in Mondo cane and in some popular Italian newsreels of the 50s-60s, such as 'La Settimana Incom' and 'Mondo Libero,' the paper argues that Mondo cane debunks the western-white superiority that, according to some critics, the film would promote. The continuous and rapid alternance of scenes set in the western world, for example in Europe or in the United States, and scenes set in exotic countries inhabited by non-white peoples highlights the commonalities between these far-away realities, rather than pointing out the superiority of the white-western one. In addition, the subtle irony employed by the voice-over distances Mondo cane from the newsreels that it much resembles for its documentary style. Mondo cane’s treatment and representation of race is analyzed in the light of the work of Australian Aboriginal anthropologist Aileen Moreton-Robinson, which is based on key concepts such as whiteness and whiteness invisibility. Whiteness is defined as the invisible and omnipresent norm based on which everything that does not belong to the white world is labeled as an odd and inferior 'other.' To overcome racial discrimination, it is necessary to make whiteness visible; that is to say, to deprive it of that aura of normalcy and unquestionable righteousness that surrounds it. This essay argues that Mondo cane participates in the process of making whiteness visible through the confrontation of the white people with the visible 'other'. Because the film shows that the common features on which this confrontation is based are violence and bestiality, the paper suggests that the film does not support the idea of the white world being superior to the non-white; on the contrary, it underlines that the entire world is characterized by the same shocking savagery.

Keywords: irony, race, shockumentary, whiteness, whiteness invisibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: Soumi Banerjee

Abstract:

In this research paper we will go deep into understanding Benedict Anderson’s definition of the nation as an imagined community and we will analyze why and how national identities were created through long and complex processes, and how there can exist strong emotional bonds between people within an imagined community, given the fact that these people have never known each other personally, but will still feel some form of imagined unity. Such identity construction on the part of an individual or within societies are always in some sense in a state of flux as imagined communities are ever changing, which provides us with the ontological foundation for reaching on this paper. This sort of identity crisis among individuals living in the Western world, who are in search for psychological comfort and security, illustrates a possible need for spatially dislocated, ontologically insecure and vulnerable individuals to have a secure identity. To create such an identity there has to be something to build upon, which could be achieved through what may be termed as ‘homesteading’. This could in short, and in my interpretation of Kinnvall and Nesbitt’s concept, be described as a search for security that involves a search for ‘home’, where home acts as a secure place, which one can build an identity around. The next half of the paper will then look into how populism and identity have played an increasingly important role in the political elections in the so-called western democracies of the world, using the U.S. as an example. Notions of ‘us and them’, the people and the elites will be looked into and analyzed through a social constructivist theoretical lens. Here we will analyze how such narratives about identity and the nation state affects people, their personality development and identity in different ways by studying the U.S. President Donald Trump’s speeches and analyze if and how he used different identity creating narratives for gaining political and popular support. The reason to choose narrative analysis as a method in this research paper is to use the narratives as a device to understand how the perceived notions of 'us and them' can initiate huge identity crisis with a community or a nation-state. This is a relevant subject as results and developments such as rising populist rightwing movements are being felt in a number of European states, with the so-called Brexit vote in the U.K. and the election of Donald Trump as president are two of the prime examples. This paper will then attempt to argue that these mechanisms are strengthened and gaining significance in situations when humans in an economic, social or ontologically vulnerable position, imagined or otherwise, in a general and broad meaning perceive themselves to be under pressure, and a sense of insecurity is rising. These insecurities and sense of being under threat have been on the rise in many of the Western states that are otherwise usually perceived to be some of the safest, democratically stable and prosperous states in the world, which makes it of interest to study what has changed, and help provide some part of the explanation as to how creating a ‘them’ in the discourse of national identity can cause massive security crisis.

Keywords: identity crisis, migration, ontological security(in), nation-states

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Lagnajeet Mohanty, Mohnish Mishra, Pratham Tapdiya, Himanshu Sekhar Nayak, Swetapadma Singh

Abstract:

In the era of global interconnectedness, effective risk assessment and management are critical for organizational resilience. This review explores the integration of machine learning (ML) into risk processes, examining its transformative potential and the challenges it presents. The literature reveals ML's success in sectors like consumer credit, demonstrating enhanced predictive accuracy, adaptability, and potential cost savings. However, ethical considerations, interpretability issues, and the demand for skilled practitioners pose limitations. Looking forward, the study identifies future research scopes, including refining ethical frameworks, advancing interpretability techniques, and fostering interdisciplinary collaborations. The synthesis of limitations and future directions highlights the dynamic landscape of ML in risk management, urging stakeholders to navigate challenges innovatively. This abstract encapsulates the evolving discourse on ML's role in shaping proactive and effective risk management strategies in our interconnected and unpredictable global landscape.

Keywords: machine learning, risk assessment, ethical considerations, financial inclusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Shehu Hashimu

Abstract:

Ever since the independence, Northern Nigeria has been experiencing a flashpoint of all sorts of conflict ranging from ethnoreligious, intra-religious, and inter-religious violence; many people are of the view and worrisome that indeed the region (North) is becoming a religious-political battle-ground. The trends of violence associated with these conflicts are a reflection of high level of misunderstanding, misinform unpolitical zeal toward uplifting peace education for greater enhancement among the religious, ethnic group or sects in the northern region. The aims of this paper, among other things, are to outline the misconception on the term inter-religious conflict. It is justifiable to state the brief historical antecedence of the making of contemporary Northern Nigeria and how conflict is fluctuating over and over without concrete resolution is another concern of the paper. The desirability of peace education in enhancing cordial relations and cementing potholes among various religious sects in the region (Northern Nigeria) cannot over emphasized considering the pivotal role play toward national cohesion; therefore, this paper strategically made a lengthy discourse for elaborations. In the conclusion aspect of it, the paper outline some relevant recommendation and suggestions for viable co-existence if properly implemented.

Keywords: anatomy, inter-religious, conflict, peace education

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Christiane Paulus

Abstract:

Post-Islamism assumes that the Quran should not be viewed in terms of what Lyotard identifies as a ‘meta-narrative'. However, its socio-ethical content can be viewed as critical of power discourse (Foucault). Practicing religion seems to be limited to rites and individual spirituality, taqwa. Alternatively, can we build on Muhammad Abduh's classic-modern reform and develop it through a postmodernist frame? This is the main question of this study. Through his general and vague remarks on the context of the Quran, Abduh was the first to refer to the historical and cultural distance of the text as an obstacle for interpretation. His application, however, corresponded to the modern absolute idea of authentic sharia. He was followed by Amin al-Khuli, who hermeneutically linked the content of the Quran to the theory of evolution. Fazlur Rahman and Nasr Hamid abu Zeid remain reluctant to go beyond the general level in terms of context. The hermeneutic circle, therefore, persists in challenging, how to get out to overcome one’s own assumptions. The insight into and the acceptance of the lasting ambivalence of understanding can be grasped as a postmodern approach; it is documented in Derrida's discovery of the shift in text meanings, difference, also in Lyotard's theory of différend. The resulting mixture of meanings (Wolfgang Welsch) can be read together with the classic ambiguity of the premodern interpreters of the Quran (Thomas Bauer). Confronting hermeneutic difficulties in general, Niklas Luhmann proves every description an attribution, tautology, i.e., remaining in the circle. ‘De-tautologization’ is possible, namely by analyzing the distinctions in the sense of objective, temporal and social information that every text contains. This could be expanded with the Kantian aesthetic dimension of reason (critique of pure judgment) corresponding to the iʽgaz of the Coran. Luhmann asks, ‘What distinction does the observer/author make?’ Quran as a speech from God to the first listeners could be seen as a discourse responding to the problems of everyday life of that time, which can be viewed as the general goal of the entire Qoran. Through reconstructing koranic Lifeworlds (Alfred Schütz) in detail, the social structure crystallizes the socio-economic differences, the enormous poverty. The koranic instruction to provide the basic needs for the neglected groups, which often intersect (old, poor, slaves, women, children), can be seen immediately in the text. First, the references to lifeworlds/social problems and discourses in longer koranic passages should be hypothesized. Subsequently, information from the classic commentaries could be extracted, the classical Tafseer, in particular, contains rich narrative material for reconstructing. By selecting and assigning suitable, specific context information, the meaning of the description becomes condensed (Clifford Geertz). In this manner, the text gets necessarily an alienation and is newly accessible. The socio-ethical implications can thus be grasped from the difference of the original problem and the revealed/improved order/procedure; this small step can be materialized as such, not as an absolute solution but as offering plausible patterns for today’s challenges as the Agenda 2030.

Keywords: postmodern hermeneutics, condensed description, sociological approach, small steps of reform

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: Oloruntegbe Kunle Oke, Alake Ese Monica, Odutuyi Olubu Musili

Abstract:

This research explores the differing effectiveness of cascade and cluster models in professional development programs for educators in Ondo State, Nigeria. The cascade model emphasizes a top-down approach, where training is cascaded from expert trainers to lower levels of teachers. In contrast, the cluster model, a bottom-up approach, fosters collaborative learning among teachers within specific clusters. Through a review of the literature and empirical studies of the implementations of the former in two academic sessions followed by the cluster model in another two, the study examined their effectiveness on teacher development, productivity and students’ achievements. The study also drew a comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses associated with each model, considering factors such as scalability, cost-effectiveness, adaptability in various contexts, and sustainability. 2500 teachers from Ondo State Primary Schools participated in the cascade with intensive training in five zones for a week each in two academic sessions. On the other hand, 1,980 and 1,663 teachers in 52 and 34 clusters, respectively, were in the first and the following session. The programs were designed for one week of rigorous training of teachers by facilitators in the former while the latter was made up of four components: sit-in-observation, need-based assessment workshop, pre-cluster and the actual cluster meetings in addition to sensitization, and took place one day a week for ten weeks. Validated Cluster Impact Survey Instruments, CISI and Teacher’s Assessment Questionnaire (TAQ) were administered to ascertain the effectiveness of the models during and after implementation. The findings from the literature detailed specific effectiveness, strengths and limitations of each approach, especially the potential for inconsistencies and resistance to change. Findings from the data collected revealed the superiority of the cluster model. Response to TAQ equally showed content knowledge and skill update in both but were more sustained in the cluster model. Overall, the study contributes to the ongoing discourse on effective strategies for improving teacher training and enhancing student outcomes, offering practical recommendations for the development and implementation of future professional development projects.

Keywords: cascade model, cluster model, teachers’ development, productivity, students’ achievement

Procedia PDF Downloads 23

Authors: Riona Dighe

Abstract:

This research attempts to identify an alternative approach to the measurement of Gross National Happiness (GNH). It uses artificial intelligence (AI), incorporating natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis to measure GNH. We use ‘off the shelf’ NLP models responsible for the sentiment analysis of a sentence as a building block for this research. We constructed an algorithm using NLP models to derive a sentiment analysis score against sentences. This was then tested against a sample of 20 respondents to derive a sentiment analysis score. The scores generated resembled human responses. By utilising the MLP classifier, decision tree, linear model, and K-nearest neighbors, we were able to obtain a test accuracy of 89.97%, 54.63%, 52.13%, and 47.9%, respectively. This gave us the confidence to use the NLP models against sentences in websites to measure the GNH of a country.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, NLP, sentiment analysis, gross national happiness

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: P. Wlodarczak, J. Soar, M. Ally

Abstract:

The dramatic rise in the use of Social Media (SM) platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide access to an unprecedented amount of user data. Users may post reviews on products and services they bought, write about their interests, share ideas or give their opinions and views on political issues. There is a growing interest in the analysis of SM data from organisations for detecting new trends, obtaining user opinions on their products and services or finding out about their online reputations. A recent research trend in SM analysis is making predictions based on sentiment analysis of SM. Often indicators of historic SM data are represented as time series and correlated with a variety of real world phenomena like the outcome of elections, the development of financial indicators, box office revenue and disease outbreaks. This paper examines the current state of research in the area of SM mining and predictive analysis and gives an overview of the analysis methods using opinion mining and machine learning techniques.

Keywords: social media, text mining, knowledge discovery, predictive analysis, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Dejen Alemu, Murray E. Jennex, Temtim Assefa

Abstract:

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Ethiopian economy; however, the sector is dominated by smallholder farmers resulting in land fragmentation and suffering from low productivity. Due to these issues, much effort has been put into the transformation of the sector to bring about more sustainable rural economic development. Technological advancements have been applied for the betterment of farmers resulting in the design of tools that are potentially capable of supporting the agricultural sector; however, their use and relevance are still alien to the local rural communities. The notion of the creating, capturing and sharing of knowledge has also been repetitively raised by many international donor agencies to transform the sector, yet the most current approaches to knowledge dissemination focus on knowledge that originates from the western view of scientific rationality while overlooking the role of indigenous knowledge (IK). Therefore, in agricultural knowledge management system (KMS) development, the integration of IKS with scientific knowledge is a critical success factor. The present study aims to contribute in the discourse on how to best integrate scientific and IK in agricultural KMS development. The conceptual framework of the research is anchored in concepts drawn from the theory of situated learning in communities of practice (CoPs): knowledge brokering. Using the KMS development practices of Ethiopian agricultural transformation agency as a case area, this research employed an interpretive analysis using primary and secondary qualitative data acquired through in-depth semi-structured interviews and participatory observations. As a result, concepts are identified for understanding the integration of the two major knowledge systems (i.e., indigenous and scientific knowledge) and participation of relevant stakeholders in particular the local farmers in agricultural KMS development through the roles of extension agent as a knowledge broker including crossing boundaries, in-between position, translation and interpretation, negotiation, and networking. The research shall have a theoretical contribution in addressing the incorporation of a variety of knowledge systems in agriculture and practically to provide insight for policy makers in agriculture regarding the importance of IK integration in agricultural KMS development and support marginalized small-scale farmers.

Keywords: communities of practice, indigenous knowledge, knowledge management system development, knowledge brokering

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: H. P. Kerry

Abstract:

Drone technology has become a significant discourse in a nation’s national security, while this technology could constitute a danger to national security on the one hand, on the other hand, it is used in developed and developing countries for border security, and in some cases, for protection of security agents and migrants. In the case of Nigeria, drones are used by the military to monitor and tighten security around the borders. However, terrorist groups have devised a means to utilize the technology to their advantage. Therefore, the potential danger in the widespread proliferation of this technology has become a myriad of risks. The research on the effects of cross-border use of drones in Nigerian national security looks at the negative and positive consequences of using drone technology. The study employs the use of interviews and relevant documents to obtain data while the study applied the Just War theory to justify the reason why countries use force; it further buttresses the points with what the realist theory thinks about the use of force. In conclusion, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government through the National Assembly should pass a bill for the establishment of a law that will guide the use of armed and unarmed drones in Nigeria enforced by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the office of the National Security Adviser.

Keywords: armed drones, drones, cross-border, national security

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Tsai-Hsiu Lin

Abstract:

Three dimensions of teacher culture hinder educational improvement: individualism, conservatism and presentism. To promote the professional development of teachers, these three aspects in teacher culture should be eliminated. Classroom observation may be a useful method of eliminating individualism. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan has attempted to reduce the isolation of teachers to promote their professional growth. Because classroom observation discourse varies, teachers are generally unwilling to allow their teaching to be observed. However, classroom observations take place in the country in the form of school evaluations. The main purpose of this study was to explore the differences in teachers’ conservatism, individualism and presentism after classroom observations had been conducted at an elementary school in Taiwan. The research method was a qualitative case study involving interviews with the school principal, the director of academic affairs, and two classroom teachers. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Educators in different positions viewed classroom observations differently; (2) The classroom teachers did not highly value classroom observation; (3) There was little change in the teachers’ conservatism, individualism and presentism after classroom observation.

Keywords: classroom observation, Lortie’s Trinity, teacher culture, teacher professional development

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Majid A. AlSayari

Abstract:

The study reported here investigated social cognitive theory (SCT) in the context of Vocational Rehab (VR) for people with disabilities. The prime purpose was to increase knowledge of VR phenomena and make recommendations for improving VR services. The sample consisted of 242 persons with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) who completed questionnaires. A further 32 participants were Trainers. Analysis of questionnaire data was carried out using factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and thematic analysis. The analysis suggested that, in motivational terms, and consistent with research carried out in other academic contexts, self-efficacy was the best predictor of VR performance. The author concludes that that VR self-efficacy predicted VR training performance.

Keywords: people with physical disabilities, social cognitive theory, self-efficacy, vocational training

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: Kyunghee Oh, Dooho Choi

Abstract:

Although there is no theoretical weakness in a cryptographic algorithm, Side Channel Analysis can find out some secret data from the physical implementation of a cryptosystem. The analysis is based on extra information such as timing information, power consumption, electromagnetic leaks or even sound which can be exploited to break the system. Differential Power Analysis is one of the most popular analyses, as computing the statistical correlations of the secret keys and power consumptions. It is usually necessary to calculate huge data and takes a long time. It may take several weeks for some devices with countermeasures. We suggest and evaluate the methods to shorten the time to analyze cryptosystems. Our methods include distributed computing and parallelized processing.

Keywords: DPA, distributed computing, parallelized processing, side channel analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: Sibo Lu, Zhongkai Qian, Haotian Zhang

Abstract:

This article examines the phenomenon of micro-sovereignty in the context of property management and its implications for biopolitics and urban governance in mainland China. It explores the transformation of urban spaces into privatized communities managed by property companies, leading to the reterritorialization of urban areas and the segmentation of urban populations. Drawing on legal frameworks, we analyze how commercial real estate development and property management have reshaped the urban landscape, placing nearly all urban residents within service areas of property management firms, thus establishing micro-sovereign entities that exercise control over residential spaces. Through a critique of property management's sovereign effects on social organization and the exploration of autonomous, democratic alternatives in community governance, this article contributes to the broader discourse on sovereignty, governance, and resistance within the urban milieu of contemporary China. It underscores the urgent need for more democratic forms of community management that can transcend the capitalist logic of property management companies and foster genuine participatory governance at the grassroots level.

Keywords: biopolitic, critical theory, political sociology, political philosophy

Procedia PDF Downloads 27

Authors: Luis Pascasio

Abstract:

In a time when murky debates on US immigration policy are polarizing a nation steeped in partisan and nativist politics, certain media texts are proposing to challenge the dominant ways in which immigrant discourses are shaped in political debates. The paper will examine how two media texts perform counter-hegemonic discourses against institutionalized concepts on citizenship. The article looks at Documented (2014), a documentary film, written and directed by Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-winning journalist-turned-activist and a self-proclaimed undocumented immigrant; and DefineAmerican.com, an online media platform that articulates the convergence of multiple voices and discourses about post-industrial and post-semiotic citizenship. As sites of meaning production, the two media texts perform counter-narratives that inspire new forms of mediated social activism and postcolonial identities. The paper argues that a closer introspection of the media texts reveals emotional, thematic and ideological claims to an interrogation of a diasporic discourse on redefining the rules of inclusion and exclusion within the postmodern dialogic of citizenship.

Keywords: counter-narratives, documentary filmmaking, postmodern citizenship, diaspora media

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Liang Zhao, Jili Zhang, Chongquan Zhong

Abstract:

Energy consumption data, in particular those involving public buildings, are impacted by many factors: the building structure, climate/environmental parameters, construction, system operating condition, and user behavior patterns. Traditional methods for data analysis are insufficient. This paper delves into the data mining technology to determine its application in the analysis of building energy consumption data including energy consumption prediction, fault diagnosis, and optimal operation. Recent literature are reviewed and summarized, the problems faced by data mining technology in the area of energy consumption data analysis are enumerated, and research points for future studies are given.

Keywords: data mining, data analysis, prediction, optimization, building operational performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 838

Authors: Charles W. MacQuarrie, Rachel R. Tatro Duarte

Abstract:

This paper explores the representation of medieval identity within the world of games such as Dragon Age, Elden Ring, Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice, fantasy role-playing games that draw effectively and problematically on Celtic and Norse mythologies. Focusing on tattoos, onomastics, and accent as visual and oral markers of status and ethnicity, this study analyzes how the game's interplay between mythology, character narratives, and visual storytelling enriches the themes and offers players an immersive, but sometimes baldly ahistorical, connection to ancient mythologies and contemporary digital storytelling. Dragon Age is a triple a game series, Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, and Elden Ring of gamers worldwide with its presentation of an idealized medieval world, inspired by the lore of Celtic and Norse mythologies. This paper sets out to explore the intricate relationships between tattoos, accent, and character narratives in the game, drawing parallels to themes,heroic figures and gods from Celtic and Norse mythologies. Tattoos as Mythic and Ethnic Markers: This study analyzes how tattoos in Dragon Age visually represent mythological elements from both Celtic and Norse cultures, serving as conduits of cultural identity and narratives. The nature of these tattoos reflects the slave, criminal, warrior associations made in classical and medieval literature, and some of the episodes concerning tattoos in the games have either close analogs or sources in literature. For example the elvish character Solas, in Dragon Age Inquisition, removes a slave tattoo from the face of a lower status elf in an episode that is reminiscent of Bridget removing the stigmata from Connallus in the Vita Prima of Saint Bridget Character Narratives: The paper examines how characters' personal narratives in the game parallel the archetypal journeys of Celtic heroes and Norse gods, with a focus on their relationships to mythic themes. In these games the Elves usually have Welsh or Irish accents, are close to nature, magically powerful, oppressed by apparently Anglo-Saxon humans and Norse dwarves, and these elves wear facial tattoos. The Welsh voices of fairies and demons is older than the reference in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor or even the Anglo-Saxon Life of Saint Guthlac. The English speaking world, and the fantasy genre of literature and gaming, undoubtedly driven by Tolkien, see Elves as Welsh speakers, and as having Welsh accents when speaking English Comparative Analysis: A comparative approach is employed to reveal connections, adaptations, and unique interpretations of the motifs of tattoos and narrative themes in Dragon Age, compared to those found in Celtic and Norse mythologies. Methodology: The study uses a comparative approach to examine the similarities and distinctions between Celtic and Norse mythologies and their counterparts in video games. The analysis encompasses character studies, narrative exploration, visual symbolism, and the historical context of Celtic and Norse cultures. Mythic Visuals: This study showcases how tattoos, as visual symbols, encapsulate mythic narratives, beliefs, and cultural identity, echoing Celtic and Norse visual motifs. Archetypal Journeys: The paper analyzes how character arcs mirror the heroic journeys of Celtic and Norse mythological figures, allowing players to engage with mythic narratives on a personal level. Cultural Interplay: The study discusses how the game's portrayal of tattoos and narratives both preserves and reinterprets elements from Celtic and Norse mythologies, fostering a connection between ancient cultures and modern digital storytelling. Conclusion: By exploring the interconnectedness of tattoos and character narratives in Dragon Age, this paper reveals the game series' ability to act as a bridge between ancient mythologies and contemporary gaming. By drawing inspiration from Celtic heroes and Norse gods and translating them into digital narratives and visual motifs, Dragon Age offers players a multi-dimensional engagement with mythic themes and a unique lens through which to appreciate the enduring allure of these cultures.

Keywords: comparative analysis, character narratives, video games and literature, tattoos, immersive storytelling, character development, mythological influences, Celtic mythology, Norset mythology

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Ana Alvarenga De Castro

Abstract:

Food sovereignty has been brought by the international peasants’ movement, La Via Campesina, as a precondition to food security, speaking about the right of each nation to keep its own supply of foods respecting cultural, sustainable practices and productive diversity. The political conceptualization nowadays goes beyond saying that this term is about achieving the rights of farmers to control the food systems according to local specificities, and about equality in the access to natural resources and quality food. The current feminization of agroecosystems and of food insecurity identified by researchers and recognized by international agencies like the UN and FAO has enhanced the feminist discourse into the food sovereignty movement, considering the historical inequalities that place women farmers in subaltern positions inside the families and rural communities. The current tendency in many rural areas of more women taking responsibility for food production and still facing the lack of access to natural resources meets particular aspects in Latin America due to the global economic logic which places the Global South in the position of raw material supplier for the industrialized North, combined with regional characteristics. In this context, Latin American countries play the role of commodities exporters in the international labor division, including among exported items grains, soybean paste, and ores, to the expense of local food chains which provide domestic quality food supply under more sustainable practices. The connections between gender inequalities and global territorial inequalities related to the access and control of food and natural resources are pointed out by feminist political ecology - FPE - authors, and are linked in this article to the potentialities and limitations of women farmers to reproduce diversified agroecosystems in the tropical environments. The work brings the importance of local practices held by women farmers which are crucial to maintaining sustainable agricultural systems and their results on seeds, soil, biodiversity and water conservation. This work presents an analysis of documents, releases, videos and other publicized experiences launched by some peasants’ organizations in Latin America which evidence the different technical and political answers that meet food sovereignty from peasants’ groups that are attributed to women farmers. They are associated with articles presenting the empirical analysis of women farmers' practices in Latin America. The combination drove to discuss the benefits of peasants' conceptions about food systems and their connections with local realities and the gender issues linked to the food sovereignty conceptualization. Conclusion meets that reality on the field cannot reach food sovereignty's ideal homogeneously and that agricultural sustainable practices are dependent on rights' achievement and social inequalities' eradication.

Keywords: food sovereignty, gender, diversified agricultural systems, access to natural resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Adrian W. Chew

Abstract:

This paper argues that education policy analysis tends to be steered towards empiricist oriented approaches, which place emphasis on objective and measurable data. However, this paper argues that empiricist oriented approaches are generally based on inductive and/or deductive reasoning, which are unable to generate new ideas/knowledge. This paper will outline the logical structure of induction, deduction, and abduction, and argues that only abduction provides possibilities for the creation of new ideas/knowledge. This paper proposes the neologism of ‘informed guessing’ as a reformulation of abduction, and also as an approach to education policy analysis. On one side, the signifier ‘informed’ encapsulates the idea that abductive policy analysis needs to be informed by descriptive conceptualization theory to be able to make relations and connections between, and within, observed phenomenon and unobservable general structures. On the other side, the signifier ‘guessing’ captures the cyclical and unsystematic process of abduction. This paper will end with a brief example of utilising ‘informed guessing’ for a policy analysis of school choice lotteries in the United States.

Keywords: abductive reasoning, empiricism, informed guessing, policy analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Tuğrul Aksoy, Hüseyin Karabıyık

Abstract:

Reloading vehicles are the vehicles which are generally equipped with a crane and used to carry a stowage from a point and locate onto the vehicle or vice versa. In this study, structural analysis of a reloading vehicle was performed under the loads which are predicted to be exposed under operating conditions via the finite element method. Among the finite element analysis results, the stress and displacement distributions of the vehicle and the contact pressure distributions of the guide rings within the stabilization legs were examined. Vehicle design was improved by strengthening certain parts according to the analysis results. The analyses performed for the final design were verified by the experiments involving strain gauge measurements.

Keywords: structural analysis, reloading vehicle, crane, strain gauge

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Ebuwa Osagie, Vasilije Manovic

Abstract:

Exergy analysis provides the identification of the location, sources of thermodynamic inefficiencies, and magnitude in a thermal system. Thus, both the qualitative and quantitative assessment can be evaluated with exergy, unlike energy which is based on quantitative assessment only. The main purpose of exergy analysis is to identify where exergy is destroyed. Thus, reduction of the exergy destruction and losses associated with the capture plant systems can improve work potential. Furthermore, thermodynamic analysis of different configurations of the process helps to identify opportunities for reducing the steam requirements for each of the configurations. This paper presents steady-state simulation and exergy analysis of the 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP)-based post-combustion capture (PCC) plant. Exergy analysis performed for the AMP-based plant and the different configurations revealed that the rich split with intercooling configuration gave the highest exergy efficiency of 73.6%, while that of the intercooling and the reference AMP-based plant were 57.3% and 55.8% respectively.

Keywords: 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol, modelling, and simulation, post-combustion capture plant, exergy analysis, flowsheeting configurations

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Aissa Belmeguenai, Khaled Mansouri

Abstract:

In this work, an efficient implementation of Achterbahn-128 for images encryption and decryption was introduced. The implementation for this simulated project is written by MATLAB.7.5. At first two different original images are used for validate the proposed design. Then our developed program was used to transform the original images data into image digits file. Finally, we used our implemented program to encrypt and decrypt images data. Several tests are done for proving the design performance including visual tests and security analysis; we discuss the security analysis of the proposed image encryption scheme including some important ones like key sensitivity analysis, key space analysis, and statistical attacks.

Keywords: Achterbahn-128, stream cipher, image encryption, security analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 520

Authors: Bongjae Lee, Beom Goo Hwang, Hye Mi Park

Abstract:

CO₂ capture products manufactured through Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) Plant that collect CO₂ directly from power plants require accurate measurements of the amount of CO₂ captured. For this purpose, two tests were carried out on the weight loss test. And one was analyzed using a carbon dioxide quantification device. First, the ignition loss analysis was performed by measuring the weight of the sample at 550°C after the first conversation and then confirming the loss when ignited at 950°C. Second, in the thermogravimetric analysis, the sample was divided into two sections of 40 to 500°C and 500 to 800°C to confirm the reduction. The results of thermal weight loss analysis and thermogravimetric analysis were confirmed to be almost similar. However, the temperature of the ignition loss analysis method was 950°C, which was 150°C higher than that of the thermogravimetric method at a temperature of 800°C, so that the difference in the amount of weight loss was 3 to 4% higher by the heat loss analysis method. In addition, the tendency that the CO₂ content increases as the reaction time become longer is similarly confirmed. Third, the results of the wet titration method through the carbon dioxide quantification device were found to be significantly lower than the weight loss method. Therefore, based on the results obtained through the above three analysis methods, we will establish a method to analyze the accurate amount of CO₂. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and planning (No. 20152010201850).

Keywords: carbon capture and utilization, CCU, CO2, CO2 capture products, analysis method

Procedia PDF Downloads 205