Search results for: classroom activities

Authors: P. Srisuruk, P. Narot

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The purpose of this research were 1) to develop the curriculum and instructional approach that are suitable for children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disability as well as to arrange the instructional approach that can be integrated into inclusive classroom 2) to increase the competency of the children in these group. The research processes were to a) study related documents, b) arrange workshops to clarify fundamental issues in developing core curriculum among the researchers and experts in curriculum development, c) arrange workshops to develop the curriculum, submit it to the experts for criticism and editing, d) implement the instructional approach to examine its effectiveness, e) select the schools to participate in the project and arrange training programs for teachers in the selected school, f) implement the instruction approach in the selected schools in different regions. The research results were 1) the core curriculum to enhance the competency of children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disability , and to be used as a guideline for teachers, and these group of children in order to arrange classrooms for students with special needs to study with normal students, 2) teaching and learning methods arranged for students with autism, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder and learning disability to study with normal students can be used as a framework for writing plans to help students with parallel problems by developing teaching materials as part of the instructional approach. However, the details of how to help the students in each skill or content differ according to the demand of development as well as the problems of individual students or group of students. Furthermore; it was found that most of target teacher could implement the instructional approach based on the guideline model developed by the research team. School in each region does not have much difference in their implementation. The good point of the developed instructional model is that teacher can construct a parallel lesson plan. So teacher did not fell that they have to do extra work it was also shown that students in regular classroom enjoyed studying with the developed instructional model as well.

Keywords: instructional approach, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disability

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Authors: S. A. Che Osmi, W. M. F. Wan Ishak, H. Kim, M. A. Azman, M. A. Ramli

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River is one of important water sources for many activities including industrial and domestic usage such as daily usage, transportation, power supply and recreational activities. However, increasing activities in a river has grown the sources of pollutant enters the water bodies, and degraded the water quality of the river. It becomes a challenge to develop an effective river management to ensure the water sources of the river are well managed and regulated. In Malaysia, several approaches for river management have been implemented such as Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) program for coordinating the management of resources in a natural environment based on river basin to ensure their sustainability lead by Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID), Malaysia. Nowadays, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is one of the best approaches for river management in Malaysia. TMDL implementation is regulated and implemented in the United States. A study on the development of TMDL in Malacca River has been carried out by doing water quality monitoring, the development of water quality model by using Environmental Fluid Dynamic Codes (EFDC), and TMDL implementation plan. The implementation of TMDL will help the stakeholders and regulators to control and improve the water quality of the river. It is one of the good approaches for river management in Malaysia.

Keywords: EFDC, river management, TMDL, water quality modelling

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Authors: Moldir Makenova

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Alongside the implementation of trilingual education in schools, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan innovated the school curriculum in 2013 to include a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach. In this regard, some transition issues have arisen, such as unprepared teachers, a need for more awareness of the CLIL approach, and teaching resources. Some teachers view it as a challenge due to its combination of both content and language. This often creates anxiety among teachers who are knowledgeable about their subject areas in Kazakh or Russian but are deficient in delivering the subject’s content in English. Thus, with this new teaching approach, teachers encounter to choose the role of language and answer how language works in the CLIL classroom. This study aimed to explore how teachers experience the changing role of language in the curriculum and to find out what challenges teachers face related to CLIL implementation and how their language proficiency influences their teaching practices. A qualitative comparative case study was conducted in an X Lyceum and a mainstream school piloting CLIL. Data collection procedures were conducted via semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Eight content teachers were chosen from these two schools as the target group of this study. Subject teachers, rather than language teachers, were chosen as the target group to grasp how the language-related issues in the new curriculum are interpreted by educators who do not necessarily identify themselves as language experts at the outset. The findings showed that mainstream teachers prioritize content over language because, as content teachers, the knowledge of content is more essential for them rather than the language. In contrast, most X Lyceum teachers balance language and content and additionally showed their preferences to support the ‘English language only' policy among 10-11 graders. Moreover, due to the low-level English proficiency, mainstream teachers did highlight the necessity of CLIL training and further collaboration with language teachers. This study will be beneficial for teachers and policy-makers to enable them to solve the issues mentioned above related to the implementation of CLIL. Larger-scale research conducted in the future would further inform its successful deployment country-wide.

Keywords: role of language, trilingual education, updated curriculum, teacher practices

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Authors: Jegede Oluseye Oladayo

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The study mapped innovation activities in the formal and informal mining sector in Nigeria. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through guided questionnaire administration, guided interviews and personal observation. A purposive sampling method was adopted to select firms that are micro, small and medium enterprises. The study covered 100 (50 in the formal sector and 50 in the informal sector) purposively selected companies in south-western Nigeria. Secondary data were collected from different published sources. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the four types of technological innovations sampled, organisational innovation was found to be highest both in the formal (100%) and informal (100%) sectors, followed by process innovation: 60% in the formal sector and 28% in the informal sector, marketing innovation and diffusion based innovation were implemented by 64% and 4% respectively in the formal sector. There were no R&D activities (intramural or extramural) in both sectors, however, innovation activities occur at moderate levels in the formal sector. This is characterised by acquisition of machinery, equipment, hardware (100%), software (56), training (82%) and acquisition of external knowledge (60%) in the formal sector. In the informal sector, innovation activities were characterised by acquisition of external knowledge (100%), training/learning by experience (100%) and acquisition of tools (68%). The impact of innovation on firm’s performance in the formal sector was expressed mainly as increased capacity of production (100%), reduced production cost per unit of labour (88%), compliance with governmental regulatory requirements (72%) and entry on new markets (60%). In the informal sector, the impact of innovation was mainly expressed in improved flexibility of production (70%) and machinery/energy efficiency (70%). The important technological driver of process innovation in the mining sector was acquisition of machinery which accounts for the prevalence of 100% both in the formal and informal sectors. Next to this is training and re-training of technical staff, 74% in both the formal and the informal sector. Other factors influencing organisational innovation are skill of workforce with a prevalence of 80% in both the formal and informal sector. The important technological drivers include educational background of the manager/head of technical department (54%) for organisational innovation and (50%) for process innovation in the formal sector. The study concluded that innovation competence of the firms was mostly organisational changes.

Keywords: innovation prevalence, innovation activities, innovation performance, innovation drivers

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Authors: Berna Kalkan, Kenan Aydin

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Companies give importance customer satisfaction to compete the developing and changing market. This is possible when customer reaches the right product, right quality, place, time and cost. In this regard, the extension of logistics services has played active role on formation and development of the different logistics services concept. The concept of logistics services has played important role involved in the healing of economic indicators today. Companies can use logistics providers, thus have competitive advantage and low cost, reducing time, tobe flexibility. In recent years, Fourth Party Logistics (4PL) has emerged as a new concept that includes relationship between suppliers and firms in outsourcing. 4PL provider is an integrator that offers comprehensive supply chain solutions with the technology, resources and capabilities that it possesses. Also, 4PL has attracted as a popular research topic attention in the recent past. In this paper, logistics outsourcing and 4PL concepts are analyzed and a literature review on 4PL activities is given. Also, the previous studies in literature and the approaches that are used in previous studies in literature is presented by analysing on 4PL activities. In this context, a field study will be applied to 4PL providers and service buyer in Turkey. If necessary, results related to this study will be shared in scientific areas.

Keywords: fourth party logistics, literature review, outsourcing, supply chain management

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Authors: Kanikanun Photchong, Phusit Phukamchanoad

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The objective of this research is to study the people’s level of participation in activities of the community, their satisfaction towards the community, the attachment they have to the community, factors that influence the attachment, as well as the characteristics of the relationships of military families’ of the Royal Guards community of Dusit District. The method used was non-probability sampling by quota sampling according to people’s age. The determined age group was 18 years or older. One set of a sample group was done per family. The questionnaires were conducted by 287 people. Snowball sampling was also used by interviewing people of the community, starting from the Royal Guards Community’s leader, then by 20 of the community’s well-respected persons. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, such as arithmetic mean and standard deviation, as well as by inferential statistics, such as Independent - Samples T test (T-test), One-Way ANOVA (F-test), Chi-Square. Descriptive analysis according to the structure of the interview content was also used. The results of the research is that the participation of the population in the Royal Guards Community in various activities is at a medium level, with the average participation level during Mother’s and Father’s Days. The people’s general level of satisfaction towards the premises of the Royal Guards Community is at the highest level. The people were most satisfied with the transportation within the community and in contacting with people from outside the premises. The access to the community is convenient and there are various entrances. The attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community in general and by each category is at a high level. The feeling that the community is their home rated the highest average. Factors that influence the attachment of the people of the Royal Guards Community are age, status, profession, income, length of stay in the community, membership of social groups, having neighbors they feel close and familiar with, and as well as the benefits they receive from the community. In addition, it was found that people that participate in activities have a high level of positive relationship towards the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community. The satisfaction of the community has a very high level of positive relationship with the attachment of the people to the Royal Guards Community. The characteristics of the attachment of military families’ is that they live in big houses that everyone has to protect and care for, starting from the leader of the family as well as all members. Therefore, they all love the community they live in. The characteristics that show the participation of activities within the community and the high level of satisfaction towards the premises of the community will enable the people to be more attached to the community. The people feel that everyone is close neighbors within the community, as if they are one big family.

Keywords: community attachment, community satisfaction, royal guards community, activities of the community

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Authors: Abdullahi Garba Abu, Muhammad Bello Sada, Aminu Abubakar

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Facebook and Twitter/X platforms are preferred and largely patronized by Youths in Nigeria. The simplicity and popularity of Facebook and Twitter/X have made them preferred social networking sites for Youths to handle or execute different political activities in favor of their chosen candidates or political parties. This is largely related to their interest in using the platform for the purposes of participation in 2023 political activities and general elections. The two Social Networking Sites were used to vigorously pursue party activities on the eve of the 2023 general elections. Youths engaged the two platforms in campaigning for their candidates and political parties and succeeded in reaching a wide audience, shared the policies and manifestos of their parties, engaged with supporters and even posted advertising campaigns for specific demographics. However, the utilization of Facebook and Twitter /X platforms during the 2023 elections was largely seen in two lights: positive and negative lights/intentions. Therefore, this research investigates the motivating factors for which largely Nigerian Youths engage Facebook and Twitter platforms in political activities, with reference to the 2023 general elections. The research uses a survey method through which it reaches out to respondents from all six geo-politial zones. The research found that Nigerian Youths utilize the two social media sites to campaign for politicians voluntarily based on their belief in the capabilities of the candidates. It also found out that Youths were lured into using Facebook and Twitter/X sites to campaign through tribal, religious, and ethnic factors. More so, the research found out that eagerness to share political materials in support of candidates made Youths in Nigeria share unverifiable content on Facebook and Twitter sites.

Keywords: Facebook, Twitter/X, Nigerian youths, 2023 elections

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Authors: Samuel Olajide Babawale, O. O. Ogunkoya

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The study mapped selected wells in Inisa town, Osun state, in the guinea savanna region of southwest Nigeria, and determined the water quality considering certain elements. It also assessed the variation in the elevation of the water table surface to depth of the wells in the months of August and November. This is with a view to determine the level of contamination of the water with respect to land use and anthropogenic activities, and also to determine the variation that occurs in the quantity of well water in the rainy season and the start of the dry season. Results show a random pattern of the distribution of the mapped wells and shows that there is a shallow water table in the study area. The temporal changes in the elevation show that there are no significant variations in the depth of the water table surface over the period of study implying that there is a sufficient amount of water available to the town all year round. It also shows a high concentration of sodium in the water sample analyzed compared to other elements that were considered, which include iron, copper, calcium, and lead. This is attributed majorly to anthropogenic activities through the disposal of waste in landfill sites. There is a low concentration of lead which is a good indication of a reduced level of pollution.

Keywords: anthropogenic activities, land use, temporal changes, water quality

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Authors: Heeyong Noh, Seongryong Kang, Sungjoo Lee

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As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, firms have tried to explore market opportunities not only in the domestic market but also abroad. In particular, transactions of intangible assets in the global market now take on great importance. Accordingly, technology transfer activities such as patent licensing, copyright transfer, or workforce trainings which are considered significant to leverage an organization’s internal capabilities, are occurring more frequently and briskly across the world than ever before. Though a number of studies have addressed the issues regarding technology transfer, most of them have focused on university-industry technology transfer. Of course, some have investigated international technology transfer phenomenon but used patent citations data as a proxy. In order to understand the phenomena more clearly, it would be necessary to collect and analyze data that can measure technology transfer activities between firms more directly. Therefore, this study aims to examine the patterns of international trade in technology by employing data about international technology in-licensing activities in Korean firms. We also investigate the effect of international technology in-licensing strategy on a firm’s innovation performance. The research findings are expected to help R&D managers understand how firms have absorbed technological knowledge from foreign firms in the form of licensing and further develop effective international collaboration strategies. In addition, significant implications can be offered for political decision-making regarding technology trade within increasing international interconnections.

Keywords: international technology trade, technology trade effect, technology transfer, R&D managers

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Authors: D. K. Kumador, E. A. Muthivhi

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Historically, reforms in early childhood education in Ghana have focused narrowly on structural and pedagogical aspects with little attention paid to the broader sociocultural framework within which schooling and child development systems interact. This preliminary study investigates inclusive early childhood education within rapidly changing Ghanaian socio-cultural context, and its consequences for the development of children with learning disabilities. The study addresses an important topic, which is largely under-researched outside of Europe, North America, and Australasia. While inclusive education has been widely accepted globally at the level of policy, its implementation is uneven, as is shown in numerous studies across an array of countries and education systems. Despite this burgeoning area of research internationally, there have been far fewer studies conducted in African settings and fewer still that use cultural-historical activity theory as an investigative approach. More so, specific literature on the subject in the Ghanaian context is non-existent and, as such, coming to a deeper understanding of the sociocultural practices that shape, and possibly impede, inclusive early childhood education in an African country, Ghana, is a worthwhile research endeavour. Using cultural-historical activity theory as a methodological framework, this study employed classroom observations, and in-depth interviews and focus group discussions of preschool teachers in three kindergarten centres in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana to qualitatively explore inclusive early childhood education and the development of children with learning disabilities. The findings showed that literature from Ghana rarely discusses child informed consent as an on-going process that must be articulated throughout the research process from data collection to analysis, reporting and dissemination. Further, the study showed that the introduction and implementation of inclusive education framework – with its concomitant revisions in the curriculum, policies, and school rules, as well as enhanced community and parent involvement – into existing schooling practices, generated contradictions in inclusive teachers’ approaches to teaching and learning, and classroom management. Generally, contradictions in the understanding and acceptability of approaches to teaching and learning occur when a new way of doing things is incorporated into existing practices. These contradictions are thought to be a source of change and development. Thus, they guide teachers to unlearn outmoded practices, relearn or learn new approaches that are beneficial to the development of all children. Nonetheless, the findings of the current study showed that preschool teachers’ belief systems and perceptions of disabilities mediated the outcomes of such contradictions. Also, that was evidenced in the way they engaged children with learning disabilities compared to their typically developing counterparts, showing disregard for what was prescribed by new policies and school rules. The findings have implications for research with young children and the development outcomes of children with learning disabilities in inclusive early childhood education settings.

Keywords: CHAT, classroom management, cultural-historical activity theory, ghana, inclusive early childhood education, schooling practices, young children with learning disabilities

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Authors: Alya Al Ghufli, Kelaithim Al Tunaiji, Sara Al Ali, Khalid Samara

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It is well known that health care systems encompass a variety of key knowledge sources that need to be integrated and shared amongst all types of users to attain higher-levels of motivation and productivity. The development of Health Integrated Systems (HIS) is often seen as a crucial step in strengthening the integration of knowledge to help serve the information needs of health care users. As an emergent economy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is regarded as a new arrival in the area of health information systems. As a new nation, there may be several challenges in terms of organisational climate and the sufficient skills and knowledge activities for effective use of HIS. In this regard, the lack of coordination, attitudes and practice of health-related systems can eventually result in unnecessary data and generally poor use of the system. This paper includes results from a qualitative preliminary study carried out from a case study investigation in a single large primary health care organisation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) comprising various health care users. The study explored health care user’s perceptions about health integration and the impact it has on their practice. The main sources of information were semi-structured interviews and non-obtrusive observations. The authors conclude by presenting various recommendations for the development of HIS and knowledge activities and areas for further study.

Keywords: health integrated systems, knowledge sharing, knowledge activities, health information systems

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Authors: Cheba Ben Amar

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Bacillus and Paenibacillus are Gram-positive aerobic endospore-forming bacteria (AEFB) and most abundant in the rhizosphere, they mediated plant growth promotion and disease protection by several complex and interrelated processes involving direct and indirect mechanisms that include nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophores production, phytohormones production and plant diseases control. In addition to their multiple PGPR properties, high secretory capacity, spore forming ability and spore resistance to unfavorable conditions enabling their extended commercial applications for long shelf-life. Due to these unique advantages, Bacillus species were the most an ideal candidate for developing efficient PGPR products such as biopesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. This review list all studied and reported plant growth promoting Bacillus species and strains, discuss their capacities to enhance plant growth and protection with special focusing on the most frequent species Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus ,B. megaterium, B. amyloliquefaciens , B. licheniformis and B. sphaericus, furthermore we recapitulate the beneficial activities and mechanisms of several species and strains of the genus Paenibacillus involved in plant growth stimulation and plant disease control.

Keywords: bacillus, paenibacillus, PGPR, beneficial activities, mechanisms, growth promotion, disease control, agrobiotechnology

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Authors: Alexis D'Agostino, Amanda Pomeroy

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Background: Resource availability is essential to effective implementation of national nutrition policies. To this end, the SPRING Project has collected and analyzed budget data from government ministries in Uganda, international donors, and other nutrition implementers to provide data for the first time on what funding is actually allocated to implement nutrition activities named in the national nutrition plan. Methodology: USAID’s SPRING Project used the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) as the starting point for budget analysis. Thorough desk reviews of public budgets from government, donors, and NGOs were mapped to activities named in the UNAP and validated by key informants (KIs) across the stakeholder groups. By relying on nationally-recognized and locally-created documents, SPRING provided a familiar basis for discussions to increase credibility and local ownership of findings. Among other things, the KIs validated the amount, source, and type (specific or sensitive) of funding. When only high-level budget data were available, KIs provided rough estimates of the percentage of allocations that were actually nutrition-relevant, allowing creation of confidence intervals around some funding estimates. Results: After validating data and narrowing in on estimates of funding to nutrition-relevant programming, researchers applied a formula to estimate overall nutrition allocations. In line with guidance by the SUN Movement and its three-step process, nutrition-specific funding was counted at 100% of its allocation amount, while nutrition sensitive funding was counted at 25%. The vast majority of nutrition funding in Uganda is off-budget, with over 90 percent of all nutrition funding is provided outside of the government system. Overall allocations are split nearly evenly between nutrition-specific and –sensitive activities. In FY 2013/14, the two-year study’s baseline year, on- and off-budget funding for nutrition was estimated to be around 60 million USD. While the 60 million USD allocations compare favorably to the 66 million USD estimate of the cost of the UNAP, not all activities are sufficiently funded. Those activities with a focus on behavior change were the most underfunded. In addition, accompanying qualitative research suggested that donor funding for nutrition activities may shift government funding into other areas of work, making it difficult to estimate the sustainability of current nutrition investments.Conclusions: Beyond providing figures, these estimates can be used together with the qualitative results of the study to explain how and why these amounts were allocated for particular activities and not others, examine the negotiation process that occurred, and suggest options for improving the flow of finances to UNAP activities for the remainder of the policy tenure. By the end of the PBN study, several years of nutrition budget estimates will be available to compare changes in funding over time. Halfway through SPRING’s work, there is evidence that country stakeholders have begun to feel ownership over the ultimate findings and some ministries are requesting increased technical assistance in nutrition budgeting. Ultimately, these data can be used within organization to advocate for more and improved nutrition funding and to improve targeting of nutrition allocations.

Keywords: budget, nutrition, financing, scale-up

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Authors: Abubakar Salisu Garba

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The objective of the paper is to highlight the nature of entrepreneurial activities in the Sub Sahara Africa. Five countries in the Sub Sahara African that are participating in Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research have been studied to understand the types of entrepreneurial activities and their socio-economic implications in the region. The importance of entrepreneurial activities in boosting socio-economic development has been recognized not only in developing countries, but across the entire global economies. Some people believe that the wealth and poverty of developing countries is associated with nature and type of entrepreneurial activity. Policy makers are not only concern about the rate of business start up, but the growth and development of those starts up is of paramount importance to the development of the country’s economy. Although, the supply of entrepreneurs is essential, sometimes it does not really matters in boosting economic performance. What is more important is having high impact entrepreneurs who could make meaningful contribution to the economy. High growth oriented entrepreneurs are more stable and contribute greatly in enhancing the economic performance. When entrepreneurs are facing difficulties in sustaining and growing their businesses, it may be unlikely for entrepreneurship to reduce unemployment and poverty. Inadequate financial supports, insufficient infrastructure, lack of enforcing laws protecting the right of entrepreneurs are some of the problems making business environment difficult in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activity, job creation, poverty reduction, Sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Nisrine Chlif, Mohammed Diouri, Amar Bentayeb

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Background: The Leaves of Brocchia cinerea (Vis.) (Asteraceae) is used traditionally and ethnomedicinally to alleviate pain, fever, and inflammation conditions. Objective: The current study investigates the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities of aqueous extract of the leaves of Brocchia cinerea (LBC). Material and methods: The extract was screened for anti-inflammatory (carrageenan-induced paw edema) and analgesic (acetic acid-induced writhing) activities in Wistar rats. Before acetic acid or carrageenan injection, rats were orally fed LBC (200 and 400 mg/ kg), Indomethacin (10 mg/kg), or Aspirin (100 mg/kg). The antipyretic effect was studied in brewer’s yeast-induced pyrexia model in rats using Paracetamol (100 mg/kg) as a standard drug. Results: The crude extract tested significantly prevented the increase in paw volume as compared to the control at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg. The LBC treatment significantly inhibited pain at 400 mg/kg with a percent inhibition of 55.82%, as well as showing a significant reduction in hyperpyrexia in rats at 400 mg/kg. LBC extract produced a comparable activity to paracetamol at 100 mg/kg (p <0.01). Conclusion: The results of the present study that the leaves of B. cinerea extract exhibited strongly anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic properties and justify the traditional use of this plant in inflammation, pain, and fever.

Keywords: analgesic, anti-inflammation, antipyretic, brocchia cinerea

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Authors: Gloria Ogungbade, Ogaba Oche, Moses Duruji, Chris Ehiobuche, Lady Ajayi

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Human’s continued sustenance on earth and the quality of living are heavily dependent on the environment. The major components of the environment being air, water and land are the supporting pillars of the human existence, which they depend on directly or indirectly for survival and well-being. Unfortunately, due to some of the human activities on the environment, there seems to be a war between humans and the environment, which is evident in his over-exploitation and inadequate management of the basic components of the environment. Since the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta, the region has experienced various forms of degradation caused by pollution from oil spillage, gas flaring and other forms of environmental pollution, as a result of reckless way and manner with which oil is being exploited by the International Oil Corporations (IOCs) operating within the region. The Nigerian government on the other, not having strong regulations guiding the activities of the operations of these IOCs, has done almost nothing to curtail the activities of these IOCs because of the revenue generated the IOCs, as such the region is deprived of the basic social amenities and infrastructures. The degree of environmental pollution suffered within the region affects their major sources of livelihood – being fishing and farming, and has also left the region in poverty, which has led to a large number of people migrating to the urban areas to escape poverty. This paper investigates how environment degradation impact urbanization and security in the region.

Keywords: environmental degradation, environmental pollution, gas flaring, oil spillage, urbanization

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Authors: Yuanyuan Liu, Yuanqing Wang, Di Li

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions mitigation from road construction activities is one of the potential pathways to deal with climate change due to its higher use of materials, machinery energy consumption, and high quantity of vehicle and equipment fuels for transportation and on-site construction activities. Aiming to assess the environmental impact of the road infrastructure construction activities and to identify hotspots of emissions sources, this study developed a life-cycle CO2 emissions assessment framework covering three stages of material production, to-site and on-site transportation under the guidance of the principle of LCA ISO14040. Then streamlined inventory analysis on sub-processes of each stage was conducted based on the budget files from cases of highway projects in China. The calculation results were normalized into functional unit represented as ton per km per lane. Then a comparison between the amount of emissions from each stage, and sub-process was made to identify the major contributor in the whole highway lifecycle. In addition, the calculating results were used to be compared with results in other countries for understanding the level of CO2 emissions associated with Chinese road infrastructure in the world. The results showed that materials production stage produces the most of the CO2 emissions (for more than 80%), and the production of cement and steel accounts for large quantities of carbon emissions. Life cycle CO2 emissions of fuel and electric energy associated with to-site and on-site transportation vehicle and equipment are a minor component of total life cycle CO2 emissions from highway project construction activities. Bridges and tunnels are dominant large carbon contributor compared to the road segments. The life cycle CO2 emissions of road segment in highway project in China are slightly higher than the estimation results of highways in European countries and USA, about 1500 ton per km per lane. In particularly, the life cycle CO2 emissions of road pavement in majority cities all over the world are about 500 ton per km per lane. However, there is obvious difference between the cities when the estimation on life cycle CO2 emissions of highway projects included bridge and tunnel. The findings of the study could offer decision makers a more comprehensive reference to understand the contribution of road infrastructure to climate change, especially understand the contribution from road infrastructure construction activities in China. In addition, the identified hotspots of emissions sources provide the insights of how to reduce road carbon emissions for development of sustainable transportation.

Keywords: carbon dioxide emissions, construction activities, highway, life cycle assessment

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Authors: Zilungile Sosibo

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Constructivism in teacher education is growing tremendously in both the developed and developing world. Proponents of constructivism emphasize active engagement of students in the teaching and learning process. In an effort to keep students engaged while they learn to learn, teachers use a variety of methods to incorporate constructivism in the teaching-learning situations. One area that has a potential for realizing constructivism in the classroom is self-assessment. Sadly, students are rarely involved in the assessment of their work. Instead, the most knowing teacher dominates this process. Student involvement in self-assessments has a potential to teach student teachers to become objective assessors of their students’ work by the time they become credentialed. This is important, as objectivity in assessments is a much-needed skill in the classroom contexts within which teachers deal with students from diverse backgrounds and in which biased assessments should be avoided at all cost. The purpose of the study presented in this paper was to investigate whether student teachers acquired the skills of administering self-assessments objectively after they had been immersed in a formal training program and participated in four sets of self-assessments. The objectives were to determine the extent to which they had mastered the skills of objective self-assessments, their growth and development in this area, and the challenges they encountered in administering self-assessments objectively. The research question was: To what extent did student teachers acquire objectivity in self-assessments after their theoretical and practical engagement in this activity? Data were collected from student teachers through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The design was a qualitative case study. The sample consisted of 39 final-year student teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education teacher education program at a university in South Africa. Results revealed that the formal training program and participation in self-assessments had a minimal effect on students’ acquisition of objectivity in self-assessments, due to the factors associated with self-aggrandizement and hegemony, the latter resulting from gender, religious and racial differences. These results have serious implications for the need to incorporate self-assessments in the teacher-education curriculum, as well as for extended formal training programs for student teachers on assessment in general.

Keywords: objectivity, self-assessment, student teachers, teacher education curriculum

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Authors: O. F. Elkommos

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“Humour studies” is an interdisciplinary research area that is relatively recent. It interests researchers from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, medicine, nursing, in the work place, gender studies, among others, and certainly teaching, language learning, linguistics, and literature. Linguistic theories of humour research are numerous; some of which are of interest to the present study. In spite of the fact that humour courses are now taught in universities around the world in the Egyptian context it is not included. The purpose of the present study is two-fold: to review the state of arts and to show how linguistic theories of humour can be possibly used as an art and craft of teaching and of learning in EFL literature classes. In the present study linguistic theories of humour were applied to selected literary texts to interpret humour as an intrinsic artistic communicative competence challenge. Humour in the area of linguistics was seen as a fifth component of communicative competence of the second language leaner. In literature it was studied as satire, irony, wit, or comedy. Linguistic theories of humour now describe its linguistic structure, mechanism, function, and linguistic deviance. Semantic Script Theory of Verbal Humor (SSTH), General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), Audience Based Theory of Humor (ABTH), and their extensions and subcategories as well as the pragmatic perspective were employed in the analyses. This research analysed the linguistic semantic structure of humour, its mechanism, and how the audience reader (teacher or learner) becomes an interactive interpreter of the humour. This promotes humour competence together with the linguistic, social, cultural, and discourse communicative competence. Studying humour as part of the literary texts and the perception of its function in the work also brings its positive association in class for educational purposes. Humour is by default a provoking/laughter-generated device. Incongruity recognition, perception and resolving it, is a cognitive mastery. This cognitive process involves a humour experience that lightens up the classroom and the mind. It establishes connections necessary for the learning process. In this context the study examined selected narratives to exemplify the application of the theories. It is, therefore, recommended that the theories would be taught and applied to literary texts for a better understanding of the language. Students will then develop their language competence. Teachers in EFL/ESL classes will teach the theories, assist students apply them and interpret text and in the process will also use humour. This is thus easing students' acquisition of the second language, making the classroom an enjoyable, cheerful, self-assuring, and self-illuminating experience for both themselves and their students. It is further recommended that courses of humour research studies should become an integral part of higher education curricula in Egypt.

Keywords: ABTH, deviance, disjuncture, episodic, GTVH, humour competence, humour comprehension, humour in the classroom, humour in the literary texts, humour research linguistic theories, incongruity-resolution, isotopy-disjunction, jab line, longer text joke, narrative story line (macro-micro), punch line, six knowledge resource, SSTH, stacks, strands, teaching linguistics, teaching literature, TEFL, TESL

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Authors: Iyad Alazzam, Kenneth Magel, Izzat Alsmadi

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The different activities and approaches in software testing try to find the most possible number of errors or failures with the least amount of possible effort. Mutation is a testing approach that is used to discover possible errors in tested applications. This is accomplished through changing one aspect of the software from its original and writes test cases to detect such change or mutation. In this paper, we present a mutation approach for testing software components integration aspects. Several mutation operations related to components integration are described and evaluated. A test case study of several open source code projects is collected. Proposed mutation operators are applied and evaluated. Results showed some insights and information that can help testing activities in detecting errors and improving coverage.

Keywords: software testing, integration testing, mutation, coverage, software design

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Authors: Archana Gandhi

Abstract:

Indian apparel manufacturers see several benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). At the same time, they clearly face steep challenges in its implementation. From the perspective of the participants, the challenges tend to outweigh the benefits. The short-term expenses, misperceptions about the financial benefits of CSR and the additional burden of implementing CSR-related policies and activities tend to overshadow perceptions of the long-term benefits. CSR activities currently seen in the Indian apparel industry are primarily people focused, society-focused or environment-focused. However, most CSR activities focus on employee welfare, including teaching employees about health and safety awareness, creating opportunities for community building, and providing general education to employees. Employee retention is very high in socially responsible Indian firms as compared to non-CSR firms, largely because CSR plays a crucial role in overall employee satisfaction, which translates to worker loyalty and low turnover. Employee retention and commitment are not the​ only potential benefits of CSR in the Indian apparel industry. CSR can also enhance a company’s image. Although it is a long-term benefit, being socially responsible can build a company’s social reputation and help it to gain others’ trust. Buyers do not hesitate to do business with these companies, since it is difficult to find socially responsible firms in India.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, apparel industry, workers, improve work life

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Authors: Sutan Emir Hidayat, Latifa Hassan Al-Qassab

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The purpose of this study is to examine depositors’ awareness on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) conducted by Islamic retail banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain according to the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards. The outcome of the paper is the extent to which the depositors knew about the banks’ CSR activities in promoting the welfare of the society beyond their business objectives. The study covered all Islamic retail banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain where a survey questionnaire was distributed to a total of 200 Islamic banks' depositors. The results of the survey show that the level of depositors’ awareness is limited on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities by the banks as indicated by the small number of statements in the survey questionnaire which the respondents agreed to or of which they had satisfactory knowledge. The significant statistical difference in the respondents' answers to the survey questionnaire when they are grouped according to their respective banks prove that the level of depositors’ awareness on the pursuit of corporate social responsibilities varies considerably among the six Islamic retail banks in the kingdom. The findings of the study might be used to assist the policy makers in the field of CSR of Islamic financial institutions in formulation of better CSR activities and in delivering better services for the public welfare. The study also might help Islamic banks in the kingdom to set up strategy in order to increase the level of depositors’ awareness on their CSR activities.

Keywords: corporate social responsibilities, awareness, Islamic banks, Bahrain

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Authors: Omid Kalatpour, Mohammadreza Ajdari

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This article studied the possible causes of human error-induced incidents in the petrochemical industry maintenance activities by using Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). The purpose of the study was anticipating and identifying these causes and proposing corrective and preventive actions. Maintenance department in a petrochemical company was selected for research. A checklist of human error-induced incidents was developed based on four HFACS main levels and nineteen sub-groups. Hierarchical task analysis (HTA) technique was used to identify maintenance activities and tasks. The main causes of possible incidents were identified by checklist and recorded. Corrective and preventive actions were defined depending on priority. Analyzing the worksheets of 444 activities in four levels of HFACS showed 37.6% of the causes were at the level of unsafe actions, 27.5% at the level of unsafe supervision, 20.9% at the level of preconditions for unsafe acts and 14% of the causes were at the level of organizational effects. The HFACS sub-groups showed errors (24.36%) inadequate supervision (14.89%) and violations (13.26%) with the most frequency. According to findings of this study, increasing the training effectiveness of operators and supervision improvement respectively are the most important measures in decreasing the human error-induced incidents in petrochemical industry maintenance.

Keywords: human error, petrochemical industry, maintenance, HFACS

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Authors: Nancy N. Sharmila, Aparna Mishra

Abstract:

Hemiparesis affects almost 80% of stroke patients each year. It is marked by paralysis or weakness on one half of the body. Our model provides both assistance and physical therapy for hemiparesis patients for swift recovery. In order to accomplish our goal a force is provided that pulls the forearm up (as in flexing the arm), and pushes the forearm down (as in extending the arm), which will also assist the user during ADL (Activities of Daily Living). The model consists of a mechanical component which is placed around the patient’s bicep and an EMG control circuit to assist patients in daily activities, which makes it affordable and easy to use. In order to enhance the neuromuscular system’s effectiveness in synchronize the movement, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) concept is used. The EMG signals are acquired from the unaffected arm as an input to drive the orthosis. This way the patient is invigorated to use the orthosis for regular exercise.

Keywords: EMG, hemiparesis, orthosis, rehabilitation

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Authors: Atef M. Ghaleb, Mohamed Z. Ramadan, Khalid Saad Aljaloud

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The aim of this study is to assesses the lifting capabilities of persons experiencing hypoxia. It also examines the behavior of the physiological response induced through the lifting process related to changing in the hypoxia and lifting frequency variables. For this purpose, the study performed two consecutive tests by using; (1) training and acclimatization; and (2) an actual collection of data. A total of 10 male students from King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were recruited in the study. A two-way repeated measures design, with two independent variables (ambient oxygen (15%, 18% and 21%)) and lifting frequency (1 lift/min and 4 lifts/min) and four dependent variables i.e., maximum acceptable weight of lift (MAWL), Electromyography (EMG) of four muscle groups (anterior deltoid, trapezius, biceps brachii, and erector spinae), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and rating of oxygen feeling (ROF) were used in this study. The results show that lifting frequency has significantly impacted the MAWL and muscles’ activities. The oxygen content had a significant effect on the RPE and ROE. The study has revealed that acclimatization and training sessions significantly reduce the effect of the hypoxia on the human physiological parameters during the manual materials handling tasks.

Keywords: lifting capabilities, muscle activities, oxygen content, perceived exertion

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Authors: Akwesi Assensoh-Kodua

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Online Social Networks (OSN) has come and gone, yet the explosion of business activities on such platforms continuous to surge high, giving advantage to the bold entrepreneurs. It is therefore a practical requirement that practitioners and researchers understand the key determinants of costumers’ online social network business activities and continuance intention. An exploratory literature research to examine OSN continuous intention of business participants on OSN revealed that the practice of doing business on social network has come to stay and the following factors are the likely drivers for this new business model: perceived trust, perceived ease of use, confirmation, habit, social norm, perceived behavioural control, expected benefit, and satisfaction are the most probable factors that can lead to online social network (OSN) continuance intention.

Keywords: online social network, continuance intention, business continuance

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Authors: Silvio Araújo, Sérgio Maravilhas, Tamires Coutinho

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The aim of this paper is to present the experience of a project involving cooperation between the academic world and civil society to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector in the Chapada Diamantina region, in Bahia state, Brazil. It collaborates with studies on organizational strategies and the monitoring of economic indicators in times of crisis, using data analysis to investigate associations between the variables studied. As a result, the economic, structural, and systemic factors that determine the resumption of activities after the pandemic are presented, as well as the results obtained and the general expectations for tourism activities in the region. The conclusion is that, even with government support, from the Brazilian authorities, the undesirable effects of the externalities of the pandemic threaten not only competitiveness but also business continuity itself.

Keywords: Chapada Diamantina, competitiveness, COVID-19, tourism

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Authors: Ola I. S. El Dardery, Ismail Gomaa, Adel R.M. Rayan, Ghada El Khayat, Sara H. Sabry

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Continuous improvement activities are becoming a key factor of the success of any organization, those improvement activities include but not limited to kaizen, six sigma, lean projects, and continuous improvement projects. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement by making small incremental changes to improve an organization’s performance, reduce costs, reduce delay time, reduce waste in production, etc. This study aims at proposing a new measuring technique for kaizen activities using a Sustainable balanced scorecard structure. A survey questionnaire was developed and introduced to kaizen participants in both Egypt and Japan with the purpose of allocating key performance indicators for both kaizen process (critical success factors) and result (kaizen benefits) into the five perspectives of sustainable balanced scorecard. The study contributes to the literature by presenting a new kaizen measurement of both kaizen process and results, that will illuminate the benefits of using kaizen. Also, the presented measurement can help in the sustainability of kaizen implementation. Determining the combination of the proper kaizen measures could be used by any industry whether service or manufacturing to better measure kaizen activates. The comparison between Japanese measures, as the leaders of kaizen philosophy, and Egyptian measures will help recommending better practices of kaizen in Egypt, and contributing to the 2030 sustainable development goals.

Keywords: continuous improvements, kaizen, performance, sustainable balanced scorecard

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Authors: Priscilla Marcus

Abstract:

The mass media was a force to reckon with in the struggle and attainment of Nigeria’s independence in 1960 and since then, the Nigerian media has carved a niche for itself in performing its traditional role of education, information, entertainment, shaping of opinions and swinging of views of the society on knotty national issues. Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria which emerged from an unnoticed, negligible and quiet beginning, has turned out daring, monstrous and unstoppable. This paper examines The Media and Reportage of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria and to suggest strategies the mass media could adopt in combating this form of terrorism. Data for the study were collected from a variety of sources including the print and electronic media. The major observation of this study is that the mass media have an enormous role to play if Boko Haram’s activities are to be combated. It argued that even though the media houses are just doing their job – reporting the incident(s) as they occur, thus keeping the citizens abreast of facts; the rate at which news keeps coming regarding the activities of the sect has portrayed the media as information dissemination and terror campaign spread. It also argued that the ceaseless reporting has not translated to a decrease in the activities of the sect or increase in the level of government actions to check the insurgency. However, the information being disseminated is enlightening the populace and also creating an atmosphere of panic and insecurity. It further argued that the media should move beyond mere recitation of events to providing the public with knowledge needed to make things better. This is because the sect has been accorded too much undeserved and unnecessary publicity while the government on the other hand has been portrayed, albeit indirectly as a weak organization incapable of handling the ‘more organized’ Boko Haram. The study, concluded that, to effectively address the problem of this form of terrorism in Nigeria, the media have to brace up to the task of uncovering activities of the sect in appreciation of their watch-dog role.

Keywords: Boko Haram, insurgency, mass media, Nigeria

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Authors: Dirson Santos De Campos, Deller James Ferreira, Anderson Cavalcante Gonçalves, Uyara Ferreira Silva

Abstract:

Rubrics to learning research provide many evaluation criteria and expected performance standards linked to defined student activity for learning and pedagogical objectives. Despite the rubric being used in education at all levels, academic literature on rubrics as a tool to support research in SQL Education is quite rare. There is a large class of SQL queries is syntactically correct, but certainly, not all are semantically correct. Detecting and correcting errors is a recurring problem in SQL education. In this paper, we usthe Rubric Abstract Framework (RAF), which consists of steps, that allows us to map the information to measure student performance guided by didactic objectives defined by the teacher as long as it is contextualized domain modeling by rubric. An empirical study was done that demonstrates how rubrics can mitigate student difficulties in finding logical errors and easing teacher workload in SQL education. Detecting and correcting logical errors is an important skill for students. Researchers have proposed several ways to improve SQL education because understanding this paradigm skills are crucial in software engineering and computer science. The RAF instantiation was using in an empirical study developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in database course. The pandemic transformed face-to-face and remote education, without presential classes. The lab activities were conducted remotely, which hinders the teaching-learning process, in particular for this research, in verifying the evidence or statements of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of students. Various research in academia and industry involved databases. The innovation proposed in this paper is the approach used where the results obtained when using rubrics to map logical errors in query formulation have been analyzed with gains obtained by students empirically verified. The research approach can be used in the post-pandemic period in both classroom and distance learning.

Keywords: rubric, logical error, structured query language (SQL), empirical study, SQL education

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