Chola Bweupe, Simon Tembo

COVID-19 pandemic prevented physical converging of lecturers and students. Lessons that do not include laboratory sessions went on virtually, but there is need to know through the research what alternative was implemented for engineering laboratory lessons. Did students and lecturers just forego their engineering laboratory sessions during the pandemics lockdown and hope to have them after the pandemic eased off. The research aimed at establishing what alternative methods were used to deliver the engineering laboratory lessons, investigate the effectiveness of using virtual tools and platforms as an alternative to traditional face to face learning, if they compromise on the quality of education and to establish how best engineering laboratory lessons can be undertaken when physical engagement between lecturers and student is limited. It was vital to first assess what prevailed with regards to delivery of engineering laboratory lessons during the pandemic and hence the following findings: 61.21% of students did not have engineering laboratory sessions during the pandemic. 23.41% of students viewed virtual tools and platforms as an alternative to the traditional face to face engineering laboratory lessons as effective and 76.59% viewed them as not effective. If virtual engineering laboratory lessons compromise on the quality of education 70.68 of students said yes while 29.32% said no. Interview findings from lecturers indicated that a majority of laboratory lessons didn’t take place during the pandemic due to university infrastructure not able to accommodate the demand for virtual learning, slow internet speed, cost of internet and virtual laboratory learning hampered by lack of financial capacity by universities to provide the needed virtual tools and platforms.

Regina Akuffo Darko, Jane Mwangi, Lucy-Joy Wachira

This study aimed at determining PE student-teachers’ intention of including SWDs in practical PE lessons in Ghana. The study involved student-teachers from two universities that train physical education teachers in Ghana. The study used sequential mixed-method design with a sample of 152 level 300 student-teachers selected using the purposive sampling technique. Student-teachers’ intentions, outcome of intention (behavioural beliefs and perceived control beliefs) as well as predictors of intention to include SWDs were ascertained using the Attitude towards Teaching Individuals with Physical Disabilities in Physical Education (ATIPDPE) instrument. The results indicated that student-teachers’ intention to include SWDs was positive however they had anticipated fear rooted from the inadequacy of their training programme and perceived fear of lack of support in terms of equipment and facilities for effective inclusion. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that perceived behavioural control belief predicted 14.0% of variance in intention than behavioural beliefs did. This study concludes that student-teachers have positive intention to include SWDs in their PE practical lessons. It is recommended that university coursework in Adapted Physical Education and Special Education should be modelled in line with inclusion principles and practices to help student-teachers to frequently reflect on their beliefs and intentions of teaching SWDs in practical PE lessons.

Yeukai Mumbijo

According to the available statistics of 2016, more than 400 million people were learning English as a second language. The numbers had drastically risen since this data was published. This was evidenced by the continuous opening of private institutions offering English lessons all over China. Private English training centers had become the backbone of English learning in China before the sudden outbreak of the corona virus in China first and to the rest of the world. The pandemic brought many changes to the education sector as well as the nature of English learning in China. This article is a general overview of how English learning was affected by the outbreak of the corona virus. It also looks at how the government policies are affecting English learning especially for young learners. In the article there are suggestions on how to possibly improve English language learning.

Zhichen Wu

Class WeChat group sees its pros and cons, and the primary school head teacher should follow the trend, know how to promote pros and cons, combine management, discipline and autonomy, make it an artifact of class management and help class management.

Cheruto Rosemary Sigei, Chepkoech Janet

The study aimed at determining the levels of independent action of mild mental challenge learners using experimental and control groups in Tonongoi Primary, Sigowet Division, Kericho West District, Kenya. Data was collected from a sample of fifteen (15) learners with mild mental retardation. Purposive sampling was utilized. The research design for the study was experimental through the use of pretest and posttest. There were two groups used in the study, the experimental and the controlled groups. The findings reveals that majority of the respondents were female 14(53.8%). Majority of the respondents were aged 10 years and the minority were aged 9 years respectively. The study concludes that, learners with mild mental challenged faces challenges in learning and this may be due to mental challenged they exhibit. Teaching them requires employment of varied learning strategies. The recommendations in the study suggested that, functional skills should be included in the curriculum and all stakeholders should advocate for these persons to give opportunities in order to realize their potentials.

Ruchira Abeyweera, Iresha U. Attanayake, U. G. Kithsiri, Nihal S. Senanayake, Torsten H. Fransson

Hackathons can play a vital role in discovering feasible solutions to the issues in the very dynamic field of education, especially the higher education. The demand for higher educational opportunities is increasing globally and providing access to high quality educational opportunities for all with the existing pedagogies is becoming a serious issue, especially for emerging economies. This study focuses on a hackathon, named as DigiEduHack’19 conducted recently. DigiEduHack is an initiative of European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) under the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan, led by EIT Climate- Knowledge Innovation Community and coordinated by Aalto University. This paper investigates the insight of the event organized in Sri Lanka as a participating country of the global DigiEduHack’19, focusing on the process of organization of the event and how the participants reflected on the different aspects of the hackathon, in the context that Sri Lanka has little experience of this type events. Nearly 90% had right understanding on the purpose of their taking part in the event. About the source of getting to know about the event, the social media was found to be most effective. Thirty six percent of the participants indicated that the event was of the type they expected, whereas 14% indicated that the event was completely different to that they expected. With regard time duration of the event, 69% were found to be satisfied whereas 30% were of the view that duration is too long. A majority (84%) were found to be satisfied as being partners to the event after seeing the other groups’ solutions in the final stage. Many of the participants voted for “learning novel concepts” as being the most excited about the event. The most troubling about the event was the short time given for the participants to present their solutions to the audience and evaluators. In addition, working until midnight, time duration, environmental condition, rest time periods, and rest rooms were indicated as of the most concerned. All these are related to logistic and organization of the event. No serious comments were given for technical assistance, mentoring and other academic support given to the participants. The most important outcomes of the event were that inspiration created among all that will be a stimulus to create similar actions to seek speedy solutions to the problems in the digital education arena, the experiences gained, and the lessons learnt.

Saeideh Shahmari Kalestan, Ata Yakup Kaptan

There exist several story books published for children in Turkey. These story books for children which constantly increase in number bring about also certain qualitative problems in terms of their designs. Various details that need attention in the design of story books come into play. The design of story books prepared especially for early age groups is likely to have positive or negative effects on the learning process. Therefore, the need emerges for the design of new story books which are designed by taking into consideration the developmental characteristics and needs of the target audience. Upon researches performed under this study, it was discerned that the number of story books which were composed by paying attention to the developmental characteristics of the target audience and in conformity with design elements and principles was far from being satisfactory. This study addressed problems encountered in the use of external structure, internal structure, typography and illustration elements in story books published for children which made up the research sample and were analyzed on the basis of specified criteria. In this qualitative research, the review of literature and study field was carried out. Techniques used in children’s story books were evaluated.

Joswa Billonid, Ma. Teresa Cabailo, Winde Rose Mie Dagle, Donna May Godilano, Kyle Robert Kibanoff, Lenny Rose Tasic

In the Philippines, the implementation of K-12 is new, and everybody is trying to adapt to the new curriculum. Adapting to the new education system and having extracurricular activities like sports might be hard for the students. Thus this study compared the academic performance of athletes and non-athletes in Grade 12 Senior High School students (N=60) using their midterm score and a survey questionnaire after the K-12 implementation. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the midterm scores between non-athlete (78.13 ± 13.71) and athlete (73.7 ± 9.13) with the p-value of 0.146. The results of the survey questionnaire showed that only two (2) questions out of fifteen (15) (Do you skip classes? and Do you have enough allowance?) had a significant difference (p>0.05). The present investigation showed that athletes have the same academic activities and performance as non-athletes.

Stephen O. Adongo, Jack Odongo Ajowi, Peter JO Aloka

The study investigated the relationship between school incentives and effectiveness of student councils in promoting discipline in secondary schools in Bondo sub-county, Kenya. The study was based on functional leadership theory. The study was based on mixed method approach. The study uses Concurrent triangulation design within the mixed method approach. The study targeted 1636 prefects, 280 teachers, 43 principals, 43 school captains and 49 deputy principals in 43 secondary schools in Bondo sub-county. A sample size of 491 prefects, 86 teachers, 13 principals, 13 school captains and 15 deputy principals was obtained. Questionnaires were used to obtain data from prefects and teachers while an interview schedule was used to obtain information from principals, school captains and deputy principals. To ensure face, content and construct validities of the research instruments, supervisors and members of the school of Education at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology who are experts in this area of study scrutinized the research instruments. Test re-test method of establishing reliability of questionnaires was used. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as Pearson’s product moment correlation and regression analysis. Thematic analysis is essentially a method for identifying and analyzing pattern in qualitative data. The findings indicated a strong positive relationship (r = .635) between school incentives and effectiveness of student councils. It is recommended that the Kenyan Ministry of Education should develop a manual for prefects training and mentorship for secondary schools for effectiveness of students’ councils.

Ian Kurtz

Large-scale social debates ubiquitously have disparate viewpoints with disparate constituencies, and thus education in such important social issues necessitate teaching and learning many difference opinions and perspectives. Teaching history and social sciences in today’s schools prepares students to address large-scale (perhaps catastrophically global) social issues like nuclear deterrence. The American center for strategic and budgetary assessments in Washington, D.C. announces the extraordinary monetary costs to maintain deterrence, and it is easy to argue those moneys could be better spent elsewhere, demanding critical thinking (stemming from solid education) of this global social issue. This manuscript explores nuclear deterrence education within United States civilian institutions of higher learning. The subjects of nuclear deterrence and nuclear weapons are prevalent throughout many academic programs and initial data indicates these topics are sometimes not taught in a balanced fashion, and the potential for bias can lead to demotion of some university education programs to comprise instead mere indoctrination. No doubt, nuclear weapons have a long and controversial history, but the current American national security strategy considers nuclear weapons vital to the ability to preserve peace and stability. Data analysis is performed in veins: qualitative examination of fifty-six nuclear weapons class syllabi and the vitas and curricula vitae (CV) of each instructor. Readings and assignments for each course were examined and each syllabus was searched for the presence of important key words, both positive and negative. Key words like deterrence, modernization, surety, victim, and abolish were crucial to understanding the scope of the classes. In addition, a study of the course instructor’s background provides a glimpse into their qualifications to teach in the subject area of nuclear weapons and deterrence comprehensively. Based on this methodology, each class and instructor were given an assessment, and the results reveal that some courses were taught in a negative and biased manner, and some instructors lacked sufficient background to teach such topics.