Approaches for Effective Vocationalisation of Secondary School Agriculture in Nigeria: The Views of Agricultural Science Teachers in Delta State,Nigeria

Abstract

This paper describes a random sample of serving agricultural science teachers in Delta State, Nigeria, as a background to understanding their views on four selected approaches for effective vocationalisation of secondary school agriculture. These approaches were used to develop a 23-item questionnaire based on current literature. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to determine how well the views of the respondents corresponded with the items in the questionnaire. Results showed, among others, that the average teaching experience of the 322 sampled teachers was 12.9 years; 50.6 % of the respondents were BSc(Ed) degree holders; 38.8% had Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), while 10.6% were Higher National Diploma (HND) holders. The respondents agreed that the identified approaches were necessary for effective vocationalisation of secondary school agriculture. The paper therefore recommends that the identified approaches should be pursued by the Nigerian government to ensure that vocational agriculture in secondary schools achieves the goals of the National Policy on Education.     

Expatriate parents and supplementary education in Japan: survival strategy or acculturation strategy

The increase in the use of supplementary education, or juku, in Japan by Japanese families in order to augment their children’s chances of success in entering prestigious pre-tertiary and tertiary institutions is documented (Blumenthal in Asian Surv 32(5):448–460, 1992; Bray and Lykins in Shadow education; private supplementary tutoring and its implications for policy makers in Asia, Asian Development Bank, Philippines, 2012; Dierkes in The Focus: Supplementary education in Asia, International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2011; Roesgaard in Japanese education and the cram school business; Functions, challenges and perspectives of the juku, Nordic Institution of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, 2006; Rohlen in J Jpn Stud 6(2):207–242, 1980; Tsukada in Comp Educ, 24(3):285–303, 1988), but there is little known about the use of supplementary education by an ever-growing number of families in Japan in which one or both parents are an expatriate. This exploratory countrywide study of such families hopes to address this lack of research. Initial results show that while a number of factors related to their own culture and values about childhood, education, and family life influence some families’ decision not to send their children to juku, most families tend to use these services for many of the same reasons as their Japanese counterparts, although to a different degree. In addition, they seem to use these services because they are counseled to do so by insiders, or because supplementary education provides other services which help them to navigate the Japanese educational system. Expatriate families’ use of supplementary education could be one of many acculturation strategies they use as they adapt to Japan’s educational culture.     

Movies in the classroom: Popular images of criminal justice,criminology, and the law

Courses that pique students' interest, promote discussion and participation, and contribute to their college learning experience are becoming increasingly rare. “Justice Issues and the Media” accomplishes these goals and is a pleasure to prepare and teach. This course links movies, a familiar aspect of American culture, with their substantive contribution to citizens' attitudes and stereotypes about the criminal justice system, criminology, and the law. We make recommendations and issue several cautions, which we hope will lead to the development and offering of this course at other universities.     

Immersion in a Digital Pool: Training Prospective Online Instructors in Online Environments

This article argues that the online environment is optimal for teaching prospective instructors how to develop and implement online courses. To support this claim, the author draws on hypertext theories to define the online course archive as a constructive hypertext and to describe the work the course archive is able to do when used to instruct prospective online instructors. The claim is further supported through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a course archive.     

LEARNING STYLE AWARENESS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study examined the relationship between learning style awareness and academic achievement of community college students. The study was undertaken to determine if learning style awareness alone, without a change in the manner of teaching or in the matching of student and instructor styles, would benefit community college students as evidenced by an increase in academic achievement. The sample consisted of 78 second term anatomy students at Florida Community College in Jacksonville who were taught by two instructors who used comparable content and methods. By random assignment, half the group served as a control; the treatment half was given a learning style inventory, the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) by Dunn, Dunn, and Price (1979). The PEPS profiles were returned at mid‐term and were interpreted for each student. Individualized study tips for using learning style preferences advantageously were provided. All students were exposed to the same classroom experiences. Summed unadjusted scores of 105 objective items of common first and second classroom tests served as pretest scores. Scores of the 105‐item comprehensive final examination were used as posttest scores. An ANCOVA was performed using the pretest scores as covariates. There was a significant difference in academic achievement in favor of the learning style awareness group (p<.05).     

What do we see out of the corner of our eye? The role of visual pivots and gaze anchors in sport

ABSTRACT

The role and importance of peripheral vision have been discussed across various sports. Yet, its functionality remains unclear and the terms employed in the literature to characterize the use of peripheral vision are not well defined. We present a review of 29 studies focusing on the use of peripheral vision in sports. We focus on the methodological approaches employed to study its use and identify the mechanisms that may underlie the effective use of peripheral vision in sport. We define key differences between ‘gaze anchors’ and ‘visual pivots’ and introduce the concept of a ‘foveal spot’. All three gaze behaviors, while being characterized by a consistent, dynamically adjustable gaze location, have different functionalities. A gaze anchor is a cue-optimized position used for the monitoring of peripheral cues and avoiding the negative consequences of saccades (i.e. information suppression), especially under time pressure. A visual pivot is a distance-optimized location between relevant cues which allows athletes to optimally initiate saccades to those cues, especially if the costs of eye-movements are low. A foveal spot is primarily used for information processing via the fovea. Finally, we highlight suggestions for future research to improve our understanding of the functional differences between these gaze behaviors.     

A professional development model to facilitate teacher adoption of interactive,immersive digital games for classroom learning

The benefits of using digital games in the curriculum are well documented in literature. Most teachers who use digital games use short-form drill-and-practice learning games rather than the kinds of games most students would choose to play in their free time. The use of more interactive, immersive digital games (IDGs) in classrooms tends to be sporadic, dependent upon the enthusiasm and ingenuity of individual teachers. Previous studies have indicated that many teachers have concerns about using digital games in classrooms and have difficulties knowing how to best use digital games. This qualitative study presents a professional development model for teachers that was inductively derived through analysing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 13 educators who have used digital games in the classroom. Implementing this model can help teachers develop attitudes and skills necessary to meaningfully use interactive, IDGs in their classrooms. Evidence suggests that a mentor should have a strong understanding of how to use digital games effectively in classrooms, work with small cohorts of teachers to collegially plan the use of digital games within a unit of class work, trial the unit of work with a small number of enthusiastic teachers, and then implement it with the remaining teachers. This approach is based on interviews with educators who have successfully mentored teachers in their schools to use interactive, IDGs in their classrooms. These educators encountered little resistance from their teaching colleagues. Their approach further supported teachers who were open to the possibilities of using digital games in their classrooms.