Search results for: social work teaching methods

Authors: Suzanne Zazycki, Bamidele Osamika, Heather Craska, Kaelyn Conaway, Reena Murphy, Stephanie Spence

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Invasive Plant Species (IPS) are an important component of effective preservation and conservation of natural lands management. IPS are non-native plants which can aggressively encroach upon native species and pose a significant threat to the ecology, public health, and social welfare of a community. The presence of IPS in U.S. nature preserves has caused economic costs, which has estimated to exceed $26 billion a year. While different methods have been identified to control IPS, few methods have been recognized for early detection of IPS. This study examined identified methods for early detection of IPS in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. Mixed methods research design was adopted in this four-phased study. The first phase entailed data gathering, the phase described the characteristics and qualities of IPS and the importance of early detection (ED). The second phase explored ED methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Citizen Science were discovered as ED methods for IPS. The third phase of the study involved the creation of hotspot maps to identify likely areas for IPS growth. While the fourth phase involved testing and evaluating mobile applications that can support the efforts of citizen scientists in IPS detection. Literature reviews were conducted on IPS and ED methods, and four regional experts from ODNR and Miami University were interviewed. A questionnaire was used to gather information about ED methods used across the state. The findings revealed that geospatial methods, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Multispectral Satellites (MSS), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), are not feasible for early detection of IPS, as they require GIS expertise, are still an emerging technology, and are not suitable for every habitat for the ED of IPS. Therefore, Other ED methods options were explored, which include predicting areas where IPS will grow, which can be done through monitoring areas that are like the species’ native habitat. Through literature review and interviews, IPS are known to grow in frequently disturbed areas such as along trails, shorelines, and streambanks. The research team called these areas “hotspots” and created maps of these hotspots specifically for HW NP to support and narrow the efforts of citizen scientists and staff in the ED of IPS. The results further showed that utilizing citizen scientists in the ED of IPS is feasible, especially through single day events or passive monitoring challenges. The study concluded that the creation of hotspot maps to direct the efforts of citizen scientists are effective for the early detection of IPS. Several recommendations were made, among which is the creation of hotspot maps to narrow the ED efforts as citizen scientists continues to work in the preserves and utilize citizen science volunteers to identify and record emerging IPS.

Keywords: early detection, hueston woods state nature preserve, invasive plant species, hotspots

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Mehriban Ahmadova

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Country of origin has been found to be an important determinant of the level of corporate social disclosure. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences of corporate social disclosure, including sharia non-compliant information, by Islamic banks. The study applies content analysis approach of annual reports of fully-fledged Islamic banks from 24 countries. International differences are found in terms of level, methods and location of disclosure.

Keywords: Content analysis, Corporate social disclosure, Islamic banks, Sharia non-compliant disclosure

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: H. B. Tibar, Z. Y. Jiang

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In this study, the influence of rolling process parameters such as the work roll cross angle and work roll shifting value on the strip shape and profile of aluminum have been investigated under dry conditions at a speed ratio of 1.3 using Hille 100 experimental mill. The strip profile was found to improve significantly with increase in work roll cross angle from 0^o to 1^o, with an associated decrease in rolling force. The effect of roll shifting (from 0 to 8mm) was not as significant as the roll cross angle. However, an increase in work roll shifting value achieved a similar decrease in rolling force as that of work roll cross angle. The effect of work roll shifting was also found to be maximum at an optimum roll speed of 0.0986 m/s for the desired thickness. Of all these parameters, the most significant effect of the strip shape profile was observed with variation of work roll cross angle. However, the rolling force can be a significantly reduced by either increasing the the work roll cross angle or work roll shifting.

Keywords: rolling speed ratio, strip shape, work roll cross angle, work roll shifting

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Ororho Maureen Ekpelezie

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This study investigates language educators' perceptions and experiences regarding AI-driven personalized teacher training modules in Awka South, Anambra State, Nigeria. Utilizing a stratified random sampling technique, 25 schools across various educational levels were selected to ensure a representative sample. A total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed among language teachers in these schools, focusing on assessing their perceptions and experiences related to AI-driven personalized teacher training. With an impressive response rate of 99.1%, the study garnered valuable insights into language teachers' attitudes towards AI-driven personalized teacher training and its effectiveness in enhancing language teaching competence. The quantitative analysis revealed predominantly positive perceptions towards AI-driven personalized training modules, indicating their efficacy in addressing individual learning needs. However, challenges were identified in the long-term retention and transfer of AI-enhanced skills, underscoring the necessity for further refinement of personalized training approaches. Recommendations stemming from these findings emphasize the need for continued refinement of training methodologies and the development of tailored professional development programs to alleviate educators' concerns. Overall, this research enriches discussions on the integration of AI technology in teacher training and professional development, with the aim of bolstering language teaching competence and effectiveness in educational settings.

Keywords: language teacher training, AI-driven personalized learning, professional development, language teaching competence, personalized teacher training

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Authors: Mohamed Akbi, Aissa Bouchou

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The present work aims to throw light on the effects of arcing in air on the surface state of contact pastilles made of silver-nickel Ag-Ni (60/40). Also, the photoelectric emission from these electrical contacts has been investigated in the spectral range of 196-256 nm. In order to study the effects of arcing on the EWF, the metallic samples were subjected to electrical arcs in air, at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, after that, they have been introduced into the vacuum chamber of an experimental UHV set-up for EWF measurements. Both Fowler method of isothermal curves and linearized Fowler plots were used for the measurement of the EWF by the photoelectric effect. It has been found that the EWF varies with the number of applied arcs. Thus, after 500 arcs in air, the observed EWF increasing is probably due to progressive inclusion of oxide on alloy surface. Microscopic examination is necessary to get better understandings on EWF of silver alloys, for both virgin and arced electrical contacts.

Keywords: Ag-Ni contact materials, arcing effects, electron work function, Fowler methods, photoemission

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Kathaleeya Chanda

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The schools under the Project Initiated by H.R.H Princess in Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Nakhonnayok Educational Service Area Office are the small schools, situated in a remote and undeveloped area.Thus, the school-age youth didn’t have or have fewer opportunities to study at the higher education level which can lead to many social and economic problems. This study aims to solve these educational issues of the schools, under The Project Initiated by H.R.H Princess in Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Nakhonnayok Educational Service Area Office, by the development of teachers, so that teachers could develop teaching and learning system with the ultimate goal to increase students’ academic achievement, increase the educational opportunities for the youth in the area, and help them learn happily. 154 in-service teachers from 22 schools and 4 different districts in Nakhonnayok participated in this teacher training. Most teachers were satisfied with the training content and the trainer. Thereafter, the teachers were given the test to assess the skills and knowledge after training. Most of the teachers earned a score higher than 75%. Accordingly, it can be concluded that after attending the training, teachers have a clear understanding of the contents. After the training session, the teachers have to write a lesson plan that is integrated or adapted to the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. The teachers can either adopt intradisciplinary or interdisciplinary integration according to their actual teaching conditions in the school. Two weeks after training session, the researchers went to the schools to discuss with the teachers and follow up the assigned integrated lesson plan. It was revealed that the progress of integrated lesson plan could be divided into 3 groups: 1) the teachers who have completed the integrated lesson plan, but are concerned about the accuracy and consistency, 2) teachers who almost complete the lesson plan or made a great progress but are still concerned, confused in some aspects and not fill in the details of the plan, and 3), the teachers who made few progress, are uncertain and confused in many aspects, and may had overloaded tasks from their school. However, a follow-up procedure led to the commitment of teachers to complete the lesson plan. Regarding student learning assessment, from an experiment teaching, most of the students earned a score higher than 50 %. The rate is higher than the one from actual teaching. In addition, the teacher have assessed that the student is happy, enjoys learning, and providing a good cooperates in teaching activities. The students’ interview about the new lesson plan shows that they are happy with it, willing to learn, and able to apply such knowledge in daily life. Integrated lesson plan can increases the educational opportunities for youth in the area.

Keywords: sufficiency, economy, philosophy, integrated education syllabus

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: Xiaowen Yang

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Violence has been gaining an increasing presence among contemporary Chinese writers, yet scholarship on the representation of violence in contemporary Chinese literature is disappointingly sparse. The violence which took place in the Cultural Revolution attracted the most attention in previous literary work and academic studies. Known as a writer of the quotidian, chi Zijian is one of China’s most prominent and prolific writers. It is noticeable that in her depiction of ordinary people, an overwhelming presence of violence features which embodies one of the on-going characteristics of contemporary Chinese literature. The violence present in her texts are not about graphic and minute depiction of violent acts, But rather about the character’s complex interrelation with violence. Is it an obsession with extreme figures and events to create powerful tensions within the texts? Or is it a necessary tool to achieve criticism about social realities? This paper argues that based on her grassroots writing philosophy which is characterized by her long-standing concern about ordinary and even marginal people, it is necessary for her texts to involve characters related to violence. This endows her texts with great potential for reading their social and political implications. This paper also contends that though a shocking effect could make the criticism of social realities more powerful, an over-reliance on the excessive exterior representation of violence inhibits the writer’s literary innovation.

Keywords: Chi Zijian, contemporary Chinese literature, Violence, grassroots writing philosophy

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Ouafae Baida, Najma Hamzaoui, Maha Akbib, Abdelfettah Sedqui, Abdelouahid Lyhyaoui

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Numerous scientific works present various methods to analyze the data for several domains, specially the comparison of classifications. In our recent work, we presented a new approach to help the user choose the best classification method from the results obtained by every method, by basing itself on the distances between the trees of classification. The result of our approach was in the form of a dendrogram contains methods as a succession of connections. This approach is much needed in phylogeny analysis. This discipline is intended to analyze the sequences of biological macro molecules for information on the evolutionary history of living beings, including their relationship. The product of phylogeny analysis is a phylogenetic tree. In this paper, we recommend the use of a new method of construction the phylogenetic tree based on comparison of different classifications obtained by different molecular genes.

Keywords: hierarchical classification, classification methods, structure of tree, genes, phylogenetic analysis

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Authors: Miriam Borchardt, Agata M. Ritter, Macaliston G. da Silva, Mauricio N. de Carvalho, Giancarlo M. Pereira

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This paper aims to analyze the barriers faced by social enterprises and based on that to propose a social business model framework that helps them to leverage their businesses and the social value delivered. A business model for social enterprises should amplify the value perception including social value for the beneficiaries while generating enough profit to escalate the business. Most of the social value beneficiaries are people from the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) or the ones that have specific needs. Because of this, products and services should be affordable to consumers while solving social needs of the beneficiaries. Developing products and services with social value require tie relationship among the social enterprises and universities, public institutions, accelerators, and investors. Despite being focused on social value and contributing to the beneficiaries’ quality of life as well as contributing to the governments that cannot properly guarantee public services and infrastructure to the BOP, many barriers are faced by the social enterprises to escalate their businesses. This is a work in process and five micro- and small-sized social enterprises in Brazil have been studied: (i) one has developed a kit for cervical uterine cancer detection to allow the BOP women to collect their own material and deliver to a laboratory for U$1,00; (ii) other has developed special products without lactose and it is about 70% cheaper than the traditional brands in the market; (iii) the third has developed prosthesis and orthosis to surplus needs that health public system have not done efficiently; (iv) the fourth has produced and commercialized menstrual panties aiming to reduce the consumption of dischargeable ones while saving money to the consumers; (v) the fifth develops and commercializes clothes from fabric wastes in a partnership with BOP artisans. The preliminary results indicate that the main barriers are related to the public system to recognize these products as public money that could be saved if they bought products from these enterprises instead of the multinational pharmaceutical companies, to the traditional distribution system (e.g. pharmacies) that avoid these products because of the low or non-existing profit, to the difficulty buying raw material in small quantities, to leverage investment by the investors, to cultural barriers and taboos. Interesting strategies to reduce the costs have been observed: some enterprises have focused on simplifying products, others have invested in partnerships with local producers and have developed their machines focusing on process efficiency to leverage investment by the investors.

Keywords: base of the pyramid, business model, social business, social business model, social enterprises

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Josif Figueroa, Kush Bubbar, Greg Young-Morris

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The reliability evaluation of composite generation and bulk transmission systems is crucial for ensuring a reliable supply of electrical energy to significant system load points. However, evaluating adequacy indices using probabilistic methods like sequential Monte Carlo Simulation can be computationally expensive. Despite this, it is necessary when time-varying and interdependent resources, such as renewables and energy storage systems, are involved. Recent advances in solving power network optimization problems and parallel computing have improved runtime performance while maintaining solution accuracy. This work introduces CompositeSystems, an open-source Composite System Reliability Evaluation tool developed in Julia™, to address the current deficiencies of commercial and non-commercial tools. This work introduces its design, validation, and effectiveness, which includes analyzing two different formulations of the Optimal Power Flow problem. The simulations demonstrate excellent agreement with existing published studies while improving replicability and reproducibility. Overall, the proposed tool can provide valuable insights into the performance of transmission systems, making it an important addition to the existing toolbox for power system planning.

Keywords: open-source software, composite system reliability, optimization methods, Monte Carlo methods, optimal power flow

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Authors: Sekkal Nawel, Mahammed Nadir

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The proliferation of online activities on Online Social Networks (OSNs) has captured significant user attention. However, this growth has been hindered by the emergence of fraudulent accounts that do not represent real individuals and violate privacy regulations within social network communities. Consequently, it is imperative to identify and remove these profiles to enhance the security of OSN users. In recent years, researchers have turned to machine learning (ML) to develop strategies and methods to tackle this issue. Numerous studies have been conducted in this field to compare various ML-based techniques. However, the existing literature still lacks a comprehensive examination, especially considering different OSN platforms. Additionally, the utilization of bio-inspired algorithms has been largely overlooked. Our study conducts an extensive comparison analysis of various fake profile detection techniques in online social networks. The results of our study indicate that supervised models, along with other machine learning techniques, as well as unsupervised models, are effective for detecting false profiles in social media. To achieve optimal results, we have incorporated six bio-inspired algorithms to enhance the performance of fake profile identification results.

Keywords: machine learning, bio-inspired algorithm, detection, fake profile, system, social network

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Huynh Tan Hoi

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Considered as one of the hardest languages in the world, Japanese is still the language that many young people choose to learn. Today, with the development of technology, learning foreign languages in general and Japanese language, in particular, is not an impossible barrier. Learning materials are not only from paper books, songs but also through software programs of smartphones or computers. Especially, students who begin to explore effective skills to study this language need to access modern technologies to improve their learning much better. When using the software, some students may feel embarrassed and challenged, but everything would go smoothly after a few days. After completing the course, students will get more knowledge, achieve a higher knowledge such as N2 or N1 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Certificate. In this research paper, 35 students who are studying at Ho Chi Minh City FPT University were asked to complete the questionnaire at the beginning of July up to August of 2018. Through this research, we realize that with the guidance of lecturers, the necessity of using modern software and some effective methods are indispensable in term of improving quality of teaching and learning process.

Keywords: higher knowledge, Japanese, methods, software, students

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: Stefania Arguelles Reyes, Octavio José Salcedo Parra, Alberto Acosta López

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This paper presents a web application for the improvement of images through recognition. The web application is based on the analysis of picture-based recognition methods that allow an improvement on the physical appearance of people posting in social networks. The basis relies on the study of tools that can correct or improve some features of the face, with the help of a wide collection of user images taken as reference to build a facial profile. Automatic facial profiling can be achieved with a deeper study of the Object Detection Library. It was possible to improve the initial images with the help of MATLAB and its filtering functions. The user can have a direct interaction with the program and manually adjust his preferences.

Keywords: Matlab, make up, recognition methods, web application

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Pingping Lin, Xudong Luo, Yifan Fan

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Sentiment analysis is a very active research topic. Every day, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, and other social media, as well as significant e-commerce websites, generate a massive amount of comments, which can be used to analyse peoples opinions or emotions. The existing methods for sentiment analysis are based mainly on sentiment dictionaries, machine learning, and deep learning. The first two kinds of methods rely on heavily sentiment dictionaries or large amounts of labelled data. The third one overcomes these two problems. So, in this paper, we focus on the third one. Specifically, we survey various sentiment analysis methods based on convolutional neural network, recurrent neural network, long short-term memory, deep neural network, deep belief network, and memory network. We compare their futures, advantages, and disadvantages. Also, we point out the main problems of these methods, which may be worthy of careful studies in the future. Finally, we also examine the application of deep learning in multimodal sentiment analysis and aspect-level sentiment analysis.

Keywords: document analysis, deep learning, multimodal sentiment analysis, natural language processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Shih-Jie Ma, Jui-Hsu Hsiao, Ming-Ying Hsieh, Shin-Yan Yang, Chun-Han Yeh, Kuo-Chun Su

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In Taiwan, social enterprises and non-profit organizations (NPOs) are not familiar with innovative business models, such as live streaming. In 2019, a brand new course called internet celebrity training project is introduced to them by the Social Innovation Lab. The Goal of this paper is to evaluate the effect of this project, to explore the role of new technology (internet live stream) in business process management (BPM), and to analyze how live stream programs can assist social enterprises in creating new business models. Social Innovation, with the purpose to solve social issues in innovative ways, is one of the most popular topics in the world. Social Innovation Lab was established in 2017 by Executive Yuan in Taiwan. The vision of Social Innovation Lab is to exploit technology, innovation and experimental methods to solve social issues, and to maximize the benefits from government investment. Social Innovation Lab aims at creating a platform for both supply and demand sides of social issues, to make social enterprises and start-ups communicate with each other, and to build an eco-system in which stakeholders can make a social impact. Social Innovation Lab keeps helping social enterprises and NPOs to gain better publicity and to enhance competitiveness by facilitating digital transformation. In this project, Social Innovation Lab exerted the influence of social media such as YouTube and Facebook, to make social enterprises and start-ups adjust their business models by using the live stream of social media, which becomes one of the tools to expand their market and diversify their sales channels. Internet live stream training courses were delivered in different regions of Taiwan in 2019, including Taitung, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien. Through these courses, potential groups and enterprises were cultivated to become so-called internet celebrities. With their concern about social issues in mind, these internet celebrities know how to manipulate social media to make a social impact in different fields, such as aboriginal people, food and agriculture, LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), environmental protection and senior citizens. Participants of live stream training courses in Taiwan are selected to take in-depth interviews and questionnaire surveys. Results indicate that the digital transformation process of social enterprises and NPOs can be successful by implementing business process reengineering, a significant change made by social innovation internet celebrities. Therefore, this project can be the new driving force to facilitate the business model transformation in Taiwan.

Keywords: business process management, digital transformation, live stream, social innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Ganfeng Yu, Yuefeng Ma, Shanliang Yang

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The word discovery is a key problem in text information retrieval technology. Methods in new word discovery tend to be closely related to words because they generally obtain new word results by analyzing words. With the popularity of social networks, individual netizens and online self-media have generated various network texts for the convenience of online life, including network words that are far from standard Chinese expression. How detect network words is one of the important goals in the field of text information retrieval today. In this paper, we integrate the word embedding model and clustering methods to propose a network word discovery framework based on sentence semantic similarity (S³-NWD) to detect network words effectively from the corpus. This framework constructs sentence semantic vectors through a distributed representation model, uses the similarity of sentence semantic vectors to determine the semantic relationship between sentences, and finally realizes network word discovery by the meaning of semantic replacement between sentences. The experiment verifies that the framework not only completes the rapid discovery of network words but also realizes the standard word meaning of the discovery of network words, which reflects the effectiveness of our work.

Keywords: text information retrieval, natural language processing, new word discovery, information extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Gizem Kayar, Ramazan Bakir, M. Ilkay Koşar, Ceren U. Gencer, Alperen Ayyildiz

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Anatomy classes are crucial for general education of medical students, whereas learning anatomy is quite challenging and requires memorization of thousands of structures. In traditional teaching methods, learning materials are still based on books, anatomy mannequins, or videos. This results in forgetting many important structures after several years. However, more interactive teaching methods like virtual reality, augmented reality, gamification, and motion sensors are becoming more popular since such methods ease the way we learn and keep the data in mind for longer terms. During our study, we designed a virtual reality based digital head anatomy platform to investigate whether a fully interactive anatomy platform is effective to learn anatomy and to understand the level of teaching and learning optimization. The Head is one of the most complicated human anatomy structures, with thousands of tiny, unique structures. This makes the head anatomy one of the most difficult parts to understand during class sessions. Therefore, we developed a fully interactive digital tool with 3D model marking, quiz structures, 2D/3D puzzle structures, and VR support so as to integrate the power of VR and gamification. The project has been developed in Unity game engine with HTC Vive Cosmos VR headset. The head anatomy 3D model has been selected with full skeletal, muscular, integumentary, head, teeth, lymph, and vein system. The biggest issue during the development was the complexity of our model and the marking of it in the 3D world system. 3D model marking requires to access to each unique structure in the counted subsystems which means hundreds of marking needs to be done. Some parts of our 3D head model were monolithic. This is why we worked on dividing such parts to subparts which is very time-consuming. In order to subdivide monolithic parts, one must use an external modeling tool. However, such tools generally come with high learning curves, and seamless division is not ensured. Second option was to integrate tiny colliders to all unique items for mouse interaction. However, outside colliders which cover inner trigger colliders cause overlapping, and these colliders repel each other. Third option is using raycasting. However, due to its own view-based nature, raycasting has some inherent problems. As the model rotate, view direction changes very frequently, and directional computations become even harder. This is why, finally, we studied on the local coordinate system. By taking the pivot point of the model into consideration (back of the nose), each sub-structure is marked with its own local coordinate with respect to the pivot. After converting the mouse position to the world position and checking its relation with the corresponding structure’s local coordinate, we were able to mark all points correctly. The advantage of this method is its applicability and accuracy for all types of monolithic anatomical structures.

Keywords: anatomy, e-learning, virtual reality, 3D model marking

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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: Ann-May Marais

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South African higher education institutions are following the global adoption of a blended approach to teaching and learning. Blended learning is viewed as a transformative teaching-learning approach, as it provides students with the optimum experience by mixing the best of face-to-face and online learning. Although academics realise the benefits of blended learning, they find it challenging and time-consuming to implement blended strategies. Professional development is a critical component of the adoption of higher education teaching-learning approaches. The Institutional course for higher education academics offered at a South African University was designed in a blended model, implemented and evaluated. This paper reports on a study that investigated the experiences of academics on the blended approach used during the induction course. A qualitative design-based research methodology was employed, and data was collected using participant feedback and document analysis. The data gathered from each of the four ICNL offerings were used to inform the design of the next course. Findings indicated that lecturers realised that blended learning could cater to student diversity, different learning styles, engagement, and innovation. Furthermore, it emerged that the course has to cater for diversity in technology proficiency and readiness of participants. Participants also require ongoing support in technology usage and discipline-specific blended learning workshops. This paper contends that the modelling of a blended approach to professional development can be an effective way to motivate academics to apply blended learning in their teaching-learning experiences.

Keywords: blended learning, professional development, induction course, integration of technology

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Authors: Wen Huei Chou, Yi-Ting Chen

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Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with social interactions and communication. It is challenging for them to understand social cues such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice in social settings, leading to social conflicts and misunderstandings. Over time, feelings of frustration and anxiety can make them reluctant to engage in social situations and worsen their communication barriers. This study focused on children with autism who also experience social anxiety. Through focus group interviews with parents of children with autism and occupational therapists, it explores the reasons and scenarios behind the development of social anxiety in these children. Social scenario stories and interactive applications tailored for children with autism were designed and developed. In addition, working with the educational robots, coping strategies for various emotional situations were elaborated on, and children were helped to understand their emotions.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety, robot, social scenario story, interactive applications

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: X. Li, J. Sundquist, C. Sjöstedt, M. Winkleby, K. S. Kendler, K. Sundquist

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Aims: This study examines the association between the incidence of drug abuse (DA) and linking (communal) social capital, a theoretical concept describing the amount of trust between individuals and societal institutions. Methods: We present results from an 8-year population-based cohort study that followed all residents in Sweden, aged 15-44, from 2003 through 2010, for a total of 1,700,896 men and 1,642,798 women. Social capital was conceptualized as the proportion of people in a geographically defined neighborhood who voted in local government elections. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and between-neighborhood variance. Results: We found robust associations between linking social capital (scored as a three level variable) and DA in men and women. For men, the OR for DA in the crude model was 2.11 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.02-2.21] for those living in areas with the lowest vs. highest level of social capital. After accounting for neighborhood-level deprivation, the OR fell to 1.59 (1.51-1-68), indicating that neighborhood deprivation lies in the pathway between linking social capital and DA. The ORs remained significant after accounting for age, sex, family income, marital status, country of birth, education level, and region of residence, and after further accounting for comorbidities and family history of comorbidities and family history of DA. For women, the OR decreased from 2.15 (2.03-2.27) in the crude model to 1.31 (1.22-1.40) in the final model, adjusted for multiple neighborhood-level and individual-level variables. Conclusions: Our study suggests that low linking social capital may have important independent effects on DA.

Keywords: drug abuse, social linking capital, environment, family

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Authors: Rajeshwari Biradar

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Background: The anecdotal evidences indicate that utilization of HIV services especially in Government facilities is affected by stigma and discrimination among HIV positive female sex workers (FSWs) in Karnataka. To our knowledge, there is no quantitative study on this issue. In this study an attempt is made to examine these aspects among positive FSWs exposed to prevention programs. Methods: This is a cross‐ sectional quantitative survey of HIV positive FSWs in the 3 districts of northern Karnataka using a structured questionnaire. The list of HIV Positive FSWs was organized by stratification, and 607 positive FSWs were selected using a systematic random selection. The data were analyzed using both bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Results: Half of the sex workers (52%) are traditional (devadasi, dedicated to the temple), 22% are widowed and the mean age is 33 years. The FSWs practice sex work on an average 13 days a month with 2.3 clients per day and was in sex work for about 13 years. Almost all of them (97%) used condom with the clients they had on the last day of sex work. About 74% were ever registered in the ART center and 47% of them reported being ever on ART, of which 6% dropped out. Multivariate results support the hypothesis that the interventions addressing stigma and discrimination enabled accessing health services in the government facilities (AOR=1.37; p=0.17). Conclusions: Based on the results of the study, programs addressing stigma, discrimination and positive prevention can be implemented in places where government health services are not utilized by HIV positive FSWs. However, the study may be limited by the fact that majority of the FSWs entered into sex work through the traditional devadasi system, which may not be the case in other parts of India.

Keywords: sex work, HIV/AIDS, female sex workers, health

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Authors: Nidhi S. Bisht

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The study examines the role of work-home interference, on enhancing emotional exhaustion in the branch officers of private MFIs in India. Additionally, the moderating role of recovery experiences and technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW) were studied. With the increasing expectations to perform job related tasks at home, technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW) was hypothesized to positively moderate the relationship between work-home interference and emotional exhaustion. Further, it was expected that recovery experiences-psychological detachment, relaxation will help to recover and unwind from work and negatively moderate the relationship between work-home interference and emotional exhaustion. Results of SEM-analyses largely offered support for the hypotheses. These findings increase our insight in the processes leading to increased emotional exhaustion and suggest that employees can protect themselves from emotional exhaustion by keeping a tab on technology-assisted supplemental work and facilitating recovery experiences.

Keywords: emotional exhaustion, India, microfinance institutions (MFIs), work-home interference

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Authors: Frantisek Mosna

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E-learning has become an efficient and widespread means in process of education at all branches of human activities. Statistics is not an exception. Unfortunately the main focus in the statistics teaching is usually paid to the substitution to formulas. Suitable web-sites can simplify and automate calculation and provide more attention and time to the basic principles of statistics, mathematization of real-life situations and following interpretation of results. We introduce our own web-sites for hypothesis testing. Their didactic aspects, technical possibilities of individual tools for their creating, experience and advantages or disadvantages of them are discussed in this paper. These web-sites do not substitute common statistical software but significantly improve the teaching of the statistics at universities.

Keywords: e-learning, hypothesis testing, PHP, web-sites

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Authors: Jana Beresova

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The paper presents a study carried out in 2015-2016 within the national scheme of research - VEGA 1/0106/15 based on theoretical research and empirical verification of the concept of intercultural communicative competence. It focuses on the current conception concerning target languages teaching compatible with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Our research had revealed how the concept of intercultural communicative competence had been perceived by secondary-school teachers of English in Slovakia before they were intensively trained. Intensive workshops were based on the use of both authentic and instructional materials with the goal to support interculturally oriented language teaching aimed at challenging thinking. The former concept that supported the development of the students´ linguistic knowledge and the use of a target language to obtain information about the culture of the country whose language learners were learning was expanded by the meaning-making framework which views language as a typical means by which culture is mediated. The goal of the workshop was to influence English teachers to better understand the concept of intercultural communicative competence, combining theory and practice optimally. The results of the study will be presented and analysed, providing particular recommendations for language teachers and suggesting some changes in the National Educational Programme from which English learners should benefit in their future studies or professional careers.

Keywords: authentic materials, English language teaching, instructional materials, intercultural communicative competence

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Authors: Mohammad Anwar, Shah Waliullah

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The development of science and technology in the present era has an urgent demand for the training of thinking of undergraduates. This requirement actively promotes research and teaching of basic theories, beneficial to the career development of students. This study clarified the dialectical relation between the thermodynamic equilibrium constant and reaction rate constant through the contrast thinking method. Findings reveal that both the isobaric Van't Hoff equation and the Arrhenius equation had four similar forms, and the change in the trend of both constants showed a similar law. By the derivation of the formation rate constant of the product (KY) and the consumption rate constant of the reactant (KA), the ratio of both constants at the end state indicated the nature of the equilibrium state in agreement with that of the thermodynamic equilibrium constant (K^θ (T)). This study has thus presented that the thermodynamic equilibrium constant contained the characteristics of microscopic dynamics based on the analysis of the reaction mechanism, and both constants are organically connected and unified. The reaction enthalpy and activation energy are closely related to each other with the same connotation.

Keywords: thermodynamic equilibrium constant, reaction rate constant, PBL teaching, dialectical relation, innovative thinking

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Sabina Mohsin

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The need for grounding of teachers and the trend of using innovative ways to deal with students of various abilities in schools, colleges and universities has always been essential in any part of the world. Teacher edification programs, and qualifications standards, all too repeatedly lack enough rigidity, extensiveness and profundity, resulting in high levels of unskilled teachers and squat student performance. Accordingly, the solution, from this viewpoint, lies in making the entry and training necessities for teaching deeper and more exact. Teachers’ continuous professional development is necessary to reach all kinds of learners in class. The training provided is a direct opportunity for new teachers to interact better and motivate students in a two way discussion class. The intention of the study was to scrutinize whether the teachers’ training played an important role to fabricate lectures and classroom activities and reflected the objectives of the training provided in various schools and universities. It also aims to examine the current practices used in the various teacher training programs and if there is any other method that can be associated to enhance the effectiveness of these programs further. This research uses qualitative data collected from interviews, peer discussions, classroom observations, reviews, feedback of students and teachers to study teacher training and teaching methods used in school and universities in Bangladesh. The study finds teacher training to be effective though it has some limitations. It also includes some suggestions to make teacher training more effective.

Keywords: current practices in teacher training, enhancing effectiveness, limitation, student motivation, teacher training

Procedia PDF Downloads 427

Authors: K. P. v. R. de Silva, R. W. Senevirathna, M. M. A. J. Kumara, J. P. M. Kumarasinghe, R. L. Gunawardana, S. M. Uluwitiya, G. C. P. Jayawickrama, W. K. T. I. Madushani

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Introduction: The limited literature supporting the utilization of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) for patients undergoing laparoscopic anterior resection (LAR) remains a notable issue. This study was conducted to examine the clinical consequences of anastomosis in colorectal surgery with MBP compared to cases where MBP was not utilized (no-MBP) in the context of LAR. Methods: This was a retrospective comparative study conducted in the professorial surgical wards of the teaching hospital karapitiya (THK). Colorectal cancer patients(n=306) participated in the study, including 151 MBP patients and 155 no-MBP patients, where the postoperative complications and mortality rates were compared. Results: The anastomotic leakage rate was 2.6%(n=4) in the no-MBP group and 6.0%(n=9) in the MBP group (p=0.143). The postoperative paralytic ileus rate was 18.5%(n=28) and 5.8%(n=9) in the MBP group and no-MBP group, respectively, displaying a statistically significant difference (p=0.001). Wound infection, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and cardiac complication rates also were higher in the MBP group. The overall mortality rate was 1.3%(n=3) in the no-MBP group and 2.0%(n=2) in the MBP group. Conclusions: The evidence concludes that MBP increases post-operative complications. Therefore, prophylactic MBP in LAR has not been proven to benefit patients. However, further research is necessary to understand the comparative effects of MBP versus no preparation comprehensively.

Keywords: MBP, anastomosis, LAR, paralytic ileus

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Authors: Raul G. Angeles, Rowena R. De Guzman

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The future workforce for health in a globalized context highlights better health human resource planning. Health sciences students are challenged to develop skills needed for global migration. Advancing health sciences education is crucial in preparing them to overcome border challenges. The purpose of this mixed-method, two-part study was to determine the extent by which the current instructional planning and implementation (IPI) framework is reframed with teaching approaches that foster students' 21st-century skills development and to examine participants’ over-all insights on learner-centered teaching and learning (LCTL) particularly in health sciences classrooms. Participants were groups of teachers and students drawn from a national sample through the Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs). To the participants, the use of technology, practices driven by students’ interests and enriching learning experiences through project-based learning are the approaches that must be incorporated with great extent in IPI to encourage student engagement, active learning and collaboration. Participants were asked to detail their insights of learner-centered teaching and learning and using thematic content analysis parallel insights between the groups of participants lead to three emerging themes: opportunities, challenges and prospects. More contemporary understanding of LTCL in today’s health sciences classrooms were demonstrated by the participants. Armed with true understanding, educational leaders can provide interventions appropriate to the students’ level of need, teachers’ preparation and school’s readiness in terms of resources. Health sciences classrooms are innovated to meet the needs of the current and future students.

Keywords: globalization, health workforce, role of education, student-centered teaching and learning, technology in education

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Authors: F. Saptouw, L. Reddy

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Tertiary institutions are often faced with a challenge when incorporating social awareness into course content. The information campaigns in the media often alienate the viewers and the knowledge is not readily assimilated into the students’ consciousness. This paper will present a discussion of the results of collaborative teaching projects run by the Michaelis School of fine art and the HIV/AIDS, Inclusivity and Change Unit (HAICU) at the University of Cape Town. In these projects the artistic process is employed to generate ‘praxical knowledge’ in the student body about socially relevant issues like HIV-AIDS, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and sexual identity, specifically LGBTQI. The combination of lectures, group discussions and the creative process has been a very successful way to disseminate information amongst the student population. Evidence of the project’s success will be provided by referencing interviews, focus groups as well as surveys done with the participants. This paper will conclude by arguing for the positive role of practice-led research in developing a socially conscious public.

Keywords: art, education, HIV-AIDS, practice-led research

Procedia PDF Downloads 305