Formal Educational Background Research Articles

Anxiety, Coping and Social Support Among Parents Who Have Children with Chronic Kidney Disease

Objective: Present study has been conducted to investigate anxiety levels, coping strategies, social support systems among parents who have children with chronic kidney disease and interrelations among the three indicators. Methods: This study has been planned among parents of 180 children with a chronic kidney disease being admitted to Hacettepe University, Children's Hospital, Nephrology Polyclinic. Sociodemographic information form, state & trait anxiety inventory and short form of the assessment scale for coping strategies have been employed as data gathering tools. Results: With respect to gender it was detected that mothers resorted to selfdistraction coping strategy and with respect to educational level, parents with no formal educational background resorted to denial. Trait anxiety score was the highest among parents whose children were in the second stage of disease. As the coping strategies among parents receiving social support in the treatment process was examined, it surfaced that positive reframing, acceptance, humor and use of emotional support and similar problem-focused coping strategies were more frequently opted for. Contrary to that, it was identified that among parents receiving no social support from their relatives, scores of self-blame, substance use and state anxiety were relatively higher. Conclusion: At the end of this study it was concluded that parents having children with a chronic kidney disease were more effective in utilizing social support mechanisms as a problem-focused coping strategy when compared to the other group of parents.

Do religiosity, gender and educational background influence zakat compliance? The case of Malaysia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of religiosity, gender and Islamic educational background of Muslims on zakat compliance. It also aims to identify which dimensions of religiosity are significantly related to zakat compliance.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to working Muslims individuals in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Analysis of the data was based on 690 usable questionnaires.FindingsThe findings show that religiosity had a significant influence on zakat compliance and three dimensions of religiosity, namely obligation, virtues and vices, and optional ritual, were significantly related to zakat compliance. Gender was also significantly related to zakat compliance, but in a negative direction, suggesting that Muslim working females are less compliant to zakat obligations compared to their male counterparts. It is found that formal Islamic educational background had no significant influence on zakat compliance.Practical implicationsGiven the importance of zakat collection to the growth of the economy and society, the findings of this paper might provide some insights to Muslim-majority countries and zakat institutions which areas require more attention to encourage zakat payment among Muslims.Originality/valueCompared to prior zakat studies, the findings of this study were derived from a larger sample size of Muslim working respondents. Furthermore, this study also identifies which dimensions of religiosity are significantly related to zakat compliance. Hence this study enriches the scarce literature on zakat and religiosity.

Teaching English at Indonesian Islamic Higher Education: An Epistemological Perspective

English Language Teaching (ELT) practices are strongly underpinned by an epistemological view. Different beliefs on what constitute as sources of knowledge and methods of knowledge acquisition bring about different instructional implications. The case is true within the context of ELT at Indonesian Islamic higher education where the desired goals of the English teaching are not only for mastering language skills and pedagogy but also for strengthening Islamic faith and nurturing virtuous action. This research, therefore, aims to provide a description of how the decision makers and ELT practitioners at the Islamic higher education view the Islamic epistemology conceptually and practically. It addresses an attitude toward the epistemological contestation between Islam and West, as well as the strategies of integrating Islamic epistemology into English language instruction. A case study with a qualitative technique of data collection was conducted. Four decision makers, with a formal educational background of Islamic epistemology, and three ELT practitioners were involved as the research participants. The findings show that: First, ELT has its roots in Quranic revelation and prophetic tradition. Second, the Islamic epistemology and the Western epistemology ought to be interconnected rather than to be put within a contestation framework. Third, the Islamic epistemology should be integrated, explicitly or implicitly, into the curriculum, teaching materials, classroom scenario, assessment, academic atmosphere, and research policy. It is recommended that ELT practitioners responsibly explore the notion of Qur'an as the basis of linguistics and language pedagogy, and creatively accommodate the issues of locality and particularity into their instructional activities.

Determinants of Owner-manager Competencies for Small Business Operations: Evidence from a Small Restaurant Business in Tanzania

This study examines the influence of owner-manager demographic characteristics on attainment of their competencies in Tanzania, because there are scant empirical evidences on the same. The data used in this study were obtained through a survey of 392 small restaurant businesses from Ilala and Dodoma in Tanzania. Information was collected from the owner-managers of these entities by using structured questionnaires. Competencies of the owner-managers were measured subjectively by assessing their ability to perform entrepreneurial, managerial and functional works. Thus, the study uses Structural equation model to analyze the latent variable data collected. Study results have shown that among the demographic characteristics of the owner-manager, formal education and family background in doing business are more important in explaining how competent an owner-manager is in all three competencies. Furthermore, age of the owner-manager is very important in explaining how competent the owner-manager is in terms of managing the business while their industrial working experiences are more important in explaining the owner-manager ability to fulfill functional activities. These results imply that, whoever wants to operate the small restaurant business should try to understand their demographic characteristics. That is, to match themselves with the competencies of fulfilling entrepreneurial, managerial and functional activities or decide on any other way of compensating for their weaknesses for better business performances.

Transforming food systems at local levels: Using participatory system dynamics in an interactive manner to refine small-scale farmers’ mental models

Food systems will need to undergo considerable transformation. To be better prepared for and resilient to uncertainty and disturbances in the future, resource users and managers need to further develop knowledge about the food and farming system, with its dominating feedback structures and complexities, and to test robust and integrated system-based solutions. This paper investigates how participatory system dynamics modeling can be adapted to groups at the community level with low or no formal educational background. The paper also analyses the refinement of workshop participants’ mental models as a consequence of a participatory system dynamics intervention. For this purpose, we ran two workshops with small-scale farmers in Zambia. Analysis of workshop data and post-workshop interviews shows that participatory system dynamics is well adaptable to support an audience-specific learning-by-doing approach. The use of pictures, objects and water glasses in combination with the basic aspects of causal loop diagramming makes for a well-balanced toolbox. Participants acquire understanding that is also relevant beyond systems thinking in that it offers a range of practical insights such as a critical evaluation of common food security strategies.

Does Nonformal Education Matter? Nonformal Education, Immigration, and Skills in Canada

This article examined the relationship between participation in adult nonformal education (NFE), defined as on-the-job training, attending private lessons, attending seminars, or distance learning, and Canadian immigrant respondents’ literacy and numeracy outcomes, using data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Survey. We found that although participation in some forms of NFE was significantly related to higher literacy and numeracy scores, such relationship tended to be greater for first-generation immigrants than for nonimmigrant adults, even after controlling for their linguistic and formal educational background. Our findings suggested that first-generation immigrants in Canada might benefit the most from increased participation in NFE programs and targeted policies.

Hubungan antara Latar Belakang Pendidikan Formal, Pengetahuan Lingkungan dan Peran Serta Wanita dalam Usaha Pelestarian Lingkungan

This study is an attempt to test the correlation between formal education background, level of knowledge about the environment, and women's participation in living space conservation programs. This study was carried out in Semarang Municipality. The population included members of Family Welfare Development (PKK) in the Municipality. A cluster random sampling technique was used to select the sample. The size of the sample was 71 members. Data were obtained through questionnaires and observation, and analyzed statistically by multiple regression. The results indicated that there was a relationship between formal education background, level of knowledge about the environment and women's participation in living space conservation programs

Competitive intelligence practices in hotels

This study attempts to determine the level of competitive intelligence (CI) efforts in the hotel industry in Minot, North Dakota. To this end, the researchers conducted a serious of in-depth semi-structured interviews with hotel managers representing twenty-seven hotels. The results indicate that the participating hotel managers demonstrated a low level of knowledge and awareness of CI. It appears that they engage in CI activities, primarily for tactical, rather than strategic purposes. Many lacked an adequate formal educational background in academic business that would have prepared them for the more strategic-level CI activities. Almost all of them had training in the tactics needed to gather intelligence of their competitors but few demonstrated a clear connection to strategic planning and competitive positioning. This study offers specific theoretical and practical implications.

Assessing the Impact of Open and Distance Learning (odl) in Enhancing the Status of Women in Lagos State

This paper assessed the impact of open and distance learning (ODL) in enhancing the status of women in Lagos state, Nigeria. Using a survey research method, data were gathered through a structured and an open ended questionnaire from both single and dual mode institutions (NOUN and UNILAG respectively) in Lagos state. A total of two (200) hundred female students were randomly sampled out the population. The chi-square analysis was done at a 0.05 level of significance. Both the quantitative and qualitative results show that ODL significantly enhanced the status of women in Lagos state. Women also face different types of challenges on the ODL programme which inhibit them from enjoying the programme to the fullest. It is therefore recommended that women who did not have formal educational background should be encouraged to enrol for ODL programmes so that they can compete with their women counterparts who had formal educational background; challenges faced by women on ODL programmes should be straightly addressed so that more women could be encouraged to participate in the programme.

Good and Bad Banks? Governance, Human Capital of Top Managers and Performance

Spanish savings banks (Cajas) and commercial banks have experienced very different destinies. Before the crisis both types of banks shared, almost equally, most of the financial Spanish market. Cajas were performing well. Nowadays, the soundest Cajas have been forced to transform themselves into commercial banks, while the poor-performing ones have been either absorbed by rivals or rescued by the Government. Meanwhile Spanish commercial banks have overcome the crisis reasonably well. Our goal is to assess if such different outcomes are related to governance practices and the human capital of banks’ top managers. Some authors have pointed out that neither the formal governance institutions (i.e. the composition of the different governance bodies), nor the real governance (i.e. the role played by politicians) can explain these differences. We make use of an extended period data, covering both a boom period and a period of crisis, and we collect further information on chairmen’s human capital (previous banking experience, formal education, and political background) to get a better grasp of these important issues. History seems to matter and the use of a better organizational capital of the former chairmen, and the stakeholder composition can help us to get clearer results.

HUBUNGAN ANTARA LATAR BELAKANG PENDIDIKAN FORMAL, PENGETAHUAN, STATUS EKONOMI DAN SIKAP DENGAN UPAYA MASYARAKAT MENGENAI BUDIDAYA Gyrinops versteegii (Gilg.) Domke DI PULAU LOMBOK

The purpose of this study was: (1) to reveal how formal educational background, knowledge, economic status, attitudes and efforts of the farming community farming Gyrinops versteegii (Gilg.) Domke on the island of Lombok. (2) to determine the relationship of formal educational background, knowledge, and attitudes to the economic status of the farming community efforts Gyrinops versteegii (Gilg.) Domke on the island of Lombok. This type of research is survey research design and descriptive quantitative descriptive correlational. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. While the relationship of formal education background, knowledge, economic status and attitudes correlated with community efforts on cultivating Gyrinops versteegii (Gilg.) Domke using bivariate product moment correlation test, followed by regression analysis using the aid package SPSS for Windows 00:17. Results of this study indicate that (1) the level of formal education background, at 25.71% with very low category, knowledge of 67.23% with enough categories, economic status by 50% with the low category, the attitude of 65.40% with enough categories, and cultivation efforts Gyrinops versteegii of 54.42% with low category. (2) The results of analysis of the association in this study showed that there is a significant relationship between formal educational background, knowledge, and attitudes to the economic status of efforts farming Gyrinops versteegii with correlation value of 0.898 and the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.806.

Medication labeling literacy among Malaysian with diabetes: a cross-sectional study

Background: Medication labeling provides valuable health information for diabetes patients. Study on medication labeling literacy among diabetic population in Malaysia has never been done before. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess health literacy among Malaysian diabetes population on medication labeling. Methodology: Secondary data from National Health and Morbidity Survey 2006 was used. It was a cross sectional study using a stratified two stage sampling technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 18. Descriptive and multiple logistic regressions were used in the analysis.All tests were two tailed with significance as p < 0.05. Odds ratio (OR) along with 95% confidence level (C.I) were derived where appropriate. Results: There were 3851 eligible respondents in this study. The prevalence of diabetes patients who read medication labels were 75.3% (95% CI: 73.8, 76.6), did not read the label every time they received or bought medicine, 9.9% (95% CI: 18.6,21.2) and 4.8% (95% C.I: 4.1,5.6) were refuse to answer. Elderly, no formal education background and Chinese ethnic group were significantly lower in prevalence of reading medication label. Most of the respondents read information such as dosage; (46.40%), method of administration; (42.20%) and frequency of intake (40.80%). Only 8 respondents were found to read all the eight types of information on the medication labels. Majority of the respondents, 97.1% (95%CI: 96.4,97.7) claimed they understood the medication label information. Respondents who claimed they did not understand medication label were those without any formal education; 7.9% (95%C.I: 4.8,12.9), and elderly of 70 years and above; 4.3% (95%CI: 1.9, 9.3). Twelve percent of respondents never sought for clarification from the dispenser/pharmacist about their medicines. The highest prevalence of respondents who did not asked for clarification from dispenser/pharmacist were those with no formal education 14.7% (95% C.I: 1.7,2.6) and elderly aged 70 years and above; 16.0% (95% CI:12.4, 20.4). Conclusion: Key strategies for health education towards medical labeling literacy among Malaysian diabetes need to be developed and be implemented accordingly.

Research in Clinical Laboratory Science: Professionals' Educational Preparation

To describe the educational preparation of CLS professionals for conducting research. A link to 3-part online survey was sent by electronic mail to 7,572 members of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science and 500 program directors research project. Barriers to participation in research by undergraduates include time limitations within the curriculum, insufficient faculty time, and lack of funds, space, and equipment. Increased emphasis on developing research skills is found in educational programs at the master's degree level. The formal educational background of many CLS professionals may leave them unprepared or underprepared for conducting research. Although there was broad representation among participants across educational levels, employment settings, and job positions, the number of survey respondents was limited. Possible directions for future research include conducting this survey using members of additional professional organizations.

MASYARAKAT BILATERAL ISLAM

Hazairin can be classified as a phenomenal Islamic scholar, together with a number of other Islamic scholars, such as Fazlur Rahman from Pakistan, Syahrur from Syria, Fatimah Mernissi from Morocco, Leila Ahmed from Egypt, and several other Islamic scholars. They are called phenomenal Islamic scholars for their formal education are non-Islamic studies, but have contributions and extraordinary and amazing discoveries in the field of Islamic studies. Fazlur Rahman from Pakistan who has the educational background of medical (medicine), Syahrur from Syria who has the formal educational background in civil engineering, Fatimah Mernissi who has the educational background of Sociology, and Leila Ahmed who has the formal education in History at the Universiry of Cambridge, and several other Islamic scholars. The formal educational background of Hazairin is on law, especially Customary Law and Social -Anthropology (Ethnology). However, his studies on the field of Islamic law are very admirable. What has been found by Hazairin can be classified as an invention, not just a development or an improvement. One of Hazairin's remarkable findings is that Islam emerges to build a community based on the bilateral family. His conclusion is contrary to the formulation and conclusion of other scholars and the most mulim in general that Islam emerges to build the community based on patrilineal family. This article is a description of Hazairin's brilliant theory.&#x0D; Keywords: bilateral Islamic society, hazairin, customary law

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Culture and Biology: The Foundation of Pathways of Development

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Culture and Biology: The Foundation of Pathways of Development

Teachers' Planning Processes: Does ISD Make a Difference?

Do teachers who have a formal educational background in instructional systems design (ISD) differ from those who do not in how they plan and implement instruction? This question guided this pilot study of ten volunteer teachers, five who had formal education in ISD and five who did not. An open and closed item questionnaire was sent to each subject and follow-up interviews were conducted. Teachers were asked about their general planning practices, written planning procedures, mental planning, and how they implement instruction based on their plans. Results indicated that nine of the ten teachers use general ISD skills and processes in planning. Teachers reported that they (a) analyzed learners' needs and abilities, and (b) used objectives to guide the instructional process, specifically for selecting learning activities and evaluation. While there were no major differences between the two groups in their submitted daily plans, the teachers with instructional design backgrounds were more specific in their open-ended responses about the use of instructional design for some aspects of planning (e.g., using hierarchies and taxonomies to sequence instruction), and the importance of consistency among objectives, learning activities, and evaluation. In addition, four of the five ISD teachers believed that knowledge of ISD has improved both their planning processes and their teaching. Because major differences between the two groups were not observed, much of the article focuses on teacher planning processes in general.

Maternal Perspectives of Prenatal Sonogram in a North-Eastern Population in Nigeria

Limited information exists on maternal perspectives of prenatal sonogram in north-eastern Nigeria. This study was aimed at documenting the views and expectations of pregnant women concerning prenatal sonogram as well as their level of awareness of its purpose, limitations and safety in a predominantly Moslem society. A survey was carried out on a convenience sample of 150 patients referred from ante-natal clinics for prenatal sonogram, by administering semi-structured questionnaires. The results show that 61.3% of the women had prenatal sonogram, with little or no information about the purpose, capabilities and limitations of the procedure. 24.7% had neither formal western nor Islamic educational background that may have influenced their perceptions. Most of the women (81.3%) were sponsored by either government or their husbands, 72.7% perceived sonogram to be affordable and 63.4% viewed sonographic results as reliable. The perceived main reasons for having a prenatal sonogram were to determine the expected date of delivery and foetal well-being, and to obtain reassurance of maternal health. Sex determination and number of foetuses were the least considered reasons. The study indicates that providing pregnant women with adequate information and sensitising them to the purpose and limitations of sonograms is necessary to guarantee its rational utilisation. Improving patient care, enhancing the skill of sonographers and providing more facilities would improve the services and patients’ perspectives of prenatal sonography.

Karakteristik Khutbah Jumat di Mesjid Kampus: Perspektif Komunikasi

This research which uses descriptive approach is focused on Friday speech characteristic delivered on campus mosque. The details of research focus are (1) Profile of the speaker; (2) Audience perception toward the speaker (as communicator); (3) Audience perception toward Friday speech’ features (message). It is found that the speakers are mostly middle aged, docent, has formal education background, but also graduated from an Islamic dormitory. They have speech experience for a long time, using multimedia devices, writing-communication-skilled, and being highly exposed by the media. The audience perceived the speakers as somebody who mastered the materials and acquired speech skill. But the messages are not clear and concise, the peakers itself was perceived as insensitive toward his audience. Speech message was positively perceived, the theme was relevant enough and attracted audience. But the topics aren’t actual enough, and didn’t have a unity of idea.

Self-assessed changes in mental health and employment status as a result of unemployment training

The main question addressed in this article is: What factors in an unemployment programme serve both the individual and society? Our research focuses on background variables and process variables and how these can be assumed to affect certain dependent variables in unemployment training. The current focus is on the dependent variable “subjective assessment of the effect of the training on mental health”, together with the more objective dependent variable of “employment status after training”. Self-confidence, well-being, faith in the future, level of initiative and personal development have been used as indicators of self-assessed “mental health”. Data were collected from an unemployment training programme in Sweden and the variables combined to create a hypothetical model. The model was statistically tested and then modified with the aid of LISREL statistics, which helps to adjust the model to statistical acceptance. The findings show that the salient factors directly related to the subjective assessment of the effect of training on mental health are gender, attitude to skills development, perceived training requirements and formal educational background. The latter relationship was negative. Of indirect importance are the level of commitment of the teacher, the satisfaction of the trainee with the process, and the level of control. The duration of previous unemployment was the only independent variable, which directly affected the employment status after the training, and this was in the negative direction. Of indirect importance for this dependent variable were training requirement, satisfaction with the process, own level of control and attitude to skills development.

Skills in Services. The Dynamics of Competence Requirement in Different Types of Advanced Producer Services. Some Evidence from Norway

In this article some light is shed on educational background and competence in advanced producer services on two analyticallevels: ( 1 ) at the macro level, by cross-tabulating educationalbackground of the work force in banking and finance and inconsultancy activities and their location in the urban hierarchyin Norway at the 1990 Census; (2) at the micro level, byinquiring more minutely into the quality and qualifications of thework force, including upgrading of competence beyond formaleducational background of employees. This is obtained throughin-depth studies which are not necessarily representative. Asexpected, the macro level study disclosed a markedly highereducational level in consultancy as compared to banking andfinance, but with less regional polarisation in the former than inthe latter activity. The micro level inquiry, restricted to theconsultancy sectoq showed continued upgrading of formalcompetence over time. Both internal and external measures arebeing used to upgrade the ability of staff by an increasingalliance building, networking and exchange, this practice beingmost widespread among the most specialised metropolitan firms.