Certificate Level Research Articles

A Teacher’s Influence on Student Engagement: Using Smartphones for Creating Vocational Assessment ePortfolios

Aim/Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate how the facilitation of a vocational lecturer (teacher) influenced the engagement of fifteen carpentry students during their learning. This facilitation occurred while the students used smartphones and mobile applications to create visual assessment ePortfolios. Background: To encourage independence and peer collaboration, when creating their visual ePortfolios, the lecturer decided to get his students to use BYOD mobile devices, and social media applications to record their learning of technical skills. His intention was to make use of the devices they brought to class, and to enable greater autonomy and flexibility in the learning process by eliminating the need for digital cameras and proprietary software they had previously been using. The lecturer also saw this as an opportunity to provide more frequent and immediate formative feedback, and to encourage students to share their work. Methodology: A Participatory Action Research design was used with fifteen certificate level students. They were guided in the use of three social media applications (apps) – Facebook, Evernote and Google Plus (G+) that they could use on their Smartphones to develop ePortfolios for assessment. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected during four Action Cycles, and the outcomes are portrayed as a case study. Several sampling methods were used: a student pre-survey, and post-survey, observations and reflections by the lecturer, focus group interviews with students and an individual interview with the lecturer. For this article, a framework based on established factors of student engagement was used to examine the findings to establish the impact of the teacher. Contribution: This paper extends the body of research about student engagement with a focus on the importance of the teacher in supporting 21st Century vocational learning and ePortfolio assessment using mobile technologies. Findings: The majority of students were comfortable with the learning approach using the three applications and their mobile phones, and felt confident with the technologies. Overall, they found the learning approach was more convenient and made the experience easier, as well as enjoyable and fun. Students believed that mobile learning helped their learning and assisted them to connect with others. All three apps were considered easy to access. Facebook was the most preferred app with Google Plus (G+) the least liked. Evernote was favoured for its image editing and annotation features. Students responded well to the lecturer's teaching methods and the learning environment he created. He was found to be pivotal to the learning process. As a result of the lecturer’s learning and assessment design, students enhanced their achievement rates. He scaffolded their use of mobile technologies through: demonstrating and modelling each app at the start of the cycle of use, use of technologies during their learning, and by providing prompt, frequent and timely feedback on their ePortfolio work. Since he enabled them to use devices familiar to them, that is, smartphones, he helped them to develop autonomy and confidence. The lecturer was supportive and enthusiastic and encouraged students through structured and well-designed collaborative activities to engage in active learning that challenged them, and encouraged collaboration. He guided them in their learning through regularly interacting with them to provide feedback, and he also added an aspect of competitiveness to the activities to motivate them. Recommendations for Practitioners: Teaching staff are advised to seek guidance when designing learning activities using mobile technologies, and to access technical support. Cochrane’s (2014) six critical success factors for designing learning using mobile devices would assist. Also, it would be useful to carry out a needs analysis with students and other stakeholders beforehand. Recommendation for Researchers: Participatory Action Research is a robust methodology for trialling innovative learning strategies because when using this approach, researchers can be immediately responsive to the needs of the participants. Impact on Society: An understanding of the factors associated with student engagement and high self-efficacy for using mobile technologies is essential for teachers tasked with designing contemporary learning activities in today’s higher education learning environments. Encouraging the use of mobile devices that students own, and have familiarity using, helps to make learning and teaching more sustainable. Future Research: Further research is needed to measure the impact of factors associated with student engagement, on the design of student-centred learning using contemporary technologies. It would also be helpful to examine the implications of student engagement measures as predictors of excellence in teaching, and in the development of learner capability (e.g., critical thinking, social justice awareness, reasoning, etc.).

Review of the textbook on the Russian language for foreign humanitarian students (II certification level) “Russia yesterday and today”

Review of the textbook on the Russian language for foreign humanitarian students (II certification level) “Russia yesterday and today”

Appraising a decade of LEED in the MENA region

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region-Arab countries share similar development goals and challenges to promote the green building industry. The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) has recently been introduced to this area as an internationally recognized third-party Green building rating system (GBRS). The study has adopted a dual-tier cross-comparative approach to answer two research questions (Q); on one hand, setting the LEED system as a common base recognized the variations of countries' adoption patterns of LEED certification and pinpoints the associated challenges (Q1). On the other hand, countries of similar development backgrounds but variations in their economic, environmental, legislative and judicial conditions indicate the factors determining the diffusion of the LEED system in the area (Q2). In this regard, the analysis has highlighted two sets of governing parameters; a) LEED diffusion associated parameters and b) countries' associated parameters. Accordingly, a quantitative methodology has been applied to investigate both sets, on the regional level including seventeen countries and this is narrowed down to a detailed level for principal LEED adopting countries. To answer Q1, it has been found that the diffusion of green buildings is slowly taking place on a steady rate but it is more pronounced as a trajectory form for new construction buildings and standalone high-income housing projects but is it alarming to note the minor share of the existing building stock. Nevertheless, the adoption rates of different categories vary to reflect the regional potentials and challenges of applying green design and construction measures; they are highest for the ‘Innovation in Design’ and ‘Regional Priority’ followed by the ‘Sustainable Sites’ and ‘Water Efficiency’, less for the ‘Energy and Atmosphere’ and ‘Indoor Environmental Quality’ categories and least for the ‘Materials and Resources’ category. Moreover, the total average adoption rate of the five principal categories, as well as the prevailing type of LEED, version and certification level, correspond with the international status. To answer Q2, the previously defined parameters are put for statistical analysis. Significant inter-correlations have indicated that the rate of adoption of categories is strongly influenced by the number of LEED certified projects, accredited professionals and member organisations in one country. Furthermore, significant intra-correlations have associated countries' average adoption rates of categories with their economic parameters (gross domestic product and gross national income) as well as their emissions' release and energy use. This points out that the main push-factors for the diffusion of the LEED system in the MENA region are the economic vantage of hosting countries, in addition to the presence of a robust legislative framework within strategic national objectives. This contribution enables deducting the main factors that may help endorse or else hinder third-party green building certification in developing countries and pinpoint the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to promote sustainable buildings which shall serve as the basis for successive research work.

Strategies for LEED certified projects: the building layer versus the service layer

The study aims to evaluate the correlation between building layer (BL) and service layer (SL) (i.e., shearing layer concept) in the (i) design of new buildings under the LEED-NCv3 rating scheme and (ii) renewal of existing buildings under the LEED-EBv3 rating scheme. To decrease the influence that green policy, which can change over several years, has on the Energy and Atmosphere category of LEED, LEED-certified projects were selected exclusively from the US over the course of a year. The total number of LEED certified projects analyzed was 594. These projects were nested into 32 groups (eight US states × two types of buildings × two LEED certification levels). In 19 of 32 groups, reciprocal negative correlations between BL and SL were observed. The following three design strategies, BL-emphasized, SL-emphasized, and random, were identified. It was concluded that LEED rating schemes should be enhanced by emphasizing long time expectancy BL design strategies.

Entrepreneurial Mindset Among Students of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions in Malaysia

This article examines entrepreneurial mindset among the students of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. The findings presented are a small part of the overall research data on the readiness of TVET students in Malaysia to venture into entrepreneurship. This quantitative study involves 1000 students from eight selected public TVET institutions in Peninsular Malaysia. Overall, the study finds that respondents’ level of entrepreneurial mindset is at a moderate level. Furthermore, there is a significant difference in the level of entrepreneurial mindset between the respondents at the certificate level and diploma level, the background of the family/parents who own businesses and otherwise, and also between the respondents who are involved and not involved in business activities. This study holds a positive view that there is potential in enhancing the entrepreneurial mindset of students in TVET institutions in order to generate as many job creators as possible. Hence, the study suggests that the Ministry and all relevant stakeholders to streamline the strategy of the Higher Education Insititution (HEI) Entrepreneurship Action Plan by focusing on the key growth factors of entrepreneurial mindset so that the target of new entrepreneurial talents among HEI students can be realised and also by taking into consideration the potentials of TVET students in Malaysia.

Impact of smartphone use on health among higher secondary level students in Khulna, Bangladesh

Smartphone is used worldwide even by students as a very much necessary electronic device. The present study aimed at finding out any impact of smartphone use on health of higher secondary certificate level students in Khulna, Bangladesh using a semi-structured questionnaire, which included different socioeconomic characteristics such as social status, duration of smartphone use, related possible health problems like eye strain, headache, hearing problem, sleep disturbance and depression. Three hundred seventy students participated in this study. The modes of using smartphone by the students were: no use, audio calls, video calls, gamming, chatting, facebooking, and taking photo. The students were 40.5% of 11th level and 59.5% of 12th level, 42.2% of age <17 years, 43.8% males, 76.8% came from urban schools, 84.9% with science background, 35.7% had family members >4, 65.1% had parents with higher social status, 89.7% used smartphone, and 34.6% used with daily duration >1 hour. The smartphone use was significantly associated with sleep disturbance (p < 0.05) as an expression of health impact. The symptom sleep disturbance significantly associated with other reported symptoms by the respondents like eye strain, headache, hearing problem, and depression. All the symptoms were positively and significantly inter-related (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Smartphone should be used with a cautious manner, as there might be a chance to develop health related symptoms
 Mediscope Vol. 6, No. 1: Jan 2019, Page 1-5

Effects of body protection vests and experience levels in prevention of equestrian injuries

ObjectivesTo investigate the risk reduction and benefit of wearing body protection/safety vests in equestrian sports.MethodsA comparison of equestrians wearing body protective vests and those not wearing vests was performed using...

제로에너지빌딩 구현을 위한 태양광열-지열 하이브리드 시스템의 성능분석

Purpose: Various renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaic, solar thermal and geothermal system are being utilized for zero energy building. However, technologies using a single heat source are highly affected by external conditions such as weather and changes in underground temperature. In this study, a hybrid system with PVT and GSHP was developed to overcome the disadvantage of individual system and to improve the reliability of energy production. In addition, this paper aims to analyze the performance of the system and calculate the energy independence rate according to the design capacity. Method: In this study, the dynamic energy simulation was conducted to quantitatively analyze building load and heat pump seasonal performance factor of heating and cooling of the hybrid system with PVT and GSHP. In addition, power production and power consumption were calculated according to the installation area of the PVT module. The building energy independence rate was calculated using the power production and power consumption results, and the zero energy building certification level was determined. Result: As the simulation result, heating peak load is 6.16kW, cooling peak load is 2.37kW and annual energy independence rate of Case 1 is 44.9%.

Morphology Matters, but What Do Teacher Candidates Know About It?

Skilled reading is a complex process in which many subskills are involved, including an awareness of the morphological structure of language. Morphological awareness is the ability to understand how words are broken into meaningful units (e.g., affixes, root words). Explicit and systematic teaching of morphological concepts are reported to help striving readers, particularly those in upper elementary, middle, and secondary grades, with reading. To teach morphological concepts and their relation to reading, teachers need to have both awareness and knowledge of morphology. In the present study, general and special education teachers’ knowledge of morphological concepts are examined. Results indicate that teachers, regardless of type of certification (general vs. special education) or grade level (elementary vs. secondary), have difficulty identifying morphemes in both simple and complex words. Suggestions for what and how teacher educators can integrate the teaching of morphological concepts into teacher preparation contexts are provided.

Greening offices: Willingness to pay for green-certified office spaces in Bengaluru, India

The rapidly growing construction sector in India has a large resource foot print but can offer a vast potential to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Greening the building sector is feasible through various policy measures and incentives to deal with recycling and waste treatment, reduction in energy use, emissions and the use of other hazardous substances, which have several public and private benefits. The objective of this study is to understand whether or not and by how much would the consumers be willing to pay for green buildings if the information asymmetry is reduced by information provisions of benefits from green buildings. This paper uses a choice experiment to evaluate the firms’ willingness to pay for green-certified office spaces in the Indian city of Bengaluru. The study relied on primary survey data drawn from around 115 firms working in rented office spaces in Bengaluru, who were asked to choose between status quo and different levels of green certification. The Tobit model was used for estimation, and the results show that firms value private benefits like reduction in electricity and water bills, water and waste recycling significantly. The willingness to pay of firms is negatively related to rent of the office space and positively related to annual turnover of the firm and prior knowledge on the green building certification.

Impact of human and environmental factors on the probability of detection during NDT control by eddy currents

The Probability Of Detection (POD) curves are generally determined in laboratory conditions as the optimum case. These conditions are not the same as in a real in-service inspection. Build an experimental POD curve requires data from a wide range of inspector skills, defect types, test protocols, etc. This paper analyzes the impact of the maintenance conditions on the probability of defect detections in the High Frequency Eddy Currents (HFEC) method.After having described the experimental campaign on titanium specimens associated to HFEC method, we construct an experimental database based on three environments scenario (Laboratory, A321 and A400M aircrafts) and representative inspector pattern with different Non-Destructive Test (NDT) certification levels. Then, the POD using Berens methodology is provided for different data transformation. Comparisons between POD statistical parameters in different scenarios permit to quantify the impact of human and environmental factors. Some additional advices can be done to minimize the uncertainty on POD results.

The Development of a Wholly Online Master's Program for Oncology Clinicians

Background: The Master of Cancer Sciences brings together the academic strength of the University of Melbourne (UoM) and world leading content experts from the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), to develop an innovative, interactive, evidence-based flagship educational program in cancer sciences. This program will enhance the capabilities of health professionals, in the rapidly evolving field of cancer research and clinical care. It will be wholly online and nested with qualification points at Specialist Certificate, Graduate Certificate and Masters Level to provide flexible progression and study options for practitioners in the cancer care workforce. Specific modular content from each subject will also be repurposed and repackaged as a series of derivative educational activities such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), workshops and webinars; broadening the reach of the masters programming to all. Aim: The aim of this program is to be the first cancer-specific, multidisciplinary, flexible, and wholly online master's program of its kind offered within Australia, and one of two available worldwide. Graduates will possess an unprecedented breadth of integrated cancer knowledge and skills. This initiative will unify the VCCC alliance partners as they contribute to directly supporting a world-class cancer workforce and provide best practice care to patients. Discussion: This presentation will explore the educational development process involved in developing the ten online subjects, through the engagement of content writing teams to collaborative development and repurposing modules into a series of derivative educational activities. Ultimately the graduate programs and their derivative educational activities will contribute to lifelong learning, ongoing professional development and high quality healthcare for better patient outcomes.

Addressing the gap between school and university in South Africa: exposing grade 11 learners to the integrated and applied nature of science and commerce using geoscience examples

Geoscience Education is not included in the School curriculum in South Africa as a stand-alone subject area. Some concepts are embedded in other subject areas such as Plate Tectonic Theory in Geography and Evolution in Life Sciences. Consequently, most students who do register for a BSc degree at South African Universities do not initially intend to study Geology. Minimum entry requirements for different disciplines in the Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) mean that most of the Geology I registrations are by students not qualifying for Mathematical or Physical Sciences. Biological Sciences can only accommodate a portion of these students so the remainder of the students end up in Geology because they wish to ob-tain a degree and are “forced to do Geology”. In an attempt to introduce future students to a broader view of Science, and in particular to Geoscience, Wits has started offering certified Short Courses at NQF Level 4 (National Qualification Framework school leaving certificate level). In 2016 Wits ran the Wits Integrated Experience in Science and in 2017, the Wits Integrated Experience in Science and Commerce, short courses. Learners were exposed to the integrated nature of various Science disci-plines and the integrated nature of Science and Commerce through enquiry based, problem solving learning opportunities. The target audience was Grade 11 learners as they have not yet applied to any university and have yet to make subject choices and degree choices. By participating in the short course they are exposed to a variety of disciplines and through investigating real problems, they are exposed to the interdisciplinary nature of these disciplines. In 2016 the learners solved a murder mystery and in 2017, they had to scenario plan for an impending meteorite impact just south of Johannesburg. This scenario planning helped learners to see the relationship between Science disciplines and between Science and Commerce. This is important as the initiative is designed to assist learners in actively choosing their Science and/or Commerce majors and to encourage learners to consider taking innovative major combinations that might cross traditional Faculty boundaries.

Evaluating acoustical performance of existing offices as part of a WELL feasibility service

While the WELL building standard is typically applied during the design of new offices, it can also be applied retroactively to existing offices. Before undertaking such an endeavour, some companies are interested in evaluating performance with respect to the standard. This paper describes how a WELL feasibility assessment can be performed for the acoustically focused WELL features. This allows companies to know where their existing space stands with respect to the WELL building standard and what it might take to achieve the different levels of certification.

Correlation Between Walking Ability and Monthly Care Costs in Elderly Patients After Surgical Treatments for Hip Fractures.

ObjectiveTo validate the relationship between residual walking ability and monthly care cost as well as long-term care insurance (LTCI) certification level in elderly patients after surgical treatment for hip fractures in Japan.MethodsElderly patients aged >75 years who underwent surgical treatment for hip fractures in our hospital were included. The preand post-surgical (6-month) walking ability and LTCI certification and the presence or absence of dementia was determined from medical records and questionnaires. Walking ability was classified into 6 levels used in our daily medical practice. Based on these data, we correlated the relationship between walking ability and the LTCI certification level. Further, based on the official statistics pertaining to the average monthly costs per person at each LTCI certification level, we evaluated the relationship between walking ability and monthly care cost.ResultsA total of 105 cases (mean age, 80.2 years; 16 men; 39 patients with dementia) were included. The correlation between walking ability and average monthly cost per person as well as LTCI certification level at 6 months postoperatively (r=0.58) was demonstrated. The correlation was found in both groups with and without dementia.ConclusionThe ability to walk reduced the cost of care in elderly patients who experienced hip fracture, regardless of the presence of dementia.

Workplace Incivility Among Nationally Certified EMS Professionals and Associations with Workforce-Reducing Factors and Organizational Culture

Background: Incivility, defined as negative interpersonal acts that violate workplace and social norms, has been linked to negative outcomes in healthcare settings. A minimal amount is known regarding workplace incivility among emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate the prevalence of incivility and factors associated with experiencing workplace incivility; (2) describe the association between incivility and workforce-reducing factors (stress, career satisfaction, turnover intentions, and workplace absences); and (3) quantify the association between incivility and the organizational culture of an EMS agency. Methods: A random sample of 38,000 nationally-certified EMS professionals received an electronic questionnaire with an EMS-adapted Workplace Incivility Scale, the Competing Values Framework organizational culture scale, and factors that may negatively impact the EMS workforce. All completed surveys from nonmilitary EMS professionals currently providing patient care at the EMT level or higher were included in these analyses. We constructed multivariable logistic regression models (OR, 95% CI) to identify factors associated with experiencing workplace incivility and to examine the associations between experiencing incivility and workforce-reducing factors. We calculated univariable odds ratios to assess the association between organizational culture type and incivility. Results: A total of 3,741 EMS professionals responded to the survey (response rate =10.3%), with 2,815 (75.2%) meeting inclusion criteria. Incivility from supervisors or coworkers was experienced at least once a week by 47.4% of respondents. Factors associated with increased odds of experiencing incivility included female sex, AEMT/paramedic certification level, increasing years of EMS experience, service types other than 9-1-1 response, and higher weekly call volumes. Exposure to regular incivility was associated with increased odds of dissatisfaction with EMS, a main EMS job or a main supervisor; moderate or higher stress levels; intent to leave one’s job and EMS in the next 12 months; and 10 or more workplace absences in the past 12 months. The organizational culture type “market” was associated with the greatest odds of incivility. Conclusions: Nearly half of respondents experienced incivility once a week or more, and incivility was associated with potential workforce-reducing factors. Further research is needed to understand how organizational climate and interpersonal behaviors in the workplace affect the EMS workforce.

Energy Demand Patterns in an Office Building: A Case Study in Kraków (Southern Poland)

Office buildings play a significant role in shaping the current electricity demand and its trends. Their energy demand patterns impact the power system operation on a national and regional level. What is more, both (office buildings and the power system) are also simultaneously influenced by meteorological parameters. Considering the above, the aim of this paper is to analyze a three-year hourly energy demand time series recorded in a relatively large office building in Kraków (Southern Poland). This paper will fill a gap in the literature as there is a lack of evidence from Central European countries in the area of office buildings’ energy demand and its relationship with meteorological parameters. The data was obtained from a local electricity provider whereas meteorological parameters came from weather station and satellite measurements. The analyses focused on determining the typical weekly and daily demand patterns as well as on investigating the correlation between meteorological parameters (wind speed, irradiation, humidity, and air temperature) and observed energy consumption. To estimate the correlation between investigated variables, a Pearson coefficient of correlation was used. For distinguishing typical load patterns, a k-means clustering method was applied. The relationship between meteorological parameters and load was also tested based on multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated that energy demand had a relatively strong positive correlation with irradiation and with temperature and a negative one with humidity. The correlation with wind speed was not greater than 0.25. Dividing the data into three subsets shows that energy demand generally exhibits a stronger correlation with meteorological parameters on working days. Additionally, clustering analysis has shown that it is possible to distinguish three typical daily patterns of energy demand and meteorological parameters that correspond to a hot/warm day, cold days and days that are intermediary between those two. The regression analysis showed that meteorological parameters can explain/model a significant part of the load variability (up to 50%) although the quality of such models is relatively poor (in terms of mean absolute percentage error the best model exhibited a value of 16%). The results of this study can be used as a benchmark for similar office buildings that received the same level of sustainability certification, or in the future analysis of climate change impact on power demand.

Sworn Volunteers in American Policing, 1999 to 2013

This study describes changes in the use of sworn volunteers among the nation’s local law enforcement agencies and identifies those state-level certification, community, and agency characteristics associated with agencies using such volunteers in 2013. Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics data from 1999 through 2013 were analyzed to document trends in both the number of sworn volunteers and the prevalence of agencies using sworn volunteers. While there has been a modest decline in the use of sworn volunteers since 1999, in 2013, about 36% of all local law enforcement agencies used sworn volunteers; furthermore, these volunteers comprised 7% of all local sworn personnel having arrest authority nationwide in 2013. A survey of peace officer standards and training agencies found that approximately two thirds of states required state-level certification of sworn volunteers. Multivariate analyses of state-level certification standards, census data, and agency characteristics found that agencies were more likely to use sworn volunteers if they (a) are a sheriff's office, (b) serve jurisdictions with larger populations, (c) have greater levels of social disadvantage, (d) do not require recruits to have more than a high school education, or (e) are located within states offering graduated levels of sworn volunteer certifications. Agencies were less likely to use volunteer officers if they (a) hire part-time sworn officers, (b) have a greater entry-level salary, or (c) are accredited.

The status of health promotion in Botswana.

Health education and promotion remains an integral part of public health. This paper details health promotion activities in Botswana since the establishment of the profession in 1988. It further describes health promotion infrastructure, investment in health promotion, human resource training and collaborations within the country. Infrastructure and services for health promotion in the country are mainly provided by government through educational institutions, faith based organizations, non-governmental organizations, general medical practitioners and mining companies complementing the Ministry’s efforts. More than 1000 health promotion cadres have been trained at certificate, diploma and degree levels by Boitekanelo College and the Ministry of Health through Serowe Institute of Health Sciences.

Understanding consumption choice of prosecco wine: an empirical analysis using Italian and German Homescan data

ABSTRACTThis study analyses the degree to which wine consumers are truly able to intrinsically evaluate the meaning of a designation of origin certification or whether they generally consider such a certification to be a vague credence attribute. This issue was addressed through an empirical analysis of Homescan Panel data in the Italian and German markets, using a Heckman probit model to assess the role of consumers’ characteristics and habits in the choice of ‘Prosecco’ wines characterized by two different levels of the denomination of origin certification. Our results suggest that Prosecco sparkling wine is perceived as a product of medium-high positioning and is preferably purchased by households that buy wines with a higher unit price. In contrast, consumers who appreciate sparkling wine did not show any preference towards a specific type of Prosecco, especially outside the area of production, such as in the German market, which suggests that they still do not completely understand the difference between the certification levels.