Search results for: technical education

Authors: Sepideh Nikounejad, Mostafa Ghaderi, Nematollah Azizi, Per-Olof Thang, Mohamad Reza Neyestani

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From an educational perspective, an effective and efficient relationship between university and industry can be considered as an important means by which not only both sides are improved but also it brings many advantages and benefits for both parties. It means more specifically, mutual collaboration between universities and industry can not only reduce youth unemployment, but it can improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education settings while providing more qualified people to industrial enterprises. Indeed the lack of effective interaction between Iranian universities and industry has confronted the country and created many challenges include in increasing number of unskillful and unemployed graduates. However, in order to suggest appropriate practical strategies, it is very important to see how this issue has been tackled by Swedish universities, which have had a good background in this collaboration and how they are connected to the industry in particular and labour market in general. The research aims to study and compare the mechanisms, processes, and policies of the current model in the relationships between university and industry in Iran and Sweden. As a qualitative study, grounded theory was applied. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected purposefully and by the snowball sampling method. The findings indicate that despite reported needs from both sides for close collaborations between universities and industries in Iran, current policies and practices, including internship, laboratory, and financial support, need to be revised critically. However, in light of our findings on the Swedish policies and practices for linking universities and industries, some practical strategies will be suggested for the Iranian higher education context. In conclusion, cooperation models between universities and industries in Iran and Sweden will be described.

Keywords: cooperation, higher education, industry, comparative

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Authors: Diane M. Bender

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In architecture and design education, students learn and understand their discipline through lecture courses and within studios. A studio is where the instructor works closely with students to help them understand design by doing design work. The final jury is the culmination of the studio learning experience. It’s value and significance are rarely questioned. Students present their work before their peers, instructors, and invited reviewers, known as jurors. These jurors are recognized experts who add a breadth of feedback to students mostly in the form of a verbal critique of the work. Since the design review or jury has been a common element of studio education for centuries, jurors themselves have been instructed in this format. Therefore, they understand its value from both a student and a juror perspective. To better understand how these reviewers see the value of a studio review, a survey was distributed to reviewers at a multi-disciplinary design school within the United States. Five design disciplines were involved in this case study: architecture, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture. Respondents (n=108) provided written comments about their perceived value of the studio review system. The average respondent was male (64%), between 40-49 years of age, and has attained a master’s degree. Qualitative analysis with thematic coding revealed several themes. Reviewers view the final jury as important because it provides a variety of perspectives from unbiased external practitioners and prepares students for similar presentation challenges they will experience in professional practice. They also see it as a way to validate the assessment and evaluation of students by faculty. In addition, they see a personal benefit for themselves and their firm – the ability to network with fellow jurors, professors, and students (i.e., future colleagues). Respondents also provided additional feedback about the jury system and studio education in general. Typical responses included a desire for earlier engagement with students; a better explanation from the instructor about the project parameters, rubrics/grading, and guidelines for juror involvement; a way to balance giving encouraging feedback versus overly critical comments; and providing training for jurors prior to reviews. While this study focused on the studio review, the findings are equally applicable to other disciplines. Suggestions will be provided on how to improve the preparation of guests in the learning process and how their interaction can positively influence student engagement.

Keywords: assessment, design, jury, studio

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Authors: Abigaba Sophia

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the education sector by revolutionizing educational frameworks by providing new opportunities and innovative advanced platforms for language translation during the teaching and learning process. In today's education sector, the primary key to scholarly communication is language; therefore, translation between different languages becomes vital in the process of communication. KIU-T being an International University, admits students from different nations speaking different languages, and English is the official language; some students find it hard to grasp a word during teaching and learning. This paper explores the practical aspect of using artificial intelligence technologies in an advanced language translation manner during teaching and learning. The impact of this technology is reflected in the education strategies to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills for professional activity in the best way they understand. The researcher evaluated the demand for this practice since students have to apply the knowledge they acquire in their native language to their countries in the best way they understand. The main objective is to improve student's language competence and lay a solid foundation for their future professional development. A descriptive-analytic approach was deemed best for the study to investigate the phenomena of language translation intelligence alongside Microsoft Office during the teaching and learning process. The study analysed the responses of 345 students from different academic programs. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends using the artificial intelligence language translation technique during teaching, and this requires the wisdom of human content designers and educational experts. Lecturers and students will be trained in the basic knowledge of this technique to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning to meet the student’s needs.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, language translation technique, teaching and learning process, Microsoft Office

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Authors: Adelaide Rethabile Motshabi Pitso-Mbili

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The disparity between universities in rural and urban areas of South Africa is still an ongoing issue. There are a lot of variations in these universities, such as the performance of the students and the lecturers, which is viewed as a worrying discrepancy related to knowledge gaps or educational inequality. According to research, rural students routinely perform worse than urban students in sub-Saharan Africa, and the disparity is wide when compared to the global average. This may be a result of the various challenges that universities in rural and urban areas face. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the challenges faced by rural and urban universities, especially in hospitality and tourism programs, and recommend possible solutions. This study used a qualitative methodology and included focus groups and in-depth interviews. Eight focus groups of final-year students in hospitality and tourism programs from four institutions and four department heads of those programs participated in in-depth interviews. Additionally, the study was motivated by the teacher collaboration theory, which proposes that colleagues can help one another for the benefit of students and the institution. It was revealed that rural universities face more challenges than urban universities when it comes to hospitality and tourism education. The results of the interviews showed that universities in rural areas have a high staff turnover rate and offer fewer courses due to a lack of resources, such as the infrastructure, staff, equipment, and materials needed to give students hands-on training on the campus and in various hospitality and tourism programs. Urban universities, on the other hand, provide a variety of courses in the hospitality and tourism areas, and while resources are seldom an issue, they must deal with classes that have large enrolments and insufficient funding to support them all. Additionally, students in remote locations noted that having a lack of water and electricity makes it difficult for them to perform practical lessons. It is recommended that universities work together to collaborate or develop partnerships to help one another overcome obstacles and that universities in rural areas visit those in urban areas to observe how things are done there and to determine where they can improve themselves. The significance of the study is that it will truly bring rural and urban educational processes and practices into greater alignment of standards, benefits, and achievements; this will also help retain staff members within the rural area universities. The present study contributes to the literature by increasing the accumulation of knowledge on research topics, challenges, trends and innovation in hospitality and tourism education and setting forth an agenda for future research. The current study adds to the body of literature by expanding the accumulation of knowledge on research topics that contribute to trends and innovations in hospitality and tourism education and by laying out a plan for future research.

Keywords: hospitality and tourism education, rural and urban universities, collaboration, teacher and student performance, educational inequality

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Authors: G. Stamatopoulou, M. Symeonaki, C. Michalopoulou

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In this work, we study the intergenerational social mobility in Greece, in order to provide up-to-date evidence on the changes in the mobility patterns throughout the years. An analysis for both men and women aged between 25-64 years old is carried out. Three main research objectives are addressed. First, we aim to examine the relationship between the socio-economic status of parents and their children. Secondly, we investigate the evolution of the mobility patterns between different birth cohorts. Finally, the role of education is explored in shaping the mobility patterns. For the analysis, we draw data on both parental and individuals' social outcomes from different national databases. The social class of origins and destination is measured according to the European Socio-Economic Classification (ESeC), while the respondents' educational attainment is coded into categories based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). Applying the Markov transition probability theory, and a range of measures and models, this work focuses on the magnitude and the direction of the movements that take place in the Greek labour market, as well as the level of social fluidity. Three-way mobility tables are presented, where the transition probabilities between the classes of destination and origins are calculated for different cohorts. Additionally, a range of absolute and relative mobility rates, as well as distance measures, are presented. The study covers a large time span beginning in 1940 until 1995, shedding light on the effects of the national institutional processes on the social movements of individuals. Given the evidence on the mobility patterns of the most recent birth cohorts, we also investigate the possible effects of the 2008 economic crisis.

Keywords: cohort analysis, education, Greece, intergenerational mobility, social class

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Authors: Mariana Fernandes

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Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC) has adopted a policy of inclusion and equity and the promotion of health and academic well-being, reinforcing measures already implemented in previous years, but also with the inclusion of new inclusion and equity policies that allow access, throughout all students, to Higher Education (ES). The Inclusive School project, the Plan for Equality, the IPVC's own Regulations for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and the support guaranteed by the Health and Wellbeing Office, Academic Services, and teaching staff are some of the examples of the varied strategies that IPVC undertakes to guarantee effective conditions so that students with disabilities can enter ES and experience a positive academic experience. This study's main objective is to reflect and disseminate the inclusion practices that IPVC practices with regard to Students with SEN. To this, a consultation and documentary analysis of internal documentation was carried out, consultation of the IPVC Quality Management System (QMS) process and, also, using the report referring to the ENEE questionnaire implemented in the year 2023, this report which presents the opinion of IPVC students with SEN, whether with support throughout the ENEE application submission process, with response deadlines, with the Individual Support Plan, as well as with physical and technological accessibility and communication. The results obtained show IPVC's effective commitment to this topic, in addition to the entire circuit created to guarantee equitable access for these students from the moment they join IPVC, a circuit that involves various human resources and( s) its sensitivity to this topic, it also promoted, through the Health and Wellbeing Office, the restructuring of the IPVC ENEE Regulation itself based on the needs and challenges felt in monitoring these students, the innovation of the services themselves of health and consequent awareness of all surrounding resources and services (from the Management, to the teaching staff and academic services). Currently, there is already an Individual Pedagogical Support Plan (PIAP), frequent meetings with the Reception Group, Psychology consultations – both clinically and educationally – and a growing concern in listening to the student community to improve the process. Based on these results, it is concluded that IPVC is an institution sensitive to promoting a positive, equitable, and, above all, inclusive higher education path.

Keywords: special educational needs, inclusion, equity, equality

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Authors: Kalidas Sarma

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Fraud is a social problem changing with social change and it has a regional and global impact. Introduction of private domain in higher education along with public institutions has led to commercialization of higher education which encourages unprecedented mushrooming of private institutions resulting in fraudulent activities in higher educational institutions in Assam, India. Presently, fraud has been noticed in in-service promotion, fake entry qualification by teachers in different levels of work-place by using fake master degrees, master of philosophy and doctor of philosophy degree certificates. The aim and objective of the study are to identify grey areas in maintenance of quality in higher educational institutions in Assam and also to draw the contour for planning and implementation. This study is based on both primary and secondary data collected through questionnaire and seeking information through Right to Information Act 2005. In Assam, there are 301 undergraduate and graduate colleges distributed in 27 (Twenty seven) administrative districts with 11000 (Eleven thousand) college teachers. Total 421 (Four hundred twenty one) college teachers from the 14 respondent colleges have been taken for analysis. Data collected has been analyzed by using 'Hypertext Pre-processor' (PhP) application with My Sequel Structure Query Language (MySQL) and Google Map Application Programming Interface (APIs). Graph has been generated by using open source tool Chart.js. Spatial distribution maps have been generated with the help of geo-references of the colleges. The result shows: (i) the violation of University Grants Commission's (UGCs) Regulation for the awards of M. Phil/Ph.D. clearly exhibits. (ii) There is a gap between apex regulatory bodies of higher education at national and as well as state level to check fraud. (iii) Mala fide 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) issued by the Government of Assam have played pivotal role in the occurrence of fraudulent practices in higher educational institutions of Assam. (iv) Violation of verdict of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India regarding territorial jurisdiction of Universities for the awards of Ph.D. and M. Phil degrees in distance mode/study centre is also a responsible factor for the spread of these academic frauds in Assam and other states. The challenges and mitigation of these issues have been discussed.

Keywords: Assam, fraud, higher education, mitigation

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Authors: Shaira Karishma Sheriff, Zarinah Hamid

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The Arab Spring, which commenced during the end of 2010 and accelerated during 2011, was caused primarily due to poverty, unemployment and a general recession in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The core motivation of this revolution could be said to be the need for political, economic and social reforms that the region desires to experience. Though GDP growth has been significant in the region, the income distribution mechanism in MENA countries has been ineffective. This results in low levels of education, substandard health care facilities, unemployment, and poverty. This paper argues that MENA countries have great potential for experiencing socioeconomic development by being less dependent on oil exports and enhancing their services sector through better education which would eventually lead to job creation. Furthermore, the region can encourage better trade and political integration by forming transparent and accountable governments. The notion of Nation-State needs to be addressed and the countries in the region need to look for ways to develop effective supra-national institutions for better political and economic integration that goes beyond geographical borders.

Keywords: political reforms, social reforms, economic development, nation-state, economic integration

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Authors: Deanna Ruano-Meas, Laura Shenkman

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Variances are seen in the way healthcare personnel (HCP) don and doff PPE risking contamination to self and others. By standardizing practice, variances in technique decrease, and so does the risk of contamination. To implement this change, the Model for Improvement will be used. A system change will be developed that will outline the role of the organizational leader’s support of HCP in the proper donning and doffing of PPE. Interventions will include environmental surveys to assess the safety and work situation ensuring a permissible environment, plan audits to confirm consistency, and the assessment of PPE wear for standardization. The change will also include an educational plan that will involve instruction of the current guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to all pertinent HCP, and the incorporation of PPE education in yearly educational training. The goal is a standardized practice and a reduced risk of contamination through education and organizational support. Personal protective equipment has had recent attention with the coming of the SARS-CoV-2. The realization that proper technique is important to decreasing contamination of pathogens has led to the revising of current processes.

Keywords: donning and doffing, HAI, infection control, PPE

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Authors: Ana Mercedes Vernia Carrasco

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The objective of this work is to reflect through the theoretical framework on the access to the university for the formation of a degree in a teacher of primary education. The University Access Tests in Spain evaluate a series of skills and competencies in writing, which leave aside the sample of another set of skills and tools that this type of test cannot evaluate. In the last years, a very much diversified student body has arrived in the classrooms of the Universities. Nowadays, talking about special education means attending to the changes that are being experienced in this area. At present, the educational model focuses on the reinforcement by the educational institutions so that they form the students according to their personal characteristics and that it is not the students that must adapt to the system. A bibliographic review plus some years of experience in training for the future teacher allows us to make an initial assessment about the lack of rigor in the tests of access to the university. In conclusion, we can say that, although we are not a specialist in the type of Special Educational Needs that can manifest the students, therefore, we understand that teacher today needs training and support to develop their teaching with the best quality possible. These teacher and student needs also imply more institutional support.

Keywords: training, special needs, didactics, music

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Authors: Badamasi Tarda Ayuba

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African countries contend with many developmental challenges particularly that of overcoming ethnic and religious conflicts. There is the recent wave of terrorism which is also ascribed to religious intolerance. It is a reality that most sub-Saharan African countries/communities consist of several distinct ethnic groups. In a typical classroom, within both rural and urban contexts, children from diverse ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds converge to learn and grow together. This implies that education has the potentials for fostering inter-communal understanding such that young people could learn, grow together and assume leadership positions to work in pursuit of common goals of nation building. However, given the spate of inter communal clashes erupting too frequently in many parts of the continent and the dangerous trend of ethnicization of serious national affairs, it is doubtful if these objectives are being realized through education. Thus, this paper argued that the current developments indicate failure of the education system in the realization of the countries’ educational goals of creating united, peaceful and indivisible nations, thus far. Further, the failure occurred and would continue to persist unless teachers are purposefully prepared in terms of professional competencies and attitudes to entrench in their students the culture of peaceful coexistence through the various professional roles they play within the schools and communities. Therefore, the paper examined the changing context and challenging roles expected of sub-Saharan African teachers in engendering peaceful coexistence and the need to purposefully develop their capacity and mindset for the new roles. The paper then recommended programs to expose and re-educate teachers towards such roles.

Keywords: sub-Saharan Africa, teacher, professional development, peaceful coexistence, multi-ethnicity, communities

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Authors: Sarmistha Singh

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An analysis of trend of urbanization and urban poverty in recent decades is showing that a distinctly reducing rural poverty and increasing in urban areas. It can be argued that the higher the urbanization fuelled by the urban migration to city, which is picking up people from less skilled, education so they faced obstacle to enter into the mainstream economy of city. The share of workforce in economy is higher; in contrast it remains as negligence. At the same time, less wages, absence of social security, social dialogue make them insecure. The vulnerability in their livelihood found. So the paper explores the relation of urbanization and urban poverty in the city, in other words how the urbanization process affecting the urban space in creating the number of poor people in the city. The central focus is the mobility of people with less education and skilled with motive of job search and better livelihood. In many studies found the higher the urbanization and higher the urban poverty in city. In other words, poverty is the impact of urbanization. The strategy of urban inequality through ‘dispersal of concentration’ by the World Bank and others, need to be examined.

Keywords: urbanization, mobility, urban poverty, informal settlements, informal worker

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Authors: Abdelkader Guendouz, Fatima Zohra Adel

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Even if both the economic and the human development are an axial pillar in its global policy, Algerian government seems to be more and more engaged in the international context aiming to reach of the so called millennium development goals, and this since its beginning. By looking closely at the Algerian economic policy, it is easy to mention the existence of several programs in which both economic and social realisations including among others, poverty reduction, enhancement of education level and conditions, woman statute and gender equity amelioration targets. The efforts of Algerian government in the field of these targets had been acheminated through three main plans, which are: -PSRE (Plan de Soutien à la Relance Economique), for the period of 2001 to 2004, initiated with about 7 billion US dollar, had been focused on three objectives, namely, poverty reduction, job creation and regional equilibrium with rural areas revitalization. -PCSC (le Programme complémentaire de soutien à la croissance économique), for the period of 2005 to 2009, with a starting funding of 114 billion US dollar. This program aims to develop public services and supporting public investments, especially in which concerns social infrastructures. Now, and at the end of the maturity of the MDGs agenda, an important question is to be asked: what are the main realizations regarding these MDGs? In order to answer this question, the present paper tries to examine the Algerian economic policy (but also the social one) by considering the MDGs challenges, for the period from 2000 to 2010, but also until 2015. This examination is focused on three main targets, namely poverty, education, and health. Firstly, statistical assessment for the Algerian economic and social situation shows that almost all MDGs had been reached during the period of 2000 to 2009 and it continues to maintain and improve them. This observation can be endorsed by invoking some achievements. Starting by the reduction of poverty, the proportion of population living with less than 1 US dollar per a day passed from 8.0 % in 2000 to 0.5 % in 2009, and 0.3 % in 2015. For education sphere, the enrolment ratio of six-year child, which is the most significant index for school attendance, is about 98 % for 2009 against 93 % in 1999, and only 43 % in 1966. Concluding with health care and relevant services; the Algerian government has accomplished big steps in providing easy access to this sector for the population. Moreover, the percentage of assisted accouchement had been raised from 91.2 % in 2000 to 97.2 % in 2009.

Keywords: Algerian economic policy, MDGs, poverty, education, health

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Authors: Somdech Rungsrisawat

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The objective of this research was to investigate how to develop an appropriate management and administration model for the College of Film, Television, Multimedia and Performing Arts at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods was employed. The data collection was from the 8 experts who were the academic staff and entrepreneurs in films, television, multimedia and performing arts, and from 471 students studying in the communication arts field. The findings of this research paper presented the appropriate management and administration model for the College of Film, Television, Multimedia and Performing Arts, which depended on 3 factors: [i] the marketing management and the supporting facilities such as buildings, equipments and accessibility for students to the college; [ii] the competency of academic staff or lecturers and supporting staff; and [iii] career opportunities after graduation.

Keywords: educational institution management, educational management, learning resources, non-formal education, Thai qualifications framework for higher education

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Authors: Salem B. Abdalla

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This study investigated the current Building Information Modelling (BIM) trends and practices in the UAE, particularly to shed light on a recently circulated Dubai BIM mandate. Two sets of surveys were mailed to the AEC industry and the corresponding academic sector within the UAE to collect up-to-date data on BIM awareness and utilization. The surveys showed startling results concerning the academic sector in the UAE where almost 70% of respondents were not aware of the BIM mandate. Among the rest, even when aware, the majority of mechanical and electrical engineering schools felt that BIM is not pertinent to their discipline. Therefore, the response to offering BIM in their curriculum was substantially low (35%). On the other hand, the industrial survey identified a large majority (76.5%) of the AEC industry in the UAE are using BIM. The results clearly indicate that the academia should include BIM in their curriculum to produce qualified graduates to support the market. However, the academia is also faced with several obstacles to implement BIM in their curriculum, where the main pretext is that there is “no room for new courses in existing curriculum”.

Keywords: building information modeling, BIM adoption, UAE BIM industry survey, UAE BIM academia survey, Dubai BIM mandate, UK BIM mandate, BIM education, architecture education, engineering schools, BIM implementation, BIM curriculum

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Authors: Nermin Mahmoud Gohar, Aisha Tarek Noour

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Learner satisfaction has been a vital field of interest in the literature. Accordingly, the paper will explore the reasons behind individual differences in motivation and satisfaction. This study examines the effect of both; Herzberg’s and Maslow’s theories on learners satisfaction. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from learners who were geographically widely spread around the College of Maritime Transport and Technology (CMTT) at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AAST&MT) in Egypt. One hundred and fifty undergraduates responded to a questionnaire survey. Respondents were drawn from two branches in Alexandria and Port Said. The data analysis used was SPSS 22 and AMOS 18. Factor analysis technique was used to find out the dimensions under study verified by Herzberg’s and Maslow’s theories. In addition, regression analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to find the effect of the above-mentioned theories on maritime transport learners’ satisfaction. Concerning the limitation of this study, it used the available number of learners in the CMTT due to the relatively low population in this field.

Keywords: motivation, satisfaction, needs, education, Herzberg’s and Maslow’s theories

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Authors: Thomas A. Fuller

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Over the past fifteen years, virtual schooling has been introduced and implemented in varying degrees throughout the public education system in the United States. It is possible in some states for students to voluntarily take all of their course load online, without ever having to step in a classroom. Experts foresee a dramatic rise in the number of courses taken online by public school students in the United States, with some predicting that by 2019 as many as 50% of public high school courses will be delivered online. This electronic delivery of public education offers tremendous potential to the scientific community because it calls for innovation and is funded by public school revenue. Public accountability provides a ready supply of statistical data for measuring the progress of virtual schools as they are implemented into the public school arena. This allows for a survey of the current use of virtual schooling through examination of past statistical data, as well as forecasting forward for future years based upon this past data. Virtual schooling is on the rise in the United States, but its growth has been tempered by practical problems of implementation. The greatest and best use of virtual schooling thus far has been to supplement the courses offered by public schools (e.g., offering unique language courses, elective courses, and games-based math and science courses). The weaknesses of virtual schooling lay in the problematic accountability in allowing students to take courses online at home and the lack of supportive infrastructure in the public school arena. Virtual schooling holds great promise for the public school education system in the United States, as well as the scientific community. Online courses allow students access to a much greater catalog of courses than is offered through classroom instruction in their local public school. This promising sector needs assistance from the scientific community in implementing new pedagogical methodologies.

Keywords: virtual schools, online classroom, electronic delivery, technological innovation

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Authors: Nicole Nicholson, Anne Spillane

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The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive analysis was to determine the success of a post-graduate new teacher education program, designed to teach educators the knowledge and skills necessary to use technology in the classroom, improve the ability to communicate with stakeholders, and implement EBPs and UDL principles into instruction for students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders ). The success of candidates (n=20) in the program provided evidence as to how candidates were effectively able to use technology to create meaningful learning opportunities and implement EBPs for individuals with ASD. ≥90% of participants achieved the following competencies: podcast creation; technology used to share information about assistive technology; and created a resource website on ASD (including information on EBPs, local and national support groups, ASD characteristics, and the latest research on ASD). 59% of students successfully created animation. Results of the analysis indicated that the teacher education program was successful in teaching candidates desired competencies during its first year of implementation.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, ASD, evidence based practices, EBP, universal design for learning, UDL

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Authors: Ying-Hsiu Chen, Pao-Peng Hsu

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This paper adopts a two-stage data envelopment analysis to explore the impacts of financial development and bank operational scale on bank efficiencies. The sample comprises of unbalanced panel data of 32 Taiwanese enlisted in domestic commercial banks over the period 1998 to 2013. Empirical results show that technical efficiency is positively related to financial development, whereas the effect of financial development on scale efficiency is insignificant. The effect of operational scale exerts a significantly positive effect on bank efficiencies, but the gain of efficiency is decreased gradually when operational scale increases. Furthermore, increase in capital adequacy ratio and market power of banks leads to a growth of bank efficiencies.

Keywords: financial development, operational scale, efficiency, DEA

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Authors: Fentie, Belay, Mulat

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In today’s high decrement figure of the global economy, nations are facing many economic, social and political challenges; universally, there is high distress of food and other survival insecurity. Further, as a result of conflict, natural disasters, and leadership influences, youths are existentially less empowered and unemployed, especially in developing countries. With this situation to handle well challenges, it’s important to search, investigate and deliberate about youth, unemployment, empowerment and possible management fashions, as youths have the potential to carry and fight such battles. The method adopted is a qualitative analysis of secondary data sources in youth empowerment, unemployment and development as an inclusive framework. Youth unemployment is a major development headache for most African countries. In Ethiopia, following weak youth empowerment, youth unemployment has increased from time to time, and quality education and organization linkage matter as an important constraint. As a management challenge, although accessibility of quality education for Ethiopian youths is an important constraint, the country's youths are fortified deceptively and harassed in a vicious political challenge in their struggle to fetch social and economic changes in the country. Further, thousands of youths are inactivated, criminalized and lost their lives and this makes youths hopeless anger in their lives and pushes them further to be exposed for addictions, prostitution, violence, and illegitimate migrations. This youth challenge wasn’t only destined for African countries; rather, indeed, it was a global burden and headed as a global agenda. As a resolution, the construction of a healthy education system can create independent youths who acquire success and accelerate development. Developing countries should ensue development in the cultivation of empowerment tools through long and short-term education, implementing policy in action, diminishing wide-ranging gaps of (religion, ethnicity & region), and take high youth population as an opportunity and empower them. Further managing and empowering youths to be involved in decision-making, giving political weight and building a network of organizations to easily access job opportunities are important suggestions to save youths in work, for both increasing their income and the country's food security balance.

Keywords: development, Ethiopia, management, unemployment, youth empowerment

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Authors: Fuad Alzahrani, Yiannis Kyratsis

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Although emergency nurses, being the frontline workers in mass-gatherings, are essential for providing an effective public health response, little is known about the skills that emergency nurses have, or require, in order to respond effectively to a disaster event. This paper is designed to address this gap in the literature by conducting an empirical study on emergency nurses’ preparedness at the mass-gathering event of Hajj in Mecca city. To achieve this aim, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey among 106 emergency department nurses in all the public hospitals in Mecca in 2014. The results revealed that although emergency nurses’ role understanding is high; they have limited knowledge and awareness of how to respond appropriately to mass-gathering disaster events. To address this knowledge gap, the top three most beneficial types of education and training courses suggested are: hospital education sessions, the Emergency Management Saudi Course and workshop; and short courses in disaster management. Finally, recommendations and constructive strategies are developed to provide the best practice in enhancing disaster preparedness. This paper adds to the body of knowledge regarding emergency nurses and mass gathering disasters. This paper measures the level of disaster knowledge, previous disaster response experience and disaster education and training amongst emergency nurses in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is anticipated that this study will provide a foundation for future studies aimed at better preparing emergency nurses for disaster response. This paper employs new strategies to improve the emergency nurses’ response during mass gatherings for the Hajj. Increasing the emergency nurses’ knowledge will develop their effective responses in mass-gathering disasters.

Keywords: emergency nurses, mass-gatherings, hajj, disaster preparedness, disaster knowledge, perceived role, disaster training, previous disaster response experience

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Authors: Alyaa Farouk Abdelfattah Ibrahim, Samah Mohamed, Huda Jrady, Mashail Alrashidi, Alaa Mohammad, Fatimah Alotaibi, Maram Almutiri

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Participation in volunteering was associated with better mental and physical health, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. The main motivator for students in particular is the chance to gain work-related experiences, improve skills, and build on qualifications that may help them achieve their educational goals and further their careers. This study aimed to assess the effect of summer training volunteering practices in healthcare on self-confidence of nursing students in Riyadh. In a crossectional study design, 150 nursing students at King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for health sciences in Riyadh were included in the study. Bio-socio-demographic, self-confidence, patients’ care and skills questionnaires were used for data collection. Results: Participants’ age ranged between 20 and 26 years. The majority were from the educational level seven (80%). 40.7 % of them reported volunteering in summer training programs; 70.37% of them volunteered at least once and for a duration of at least one month. Nursing students from level 6 were less likely to have self-confidence in their patients’ care skills than those in level 7. Students who volunteered were more likely to be more interested in becoming social, professional, and independent healthcare workers. There was no difference regarding experience in clinical skills and education by volunteering status. Clinical skills improved by a level of education in this group. Conclusion: Professional self-confidence and clinical performance are related in this group of nursing students. Monitoring, arranging, and encouraging volunteering activities for nursing students are important to help them broaden their interests, their self-confidence in their capabilities, and advancement in their chosen profession. Mostly, volunteering enhanced knowledge in patient safety and quality of care and attempts to secure volunteering opportunities should be a priority on the nursing education agenda.

Keywords: volunteering, health care volunteering, nursing students, summer training

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Authors: Eloise Thomson

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The COVID-19 global pandemic challenged our normative conceptualization of teaching across all age levels, requiring the transition to remote instruction, in some instances, literally overnight. Included in the rapidly changing education environment was the delivery of early childhood education. In Victoria, Australia, the capital city, Melbourne, became known as the most locked down city in the world. This presentation examines the ways educators used social media to collaborate with families before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the lockdown phase through the use of a Third Space conceptual framework and case study methodology. As a first step, the paper examines how social media may offer new opportunities for collaborative practice between educators and families. Second, the data is outlined and discussed with respect to collaborative practice and quality. Finally, a postscript then allows for insight into how educators’ practice of using social media to collaborate with families has been impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Finally, the implications of the ways in which educators are using social media to collaborate with families are discussed. The use of social media in early-childhood education has the potential to provide a valuable platform for educators to connect with families and students. However, the use of social media by educators uncovered a dialogue of ‘quality’ and appeared to be dominated by evidence around compliance and attaining quality in a very specific, and perhaps narrow, way. The findings suggest a culture of compliance that is dominated by outcomes, standards and assessments and that this has changed the dynamics by which educators engage with families. Furthermore, findings highlighted the disparity between educators' and families' understanding of the intent of the collaborations themselves. This research was significant as it exposed the ways in which educators are engaging with social media, resulting in a discussion on the intent of collaborations, the questioning of imposed quality, and the notion that quality is measurable and exists in only one form.

Keywords: collaboration, compliance, early childhood, third space, pedagogy of caring, social media

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Authors: Jutta Ransmayr

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The digital age has long arrived at Austrian schools, so both society and educationalists demand that digital means should be integrated accordingly to day-to-day school routines. Therefore, the Austrian school-leaving exam (A-levels) can now be written either by hand or by using a computer. However, the choice of writing medium (pen and paper or computer) for written examination papers, which are considered 'high-stakes' exams, raises a number of questions that have not yet been adequately investigated and answered until recently, such as: What effects do the different conditions of text production in the written German A-levels have on the component of normative linguistic accuracy? How do the spelling skills of German A-level papers written with a pen differ from those that the students wrote on the computer? And how is the teacher's assessment related to this? Which practical desiderata for German didactics can be derived from this? In a trilateral pilot project of the Austrian Center for Digital Humanities (ACDH) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Education and the Council for German Orthography, these questions were investigated. A representative Austrian learner corpus, consisting of around 530 German A-level papers from all over Austria (pen and computer written), was set up in order to subject it to a quantitative (corpus-linguistic and statistical) and qualitative investigation with regard to the spelling and punctuation performance of the high school graduates and the differences between pen- and computer-written papers and their assessments. Relevant studies are currently available mainly from the Anglophone world. These have shown that writing on the computer increases the motivation to write, has positive effects on the length of the text, and, in some cases, also on the quality of the text. Depending on the writing situation and other technical aids, better results in terms of spelling and punctuation could also be found in the computer-written texts as compared to the handwritten ones. Studies also point towards a tendency among teachers to rate handwritten texts better than computer-written texts. In this paper, the first comparable results from the German-speaking area are to be presented. Research results have shown that, on the one hand, there are significant differences between handwritten and computer-written work with regard to performance in orthography and punctuation. On the other hand, the corpus linguistic investigation and the subsequent statistical analysis made it clear that not only the teachers' assessments of the students’ spelling performance vary enormously but also the overall assessments of the exam papers – the factor of the production medium (pen and paper or computer) also seems to play a decisive role.

Keywords: exam paper assessment, pen and paper or computer, learner corpora, linguistics

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Authors: Magdalena Zabrocka

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The terror of women throughout the governance of the current populist ruling party in Poland, PiS, has been a subject of a heated debate alongside the issues of minorities’ rights, the rule of law, and democracy in the country. The challenges that women and other vulnerable groups are currently facing, however, come down to more than just a lack of comprehensive equality laws, severely limited reproductive rights, hateful slogans, and messages propagated by the central authority and its sympathisers, or a common disregard for women’s fundamental rights. Many sources and media reports are available only in Polish, while international rapporteurs fail to acknowledge the whole picture of the tragedy happening in the country and the variety of factors affecting it. Starting with the authorities’ and Polish catholic church’s propaganda concerning CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence by spreading strategic disinformation that it codifies ‘gender ideology’ and ‘anti-Christian values’ in order to convince the electorate that the legal instruments should be ‘abandoned’. Alongside severely restricted abortion rights, bullying medical professionals helping women exercise their reproductive rights, violating women’s privacy by introducing a mandatory registry of pregnancies (so that one’s pregnancy or its ‘loss’ can be tracked and traced), restricting access to the ‘day after pill’ and real sex education at schools (most schools have a subject of ‘knowledge of living in a family’), introducing prison punishment for teachers accused of spreading ‘sex education’, and many other, the current tyrant government, has now decided to target the youngest with its misinformation and indoctrination, via strategically designed textbooks and curriculum. Biology books have seen a big restriction on the size of the chapters devoted to evolution, reproductive system, and sexual health. Approved religion books (which are taught 2-3 times a week as compared to 1 a week sciences) now cover false information about Darwin’s theory and arguments ‘against it’. Most recently, however, the public spoke up against the absurd messages contained in the politically rewritten history books, where the material about some figures not liked by the governing party has already been manipulated. In the recently approved changes to the history textbook, one can find a variety of strongly biased and politically-charged views representative of the conservatives in the states, most notably, equating the ‘gender ideology’ and feminism with Nazism. Thus, this work, by employing a human rights approach, would focus on the right to education and development as well as the considerate obstacles to access to scientific information by the youth.

Keywords: Poland, right to education, right to development, authoritarianism, access to information

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Authors: L. M. H. Mustonen, S. A. Heikkilä

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The focus of the paper is to describe team teaching as a HAMK’s pedagogical method, and its impacts to the teachers work. Background: Traditionally it is thought that teaching is a job where one mostly works alone. More and more teachers feel that their work is getting more stressful. Solutions to these problems have been sought in Häme University of Applied sciences’ (From now on referred to as HAMK). HAMK has made a strategic change to move to the group oriented working of teachers. Instead of isolated study courses, there are now larger 15 credits study modules. Implementation: As examples of the method, two cases are presented: technical project module and summer studies module, which was integrated into the EU development project called Energy Efficiency with Precise Control. In autumn 2017, technical project will be implemented third time. There are at least three teachers involved in it and it is the first module of the new students. Main focus is to learn the basic skills of project working. From communicational viewpoint, they learn the basics of written and oral reporting and the basics of video reporting skills. According to our quality control system, the need for the development is evaluated in the end of the module. There are always some differences in each implementation but the basics are the same. The other case summer studies 2017 is new and part of a larger EU project. For the first time, we took a larger group of first to third year students from different study programmes to the summer studies. The students learned professional skills and also skills from different fields of study, international cooperation, and communication skills. Benefits and challenges: After three years, it is possible to consider what the changes mean in the everyday work of the teachers - and of course – what it means to students and the learning process. The perspective is HAMK’s electrical and automation study programme: At first, the change always means more work. The routines born after many years and the course material used for years may not be valid anymore. Teachers are teaching in modules simultaneously and often with some subjects overlapping. Finding the time to plan the modules together is often difficult. The essential benefit is that the learning outcomes have improved. This can be seen in the feedback given by both the teachers and the students. Conclusions: A new type of working environment is being born. A team of teachers designs a module that matches the objectives and ponders the answers to such questions as what are the knowledge-based targets of the module? Which pedagogical solutions will achieve the desired results? At what point do multiple teachers instruct the class together? How is the module evaluated? How can the module be developed further for the next execution? The team discusses openly and finds the solutions. Collegiate responsibility and support are always present. These are strengthening factors of the new communal university teaching culture. They are also strong sources of pleasure of work.

Keywords: pedagogical development, summer studies, team teaching, well-being at work

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Authors: Peter Edwar Mortada Nasif

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The use of CAD (Computer Aided Design) technology is ubiquitous in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This has led to its inclusion in the curriculum of architecture schools in Nigeria as an important part of the training module. This article examines the ethical issues involved in implementing CAD (Computer Aided Design) content into the architectural education curriculum. Using existing literature, this study begins with the benefits of integrating CAD into architectural education and the responsibilities of different stakeholders in the implementation process. It also examines issues related to the negative use of information technology and the perceived negative impact of CAD use on design creativity. Using a survey method, data from the architecture department of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Uli University was collected to serve as a case study on how the issues raised were being addressed. The article draws conclusions on what ensures successful ethical implementation. Millions of people around the world suffer from hepatitis C, one of the world's deadliest diseases. Interferon (IFN) is treatment options for patients with hepatitis C, but these treatments have their side effects. Our research focused on developing an oral small molecule drug that targets hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins and has fewer side effects. Our current study aims to develop a drug based on a small molecule antiviral drug specific for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Drug development using laboratory experiments is not only expensive, but also time-consuming to conduct these experiments. Instead, in this in silicon study, we used computational techniques to propose a specific antiviral drug for the protein domains of found in the hepatitis C virus. This study used homology modeling and abs initio modeling to generate the 3D structure of the proteins, then identifying pockets in the proteins. Acceptable lagans for pocket drugs have been developed using the de novo drug design method. Pocket geometry is taken into account when designing ligands. Among the various lagans generated, a new specific for each of the HCV protein domains has been proposed.

Keywords: drug design, anti-viral drug, in-silicon drug design, hepatitis C virus, computer aided design, CAD education, education improvement, small-size contractor automatic pharmacy, PLC, control system, management system, communication

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Authors: Lucilla Crosta, Anthony Edwards

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Companies and the market place nowadays struggle to find employees with adequate skills in relation to anticipated growth of their businesses. At least half of workers will need to undertake some form of up-skilling process in the next five years in order to remain aligned with the requests of the market . In order to meet these challenges, there is a clear need to explore the potential uses of AI (artificial Intelligence) based tools in assessing transversal skills (critical thinking, communication and soft skills of different types in general) of workers and adult students while empowering them to develop those same skills in a reliable trustworthy way. Companies seek workers with key transversal skills that can make a difference between workers now and in the future. However, critical thinking seems to be the one of the most imprtant skill, bringing unexplored ideas and company growth in business contexts. What employers have been reporting since years now, is that this skill is lacking in the majority of workers and adult students, and this is particularly visible trough their writing. This paper investigates how critical thinking and communication skills are currently developed in Higher Education environments through use of AI tools at postgraduate levels. It analyses the use of a branch of AI namely Machine Learning and Big Data and of Neural Network Analysis. It also examines the potential effect the acquisition of these skills through AI tools and what kind of effects this has on employability This paper will draw information from researchers and studies both at national (Italy & UK) and international level in Higher Education. The issues associated with the development and use of one specific AI tool Edulai, will be examined in details. Finally comparisons will be also made between these tools and the more recent phenomenon of Chat GPT and forthcomings and drawbacks will be analysed.

Keywords: critical thinking, artificial intelligence, higher education, soft skills, chat GPT

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Authors: Obasanjo Afolabi Bolarinwa

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This study assesses the levels of knowledge of sexually transmitted infections among unmarried youths in Nigeria; examines the pattern of high risk sex among unmarried youths in Nigeria; investigate the socio-demographic factors (age, place of residence, religion, level of education, wealth index and employment status) affecting the practice of high-risk sexual behaviour and ascertain the relationships between knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and practice of high risk sex. The goal of the study is to identify the factors associated with the practice of high risk sex among youth. These were with a view to identifying critical actions needed to reduce high risk sexual behaviour among youths. The study employed secondary data. The data for the study were extracted from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). The 2013 NDHS collected information from 38,948 Women ages 15-49 years and 17,359 men ages 15-49. A total of 7,744 female and 6,027 male respondents were utilized in the study. In order to adjust for the effect of oversampling of the population, the weighting factor provided by Measure DHS was applied. The data were analysed using frequency distribution and logistic regression. The results show that both male (92.2%) and female (93.6%) have accurate knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. The study also revealed that prevalence of high risk sexual behavior is high among Nigerian youths; this is evident as 77.7% (female) and 78.4% (male) are engaging in high risk sexual behavior. The bivariate analysis shows that age of respondent (χ2=294.2; p < 0.05), religion (χ2=136.64; p < 0.05), wealth index (χ2=17.38; p < 0.05), level of education (χ2=34.73; p < 0.05) and employment status (χ2=94.54; p < 0.05) were individual factors significantly associated with high risk sexual behaviour among male while age of respondent (χ2=327.07; p < 0.05), place of residence (χ2=6.71; p < 0.05), religion (χ2=81.04; p < 0.05), wealth index (χ2=7.41; p < 0.05), level of education (χ2=18.12; p < 0.05) and employment status (χ2=51.02; p < 0.05) were individual factors significantly associated with high risk sexual behaviour among female. Furthermore, the study shows that there is a relationship between knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and high risk sex among male (χ2=38.32; p < 0.05) and female (χ2=18.37; p < 0.05). At multivariate level, the study revealed that individual characteristics such as age, religion, place of residence, wealth index, levels of education and employment status were statistically significantly related with high risk sexual behaviour among male and female (p < 0.05). Lastly, the study shows that knowledge of sexually transmitted infection was significantly related to high risk sexual behaviour among youths (p < 0.05). The study concludes that there is a high level of knowledge of sexually transmitted infections among unmarried youths in Nigeria. The practice of high risk sex is high among unmarried youths but higher among male youths. The prevalence of high risk sexual activity is higher for males when they are at disadvantage and higher for females when they are at advantage. Socio-demographic factors like age of respondents, religion, wealth index, place of residence, employment status and highest level of education are factors influencing high risk sexual behaviour among youths.

Keywords: high risk sex, wealth index, sexual behaviour, knowledge

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Authors: M. Moradi Dalini, M. R. Talebi

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This research revolves around a technical method according to combines econometric and multiobjective programming to select and obtain optimal solutions to management problems. It is taken for a generation that; it is important to analyze which combination of values of the explanatory variables -in an econometric method- would point to the simultaneous achievement of the best values of the response variables. In this case, if a certain degree of conflict is viewed among the response variables, we suggest a multiobjective method in order to the results obtained from a regression analysis. In fact, with the use of a multiobjective method, we will have the best decision about the conflicting relationship between the response variables and the optimal solution. The combined multiobjective programming and econometrics benefit is an assessment of a balanced “optimal” situation among them because a find of information can hardly be extracted just by econometric techniques.

Keywords: econometrics, multiobjective optimization, management problem, optimization

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