Search results for: attitudes of teachers

Authors: Fredrick Olatunji Ajegbomogun, Clement Ola Adekoya

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Mathematics has, for ages, been an essential subject in the education curriculum across the globe. The word mathematics scares the majority of undergraduate students and even more library and information science (LIS) students who have not seen the pertinence of the subject to their academic pursuits. This study investigated mathematics anxiety and attitudes among LIS undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Multi-stage and convenient sampling techniques were used for the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistical tools. It was found that mathematics is important in LIS education. The students displayed a high level of anxiety toward mathematics. The students have a negative attitude toward mathematics. However, the hypotheses tested revealed that while the LIS female undergraduate students displayed low levels of anxiety and a positive attitude toward mathematics, the level of anxiety of the male undergraduate students was high, and their attitude toward mathematics was negative. It was recommended that LIS undergraduate students develop a positive attitude towards mathematics and appreciate that the paradigm shift in the practice of librarianship is towards mathematics as a way of developing technological tools (hardware and software) to facilitate the effective delivery of library services.

Keywords: anxiety, attitude, library and information science, mathematics anxiety, undergraduate students, Nigerian universities

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Authors: Sakinah Idris, Gabrine Jagersma, Bjorn Jaime Van Pelt, Kirstin Greaves-Lord

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Background: The PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) intervention can be considered a well-established, evidence-based intervention in the USA. However, testing the efficacy of cultural adaptations of PEERS is still ongoing. More and more, the involvement of all stakeholders in the development and evaluation of interventions is acknowledged as crucial for the longer term implementation of interventions across settings. Therefore, in the current project, teens with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), their neurotypical peers, parents, teachers, as well as clinicians were involved in the development and evaluation of the Dutch version of PEERS. Objectives: The current presentation covers (1) the formative phase and (2) the preliminary adaptation test phase of the cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions. In the formative phase, we aim to describe the process of adaptation of the PEERS program to the Dutch culture and care system. In the preliminary adaptation phase, we will present results from the preliminary adaptation test among 32 adolescents with ASD. Methods: In phase 1, a group discussion on common vocabulary was conducted among 70 teenagers (and their teachers) from special and regular education aged 12-18 years old. This inventory concerned 14 key constructs from PEERS, e.g., areas of interests, locations for making friends, common peer groups and crowds inside and outside of school, activities with friends, commonly used ways for electronic communication, ways for handling disagreements, and common teasing comebacks. Also, 15 clinicians were involved in the translation and cultural adaptation process. The translation and cultural adaptation process were guided by the research team, and who included input and feedback from all stakeholders through an iterative feedback incorporation procedure. In phase 2, The parent-reported Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), the Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge (TASSK), and the Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ) were assessed pre- and post-intervention to evaluate potential treatment outcome. Results: The most striking cultural adaptation - reflecting the standpoints of all stakeholders - concerned the strategies for handling rumors and gossip, which were suggested to be taught using a similar approach as the teasing comebacks, more in line with ‘down-to-earth’ Dutch standards. The preliminary testing of this adapted version indicated that the adolescents with ASD significantly improved their social knowledge (TASSK; t₃₁ = -10.9, p < .01), social experience (QSQ-Parent; t₃₁ = -4.2, p < .01 and QSQ-Adolescent; t₃₂ = -3.8, p < .01), and in parent-reported social responsiveness (SRS; t₃₃ = 3.9, p < .01). In addition, subjective evaluations of teens with ASD, their parents and clinicians were positive. Conclusions: In order to further scrutinize the effectiveness of the Dutch version of the PEERS intervention, we recommended performing a larger scale randomized control trial (RCT) design, for which we provide several methodological considerations.

Keywords: cultural adaptation, PEERS, preliminary testing, translation

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Authors: Martina Holenko Dlab, Natasa Hoic-Bozic

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This paper presents an original approach to student and group activity level assessment that relies on certainty factors theory. Activity level is used to represent quantity and continuity of student’s contributions in individual and collaborative e‑learning activities (e‑tivities) and is calculated to assist teachers in assessing quantitative aspects of student's achievements. Calculated activity levels are also used to raise awareness and provide recommendations during the learning process. The proposed approach was implemented within the educational recommender system ELARS and validated using data obtained from e‑tivity realized during a blended learning course. The results showed that the proposed approach can be used to estimate activity level in the context of e-tivities realized using Web 2.0 tools as well as to facilitate the assessment of quantitative aspect of students’ participation in e‑tivities.

Keywords: assessment, ELARS, e-learning, recommender systems, student model

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Authors: Xiaoying Zhang

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Forest school – an outdoor educational experience that is undertaken in an outdoor environment with trees – becomes an emerging field of early childhood education recently. In China, the benefits of natural outdoor education to children and young people’s wellness have raised attention. Although different types of outdoor-based activities have been involved in some pre-school of China, few study and practice have been conducted in terms of the notion of forest school. To comprehend the impact of forest school for children and young people, this study aims to systematically review articles on the topic of forest school in preschool education from an ecological perspective, i.e. from individual level (e.g., behavior and mental health) to microsystem level (e.g., the relationship between teachers and children) to ecosystem level. Based on PRISMA framework flow, using the key words of “Forest School” and “Early Childhood Education” for searching in Web-of-science database, a total of 33 articles were identified. Sample participants of 13 studies were not preschool children, five studies were not on forest school theme, and two literature review articles were excluded for further analysis. Finally, 13 articles were eligible for thematic analysis. According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, there are some fingdings, on the individual level, current forest school studies are concerned about the children behavioral experience in forest school, how these experience may relate to their achievement or to develop children’s wellbeing/wellness, and how this type of learning experience may enhance children’s self-awareness on risk and safety issues. On the microsystem/mesosystem level, this review indicated that pedagogical development for forest school, risk perception from teachers and parents, social development between peers, and adult’s role in the participation of forest school were concerned, explored and discussed most frequently. On the macrosystem, the conceptualization of forest school is the key theme. Different forms of presentation in various countries with diverse cultures could provide various models of forest school education. However, there was no study investigating forest school on an ecosystem level. As for the potential benefits of physical health and mental wellness that results from forest school, it informs us to reflect the system of preschool education from the ecological perspective for Chinese children. For instance, most Chinese kindergartens ignored the significance of natural outdoor activities for children. Preschool education in China is strongly oriented by primary school system, which means pre-school children are expected to be trained as primary school students to do different subjects, such as math. Hardly any kindergarteners provide the opportunities for children and young people to take risks in a natural environment like forest school does. However, merely copying forest school model for a Chinese preschool education system will be less effective. This review of different level concerns could inform us that the localization the idea of forest school to adapt to a Chinese political, educational and cultural background. More detailed results and profound discussions will be presented in the full paper.

Keywords: early childhood education, ecological system, education development prospects in China, forest school

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Authors: Paolo Pilloni, Fabrizio Mulas, Salvatore Carta

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Nowadays, several research studies point up that an active lifestyle is essential for physical and mental health benefits. Mobile phones have greatly influenced people’s habits and attitudes also in the way they exercise. Our research work is mainly focused on investigating how to exploit mobile technologies to favour people’s exertion experience. To this end, we developed an exertion framework users can exploit through a real world mobile application, called BLINDED, designed to act as a virtual personal trainer to support runners during their trainings. In this work, inspired by both previous findings in the field of interaction design for people with visual impairments, feedback gathered from real users of our framework, and positive results obtained from two experimentations, we present some new interaction facilities we designed to enhance the interaction experience during a training. The positive obtained results helped us to derive some interaction design recommendations we believe will be a valid support for designers of future mobile systems conceived to be used in circumstances where there are limited possibilities of interaction.

Keywords: human computer interaction, interaction design guidelines, persuasive mobile technologies for sport and health

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Authors: Olusegun Omoluwa, Kolawole Israel Anthony

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Pupils with learning disabilities are found in every classroom, but because learning disabilities cannot be seen, the condition is often too neglected. Unless these pupils are recognised and treated, they are likely to become educational discards. This study consequently attempted to determine effects of self-monitoring strategy on homework completion among pupils with learning disabilities. Ninety (90) participants were engaged in the study. Pre-test, post-test, control group quasi experimental design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select pupils with evidence of learning disabilities from three primary schools in Ondo State. Findings showed that self-monitoring strategy was significant in enhancing homework completion among pupils with learning disabilities. However, gender and self-esteem did not significantly contribute to homework completion. The study therefore recommended that measures such that would uncover unsettling academic, psychological and emotional deficiencies of these pupils through appropriate diagnosis should be undertaken by the parents and teachers, in order for them to have a sense of belonging in the society.

Keywords: self monitoring, home work completion, learning dissabilities, learning

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Authors: Ahmed T. Alahmar

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There is an increasing trend toward student-centred interactive e-learning methods and students’ feedback is a valuable tool for improving learning methods. The aim of this study was to explore the attitude of second year pharmacy students at the University of Babylon, Iraq, towards lectures, exams and e-learning. Materials and methods: Ninety pharmacy students were surveyed by paper questionnaire about their preference for lecture format, use of e-files, theoretical lectures versus practical experiments, lecture and lab time. Students were also asked about their predilection for Moodle-based online exams, different types of exam questions, exam time and other extra academic activities. Results: Students prefer to read lectures on paper (73.3%), use of PowerPoint file (76.7%), short lectures of less than 10 pages (94.5%), practical experiments (66.7%), lectures and lab time of less than two hours (89.9% and 96.6 respectively) and intra-lecture discussions (68.9%). Students also like to have paper-based exam (73.3%), short essay (40%) or MCQ (34.4%) questions and also prefer to do extra activities like reports (22.2%), seminars (18.6%) and posters (10.8%). Conclusion: Second year pharmacy students have different attitudes toward traditional and electronic leaning and assessment methods. Using multimedia, e-learning and Moodle are increasingly preferred methods among some students.

Keywords: pharmacy, students, lecture, exam, e-learning, Moodle

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Authors: Gilbert Makanda

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The problem of the teaching of mathematics is studied using differential equations. A mathematical model for knowledge acquisition in mathematics is developed. In this study we adopt the mathematical model that is normally used for disease modelling in the teaching of mathematics. It is assumed that teaching is 'infecting' students with knowledge thereby spreading this knowledge to the students. It is also assumed that students who gain this knowledge spread it to other students making disease model appropriate to adopt for this problem. The results of this study show that increasing recruitment rates, learning contact with teachers and learning materials improves the number of knowledgeable students. High dropout rates and forgetting taught concepts also negatively affect the number of knowledgeable students. The developed model is then solved using Matlab ODE45 and \verb"lsqnonlin" to estimate parameters for the actual data.

Keywords: differential equations, knowledge acquisition, least squares, dynamical systems

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Authors: A. Grilec, S. Petrak, M. Mahnic Naglic

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Technological development and the globalization in production and sales of clothing in the last decade have significantly influenced the changes in consumer relationship with the industrial-fashioned apparel and in the way of clothing purchasing. The Internet sale of clothing is in a constant and significant increase in the global market, but the possibilities offered by modern computing technologies in the customization segment are not yet fully involved, especially according to the individual customer requirements and body sizes. Considering the growing trend of online shopping, the main goal of this paper is to investigate the differences in customer perceptions towards online apparel shopping and particularly to discover the main differences in perceptions between customers regarding three different body sizes. In order to complete the research goal, the quantitative study on the sample of 85 Croatian consumers was conducted in 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement according to a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). To analyze attitudes of respondents, simple and descriptive statistics were used. The main findings highlight the differences in respondent perception of 3D body scanning, using 3D body scanning in Internet shopping, online apparel shopping habits regarding their body sizes.

Keywords: consumer behavior, Internet, 3D body scanning, body types

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Authors: Isah Mohammed Patizhiko

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This paper aimed at discussing the important role learning resources play in enhancing the teaching and learning of science and technology courses in post primary institution in Nigeria. The paper highlighted the importance learning resources contributed to the effective understanding of the learners. The use of learning resources in the teaching of these courses will encourage teachers to be more exploratory and the learners to have more understanding. In this paper, different range of learning resources particularly common learning resources (learning resources not design primarily for education purposes) to enrich their teaching. The paper also highlighted how ordinary resource can be turned into an educational resource. Recommendations were proffered in the sourcing of learning resources ie from the market, library, institutions, museums, and dump refuse and concluded that good demonstration on the use of resources will engage the learner’s interest and will develop higher level of conceptual understanding in the learning area.

Keywords: enhance, learning, resources, science and technology, teaching

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Authors: Hüseyin Altubaş, Hasret Aktaş, A. Mücahid Zengin

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Children determine the direction of the power of consumption. They affect the decisions of their parents but they also reached to a significant purchasing power themselves. Children, who are turning interactive behavior to normal behavior are becoming the decision makers in a company’s survival. Companies that analyze this effective target audience can communicate successfully with children. Children, who are interactive individuals, are closer to advertising. They are almost talking better with advertising. They are not afraid to express their likings, as well as their dislikes. Children have an interactive lifestyle and they were exposed to the vast changes in technology after year 2000. They do not know a life without internet, they spend mobile life in internet. This Z generation is the new determinants of brands. Z generation finds it appropriate to be brand ambassadors and they completely changed traditional media and traditional consumer behavior. These children live social reality with virtual reality and they feed brands differently. Brands that interact with Z generation are affected by this feeding positively, while brands that keep interaction in traditional levels are affected negatively. In this research we examine the communication, advertising and brand behaviors of Z generation. We especially analyze this generation’s interaction with social media brands and their interactive attitudes.

Keywords: social media, Z generation, children, advertising, brand choice

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Authors: Yusuf Abubakar Mamud

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Highlighting the imperatives of local conflicts considering the dangerous dimensions of terrorism they are assuming in Africa has not attracted serious academic and political attention. The discourse about conflict in Africa was discussed within five identified conflict zones in the continent. The threats from these local conflicts are diverse and complex and the acts of terrorism in these local conflicts are driven by certain attitudes and behaviours linked to the African leadership. The paper examined and noted that the current conflict resolution model of the African Union (AU) was robust with requisite institutions to address the trends in local conflicts. However, it was observed that the AU peace and security framework lacked the requisite structural and technical capabilities to proactively address the drivers of local conflicts in Africa. It was found that the persistence of local conflicts in the African region may deny her the opportunities of achievement of the targets envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consequently, the paper called on the international community to support Africa through provision of capacity. It urged the African leaders themselves to develop the political will to ensure that all issues concerning peace and security in the continent were guided by the provisions of the AU Constitutive Act. The need to strengthen the APRM in the light of the current trends in local conflicts was also highlighted.

Keywords: conflicts, local conflicts, terrorism, sustainable development

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Authors: Mara Varelaki

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In response to the challenge of the environmental crisis the discipline of environmental ethics examines the relation of human beings towards the environment and the value of the non-human constituents of the surrounding world. In the face of this crisis, assumptions regarding human and nature relations ought to be traced and reexamined because they can cause difficulties in diagnosing problematic attitudes towards the environment and non-human animals. This paper presents the claims that European and the Judea-Christian cosmogonic myths place the human figure in the core of the creation of the cosmos, thus verifying a hierarchical structure where humans occupy the top, and they establish a perception of nature as a non-human other. By doing so, these narratives provide some justification to the notion of the human-nature dichotomy and the human domination over other life forms and ecosystems. These anthropocentric assumptions evolved into what Hilde Lindemann terms master narratives and their influence extents to ecocentric ethical theories which attempt, and often fail, to shed the anthropocentrism of the western ethical tradition. The goal of this paper is (1) to trace the anthropocentric assumptions embedded in western thought and (2) articulate how they maintain their grip on our contemporary understanding of the human relation to and position within the environment, thus showing the need for a method of detecting and bracketing anthropocentric assumptions in social narratives and ethical frameworks.

Keywords: cosmogonies, anthropocentrism, human/nature dichotomy, master narratives, ecocentrism

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Authors: Adekunle Ayodeji Folorunso, Aisha S. Habeeb

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The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing the student’s choice of food intake, a case study of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida. A review of the past work was done, and many key points were noted. A sample population of 1000 students was selected randomly (i.e. 200 students from each school) who were in the 2011/2012 academic session. The factor influencing the students' foods intake ranges from economic factors (food cost, income, availability of food), physical factors (easy to cook, shortest time), social factors (cultural, family and meal pattern) attitudes, belief and knowledge about food were discovered. The data collected were tabulated in frequency and percentages. It was revealed that ‘easy method of cooking and preparation’ influenced students’ choice of food intake more (34%) and the food frequency questionnaire shows that the students eat more of carbohydrates foods compared to other classes of food. The cooking skills of students were low (1%) which may be responsible for the limitations in the food choices. It is, therefore, recommended that students should be equipped with sound cooking skills to increase their range of food intake. Variety is needed in diet/meal because the required nutrients are scattered among many different foods.

Keywords: factors, food intake, influencing, choice, students

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Authors: Hussah M. AlShayea

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This study aimed to identify the potential of cloud computing, "Google Drive" in overcoming the problems of collective learning from the viewpoint of Princess Noura University students. The study included (92) students from the College of Education. To achieve the goal of the study, several steps have been taken. First, the most important problems of collective learning were identified from the viewpoint of the students. After that, a survey identifying the potential of cloud computing "Google Drive" in overcoming the problems of collective learning was distributed among the students. The study results showed that the students believe that the use of Google Drive contributed to overcoming these problems. In the light of those results, the researcher presented a set of recommendations and proposals, including: encouraging teachers and learners to employ cloud computing to overcome the problems and constraints of collective learning.

Keywords: cloud computing, collective learning, Google drive, Princess Noura University

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Authors: Lin Xie, Yang Wang

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An extensive body of research studies suggest that students, teachers, and supervisors can enhance the likelihood of reaching their goals by improving their communication skills. It is highly important to learn how and when to provide different kinds of feedback, e.g. anticipatory, corrective and positive) will gain better result and higher morale. The purpose of this mixed methods research is twofold: 1) To find out what factors affect effective communication among different stakeholders and how these factors affect student learning2) What are the good practices for improving communication among different stakeholders and improve student achievement. This presentation first begins with an introduction to the recent research on Marshall’s Nonviolent Communication Techniques (NVC), including four important components: observations, feelings, needs, requests. These techniques can be effectively applied at all levels of communication. To develop an in-depth understanding of the relationship among different techniques within, this research collected, compared, and combined qualitative and quantitative data to better improve communication and support student learning.

Keywords: education, communication, psychology, student learning, language teaching

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Authors: Jolanta Jonak, Sylvia Tolczyk

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Educational systems are tasked with preparing students for future success in academic or work environments. Schools strive to achieve this goal, but often it is challenging as conventional teaching approaches are often ineffective in increasingly diverse educational systems. In today’s ever-increasing global society, educational systems become increasingly diverse in terms of cultural and linguistic differences, learning preferences and styles, ability and disability. Through increased understanding of disabilities and improved identification processes, students having some form of disabilities tend to be identified earlier than in the past, meaning that more students with identified disabilities are being supported in our classrooms. Also, a large majority of students with disabilities are educated in general education environments. Due to cognitive makeup and life experiences, students have varying learning styles and preferences impacting how they receive and express what they are learning. Many students come from bi or multilingual households and with varying proficiencies in the English language, further impacting their learning. All these factors need to be seriously considered when developing learning opportunities for student's. Educators try to adjust their teaching practices as they discover that conventional methods are often ineffective in reaching each student’s potential. Many teachers do not have the necessary educational background or training to know how to teach students whose learning needs are more unique and may vary from the norm. This is further complicated by the fact that many classrooms lack consistent access to interventionists/coaches that are adequately trained in evidence-based approaches to meet the needs of all students, regardless of what their academic needs may be. One evidence-based way for providing successful education for all students is by incorporating cognitive approaches and strategies that tap into affective, recognition, and strategic networks in the student's brain. This can be done through Differentiated Instruction (DI). Differentiated Instruction is increasingly recognized model that is established on the basic principles of Universal Design for Learning. This form of support ensures that regardless of the students’ learning preferences and cognitive learning profiles, they have opportunities to learn through approaches that are suitable to their needs. This approach improves the educational outcomes of students with special needs and it benefits other students as it accommodates learning styles as well as the scope of unique learning needs that are evident in the typical classroom setting. Differentiated Instruction also is recognized as an evidence-based best practice in education and is highly effective when it is implemented within the tiered system of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. Recognition of DI becomes more common; however, there is still limited understanding of the effective implementation and use of strategies that can create unique learning environments for each student within the same setting. Through employing knowledge of a variety of instructional strategies, general and special education teachers can facilitate optimal learning for all students, with and without a disability. A desired byproduct of DI is that it can eliminate inaccurate perceptions about the students’ learning abilities, unnecessary referrals for special education evaluations, and inaccurate decisions about the presence of a disability.

Keywords: differentiated instruction, universal design for learning, special education, diversity

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Authors: Shivangi Agrawal, Hsiu-I Ting

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Entrepreneurship is an essential source of economic growth and a prominent factor influencing socio-economic development. Entrepreneurship education educates and enhances entrepreneurial activity. This study aims to understand current trends in entrepreneurship education and evaluate the effectiveness of diverse entrepreneurship education programs. An increasing number of universities offer entrepreneurship education courses to create and successfully continue entrepreneurial ventures. Despite the prevalence of entrepreneurship education, research studies lack inconsistency about the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education to promote and develop entrepreneurship. Strategies to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions among individuals are hindered by a lack of understanding of entrepreneurs' educational purposes, components, methodology, and resources required. Lack of adequate entrepreneurship education has been linked with low self-efficacy and lack of entrepreneurial intent. Moreover, in the age of digitisation and during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital learning platforms (e.g., online entrepreneurship education courses and programs) and other digital tools (e.g., digital game-based entrepreneurship education) have become more relevant to entrepreneurship education. This paper contributes to the continuation of academic literature in entrepreneurship education by evaluating and assessing current trends in entrepreneurship education programs, leading to better understanding to reduce gaps between entrepreneurial development requirements and higher education institutions.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, digital technologies, academic entrepreneurship, COVID-19

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Authors: Amy Whelan

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This paper presents a comprehensive study on the drivers of sustainable consumer behavior in the Irish aviation industry. It aims to understand the underlying factors that facilitate or hinder a consumer's sustainable consumption habits related to aviation and its impact on the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by all UN member states in 2015, the SDGs represent a global call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. The research takes a mixed methodology approach, combining focus groups in phase 1 and a survey in phase 2. The focus groups will be used to elicit qualitative data to understand the attitudes and perceptions of consumers toward sustainable aviation and tourism in Ireland. The survey in phase 2 will then provide a more comprehensive and quantifiable understanding of the topic. The results of this study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism and will provide insights into the drivers of sustainable consumer behavior in the Irish aviation industry. It is expected that the findings of this research will have practical implications for industry stakeholders and policy-makers in their efforts to promote sustainable tourism and achieve the SDGs in Ireland.

Keywords: aviation, consumer behaviour, marketing, sustainability

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Authors: Joanne Haddad

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

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

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Authors: Adam Johnbull

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The paper discusses ICT in Education as a quest for quality learning in the 21st century. Education is the key that unlock the door to development, without adequate education of the citizenry, the development of a nation becomes a sham. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) has revolutionized the way people work today and are now transforming education systems. As a result, if schools train children in yesterday’s skills and technologies they may not be effective and fit in tomorrow’s world. This is a sufficient reason for ICT’s to win global recognition and attention and thus ensure desire quality in our school system. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to discuss amongst others, what is ICT. The roles of ICT’s in education, limitation and key challenges of integrating ICT to education in the enhancement of student learning and experiences in other to encourage policy makers, school administrators and teachers pay the required attention to integrate this technology in the education system. The paper concludes that regardless of all the limitation characterizing it. ICT benefit education system to provide quality education in the 21st century.

Keywords: ICTs, quest, information, global, sham, century

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Authors: Somchai Buaroong

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This research aims to investigating strong points and challenges in application of an online learning management system to an English course. Data were collected from observation, learners’ oral and written reports, and the teacher’s journals. A questionnaire was utilized as a tool to collect data. Statistics utilized in this research included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings show that the system was an additional channel to enhance English language learning through written class assignments that were digitally accessible by any group members, and through communication between the teacher and learners and among learners themselves. Thus, the learning management system could be a promising tool for foreign language teachers. Also revealed in the study were difficulties in its use. The article ends with discussions of findings of the system for foreign language classes in association to pedagogy are also included and in the level of signification.

Keywords: english course, foreign language system, online learning management system, teacher’s journals

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Authors: Xinrong Li, Jiawei Dai

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Food production, food safety, and the food supply chain are causing a great challenge to human health and the environment. Different kinds of food have different environmental costs. Therefore, a healthy diet can alleviate this problem to a certain extent. In this project, an online questionnaire was conducted to understand the purchase behaviour of consumers and their attitudes towards basic food information. However, the data shows that the public's current consumption habits and ideology do not meet the long-term development of sustainable social needs. In order to solve the environmental problems caused by the unbalanced diet of the public and the social problems of unequal food distribution, the purpose of this paper is to explore how to use the emerging media of VR to visualize food supply chain information so as to attract users' attention to the environmental cost of food. In this project, the food supply chain of imported and local cheese was compared side-by-side in the virtual reality environment, including the origin, transportation, sales, and other processes, which can effectively help users understand the difference between the two processes and environmental costs. Besides, the experimental data demonstrated that the participant would like to choose low environmental cost food after experiencing the whole process.

Keywords: virtual reality, information design, food supply chain, environmental cost

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Authors: Liza Mariah Hj. Azahari

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This paper will look at a case study on English Camp which was an activity coordinated at the Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University in 2011. English Camp is a fun and motivation filled activity which brings students and teachers together outside of the classroom setting into a more diverse environment. It also enables teacher and students to gain proximate time together for a mutual purpose which is to explore the language in a more dynamic and relaxed way. First of all, the study will look into the background of English Camp, and how it was introduced and implemented from different contexts. Thereafter, it will explain the objectives of the English Camp coordinated at our university, UNISSA, and what types of activities were conducted. It will then evaluate the effectiveness of the camp as to what extent it managed to meet its motto, which was to foster dynamic interactive learning of English Language. To conclude, the paper presents a potential for further research on the topic as well as a guideline for educators who wish to coordinate the activity. Proposal for collaboration in this activity is further highlighted and encouraged within the paper for future implementation and endeavor.

Keywords: English camp, UNISSA, interactive learning, outside

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Authors: Sona Lorencova, Beata Hornickova

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Compulsory pre-school education in Slovakia will be established by the Education Act for all five-year-old children from September 2021. The implementation of this law will change pre-school education in our country from optional to compulsory, and children will be able to complete this education either in institutional form school facilities or in the form of individual education at the request of the parent. The primary purpose of this change is that all children achieve pre-school education before entering primary school, thus eliminating differences between children before entering primary school. The benefits of introducing compulsory pre-school education are obvious to the professional public. However, as this fundamental change in children's education is perceived by parents who have a prime position in the upbringing and education of their children, research pays minimal attention. The aim of the study is to interpret the findings of quantitatively oriented research, which was focused on finding out the attitudes of parents to the planned introduction of compulsory preschool education in Slovakia. The data were obtained through questionnaires primarily intended for parents of preschool children. In the distributed questionnaire, the degree of agreement or disagreement with individual items could be expressed on a 5-point Likert scale. The results of the research present how perceived compulsory pre-school education is perceived by the parental public in Slovakia and what perspectives and limitations parents anticipate after its introduction.

Keywords: compulsory pre-school education, education act, childs' learning and development, kindergarten, parents' perspectives

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Authors: Abdel Qader Al Bawab, Mohannad Odeh, Rami Amer

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Recently, there has been an increasing interest in innovative business development. Nevertheless, in the pharmacy practice field, there seems to be a gap in perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about innovation between practicing pharmacists and academia. This study explores this gap and aspects of pharmaceutical innovation in Jordan, comparing pharmacists and last-year pharmacy students. A validated (r2 = 0.74) and reliable (Pearson’s r = 0.88) online questionnaire was designed to assess and compare knowledge, attitude, and perceptions about pharmaceutical innovation. A total of 397 participants (215 pharmacy students and 182 pharmaceutical professionals) responded. Compared with 50% of the pharmacists, only 32.1% of the students claimed that they knew the differences between pharmaceutical innovation, discovery, invention, and entrepreneurship [x2 (2) = 14.238, p = 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.189]. Pharmacists demonstrated a higher level of trust in the innovative website design for their institution compared with students (25.3% vs. 16.3%, p < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.327). However, 60% of the students did not know the innovative design standards for websites, while the corresponding percentage was 37% for the pharmacists (p < 0.001; Cramer’s V = 0.327). The majority of the students were interested in pharmaceutical innovation (81.9%). Unfortunately, 76.3% never studied innovation in their pharmacy curricula. Similarly, most pharmacists (76.4%) considered adopting innovation, but only 30% had a concrete plan. For the field where pharmacists aim to innovate in the next 5 years, new pharmaceutical services were the dominant field (34.6%). Despite a positive attitude and perception, pharmacists and pharmacy students expressed poor knowledge about innovation. Policies to enhance awareness about innovation and professional educational tools should be implemented.

Keywords: pharmacy, innovation, knowledge, attitude, practice

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Authors: Mehran Memari, Bita Asadi

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Second language (L2) classrooms in academic contexts usually consist of learners with diverse L2 proficiency levels. One solution for managing such heterogeneous classes and addressing individual needs of students is to improve learner autonomy by using technological innovations such as blogging. The focus of this study is on investigating the effects of blogging on improving the quality of Iranian university students' writings. For this aim, twenty-six Iranian university students participated in the study. Students in the experimental group (n=13) were required to blog daily while the students in the control group (n=13) were asked to write a daily schedule using paper and pencil. After a 3-month period of instruction, the five last writings of the students from both groups were rated by two experienced raters. Also, students' attitudes toward the traditional method and blogging were surveyed using a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The research results showed evidences in favor of the students who used blogging in their writing program. Also, although students in the experimental group found blogging more demanding than the traditional method, they showed an overall positive attitude toward the use of blogging as a way of improving their writing skills. The findings of the study have implications for the incorporation of computer-assisted learning in L2 academic contexts.

Keywords: blogging, computer-assisted learning, paper and pencil, writing

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Authors: Faride Peña, Teresita Castillo, Concepción Campo

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Sexual violence, and particularly child sexual abuse, is a serious problem all over the world, México included. Given its importance, there are several preventive and care programs done by the government and the civil society all over the country but most of them are developed in urban areas even though these problems are especially serious in rural areas. Yucatán, a state in southern México, occupies one of the first places in child sexual abuse. Considering the above, the University Unit of Clinical Research and Victimological Attention (UNIVICT) of the Autonomous University of Yucatan, designed, implemented and is currently evaluating the program named “Sharing Mouth to Mouth: My Body, Nobody Can Touch It”, a program to prevent child sexual abuse in rural communities of Yucatán, México. Its aim was to develop skills for the detection of risk situations, providing protection strategies and mechanisms for prevention through culturally relevant psycho-educative strategies to increase personal resources in children, in collaboration with parents, teachers, police and municipal authorities. The diagnosis identified that a particularly vulnerable population were children between 4 and 10 years. The program run during 2015 in primary schools in the municipality whose inhabitants are mostly Mayan. The aim of this paper is to present its evaluation in terms of its effectiveness and efficiency. This evaluation included documental analysis of the work done in the field, psycho-educational and recreational activities with children, evaluation of knowledge by participating children and interviews with parents and teachers. The results show high efficiency in fulfilling the tasks and achieving primary objectives. The efficiency shows satisfactory results but also opportunity areas that can be resolved with minor adjustments to the program. The results also show the importance of including culturally relevant strategies and activities otherwise it minimizes possible achievements. Another highlight is the importance of participatory action research in preventive approaches to child sexual abuse since by becoming aware of the importance of the subject people participate more actively; in addition to design culturally appropriate strategies and measures so that the proposal may not be distant to the people. Discussion emphasizes the methodological implications of prevention programs (convenience of using participatory action research (PAR), importance of monitoring and mediation during implementation, developing detection skills tools in creative ways using psycho-educational interactive techniques and working assessment issued by the participants themselves). As well, it is important to consider the holistic character this type of program should have, in terms of incorporating social and culturally relevant characteristics, according to the community individuality and uniqueness, consider type of communication to be used and children’ language skills considering that there should be variations strongly linked to a specific cultural context.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, evaluation, PAR, prevention

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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: Lukanda Kalobo

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In South Africa, the High School Mathematics Curriculum provides teachers with specific aims and skills to be developed which involves the understanding about the measures of central tendency. The exploration begins with the definitions of statistical literacy, measurement of central tendency and a discussion on why statistical literacy is essential today. It furthermore discusses the statistical literacy basics involved in understanding the concepts of measures of central tendency. The statistical literacy test on the measures of central tendency, was used to collect data which was administered to 78 first year students direct from high schools. The results indicated that students seemed to have forgotten about the statistical literacy in understanding the concepts of measure of central tendency after completing their high school study. The authors present inferences regarding the alignment between statistical literacy and the understanding of the concepts about the measures of central tendency, leading to the conclusion that there is a need to provide in-service and pre-service training.

Keywords: conceptual understanding, mean, median, mode, statistical literacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 285