AJOL - African Journals Online
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Creativity and Nonconscious Cognition: A Conversation with Mary Zournazi and N. Katherine Hayles
Get PDFIn this conversation, Mary Zournazi and N. Katherine Hayles explore some of the key elements around co-evolutionary functions of human and nonhuman modes of cognition. Drawing on the wealth of N. Katherine Hayles’ work on these issues over the last thirty years, Zournazi and Hayles consider new modes of understanding and learning which are part of the rapidly changing world of digital and cognitive media technologies in the classroom and beyond. They consider the role of creativity, the necessary cognisance of new modes of learning, bodily orientations and technological evolutions that structure our individual as well as social and political lives
Hybrid approaches to teaching: Re-imagining the teaching of a foundational science course during a global pandemic
Get PDFAccess to scientific knowledge, and teaching in the sciences, is believed to be about training because scientific knowledge is, generally, specialised. However, for students to gain full epistemological access in the sciences, they also need to be inducted as scientists and learners of science. We use Bernstein’s regulative and instructional discourse to engage with the notion of epistemological access and effectiveness of a foundational science course. We examine how the course can cultivate scientific identities amongst first year students at a recently established South African university. Our analysis assesses the impact of the forced shift from contact teaching to Emergency Remote Teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that the course was able to begin to facilitate the cultivation of different kinds of knowers in science. However, several gaps remain. Thus, we argue that foundational science lecturers should focus on hybrid teaching approaches to promote enhanced learning amongst students
Asymptomatic bacteriuria and sensitivity patterns among under-five year old children
No full textBackground: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) has been recognized to be common among under-fives, and its presence may be a pointer to an underlying urinary tract abnormality.
Objectives: The study aims to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria and the sensitivity patterns of pathogens among under-five children in Oshimili south LGA of Delta state, Nigeria.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 255 under-5 children selected via a two-stage cluster sampling. Urine was obtained by a clean catch method from these apparently healthy children for culture and sensitivity tests.
Results: The prevalence of ASB in the study was 6.3%. Escherichia coli was the predominant organism isolated. The antibiotics sensitivity test revealed a high level of resistance
Conclusion: Asymptomatic bacteriuria was common among healthy looking under-five children. Sensitivity test is advised rather than relying on old empiric antibiotics
Demystifying the Work of South African Academic Advisors: An Exploration of Students’ Structural and Material Constraints
Get PDFThe structural and material factors affecting the lived realities and prospects of tertiary success for South African students are complex and manifold. Inexorably, these lived realities impact the work of academic advisors who guide and support students throughout their higher education journeys. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the growing body of literature about academic advising in and for South African higher education contexts, and in particular the daily work of academic advisors in the country. This is achieved by first drawing on literature to elucidate the various structural and material constraints affecting the lives of many South African students, before reconciling what emerges from the literature with quantitative data collected by an academic advisor working at a South African university about his engagements with students over a three-year period. This phenomenological study is underpinned by social realist principles as proposed by Margaret Archer and draws in particular on the notion of structure to advance its argument. Additionally, the work of Boughey and McKenna on the decontextualized learner is incorporated to demonstrate why students in this country cannot be decontextualized from their lived realities. The article concludes by highlighting how the complex structural and material constraints that influence students’ higher education experiences manifest in the day-to-day work of academic advisors. The authors propose that these insights be used to enhance responsiveness to student needs, while informing how the sector makes meaning of advising for the South African higher education context. 
Effectiveness of Information Service Delivery through Marketing of Library Resources and Services
Get PDFThis study examined the effectiveness of information service delivery through marketing of library resources and services. A descriptive survey design was used for the study with a population of 119 library staff. Complete census was adopted as the entire population was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaires. In analyzing the data, descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean and frequency tables were used. The findings of the study showed that the library services that are available for marketing in the university library include lending services, reservation services, interlibrary loan, document delivery services, current awareness services amongst others. The study also revealed that the respondents showed mixed attitude towards marketing of information. Findings also discovered that different methods are used in marketing of library information resources and services which ranges from exhibition and display, organizing trainings, seminars and workshop, media release through radio and television amongst others. The findings equally showed that the problems militating against marketing of library information resources and services include lack of effective communication between librarians and users, inadequate fund, lack of facilities to market library resources and services, network problem andpoor access to information technologyamongst others. It was recommend that more funds be allocated to developing libraries by the parent organization, that library management should expose librarians to marketing library services through trainings, conferences, seminars, workshop and symposiums and that facilities that are needed for effective marketing of library services should be provided to libraries
Identifying Digital Aggression in Information Dissemination on Social Media: A Network Analytical Study
Get PDFText and memes are increasingly populated and used to spread information on social media like twitter. Sometimes these memes can have different meanings or connotations. This study was aimed at highlighting how such information in the form of memes or text are diffused on social media platforms, with Twitter the selected platform. The study adopted an explanatory sequential mixed method design which allows for in-depth analysis of quantitative results from the corpus of tweets. The findings indicate a growing use of a new terminology ―vawulence‖ over the period of eight months observed showing adoption and acceptance of the new variation for the word violence. The study also found that digital aggression (cyberbullying) has become more notable and on the rise particularly with the use of text and memes showing veiled and, in some instances, outright attempts at cyberbullying with new terminologies still arising (in the form of ‗wotowoto‘ and ‗collect‘ which mean a form of physical assault)
Fingerprint Ridge Count Bilateral Asymmetry with Body Composition Parameters Among Some Medical Students in Kano, Nigeria
Get PDFFingerprint is a texture formed by ridges on the human fingertip, and consists of a pattern of interleaved ridges and valleys that allow humans to grasp and grip objects. The study aimed at determining the relationship between fingerprint ridge count and bilateral asymmetry with body composition parameters. The study design involved a total number of 300 students. Bioelectric Impedance machine was used for measurements of body composition parameters. A direct sensing was used for fingerprint capturing. Ridge density was determined from the count of ridges found diagonally within a 25mm2 in ulnar and radial areas. The average of fingerprint asymmetry was determined by adding up the ulna and radial and divide by 2 for all the fingers and subtracting the left digits from the right finger. A significant difference between males and females was observed in all the body composition parameters except in the BMI. The significantly higher median values were observed only in the muscle mass and resting metabolism in male participants compared to the females. With respect to fingerprint ridge counts, sexual dimorphism existed in index and little digit of both right and left digits. A significant difference was only found in the total left ridge count and total ridge count, which shows that females had higher mean and percentile values than males, whereas all other variables shows no significant difference. Right thumb shows a significant correlation with all the body composition parameters except with resting metabolism whereas the remaining digits correlated with some of the body composition parameters. Total right and left ridge count and total ridge counts shows a significant correlation with BMI, resting metabolism and visceral fat. However, no correlation was observed in the bilateral asymmetry of all the fingers except in the asymmetry of ring digit, for predicting of body composition from fingerprints ridge counts and bilateral asymmetry. Left index were found very significant in Muscle mass and resting metabolism formula for prediction of body composition from fingerprints ridge counts and bilateral asymmetry. In conclusion, the results of this study confirm that there is relationship between fingerprint ridge count and body composition parameters. Whereas bilateral asymmetry doesn’t correlate with body composition parameters except in resting metabolism
Understanding phishing awareness among students in tertiary institutions and setting-up defensive mechanisms against the attackers
Get PDFThe average loss by companies to phishing in 2021 is $14.8 million, more than triple what it was in 2015. That translates to hundreds of billions of dollars in total losses from phishing attacks on global businesses, and the vulnerability of these attacks is every day increasing, particularly among the younger generation less than 40 years of age. This paper begins with a background exposition on phishing trends and highlights previous findings concerning users' susceptibility to phishing attacks. It however explores the term Phishing itself, its kinds, types and some basic measures necessary for defense against phishing activities. The research was employed with a major focus on the email aspect of phishing. Alongside the website aspect of phishing, the certificate of a website was also considered. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of student awareness related to specific phishing tactics. Findings revealed that while students are unlikely to provide personal information in response to an email/SMS request, they can be easily tricked by numerous other tactics. This paper reports the findings of the study in addition to listing suggested points to employ for creating phishing awareness
Incidence and antibiotic susceptibility profile of bacteria from door handles in Faculty of Science complex, Sokoto State University Sokoto
Get PDFThe incidence and antibiotic susceptibility profile of bacteria from door handles were studied to X-ray the public health implication of bacterial infections in the complex. Eleven genera were identified: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus intermidis, Streptococcus pneumonia, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus cohinii, and Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus chromogenes, Staphylococcus capitis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern revealed that Gentamycin exhibited the highest zone of inhibition to all isolates, followed by ciprofloxacin, oflaxacin, nitrofurantoin and Ampicillin. The frequency of bacterial isolates showed that Staphylococcus aureus had the highest percentage of 30%, followed by Escherichia coli (12.5%), Streptococcus pyogenes (10.0%). Streptococcus pneumonia, Staphylococcus cohinii, and Staphylococcus capitis each had (7.5%); the least was Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus intermidis (2.5%). Finally, the public health implications of the isolates were discussed