1,720,959 research outputs found
SCIENCE TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICE OF INQUIRY-BASED INSTRUCTION IN UGANDA
Get PDFHigh school students in Uganda perform poorly in science subjects despite the Ugandan government’s efforts to train science teachers and build modern science laboratories in many public high schools. The poor performance of students in science subjects has been largely blamed on the inability by many science teachers to teach science through Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI) to motivate the students to learn science. However, there have been no empirical studies done to establish the factors that influence science teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI in Uganda. Most of the published research on IBI has been conducted in developed countries, where the prevailing contexts are very different from the contexts in developing countries such as Uganda. Additionally, few studies have explored how professional development (PD) training workshops on inquiry and nature of science (NOS) affect chemistry teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI.
My purpose in this multi-case exploratory qualitative study was to explore the effect of a PD workshop on inquiry and NOS on chemistry teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI in Kampala city public schools in Uganda. I also explored the relationship between chemistry teachers’ NOS understanding and the nature of IBI implemented in their classrooms and the internal and external factors that influence teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI. I used a purposive sampling procedure to identify two schools of similar standards from which I selected eight willing chemistry teachers (four from each school) to participate in the study. Half of the teachers (those from School A) attended the PD workshop on inquiry and NOS for six days, while the control group (those from School B) did not. I collected qualitative data through semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and document analysis. I analyzed these data by structural, conceptual and theoretical coding approach.
I established that all the participating chemistry teachers had insufficient understanding of IBI at the beginning of the study. However, teachers from School A improved their understanding and practice of IBI after attending the PD workshop. I also found that the participating chemistry teachers’ NOS epistemological views were, to some extent, related to the nature of IBI implemented in their classroom. The main internal factors the participating teachers perceived to influence their understanding and practice of IBI were their attitudes and teaching experience, whereas the external factors were lack of motivation, lack of necessary instructional materials, mode of assessment, class size, the nature of pre-service and in-service training, support from peer teachers and limited time in relation to many lessons and much content to cover Based on the above findings, I conclude that the current science teacher training in Uganda may not be improving science teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI, and most of the factors are beyond their control (external). Hence, there is an urgent need for teacher educators and policymakers in Uganda to address the internal and external factors influencing science teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI to improve the teaching and learning of science subjects. Additionally, more quantitative and qualitative studies should be done among teachers of different disciplines to establish how the above factors and others affect teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI in developing countries like Uganda.
Keywords: Science teacher education, Understanding, Practice of inquiry, Inquiry-based instruction, professional development workshop, Nature of Scienc
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Integration of E-Learning in Higher Education Institutions and Learners’ Engagement Possibilities in Ugandan Universities.
No full textThe normalization of e-learning as a common form of teaching in the Covid-19 era, caused a rapid transition in Ugandan universities causing a percentage of physical lectures to be substituted with e-learning sessions. This caused physical separation of instructors from learners during e-learning sessions. The hasty transition created queries about how effectively learners are engaged during e-learning sessions, given the existing ICT infrastructure, stakeholder ICT skills, and inadequate support systems in Ugandan universities. This paper sought to explore e-learning experiences in Ugandan universities, targeting to establish how the model can be effectively utilized to achieve learner engagement. The objectives were; (1) to examine the experiences and perceptions of learner engagement during e-learning in Ugandan universities. (2) to explore the opportunities and challenges learners and instructors face in engaging during e-learning in Ugandan universities and (3) to identify and analyze potential strategies for enhancing learner engagement during online learning in Ugandan universities. A textual narrative synthesis methodology was adopted using secondary data sources and findings revealed that learner engagement strategies are not yet fully embraced. HEIs should expand internet access and provide offline learning resources, train instructors in interactive e-learning strategies, and design learner-centered content, formatively
assess holistic engagement strategies and establish digital support systems to assist learners and educators in real time
The Politics of Curriculum Implementation in Africa.
No full textThe curriculum decisions made about teaching are not just about educational content, not about whose voices are heard, or whose knowledge is valued, but also how societies envision education. So, understanding the dynamics of curriculum politics is fundamental to understanding the nature of implementation and the success possibilities of any curriculum implementation. This paper therefore found it important to investigate the kind of curriculum politics that prevails in Africa and how it influences curriculum development in schools. The objectives of the study were to explore how politics influences the curriculum implementation process in Africa and establish strategies that can improve the curriculum implementation process amidst the political dynamics. The study adopted an approach of methodological inquiry based on secondary data sources. Findings revealed the politicization of curricula in Africa significantly impacts teacher autonomy, teaching methodologies, and opportunities for professional development along the way through restrictive guidelines, standardized testing pressures, and conflicting pedagogical approaches. The study recommends addressing the politics of implementation through a multifaceted approach, where emphasis on prioritizing transparency, teacher empowerment, flexibility, and ethical inclusivity, can be used to navigate the challenges and create an educational ecosystem that empowers individual educators
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Socio-Emotional Disposition’s Mediation in Technical Skills and Graduate Employability in Tourism and Hospitality Industry—South-Western Uganda
Get PDFDespite possessing technical skills, many hospitality graduates in Southwestern Uganda struggle to secure employment. This suggests a possible deficiency in their socio-emotional abilities. The study investigated the mediating effect of socio-emotional disposition in the relationship between technical skills and graduate employability. The research design employed in this study was the cross-sectional quantitative research method with a population of 640 graduates and a sample size of 400 was established for hospitality graduates based on Krejcie, & Morgan’s (1970) table and formula. The data was collected employing questionnaires and the data analysis was done by SPSS V. 23 and Smart PLS V 4. The results revealed that the technical skills and socio-emotional disposition of graduates have significant direct effects on the graduates’ employability, with path coefficients of (β = 0.348, p < 0.001) for technical skills and (β = 0.716, p< 0.001) for socio-emotional disposition. Sensitively, socio-emotional disposition was also reported to mediate the link between technical skill and employability (β = 0.438, p<0.001). Thus, socio-emotional disposition increases the level of readiness for employment. The study indicates technical competencies are mandatory prerequisites to getting a job in the hospitality industry; socio-emotional competencies enhance these results. The study recommended that carrying out tracer studies and skills audits, mentorship schemes, certification of future graduates, creating a strong linkage between higher educational institutions (HEIs) and the hospitality sector, and authorities should take into account the programs that encourage socio-emotional enhancement appropriate to the needs of the secto
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