Ignatius Ajuru University Research Articles

Chemistry Laboratory Safety Signs Awareness Among Undergraduate Students in Rivers State

Chemistry laboratory instructions do not only provide students with practical experiences but also teaches students on hazardous materials/chemicals as well as laboratory safety signs so as to prevent or minimize harm in the laboratory. Consequently, the purpose of this research study was to investigate Rivers undergraduate students’ awareness level of safety signs in Chemistry laboratory. To this end, three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted analytic descriptive survey design. A total of 60 year three undergraduate students studying Chemistry Education (B.Sc. Ed) and Pure Chemistry (B.Sc.) were randomly drawn from three universities namely; University of Port Harcourt (Uniport), Rivers State University (RSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) with each university contributing 20 students. A well validated and researchers constructed test instrument, titled, Chemistry Laboratory Test on Safety Signs (CLTSS) which had an internal reliability index of 0.94 via Cronbach Alpha was used for data collection in the study. The relevant data collected were subjected to simple percentages, mean, standard deviation, t-test and analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA) as statistical tools. The results of the study revealed that majority of the students misunderstood the definition of chemical hazards. In addition, they experienced confusion in matching chemicals commonly found in Chemistry laboratory (i.e., sodium hydroxide) and the meaning of chemical safety sign. An indication that students’ awareness level of safety signs is low. A second finding of the study showed that there is a difference in the awareness level of safety signs between Chemistry Education (B.Sc. Ed) students and their pure Chemistry (B.Sc.) counterpart, however, the difference was not significant statistically. Also, the finding showed that the awareness levels of safety signs among undergraduate Chemistry students are not significantly dependent on institutional types. Based on the findings of the study and the fact that the findings from this study provide basic information for teaching and learning, it was recommended among others that, lecturers in the course of teaching should promote students’ awareness of the proper handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials/chemicals vis-à-vis their safety signs.

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons Categories Concentration in Soils Within the Vicinity Housing Heavy-Duty Diesel Generators in Three Universities in Port Harcourt South-South Nigeria

Total petroleum hydrocarbons pollution of soil samples randomly collected from three Nigeria Universities in Port Harcourt due to the use of heavy-duty diesel generators was studied to ascertains the level of concentration of the different hydrocarbons’ categories. The soil samples were collected at two different depths of 0.00-0.50m and 0.50-1.00m. The Universities were Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Rivers State University (RSU) and University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). The different total petroleum hydrocarbons categories were Gasoline Range Organics (GRO), Diesel Range Organics (DRO) and Lube Oil Range. Soxhlet extraction method was used in extracting the samples and due column clean-up was performed for chromatographic analysis. Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector was used to determine the level of concentrations of the different categories of total petroleum hydrocarbons. The results showed that at 0.00-0.50m depth, IAUE was 4.42145, 945.4784, and 525.66919 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively, RSU was not detected, 494.44799 and 458.6715 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively and UNIPORT was 4.40920, 501.2246 and 467.71426 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively. At 0.50-1.00m depth IAUE was 2.75132, 596.35126, and 311.84451 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively, RSU was not detected, 298.06899 and 270.61619 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively and UNIPORT was 2.77780, 301.74701 and 276.88684 mg/Kg for GRO, DRO and lube oil range respectively. The level of soil contamination Showed that GRO > DRO > lube oil range. The observation showed that hydrocarbon pollution decreased with increase in depth. The level of DRO and lube oil range in the studied areas exceeded the limit acceptable and therefore adequate steps should be taken to remedy the situation so that it will not pose any health hazard to the workers operating the heavy-duty generators.

Collection development policy and utilization of information resources in academic libraries in Rivers State, Nigeria

The paper adopted descriptive survey research method to assess collection development policy and utilization of information resources in academic libraries in rivers state, Nigeria. The population of the study includes 42 professional librarians in three university libraries – University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University, and Ignatius Ajuru University. Census sampling technique was used to sample all the 42 librarians. Three objectives guided the study. Self-developed questionnaire was utilized for data collection and 100% return rate was obtained. Descriptive statistics of mean (x̄) and standard deviation (±) was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that that collection development policy has a positive influence on the utilization of information resources in academic libraries (x̄: 2.84 ≥ 2.5), several factors affecting collection development policy in promoting the utilization of information resources in academic libraries (x̄: 2.73 ≥ 2.5), and there are several ways to improve the effectiveness of collection development policy in ensuring the utilization of information resources (x̄: 3.57 ≥ 2.5). The study concluded that Libraries without a collection development policy or poorly written collection policy would suffer waste of fund, poorly offered library services, and low patronage or poor usage of the information resources by users. Among others, the study recommended that continuous training of library staff concerned with the activity of collection development, academic libraries should explore various ways of generating funds independently such as the offering of photocopy services to users, and academic libraries should learn to patronize local but quality information resources.

Lecturers Perception of the Quality of Assessment Methods in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rivers State, Nigeria

Assessment is an important procedure employed in determining the extent to which students have demonstrated the expected outcomes in the teaching-learning process. Assessment for learning and assessment of learning are geared towards obtaining a holistic view of students’ progress or otherwise during and after schooling. The various methods of assessing students especially in the institutions of higher learning are of great importance in the attainment of the desired goals in the educational sector. It is in the light of the foregoing that the study investigated perception of lecturers on the quality of assessment in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The population comprised all lecturers in the institution. A sample of 110 respondents selected through the simple random sampling technique was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher designed questionnaire titled: ‘Lecturers Perception of Quality of Assessment Methods Questionnaire’ (LPQAMQ). The research questions were answered with mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using t-test statistic. The result of the study revealed that written examinations, individual projects, course assignments, continuous assessment, etc are assessment methods used by lecturers; lecturers perceive that assessment methods produce highly motivated, conscientious and brilliant students, challenges students to study harder, are valuable methods of feedback for lecturers, etc; there was no significant difference between male and female lecturers on the method of assessing students; and there was no significant difference between male and female lecturers in their perception on the assessment methods used. The study recommended that other assessment methods such as online assessment should be adopted by the university lecturers.

Modeling Parameter Selection Using A Random Generation Classification of Order Ten (10): Matlab Algorithm

Nwagor Peters*, Ojimba DP and Jim George Frimabo Author Affiliations Ignatius Ajuru university of Education Port Harcourt, Nigeria Received: October 27, 2020| Published: November 06, 2020 Corresponding author:Nwagor Peters, Ignatius Ajuru university of Education Port Harcourt, Nigeria DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005145

Assessment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons Content of Soils Within Estate and Works Departments of Three Universities in Port Harcourt Housing Heavy-Duty Generators

EDORI Enize Simeon1*, EDORI Onisogen Simeon2 and WODI Chizoba T3 Author Affiliations 1Post Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Rumuolumeni, Nigeria 2Lecturer 1, Department of Chemistry, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Rumuolumeni, Nigeria 3Post Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Rumuolumeni, Nigeria Received: August 27, 2020 | Published: September 07, 2020 Corresponding author: EDORI Enize Simeon, Post Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Rumuolumeni, Nigeria DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2020.30.004894

Assessment of the microbiological quality of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) drink sold in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

This research work assessed the microbiological quality of tiger nut juice (Cyperus esculentus L.) sold at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. A total of six samples were purchased from different vendors selling in the University main campus. Microbiological analysis was done using nutrient agar, MacConkey agar and Potato dextrose agar media to culture, enumerate and isolate organisms from the samples. The total aerobic heterotrophic bacterial count, coliform count, and fungal count, were estimated by the pour plate techniques. The results revealed that total heterotrophic bacterial count ranged 1.11×105 to 2.40×105 cfu/ml, while the total coliform count ranged from 1.54×105 to 3.10×105 cfu/ml. The total staphylococcus and yeast count ranged from 1.44×105 to 2.61×105 cfu/ml. The high coliform count and the isolation of pathogenic bacteria in some samples indicate that the Tiger nut drink was contaminated and a potential health hazard to the unsuspecting consumers. The producers and vendors of tiger nut drink should be enlightened on the consequences of poor hygiene and the need to adopt good manufacturing practices in the preparation and storage of the drink to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.

Assessment of the microbiological quality of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) drink sold in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Assessment of the microbiological quality of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) drink sold in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Planning and Integration of Technologies for Effective Implementation of Blended Learning in Universities in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study investigated planning the integration of technologies in higher institutions as a strategy for effective implementation of blended learning in universities in Rivers State. The design used was descriptive. The population of this study consisted of the 4,377 teaching staff in the three (3) public universities in Rivers State, comprising 2,348 male and 2,029 female teaching staff. The universities are the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The sample of this study was 590 elements, comprising 327 male and 263 female teaching staff that were drawn from the population using stratified random sampling technique. Instrument of data collection was a questionnaire that yielded a reliability index of 0.84, using test-retest and Pearson Product Moment Correlation techniques. The data generated were analysed using mean to answer research questions. z-test was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. Findings showed that aligning university's visions with the aspirations of full integration of blended learning into university system, provision of required communication networking infrastructures and modifying curriculum designs to become deliverable through blended learning mode are key ways of integrating blended learning in the university system. Recommendations made included that university managers should consider seriously, the advantages of blended learning in the school system, with a view to using planning to foster the integration of the learning innovation into the traditional face-to-face teaching and learning approach for improving students learning experiences and achievements.

Anxiety in Writing Research Report among Graduate Students in Ignatius Ajuru University, Faculty of Education, Rivers State, Nigeria

Prevalence of anxiety in writing research report among graduate students in faculties of education in Nigeria, particularly Rivers State cannot be overemphasized; it has led to barriers in completing theses and dissertation. This is evident in the number of graduating students each year compared to the number admitted at the start of the programme. This study sought to investigate if there were indicators of the presence of anxiety in writing research report among graduate students. The study utilized the descriptive survey using a population of 392 graduate students for 2017/2018 academic session in all 5 departments of the faculty of education of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) Port Harcourt. Census sampling method was used to study the entire population. It is not certain if gender influences anxiety in writing research report. Thus the purpose of this study was to compare levels of anxiety in writing research report among male and female graduate students in IAUE one of the Universities in Rivers State. The outcome measure Research Writing Anxiety Rating Scale (RWARS) revealed that fear of library use and indifferent attitude of supervisors does not induce anxiety significantly but moderately among male and female graduate students but fear of statistics produced significant level of anxiety differently among male and female graduate students; female students were found to have higher levels of statistic anxiety than their male counterparts. Based on these finding it was recommended amongst others that lecturers with high level of competence and good teaching methods should be made to teach statistics at the graduate level.

Site Investigation of Subsurface Lithology of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Using Electrical Resistivity Methods

This study was carried out to determine the subsurface lithology and possible depths for structural foundations in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria using electrical resistivity techniques of VES and borehole logging. Model ABEM SAS 300B Terrameter aided by SAS 200 log meter were used for the data collection while version IPWIN2 software was used for the processing of the VES data. Six profiles of different locations, using maximum current electrode spread of 200 m and maximum potential electrode spread of 30 m, were used to obtain resistivity range of 1.2 to 4335 Ωm for three to four geoelectric sections covering depth interval of 19.8 m in the area. The borehole data covered a depth range of 0 to 20 m. The results show lithostratigraphy sequence of silty sands, laterite, grain and coarse sands with resistivity values of 721 to 4000 Ωm. These soils can support structures with foundations as close as 0.5 m to 3 m or more below the earth surface because laterite and sandy soils have the ability of a firm grasp of structural foundations as they do not retain moisture that will cause foundational deformation and shifting that may eventually lead to collapse of the structures.

Impact of micro-teaching on teaching practice performance of 2nd year primary education studies (P.E.S.) students in ignatius Ajuru University of education

Impact of micro-teaching on teaching practice performance of 2nd year primary education studies (P.E.S.) students in ignatius Ajuru University of education

Death in the Mouth: The Current Status of Pesticide Residues in Cured Fish from Selected Markets in Rivers State Nigeria

Pesticide residues in cured fish from selected markets in Rivers State, Nigeria were determined to compare their residues content with FAO/WHO MRLs. The research was carried out at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Austino Research Laboratories, Rivers State, Nigeria. Samples of cured fish were collected from different major markets in Rivers State, Nigeria. Each product was purchased from three different traders and kept in an air tight Ziploc envelope containing general information. Some of the samples were kept in 250 g plastic containers and kept on a laboratory bench for a period of 45 days to observe insect emergence while the other lots were taken to Austino Research Laboratory for pesticide residue analysis. The result shows varying degrees of damage ranging from slightly to undamaged and mean number of D. maculatus emergence was higher in smoked fish samples obtained at Rumuokwuta. The result also shows that in all the cured fish sampled, DDT, Captan, Hexazinone, and Tecnazene were found above the FAO/WHO MRLs and few compounds were below the MRLs. Conclusively, relevant authorities and agencies needs to increase surveillance and monitoring to check and control the illegal importation, sale and use of such compounds especially in controlling stored pests of cured fish. This could reduce cases of pesticide toxicity and food poisoning and other health implications due to its ingestion in such contaminated cured fish.

Emotional Intelligence, Academic Self Concept, and Study Habit as Predictors of Academic Performance in Test and Measurement: Among Undergraduates of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The paper examined emotional intelligence, academic-self concept and study habit as predictors of academic performance in Test and Measurement. A descriptive survey design was adopted while four research questions and their corresponding hypotheses guided the study. A sample of 213 was drawn from a population of 3,120 three hundred level students in the school. Data were collected using three self-structured instruments; an Emotional Intelligence Scale, Academic Self Concept Scale, and a Study Habit Inventory, Test and measurement examination scores were used to indicate academic performance. Research questions one to three were answered using simple linear regression, research question four was answered with multiple regression while ANOVA associated with regression was used to analyze the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed emotional intelligence, academic self-concept and study habit all predicted academic performance in Test and Measurement. It was also seen that the three factors jointly made 13.6% influence on performance in the course and it was recommended among others that students should be encouraged to develop these factors as they have strong influence on academic performance.

Role of Librarians in Child Abuse Sensitization in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State

The study investigated the “Role of Librarians in Child Abuse Sensitization in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State’’. Simple random sampling was used to select 32 librarians (16 males and 16 females) from four libraries in four tertiary institutions (University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and Rivers State School of Nursing). The instrument used for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Role of Librarians in Child Abuse Sensitization in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State (ROLCAS)”. The instrument was structured in four point rating scale of agreement; that is (Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). The validity of the instrument was carried out by two research experts in the department of Library and information science in Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test- retest method. The result was correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.93, which indicated that the instrument was reliable. The gathered data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation and hypotheses was tested at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that flogging/beating, denial of food, hawking, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, denial of books, unpleasant touches among others are forms of child abuse in the society. Also, it was found that disabilities, death of parents, poverty, unemployment, violent parents, low education, social isolation of families, among others are the causes of child abuse. The study also concludes that it is necessary to disseminate research information to social services, promoting awareness of child abuse by recommending novels, enhance supply of child abuse literatures in schools and develop programmes on child abuse and its prevention among others. Finally, it was also found among others that efforts should be made to educate parents and children about child abuse through the promotion of reading culture in the library, improve positive parenting through reading related literature, and provide community based reading activities on preventing child abuse. The study recommends that librarians should contribute to solving the menace of child abuse by the utilization of library holdings for awareness and sensitization. KEYWORDS: Role, Librarian, Child, Abuse, Sensitization DOI : 10.7176/IKM/9-5-06 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

PSYCHO-SOCIAL PRE-RETIREMENT PLANS OF LECTURERS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract The study investigated lecturers’ psycho-social pre-retirement plans in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two (2) research questions were formulated and answered while two (2) hypotheses were tested at 0.05alpha level. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all the 2330 lecturers in the three public universities in Rivers State. As at the time of this study, each of the universities has the following population breakdown respectively: University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) 1500, Rivers State University (RSU) 556, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE) 274 making a total of 2330 lecturers from the three (3) public universities in Rivers State. (Source: Registry Department of the various institutions 2017). A sample size of 932 was used. The sample size was drawn using simple random sampling technique from the three universities in Rivers State. The instrument for the study was titled “Lecturers Psycho-Social Pre-Retirement Plans Scale” (LPSPRPS). Simple percentage was used to answer the research questions while Chi-Square statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. It was found among others that 46% of the lecturers agree that they have financial plans while 54% disagree. It was recommended among others that Pre-Retirement Guidance and Counselling centres should be established in university communities where lecturers who have emotional problems can go and seek help from counsellors.

Challenges of Teaching and Learning Business Education with New Technologies in Rivers State Universities

This study is concerned with the topic challenges of teaching and learning Business Education with new technologies in Rivers state universities. The study adopted a survey research design. The study covered Rivers State University (RSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE). The population of the study was 2, 989 and sample size was 341 using Krejcie and Morgan sampling technique. The instrument used was tagged “Challenges of Teaching and Learning Business Education with New Technologies (COTALBEWINT)”, with a five point scale of Very High Extent of Challenges (5 Points), High Extent of Challenges (4 Points), Moderate Extent of Challenges (3 Points), Low Extent of Challenges (2 Points), and Very Low Extent of Challenges (1 Point). 341 copies of questionnaire items were face-to-face administered to the respondents and 330 successfully retrieved. Arithmetic mean was used to analyse the research questions, and Standard Deviation used to find out the extent in which scores in the distribution clustered around the means. T-test was adopted as statistical tool. Mean scores of 5.0, 4.0, and 3.0 were seen as Very High Extent of Challenges(VHEC 5Points), High Extent of Challenges (HEC 4Points), Moderate Extent of Challenges (MEC 3Points), while 2.0 and 1.0 were seen as Low Extent of Challenges (LEC 2 Points) and Very Low Extent of Challenges (VLEC 1Point). The decision point was that, any calculated ground mean from 3.0 and above will be rejected and any ground mean below 3.0 will be accepted. Also, any calculated value of T-test that is greater than > the critical table value of 1.96 at 0.05 significant levels such null hypothesis (HO) will be rejected, but if the critical table value is greater than > the computed value such null hypothesis will be accepted. It was discovered that there was high extent high extent of challenges in the availability of new technologies in teaching and learning Business Education and there was also high extent of challenges in the of types of challenges of new technologies in teaching and learning Business Education in Rivers State Universities. Among other things it was recommended that Government and other concerned agencies should ensures new technologies are made available in the right quantities and qualities for the teaching and learning of Business Education and there should be adequate funding, regular training and retraining of teachers in the teaching and learning of Business Education.

English

From the author’s teaching experience, a greater number of Nigerian university students either stick monotonously to the active English sentences or use the expletive “It” structure. This paper investigated the difficulties Igbo bilinguals encounter when learning the English passive and the grammar learning strategies they adopt to overcome the difficulties. For the study, 30 Igbo speaking 100 level students of the Department of English and Communication Arts, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) Port Harcourt were selected. At the end of teaching the English passive voice, two written achievement tests were given to the class from which the scripts of the sampled students were selected. Data from three academic sessions were used for the purpose of ensuring correctness and objectivity of results. For data elicitation on the difficulties encountered and learning strategies used, the students were asked to write diaries of their problems and how they coped with them. In –class observation and think aloud protocols were also used. The findings revealed that the most difficult aspect was the tense-aspect changes of the verb phrase and the most used strategy was affective strategy. Based on the findings, this paper discussed some pedagogical implications.   Key words: English passive voice, difficulties, learning strategies, Igbo learners, pedagogical implications.

Enhancing the Operational Effectiveness of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centres of Nigerian Universities: A Case Study of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt

Enhancing the Operational Effectiveness of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centres of Nigerian Universities: A Case Study of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt

GENDER DISPARITY TOWARDS STUDENTS ENROLLMENT IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN RIVERS STATE: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND STRATEGIES

This study examined the gender disparity towards students’ enrollment in technical education in Rivers State. A sample of 403 students (362 Male and 41 Female) was selected through simple random sampling technique from Rivers State University (RIVSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE), Port Harcourt from the Department of Technical Education. Three research questions were posed to guide the study and two Null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significant. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A reliability coefficient of 0.83 was established through Cronbach Alpha using test-retest method. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions and hypotheses were tested using the independent sample t-test. The study revealed amongst others that poverty, preference of male child, cultural and religious beliefs were causes of female folks low enrollment into technical education programmes in Rivers State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended amongst others that; allowances, scholarships, employment opportunities should be given to female students in order to enhance their enrolments into technical education programmmes in Rivers State.