Search results for: mental well-being of international students

Authors: Fangfei Li

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Studies on teacher feedback have produced a wide range of findings in aspects of characteristics of good feedback, factors influencing the quality of feedback and teachers’ perspectives on teacher feedback. However, perspectives from students on how they perceive and respond to teacher feedback are still under scrutiny. Especially for Chinese overseas students who come from a feedback-sparse educational context in China, they might have different experiences when engaging with teacher feedback in the UK Higher Education. Therefore, the research aims to investigate and shed some new light on how Chinese students engage with teacher feedback in the UK higher education and how teacher feedback could enhance their learning. Research questions of this study are 1) What are Chinese overseas students’ perceptions of teacher feedback in courses of the UK higher education? 2) How do they respond to the teacher feedback they obtained? 3) What factors might influence their’ engagement with teacher feedback? Qualitative case studies of five Chinese postgraduate students in a UK university have been conducted by employing various types of interviews, such as background interviews, scenario-based interviews, stimulated recall interviews and retrospective interviews to address the research inquiries. Data collection lasted seven months, covering two phases – the pre-sessional language programme and the first semester of the Master’s degree programme. Research findings until now indicate that some factors, such as tutors’ handwriting, implicit instruction and value comments, influence students understanding and internalizing tutor feedback. Except for difficulties in understanding tutor feedback, students’ responses to tutor feedback are also influenced by quantity and quality of tutor-student communication, time constraints and trust to tutor feedback, etc. Findings also reveal that tutor feedback is able to improve students’ learning in aspects of promoting reflection on professional knowledge, promoting students’ communication with peers and tutors, increasing problem awareness and writing with the reader in mind. This paper will mainly introduce the research topic, the methodological procedure and research findings gained until now.

Keywords: Chinese students, students’ perceptions, teacher feedback, the UK higher education

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Authors: Sibel Yoleri

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In this research it is aimed to determine the adjustment of students who attend the first class at elementary school to school in terms of several variables. The study group of the research consists of 286 students (131 female, 155 male) who continue attending the first class of elementary school in 2013-2014 academic year, in the city center of Uşak. In the research, ‘Personal Information Form’ and ‘Walker-Mcconnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment’ have been used as data collection tools. In the analysis of data, the t-test has been applied in the independent groups to determine whether the sampling group students’ scores of school adjustment differ according to the sex variable or not. For the evaluation of data identified as not showing normal distribution, Mann Whitney U test has been applied for paired comparison, Kruskal Wallis H test has been used for multiple comparisons. In the research, all the statistical processes have been evaluated bidirectional and the level of significance has been accepted as .05. According to the results gathered from the research, a meaningful difference could not been identified in the level of students’ adjustment to school in terms of sex variable. At the end of the research, it is identified that the adjustment level of the students who have started school at the age of seven is higher than the ones who have started school at the age of five and the adjustment level of the students who have preschool education before the elementary school is higher than the ones who have not taken.

Keywords: starting school, preschool education, school adjustment, Walker-Mcconnell Scale

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Authors: Kanae Suzuki

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Handheld video games are popular communication tools among Japanese elementary school students today. This study aims to examine the effects of the use of handheld video games on interpersonal relationships of the students in real and virtual worlds. A two-wave panel survey was conducted for students of ten elementary schools at an interval of approximately six months. The survey questionnaire included questions about the average amount of time spent playing a handheld video game during the past one month, the frequency of communication with players during game play, and the interpersonal relationships, such as the number of real and virtual friends the students have. A multiple regression model was constructed for 324 students to examine causal relationships. The results indicated that the more frequently the students communicated with other players while playing games, the number of the real friends tended to increase. In contrast, no significant effect of the total time spent playing games was found on interpersonal relationships. The findings suggested that communication during game play is an important factor for improving interpersonal relationships of this age group.

Keywords: communication, real friend, social adjustment, virtual friend

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Authors: Yen Yi Huang

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This paper aims to explore the application of strategies in applied drama to the social work education arena in order to enhance students' creativity, curiosity, and aesthetic sensitivity. Also, applied drama is used as a means to facilitate students' reflection-in-action and improve their understanding of issues on creative aging, gender equality, human rights, bullying, and prejudice. This paper mainly uses the perspective of Homi K. Bhabha's third space to explore the impact of applied drama and social work training on students. First, it focuses on how students create new understandings and insights in the third space of multidisciplinary training studies. Second, it analyzes how the hybridity and negotiation of ideas between applied drama and social work were created. Finally, it discusses the follow-up effects of the training and the factors that promote or hinder the hybridity and generation of the third space. This paper uses students' reflection papers for analysis. It is not focused on a discussion of the effectiveness of the teaching but attempts to bring new insights into the applications of applied drama to the social work education arena. The hybridity and generation of the third space require handling power strategically and looking after the emotional space of the students. Taking part in the training allows students in the third space of multidisciplinary training to reexamine the traditional framework of social work knowledge to create new ideas and possibilities.

Keywords: multidisciplinary, applied drama, social work education, third space

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Authors: Ryan Dale B. Elnar

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This study developed a multidimensional need assessment scale for college students called The University of Mindanao Needs Assessment Scale (UMNAS). Although there are context-specific instruments measuring the needs of clinical and non-clinical samples, literature reveals no standardized scales to measure the needs of the college students thus a four-phase item development process was initiated to support its content validity. Comprising seven broad facets namely spiritual-moral, intrapersonal, socio-personal, psycho-emotional, cognitive, physical and sexual, a pyramid model of college needs was deconstructed through FGD sample to support the literature review. Using various construct validity procedures, the model was further tested using a total of 881 Filipino college samples. The result of the study revealed evidences of the reliability and validity of the UMNAS. The reliability indices range from .929-.933. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a one-factor-six-dimensional instrument to measure the needs of the college students. Using multivariate regression analysis, year level and course are found predictors of students’ needs. Content analysis attested the usefulness of the instrument to diagnose students’ personal and academic issues and concerns in conjunction with other measures. The norming process includes 1728 students from the different colleges of the University of Mindanao. Further validation is recommended to establish a national norm for the instrument.

Keywords: needs assessment scale, validity, factor analysis, college students

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Authors: Ntite Orji Kalu, Martina Kurowski

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Until recently, the Czech Republic had an educational system dominated by indigenous people, who accounted for 95% of the school population. With the increasing influx of migrants and foreign students, especially from outside European Union, came a great disparity among the quality of learners and their learning needs and consideration for the challenges associated with being a minority and living within a foreign culture. This has prompted the research into ways of tailoring the educational system to meet the rising demand of learning styles and needs for the diverse learners in the Czech classrooms. Literature is reviewed regarding the various ways to accommodate the international students considering racial differences, focusing on theoretical approach and pedagogical principles. This study examines the compulsory educational system of the Czech Republic and the position and responsibility of the teacher in fostering a culturally sensitive and inclusive learning environment. Descriptive and content analysis is relied upon for this study. Recommendations are made for stakeholders to imbibe a more responsive environment that enhances the cultural and social integration of all learners.

Keywords: culturally responsive teaching, cultural competence, diversity, learners, inclusive education, Czech schools

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Authors: Erimias Firre

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This study is situated within the religio-cultural milieu of Coptic Orthodox Christians of the Tigrinya ethnic group in Eritrea. With this ethnic group being conservative and traditionally bound, extended family structures dissected along various clans and expansive community networks are the distinguishing mark of its members. Notably, Coptic Tigrinya constitutes the largest percentage of all Christian denominations in Eritrea. As religious, cultural beliefs, rituals and teachings permeate in all aspects of social life, a distinct worldview and traditionalized health and illness conceptualization are common. Accordingly, this study argues that religio-culturally bound illness ideologies immensely determine the perception, help seeking behavior and healing preference of Coptic Tigrinya in Eritrea. The study bears significance in the sense that it bridges an important knowledge gap, given that it is ethno-linguistically (within the Tigrinya ethnic group), spatially (central region of Eritrea) and religiously (Coptic Christianity) specific. The conceptual framework guiding this research centered on the social determinants of mental health, and explores through the lens of critical theory how existing systems generate social vulnerability and structural inequality, providing a platform to reveal how the psychosocial model has the capacity to emancipate and empower those with mental disorders to live productive and meaningful lives. A case study approach was employed to explore the interrelationship between religio-cultural beliefs and practices and perception of common mental disorders of depression, anxiety, bipolar affective, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorders and the impact of these perceptions on people with those mental disorders. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 41 participants representing seven diverse cohorts; people with common mental disorders, family caregivers, general community members, ex-fighters , priests, staff at St. Mary’s and Biet-Mekae Community Health Center; resulting in rich data for thematic analysis. Findings highlighted current religio-cultural perceptions, causes and treatment of mental disorders among Coptic Tigrinya result in widespread labelling, stigma and discrimination, both of those with mental disorders and their families. Traditional healing sources are almost exclusively tried, sometimes for many years, before families and sufferers seek formal medical assessment and treatment, resulting difficult to treat illness chronicity. Service gaps in the formal medical system result in the inability to meet the principles enshrined in the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 to which the Eritrean Government is a signatory. However, the study found that across all participant cohorts, there was a desire for change that will create a culture whereby those with mental disorders will have restored hope, connectedness, healing and self-determination.

Keywords: Coptic Tigrinya, mental disorders, psychosocial model social integration and recovery, traditional healing

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Authors: Alveena Khan

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The objective of this research is to explore students’ understanding about bullying and different bullying types. Nowadays bullying is considered as an important social issue around the world because it has long lasting effects on students’ lives. Sometimes due to bullying students commit suicide, they lose confidence and become isolated. This research used qualitative research approach. In order to generate data, triangulation was considered for the verification and reliability of the generated data. Semi-structured interview, non-participant observation, and case studies were conducted. This research focused on five major private colleges and 20 students (both female and male) participated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The data generated included approximately 45 hours of total interviews. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis and followed grounded theory to generate themes. The findings of the research highlights that bullying does prevail in studied private colleges, mostly in the form of verbal and physical bullying. No specific gender difference was found in experiencing verbal and physical bullying. Furthermore, from students’ point of view, college administrators are responsible to deal with bullying. The researcher suggests that there must be a proper check and balance system and anti-bullying programs should be held in colleges to create a protective and healthy environment in which students do not face bullying.

Keywords: bullying, college student, physical and verbal bullying, qualitative research

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Authors: Mohd Aderi Che Noh, Tuan Rahayu Tuan Lasan

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Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) is an important skill in the Malaysian education system to produce a knowledgeable generation, able to think critically and creatively in order to face the challenges in the future. Educational challenges of the 21st century require that all students to have the HOTS. Therefore, this study aims to identify the level of knowledge, attitude and readiness of students towards HOTS. The respondents were 127 form four students from schools in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. This study is quantitative survey using a questionnaire to collect data. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0. The results showed that knowledge, attitudes and readiness of students towards HOTS lam were at a high level. Inferential analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between knowledge with attitude and readiness towards HOTS. This study provides information to the schools and teachers to improve the teaching and learning to increase students HOTS and fulfilling the hope of Ministry of Education to produce human capital who can be globally competitive.

Keywords: high order thinking skills, teaching, education, Malaysia

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Authors: Helen Ngozi Ibe, Chimmuanya Ezere

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The study investigated the effect of Question Answer Relationships (QARs) in science reading on secondary school students’ achievement in Biology in Owerri Education Zone II of Imo State. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design and was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The sample comprised of 67 SS2 Biology students. The sample was drawn using random sampling technique. One researcher made instrument titled: Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used for collecting the data of the study. The reliability of the instrument was established using Kuder Richardson formula (KR-20) which yielded a reliability index of 0.85 and Cronbach alpha for the BSIRS with an index of 0.71. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. T-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The major findings are that students exposed to QARs strategy in science reading had higher achievement mean scores in biology than students in the control group; there is no significant difference between the achievement mean scores of male and female students exposed to QARs. The researchers recommended that science teachers should teach students the Question Answer Relationship reading strategy and that science students should endeavour to use the question - answer relationship reading strategy in classroom and individual science reading in order to enhance high academic achievement in the subjects being read.

Keywords: academic achievement, biology, science reading, question-answer relationship

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Authors: K. Durairaj, I. N. Umar

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The asynchronous discussion forum is one of the most widely used activities in learning management system environment. Online forum allows participants to interact, construct knowledge, and can be used to complement face to face sessions in blended learning courses. However, to what extent do the students perceive the benefits or advantages of forum remain to be seen. Through content and social network analyses, instructors will be able to gauge the students’ engagement and knowledge construction level. Thus, this study aims to analyze the students’ level of knowledge construction and their participation level that occur through online discussion. It also attempts to investigate the relationship between the level of knowledge construction and their social interaction patterns. The sample involves 23 students undertaking a master course in one public university in Malaysia. The asynchronous discussion forum was conducted for three weeks as part of the course requirement. The finding indicates that the level of knowledge construction is quite low. Also, the density value of 0.11 indicating that the overall communication among the participants in the forum is low. This study reveals that strong and significant correlations between SNA measures (in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality) and level of knowledge construction. Thus, allocating these active students in a different groups aids the interactive discussion takes place. Finally, based upon the findings, some recommendations to increase students’ level of knowledge construction and also for further research are proposed.

Keywords: asynchronous discussion forums, content analysis, knowledge construction, social network analysis

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Authors: Addisu Teshama

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The existing criminal procedure law which is the main determinant of the phenomena of pre-trial detention is under revision in Ethiopia. The drafting work is completed and submitted for approval to the House of Peoples Representatives. The drafters of the draft law claim that the existing law is not in harmony with the constitutionally and internationally recognized principles pertinent to pretrial detention regulation. Further, the drafters allege that the drafting process is dictated by human rights principles recognized in the FDRE constitution and international human rights instruments ratified by Ethiopia. This article aims to the asses the plausibility of the claims of the drafters. For that purpose, this article uses the standards and guidelines articulated by international human rights standard setters as bench marks to juxtapose and judge the existing law and the draft criminal procedure and evidence code (DCrimPEC). The study found that the many aspects of the pre-trial detention law of Ethiopia are not in compliance with international law standards in the existing criminal procedure law. The DCrimPEC is aimed to harmonize the existing law with the constitution and international law standards. In this regard, the study found that the DCrimPEC has made significant changes on pre-trial detention policies which are not in harmony the principle of presumption of innocence. However, there are still gaps.

Keywords: pre-trial detention, right to personal liberty, right to bail, Ethiopia

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Authors: Ricardo Merlo

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The use of simulation as a digital didactic tool allowed students to reproduce the laws of Physics in order to improve their academic performance. The didactic resource of simulation also favored the motivation of most of the young people, depending on the subject of Physics to be developed in the classroom and in that sense, it was significant to know the favorable or unfavorable attitude that the students presented about the use of simulation resources to maximize the anchorage of the contents planned for the different classes developed in the classroom. The different real-time simulation applications that were offered free of charge through the Internet were not presented as a specific resource that could be used in a didactic model, and in that framework, the teachers of Physics at the university level did not apply these resources in a systematic way with the knowledge of the favorable or unfavorable attitude of the students towards these didactic resources. For this reason, this work proposed the design and application of attitude questionnaires to enhance the use of those simulation resources that allowed for improving the quality of the class and the academic performance of the students.

Keywords: physics teaching, attitude, motivation, didactic resources

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Authors: Gülden Küçükakça, Şefika Dilek Güven, Rahşan Kolutek, Seçil Taylan

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Objective: Nursing students face with stress factors affecting academic performance and quality of life as from first moments of their educational life. Stress causes health problems in students such as physical, psycho-social, and behavioral disorders and might damage formation of professional identity by decreasing efficiency of education. In addition to determination of stress experienced by nursing students during their education, it was aimed to help review theoretical and clinical education settings for bringing stress of nursing students into positive level and to raise awareness of educators concerning their own professional behaviors. Methods: The study was conducted with 315 students studying at nursing department of Semra and Vefa Küçük Health High School, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in the academic year of 2015-2016 and agreed to participate in the study. “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researchers upon the literature review and “Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS)” were used in this study. Data were assessed with analysis of variance and correlation analysis. Results: Mean NESS Scale score of the nursing students was estimated to be 66.46±16.08 points. Conclusions: As a result of this study, stress level experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education was determined to be high. In accordance with this result, it can be recommended to determine sources of stress experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education and to develop approaches to eliminate these stress sources.

Keywords: stress, nursing education, nursing student, nursing education stress

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Authors: Rochelle Botha-Marais

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When lecturing future educators in South Africa, praxis is an indispensable aspect that is often neglected. Without properly understanding how the theory taught in lecture halls relates to their future position as educators, we can not expect these students to be fully equipped future teachers. To enable education students at the Vaal Campus of the North West University - who have the Afrikaans language as major - to discover the link between theory and practice, the author created an assignment on phonetics in which the use of technology was incorporated. In the past, students had to submit an assignment or worksheet and they did not get the opportunity to apply their newly found knowledge in a practical manner. For potential future teachers, this application is essential. This paper will demonstrate how technology is used in the second year Afrikaans education module to promote student engagement and self-directed learning. Students were introduced to innovative new technologies alongside more familiar applications to shape a 21st century learning environment where students can think, communicate, solve problems, collaborate and take responsibility for their own teaching and learning. The paper will also reflect on student feedback pertaining the use and efficiency of technology in the Afrikaans module and the possible impact thereof on their own teaching and learning landscape. The aim of this paper is to showcase how technology can be used to maximize the students learning experience and equip future education students with the tools and knowledge to introduce technology-enhanced learning in their own teaching practice.

Keywords: education students, theory and practice, self-directed learning, student engagement, technology

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Authors: Mukondi Nethavhakone

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The high prevalence of violence against women is a global public health problem. Our societies have become dangerous places for women. Women during their child-bearing ages are at a higher risk of experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual violence. What makes it more concerning is that these violent acts are perpetrated by family members or partners, or ex-partners. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is associated with long-lasting physical, reproductive, sexual, mental, and maternal health implications. Expectedly women’s mental health would dimmish as a result of experiencing IPV. The burden of violence against women is seen to be heavier in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to the rest of the world. Countries have committed to eliminating all forms of violence against women through the sustainable development goal, aiming to see changes by the year 2030. As such, various countries have implemented psychosocial interventions of different levels of impact. However, little is known, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with regard to the potential of psychosocial interventions for IPV to improve the mental health outcomes for the survivors and/or victims of IPV. Analysing the risk for IPV through a social-ecological theoretical approach, low- and middle-income countries still readdressing gender inequality which is the cause of intimate partner violence. That is why it is taking time for these countries to shift psychosocial interventions to focus more on the improvement of the mental health of the survivors. It is, therefore, against this backdrop that the researcher intends to undertake a scoping review to understand the nature and characteristics of psychosocial interventions that have been implemented in low- and middle-income countries. With the findings from the scoping review, the researcher aims to develop a conceptual framework that may be a useful resource for healthcare practitioners and researchers in low- and middle-income countries. As this area of research has not been thoroughly reviewed, the results from this scoping will determine whether a systematic review will be justifiable. Additionally, the researcher will identify gaps and opportunities for future research in this area.

Keywords: mental health improvement, psychosocial interventions, intimate partner violence, LMICs

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Authors: Md. Shahriar Sabuz

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Different social factors influence individuals to migrate from their native lands. This qualitative study was designed to analyze the main social factors that have a significant role in the movement of people across borders. In this study, two research questions, i.e., ‘Which social factors of a country significantly influence the persons' decision to migrate from their homeland?’ and ’2: do different social factors of a country influence the process of international migration?" were formulated and relevant data were analyzed to get the logical answer to these two questions. Data analysis revealed that people migrate in large numbers due to deplorable and unsafe social conditions in their home countries. Sometimes migration occurs due to a lack of basic facilities in native countries. It is quite significant to know that these social conditions create a sense of deprivation and insecurity in individuals, and they move to other lands to get a sense of achievement and greater security for themselves and their whole families. This study is significant and distinct from previous studies in that it provides comprehensive information about the major social factors responsible for international migrations and their role in influencing an individual's proclivity to migrate. Besides this, it greatly opens new horizons of research and analysis for other researchers working on the agenda of international migration.

Keywords: International migration, social factors, income inequality, social discrimination

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Authors: Girma Y. Iyassu Menelik

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“The world is now like a global village!” so goes the saying that shows that due to development and technology the countries of the world are now closely linked. In the field of Human rights there is a close relationship in the way that rights are recognised and enforced. This paper will show that human rights have evolved from ancient times through important landmarks such as the Magna Carta, the French Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the American Bill of Rights. The formation of the United Nations after the Second World War resulted in the need to codify and protect human rights. There are some rights which are so fundamental that they are found in international and continental instruments, national constitutions and domestic legislation. In the civil and political sphere they include the right to vote, to freedom of association, speech and assembly, right to life, privacy and fair trial. In the economic and social sphere you have the right to work, protection of the family, social security and rights to education, health and shelter. In some instance some rights can be suspended in times of public emergency but such derogations shall be circumscribed by the law and in most constitutions such limitations are subject to judicial review. However, some rights are so crucial that they cannot be derogated from under any circumstances and these include the right to life, recognition before the law, freedom from torture and slavery and of thought, conscience and religion. International jurisprudence has been developed to protect fundamental rights and avoid discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language or social origin. The elaborate protection system go to show that these rights have become part of the international order and they have universal application. We have now got to a stage where UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR and have come to be regarded as part of an international bill of rights with horizontal and vertical enforcement mechanisms involving state parties, NGO’s , international bodies and other organs.

Keywords: rights, international, constitutional, state, judiciary

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Authors: Idahosa Osagie Ojo

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The paper analyses the right hand in indigenous African economic thought using the Benin people of Southern Nigeria as a case study. The Benin people esteemed handiwork and industriousness and embodied it with the right hand, which was regarded as the ultimate bringer of material wellbeing and societal status. The paper aims to contribute to African economic thought by analysing the conception of the hand in pre-colonial Benin society as the source of material wherewithal and to reveal how the hand was epitomised as the ultimate purveyor of economic providence and class status. The study adopts the historical method, and the interpretive design was used. Primary and secondary sources were utilised, and the findings confirm that the conception of the hand as the giver of material wellbeing was calculatingly done to recompense an industrious and productive lifestyle worthy of accolades and emulations. Findings also show that the people of Benin thought that the right hand is the ultimate bringer of material prosperity and therefore placed tremendous value on it up to the point of veneration. The paper also reveals that the Benin people thought that the fruits of one’s labour outvalued other possessions like an inheritance. The paper also shows that the Benin economic thought, on the hand, as signifying productiveness, intensely encouraged productivity and disdained indolence in the society.

Keywords: Benin, economic thought, hand, industriousness

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Authors: Hashini E. Mohottala

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We report the combine use of Wikispaces (WikiS) and Group Problem Solving (GPS) sessions conducted in the introductory level physics classes. As a part of this new teaching tool, some essay type problems were posted on the WikiS in weekly basis and students were encouraged to participate in problem solving without providing numerical final answers but the steps. Wikispace is used as a platform for students to meet online and create discussions. Each week students were further evaluated on problem solving skills opening up more opportunity for peer interaction through GPS. Each group was given a different problem to solve and the answers were graded. Students developed a set of skills in decision-making, problem solving, communication, negotiation, critical and independent thinking and teamwork through the combination of WikiS and GPS.

Keywords: group problem solving (GPS), wikispace (WikiS), physics education, learning

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Authors: Shakirat Abimbola Adesola, Shuaib Akintunde Asifat, Jelili Olalekan Amoo

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This paper presented the impact of students’ emotions on learning when receiving lectures and when taking tests. It was observed that students experience different types of emotions during the study, and this was found to have a significant effect on their academic performance. A total of one thousand six hundred and seventy-five (1675) students from the department of Computer Science in two Colleges of Education in South-West Nigeria took part in this study. The students were randomly selected for the research. Sample comprises of 968 males representing 58%, and 707 females representing 42%. A structured questionnaire, of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was distributed to the participants to obtain their opinions. Data gathered were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 20 to obtain ANOVA, descriptive analysis, stepwise regression, and reliability tests. The results revealed that emotion moderately shape students’ motivation and engagement in learning; and that self-regulation and self-determination do have significant impact on academic performance. It was further revealed that test anxiety has a significant correlation with academic performance.

Keywords: motivation, self-determination, test anxiety, academic performance, and academic engagement

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Authors: Eda Ozkara San

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Nurse educators have been charged by several nursing organizations and accrediting bodies to provide innovative and evidence-based educational experiences, both didactic and clinical, to help students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to provide culturally competent nursing care to patients. Clinical simulation, which offers the opportunity for students to practice nursing skills in a risk-free, controlled environment and helps develop self-efficacy (confidence) within the nursing role. As one simulation method, the standardized patients (SPs) simulation helps educators to teach nursing students variety of skills in nursing, medicine, and other health professions. It can be a helpful tool for nurse educators to enhance cultural competence of nursing students. An alarming gap exists within the literature concerning the effectiveness of SP strategy to enhance cultural competence development of diverse student groups, who must work with patients from various backgrounds. This grant-supported, longitudinal, one-group, pretest and post-test educational intervention study aimed to examine the effect of the Diverse Standardized Patient Simulation (DSPS) cultural competence education strategy on students’ (n = 53) transcultural self-efficacy (TSE). The researcher-developed multidimensional DSPS strategy involved careful integration of transcultural nursing skills guided by the Cultural Competence and Confidence (CCC) model. As a carefully orchestrated teaching and learning strategy by specifically utilizing the SP pedagogy, the DSPS also followed international guidelines and standards for the design, implementation, evaluation, and SP training; and had content validity review. The DSPS strategy involved two simulation scenarios targeting underrepresented patient populations (Muslim immigrant woman with limited English proficiency and Irish-Italian American gay man with his partner (Puerto Rican) to be utilized in a second-semester, nine-credit, 15-week medical-surgical nursing course at an urban public US university. Five doctorally prepared content experts reviewed the DSPS strategy for content validity. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI) score was calculated between .80-1.0 on the evaluation forms. Jeffreys’ Transcultural Self-Efficacy Tool (TSET) was administered as a pretest and post-test to assess students’ changes in cognitive, practical, and affective dimensions of TSE. Results gained from this study support that the DSPS cultural competence education strategy assisted students to develop cultural competence and caused statistically significant changes (increase) in students’ TSE perceptions. Results also supported that all students, regardless of their background, benefit (and require) well designed cultural competence education strategies. The multidimensional DSPS strategy is found to be an effective way to foster nursing students’ cultural competence development. Step-by-step description of the DSPS provides an easy adaptation of this strategy with different student populations and settings.

Keywords: cultural competence development, the cultural competence and confidence model, CCC model, educational intervention, transcultural self-efficacy, TSE, transcultural self-efficacy tool, TSET

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Authors: Insaf Sayar, Moôtez Marzougui, Abderraouf Ben Abderrahman

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Background: Physical Education and Sports (PES) plays an important role in the overall education of the student. It has physical, affective, psychological, and social repercussions. In fact, overweight children are sometimes underestimated by their lower physical performance and suffer from discriminatory attitudes by their peers and their physical education (PE) teachers. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of both teacher’s pedagogy and overweight or obesity on the inclusion of obese students in physical education classes in the school setting in the Emirate of Ajman (United Arab Emirates) and to understand how physical education and sports (PES) teachers adapt their pedagogical interventions towards this category. Methods: A sample of 48 overweight or obese students and 20 teachers were approached from different schools in Ajman Emirate. Two standardized questionnaires for obese students and PSE teachers were used. Overweight and obesity were defined using age and sex-specific Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: Our results showed that the average BMI of the surveyed students is 28.58 ± 3.14 kg/m². According to the collected data, 85.42% of obese students report that they do not practice physical activity or rarely practice outside of school, and 73.42% go to school by bus or car. In addition, 66.7% of the surveyed students said that being overweight is a barrier to PES practice, and 100% of obese or overweight students do not prefer some physical activities such as running and jumping. Similarly, 75% of the surveyed teachers said that obese students are not integrated into the PES course, but only 55% of teachers reported that the obese student became an obstacle in PES sessions, while 80% of teachers reported that obese or overweight students were marginalized by their colleagues. In the same way, most of them (75%) said that obese students are exempted from PES courses. Conclusion: Overweight/obesity is prevalent among school children in the Emirate of Ajman, with a high correlation with sedentary behavior. The study confirmed an urgent need and effective teaching strategies/ pedagogies for including overweight or obese students in physical education engagement and learning.

Keywords: adolescent, mainstreaming, obesity, PES education, UAE

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Authors: Mei-Ching Ho

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Graduate-level writing practices have gained increasing scholarly attention in recent years. Due to its discipline-specific conventions and requirements, research writing can cause various levels of anxiety for native English speaking and English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) postgraduate students. Although many studies have investigated how writing anxiety can negatively affect writing performance, self-efficacy, and disciplinary discourse socialization process, relatively few have examined the impact of writing anxiety from the perspectives of postgraduate students in EFL contexts. This study aims to 1) examine the level of and the relationship between research writing anxiety and self-efficacy among Taiwanese EFL students at the master's and doctoral levels and 2) to uncover the causes of students' research writing anxiety. The data was collected from an adapted version of Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and Research Writing Self-Efficacy Scale with 218 EFL graduate students in engineering-related fields at two research-oriented universities in Taiwan. A pilot study was conducted to ensure the construct and content validity of the instruments. Semi-structured interviews were also undertaken with 30 survey respondents to better understand the causes of their writing anxiety. The results revealed that while both master's and doctoral students had low to moderate research writing anxiety and self-efficacy, the doctoral students with more experiences in writing research papers in English were more anxious but not necessarily more confident than the master's students. A significantly weak negative correlation was found between the two constructs. The contributing factors for these results include different degree of writing exigency, perceived importance and types of writing tasks, writing for publication as graduation thresholds, and mentoring relationship with thesis/dissertation advisers. The study also identified several causes of graduate-level writing anxiety, of which writing under time constraints and concern on linguistic and rhetorical proficiency appeared to be the major concern. Pedagogical implications regarding facilitating graduate students' writing process and reducing anxiety will also be drawn.

Keywords: writing affect, writing anxiety, writing self-efficacy, EFL, postgraduate students

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Authors: Antoniette Belle R. Bontuyan

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The aim of the study was to determine the levels of performance in Composition Writing of English 122: Writing in the Discipline of the Associate in Hospitality Management Freshman Students in relation to their reading and writing experiences at the Cebu Technological University Tuburan Campus, Academic Year 2009-2010 as basis for a proposed skill exercises. Specifically, this research answers the following questions: Firstly, based on the students’ written compositions, what the students’ levels of performance in the following are: Composition Topic with subcomponents of Topic Development, Organizational or Logical Conclusions, Accurate, Relevant Evidence or Detail, Voice/Tone/Style, and the Composition Conventions with subcomponents of Structure, Grammar and Usage, Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation. Secondly, what the students’ extents of experiences in view of Writing and Reading Experiences are.

Keywords: COMPOSITION WRITING

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Authors: Mark Shiu-kee Shum, Dan Shi

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The paper aims to introduce the ‘Reading to Learn, Learning to Write’ (R2L) pedagogy and its application in teaching reading and writing to non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in Hong Kong. Guided by the teaching and learning cycles accentuated in R2L pedagogy, sufficient scaffolding was provided for students with an explicit teaching method in literacy education. To understand the influence of using R2L pedagogy on students’ reading and writing abilities across different genres, quantitative data were collected by pre- and post-test of reading and writing tasks in the two different genres of narration and explanation. The pre-test and post-test were used to assess students’ writing performance based on the three textual components of context, discourse, and graphic features, while the reading abilities were assessed at the literal, inferred and interpretive levels of reading comprehension to measure the effectiveness of R2L pedagogy on their literacy improvement. The findings show the use of R2L pedagogy has been proven more effective in improving NCS students’ writing abilities than developing their reading capacity. It is hoped that the R2L-based pedagogic practices can serve as teaching references and pedagogic rationale for L1 language teachers and raise their metalinguistic awareness in teaching Chinese to non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong and beyond.

Keywords: pedagogical inclusiveness, literacy education, ethnic minority, reading and writing

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Authors: Mukondi Esther Nethavhakone

Abstract:

In 2020 World Health Organization announced the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To curb or contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID 19), global governments implemented social distancing and lockdown regulations. Subsequently, it was no longer business as per usual, life as we knew it had changed, and so many aspects of people's lives were negatively affected, including financial and employment stability. Mainly, because companies/businesses had to put their operations on hold, some had to shut down completely, resulting in the loss of income for many people globally. Finances and employment insecurities are some of the issues that exacerbated many social issues that the world was already faced with, such as school drop-outs, teenage pregnancies, sexual assaults, gender-based violence, crime, child abuse, elderly abuse, to name a few. Expectedly the majority of the population's mental health state was threatened. This resulted in an increased number of people seeking mental healthcare services. The increasing need for mental healthcare services in Low and Middle-income countries proves to be a challenge because it is a well-known fact due to financial constraints and not well-established healthcare systems, mental healthcare provision is not as prioritised as the primary healthcare in these countries. It is against this backdrop that the researcher seeks to find viable, cost-effective, and accessible mental health solutions for low and middle-income countries amid the pressures of any pandemic. The researcher will undertake a systematic review of the technology-based mental health solutions that have been implemented/adopted by developed countries during COVID 19 lockdown and social distancing periods. This systematic review study aims to determine if low and middle-income countries can adopt the cost-effective version of digital mental health solutions for the healthcare system to adequately provide mental healthcare services during critical times such as pandemics (when there's an overwhelming diminish in mental health globally). The researcher will undertake a systematic review study through mixed methods. It will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The mixed-methods uses findings from both qualitative and quantitative studies in one review study. It will be beneficial to conduct this kind of study using mixed methods because it is a public health topic that involves social interventions and it is not purely based on medical interventions. Therefore, the meta-ethnographic (qualitative data) analysis will be crucial in understanding why and which digital methods work and for whom does it work, rather than only the meta-analysis (quantitative data) providing what digital mental health methods works. The data collection process will be extensive, involving the development of a database, table of summary of evidence/findings, and quality assessment process lastly, The researcher will ensure that ethical procedures are followed and adhered to, ensuring that sensitive data is protected and the study doesn't pose any harm to the participants.

Keywords: digital, mental health, covid, low and middle-income countries

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Authors: Ricardo Merlo, María González, Zully Rivero, Laura González

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This exploratory work was to know the perception of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) that university students have during their passage through the classroom. The significance of using AI in education, the degree of interest, knowledge acquisition, and how it would influence an interactive resource for acquiring skills were explored. Within this framework, a test with 30 items was designed and administered to 800 volunteer first-year university students of natural and exact sciences. Based on a randomized pilot test, it was validated with Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. Subsequently, the descriptive statistics of the sample used allowed us to observe the preponderance of the dimensions that constitute the attitude construct. Then, the factorial analysis by dimensions contributed to discern about the students' habits according to the knowledge acquired and the emotions put into play in the topics developed in the classroom.

Keywords: attitude, artificial intelligence, didactics, teaching

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Authors: Gregory W. Smith, Paul J. Riccomini

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The goal of this empirical inquiry is to explore the effect of noise reducing headphones on the short-term memory recall of college students. Immediately following the presentation (via PowerPoint) of 12 unrelated and randomly selected one- and two-syllable words, students were asked to recall as many words as possible. Using a linear model with conditions marked with binary indicators, we examined the frequency and accuracy of words that were recalled. The findings indicate that for some students, a reduction of noise has a significant positive impact on their ability to recall information. As classrooms become more aurally distracting due to the implementation of cooperative learning activities, these findings highlight the need for a quiet learning environment for some learners.

Keywords: auditory distraction, education, instruction, noise, working memory

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Authors: Allahyar Arabmomeni, Hojjatollah Alaei

Abstract:

Background: The objectives of this study was to investigate effect of anthropometric variables and body composition on physical capabilities among male and female students. Materials and Methods: The study had a descriptive correlation method. The statistical population consisted of all students of Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr Branch, from 2011 to 2013, which was about 7000 students. The statistical sample included 300 male and 300 female students who were randomly selected from among university students in proportion to frequency of students in each faculty. Descriptive statistical methods, t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. Results: Results of this research showed that body size of male students in the studied variables was more than that of female students (p<0.05). Moreover, there was significant difference between all the variables based on significance level of the table. Also, the results taken from the Pearson correlation of this study's variables showed a positive relationship between height and leg and hand length and sit-up, full-ups bar and vertical jump tests (p<0/01). Besides, there was a positive correlation between hand length, sit-up, full-ups bar and vertical jump tests. As far as tests of length of legs and vertical jump were concerned, a highly positive correlation was observed between them. Additionally, results of this study indicated a significant correlation at alpha level of 0.05 between age and height of the students; but, there was a negative correlation between age, sit-up and 1600-m tests (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated a relationship between size of weight, height, length of hands and legs and some physical fitness tests. Therefore, it is required to consider anthropometric factors in addition to gender and age while preparing norms of physical fitness since variables of height and length of hands also affect physical fitness evaluation.

Keywords: anthropometric variables, physical fitness factors, students, body composition

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