Research in Social Sciences and Technology (E-Journals)
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Social Studies and Social Media: Status Among K-12 Tennessee Teachers Before COVID
Full text linkTechnology integration has received a significant amount of money from the budgets of schools in the United States, even prior to COVID-19. Social media as an instructional tool was also receiving growing attention. However, since COVID-19 it seems that there is an even larger shift in the calls to use social media. The purpose of this study was to report K-12 Tennessee social studies teachers’ self-reported social media use just prior to the COVID-19. Moreover, we compared teachers’ use of social media based on geography, grade level and teaching experience. Statistically significant findings were discovered
The Association Between College Students` Participation Behavior and Social Media Use
Full text linkThis paper examines college students` participation behaviors and the use of social media tools. The descriptive survey model was applied to investigate university students` participation behaviors. The data was collected through a “Participation Questionnaire” from 284 college students in Kazakhstan. The result showed that students who spend less time on social media are positively related to participatory citizenship. Moreover, students with fewer social media accounts are more likely to engage in political, volunteer, and social events than students with more social media accounts
Pondering Collaborative School Board Roles in Alleviating Dropout among Learners with Physical Disabilities in Schools
Full text linkThe present paper explores collaborative school board roles in alleviating dropout among Children with Physical Disabilities (CwPDs) in primary schools in Lesotho. An interpretive approach with a qualitative case study design provided insight into how school board members interpret and understand their roles and responsibilities and shed light on school boards' strategies to alleviate dropout of CwPDs. In-depth individual interviews were conducted to obtain rich and accurate data from 10 participants from two purposively selected mainstream primary schools. Bronfenbrenners' bio-ecological systems theory and Telford's collaborative leadership theory were used in the study. Through a process of thematic analysis, apparent themes emerged. Findings reveal that many school board members lack the necessary knowledge and skills to address the needs of CwPDs. The research concludes that CwPDs drop out of school because of poor infrastructure, ineffective collaboration, and unclear school policies. It is recommended that through forging collaboration between school board members and other role players, a transformation of policies, in-service training for school boards, and raising disability awareness and dropout among CwPDs can be better alleviated
Exploring Accounting Teachers’ Effective Implementation of Assessment for Learning in the Classroom
Full text linkIn this empirical paper, we discuss the factors impacting Accounting teachers’ effective implementation of assessment for learning (AfL) in the classroom and the action on the possible solutions in dealing with the impeding factors. AfL is considered a critical requirement for Accounting teachers and, if implemented effectively, improves the quality of learning. However, factors such as deficient subject and pedagogical content knowledge, inadequate assessment literacy and a lack of effective feedback have a significant impact on the effective implementation of AfL. Critical pedagogy framed the study theoretically and interrogated the factors impacting Accounting teachers in implementing AfL in the classroom and created an environment wherein teachers may share best practices relating to the administration of tasks. The qualitative research approach was utilised as a methodology, and Participatory Action Research was used as a research design. Thematic analysis was used to classify, analyse and interpret the data to get in-depth knowledge from the participants, who had to be in possession of a professional teaching qualification in Accounting and actively taught the subject in school for the past five years. The study findings indicate a need to develop and support teachers in implementing AfL to provide opportunities to identify learning gaps and devise scaffolding strategies to assist learners. Accounting teachers were equipped with the knowledge and skills to construct quality AfL tasks to assist the learners in acquiring the necessary expertise, skills and values in the subject
Understanding Curriculum Transformations Towards the Creation of Sustainable Learning Environments: A Posthumanist Reflection
Full text linkThis paper uses posthumanism as the theoretical framing to understand the curriculum transformations towards creating sustainable learning environments at some higher education institutions (HEIs) and the early childhood care and education (ECCE) centres in South Africa. The choice of these two bands in education is necessitated by the fact that curriculum singularities and/or insularities have become obsolete in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath, the calls for decolonization of the curriculum and the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). For example, COVID-19 has demonstrated that the curriculum is best delivered when various actors, different modes of interaction and distributed sites are used to ensure no learner is left behind, irrespective of their station in life. Emphasizing the same notions of multi-layered and multi-perspectival approaches, the calls for decolonization affirm the importance of all canons of knowledge, beyond just the euro-centric ones, as the basis for a transformed curriculum. Furthermore, the 4IR privileges the skills of collaboration and compassion for others as critical in this era. What the article brings forth as the central idea is the primacy of relationalities in the construction of curriculum, hence the identities of learners, students, academics, caregivers, institutions of higher learning and care centres. The above are beyond the deleterious influences of anthropocentrism, hence the Anthropocene, and the individuality of humanism and enlightenment. Creating sustainable learning environments is the primary goal of all curricula across the globe. The challenge thus far has been the curriculum approaches that isolate individuals and/or processes from the stakeholders and role players. Curricula emphasized the lone genius’s power and prowess, relying almost solely on their innate abilities as advised by genetic epistemology; this was despite the incessant caution by socio-culturalism and eco-systemic couplings. The latter advocates for the focus on relationalities as a basis for curriculum quality assurance and its transformations. To evidence the above, this article traces how the scholars and practitioners of the curriculum at HEIs and ECCE in South Africa have shifted focus from an emphasis on isolationism to collaboration and the privileging of relationalities. The article highlights the nature and the specificity of those changes and how they relate to new curriculum experiences. 
Examining the Relationship between Life Satisfaction and the Happiness-increasing Strategies used by Mothers for their Children
Full text linkThe aim of this research is to reveal the relationship between the life satisfaction of mothers and the happiness-increasing strategies they use for their children. Within the scope of the general purpose of the study, it was also examined whether the life satisfaction of the mothers and the happiness-enhancing strategies they used for their children differed in terms of some demographic variables. The correlational model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in the study, and the sample group consisted of 298 mothers with children aged 3-5 years. A Demographic Information Form, a Scale for Determining Happiness-increasing Strategies Used by Mothers, and a Life Satisfaction Scale were used as data collection tools. In the research; t test and single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed for independent samples with differentiation tests to examine the differences between the life satisfaction levels of the mothers and the happiness-increasing strategies they applied according to variables such as education level, economic status, and working status. Pearson moments multiplication correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationship between mothers' life satisfaction levels, happiness-increasing strategy levels, age of mothers, and child age, and multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive power of the independent variable (happiness-enhancing strategies) to the dependent variable (life satisfaction). At the end of the research, it was concluded that the level of life satisfaction increased as the education level and economic status of the mothers increased, and the levels of happiness-increasing strategies showed a significant difference according to the economic status. It was seen that there was a significant relationship between the life satisfaction levels of the mothers and the strategies to increase happiness. Recommendations were developed in line with the findings obtained as a result of the research
Strategic Devises to Enhance Accounting Cash Journals Content Knowledge of Economic and Management Sciences Teachers
Full text linkThis paper investigated the strategic devices that can be used to enhance the accounting cash journals content knowledge (ACJCK) of Grade 9 economic and management sciences (EMS) teachers. The study was qualitative, with three participants selected from one rural school in the Thabo-Mofutsanyane education district. The interviews were used to gather information regarding the strategic devices that can be used to enhance the ACJCK of EMS teachers. The data were then analysed using thematic analysis. Finally, the study revealed the following findings: create professional learning communities to enhance cash journals content knowledge and ensuring collaborative lesson planning and preparation of cash journals. The findings suggest that collaborative team teaching must be used to accommodate novice teachers, and continuous training workshops and cluster workshops should also be used to increase teachers’ level of understanding to address the inherent cash journal content knowledge misconceptions.  
Emerging Adults and the Use of Textual Digital Communication: A Reflection on Self-Esteem, Loneliness, Anxiety, and Wellbeing
Full text linkDigital communication is a great facilitator of human connection, positively contributing to life satisfaction and prosocial behavior. However, the existing findings also insist on the drawbacks of the digital communication, as low levels of wellbeing satisfaction, or happiness. Thus, aiming to reconciliate the two sets of assumptions and relying on the reality that textual communication is preferred to voice interaction, the present paper investigates the impact of using messaging apps on the emotional state. More specifically, the study explores if time spent texting, the general affinity towards technology, the perceived ease of use, the perceived usefulness, and the intentional behavior to use messaging applications are correlated with self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing. An online opinion survey (N=147) with Romanian emerging adults is conducted between February and May 2022. The results show that a positive attitude towards technology is negatively correlated with the feelings of loneliness and anxiety. Moreover, a positive perception on the ease of use and usefulness of the messaging applications is linked with an increased wellbeing.  
Can Experience Determine the Adoption of Industrial Revolution 4.0 Skills in 21st Century Mathematics Education?
Full text linkTeachers in secondary schools were studied to determine their readiness to adopt fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies to enhance their teaching practices and student learning. Through Industry 4.0, technologies are also becoming available as products for education, transforming the rules and norms of education. Secondary school mathematics teachers in Nigeria must prepare themselves to embrace digital skills so that they will be ready for new teaching and learning processes that are being introduced by these new digital tools. In this study, a cross-sectional quantitative approach was used. The data were collected using a self-developed instrument with a content validity index of 0.96 and a MacDonald Omega reliability index of 0.84. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 211 mathematics teachers in three Lagos State education districts. Analyses of the obtained data were performed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at a significance level of 0.05. Results indicate that mathematics teachers are ready to integrate 4IR skills and emerging technologies into their classrooms. In addition, the willingness of participants to adopt relevant 4IR skills across their years of experience was statistically significant. A new path is charted for school administrators, mathematics teachers, and stakeholders in the education sector to assist in policy design toward 4IR, thereby contributing to the existing literature on adopting emerging technologies to teach mathematics education in sub-Saharan Africa
Using Social Media in Schools
Full text linkSocial media is becoming more eminently woven into the sociocultural fabric of global societies in the 21st century. From emerging platforms and ever-evolving multimodal features, to algorithmic changes and privacy concerns, social media is indubitably shaping the frontier of how people communicate, interact, and perceive the world around them. Using social media in schools is, of course, not a new phenomenon. However, given unabating advances in digital technology coupled with shifting user demands, social media is constantly in flux. Thus, staying abreast of social media trends and uses in the field of education is a critical endeavor and merits on-going conversations