African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Junior High School Pupils' Perceptions of Air","authors":"J. Azure","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38603","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38603","url":null,"abstract":"The study examined Junior High School (JHS) pupils' ideas of the concept air. The\u0000study compared the ideas that pupils from endowed schools have about air with those of\u0000their counterparts from un-endowed schools. The study also sought to find out the\u0000misconceptions pupils have about air and the implications these have on teaching and\u0000learning of science at the basic level. The instrument used consisted of a test and an\u0000interview schedule developed from topics dealing with the concept of air. The test\u0000consisted of multiple-choice items and an essay. Four hundred and sixty-four (464) JHS\u0000pupils made up of 235 from endowed and 229 from un-endowed schools were randomly\u0000sampled for the study. A t-test (for independent samples) performed on the mean\u0000performances of the groups established a significant difference between pupils from\u0000endowed and un-endowed schools in favour of pupils from endowed schools. The\u0000interview revealed that JHS pupils express themselves better orally than in written form\u0000when examined. The interview also established the fact that pupils from endowed\u0000schools had better understanding of the nature of air than their counterparts. A number\u0000of recommendations were made. Teachers should identify pupils' pre-conceptions on\u0000topics to be taught and design appropriate strategies to effect conceptual change.\u0000Remedial interventions such as the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education\u0000(STME) clinics for JHS pupils should be intensified and expanded to improve the\u0000performance of these pupils in the sciences. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 3 2005: pp. 53-60","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127356692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing Lumber Production through Improved Accuracy of Side Clearance of Bandsaw Teeth and Quality Control Measures","authors":"S. J. Mitchual, R. Okai, K. Frimpong-Mensah","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38608","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38608","url":null,"abstract":"As log costs increases as a result of increasing demand for wood products with a\u0000corresponding poor management of forest resource it has become more critical to obtain the\u0000maximum yield of useful product from each tree in order to sustain the wood industry. This\u0000work looks at the effect of the accuracy of side clearance of band saw teeth on the surface\u0000quality of sawn lumber as well as the level of adherence to quality standards when sawing\u0000Triplochiton scleroxylon (Wawa). The results obtained from the relationship between the\u0000accuracy of side clearance of band saw teeth and surface quality of sawn lumber indicates\u0000that there is a strong linear relationship between the two parameters. That is as the standard deviation of the side clearance of the band saw teeth decreases the surface quality of the sawn lumber becomes better. The correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination values for the two variables, that is, the accuracy of side clearance of the band saw teeth and the surface quality of the sawn lumber were -0.9042 and 0.8176 respectively. These values show that about 82% of the variations of the surface quality of the sawn lumber is influenced by the standard deviation of the side clearance of the band saw teeth. A graph of the relationship between the surface quality of the sawn lumber and standard deviation shows that on the average when the standard deviation of the side clearance of the band saw teeth is 0.225mm or low the surface quality of the sawn lumber produced could be qualitatively classified as good, very good or excellent. The result also indicated that the surface quality of the sawn lumber was excellent when the standard deviation of the side clearance of the band saw teeth was 0.07mm or low and was poor or very poor when the standard deviation of the side clearance was 0.252mm or more. A statistical control chart of sampled boards from the production process of the mill used for the study indicated that the mean thickness of the sawn boards was 42.42mm. The upper and lower control limits at 1.65 standard deviation were 44.08mm and 40.76mm respectively. The result indicates that about 15% of the total boards sampled were outside the control limits of the chart. The mean thickness of the sawn lumber at the mill for the study was 42.42mm as against nominal thickness of 41.00mm. This will result in a loss of about 3.46% timber for every board sawn and a subsequent loss of about 3.46m3 for every 100m3 of sawn lumber produced. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 1-7","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116133165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of the City and Guilds Level 3 Adult 8umeracy Support Course at Merton College in the UK","authors":"J. Fletcher","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38614","url":null,"abstract":"This paper looks at the evaluation of the Level 3 Certificate in Adult Numeracy Support (City and Guilds 9484) course at Merton College. The latter is a general further education (FE) college and the main provider of post-16 education and training in the London Borough of Merton. The College also runs a number of higher education (HE) courses. The course was introduced into the School of Community Education following the college's successful bid to run a Level 3 course in numeracy in partnership with other colleges in the South London learning Partnership. The main objective of the evaluation of the course at Merton College was to find out how the course measured up to the standards specified by the DfES/FENTO Subject Specifications and echoed by City and Guilds in the Course handbook (City and Guilds, 2005) as well as the procedures specified in the Merton College College's Quality Assurance system. It was clear that the team was faced with challenges in understanding the level of the mathematics content required, and of\u0000linking this with strategies, methods and skills to teach adult numeracy learners. One critical\u0000observation the author made was the team's inability to change the course structure and content to suit the needs of the candidates. One other limitation of the course was the absence of information and computer technology use. Candidates were not introduced to adequate use of information and computer technology (ICT) as part of their learning. The author observes further that initial teacher education is a complex combination of knowledge as it requires specialist knowledge but at the same time much depends on experience and learning on the job. There is little doubt that the lack of thorough and systematic support for trainees in the place of teaching is a profound systemic weakness that impoverishes all teacher education programmes, not just those discussed\u0000in this paper African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 49-60","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130748132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Computer Assisted Programmed Instruction and Cognitive Preference Style as Determinant of Achievement of Secondary School Physics Students","authors":"M. Sotayo","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38613","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38613","url":null,"abstract":"The study probes into the effect of Computer Assisted Instruction and Cognitive preference style on achievement of secondary school Physics Students in Ogun State of Nigeria. The population of the study comprises the SS II students in Abeokuta Educational Zone. 186 students sample were drawn from the population for the study. Two main valid and reliable instruments were used for data collection: Physics Achievement Test (KR20 = 0.83) and Physics Cognitive Preference Style Inventory (KR20 = 0.86). The result revealed significant main effect of treatment [F (1,186) =28.651, P African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 43-48","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116580485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Establishment of Average Body Measurement and the Development of Block Patterns for Pre-School Children","authors":"C. Igbo","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38604","url":null,"abstract":"There is a need for mass production of garments for pre-school children to meet their clothing needs. Clothing has been included in some of the items banned from\u0000importation in order to save foreign exchange for provision of raw materials for the\u0000manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to establish average body\u0000measurements of pre-school children of ages 2 to 5 years, adapt block patterns for them\u0000and standardize the patterns drafted. Fifteen design criteria based on comfort were\u0000utilised to standardize the patterns drafted. The population of the study comprised all\u0000pre-primary school children in the 180 schools in Cross River State of Nigeria. The\u0000sample consisted of 400 pupils. Prototype garments were produced and modelled by four\u0000pre-school children of ages 2,3,4 and 5 years. The garments were evaluated by five\u0000judges. Results after analysis of data with mean and ANOVA provided average body\u0000measurements and also indicated that the patterns developed were appropriate for the\u0000target group. The results also showed that there is no significant difference in the mean\u0000body measurement for height and backneck to waist for ages 2,3,4 and 5 years. The\u0000average body measurements obtained are therefore recommended for drafting and\u0000adapting patterns for the target group and the standardized block patterns are also\u0000recommended for clothing manufacturing companies. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 3 2005: pp. 61-72","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122700781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On What Foundation is Africa Building its Science and Technology Base?: Africa's Participation in TIMSS-2003","authors":"J. Anamuah-Mensah, D. K. Mereku","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38598","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V3I1.38598","url":null,"abstract":"In 2003, six African countries - Ghana Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Botswana and South\u0000Africa - participated in an international assessment programme in science and mathematics,\u0000called the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The study\u0000examined the performance of eighth graders in mathematics and science as well as the\u0000contextual factors that could have influenced the performance. Analyses of the data\u0000indicated that in general the African countries performed poorly. Countries in the north of\u0000Africa performed significantly better than those in sub-Saharan Africa. Generally they all\u0000performed poorly on items that involved solving non routine problems and reasoning.\u0000Examination of the context for learning science and mathematics revealed several\u0000weaknesses in the curricula of the participating African countries. It indicated that majority\u0000of the students did not have the opportunity to learn a substantial proportion of the content\u0000assessed in the TIMSS even though these were part of their intended curricula. The least\u0000use of technology (i.e. calculators and computers) in the curricula was also reported by the\u0000African countries. Recommendations are made for African governments to pay attention to\u0000the teaching of science and mathematics in the primary and secondary schools. The results\u0000of the study suggest the need to carry out an indebt examination to identify the dimensions\u0000of the problem for information that would be helpful in policy decisions to address the\u0000issue across the continent. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 3 2005: pp. 1-8","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114547731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative Effects of Circuit Training Programme on Speed and Power of Pre- and Post- Menarcheal Girls","authors":"B. Adeniji","doi":"10.4314/ajesms.v5i1.38612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/ajesms.v5i1.38612","url":null,"abstract":"This study examined the Comparative Effects of Circuit Training Programme on Speed and Power of Pre- and Post-Menarcheal girls. A pre-test- posttest control group\u0000experimental design was used to carry out the study. A total of 80 Secondary School girls\u0000from St. Peter's College, Olomore, Abeokuta, in Ogun State of Nigeria, ages 10-17 years\u0000took part in the study. The subjects were not involved in competitive school sports.\u0000Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 40 pre-menarceal and 40 postmenarcheal girls who were later randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. At the end of the training programme, 40 subjects completed the post training measurements, so there were 10 subjects in each of the four study groups (pre-menarcheal experimental, pre-menarcheal control, post-menarcheal control, post-menarcheal experimental, postmenarcheal control groups). The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) (2-ways) using the difference score method to test the hypotheses for the study at 0.05 level of significance. Where there was any significant F, Scheffe post-hoc analysis was used for further analysis. The result showed that in general, maturation and training accounted for a lot of the differences in the performance of the study groups.\u0000There was no significant difference in power of pre- and post- menacheal girls as a result\u0000of 12-weeks circuit training programme. The findings also indicated that the main effects\u0000of factor A (Status: pre- and post- menarcheal girls) and factor B (Study Conditions:\u0000Experimental and Control) were statistically significant. The effects of the training on\u0000speed was significantly better for pre-menarcheal girls than for post-menarcheal girls (Post\u0000test 9.32; 9.56). Subjects in the experimental groups had better power than those in the\u0000control groups. The Implications of this study are that exercise training such as the circuit\u0000used in this study can make observable differences in speed and power of adolescents.\u0000Effective exercise training programmes should therefore be considered as an integral and\u0000inevitable aspect of school curriculum. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 35-42","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131391840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Junior Secondary School Pupils' Perception of the Relevance of Environmental Issues: Implications for Science Educators","authors":"Ik Anderson","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V5I1.38618","url":null,"abstract":"This study focuses on how the Ghanaian youth would want to associate with some environmental matters regarding science and technology learning using the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey questionnaire; and is also aimed at providing implications for science educators. The results reported in this study are an extract from the author's thesis and also from Ghanaian data which are aspects of much larger ROSE data collected from about 40 countries. The study involved a sample of 1027 Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 or ninth graders (551 boys and 476 girls) drawn from all the 12 districts in the Central Region of Ghana. The study draws on only one of the themes covered by the ROSE instrument and pupils were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with 18 statements on a 4-point Likert-type scale which goes from ‘Disagree' to ‘Agree'. The responses were analysed using SPSS and Excel. Descriptive statistics was conducted\u0000on the data and an independent sample 2-tailed t-test was used to explore the statistical\u0000significance of the differences in the items' mean at p ≤ 0.05. On the average, the results suggest that the majority of pupils in the sample, irrespective of the gender shared almost similar sentiments towards environmental protection issues and to a large extent, placed the same items on top as well as at the bottom of their priorities. An interesting aspect of pupils' concerns for the environment was their optimism about the future of the globe. The study suggests the need for science educators to consider pupils' views when teaching environmental related issues. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 87-98","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132689040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determination of electron temperature and electron density in laboratory plasmas using the double probe method","authors":"M. Gasseller, A. Gholap","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V1I1.38572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V1I1.38572","url":null,"abstract":"The electron temperatures and electron densities of air and argon have been measured at various pds (pressure times distance). The electron temperatures have been computed using the Johnson-Malter double-probe method. The electron densities have been computed using the total positive ion current and the cross-sectional area of the probes. It is seen that the electron temperature increases from 5.8 × 10 2 o K to 7.83 × 10 4 o K as the pd is reduced from 130mm Hg × mm to 60 mm Hg × mm for argon. The electron densities increases from 2.8 × 10 11 /cm 3 to 3.2 × 10 11 /cm 3 for the same variation of pds. For air the electron temperature increases from 3.6 × 10 4 o K to 7.80 × 10 4 o K as the pd is reduced from 130 mm Hg × mm to 60 mm Hg × mm. The electron density increases from 4.4 × 10 11 /cm 3 to 6.3 × 10 11 /cm 3 for the same variation of pd. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 1, 2001: 1-11","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116117416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Science for development: failure in Ghana","authors":"Ha Brown-Acquaye","doi":"10.4314/AJESMS.V2I2.38591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/AJESMS.V2I2.38591","url":null,"abstract":"The deplorable situation in almost all Third World countries with respect to diseases, poverty, housing and sanitation has prompted governments in these countries to look to science and technology as the panacea to their problems. Their belief rests on the evidence that science is an integral part of modern western society and that the levels of utilization of technology are directly related to their scientific progress. Science and science education are therefore considered to be the vehicles to uplift the Third World countries from their deplorable living conditions. Various strategies have been advanced and introduced by concerned international organizations including UNESCO. The ‘Science for Development' model has been highlighted and practiced since the 1960s.Unfortunately realistic results have not been fort-coming. The factors for the seemingly intractable failures of the ‘Science for Development' model have been identified in this paper .Among these is the fact that cultural perspectives have been ignored in the implementation of the imported model which is based on western worldview. The recommended constructivist approach to teaching and learning is also based on western worldview. The Ghanaian worldview has been discussed and recommendations made as to how to incorporate this worldview into the teaching and learning of science. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 2(2) 2004: 11-30","PeriodicalId":210929,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128117773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}