Occupational Purposes Research Articles

Analysis of Digital Competences in University Students of Electrochemistry

In this work, we report the results obtained through a quantitative research, carried out with the objective of identifying and recognizing the digital competences of students who enroll in an Electrochemistry course. The information was collected with the help of a digital survey implemented on the web. The results indicate that students use smartphones to communicate among them, continuously they surf on the web for educational, recreational and occupational purposes. They use word processors, spreadsheets and electronic presentations at a basic level. However, they are not able to use mind maps, concept maps, wikis, blogs, image or video editing tools; nor are they capable of carrying out bibliographic searches in valid sources. In addition, the results indicate that the students surveyed require digital courses; in order to they can develop the digital skills expected in a digital native.

The All-Terrain Vehicle Exposure and Crash Experiences of Iowa FFA Members

Purpose: All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) continue to be popular among adolescents and are used by them for both occupational and recreational purposes, especially in rural areas. About 30% of all serious injuries due to ATVs in the state of Iowa are suffered by children <16 years of age. The objective of this study was to better understand the ATV-related exposure and crash experiences of Iowa adolescents. Methods: Attendees of the 2017 Iowa FFA Leadership Conference were surveyed at the Iowa ATV Safety Task Force booth. Data was collected …

Taiwanese College Students’ Perceptions about Their English Reading and Writing Problems

Part of the impact of globalization on Taiwan's English education has increased the important need to become proficient in English for academic and occupational purposes. To help EAP (English for academic purposes) or ESP (English for specific purposes) teachers to design suitable English curriculum, this study aimed to investigate how a group of undergraduate students in Taiwan perceived their English reading and writing problems. A survey and a semi-structured group interview were conducted to collect data. Results of self-reported data show that most of them were intermediate readers, but they were mostly less-experienced writers in English. In their response to the survey and the semi-structured interview, these EFL students also described their perceptions about their common reading and writing problems.

An Exploration of an Innovative Curriculum and an Effectiveness of Pedagogy of ESP Courses with Special Reference to Engineering World

The present study is an effort to explore a cutting-edge engineering-English curriculum and a time-tested pedagogy based on longitudinal needs-analysis to best suit the students and professionals of engineering world. The needs analysis in this study drew on both English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) that the students and professionals of engineering disciplines need to master in order to perform well in their respective domains. The quantitative and qualitative surveys were conducted on one thousand respondents including the engineering students, professionals, professors and ELT/ESP practitioners of Saudi universities to collect valid and reliable data with the purpose of confirming what kinds of innovative English curricula and effective pedagogies will be the best panaceas for Saudi engineering students’ academic and occupational needs. With regard to the English curriculum, the findings reveal that it needs to be contents-based embedded in integrated language activities, vocabulary and communicative grammar teaching. For pedagogy to be effective and productive, as the findings reveal, the ESP educators have to be highly learner-centered, multidimensional, communicative, collaborative and interdisciplinary.

The Realism of English Language Competence for Students in the Tourism Industry

&lt;em&gt;The basic requisite of employability in the workforce commenced the learning institutions to handle and supervise internship training as component of study plan. Therefore, internship training is one of the necessities for the students to be equipped with the important knowledge and skills related to the workplace and their gained experience. The study was conducted to ascertain the useful English language skills for tourism course which was from the Tourism Management course in Politeknik Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. The research was specifically designed to focus on students’ lacks and needs of linguistic skills in order to prepare them for occupational purposes. Good English communication practice during the study will contribute more benefits to students’ education and mastery level. This research was also conducted to investigate whether what the industry needs are aligned to the students’ needs. Therefore, a needs analysis had to be done to recognize the needs of the students and the industry personnel representing the future employers of the students. The researcher sees the importance of needs analysis to be done as only 49.5 % of the polytechnic graduates were employed after they had completed their diploma course (Graduates Tracer Study, Malaysia Higher Education Statistics 2011: 118). &lt;/em&gt;

Current trends in teaching technical English at tertiary schools

Today, there is an urgent need to review the existing methods of teaching technical English at tertiary schools and develop the new methods with the aim of students’ intercultural foreign language training and promoting their competitiveness on the European and world labour markets. Information technologies (IT) have become one of the most demanded modern technical majors, that is why 177 tertiary schools in Ukraine carry out training of engineers specialising in IT. On the basis of the analysis conducted by the author, several crucial problems of intercultural foreign language teaching for occupational purposes have been singled out. First and foremost, foreign language teaching conditions at Ukrainian universities along with the existing models of the educational process organisation do not allow students of tertiary schools to master foreign languages for occupational purposes properly, and as a consequence, they do not obtain the required by the national curriculum B2 level as Bachelors and C1 level as Masters. The present system of teaching technical English at Ukrainian tertiary schools should be reformed in the long run. Secondly, IT-engineers lack professional communicative competence enhancement after foreign language university course completion. As a result, it is necessary to alter, on the one hand, technical English teaching content with the view to include socio-cultural and psychological aspects into it. And on the other hand, the existing teaching methods and techniques should be improved, namely the experiential types of educational activities that simulate real situations of every day professional communication of IT-engineers in English should be introduced.

Principles of differentiated teaching English for occupational purposes to pre-service IT-specialists

The subject of the study in this article is the principles of differentiated teaching English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) to university students majoring in IT. The analysis of recent reserach studies and publications shows that most classifications of teaching principles are common in differentiating them into those that are universal, that can be used to teach different disciplines, and specific ones that cover specific methodological features of language teaching. A significant role belongs to methodological principles which reflect theoretical and practical features of the suggested teaching methodology. The specific principles of differentiated teaching by many researchers are aimed at defining the regularities of the educational process with a focus on various individual and typological characteristics of students. Based on the experience of different researchers, the methodological and didactical principles of differentiated teaching EOP to IT-students are chosen, selected, added and analysed by the author of this article. The methodological principles include general methodological and special methodological principles. The group of general methodological principles of differentiated teaching covers 1) the principle of communication; 2) the principle of interrelated teaching all language skills; 3) the principle of the dominant role of exercises; 4) the principle of blending individual, group and collective forms of work; 5) the principle of authenticity. The group of special methodological principles of differentiated teaching comprises 1) the principle of maximal consideration of the individual educational trajectories of students; 2) the principle of group flexibility and coordinating group interaction; 3) the principle of constant evaluation and reflection; 4) the principle of quasi-professional modelling and interdisciplinarity; 5) the principle of teaching techniques variation; 6) the principle of strategies diversification. The chosen didactical principles include 1) the principle of consciousness; 2) the principle of communicative activites; 3) the principle of humanity. The selected principles of differentiated teaching EOP to university students majoring in IT make the basis of the educational process, reflect its regularities and ensure its effectiveness.

Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions toward Social Media Usage and Academic Performance: A Study from Saudi Arabia

Social Media applications are recently widespread and popular method of engagement among undergraduate students and instructors in Saudi Arabia. However, the extreme use of these sites has raised concern on their impact on the students’ academic performance and generally learning. This study investigated perceptions of undergraduate students, enrolled in Education College at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, toward social media usage. In addition, it examined the relationship of students’ usage purpose as well as usage period with their academic performance (cumulative GPA). This study also sought to establish the most popular applications that students preferred. For the purposes of data collection, questionnaires were distributed and 132 undergraduate students (56 Male &amp; 76 female) enrolled in the current study. Data were analyzed and results indicated that there were general positive perceptions toward using social media for academic purposes. Additionally, results showed that there was a statistical significant relationship between the purpose of social media usage and students’ academic performance in favor of personal purposes while there were no relationship found regarding educational and occupational purposes. Findings also revealed that there were no statistically impact of students’ usage period of social media on academic performance. WhatsApp and Twitter were the most preferred social media options used among students whereas Wiki, Facebook and LinkedIn were the lowest options reported. The findings of this study can be used to recommend the effective ways of incorporating social media into learning activities without affecting students’ performance. It can also be used to propose ways of assisting students maintain a balance between social and academic activities. Implications and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Calls made to the Poisons Information Centre reveal need for improved risk management of cleaning agents in the workplace

Purpose. This study aimed to investigate chemical injuries caused by cleaning agents and disinfectants by reviewing poison control data. Methods. We performed a 5-year retrospective analysis of calls to the Swedish Poisons Information Centre (PIC) concerning occupational use of cleaning agents and disinfectants. In addition, callers for 17 new cases were interviewed. Results. Out of 8240 occupationally related cases handled by the PIC during 2010–2014, 24% concerned cleaning agents and disinfectants (N = 1983). Of these, one-third were classified as major risk cases, generally due to potential for corrosive eye and skin injuries. The most frequent type of workplace was restaurants and caterers. However, information about occupation was only identifiable for 30% of the cases. Follow-up interviews exemplify how limited awareness of safety data sheets and disregard of protective equipment may contribute to health-related outcomes such as absence at work. Conclusions. Management and prevention strategies for cleaning agents should be improved. PIC records hold relevant information both for designing interventions and for future research on occupational health and safety management. We suggest that systematic collection by the PIC of information on occupation and age would further improve the usefulness for occupational injury surveillance purposes.

Third-year Vet Med Students’ Speaking Performance in English: Evaluation and Suggestions

The ascertainment of the Third-Year Vet Students’ poverty to perform in oral English has been noticed in the Veterinary Medicine Department at the University of Kinshasa. People join universities and colleges in order to acquire sufficient knowledge that makes them capable of working in different areas of life. The Third-Year Students in Veterinary Medicine Department need a good command of English for both their academic activities (for the present moment) and job requirements (for the future). Unfortunately, the reality is that these students are less proficient in oral English than they are expected to be. Considering their poor performance, this article aims at evaluating the Third-Year Students’ performance in oral English so as to suggest recommendations for successful speaking performance. To collect and analyze data, qualitative and quantitative methods are used. As far as the qualitative methods are concerned, this article applies the Capstone Project or Course, Syllabus Review, Observation, SWOT Analysis, and Course Evaluation Survey. Capstone Project is used to evaluate the students’ knowledge, abilities, and concepts they have required from the first year up to the third one. Syllabus Review Method is used to examine both the teaching objectives and outcomes so as to make sure whether the students have reached the expected performance or not. Observations Methods is used to examine the students’ behaviors and their environment in which the learning took place. SWOT Analysis is used to examine how the course content matches academic and occupational purposes. Course Evaluation Survey is used to point out the students’ perception of the English course. Apart from the qualitative methods, the quantitative methods used in this paper are Certification, Exit Exam, and Performance. Certification Method is useful in evaluation of the students’ general knowledge of English used in the veterinary medicine field. Exit Exam is employed in this paper to realize how much the students are able to apply their English knowledge in their life. Performance Method is used to evaluate the students’ ability to give presentations as it is required. The results of the analysis of data and the related interpretation prove that the Third-Year Students are not performant in oral English because of the reasons listed in this paper. Furthermore, the conclusion of the interpretation suggests recommendations so as to cure the problem related to the lack of speaking performance in the Third-Year Students.

English for Occupational Purposes: Transference, Expectations and Failures

People live in a competitive society, searching for technical and professional expertise throughout their lifetimes. With the expansion of ICT and distance learning , educational approaches are no longer restricted to formal education; rather learners are urged to acquire new skills and to obtain official and professional recognition of these competences. The general framework of our proposal is the result of a project , aimed at designing, testing, and disseminating Online/Multimedia English for Occupational Purposes courses (EOP), to recognize linguistic competence in professional environments(commerce and tourism). Our twofold study aims: (1) to research the transference rate and the factors that make EOP courses a successful proposal, and; (2) to gain insights into the main expectations, outcomes and failures of such courses. To achieve these objectives, twelve national, non-formal teaching enterprises delivering the courses were contacted, and questionnaires and interviews were created. The results show satisfaction with the courses and point to the lack of linguistic policies and the consequent influence on professional achievements.

English for Occupational Purposes through Second Life: Promoting Interaction, And Professional Training

English for Occupational Purposes through Second Life: Promoting Interaction, And Professional Training

Lehrforschung und mehrsprachige Arbeitskommunikation. Ein hochschuldidaktisches Konzept zur Steigerung professioneller Kompetenzen

At present, universities around the world are facing the challenge of bridging the gap between traditional, school-like methods of academic teaching and the new paradigm of de-schooled, research-based academic teaching. According to the current reform agenda, today’s academic teaching must meet scientific and occupational purposes at the same time. Within this context, the humanities – especially foreign language philologies – are often accused of not seriously taking into account the manifold post-academic needs of their students. Taking three examples from international German philology (Germany, Russia, Finland), this article demonstrates in detail how a distinctive approach to research-based academic teaching helps to successfully achieve the intertwined goals of producing both scientific and occupational qualifications. The Germersheim online encyclopaedia of literary translators (UeLEX) (1), the RussianGerman City Guide of Volgograd (2), and alumni tracer studies carried out in Tampere, Finland (3), illustrate cases of best practice showing how students may systematically expand their scientific and occupational competences while investigating multilingual workplace communication under the guidance of their teachers. In particular, the relevance of the students’ participation in the three ‘teaching doing research’ projects in terms of maintaining their profiles on social media (e.g. LinkedIn) is highlighted. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the research-based academic teaching approach presented in this article are discussed critically.

Effects of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid on an isogeneic model of the human blood-brain barrier

Glyphosate is a pesticide used for occupational and non-occupational purposes. Because glyphosate targets a metabolic pathway absent in animals, it is considered safe for humans. Yet, case reports of accidental exposure to concentrated solutions following self-inflicted poisoning documented neurological lesions suggesting a neurotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the effect of acute exposure to glyphosate (GPH) on the blood-brain barrier in vitro based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and compared to two chemical analogs: aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and glycine (GLY), for concentrations ranging from 0.1 μM to 1000 μM. GPH treatment (1 and 10 μM) for 24 h showed an increase BBB permeability to fluorescein, with similar outcomes for AMPA. In addition to its ability to disrupt the barrier function, GPH show evidence of permeability across the BBB. Although no detrimental effects were observed on neuron differentiation at high doses, we noted changes in neuronal cell metabolic activity and glucose uptake in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) following treatment with 100 μM GPH or AMPA. Taken together, our data indicates that accidental exposure to high level of GPH may result in neurological damage via an opening of the blood-brain barrier and an alteration of glucose metabolism.

Role-Play-Based Assessment as an Alternative Assessment to Evaluate English for Occupational Purposes Students’ Language Use: A Pragmatic Approach

Role-Play-Based Assessment as an Alternative Assessment to Evaluate English for Occupational Purposes Students’ Language Use: A Pragmatic Approach

НАВЧАННЯ ГОВОРІННЯ З АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ ЗА ПРОФЕСІЙНИМ СПРЯМУВАННЯМ: ХАРАКТЕРНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ, НАСЛІДКИ ТА РОЛЬ ВИКЛАДАЧА

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has always been an important area for many scholars. Teaching ESP has become increasingly crucial in Higher Education nowadays as it can be applied to various English language courses for Occupational Purposes. The aim of teaching ESP is to meet the learners’ needs so that they can perform particular tasks. The article sets out to explore teaching English in ESP lessons. A central issue is teaching speaking, namely characteristics of teaching speaking in ESP, implications for the materials and classroom practices and the role of ESP teacher in teaching speaking. In the article there have been distinguished the main characteristics of teaching speaking in ESP lessons which form a system of principles necessary for effective ESP teaching. Moreover, the author considered implications for materials and classroom practices which are crucial in planning ESP lessons. Finally, role of ESP teacher can vary according to learners’ needs. That is why teaching specific speaking skills requires a profound knowledge of specific disciplines as a teacher is not always a “minor knower” of that particular discipline.

Occupational Risk Prevention through Smartwatches: Precision and Uncertainty Effects of the Built-In Accelerometer.

Wearable technology has had a significant growth in the last years; this is particularly true of smartwatches, due to their potential advantages and ease of use. These smart devices integrate sensors that can be potentially used within industrial settings and for several applications, such as safety, monitoring, and the identification of occupational risks. The accelerometer is one of the main sensors integrated into these devices. However, several studies have identified that sensors integrated into smart devices may present inaccuracies during data acquisition, which may influence the performance of their potential applications. This article presents an analysis from the metrological point of view to characterize the amplitude and frequency response of the integrated accelerometers in three currently available commercial smartwatches, and it also includes an analysis of the uncertainties associated with these measurements by adapting the procedures described in several International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. The results show that despite the technical limitations produced by the factory configuration, these devices can be used in various applications related to occupational risk assessment. Opportunities for improvement have also been identified, which will allow us to take advantage of this technology in several innovative applications within industrial settings and, in particular, for occupational health purposes.

Analysis of Students’ Needs Related to their Learning Preferences

The objective of this research was to find out the Islamic Economy students’ needs and wants in learning English at State Islamic University of Pekalongan. The researcher used questionnaire to investigate and elicit opinion related to the needs, demands for English skills and preference of English learning activities, difficulties and barriers encountered by the students in learning English. The result reveals that most students show high demand on the speaking skill and want to develop it more. Besides, this research reveals that the students are facing difficulties and problems in communication because of the lacks of vocabulary, speaking skill, and grammar. Considering this result, it is suggested that the instructor/lecturer need to give more input of vocabularies especially vocabularies related to students’ major and occupational purposes.

Into the Dragons' Den: Practicing KFL Business Communication Skills Through Project-Based Learning

ABSTRACT Project-based learning (PBL), despite its potential for creating links between knowledge and action and enabling students to apply their knowledge to solving an authentic problem (Markham, 2011), has been underutilized in language courses. This article describes a project-based activity designed and implemented in a Korean for occupational purposes course at a university in Canada. Modeled after the structure of the television program Dragons' Den, the project provides students with a realistic simulation to practice and develop presentation skills. Working in teams, students choose a product or service item and develop a range of promotion plans culminating in a sales pitch to “investors.”

Developing curricula for english for Occupational Purposes: A case study at a South African University of Technology

The demand for English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) is growing proportionally to the universal demand for employees, who can function in the lingua franca , English, in their fields of specialisation. Therefore, the training of students at universities of technology, which aim to produce graduates who can perform successfully upon entry into the occupational world, should include the teaching and learning of EOP. This study set out to determine how best to develop EOP curricula, using wants and needs analyses, including all stakeholders at a university of technology, and adopting a case study approach. There was particular focus on: the students, since EOP is learner-centred; the authenticity of learning materials per field of specialisation; and, collaboration between language services-rendering and language services-requesting departments. The main conclusions drawn were that English proficiency plays a central role in the success of learning EOP, and direct feedback from industry on student wants and needs emerged as essential in curriculum planning.