1,720,955 research outputs found
The Applications of Information and Communication Technologies in Higher Education, in Less Developed Countries
Get PDFSurveys have been carried out by the International Association of Universities (IAU) and have shown that 70% of its member institutions have (an) expert(s) for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in teaching and learning of which Africa, Latin America and Oceania have very low percentages. At the same time there is indeed not only a high demand for ICT in developing countries but in particular a demand for education that will help these countries to improve their socio-economic problems. This paper discusses and offers arguments for the growing possibilities of using ICTs as a training tool that can help Higher Education institutes in less developed countries to offer its students tremendous new possibilities in research and education, and open wider access to information as well as promoting active analytic thinking for purposes of solving socio-economic problems faced by these countries. A survey was carried out to find the level of connectivity and availability of experts for ICTs in teaching and learning in Universities in Zimbabwe. Questionnaires were administered to four of the six established state universities with more than ten departments each. The survey revealed that there is lack of experts of ICTs in teaching and learning and there are very few resources for this purpose. It is recommended that Higher education in less developed countries with the help of their governments be serious in developing and expanding the use of ICTs in teaching and learning
The epistemological basis of indigenous knowledge systems in science education
Get PDFThesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014.Integration of indigenous knowledge into the school science curricula is useful for pedagogical reasons, particularly for improving learners performance in science. However, the lack of universal and specifically stated epistemology (ies) of indigenous knowledge (IK) is undoubtedly a major challenge for inclusive science-IK curriculum integration. In this study, with the aim to resolve this epistemological challenge, an epistemological framework based on truth theories was developed.
Some IK practices were collected and the framework was tested with some science teachers to assess its effectiveness as a tool for identifying IK epistemologies for establishing suitable teaching methods for some specific IK practices. Argumentation was used in conjunction with the epistemological framework in the attempt to enhance teachers logical reasoning skills during focus group discussions.
In detail, the study consisted of three parts. The first was an attempt to develop a truth-theory-based-knowledge-framework-for-identifying-epistemology(ies)-of-indigenous-knowledge systems. Desk-top philosophical analysis was undertaken with the aim of developing a framework for analysing and identifying IK epistemologies.
Second, some selected local knowledge, technologies and practices from a rural community in Zimbabwe were systematically documented by means of personal observations and interviews with key informants and stakeholders from the participating community. The result was a collection of community-based IK practices that formed a coherent set of knowledge themes on health, agriculture and technology. A preliminary analysis using the framework was done to gain insight into the characteristic features that underpin the scientific way of thinking that manifest themselves in IK practices and would allow for the incorporation of the IK practices.
Third, a group of secondary school science teachers used the framework to engage with and explore the ways in which the identified local knowledge and practices might be integrated into school science education in a valid and effective way. The views of the participating teachers on the usefulness and efficacy of the approach were explored.
The main findings of the study showed the framework was useful and efficacious in addressing teachers philosophical concerns about the inclusion of IK in the science curriculum, moreover, the framework was useful in developing effective teaching approaches for integrating indigenous knowledge into science education for improved learner performance. IK-science curriculum integration, it is argued, provides contexts that are familiar and relatable to learners, thus those features are likely to enhance interest and improve performance and in turn increase the socio-cultural relevance of science and science education.Science, Mathematics and Technology EducationPh
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
A truth-based epistemological framework for supporting teachers in integrating indigenous knowledge into science teaching
Get PDFIntegrating indigenous knowledge (IK) into school science teaching is one way of maximising the sociocultural
relevance of science education for enhanced learners’ performance. The epistemological
differences however between the nature of science (NOS) and nature of indigenous knowledge (NOIK)
constitute a major challenge for an inclusive IK-science curriculum integration. This article is about the
application of a truth-based epistemological framework designed to support teachers to make decisions
on how specific pieces of indigenous knowledge (local traditional practices and technologies) may be
included in science lessons. First, an attempt was made to develop a truth-based epistemological
framework for identifying epistemology(ies) of indigenous knowledge and practices. Second a group of
science teachers used the truth-based epistemological framework to examine ways in which some
specified IK practices that comprised a coherent set of knowledge themes on health, agriculture and
technology could be integrated into the school science curriculum in a valid and legitimate way. The IK
practices used in the study were systematically identified and documented by means of personal
observations and interviews of key informants in a rural community in Zimbabwe. The main findings of
the study showed that the truth-based epistemological framework was useful in providing an
epistemological basis for including some IK practices in science teaching and learning. As a tool for
pedagogy the framework enabled the science teachers to reconsider and change their valuing of
Indigenous knowledge Systems (IKS), more specifically in ways in which local knowledge can validly be
incorporated into school science teaching.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmse202017-10-31hb2017Science, Mathematics and Technology Educatio
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
