Factors that contribute to obesity problem among UTHM catering student

Negative perception by the society and the hospitality industry toward the disabled people is very high and it has to be changed and this parties should be given opportunity to work in this industry. Rosli, et al (2011) states the acceptance in the small and medium industries towards the disabled is at moderate level. However, in 2005, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (KPTM) has initiated Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan, Johor Bahru conduct a pioneer program to produce graduates with disabilities (OKU) with hearing impairments for a career in the hotel industry. Related to the situation, some lecturers were sent to attend sign language courses for the preparation for the program, some facilities were updated to fit their needs. To this present Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan, Johor Bahru has produced hundreds of OKU graduates. It is hope that the graduates produced from this program could reduce the number of foreign worker working in the industry. Dependence on foreign workers should be reduced because there are almost 2.6 million people with special needs in Malaysia. Some of them have been able to pursue their studies to diploma and Bachelor degrees. Through the development of education they are participated in, it is hoped that they will also contribute to the country's economy. The Government of Malaysia is in the effort to transform employers' perceptions towards this group to be more positive. Thus, several initiatives or benefits had been made by the Government of Malaysia to attract more government link companies (GLC) and private firms to hire people from this group. However there are also some challenges and obstacles faced by the industry in accepting these graduates at their company. Taheing (1996) states that in its study it has been able to identify problems that limit the employment of disabled persons including physiological factors, disability due to defects, occupational types, gender factors, workplace environment, personality, illness and other disabilities. This is a challenge and obstacle faced by the employer in hiring the disabled graduates in their industry. Therefore, the industry is highly concerned with the selection of highly capable employees in helping to increase profits to the company

Big Data as a Technology-to-think-with for Scientific Literacy

This research aimed to identify indications of scientific literacy resulting from a didactic and investigative interaction with Google Trends Big Data software by first-year students from a high-school in Novo Hamburgo, Southern Brazil. Both teaching strategies and research interpretations lie on four theoretical backgrounds. Firstly, Bunge's epistemology, which provides a thorough characterization of Science that was central to our study. Secondly, the conceptual framework of scientific literacy of Fives et al. that makes our teaching focus precise and concise, as well as supports one of our methodological tool: the SLA (scientific literacy assessment). Thirdly, the "crowdledge" construct from dos Santos, which gives meaning to our study when as it makes the development of scientific literacy itself versatile for paying attention on sociotechnological and epistemological contemporary phenomena. Finally, the learning principles from Papert's Constructionism inspired our educational activities. Our educational actions consisted of students, divided into two classes, investigating phenomena chose by them. A triangulation process to integrate quantitative and qualitative methods on the assessments results was done. The experimental design consisted in post-tests only and the experimental variable was the way of access to the world. The experimental group interacted with the world using analyses of temporal and regional plots of interest of terms or topics searched on Google. The control class did 'placebo' interactions with the world through on-site observations of bryophytes, fungus or whatever in the schoolyard. As general results of our research, a constructionist environment based on Big Data analysis showed itself as a richer strategy to develop scientific literacy, compared to a free schoolyard exploration.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 8 table

Self-Regulation in a Web-Based Course: A Case Study

Little is known about how successful students in Web-based courses self-regulate their learning. This descriptive case study used a social cognitive model of self-regulated learning (SRL) to investigate how six graduate students used and adapted traditional SRL strategies to complete tasks and cope with challenges in a Web-based technology course; it also explored motivational and environmental influences on strategy use. Primary data sources were three transcribed interviews with each of the students over the course of the semester, a transcribed interview with the course instructor, and the students’ reflective journals. Archived course documents, including transcripts of threaded discussions and student Web pages, were secondary data sources. Content analysis of the data indicated that these students used many traditional SRL strategies, but they also adapted planning, organization, environmental structuring, help seeking, monitoring, record keeping, and self-reflection strategies in ways that were unique to the Web-based learning environment. The data also suggested that important motivational influences on SRL strategy use—self-efficacy, goal orientation, interest, and attributions—were shaped largely by student successes in managing the technical and social environment of the course. Important environmental influences on SRL strategy use included instructor support, peer support, and course design. Implications for online course instructors and designers, and suggestions for future research are offered

Making the Communication of CCS more "human"

CCS communication has proven a tough challenge, particularly for the difficulty in raising interest for the technology, which is still unknown to the majority of the population, and for the complexity of conveying information about its potential for reducing emissions. In this paper we present a research based effort for bringing CCS nearer to people, through visual material developed taking into account emotional needs related to the technology. The production of a short introductory film on CCS is illustrated and its testing with a sample of 700 high school students

Getting to Outcomes: A User's Guide to a Revised Indicators Framework for Education Organizing

Research for Action (RFA) has been among those engaged in education organizing research and has drawn on its previous efforts–as well as the knowledge built by community organizing groups and other researchers–to create this User's Guide. The Indicators Framework can serve as a tool to help education organizing groups engage in self-reflection and evaluation of their efforts. Communities for Public Education Reform (CPER) commissioned RFA to update its theory of change, developed in partnership with CPER in 2002. The theory of change explains how education organizing works to strengthen communities and improve schools. Accompanying this theory of change was a set of indicators that could be used to assess the outcomes of the organizing process. This updated Indicators Framework reflects the adaptations education organizing groups are making in response to the new education realities, and to over a decade of experience working to change schools in low-income neighborhoods

Natural coagulates for wastewater treatment; a review for application and mechanism

The increase of water demand and wastewater generation is among the global concerns in the world. The less effective management of water sources leads to serious consequences, the direct disposal of untreated wastewater is associated with the environmental pollution, elimination of aquatic life and the spread of deadly epidemics. The flocculation process is one of the most important stages in water and wastewater treatment plants, wherein this phase the plankton, colloidal particles, and pollutants are precipitated and removed. Two major types of coagulants are used in the flocculation process included the chemical and natural coagulants. Many studies have been performed to optimize the flocculation process while most of these studies have confirmed the hazardous effects of chemical coagulants utilization on the ecosystem. This chapter reviews a summary of the coagulation/flocculation processes using natural coagulants as well as reviews one of the most effective natural methods of water and wastewater treatment

An evaluation of Simventure

This paper discusses the value of providing a simulated experience of how organisations work enabling skills and knowledge from disparate subject areas to be synthesised and assimilated in solving complex business proble

Microalgae production in fresh market wastewater and its utilization as a protein substitute in formulated fish feed for oreochromis spp.

Rapid growing of human population has led to increasing demand of aquaculture production. Oreochromis niloticus or known as tilapia is one of the most globally cultured freshwater fish due to its great adaptation towards extreme environment. Besides, farming of tilapia not only involves small scales farming for local consumption but also larger scales for international market which contributes to a foreign currency earning. Extensive use of fishmeal as feed for fish and for other animals indirectly caused an increasing depletion of the natural resource and may consequently cause economic and environmental unstable. Microalgae biomass seems to be a promising feedstock in aquaculture industry. It can be used for many purposes such as live food for fish larvae and dried microalgae to substitute protein material in fish feed. The microalgae replacement in fish feed formulation as protein alternative seem potentially beneficial for long term aqua-business sustainability. The present chapter discussed the potential of microalgae as an alternative nutrition in fish feed formulations, specifically Tilapia

Cognitive and Social Help Giving in Online Teaching: An Exploratory Study

While literature suggests that college students may be less reluctant to seek help in online rather than traditional courses, little is known about how online instructors give help in ways that lead to increased student help seeking and academic success. In this study, we used theories and research on learning assistance and scaffolding, teacher immediacy, social presence, and academic help seeking to explore through a cross-case study design how three online instructors differed in their use of cognitive and social supports and how those differences related to student perceptions of support, help seeking, and performance. Primary data sources included all course postings by the instructors, interviews with the instructors, observational field notes on course discussions, student interviews, and final student grades. Archived course documents and student discussion postings were secondary data sources. Data analysis revealed that while all instructors provided cognitive and social support, they varied in their level of questioning, use of direct instruction, support for task structuring, and attention to group dynamics. This variation in teaching presence related to differences across the courses in student perceptions of support, student help seeking in course discussions, and final course grades. Implications for online teaching and suggestions for further research are offered

Understanding Learning Style Variations among Undergraduate Students

A study was conducted in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu state to understand the learning styles of students. The term learning style refers to the way or method or approach by which a student learns. The study explored the possible learning style variations among agricultural, horticultural, engineering and arts & science students and their association with academic achievement. One hundred and twelve students were randomly selected from the four streams and their learning styles were analyzed. In the agricultural and horticultural streams, a majority of the students were auditory learners. They were also found to be predominantly unimodal learners. Overall, it was found that majority of the students were visual learners followed by auditory and kinesthetic style. The highest percentage of kinesthetic learners was found among engineering students. Trimodal learners scored the highest mean percentage of marks. The influence of learning styles on the academic achievements of the students did not show a significant relationship