Search results for: early entrepreneurial education

Authors: Eni I. Eni, James Okon, Ashang J. Ashang

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The pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar was introduced to help increase access to tertiary Education in science related courses. This has become necessary due to population increase and public awareness. Its main objective was to provide access to candidates from educationally less developed states (ELDS) and states within its catchment area. To find out if this objective of the programme has been achieved, an impact evaluation of the programme was conducted, from where the aspect of providing access to University Education was reported here. It was reasoned that if this objective of the programme was properly implemented, there should be an evidence of increase in the access to University Education. To achieve the purpose of this study, two research questions were formulated; expost-facto research design and purposive sampling technique were adopted for the study. Data was collected from the Faculty of Science and analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies and percentages. The result of data analysis showed that the pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar has provided educational access to Nigerians especially those from educationally less developed states in science related courses. It was therefore recommended that the programme be sustained and further be improved upon to facilitate its continued provision of access to University Education in Nigeria.

Keywords: higher education, pre-degree programme, University of Calabar, educationally less developed states

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Authors: Ann P. Daunic, Nancy Corbett

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Background and Significance: Researchers emphasize the role that motivation, self-esteem, and self-regulation play in children’s early adjustment to the school culture, including skills such as identifying their own feelings and understanding the feelings of others. As social-emotional growth, academic learning, and successful integration within culture and society are inextricably connected, the Social-Emotional Learning Foundations (SELF) curriculum was designed to integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) instruction within early literacy instruction (specifically, reading) for Kindergarten and first-grade students at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties. Storybook reading is a typically occurring activity in the primary grades; thus SELF provides an intervention that is both theoretically and practically sound. Methodology: The researchers will report on findings from the first two years of a three-year study funded by the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to evaluate the effects of the SELF curriculum versus “business as usual” (BAU). SELF promotes the development of self-regulation by incorporating instructional strategies that support children’s use of SEL related vocabulary, self-talk, and critical thinking. The curriculum consists of a carefully coordinated set of materials and pedagogy designed specifically for primary grade children at early risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties. SELF lessons (approximately 50 at each grade level) are organized around 17 SEL topics within five critical competencies. SELF combines whole-group (the first in each topic) and small-group lessons (the 2nd and 3rd in each topic) to maximize opportunities for teacher modeling and language interactions. The researchers hypothesize that SELF offers a feasible and substantial opportunity within the classroom setting to provide a small-group social-emotional learning intervention integrated with K-1 literacy-related instruction. Participating target students (N = 876) were identified by their teachers as potentially at risk for emotional or behavioral issues. These students were selected from 122 Kindergarten and 100 first grade classrooms across diverse school districts in a southern state in the US. To measure the effectiveness of the SELF intervention, the researchers asked teachers to complete assessments related to social-emotional learning and adjustment to the school culture. A social-emotional learning related vocabulary assessment was administered directly to target students receiving small-group instruction. Data were analyzed using a 3-level MANOVA model with full information maximum likelihood to estimate coefficients and test hypotheses. Major Findings: SELF had significant positive effects on vocabulary, knowledge, and skills associated with social-emotional competencies, as evidenced by results from the measures administered. Effect sizes ranged from 0.41 for group (SELF vs. BAU) differences in vocabulary development to 0.68 for group differences in SEL related knowledge. Conclusion: Findings from two years of data collection indicate that SELF improved outcomes related to social-emotional learning and adjustment to the school culture. This study thus supports the integration of SEL with literacy instruction as a feasible and effective strategy to improve outcomes for K-1 students at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Keywords: Socio-cultural context for learning, social-emotional learning, social skills, vocabulary development

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Authors: Konstantinos Sofianos, Michail Stefanidakis

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Nowadays, despite the great advances in technology, most educational frameworks lack a strong educational design basis. E-learning has become prevalent, but it faces various challenges such as student isolation and lack of quality in the learning process. An intelligent learning system provides a student with educational material according to their learning background and learning preferences. It records full information about the student, such as demographic information, learning styles, and academic performance. This information allows the system to be fully adapted to the student’s needs. In this paper, we propose a framework and an ontology for music education, consisting of the learner model and all elements of the learning process (learning objects, teaching methods, learning activities, assessment). This framework can be integrated into an intelligent learning system and used for music education in schools for the development of professional skills and beyond.

Keywords: intelligent learning systems, e-learning, music education, ontology, semantic web

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Authors: Manchari Paranthahan

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Higher education has often presented barriers to many communities as a result of its colonial roots. While higher education was initially created for white cis-males, student populations have become more diverse in the past few decades. Despite this increase in diversity, barriers like rising costs and hostile education settings continue to make higher education hard to access for certain demographics. These barriers and limitations are compounded for students who are intersectionality marginalized, such as Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (QTBIPOC) Disabled students. As of 2021-2022, only 57.5% of the Canadian population between the ages of 25 - 64 held a college or university credential, with only 32.9% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. In that same time frame, only 0.64% of the students who successfully completed a higher education program identified as transgender or nonbinary. QTBIPOC Disabled students experience diverse forms of oppression while navigating education systems, often preventing them from completing their education successfully. This research project will investigate the complex experiences of intersectional marginalization of QTBIPOC Disabled students in Canadian post-secondary education systems. Through this investigation, this research seeks to reimagine more inclusive and accessible education systems in Canada and beyond. The social and academic experiences of QTBIPOC Disabled students in education systems are largely absent from scholarly literature, speaking to their continued marginalization and erasure from academic discourses. The lack of representation for this community in academia reinforces the idea that there is no space for marginalized bodies in further education, a discriminatory belief that this research project aims to investigate and reframe with this project. This research study will be informed by Critical Race theory, Queer Theory and Critical Disability Theories. Through a blend of critical narrative ethnography and ethnodrama for my methodological framing. Using these methodologies will speak to the intersecting factors that impact the experiences that QTBIPOC Disabled students have in education systems while offering space to analyze and create new systems of learning that benefits all students.

Keywords: QTBIPOC, queer, disability, pedagogy

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Authors: Adam Chlapecka, Anna Kagstrom, Pavla Cermakova

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Background: Increasing educational attainment (EA) could decrease the occurrence of depression. We investigated the relationship between EA and depressive symptoms in older individuals across four European regions. Methods: We studied 108 315 Europeans (54 % women, median age 63 years old) from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe assessing EA (7 educational levels based on ISCED classification); and depressive symptoms (≥ 4 points on EURO-D scale). Logistic regression estimated the association between EA and depressive symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors; testing for sex/age/region and education interactions. Results: Higher EA was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms, independent of sociodemographic and health-related factors. A threshold of the lowest odds of depressive symptoms was detected at the first stage of tertiary education (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.55-0.65; p<0.001; relative to no education). Central and Eastern Europe showed the strongest association (OR for high vs. low education 0.37; 95% CI 0.33-0.40; p<0.001) and Scandinavia the weakest (OR for high vs. low education 0.69; 95% CI 0.60-0.80; p<0.001). The association was strongest amongst younger individuals. There was a sex and education interaction only within Central and Eastern Europe. Conclusion: The level of EA is reflected in later-life depressive symptoms, suggesting that supporting individuals in achieving EA, and considering those with lower EA at increased risk for depression, could lead to the decreased burden of depression across the life course. Further educational support in Central and Eastern Europe may decrease the higher burden of depressive symptoms in women.

Keywords: depression, education, epidemiology, Europe

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Authors: Sarah Irani, Meisam Modarresi

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Lifestyle entrepreneurship allows the business owner to create a business activity that aligns with their values, interests, and motivations. Examining the views and experiences of lifestyle entrepreneurs has an essential impact on the growth of the entrepreneurial economy and the concept of entrepreneurship. The primary purpose of this research is to discover the main and secondary influencing aspects of lifestyle entrepreneurship. This research is qualitative and tries to develop research in this field by presenting a framework from the literature. This study can provide a clear picture of lifestyle entrepreneurship. The results showed that lifestyle entrepreneurship is influenced by four main aspects.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs, innovation, lifestyle entrepreneurship, small businesses development

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Authors: Laura Brennan, Ram Balakumar

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ChatGPT has been developed by Open AI (Nov 2022) as a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) language model which has been designed to produce human-like text from user written prompts. To gain the most from the system, user written prompts must give context specific information. This article aims to give guidance on how to optimise the ChatGPT system in the context of education for otolaryngology. Otolaryngology is a specialist field which sees little time dedicated to providing education to both medical students and doctors. Additionally, otolaryngology trainees have seen a reduction in learning opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article we look at these various barriers to medical education in Otolaryngology training and suggest ways that ChatGPT can overcome them and assist in simulation-based training. Examples provide how this can be achieved using the Authors’ experience to further highlight the practicalities. What this article has found is that while ChatGPT cannot replace traditional mentorship and practical surgical experience, it can serve as an invaluable supplementary resource to simulation based medical education in Otolaryngology.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, otolaryngology, surgical training, medical education

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Authors: Mohamad Nizam Asmuni, Ahmad Naszeri Salleh, Yunus Adam, Azhar Yaacob, Mohd Hafiz Rosli, Muhamad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah

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Physical Education teacher at the school should have good physical fitness to educate and guide students in the school. Currently, there are no standards for the level of physical fitness for teachers who teaches physical education at the school. Therefore, this research is to determine the level of physical fitness of teacher of Physical Education at Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM). A total of 28 samples (18 men and 10 women, age 33 ± 4.91), teachers of physical education at MRSM, were randomly selected to participate in this study. Height, weight, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI) and other physical testing are measured and recorded. The results showed that the average of body mass index (BMI) for teachers of Physical Education is 25.9 ± 4:57. Body mass index (BMI) of teachers can be categorized as pre-obese based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Body fat percentage for male (age; 34.3 ± 5.13) and female (age; 30.9 ± 3.81) teachers is 24.7% ± 6.54 and 30.6% ± 6.28, respectively. Male teachers were categorized as overfat, however, female teachers were categorized as healthy based on body fat ranges for standard adults at NY Obesity Research Center. Bleep test results show that the average Bleep test is level 4 and shuttle 2; average VO2max was 27.5 ± 5.94 L/min. Physical fitness and performance of physical education teachers at MRSM is much lower compared to the rugby junior athlete in University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Therefore, physical fitness of teachers must be improved to ensure the physical education classes at MRSM could be done better.

Keywords: physical fitness, BMI, bleep test, obesity

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Authors: Shih-Tsung Chen, Yenchin Hsiao

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Evergreen Lily is a newly-built school after Morakot Typhoon took place. The school is located on Majia farm, which is surrounded by mountains. The fund in the construction of the school is solely sponsored by Chang Yung-Fa Foundation. There are 483 permanent houses near the school belonging to three tribes, Dashe, Majia, and Haocha. Due to the most ancient heritages of Paiwan and Rukai in these three tribes, the school is full of cultural atmosphere. From modern and traditional perspectives, Evergreen Lily strives to establish and develop a long-lasting educational model to meet the expectation of the tribes, parents, and the public. This study is a case study of how to develop indigenous education in newly established schools after the Morakot Hurricane disaster to meet the concept of environmental education. The systematic curriculum construction of education and cultural integration and the systematic practice of curriculum practice will be discussed, and the concept and practice of tribal education curriculum and sustainable environmental education will be understood. This study found that this school integrates the spirit of natural philosophy, democratic education, ethnic and experimental education, and constructs a knowledge system that includes three levels of spiritual culture, institutional culture, and material culture, as well as six dimensions of life philosophy, natural ecology, organizational system, tribal literature and history, song and dance, and technical and artistic methods. Adhering to the concept of harmonious education and the sustainable common good, the development of school-based tribal academic courses accounts for about one-third of the total number of teaching sessions, and there are different cultural themes in grades one to six, and there are clear teaching modules to effectively enhance students' potential inspiration. The complete curriculum implementation model can be described as a model for the development of indigenous schools to sustainable environmental education.

Keywords: environmental education, indigenous education, sustainable development, school-based curriculum

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Authors: Betül Demirbağ, Nesrin Demir

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As a developmental period, early adulthood has a vital role in romantic relationships in young adult's life. lt's known that in this period, satisfaction of individual needs such as affiliation is essential for well-functioning and to be succeeded in sequent developmental task. Romantic relationships have an expected association with attachment style. But it's needed to get more information about indicators of romantic relationships in different cultural backgrounds. in this research it's aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between romantic relationship beliefs and Ego identity status and also other possible indicators such as gender, age, socioeconomic status. Participants were undergraduate students training in various programs in Education Faculty in Adiyaman University. As data collection tool, Romantic Relationship Beliefs scale and Ego Identity Process Questionnaire which was adapted into Turkish were used. Results were discussed in the relevant literature.

Keywords: ego identity, romantic relationships, university counseling

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Authors: Elysee Guy Yohou

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Côte d'Ivoire established a National Commission for Sustainable Development with a view to implementing the ESD. This study aims to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice about education for sustainability of teachers, students, principals, and staff in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire while exploring the barriers, levers and examines the leadership skills needed to help carrying out ESD. The data collection took place in October and December 2015. Questionnaires were administered to 400 participants, which involved teachers, students, principals and staff in 25 public and private secondary schools in four regional offices of education. 297 questionnaires were collected producing a collection-rate of 74.25%. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, dependent sample t-test, One way ANOVA, Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Thereupon, knowledge, attitudes about education for sustainability of teachers, principals and staff in secondary school are better than students. However, there is little practice of ESD. 68.3% of participants are not familiar with the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. In addition, 92.8% of schools do not have a school Agenda 21. The major barriers that prevent the teaching of education for sustainability are lack of access to technical tools, insufficient funding and lack of information. The main levers are teacher and staff training, financing, awareness of students, and public engagement. Principals do possess good human and technical skills but limited conceptual skills. The study showed that conceptual and human skills are convenient assets which rhyme more with education for sustainability. Thereupon, if schools’ principal need to improve education for sustainability through practice, they need more conceptual skills.

Keywords: Côte d'Ivoire, education for sustainability, leadership skills, secondary school

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Authors: Heather Caldwell

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In 1915, state superintendent, Mary C.C. Bradford initiated a state standardization plan in order to improve the quality of schools and the educational experience for all children in Colorado. This plan would change the schools, improving them and offering more opportunities for children, teachers, and the community. In a state where geography limited opportunity to make all schools equal and brought challenges to state school leaders to improve education throughout the state, the leadership prevailed and worked together with local schools and school leaders to make drastic improvements in the curriculum. This paper will discuss this plan and will highlight key contributions to this standardization plan that improved opportunities for all students in the state of Colorado through these educational initiatives.

Keywords: history of education, standardization, curriculum, state superintendent, women in education

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Authors: Ilyes Athimni, Mouna Bouzazi, Mongi Boulehmi, Ahmed Ferchichi

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The principles of good governance, universal values, and digitization are among the tools to fight corruption and improve the quality of service delivery. In recent years, these tools have become one of the most controversial topics in the field of education and a concern of many international organizations and institutions against the problem of corruption. Corruption in the education sector, particularly in higher education, has negative impacts on the quality of education systems and on the quality of administrative or educational services. Currently, the health crisis due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic reveals the difficulties encountered by education systems in most countries of the world. Due to the poor governance of these systems, many educational institutions were unable to continue working remotely. To respond to these problems encountered by most education systems in many countries of the world, our initiative is to propose a methodology to reinvent education systems based on global values and digital technologies. This methodology includes a work strategy for educational institutions, whether in the provision of administrative services or in the teaching method, based on information and communication technologies (ICTs), intelligence artificial, and intelligent agents. In addition, we will propose a supervisory law that will be implemented and monitored by intelligent agents to improve accountability, transparency, and accountability in educational institutions. On the other hand, we will implement and evaluate a field experience by applying the proposed methodology in the operation of an educational institution and comparing it to the traditional methodology through the results of teaching an educational program. With these specifications, we can reinvent quality education systems. We also expect the results of our proposal to play an important role at local, regional, and international levels in motivating governments of countries around the world to change their university governance policies.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, corruption in education, distance learning, education systems, ICTs, intelligent agents, good governance

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Authors: B. Frączek

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The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.

Keywords: financial education, financial inclusion, financial literacy, internet and university education

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Authors: Petr Sulc, Hana Maresova

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This contribution focuses on online educational tools and language teaching, specifically on literary education in a multi-user virtual environment. The goal of this contribution is to give a basic overview of online language education and teaching in a virtual environment. The main goal of the research survey is to compare language (literary) education in a virtual environment with the traditional way of teaching in a typical classroom. The research concept will be mixed: a didactic test, the grounded theory method, and semi-structured questioning will be used. Kitely’s multi-user virtual environment and printed worksheets will be used for the comparison.

Keywords: online educational tools, virtual environment, virtual teaching objects, literary education, didactic test

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Authors: Jonathan Magala

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Context: Adolescents in Uganda face significant challenges related to sexual health due to inadequate sexual information. This lack of information puts young people at risk of early pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and poverty. Therefore, it is essential to understand the sources, content, and challenges of acquiring sexual information among secondary school-going adolescents in Uganda. Research Aim: The aim of this study was to establish the sources, content, and challenges of acquiring sexual information among secondary school-going adolescents in Luwero Town Council, Uganda. Methodology: This study used a cross-sectional approach with both qualitative and quantitative methods. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were conducted with 384 school-going adolescents aged between 13-19 years in Luwero Town Council, Uganda. Findings: The results of the study revealed that adolescents receive sexual information from various sources, with schools being the most common source, followed by parents and religious institutions being the least utilized. Adolescents received information on various topics related to sexuality, including puberty and sexual changes, pregnancy and reproduction, STD information, abstinence, and family planning. However, the content of sexual information was inadequate in addressing the challenges facing adolescents, and there were generation gaps, lack of role models, peer influence, and government policies. The male character from all the sources was the least in offering sexual information to adolescents. Theoretical Importance: The study's findings highlight the need for policy implementation to strengthen sexual education in school curriculum, as the sources of sexual information and the content are inadequate. The various topics should be addressed in schools to provide comprehensive education on sexual health for adolescents. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: Data collection involved questionnaires and in-depth interviews with school-going adolescents. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Questions Addressed: The study aimed to answer questions about the sources of sexual information among school-going adolescents, the content of sexual information provided, the challenges faced in accessing the information, and the importance of sex education policy implementation. Conclusion: The study concludes that schools are a popular source of sexual information among school-going adolescents in Uganda. However, the content of the information provided is inadequate in addressing the challenges that adolescents face regarding their sexual health. Therefore, policy implementation is essential in strengthening sexual education in the school curriculum and addressing various topics related to sexual health.

Keywords: adolescents, sexual information, schools, reproductive health

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Authors: Linhan Sun

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With the gradual strengthening of China's economic development, more and more people around the world are learning Chinese due to economic and trade needs, which has also promoted the research related to Chinese language education for foreigners. Because the Chinese language system is different from the Western language system, learning Chinese is not easy for many learners. In addition, language learning cannot be separated from the learning and understanding of culture. How to integrate cultural learning into the curriculum of Chinese language education for foreigners is the focus of this study. Through a semi-structured in-depth interview method, 15 foreigners who have studied or are studying Chinese participated in this study. This study found that cultural learning and Chinese as a foreign language are relatively disconnected. In other words, learners were able to acquire a certain degree of knowledge of the Chinese language through textbooks or courses but did not gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.

Keywords: Chinese language education, Chinese culture, qualitative methods, intercultural communication

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Authors: Mohanaad Talal Shakir

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This paper tries to propose educational design by using multimedia technology for Engineering of computer Technology, Alma'ref University College in Iraq. This paper evaluates the acceptance, cognition, and interactiveness of the proposed model by students by using the statistical relationship to determine the stage of the model. Objectives of proposed education design are to develop a user-friendly software for education purposes using multimedia technology and to develop animation for 3D model to simulate assembling and disassembling process of high-speed flow.

Keywords: CAL, multimedia, shock tunnel, interactivity, engineering education

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Authors: Matthew Omoniyi Adebola, Jude E Amadi

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Ground nut (Arachis hypogaea) is one of the most popular commercial crops in Nigeria. Its suc-cessful production has been drastically affected by early leaf spot disease caused by Mycosphae-rella arachidis Deighton. In vitro control of the pathogen by six medicinal plants (Entada afri-cana, Vitex doniana, Lawsonia inermis, Azadirachta indica, Acalypha hispida and Nuaclea lati-folia) was assessed in this study. The extracts of the plants were prepared using cold and hot wa-ter and alcohol. The pathogen was isolated from ground nut infected with early leaf spot disease. The results revealed a great significant difference (P<0.05) in yield of extracts between cold water, hot water, and alcohol extracts. A significant difference (P<0.05) was observed in percentage concentrations of the various phytochemical constituents present in the extracts. Flavonoids per-centage concentration was the highest (0.68 - 1.95%) followed by saponnin(0.09-1.53%) in N. latifolia extracts. Steroiods had the least percentage concentrations (0.00- 0.09%)followed by terpenoids(0.02–0.71%) and proanthocyannin (0.05 – 0.86%). N. latifolia extracts produced the highest percentage concentrations (0.07–1.95%) of all the phytochemicals followed by A. indi-ca(0.05–1.64%)and least concentrations were obtained in A. hispidia(0.09 – 0.87%)and V. do-niana (0.00–0.88%). The extracts inhibited spore germination and growth of M. arachidis. The inhibition by alcohol extracts was high and significantly different (P>0.05) from cold and hot water extracts. Alcohol extract of L. inermis gave 100% spore germination inhibition followed by N. latifolia and A.indica with 97.75% and 85.60% inhibition respectively. Therefore, field trials of these six medicinal plants on the control of early leaf spot disease of ground nut are rec-ommended.

Keywords: groundnut, phytochemicals, medicinal plants, extracts, inhibition

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Authors: Brandy Yee, Dianne Yee

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Through the exploration of the lived experiences, beliefs and values of instructional leaders, teachers and students in Finland, Germany and Canada, we investigated the factors which contribute to developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments for early adolescents. Student-centred leadership dimensions, effective instructional practices and student agency were examined through the lens of current policy and research on middle-level learning environments emerging from the Canadian province of Manitoba. Consideration of these three research perspectives in the context of early adolescent learning, placed against an international backdrop, provided a previously undocumented perspective on leading, teaching and learning in the middle years. Aligning with a social constructivist, qualitative research paradigm, the study incorporated collective case study methodology, along with constructivist grounded theory methods of data analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured individual and focus group interviews and document review, as well as direct and participant observation. Three case study narratives were developed to share the rich stories of study participants, who had been selected using maximum variation and intensity sampling techniques. Interview transcript data were coded using processes from constructivist grounded theory. A cross-case analysis yielded a conceptual framework highlighting key factors that were found to be significant in the establishment of developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments. Seven core categories emerged from the cross-case analysis as common to all three countries. Within the visual conceptual framework (which depicts the interconnected nature of leading, teaching and learning in middle-level learning environments), these seven core categories were grouped into Essential Factors (student agency, voice and choice), Contextual Factors (instructional practices; school culture; engaging families and the community), Synergistic Factors (instructional leadership) and Cornerstone Factors (education as a fundamental cultural value; preservice, in-service and ongoing teacher development). In addition, sub-factors emerged from recurring codes in the data and identified specific characteristics and actions found in developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments. Although this study focused on 12 schools in Finland, Germany and Canada, it informs the practice of educators working with early adolescent learners in middle-level learning environments internationally. The authentic voices of early adolescent learners are the most important resource educators have to gauge if they are creating effective learning environments for their students. Ongoing professional dialogue and learning is essential to ensure teachers are supported in their work and develop the pedagogical practices needed to meet the needs of early adolescent learners. It is critical to balance consistency, coherence and dependability in the school environment with the necessary flexibility in order to support the unique learning needs of early adolescents. Educators must intentionally create a school culture that unites teachers, students and their families in support of a common purpose, as well as nurture positive relationships between the school and its community. A large, urban school district in Canada has implemented a school cohort-based model to begin to bring developmentally responsive, intellectually engaging middle-level learning environments to scale.

Keywords: developmentally responsive learning environments, early adolescents, middle level learning, middle years, instructional leadership, instructional practices, intellectually engaging learning environments, leadership dimensions, student agency

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Authors: Kamen Kirov

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Britain dominated global trade and finance in large part due to its maritime superiority. Germany, a land power, sought to undermine Britain’s position as the primary hegemon but ultimately could not challenge Britain’s maritime position or capabilities. This drove Germany to seek alternative strategies to weaken Britain’s position. Notably, it pushed Germany to create a reliable overland link through the Balkans to the Middle East via railroad. This article will seek to draw parallels between the German-British hegemonic conflict of the early 20th century and the Chinese-American hegemonic conflict taking place today using both secondary historical sources and current scholarly discussions of the changing international sphere. In doing so, it will provide useful insights into how China might attempt to outflank American power. The article will demonstrate that in many ways, the strategic positions and approaches of the early-20th century Germany and modern China are similar. Both countries were faced with a vastly superior foe with respect to maritime and economic power, and in both cases, their response was to undermine their rival hegemon by creating new overland infrastructure. Furthermore, in both cases, a major goal of creating new overland links was to gain further access to and control over Middle Eastern energy markets. It seems that in the modern day, China is conducting such a policy on a much grander scale than Germany did in the early 20th century—which may result in negative consequences for the US strategic position.

Keywords: belt and road Initiative, hegemonic conflict, maritime power, realism

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Authors: Abel Olusegun Egunjobi, Olusegun Oyeleye Adesanya

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Teaching effectiveness of lecturers in a tertiary institution in Nigeria is one of the determinants of the lecturer’s productivity. In this study, therefore, lecturers’ teaching effectiveness was examined vis-à-vis their multimedia technologies utilisation in Colleges of Education (CoE) in South-West, Nigeria. This is for the purpose of ascertaining the relationship and contribution of multimedia technologies utilisation to lecturers’ teaching effectiveness in Nigerian colleges of education. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study, while a multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the study. A stratified sampling technique was used to select colleges of education, and a simple random sampling method was employed to select lecturers from the selected colleges of education. A total of 862 lecturers (627 males and 235 females) were selected from the colleges of education used for the study. The instrument used was lecturers’ questionnaire on multimedia technologies utilisation and teaching effectiveness with a reliability coefficient of 0.85 at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and t-test. The findings showed that the level of multimedia technologies utilisation in colleges of education was low, whereas lecturers’ teaching effectiveness was high. Findings also revealed that the lecturers used multimedia technologies purposely for personal and professional developments, so also for up to date news on economic and political matters. Also, findings indicated that laptop, Ipad, CD-ROMs, and computer instructional software were the multimedia technologies frequently utilised by the lecturers. There was also a significant difference in the teaching effectiveness between lecturers in the Federal and State COE. The government should, therefore, make adequate provision for multimedia technologies in the COE in Nigeria for lecturers’ utilisation in their instructions so as to boost their students’ learning outcomes.

Keywords: colleges of education, lecturers’ teaching effectiveness, multimedia technologies utilisation, Southwest Nigeria

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Authors: Kazeem Ajasa Badmus, Zulkifli Idrus, Goh Yong Meng, Kamalludin Mamat-Hamidi

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This study was aimed at evaluating the roles played by early age in performance, organs weights, meat quality traits, and telomere length integrity. One hundred male Cobb 500® broiler chickens were grouped into ten replicates of ten chickens each. Growth performance, measurement of telomere length, weights of organs, and meat quality traits were determined on days 14, 28, and 42 of the experiment. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences obtained in the chicken growth performance across ages. Telomere length of blood, muscle, liver, and heart on day 14 were significantly (p < 0.05) shorter than telomere length obtained on days 28 and 42 of the age. Weights of organs on day 14 were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those obtained on days 28 and 42. In this study, birds slaughtered on day 14 presented the highest (p < 0.05) pH, drip loss, redness, and yellowness. They, however, showed lower (p < 0.05) cooking loss, shear force, and lightness. There was a significant association between age, telomere length, and meat quality traits. It is therefore concluded that telomere length attrition is associated with early age metabolic activities and could be used to measure chicks' welfare.

Keywords: age, telomere length, organ weights, meat quality

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Authors: Joanne Haddad

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The distinctive traits of early settlers at initial stages of institutional development may be crucial for cultural formation. In 1973, the cultural geographer Wilbur Zelinsky postulated this in his doctrine of “first effective settlement”. There is however little empirical evidence supporting the role of early settlers in shaping culture over the long run. This paper tests this hypothesis by relating early settlers’ culture to within state variation in gender norms in the United States. Settlers’ culture is captured using past female labor force participation, women’s suffrage, and financial rights at their place of origin. The paper documents the distinctive characteristics of settlers’ populations and provide suggestive evidence in support of the transmission of gender norms across space and time. Results from this analysis show that women’s labor supply is higher, in both the short and long run, in U.S. counties that historically hosted a larger settler population originating from places with favorable gender attitudes. Findings from this study shed new light on the importance of the characteristics of immigrants and their place of origin for cultural formation in hosting societies.

Keywords: female labor force participation, settlers, gender norms, cultural formation.

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Authors: E. Irankhah, M. Zarif, E. Mazrooei Rad, K. Ghandehari

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Alzheimer's prevalence is on the rise, and the disease comes with problems like cessation of treatment, high cost of treatment, and the lack of early detection methods. The pathology of this disease causes the formation of protein deposits in the brain of patients called plaque amyloid. Generally, the diagnosis of this disease is done by performing tests such as a cerebrospinal fluid, CT scan, MRI, and spinal cord fluid testing, or mental testing tests and eye tracing tests. In this paper, we tried to use the Medial Temporal Atrophy (MTA) method and the Leave One Out (LOO) cycle to extract the statistical properties of the three Fz, Pz, and Cz channels of ERP signals for early diagnosis of this disease. In the process of CT scan images, the accuracy of the results is 81% for the healthy person and 88% for the severe patient. After the process of ERP signaling, the accuracy of the results for a healthy person in the delta band in the Cz channel is 81% and in the alpha band the Pz channel is 90%. In the results obtained from the signal processing, the results of the severe patient in the delta band of the Cz channel were 89% and in the alpha band Pz channel 92%.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, image and signal processing, LOO cycle, medial temporal atrophy

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Authors: Tatiani D. Mousoura

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Specific learning disability (SLD) in higher education has been partially explored in Greece so far. Moreover, opinions on professional perspectives for university students with SLD, is scarcely encountered in Greek research. The perceptions of the hidden character of SLD along with the university policy towards it and professional perspectives that result from this policy have been examined in the present research. This study has applied the paradigm of a Greek Tertiary Pedagogical Education Department (Early Childhood Education). Via mixed methods, data have been collected from different groups of people in the Pedagogical Department: students with SLD and without SLD, academic staff and administration staff, all of which offer the opportunity for triangulation of the findings. Qualitative methods include ten interviews with students with SLD and 15 interviews with academic staff and 60 hours of observation of the students with SLD. Quantitative methods include 165 questionnaires completed by third and fourth-year students and five questionnaires completed by the administration staff. Thematic analyses of the interviews’ data and descriptive statistics on the questionnaires’ data have been applied for the processing of the results. The use of medical terms to define and understand SLD was common in the student cohort, regardless of them having an SLD diagnosis. However, this medical model approach is far more dominant in the group of students without SLD who, by majority, hold misconceptions on a definitional level. The academic staff group seems to be leaning towards a social approach concerning SLD. According to them, diagnoses may lead to social exclusion. The Pedagogical Department generally endorses the principles of inclusion and complies with the provision of oral exams for students with SLD. Nevertheless, in practice, there seems to be a lack of regular academic support for these students. When such support does exist, it is only through individual initiatives. With regards to their prospective profession, students with SLD can utilize their personal experience, as well as their empathy; these appear to be unique weapons in their hands –in comparison with other educators− when it comes to teaching students in the future. In the Department of Pedagogy, provision towards SLD results sporadic, however the vision of an inclusive department does exist. Based on their studies and their experience, pedagogy students with SLD claim that they have an experiential internalized advantage for their future career as educators.

Keywords: specific learning disability, SLD, dyslexia, pedagogy department, inclusion, professional role of SLDed educators, higher education, university policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Suchana Marahatta, Sabina Bhattarai, Bishnu Hari Paudel, Dilip Thakur

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Background: Every year thousands of patients develop nerve damage and disabilities as a result of leprosy which can be prevented by early detection and treatment. So, early detection and treatment of nerve function impairment is of paramount importance in leprosy. Objectives: To assess the electrophysiological pattern of the peripheral nerves in leprosy patients and to compare it with clinical assessment tools. Materials and Methods: In this comparative cross-sectional study, 74 newly diagnosed leprosy patients without reaction were enrolled. They underwent thorough evaluation for peripheral nerve function impairment using clinical tests [i.e. nerve palpation (NP), monofilament (MF) testing, voluntary muscle testing (VMT)] and nerve conduction study (NCS). Clinical findings were compared with that of NCS using SPSS version 11.5. Results: NCS was impaired in 43.24% of leprosy patient at the baseline. Among them, sensory NCS was impaired in more patients (32.4%) in comparison to motor NCS (20.3%). NP, MF, and VMT were impaired in 58.1%, 25.7%, and 9.4% of the patients, respectively. Maximum concordance of monofilament testing and sensory NCS was found for sural nerve (14.7%). Likewise, the concordance of motor NP and motor NCS was the maximum for ulnar nerve (14.9%). When individual parameters of the NCS were considered, amplitude was found to be the most frequently affected parameter for both sensory and motor NCS. It was impaired in 100% of cases with abnormal NCS findings. Conclusion: Since there was no acceptable concordance between NCS findings and clinical findings, we should consider NCS whenever feasible for early detection of neuropathy in leprosy. The amplitude of both sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) and compound nerve action potential (CAMP) could be important determinants of the abnormal NCS if supported by further studies.

Keywords: leprosy, nerve function impairment, neuropathy, nerve conduction study

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Argyro Maria Skourmalla

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Internationalization and management of linguistic diversity in Higher Education (HE) have gained much attention in research in the last few years. Internationalization policies in HE aims at promoting the dual role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), civilization and competitiveness. In the context of the European Union, the European Education Area initiative aims at “inclusive national education and training systems” through networking and exchange between HEIs. However, the use of English as a ‘lingua academica’ in the place of the official, national, and regional/minority languages raises questions regarding linguistic diversity, linguistic rights and concerns that have to do with the scientific weakening of these languages. In fact, the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism, in the Declaration for Multilingualism in Higher Education, draws attention to the use of English at the expense of other regional/national languages and the impact of English-only language policy on an epistemological level. The above issues were brought up during semi-structured interviews with lecturing staff coming from three multilingual Universities in Europe. Lecturers shared their experiences and the practices they use to manage linguistic diversity in these three Universities. Findings show that even though different languages are used in teaching across disciplines, English -or ‘Globish’ as mentioned during an interview- is widely used in research. Despite English being accepted as the “lingua academica,” issues regarding loss of identity come up

Keywords: higher education, internationalization, linguistic diversity, teaching, research, English

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Authors: Yelba Maria Carrillo

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The focus of this research study was to explore barriers, if any, faced by parents or legal guardians who are of Latinx background and speak Spanish as a primary language or are bilingual speakers of Spanish and English; barriers that limit their understanding of and involvement in their gifted child’s academic life. This study was guided by a qualitative case study design. The primary investigator hosted focus group interviews at a Magnet Middle School in Southern California. The groups consisted of 25 parents, or legal guardians of bilingual (English/Spanish) or former English learner students enrolled in a school serving 6th-8th grades. The primary investigator interviewed Latinx Spanish-speaking parents or legal guardians of gifted students regarding their perception of their child’s giftedness, parental involvement in schools, and fostering their child’s exceptional abilities. Parents and legal guardians described children as creative, intellectual, and highly intelligent. Key themes such as student performance, language proficiency, socio-emotional, and general intellectual ability were strong indicators of giftedness. Barriers such as language and education inhibited parent and legal guardian ability to understand their child’s giftedness, which resulted in their inability to adequately contribute to the development of their children’s talents and advocate for the appropriate services for their children. However, they recognized the importance of being involved in their child’s academic life and the importance of nurturing their ‘dón’ or ‘gift.’ La Familia is the foundation and core of Latinx culture; and, without a strong foundation, children lack guidance, confidence, and awareness to tap into their gifted abilities. Providing Latinx parents with the proper tools and resources to appropriately identify gifted characteristics and traits could lead to early identification and intervention for students in schools and at home.

Keywords: gifted education, gifted Latino students, Latino parent involvement, high ability students

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Authors: Marwa Hanafy

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The objective of linking the museum with school curriculum is to focus on the values and principles of the educational standards of the fourth grade as "equality, cooperation, allegiance, belonging, participation, peace, tolerance, pride and patriotism, etc." through activities, discussion, exhibits, etc., which can help the students to develop their characters and be useful for their society. For example, there is a lesson in Module 3 assess the role of women as mothers and queens, here this research will focus on the value of women and respect them through statues or images of women which support and affect positively on the students who will apply these Morals to themselves and to the community by dependency. It cannot be denied that the students have to be a part of the museum educational programs which have designed for them, by giving them the opportunity to participate, talk, discuss and express their opinions and hear them in the museums, this may be an effective way to confirm that the interests of children are taken into account.

Keywords: museum education, primary school education, school curriculum, informal learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 141