Search results for: Latin American music education

Authors: Ashwini Tiwari

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This qualitative case study examines students' perceptions of accommodations in higher education institutions. The data were collected from focus groups and one-to-one interviews with 15 students enrolled in a 4-year state university in the southern United States. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis process. The findings suggest that students perceived that their instructors were willing to accommodate their educational needs. However, the participants expressed concerns about the lack of a formal labeling process in higher education settings, creating a barrier to receiving adequate services to gain meaningful educational experiences.

Keywords: disability, accomodation, services, higher educaiton

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Authors: Helen J. Spray, Karina J. Linnell

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Local-global bias in adulthood is strongly dependent on environmental factors and a global bias is not the universal characteristic of adult perception it was once thought to be: whilst Western adults typically demonstrate a global bias, Namibian adults living in traditional villages possess a strong local bias. Furthermore, environmental effects on local-global bias have been shown to be highly gender-specific; whereas urbanisation promoted a global bias in urbanised Namibian women but not men, education promoted a global bias in urbanised Namibian men but not women. Adult populations, however, provide only a snapshot of the gene-environment interactions which shape perceptual bias. Yet, to date, there has been little work on the development of local-global bias across environmental settings. In the current study, local-global bias was assessed using a similarity-matching task with Navon figures in children aged between 4 and 15 years from across three populations: traditional Namibians, urban Namibians, and urban British. For the two Namibian groups, measures of urbanisation and education were obtained. Data were subjected to both between-group and within-group analyses. Between-group analyses compared developmental trajectories across population and gender. These analyses revealed a global bias from even as early as 4 in the British sample, and showed that the developmental onset of a global bias is not fixed. Urbanised Namibian children ultimately developed a global bias that was indistinguishable from British children; however, a global bias did not emerge until much later in development. For all populations, the greatest developmental effects were observed directly following the onset of formal education. No overall gender effects were observed; however, there was a significant gender by age interaction which was difficult to reconcile with existing biological-level accounts of gender differences in the development of local-global bias. Within-group analyses compared the effects of urbanisation and education on local-global bias for traditional and urban Namibian boys and girls separately. For both traditional and urban boys, education mediated all effects of age and urbanisation; however, this was not the case for girls. Traditional Namibian girls retained a local bias regardless of age, education, or urbanisation, and in urbanised girls, the development of a global bias was not attributable to any one factor specifically. These results are broadly consistent with aforementioned findings that education promoted a global bias in urbanised Namibian men but not women. The development of local-global bias does not follow a fixed trajectory but is subject to environmental control. Understanding how variability in the development of local-global bias might arise, particularly in the context of gender, may have far-reaching implications. For example, a number of educationally important cognitive functions (e.g., spatial ability) are known to show consistent gender differences in childhood and local-global bias may mediate some of these effects. With education becoming an increasingly prevalent force across much of the developing world it will be important to understand the processes that underpin its effects and their implications.

Keywords: cross-cultural, development, education, gender, local-global bias, perception, urbanisation, urbanization

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Authors: Matthew Montebello

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The way e-learning effectiveness has been notoriously measured within an academic setting is by comparing the e-learning medium to the traditional face-to-face teaching methodology. In this paper, a simple yet innovative comparison methodology is introduced, whereby the effectiveness of next generation e-learning systems are assessed in contrast not only to the face-to-face mode, but also to the classical e-learning modality. Ethical and logistical issues are also discussed, as this three-way approach to compare teaching methodologies was applied and documented in a real empirical study within a higher education institution.

Keywords: e-learning effectiveness, higher education, teaching modality comparison

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Authors: Loreta Kaklauskiene, Arturas Kaklauskas

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The Integrated Human Resources and Work Environment Management (HOWE) System optimises employee productivity, improves the work environment, and, at the same time, meets the employer’s strategic goals. The HOWE system has been designed to ensure an organisation can successfully compete in the global market, thanks to the high performance of its employees. The HOWE system focuses on raising workforce productivity and improving work conditions to boost employee performance and motivation. The methods used in our research are linear correlation, INVAR multiple criteria analysis, digital twin, and affective computing. The HOWE system is based on two patents issued in Lithuania (LT 6866, LT 6841) and one European Patent application (No: EP 4 020 134 A1). Our research analyses ways to make human resource management more efficient and boost labour productivity by improving and adapting a personalised work environment. The efficiency of human capital and labour productivity can be increased by applying personalised workplace improvement systems that can optimise lighting colours and intensity, scents, data, information, knowledge, activities, media, games, videos, music, air pollution, humidity, temperature, vibrations, and other workplace aspects. HOWE generates and maintains a personalised workspace for an employee, taking into account the person’s affective, physiological and emotional (APSE) states. The purpose of this project was to create a HOWE for the customisation of quality control in smart workspaces taking into account the user’s APSE states in an integrated manner as a single unit. This customised management of quality control covers the levels of lighting and colour intensities, scents, media, information, activities, learning materials, games, music, videos, temperature, energy efficiency, the carbon footprint of a workspace, humidity, air pollution, vibrations and other aspects of smart spaces. The system is based on Digital Twins technology, seen as a logical extension of BIM.

Keywords: human resource management, health economics, work environment, organizational behaviour and employee productivity, prosperity in work, smart system

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Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

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Adult students with dyslexia in higher education can receive support for their cognitive needs but may also experience negative emotion such as anxiety due to their dyslexia in connection with their studies. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers. A quantitative approach was used to measure differences in academic and social anxiety between 102 students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia compared to 72 students with no history of learning difficulties. Academic and social anxiety was measured in a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings showed that dyslexic students showed statistically significant higher levels of academic, but not social anxiety in comparison to the non-dyslexic sample. Dyslexic students in higher education show academic anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without dyslexia. The implications of this for the dyslexia practitioner is that delivery of strategies to deal with anxiety should be seen equally as important, if not more so, than interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties.

Keywords: Academic, Anxiety, Dyslexia, Quantitative

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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The focus of this paper is on the impact of internal organizational factors on the inappropriate job performance and behaviour of employees. The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in South Africa has been experiencing inappropriate job behaviour and performance of some of its workers. They include misappropriation of resources, maladministration, mismanagement, lack of service delivery, fraud, and corruption. Since many workers in this organization have various levels of formal education, such practices are not expected, because the structural-functionalist assumption is that formal education is a solution to societal challenges. Since inappropriate job behaviour and performance continue to be reported in spite of the formal education of BCMM workers, this study seeks to investigate how the two phenomena co-exist. It thus seeks to put into perspective the paradoxical co-existence of formal education with inappropriate job behaviour and performance, by focusing on the BCMM as a case-study. For data collection, this study used the mixed method approach; that is, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings revealed structural, systemic and human impediments to labour productivity in the organization. By and large, the unquestioning acceptance of the assumption that the skills shortage is responsible for inappropriate workers’ job performance and behaviour is discredited by the evidence of skilled personnel who exercise their responsibilities in a manner that undermines their occupational requirements. Therefore, this exploratory study affirms that the narrow conception of skills, that privileges job-specific capabilities, is not enough for cultivating a workforce with appropriate job behaviour and performance practices.

Keywords: inappropriate job behaviour, labour productivity, mismanagement, skills shortage

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Authors: Aniekan James Akpan, Inemesit Akpan Umoren, Uduak Iwok

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From prehistoric and primitive cultures, education was seen as a process of culture transmission by way of guiding children into becoming good members of their local communities. Even in modern cultures, education is seen as a systematic discipline aimed at cultivating genuine values to improve oneself and society. Without education, the chances of realizing the desired vision are marred as it is believed that nations that invest much in education are able to reap the desired benefits technologically, economically, socially, politically, and otherwise. In this sense, the moulding of character is considered the primary purpose of education, and until the audience of mass media through its various vehicles is seen as tools for improving the overall development of society. It is believed that a media-friendly person is likely to perform better than someone who is less friendly. This work, therefore, examines the role media play in educational development. As highlighted by the study, a summary of the functions of media shows that they widen horizon by acting as a liberating force, breaking distance, bonds, and transforming a traditional society into a modern one. With the use of technological development theory, agenda-setting theory as well as uses and gratification theory and multiple intelligence theory, the work identifies different ways in which mass media help in educational development and draws attention to the audience’s perception of media functions in terms of educational development. With a survey method and a population of 6,903,321 people, the work sampled 220 respondents using purposive technique drawn from rural communities in the South-South region of Nigeria. The work concludes that mass media are potent vehicles for teaching and learning and therefore recommends that government should provide basic infrastructures to the rural communities to aid full utilization of media potentials in educational development and equally urge media owners and practitioners to as a matter of urgency increase coverage time on issues bordering on education as it is done for political and other issues.

Keywords: educational, development, media usage, perception

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Authors: Robert Jedrys, Zdzislaw Kobos, Justyna Skrzynska, Zbigniew Wochynski

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Professions connected to aviation require an assessment of the suitability of health, psychological and psychomotor skills and overall physical fitness of the organism, who applies. Assessment of the physical condition is conducted by the committees consisting of aero-medical specialists in clinical medicine and aviation. In addition, psychological predispositions should be evaluated by specialized psychologists familiar with the specifics of the tasks and requirements for the various positions in aviation. Both, physical abilities and general physical fitness of candidates for aviation shall be assessed during the selection exams, which also test the ability to deal with stress what is very important in aviation. Hence, the mentioned exams in physical education not only help to judge on the ranking in candidates in terms of their efficiency and performance, but also allows to evaluate the functioning under stress measured using psychological tests. Moreover, before-test stress is a predictors of successfulness in the next stages of education and practical training in the aviation. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of temperamental traits on strategies used for coping with stress during selection exams in physical education, deciding on admission to aviation school. The study involved 30 candidates for fighter pilot training in aviation school . To evaluate the temperament 'The Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory' (FCB-TI) by B. Zawadzki and J.Strelau was used. To determine the pattern of coping with stress 'The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations' (CISS) to N. S. Endler and J. D. A. Parker were engaged. Study of temperament and styles of coping with stress was conducted directly before the exam selection of physical education. The results were analyzed with 'Statistica 9' program. The studies showed that:-There is a negative correlation between such a temperament feature as 'perseverance' and preferred style of coping with stress concentrated on the task (r = -0.590; p < 0.004); -There is a positive correlation between such a feature of temperament as 'emotional reactivity,' and preference to deal with a stressful situation with ‘style centered on emotions’ (r = 0.520; p <0.011); -There is a negative correlation between such a feature of temperament as ‘strength’ and ‘style of coping with stress concentrated on emotions’ (r = -0.580; p < 0.004). Studies indicate that temperament traits determine the perception of stress and preferred coping styles used during the selection, as during the exams in physical education.

Keywords: aviation, physical education, stress, temperamental traits

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Authors: Mane Varosyan, Diana Tumanyan, Agnesa Martirosyan

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There are many catastrophic events that end with dire consequences, and to avoid them, people should be well-armed with the necessary information about these situations. During the last years, Serious Games have increasingly gained popularity for training people for different types of emergencies. The major discussed problem is the usage of gamification in education. Moreover, it is mandatory to understand how and what kind of gamified e-learning modules promote engagement. As the theme is emergency, we also find out people’s behavior for creating the final approach. Our proposed solution is an educational video game, “EZZRA”.

Keywords: gamification, education, emergency, serious games, game design, virtual reality, digitalisation

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Authors: Alejandra Sierra, Gloria Valadez, Adriana Dávalos, Mirliana Ramírez

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For years, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization and other organizations have made efforts to the improve access and the quality of prenatal care as part of comprehensive programs for maternal and neonatal health, the standards of care have been renewed in order to migrate from a medical perspective to a holistic perspective. However, despite the efforts currently antenatal care models have not been verified by a scientific evaluation in order to determine their effectiveness. The teenage pregnancy is considered as a very important phenomenon since it has been strongly associated with inequalities, poverty and the lack of gender quality; therefore it is important to analyze the antenatal care that’s been given, including not only the clinical intervention but also the activities surrounding the advertising and the health education. In this study, the objective was to describe if the previously established activities (on the prenatal care models) are being performed in the care of pregnant teenagers attending prenatal care in health institutions in two cities in México and Chile during 2013. Methods: Observational and descriptive study, of a transversal cohort. 170 pregnant women (13-19 years) were included in prenatal care in two health institutions (100 women from León-Mexico and 70 from Chile-Coquimbo). Data collection: direct survey, perinatal clinical record card which was used as checklists: WHO antenatal care model WHO-2003, Official Mexican Standard NOM-007-SSA2-1993 and Personalized Service Manual on Reproductive Process- Chile Crece Contigo; for data analysis descriptive statistics were used. The project was approved by the relevant ethics committees. Results: Regarding the fulfillment of interventions focused on physical, gynecological exam, immunizations, monitoring signs and biochemical parameters in both groups was met by more than 84%; the activities of guidance and counseling pregnant teenagers in Leon compliance rates were below 50%, on the other hand, although pregnant women in Coquimbo had a higher percentage of compliance, no one reached 100%. The topics that less was oriented were: family planning, signs and symptoms of complications and labor. Conclusions: Although the coverage of the interventions indicated in the prenatal care models was high, there were still shortcomings in the fulfillment of activities to orientation, education and health promotion. Deficiencies in adherence to prenatal care guidelines could be due to different circumstances such as lack of registration or incomplete filling of medical records, lack of medical supplies or health personnel, absences of people at prenatal check-up appointments, among many others. Therefore, studies are required to evaluate the quality of prenatal care and the effectiveness of existing models, considering the role of the different actors (pregnant women, professionals and health institutions) involved in the functionality and quality of prenatal care models, in order to create strategies to design or improve the application of a complete process of promotion and prevention of maternal and child health as well as sexual and reproductive health in general.

Keywords: adolescent health, health systems, maternal health, primary health care

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Authors: Paul Ojeaga

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Can the level of innovation use drive un-validated business models across regions? To what extent does industrial sector attractiveness drive firm’s success across regions at the time of start-up? This study examines the role of innovation on start-up success in six regions of the world (namely Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, South East Asia Pacific, the European Union and the United States representing North America) using macroeconomic variables. While there have been studies using firm level data, results from such studies are not suitable for national policy decisions. The need to drive a regional innovation policy also begs for an answer, therefore providing room for this study. Results using dynamic panel estimation show that innovation counts in the early infancy stage of new business life cycle. The results are robust even after controlling for time fixed effects and the study present variance-covariance estimation robust standard errors.

Keywords: industrial economics, un-validated business models, scalable models, entrepreneurship

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Authors: Akudo Ejelonu, Sarah Willig, J. Anthony Sauder, Heather Murphy, Frances Shofer

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Background: The high prevalence of diarrheal diseases in the village of Tzununá, Guatemala is linked to lack of sanitation facilities and handwashing practices. Diarrheal diseases are preventable and improved access to latrines, hygiene education and clean water may improve sanitation by reducing the spread of disease. Objective: Between May 2015-January 2017, the University of Pennsylvania Chapter of Engineers Without Border (PennEWB) and local partners designed an intervention to reduce diarrheal disease by building pour flush latrines in 50 individual households and providing education on the importance of handwashing practice. Design/Methods: Through convenient sampling, we surveyed 45 households to evaluate the community’s knowledge of diarrheal disease, handwashing practices, and maintenance of the latrines. Results: 92% of the study participants experienced decrease of new cases of diarrheal disease after receiving a latrine. Only 11% washed their hands after defecating in the latrine. There was gap in understanding the health outcome of latrine sanitation and handwashing education. The respondents did not connect the reduction of diarrheal disease with latrine use and maintenance. Instead, they associated their motivation for latrine use with aesthetics, proximity to their home, ease and comfort, and reduction of shame. We recommend that PennEWB adopt UNICEF or WHO education on hand washing practice. Conclusion: Social interaction and social pressure drove the household use of latrines. The latrines are being valued and cleaned. The education that the residents received did not target norms and behaviors. Latrines could be used to create a new social norm that supports behavioral change.

Keywords: diarrheal disease, latrine, open defecation, water, sanitation and hygiene

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Authors: Ormal Lishi

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This research presents a computationally efficient probabilistic method to assess the performance of compartmentation walls with similar Fire Resistance Levels (FRL) but varying complexity. Specifically, a masonry brick wall and a light-steel framed (LSF) wall with comparable insulation performance are analyzed. A Monte Carlo technique, employing Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS), is utilized to quantify uncertainties and determine the probability of failure for both walls exposed to standard and parametric fires, following ISO 834 and Eurocodes guidelines. Results show that the probability of failure for the brick masonry wall under standard fire exposure is estimated at 4.8%, while the LSF wall is 7.6%. These probabilities decrease to 0.4% and 4.8%, respectively, when subjected to parametric fires. Notably, the complex LSF wall exhibits higher variability in predicting time to failure for specific criteria compared to the less complex brick wall, especially at higher temperatures. The proposed approach highlights the need for Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) to accurately evaluate the reliability and safety levels of complex designs.

Keywords: design complexity, probability of failure, monte carlo analysis, compartmentation walls, insulation

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Authors: Raul G. Angeles

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The Philippine government instituted major reforms in its educational system. The Department of Education pushes the K to 12 program that makes kindergarten mandatory and adds two years of senior high school to the country's basic education. In essence, the students’ stay in basic education particularly those who are supposedly going to college is extended. The majority of the students expressed that they will be taking the Academic Track of the Senior High School curriculum specifically the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and General Academic (GA) strands. Almost certainly, instruction should match the students' styles and thus through this descriptive study a city survey was conducted to explore the teaching strategies preferences of junior high school students and teachers who will be promoted to senior high school during the Academic Year 2016-2017. This study was conducted in selected public and private secondary schools in Metro Manila. Questionnaires were distributed to students and teachers; and series of follow-up interviews were also carried out to generate additional information. Preferences of students are centered on employing innovations such as technology, cooperative and problem-based learning. While the students will still be covered by basic education their interests in science are sparking to a point where the usual teaching styles may no longer work to them and for that cause, altering the teaching methods is recommended to create a teacher-student style matching. Other effective strategies must likewise be implemented.

Keywords: curriculum development, effective teaching strategies, problem-based learning, senior high school, science education, technology

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Authors: Syaza Isma, Timothy Higgins

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In Malaysia, increased take-up rates of tertiary student borrowing, and reliance on retirement savings to fund children's education show the importance of public higher education financing schemes (PTPTN). PTPTN has been operating for 2 decades now; however, there are some critical issues and challenges that include low loan recovery and loan default that suggest a detailed consideration of student loan/financing scheme alternatives is crucial. In addition, the decline in funding level per student following introduction of the new PTPTN full and partial loan scheme has raised ongoing concerns over the sustainability of the scheme to provide continuous financial assistance to students in tertiary education. This research seeks to assess these issues that put greater efficiency in an effort to ensure equitable access to student funding for current and future generations. We explore the extent of repayment hardship under the current loan arrangements that presumably led to low recovery from the borrowers, particularly low-income graduates. The concept of manageable debt exists in the design of income-contingent repayment schemes, as practiced in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Hungary, USA (in limited form), the Netherlands, and South Korea. Can Income Contingent Loans (ICL) offer the best practice for an education financing scheme, and address the issue of repayment hardship and concurrently, can a properly designed ICL scheme provide a solution to the current issues and challenges facing Malaysia student financing? We examine the different potential ICL models using deterministic and stochastic approach to simulate income of graduates.

Keywords: deterministic, income contingent loan, repayment burden, simulation, stochastic

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Authors: Manuela S. Tolentino, John G. Nepomuceno

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The purpose of this investigation was to assess the implementation of inclusive education (IE) in 6 elementary and 5 secondary public schools in the City Schools Division of Dasmarinas. Participants in this study were 11 school heads, 73 teachers, 22 parents and 22 students (regular and with special needs) who were selected using purposive sampling. A 30-item questionnaire was used to gather data on the extent of the implementation of IE in the division while focus group discussion (FGD) was used to gather insights on what facilitate and hinder the implementation of the IE program. This study assessed the following variables: school culture and environment, inclusive education policy implementation, and curriculum design and practices. Data were analyzed using frequency count, mean and ranking. Results revealed that participants have similar assessment on the extent of the implementation of IE. School heads rated school culture and environment as highest in terms of implementation while teachers and pupils chose curriculum design and practices. On the other hand, parents felt that inclusive education policies are implemented best. School culture and environment are given high ratings. Participants perceived that the IE program in the division is making everyone feel welcome regardless of age, sex, social status, physical, mental and emotional state; students with or without disability are equally valued, and students help each. However, some aspects of the IE program implementation are given low ratings namely: partnership between staff, parents and caregivers, school’s effort to minimize discriminatory practice, and stakeholders sharing the philosophy of inclusion. As regards education policy implementation, indicators with the highest ranks were school’s effort to admit students from the locality especially students with special needs, and the implementation of the child protection policy and anti-bullying policy. The results of the FGD revealed that both school heads and teachers possessed the welcoming gesture to accommodate students with special needs. This can be linked to the increasing enrolment of SNE in the division. However, limitations of the teachers’ knowledge on handling learners, facilities and collaboration among stakeholders hinder the implementation of IE program. Based on the findings, inclusion program framework was developed for program enhancement. This will be the basis for the improvement of the program’s efficiency, the relationship between stakeholders, and formulation of solutions.

Keywords: inclusion, inclusive education, framework, special education

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Authors: Stephen O. Amaraihu

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This research investigated the effect of Computer Based Instruction on Students’ interest, achievement, and retention in Algebra in Abia State College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Two instruments, Maths Achievement Test (MAT) and Maths Interest Inventory were employed, to test a population of three hundred and sixteen (316) NCE 1 students in algebra. It is expected that this research will lead to the improvement of students’ performance and enhance their interest and retention of basic algebraic concept. It was found that the majority of students in the college are not proficient in the use of ICT as a result of a lack of trained personnel. It was concluded that the state government was not ready to implement the usage of mathematics in Abia State College of Education. The paper recommends, amongst others, the employment of mathematics Lectures with competent skills in ICT and the training of lecturers of mathematics.

Keywords: achievement, computer based instruction, interest, retention

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Authors: Trayan Kushev, E. Shaunn Mattingly, Andrew S. Manikas

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This study utilizes computer-aided text analysis (CATA) on the descriptions of 248,614 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns to reveal that backers are more likely to provide funding to projects that contain a higher percentage of creativity-speak words. Further, this relationship is observed to be stronger for product-based campaigns (e.g., games, technology, design) and weaker for content-based campaigns (e.g., film, music, publishing). In addition, both positive linguistic tone and the use of words expressing gratitude in the text of the campaign strengthen the positive effect of creativity-speak on campaign success.

Keywords: creativity-speak, crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, gratitude, tone

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Authors: M. R. Babaei, S. M. Hosseini, S. Rahmani, L. Moradi

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Today, the quality of education and training systems and the effectiveness of the education systems of most concern to stakeholders and decision-makers of our country's development in each country. In Iran this is a double issue of concern to numerous reasons; So that governments, over the past decade have hardly even paid the running costs of education. ICT is claiming it has the power to change the structure of a program for training, reduce costs and increase quality, and do education systems and products consistent with the needs of the community and take steps to practice education. Own of the areas that the introduction of information technology has fundamentally changed is the field of education. The aim of this research is process reengineering management in schools simultaneously has been using field studies to collect data in the form of interviews and a questionnaire survey. The statistical community of this research has been the country of Iran and smart schools under the education. Sampling was targeted. The data collection tool was a questionnaire composed of two parts. The questionnaire consists of 36 questions that each question designates one of effective factors on the management of smart schools. Also each question consists of two parts. The first part designates the operating position in the management process, which represents the domain's belonging to the management agent (planning, organizing, leading, controlling). According to the classification of Dabryn and in second part the factors affect the process of managing the smart schools were examined, that Likert scale is used to classify. Questions the validity of the group of experts and prominent university professors in the fields of information technology, management and reengineering of approved and Cronbach's alpha reliability and also with the use of the formula is evaluated and approved. To analyse the data, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the factors contributing to the rating of (Linkert scale) descriptive statistics (frequency table data, mean, median, mode) was used. To analyse the data using analysis of variance and nonparametric tests and Friedman test, the assumption was evaluated. The research conclusions show that the factors influencing the management process re-engineering smart schools in school performance is affected.

Keywords: re-engineering, management process, smart school, Iran's school

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Authors: Claire P. Griffin

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The education provision for students with special educational needs, including students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has undergone significant national and international changes in recent years. In particular, an increase in resource-based provision has occurred across educational settings in an effort to support inclusive practices. This paper seeks to explore the role of the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in supporting children with ASD in Irish schools. This research stems from the second national evaluation of ‘Education Provision for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Ireland’ (NCSE, 2016). This research was commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in Ireland and conducted by a team of researchers from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick from February to July 2014. This study involved a multiple case study research strategy across 24 educational sites, as selected through a stratified sampling process. Research strategies included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, documentary review and child conversations. Data analysis was conducted electronically using Nvivo software, with use of an additional quantitative recording mechanism based on scaled weighting criteria for collected data. Based on such information, key findings from the NCSE national evaluation will be presented and critically reviewed, with particular reference to the role of the SNA in supporting pupils with ASD. Examples of positive practice inherent within the SNA role will be outlined and contrasted with discrete areas for development. Based on such findings, recommendations for the evolving role of the SNA will be presented, with the aim of informing both policy and best practice within the field.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, inclusive education , paraprofessional, special needs assistant

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Authors: Luís M. João, Patrício Langa

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The article reviews the literature on quality assurance (QA) in African higher education studies (HES) conducted through a bibliometric mapping of published papers between 1999 and 2019. Specifically, the article highlights the nuances of knowledge production in four scientific databases: Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), African Journal Online (AJOL), and Google Scholar. The analysis included 531 papers, of which 127 are from Scopus, 30 are from Web of Science, 85 are from African Journal Online, and 259 are from Google Scholar. In essence, 284 authors wrote these papers from 231 institutions and 69 different countries (i.e., Africa=54 and outside Africa=15). Results indicate the existing knowledge. This analysis allows the readers to understand the growth and development of the field during the two-decade period, identify key contributors, and observe potential trends or gaps in the research. The paper employs bibliometric mapping as its primary analytical lens. By utilizing this method, the study quantitatively assesses the publications related to QA in African HES, helping to identify patterns, collaboration networks, and disparities in research output. The bibliometric approach allows for a systematic and objective analysis of large datasets, offering a comprehensive view of the knowledge production in the field. Furthermore, the study highlights the lack of shared resources available to enhance quality in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa. This finding underscores the importance of promoting collaborative research efforts, knowledge exchange, and capacity building within the region to improve the overall quality of higher education. The paper argues that despite the growing quantity of QA research in African higher education, there are challenges related to citation impact and access to high-impact publication avenues for African researchers. It emphasises the need to promote collaborative research and resource-sharing to enhance the quality of HEIs in Africa. The analytical lenses of bibliometric mapping and the examination of publication players' scenarios contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the field and its implications for African higher education.

Keywords: Africa, bibliometric research, higher education studies, quality assurance, scientific database, systematic review

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Authors: Mai Alshareef

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The Saudi government considers the modernisation of the education system as a critical component of the national development plan, Saudi Vision 2030; however, this sudden reform creates tension amongst Saudis. This study examines first the reflection of the social and digital education reform on stakeholders and the general Saudi public, and second, the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the ethnoreligious conflict in Saudi Arabia. This study employs Cyberconflict theory to examine conflicts in the real world and cyberspace. The findings are based on a qualitative case study methodology that uses netnography, an analysis of 3,750 Twitter posts and semi-structural interviews with 30 individuals, including key actors in the Saudi education sector and Twitter activists during 2019\2020. The methods utilised are guided by thematic analysis to map an understanding of factors that influence societal conflicts in Saudi Arabia, which in this case include religious, national, and gender identity. Elements of Cyberconflict theory are used to better understand how conflicting groups build their identities in connection to their ethnic/religious/cultural differences and competing national identities. The findings correspond to the ethnoreligious components of the Cyberconflict theory. Twitter became a battleground for liberals, conservatives, the Saudi public and elites, and it is used in a novel way to influence public opinion and to challenge the media monopoly. Opposing groups relied heavily on a discourse of exclusion and inclusion and showed ethnic and religious affiliations, national identity, and chauvinism. The findings add to existing knowledge in the cyberconflict field of study, and they also reveal outcomes that are critical to the Saudi Arabian national context.

Keywords: education, cyberconflict, Twitter, national identity

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Authors: Omar Alshehri, Vic Lally

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This paper examined the attitudes of using social media tools to support learning at a university in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it investigated the students’ current usage of these tools and examined the barriers they could face during the use of social media tools in the education process. Participants in this study were 42 university students. A web-based survey was used to collect data for this study. The results indicate that all of the students were familiar with social media and had used at least one type of social media for learning. It was found out that all students had very positive attitudes towards the use of social media and welcomed using these tools as a supplementary to the curriculum. However, the results indicated that the major barriers to using these tools in learning were distraction, opposing Islamic religious teachings, privacy issues, and cyberbullying. The study recommended that this study could be replicated at other Saudi universities to investigate factors and barriers that might affect Saudi students’ attitudes toward using social media to support learning.

Keywords: barriers to social media use, benefits of social media use, higher education, Saudi Arabia, social media

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Authors: Cecilia Obi Nja

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of virtual reality meditation on science education undergraduate students’ academic achievement. It was in two parts: it compared the impact of meditation via virtual reality against video, as accessed by students’ mean scores. Secondly, the study examined the usefulness of meditation on the overall well-being of students through video or virtual reality. All the science education undergraduate students of the University of Calabar constituted the population of the study. Two research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study employed a pretest–posttest design with the participants being randomly assigned to two groups. The sample size was 120. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) results showed that virtual reality meditation had a significantly higher benefit than video meditation. The results of the analysis also indicated that undergraduate students with both meditation techniques employed had decreased pre-exam anxiety. It was concluded that virtual reality meditation plays a major role in students’ academic achievement and test anxiety levels.

Keywords: consciousness, academic achievement, meditation, anxiety

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Authors: Ben Tappin, Ryan McKay

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The political left and right appear to disagree not only over questions of value but, also, over questions of fact—over what is true “out there” in society and the world. Alarmingly, a large body of survey data collected during the past decade suggests that this disagreement tends to be greatest among the most educated and most cognitively sophisticated opposing partisans. In other words, the data show that these individuals display the widest political polarization in their reported factual beliefs. Explanations of this polarization pattern draw heavily on cultural and political factors; yet, the large majority of the evidence originates from one cultural and political context—the United States, a country with a rather unique cultural and political history. One consequence is that widening political polarization conditional on education and cognitive sophistication may be due to idiosyncratic cultural, political or historical factors endogenous to US society—rather than a more general, international phenomenon. We examined widening political polarization conditional on education across Europe, over a topic that is culturally and politically contested; immigration. To do so, we analyzed data from the European Social Survey, a premier survey of countries in and around the European area conducted biennially since 2002. Our main results are threefold. First, we see widening political polarization conditional on education over beliefs about the economic impact of immigration. The foremost countries showing this pattern are the most influential in Europe: Germany and France. However, we also see heterogeneity across countries, with some—such as Belgium—showing no evidence of such polarization. Second, we find that widening political polarization conditional on education is a product of sorting. That is, highly educated partisans exhibit stronger within-group consensus in their beliefs about immigration—the data do not support the view that the more educated partisans are more polarized simply because the less educated fail to adopt a position on the question. Third, and finally, we find some evidence that shocks to the political climate of countries in the European area—for example, the “refugee crisis” of summer 2015—were associated with a subsequent increase in political polarization over immigration conditional on education. The largest increase was observed in Germany, which was at the centre of the so-called refugee crisis in 2015. These results reveal numerous insights: they show that widening political polarization conditional on education is not restricted to the US or native English-speaking culture; that such polarization emerges in the domain of immigration; that it is a product of within-group consensus among the more educated; and, finally, that exogenous shocks to the political climate may be associated with subsequent increases in political polarization conditional on education.

Keywords: beliefs, Europe, immigration, political polarization

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Authors: Helene Jacobson Pettersson, Linda Lill

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Demographic changes and globalization in society provide new opportunities for social work and social work education in Sweden. There has been an ambition to include these aspects into the Swedish social work education. However, the Swedish welfare state standard continued to be as affectionate as invisible starting point in discussions about people’s way of life and social problems. The aim of this study is to explore content given to ethnic relations in social work in the social work education in Sweden. Our standpoint is that the subject can be understood both from individual and structural levels, it changes over time, varies in different steering documents and differs from the perspectives of teachers and students. Our question is what content is given to ethnic relations in social work by the teachers in their strategies and teaching material. The study brings together research in the interface between education science, social work and research of international migration and ethnic relations. The presented narratives are from longer interviews with a total of 17 university teachers who teach in social work program at four different universities in Sweden. The universities have in different ways a curriculum that involves the theme of ethnic relations in social work, and the interviewed teachers are teaching and grading social workers on specific courses related to ethnic relations at undergraduate and graduate levels. Overall assesses these 17 teachers a large number of students during a semester. The questions were concerned on how the teachers handle ethnic relations in education in social work. The particular focus during the interviews has been the teacher's understanding of the documented learning objectives and content of literature and how this has implications for their teaching. What emerges is the teachers' own stories about the educational work and how they relate to the content of teaching, as well as the teaching strategies they use to promote the theme of ethnic relations in social work education. The analysis of this kind of pedagogy is that the teaching ends up at an individual level with a particular focus on the professional encounter with individuals. We can see the shortage of a critical analysis of the construction of social problems. The conclusion is that individual circumstance precedes theoretical perspective on social problems related to migration, transnational relations, globalization and social. This result has problematic implications from the perspective of sustainability in terms of ethnic diversity and integration in society. Thus these aspects have most relevance for social workers’ professional acting in social support and empowerment related activities, in supporting the social status and human rights and equality for immigrants.

Keywords: ethnic relations in Swedish social work education, teaching content, teaching strategies, educating for change, human rights and equality

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Authors: Justin D. Olmanson, Fitsum Abebe, Valerie Jones, Eric Kyle, Xianquan Liu, Katherine Robbins, Guieswende Rouamba

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The history of education technology--and designing, adapting, and adopting technologies for use in educational spaces--is nuanced, complex, and dynamic. Yet, despite a range of continually emerging technologies, the design and development process often yields results that appear quite similar in terms of affordances and interactions. Through this study we (1) verify the extent to which designs have been constrained, (2) consider what might account for it, and (3) offer a way forward in terms of how we might identify and strategically sidestep these influences--thereby increasing the diversity of our designs with a given technology or within a particular learning domain. We begin our inquiry from the perspective that a host of co-influencing elements, fields, and meta narratives converge on the education technology design process to exert a tangible, often homogenizing effect on the resultant designs. We identify several elements that influence design in often implicit or unquestioned ways (e.g. curriculum, learning theory, economics, learning context, pedagogy), we describe our methodology for identifying the elemental positionality embedded in a design, we direct our analysis to a particular subset of technologies in the field of literacy, and unpack our findings. Our early analysis suggests that the majority of education technologies designed for use/used in US public schools are heavily influenced by a handful of mainstream theories and meta narratives. These findings have implications for how we approach the education technology design process--which we use to suggest alternative methods for designing/ developing with emerging technologies. Our analytical process and re conceptualized design process hold the potential to diversify the ways emerging and established technologies get incorporated into our designs.

Keywords: curriculum, design, innovation, meta narratives

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Authors: Desta Kebede Ayana, Lies Sercu, Demelash Mengistu

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The study is set in Ethiopia, a sub-Saharan multilingual, multiethnic African country, which has seen a significant increase in the number of universities in recent years. The aim of this growth is to provide access to education for all cultural and linguistic groups across the country. However, there are challenges in promoting intercultural competence among students in this diverse context. The aim of the study is to investigate the interculturalization of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions as perceived by university lecturers and administrators. In particular, the study aims to determine the level of support for this educational innovation and gather suggestions for its implementation and institutionalization. The researchers employed semi-structured interviews with administrators and lecturers from two large Ethiopian universities to gather data. Thematic analysis was utilized for coding and analyzing the interview data, with the assistance of the NVIVO software. The findings obtained from the grounded analysis of the interview data reveal that while there are opportunities for interculturalization in the curriculum and campus life, support for educational innovation remains low. Administrators and lecturers also emphasize the government's responsibility to prioritize interculturalization over other educational innovation goals. The study contributes to the existing literature by examining an under-researched population in an under-researched context. Additionally, the study explores whether Western perspectives of intercultural competence align with the African context, adding to the theoretical understanding of intercultural education. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with administrators and lecturers from two large Ethiopian universities. The interviews allowed for an in-depth exploration of the participants' views on interculturalization in higher education. Thematic analysis was applied to the interview data, allowing for the identification and organization of recurring themes and patterns. The analysis was conducted using the NVIVO software, which aided in coding and analyzing the data. The study addresses the extent to which administrators and lecturers support the interculturalization of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions. It also explores their suggestions for implementing and institutionalizing intercultural education, as well as their perspectives on the current level of institutionalization. The study highlights the challenges in interculturalizing Ethiopian universities and emphasizes the need for greater support and prioritization of intercultural education. It also underscores the importance of considering the African context when conceptualizing intercultural competence. This research contributes to the understanding of intercultural education in diverse contexts and provides valuable insights for policymakers and educational institutions aiming to promote intercultural competence in higher education settings.

Keywords: administrators, educational change, Ethiopia, intercultural competence, lecturers

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Authors: Bianca W. O. Silva, Adriana C. M. Andrade, Gustavo C. M. Lucena, Virna M. S. Lima

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Introduction: Basic life support (BLS) involves the immediate recognition of cardiopulmonary arrest. Each year, 359.400 and 275.000 individuals with cardiac arrest are attended in emergency departments in USA and Europe. Brazilian data shows that 200.000 cardiac arrests occur every year, and half of them out of the hospital. Medical schools around the world teach BLS in the first years of the course, but studies show that there is a decline of the knowledge as the years go by, affecting the chain of survival. The objective was to analyze the knowledge of medical students about BLS and the retention of this learning throughout the course. Methods: This study included 150 students who were at the second and third year of a medical school in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The instrument of data collection was a structured questionnaire composed of 20 questions based on the 2015 American Heart Association guideline. The Pearson Chi-square test was used in order to study the association between previous training, sex and semester with the degree of knowledge of the students. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate the different yields obtained between the various semesters. The number of correct answers was described by average and quartiles. Results: Regarding the degree of knowledge, 19.6% of the female students reached the optimal classification, a better outcome than the achieved by the male participants. Of those with previous training, 33.33% were classified as good and optimal, none of the students reached the optimal classification and only 2.2% of them were classified as bad (those who did not have 52.6% of correct answers). The analysis of the degree of knowledge related to each semester revealed that the 5th semester had the highest outcome: 30.5%. However, the acquaintance presented by the semesters was generally unsatisfactory, since 50% of the students, or more, demonstrated knowledge levels classified as bad or regular. When confronting the different semesters and the achieved scores, the value of p was 0.831. Conclusion: It is important to focus on the training of medical professionals that are capable of facing emergency situations, improving the systematization of care, and thereby increasing the victims' possibility of survival.

Keywords: basic life support, cardiopulmonary ressucitacion, education, medical students

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Authors: F. A. Adesoji, A. A. Ayandele

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There has been a concern over non-responsiveness of educational programme in Nigeria’s higher institutions to adequately meet social needs. The study, therefore, investigated the effectiveness of basic elements of the Social Studies Curriculum, the contributions of the Teacher–Related Variables (TRV) such as qualification, area of specialization, teaching experience, teaching methods, gender and teaching facilities to the implementation of the curriculum (IOC) in the Colleges of Education (COEs). The study adopted the descriptive survey design. Four COEs in Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Lagos States were purposively selected. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 455 Social Studies students and 47 Social Studies lecturers. Stakeholders’ Perception of Social Studies Curriculum (r = 0.86), Social Studies Curriculum Resources scale (r = 0.78) and Social Studies Basic Concepts Test (r = 0.78) were used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and t-test at 0.05 level of significance. COEs teachers and students rated the elements of the curriculum to be effective with mean scores x̄ =3.02 and x̄ =2.80 respectively; x̄ =5.00 and x̄ = 2.50 being the maximum and minimum mean scores. The finding showed average level of availability (x̄ =1.60), adequacy (x̄ =1.55) and utilization (x̄ =1.64) of teaching materials, x̄ =3.00 and x̄ =1.50 being maximum and minimum mean scores respectively. Academic performance of the students is on average with the mean score of x̄ =51.4775 out of maximum mean score of x̄ =100. The TRV and teaching facilities had significant composite contribution to IOC (F (6,45) = 3.92:R² = 0.26) with 39% contributions to the variance of IOC. Area of specialization (β= 29, t = 2.05) and teaching facilities (β = -25, t = 1.181) contributed significantly. The implementation of bachelor degree in Social Studies curriculum was effective in the colleges of education. There is the need to beef-up the provision of facilities to improve the implementation of the curriculum.

Keywords: bachelor degree in social studies, colleges of education in southwestern Nigeria, curriculum implementation, social studies curriculum

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