Search results for: teacher’s role
9966 The Role of Social Infrastructure on Entrepreneurship Performance
Authors: Obasan Kehinde
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Social Infrastructure such as transport, telecommunications, energy, water, health, housing, and educational facilities have become part and parcel of human existence and have since been seen as prerequisite for the development of any economy. It is difficult to imagine a modern world without these facilities. Using a survey research design, data was gathered through a multi-stage sampling and a random sampling method from a total of 117 respondents, the study investigates the role of social infrastructure on the performance of entrepreneurs drawn from 10 Local Government Areas across two carefully selected states in the South-West, Nigeria. The data was analyzed using a descriptive statistical analysis and a t-test. The result shows that the impact of social infrastructure on entrepreneur performance is significant at 0.00 level of significant. Thus, this study recommends that entrepreneurs should take note of the social infrastructures available in the environment for the purpose of citing business in order to reduce the cost of production and other business costs.Keywords: social infrastructure, entrepreneur performance, entrepreneurship, business
Procedia PDF Downloads 3989965 Effect of Non-Legume Primary Ecological Successor on Nitrogen Content of Soil
Authors: Vikas Baliram Kalyankar
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Study of ecology is important as it plays role in development of environment engineering. With the advent of technologies the study of ecosystem structure and changes in it are remaining unnoticed. The ecological succession is the sequential replacement of plant species following changes in the environment. The present study depicts the primary ecological succession in an area leveled up to the height of five feet with no signs of plant life on it. The five quadrates of 1 meter square size were observed during the study period of six months. Rain water being the only source of water in the area increased its ecological importance. The primary successor was non- leguminous plant Balonites roxburgii during the peak drought periods in the region of the summer 2013-14. The increased nitrogen content of soil after the plant implied its role in atmospheric nitrogen fixation.Keywords: succession, Balonites roxburgii, non-leguminous plant, ecology
Procedia PDF Downloads 4889964 Balancing Rule of Law, Human Rights and Governance
Authors: Torkan Jabbariraad
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This study explores the role of private regulation as a mode of governance that engages non-state actors in establishing and implementing rules or standards for public goods or services. It examines the various forms, functions, and effects of private regulation on the rule of law and human rights and considers the role and duties of public authorities in monitoring and supporting private regulation. It contends that private regulation should be regarded as a beneficial supplement to public regulation rather than a substitute or rival and that public authorities should find a balance between acknowledging the independence and variety of private actors and securing their accountability and legitimacy. It also recommends that applying the principles and values of good governance to private regulation can improve its quality and efficiency. The study relies on various sources and viewpoints from the literature on governance theory, public law, and human rights and suggests further research and discussion on the topic of private regulation and its consequences for society.Keywords: private regulation, public authority, governance theory, rule of law, human rights
Procedia PDF Downloads 409963 The Role of Public Education in Increasing Public Awareness through Mass Media with Emphasis on Newspapers and TV: Coping with Possible Earthquake in Tehran
Authors: Naser Charkhsaz, Ashraf Sadat Mousavi, Navvab Shamspour
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This study aimed to evaluate the role of state education in increasing public awareness through mass media (with emphasis on newspapers and TV) coping with possible earthquake in Tehran. All residents aged 15 to 65 who live in the five regions of Tehran (North, South, East, West and Center) during the plan implementation were selected and studied. The required sample size in each region was calculated based on the Cochran formula (n=380). In order to collect and analyze the data, a questionnaire with reliability (82%) and a one-sample t-test has been used, respectively. The results showed that warnings related to the Tehran earthquake affected people in the pre-contemplation stage, while public education through mass media did not promote public awareness about prevention, preparedness and rehabilitation.Keywords: media, disaster, knowledge, Iranian Red Crescent society
Procedia PDF Downloads 3189962 Comparative Study of Properties of Iranian Historical Gardens by Focusing on Climate
Authors: Malihe Ahmadi
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Nowadays, stress, tension and neural problems are among the most important concerns of the present age. The environment plays key role on improving mental health and reducing stress of citizens. Establishing balance and appropriate relationship between city and natural environment is of the most important approaches of present century. Type of approach and logical planning for urban green spaces as one of the basic sections of integration with nature, not only plays key role on quality and efficiency of comprehensive urban planning; but also it increases the system of distributing social activities and happiness and lively property of urban environments that leads to permanent urban development. The main purpose of recovering urban identity is considering culture, history and human life style in past. This is a documentary-library research that evaluates the historical properties of Iranian gardens in compliance with climate condition. Results of this research reveal that in addition to following Iranian gardens from common principles of land lot, structure of flowers and plants, water, specific buildings during different ages, the role of climate at different urban areas is among the basics of determining method of designing green spaces and different buildings located at diverse areas i.e. Iranian gardens are a space for merging natural and artificial elements that has inseparable connection with semantic principles and guarantees different functions. Some of the necessities of designing present urban gardens are including: recognition and recreation.Keywords: historical gardens, climate, properties of Iranian gardens, Iran
Procedia PDF Downloads 3979961 Going Viral: Constructively Aligning the Use of Digital Video to Effectively Support Faculty Development
Authors: Samuel Olugbenga King
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This review article, which is a synthesis of the relevant research literature, focuses on the capabilities of digital video to support, facilitate and enhance faculty development. Based on the literature review, faculty development (i.e., academic or educational development) requires the continued adoption of cohesive, theoretical frameworks to guide research and practice; incorporation of relevant tools from analogous fields, such as teacher professional development; systematic program evaluations; and detailed descriptions of practice to further practice and creative development. A cohesive, five-heuristic framework is subsequently outlined to inform the design and evaluation of the use of digital video, so as to address the barriers to advancing faculty development, as identified through the literature review. Alternative impact evaluation approaches are also described, while the limitations of using digital video for faculty development are highlighted. This paper is therefore conceived as one way to meaningfully leverage the educational affordances of digital video to address some lingering gaps in faculty development.Keywords: digital video, faculty/educational development, evaluation, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
Procedia PDF Downloads 3529960 Measurement and Evaluation Patterns Practiced by Physical Education Teachers in North Badia in Jordan
Authors: Aman Kasawneh, Wasfi Khazalah, Abedalbasit Abedalhafiz
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This study aimed to identify the patterns of measurement and evaluation practiced by physical education in the schools of North Badia in Jordan, as well as identifying the statistical differences according to gender, educational qualification, and the experience. The sample consisted of 118 physical education teachers 58 males and 60 females chosen randomly from the schools of North Badia in Jordan. The completed a questionnaire developed by the researchers after verifying its validity and reliability. The results indicated a clear weakness in the practice of measurement and evaluation patterns by physical education teachers. Also no significant differences were found between male and female teachers, however, significant differences were found between bachelor degree holders and their counter parts and between teachers with less than eight years of experience. The researchers recommended the necessity of preparing the P.E teachers regarding the patterns of measurement and evaluation within the sport field as one of the essentials for improving and developing physical education at schools.Keywords: evaluation, measurement, evaluation, physical education teacher, Jordanian
Procedia PDF Downloads 4609959 IT Investment Decision Making: Case Studies on the Implementation of Contactless Payments in Commercial Banks of Kazakhstan
Authors: Symbat Moldabekova
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This research explores the practice of decision-making in commercial banks in Kazakhstan. It focuses on recent technologies, such as contactless payments and QR code, and uses interviews with bank executives and industry practitioners to gain an understanding of how decisions are made and the role of financial assessment methods. The aim of the research is (1) to study the importance of financial techniques to evaluate IT investments; (2) to understand the role of different expert groups; (3) to explore how market trends and industry features affect decisions on IT; (4) to build a model that defines the real practice of decision-making on IT in commercial banks in Kazakhstan. The theoretical framework suggests that decision-making on IT is a socially constructed process, where actor groups with different background interact and negotiate with each other to develop a shared understanding of IT and to make more effective decisions. Theory and observations suggest that the more parties involved in the process of decision-making, the higher the possibility of disagreements between them. As each actor group has their views on the rational decision on an IT project, it is worth exploring how the final decision is made in practice. Initial findings show that the financial assessment methods are used as a guideline and do not play a big role in the final decision. The commercial banks of Kazakhstan tend to study experience of neighboring countries before adopting innovation. Implementing contactless payments is widely regarded as pinnacle success factor due to increasing competition in the market. First-to-market innovations are considered as priorities therefore, such decisions can be made with exemption of some certain actor groups from the process. Customers play significant role and they participate in testing demo versions of the products before bringing innovation to the market. The study will identify the viewpoints of actors in the banking sector on a rational decision, and the ways decision-makers from a variety of disciplines interact with each other in order to make a decision on IT in retail banks.Keywords: actor groups, decision making, technology investment, retail banks
Procedia PDF Downloads 1229958 Elevating Environmental Impact Assessment through Remote Sensing in Engineering
Authors: Spoorthi Srupad
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Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) stands as a critical engineering application facilitated by Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing. Employing advanced technologies, this process enables a systematic evaluation of potential environmental impacts arising from engineering projects. Remote sensing techniques, including satellite imagery and geographic information systems (GIS), play a pivotal role in providing comprehensive data for assessing changes in land cover, vegetation, water bodies, and air quality. This abstract delves into the significance of EIA in engineering, emphasizing its role in ensuring sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. The integration of remote sensing technologies enhances the accuracy and efficiency of impact assessments, contributing to informed decision-making and the mitigation of adverse environmental consequences associated with engineering endeavors.Keywords: environmental impact assessment, engineering applications, sustainability, environmental monitoring, remote sensing, geographic information systems, environmental management
Procedia PDF Downloads 929957 How to Evaluate the Contribution of Social Finance to Regional Economy
Authors: Jungeun Cho
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Social finance has received increasing attention as a means to promote the growth of regional economies. Despite the plenty of research discussed their critical role and functions in regional economic development such as the financing and promotion of co-operatives or social enterprises and the offering credit to the financially excluded in the region, however, rarely are efforts made to measure the contribution of social finance in the regional economy. It is essential to establish an evaluation model in order to encourage social finance institutions to perform their supposed role and functions on regional economic development. The objective of this paper is to formulate an evaluation model of the contribution of social finance to the regional economy through an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach. This study is expected to provide useful guidelines for social finance institutions’ strategies and the policies of local or central government regarding social finance.Keywords: social finance, regional economy, social economy, policies of local or central government
Procedia PDF Downloads 4339956 Effect of Elastic Modulus Varieties on Helical Pile Behavior in Sand
Authors: Javad Shamsi Soosahab, Reza Ziaie Moayed
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The compressive and tensile bearing capacity of helical piles in sand is investigated by means of numerical modeling. The analyses are carried out using two-dimensional finite-element software, Optum G2. The load–displacement behavior under compression and tension is compared in different relative densities for constant and various elastic modulus. The criterion used to find the ultimate axial load is the load corresponding to 5% of the helical diameter. The results show that relative density of sand plays an essential role in the response of ultimate capacities towards various condition. Increase in elastic modulus with depth is found to play a relatively more significant role to the increase in ultimate compressive load capacities, however tension bearing capacity decreases.Keywords: helical piles, Optum G2, relative density, constant and various elastic modulus
Procedia PDF Downloads 1519955 Innovations in Teaching
Authors: Dilek Turan Eroğlu
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Educators have been searching the more effective and appalling methods of teaching for ages. It has always been an issue among the teachers and scientists to improve the quality of education and to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to learn. However, when it comes to the effective ways of learning,the learners are exposed to the ways which are chosen and approved to be effective by their teachers not by the learners themselves. This is the main problem of this study as the learners are not always happy to be in their classes being treated with their teachers’ favourite styles. This paper is telling the results of a study which has been conducted with the university students in Turkey. The students have been interviewed and asked to respond some questions related to best practices to find out their favourite styles, medium, techniques and strategies. The study has been conducted using qualitative research methods i.e one to one interviews and group discussions. The results show that the learners have significantly different views than the educators when it comes to modern teaching styles. Their definition of the term “modern teaching styles” is different than the general understanding. The university students expect their teachers to be “early adopter”. of ICT tools and or the other electronic devices, but a modern teacher must have many other characteristics for them.Keywords: effective, innovation, teaching, modern teaching styles
Procedia PDF Downloads 3449954 A Flipped Learning Experience in an Introductory Course of Information and Communication Technology in Two Bachelor's Degrees: Combining the Best of Online and Face-to-Face Teaching
Authors: Begona del Pino, Beatriz Prieto, Alberto Prieto
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Two opposite approaches to teaching can be considered: in-class learning (teacher-oriented) versus virtual learning (student-oriented). The most known example of the latter is Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). Both methodologies have pros and cons. Nowadays there is an increasing trend towards combining both of them. Blending learning is considered a valuable tool for improving learning since it combines student-centred interactive e-learning and face to face instruction. The aim of this contribution is to exchange and share the experience and research results of a blended-learning project that took place in the University of Granada (Spain). The research objective was to prove how combining didactic resources of a MOOC with in-class teaching, interacting directly with students, can substantially improve academic results, as well as student acceptance. The proposed methodology is based on the use of flipped learning technics applied to the subject ‘Fundamentals of Computer Science’ of the first course of two degrees: Telecommunications Engineering, and Industrial Electronics. In this proposal, students acquire the theoretical knowledges at home through a MOOC platform, where they watch video-lectures, do self-evaluation tests, and use other academic multimedia online resources. Afterwards, they have to attend to in-class teaching where they do other activities in order to interact with teachers and the rest of students (discussing of the videos, solving of doubts and practical exercises, etc.), trying to overcome the disadvantages of self-regulated learning. The results are obtained through the grades of the students and their assessment of the blended experience, based on an opinion survey conducted at the end of the course. The major findings of the study are the following: The percentage of students passing the subject has grown from 53% (average from 2011 to 2014 using traditional learning methodology) to 76% (average from 2015 to 2018 using blended methodology). The average grade has improved from 5.20±1.99 to 6.38±1.66. The results of the opinion survey indicate that most students preferred blended methodology to traditional approaches, and positively valued both courses. In fact, 69% of students felt ‘quite’ or ‘very’ satisfied with the classroom activities; 65% of students preferred the flipped classroom methodology to traditional in-class lectures, and finally, 79% said they were ‘quite’ or ‘very’ satisfied with the course in general. The main conclusions of the experience are the improvement in academic results, as well as the highly satisfactory assessments obtained in the opinion surveys. The results confirm the huge potential of combining MOOCs in formal undergraduate studies with on-campus learning activities. Nevertheless, the results in terms of students’ participation and follow-up have a wide margin for improvement. The method is highly demanding for both students and teachers. As a recommendation, students must perform the assigned tasks with perseverance, every week, in order to take advantage of the face-to-face classes. This perseverance is precisely what needs to be promoted among students because it clearly brings about an improvement in learning.Keywords: blended learning, educational paradigm, flipped classroom, flipped learning technologies, lessons learned, massive online open course, MOOC, teacher roles through technology
Procedia PDF Downloads 1809953 Meaningful Habit for EFL Learners
Authors: Ana Maghfiroh
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Learning a foreign language needs a big effort from the learner itself to make their language ability grows better day by day. Among those, they also need a support from all around them including teacher, friends, as well as activities which support them to speak the language. When those activities developed well as a habit which are done regularly, it will help improving the students’ language competence. It was a qualitative research which aimed to find out and describe some activities implemented in Pesantren Al Mawaddah, Ponorogo, in order to teach the students a foreign language. In collecting the data, the researcher used interview, questionnaire, and documentation. From the study, it was found that Pesantren Al Mawaddah had successfully built the language habit on the students to speak the target language. More than 15 hours a day students were compelled to speak foreign language, Arabic or English, in turn. It aimed to habituate the students to keep in touch with the target language. The habit was developed through daily language activities, such as dawn vocabs giving, dictionary handling, daily language use, speech training and language intensive course, daily language input, and night vocabs memorizing. That habit then developed the students awareness towards the language learned as well as promoted their language mastery.Keywords: habit, communicative competence, daily language activities, Pesantren
Procedia PDF Downloads 5399952 Using Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) Project-Based Learning Programs to Transition towards Whole School Pedagogical Shift
Authors: M. Richichi
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Evidencing the learning and developmental needs of students in specific educational institutions is central to determining the type of whole school pedagogical shift required. Initiating this transition by designing and implementing STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) project-based learning opportunities, in collaboration with industry, exposes teachers to new pedagogical and assessment practices. This experience instills confidence and a renewed sense of energy, which contributes to greater efficacy. Championing teachers in such learning environments leads to “bleeding” of inventive pedagogical understanding and skills as well as motivation. This contributes positively to collective teacher efficacy and the transition towards more cross-disciplinary initiatives and opportunities, and hence an innovative pedagogical shift. Evidence of skill and knowledge development in students, combined with greater confidence, work ethic and interest in STEAM areas, are further indicators of the success of the transitioning process.Keywords: efficacy, pedagogy, transition, STEAM
Procedia PDF Downloads 1299951 The Role of Androgens in Prediction of Success in Smoking Cessation in Women
Authors: Michaela Dušková, Kateřina Šimůnková, Martin Hill, Hana Hruškovičová, Hana Pospíšilová, Eva Králíková, Luboslav Stárka
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Smoking represents the most widespread substance dependence in the world. Several studies show the nicotine's ability to alter women hormonal homeostasis. Women smokers have higher testosterone and lower estradiol levels throughout life compared to non-smoker women. We monitored the effect of smoking discontinuation on steroid spectrum with 40 premenopausal and 60 postmenopausal women smokers. These women had been examined before they discontinued smoking and also after 6, 12, 24, and 48 weeks of abstinence. At each examination, blood was collected to determine steroid spectrum (measured by GC-MS), LH, FSH, and SHBG (measured by IRMA). Repeated measures ANOVA model was used for evaluation of the data. The study has been approved by the local Ethics Committee. Given the small number of premenopausal women who endured not to smoke, only the first 6 week period data could be analyzed. A slight increase in androgens after the smoking discontinuation occurred. In postmenopausal women, an increase in testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and other androgens occurred, too. Nicotine replacement therapy, weight changes, and age does not play any role in the androgen level increase. The higher androgens levels correlated with failure in smoking cessation. Women smokers have higher androgen levels, which might play a role in smoking dependence development. Women successful in smoking cessation, compared to the non-successful ones, have lower androgen levels initially and also after smoking discontinuation. The question is what androgen levels women have before they start smoking.Keywords: addiction, smoking, cessation, androgens
Procedia PDF Downloads 3819950 Elderly for Elderly: The Role of Community Volunteer, a Case Study from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Kesennuma, Japan
Authors: Kensuke Otsuyama
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The United Nation World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, Japan, in 2015 and priorities for actions until 2030 were adopted for the next 15 years. Although one of these priorities is to ‘build back better’, there is neither a consensus definition of better recovery, nor indicators to measure better recovery. However, the community is considered as a key driver of recovery nowadays, and participation is a key word for effective recovery. In order to understand more about participatory community recovery, the author investigated recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) in Kesennuma, a severely affected city. The research sought to: 1) Identify the elements that contribute to better recovery at the community level, and 2) analyze the role of community volunteers for disaster risk reduction for better recovery. A Participatory Community Recovery Index (PCRI) was created as a tool to measure community recovery. The index adopts seven primary indicators and 20 tertiary indicators, including: socio-economic aspect, housing, health, environment, self-organization, transformation, and institution. The index was applied to nine districts in Kesennuma city. Secondary and primary data by questionnaire surveys with local residents’ organization leaders and interviews with crisis management department officials in city government were also obtained. The indicator results were transformed into scores among 1 to 5, and the results were shown for each district. Based on the result of PCRI, it was found that the s Local Social Welfare Council played an important role in facilitating better recovery, enhancing community volunteer involvement to allow elderly residents to initiate local volunteer work for more affected single-living elderly people. Volunteers for the elderly by the elderly played a crucial role to strengthen community bonding in Kesennuma. In this research, the potential of community volunteers and inter-linkage with DRR activities are discussed.Keywords: recovery, participation, the great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, community volunteers
Procedia PDF Downloads 2669949 Perceived Effects of Work-Family Balance on Employee’s Job Satisfaction among Extension Agents in Southwest Nigeria
Authors: B. G. Abiona, A. A. Onaseso, T. D. Odetayo, J. Yila, O. E. Fapojuwo, K. G. Adeosun
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This study determines the perceived effects of work-family balance on employees’ job satisfaction among Extension Agents in the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 256 respondents for the study. Data on personal characteristics, work-family balance domain, and job satisfaction were collected. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), multiple linear regression, and Student T-test. Results revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 40 years; the majority (59.3%) of the respondents were male, and slightly above half (51.6%) of the respondents had MSc as their highest academic qualification. Findings revealed that turnover intention (x ̅ = 3.20) and work-role conflict (x ̅ = 3.06) were the major perceived work-family balance domain in the studied areas. Further, the result showed that the respondents have a high (79%) level of job satisfaction. Multiple linear regression revealed that job involvement (ß=0.167, p<0.01) and work-role conflict (ß= -0.221, p<0.05) contributed significantly to employees’ level of job satisfaction. The results of the Student T-test revealed a significant difference in the perceived work-family balance domain (t = 0.43, p<0.05) between the two studied areas. The study concluded that work-role conflict among employees causes work-family imbalance and, therefore, negatively affects employees’ job satisfaction. The definition of job design among the respondents that will create a balance between work and family is highly recommended.Keywords: work-life, conflict, job satisfaction, extension agent
Procedia PDF Downloads 949948 The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Achieving Competitive Advantage
Authors: Malki Fatima Zahra Nadia, Kellal Chaimaa, Brahimi Houria
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The world has undergone a big dramatic transformations as a result of the liberalization of the economy. Which lead to intensity of competition between economic institutions under the slogan “ Survival of the fittest”.in the line with these changes, it is imperative for Organizations to adopt the philosophy of applying ICT in the era of globalization in order to survive and sustain in the local and international markets.and even the Algerian economic institutions are concerned in what witnessed by the international institutions,especially after Algeria adopted the policy of trade openness.And from this point, it was the start of the study, that aims at identifying the role of ICT in achieving competitive advantage in the economic institutions according to an analytical study of Mobilis Telecom in Algeria city, and then the analysis of the results by SPSS edition 24.To sum up, i have come to the conclusion that ICT has effectively contributed to the achievement of competitive advantage, and that the value of organizations today lies in the extent to which they use ICT’s which make it gain speed, efficiency, and the quality of its operations especially in the competitive competition.Keywords: ICT, company, competitive advantage, competitive strategie
Procedia PDF Downloads 639947 The Role of Information and Communication Technology to Enhance Transparency in Public Funds Management in the DR Congo
Authors: Itulelo Matiyabu Imaja, Manoj Maharaj, Patrick Ndayizigamiye
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Lack of transparency in public funds management is observed in many African countries. The DR Congo is among the most corrupted countries in Africa, and this is due mainly to lack of transparency and accountability in public funds management. Corruption has a negative effect on the welfare of the country’s citizens and the national economic growth. Public funds collection and allocation are the major areas whereby malpractices such as bribe, extortion, embezzlement, nepotism and other practices related to corruption are prevalent. Hence, there is a need to implement strong mechanisms to enforce transparency in public funds management. Many researchers have suggested some control mechanisms in curbing corruption in public funds management focusing mainly on law enforcement and administrative reforms with little or no insight on the role that ICT can play in preventing and curbing the corrupt behaviour. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there are slight indications that the government of the DR Congo is integrating ICT to fight corruption in public funds collection and allocation. However, such government initiatives are at an infancy stage, with no tangible evidence on how ICT could be used effectively to address the issue of corruption in the context of the country. Hence, this research assesses the role that ICT can play for transparency in public funds management and suggest a framework for its adoption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This research uses the revised Capability model (Capability, Empowerment, Sustainability model) as the guiding theoretical framework. The study uses the exploratory design methodology coupled with a qualitative approach to data collection and purposive sampling as sampling strategy.Keywords: corruption, DR congo, ICT, management, public funds, transparency
Procedia PDF Downloads 3499946 Determination of the Content of Teachers’ Presentism through a Web-Based Delphi Method
Authors: Tsai-Hsiu Lin
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Presentism is one of the orientations of teachers’ teaching culture. However, there are few researchers to explore it in Taiwan. The objective of this study is to establish an expert-based determination of the content of teachers’ presentism in Taiwan. The author reviewed the works of Jackson, Lortie, and Hargreaves and employed Hargreaves’ three forms of teachers’ presentism as a framework to design the questionnaire of this study. The questionnaire of teachers’ presentism comprised of 42 statements. A three-round web-based Delphi survey was proposed to 14 participants (two teacher educators, two educational administrators, three school principals, and seven schoolteachers), 13 participants (92.86%) completed the three-rounds of the study. The participants were invited to indicate the importance of each statement. The Delphi study used means and standard deviation to present information concerning the collective judgments of respondents. Finally, the author obtained consensual results for 67% (28/42). However, the outcome of this study could be the result of identifying a series of general statements rather than an in-depth exposition of the topic.Keywords: Delphi Method, Teachers’ Presentism, Sociology of Teaching, Teaching Culture
Procedia PDF Downloads 2239945 The Future of Truth and Lies in the Context of Technology-Mediated Environments
Authors: James P. Takona
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Most of the global population has never lived through a pandemic, and thus there is so much that remains unknown about students' capacity for resiliency under such environments and circumstances and what a timeline for full recovery will look like. The session will guide participants to focus on misinformation and disinformation in the context of recent crisis events, with specific reference to how information flows across. Particular focus will be given to the flow of information in mediated technology and platforms with particular reference to K-12 and teacher preparation program environments. The paper will draw on theories and responses from the sociology of disaster, the social psychology of rumoring, and published studies on disinformation and misinformation. Applications will be identified and applied in the context of online information-sharing during crisis events. The session will offer the application of the Center for Contagious Diseases' Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model to understand the themes and evolution of misinformation and disinformation. The paper will invite session participants to suggest and interact with raised challenges on the impact of dis-and misinformation.Keywords: Sociology of disaster, misinformation, dis-information, Social Psychology of rumors
Procedia PDF Downloads 899944 Policy Analysis on Family Planning in Pakistan: Providing Options to Improve Service Provision
Authors: M. Moiz
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Family planning has been known and accepted as a key tool to decrease fertility, provides birth spacing and plays a vital role to attain better outcomes for maternal and child health. Pakistan initiated various family planning programs to preserve maternal and child health for six decades. However, less contraceptive use leading to high fertility and low birth spacing is ultimately a risk for increasing morbidity and mortality. As an outcome of 2012 London Summit on Family Planning where 20 countries including Pakistan made its commitment to increase contraceptive prevalence rate by 55% and provide a universal access to reproductive health to protect human rights of women and ensure safe, choice informed and affordable contraceptives throughout the country. This paper will assess some of the factors of service delivery, coverage and the role of Ministry of Health and Population Welfare Department in providing Family Planning services and how it can be improved in Pakistan. In view of Pakistan Demographic Health Survey 2017-18, there are total nine million potential users of contraceptives and one third among them never used with unmet need while every fifth pregnancy ends into abortion indicates need for Family Planning services. In order to explain this concern, a comprehensive analysis has been done on role of governance in implementing family planning policy and its limitations are discussed. Moreover, this paper highlights policy options and recommendations for improving service provision through public and private sector in creating demand for Family Planning services in Pakistan.Keywords: contraceptive prevalence rate, family planning, maternal and child health, policy options
Procedia PDF Downloads 1649943 Sociolinguistics and Language Change
Authors: Banazzouz Halima
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Throughout the ages, language has been viewed not only as a simple code of communicating information but rather as the most powerful and versatile medium of maintaining relationships with other people. While,by the end of the 18th century, such matters of scientific investigation concerning the study of human language began to occur under the scope of “Linguistics” generally defined as the scientific study of language. Linguistics, thus, provides a growing body of scientific knowledge about language which can guide the activity of the language teacher and student as well. Moreover,as times passed, the linguistic development engaged language in a broadly practiced academic discipline having relationship with other sciences such as: psychology, sociology, anthropology etc. Therefore, “Sociolinguistics” was given birth during the 1960’s. In fact, the given abstract is mainly linguistic, inserted under the scope of “Sociolinguistics” and by far it highlights on the process of linguistic variation and language change to show that all languages change through time and linguistic systems may vary from one speech community to another providing there is a sense of vitality where people of different parts of the globe may mutually and intelligibly communicate and comprehend each other.Keywords: language change-sociolinguistics, social context-speech community, vitality of language, linguistic variation, urban dialectology, urban dialectology
Procedia PDF Downloads 6289942 Institional Logics and Individual Actors: What Can an Organizational Change Agent Do?
Authors: Miraç Savaş Turhan, Ali Danışman
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New institutional theorists in organization theory have used institutional logics perspective to explain the contradictory practices in modern western societies. Accordingly, distinct institutional logics are embedded in central institutions such as the market, state, democracy, family, and religion. Individual and organizational actors and their practices are restricted and guided by institutional logics in a particular field. Through this perspective, actors are assumed to have a situated, embedded, boundedly intentional, and adaptive role against the structure in social, cultural and political context. Since the early 1990's, increasing number of studies has attempted to explain the role of actors in creating, maintaining, and changing institutions. Yet, most of these studies have focused on organizational field-level actors, ignoring the role that can be played by individual actors within organizations. As a result, we have much information about what organizational field level actors can do, but relatively little knowledge about the ability of organizational change agents within organization in relation to institutional orders. This study is an attempt to find out how the ability of individual actors who attempt to change their organization is constrained and shaped by institutional logics dominating the field. We examine this issue in a private school in the Turkish Education field. We first describe dominating institutional logics in the Turkish Education field. Then we conducted in-depth interviews and content analysis in the school. The early results indicate that attempts and actions of organizational change agents are remarkably directed and shaped by the dominating institutional logics in the Turkish Education field.Keywords: Institutional logics, individual actors, organizational change, organizational change agent
Procedia PDF Downloads 3959941 Selective Effect of Occipital Alpha Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in Perception and Working Memory
Authors: Andreina Giustiniani, Massimiliano Oliveri
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Rhythmic activity in different frequencies could subserve distinct functional roles during visual perception and visual mental imagery. In particular, alpha band activity is thought to play a role in active inhibition of both task-irrelevant regions and processing of non-relevant information. In the present blind placebo-controlled study we applied alpha transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) in the occipital cortex both during a basic visual perception and a visual working memory task. To understand if the role of alpha is more related to a general inhibition of distractors or to an inhibition of task-irrelevant regions, we added a non visual distraction to both the tasks.Sixteen adult volunteers performed both a simple perception and a working memory task during 10 Hz tACS. The electrodes were placed over the left and right occipital cortex, the current intensity was 1 mA peak-to-baseline. Sham stimulation was chosen as control condition and in order to elicit the skin sensation similar to the real stimulation, electrical stimulation was applied for short periods (30 s) at the beginning of the session and then turned off. The tasks were split in two sets, in one set distracters were included and in the other set, there were no distracters. Motor interference was added by changing the answer key after subjects completed the first set of trials.The results show that alpha tACS improves working memory only when no motor distracters are added, suggesting a role of alpha tACS in inhibiting non-relevant regions rather than in a general inhibition of distractors. Additionally, we found that alpha tACS does not affect accuracy and hit rates during the visual perception task. These results suggest that alpha activity in the occipital cortex plays a different role in perception and working memory and it could optimize performance in tasks in which attention is internally directed, as in this working memory paradigm, but only when there is not motor distraction. Moreover, alpha tACS improves working memory performance by means of inhibition of task-irrelevant regions while it does not affect perception.Keywords: alpha activity, interference, perception, working memory
Procedia PDF Downloads 2569940 Flying Women in Chinese Folklore – Male Narrator’s Rejection of Gender Role Division in Patriarchal Societies
Authors: Emma H. Zhang
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In Women Who Fly (2018), Serinity Young connects tales and legends of flying women in Greco-Roman, Indo-European, Mesopotamian, and Asian cultures with ancient matriarchal bird goddesses and argues that tales of flying women are reminiscent of the rituals and rites related to the worship of goddesses in pre-patriarchal times and that flying women, including swan maidens, harpies, fairies, and witches are “abnormal women” because they reject patriarchal order, defy, and desert their domestic roles. Tales of flying women in Chinese folklore, exemplified by the story of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, replicated in countless tales that depicts the courtship between a mortal man and a divine or magical woman suggest otherwise. In these tales, the divine woman exhibits idealized Confucian femininity and fulfills the needs of the male protagonist by providing him with marriage, children, social status, and financial affluence. This paper argues that the flying women in Chinese folklores are not a symbol of defiance but are exemplars that embodyideal Confucian femininity. These tales are instead a reflection of male rejection of gender division in patriarchal societies. The male protagonists, like the male storytellers, reject the necessity to pursue and provide for women in courtship and marriage. Though these tales show their authors’ and readers’ discontent with gender role division, they do not subvert the patriarchal social order but rather offers an escape through fantasy.Keywords: bird goddess, folklore, gender role division, patriarchy
Procedia PDF Downloads 1659939 Social Media as a Distribution Channel for Thailand’s Rice Berry Product
Authors: Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom, Wannapong Waiyawuththanapoom, Pimploi Tirastittam
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Nowadays, it is a globalization era which social media plays an important role to the lifestyle as an information source, tools to connect people together and etc. This research is object to find out about the significant level of the social media as a distribution channel to the agriculture product of Thailand. In this research, the agriculture product is the Rice Berry which is the cross-bred unmilled rice producing dark violet grain, is a combination of Hom Nin Rice and Thai Jasmine/ Fragrant Rice 105. Rice Berry has a very high nutrition and nice aroma so the product is in the growth stage of the product cycle. The problem for the Rice Berry product in Thailand is the production and the distribution channel. This study is to confirm that the social media is another option as the distribution channel for the product which is not a mass production product. This will be the role model for the other niche market product to select the distribution channel.Keywords: distribution, social media, rice berry, distribution channel
Procedia PDF Downloads 4389938 Artificial Intelligence and Police
Authors: Mehrnoosh Abouzari
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Artificial intelligence has covered all areas of human life and has helped or replaced many jobs. One of the areas of application of artificial intelligence in the police is to detect crime, identify the accused or victim and prove the crime. It will play an effective role in implementing preventive justice and creating security in the community, and improving judicial decisions. This will help improve the performance of the police, increase the accuracy of criminal investigations, and play an effective role in preventing crime and high-risk behaviors in society. This article presents and analyzes the capabilities and capacities of artificial intelligence in police and similar examples used worldwide to prove the necessity of using artificial intelligence in the police. The main topics discussed include the performance of artificial intelligence in crime detection and prediction, the risk capacity of criminals and the ability to apply arbitray institutions, and the introduction of artificial intelligence programs implemented worldwide in the field of criminal investigation for police.Keywords: police, artificial intelligence, forecasting, prevention, software
Procedia PDF Downloads 2069937 Self-Determination Needs, Coping Strategies and Quality of Life Among Chronic Non-Specific Lower Back Pain Patients
Authors: Zubana Afzal, Afsheen Massod
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This quantitative study was carried out in order to explore the role of coping strategies as an explanatory mechanism in the relationship between self-determination needs and quality of life. A cross-sectional survey research design was conducted using scales such as the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (Deci&Ryan, 2000) to measure self-determination-based needs, Pain Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Harland &Georgieff, 2003), and Quality of Life Brief (The WHOQOL Group, 1998), in translated form in addition to a demographic information sheet. The sample comprised 120 (Women=63, Men=57), taken from different hospitals in Lahore, Multan, and Gojra. Descriptive and Inferential analyses were executed through SPSS version 23.00. All self-determination needs were found in result to be significantly and positively correlated with diversion and cognitive pain coping strategies, physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life, and significantly negatively correlated with catastrophizing and reinterpreting pain coping strategies. Cognitive and diversion pain coping strategies were found to be significantly and positively associated with all physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life. The regression analyses revealed that the strongest predictors were autonomy, cognitive and diversion pain coping strategies in predicting quality of life. All coping strategies except reinterpreting played a mediating role between self-determination needs and quality of life. The findings can lead to a better understanding of the role of self-determination needs and pain coping strategies in determining the quality of life among chronic non-specific lower back pain patients.Keywords: quality of life, chronic lower back pain, coping strategies, self determination needs
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