The Effects of Problem-Solving Instructional Strategy, Three Modes of Instruction and Gender on Learning Outcomes in Chemistry

This study was designed to investigate the effects of problem-solving instructional strategy, three accompanying modes of instruction (i.e. Remediation, Feedback and Practice) and gender on learning outcomes in chemistry. A pre-test post-test control group quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Data were collected from a sample of 210 SS2 Chemistry Students made up of 109 males and 101 females selected from six schools in three (3) Local Government Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria based on multi-stage random sampling techniques. The Seven Step Chemistry Problem-Solving Model as suggested by Frazer (1981) and Selvarantnam (1983) was adopted for the study. The experiment was carried out on four (4) groups of Students. The Students in experimental groups 1 and 2 were exposed to Problem-Solving approach coupled with remediation and feedback respectively, experimental group 3 was exposed to Problem-Solving coupled with practice. The fourth group not treated formed the control group. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyse the data with the pre-test scores as covariates. The findings revealed that students in experimental group 1 (i.e. Problem-Solving coupled with remediation) had the highest performance in Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) followed by those exposed in experimental group 2 and 3 respectively (i.e. Problem-Solving coupled with feedback and practice respectively).However, the control group had the least performance in Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT). The implications were discussed and recommendations given. Keywords: Effects of Problem-Solving, Modes of Instruction, Learning Outcomes

The Economic Impact of Tourism Development in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

This study examined the effects of tourism development on the economy of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.  Economic contribution of tourism gives the tourism industry great respect among other industries in Ile-Ife community, as well as concern before business men and women, tourists, government officials, and the general public. Data for this study were collected from personal survey and the random administration of questionnaires on respondents in the four Local Government Areas in Ile-Ife. Results from this study showed that tourists very frequently, visit Ile-Ife, due to large number of tourists’ attraction sites in the area. This study recommended that, there is need for improvement of tourists’ attraction sites in the study area. This study will be of great help to tourists, environmentalists’, researchers, planners and policy makers in the tourism industry. Keywords: Economy, Development, and Touris

Spatial Distribution of Natural Tourism Potentials and Rural Development of Host Communities in Some Selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study examined the spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Natural tourism potentials gives the tourism industry great respect among other industries in Ekiti State, as well as a major concern to business men and women, tourists, government officials, and the general public. Data for this study were collected from personal survey and the random administration of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires on respondents in the study area. Results from this study showed that tourists vary frequently, visit the tourists’ potential sites, due to a large number of tourists’ attraction sites in the area. This study recommended that, there is need for improvement of tourists’ potential sites in the study area. This study will be of great help to tourists, environmentalists’, researchers, planners and policy makers in the tourism industry, as well as boost the economy of Ekiti State and in-turn impact positively on the development of the State. Keywords: Communities, Ekiti State, Natural Tourism Sites, Spatial Distribution

Evaluating The Operations Of Emergencies And Disaster Management Agencies In Ekiti State, Nigeria

The paper evaluates the efficacy of emergency and disaster management in Nigeria with reference to the situation in the Sixteen Local Government Areas of Ekiti State. The data were collected from primary sources; using questionnaire, personal observation and oral interview. A total number of one thousand six hundred (1600) questionnaires were administered in this study. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentages frequency counts and statistical significance “P-Value”. Results from this study showed that; the estimated financial cost of loss is significantly enormous across different age groups and educational background of citizens in the State. The study showed that Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency does not have enough capacity to meet the level of performance responsibility, which could support effective disaster management. The paper therefore suggests that to achieve effective and efficient emergency disaster management in the study area, there is need for collective participation in insurance policy/plan, creation of urban search and rescue capacity, seeking international co-operation and development dedicated research activities, through space applications and information technology among others. Keywords: Environmental Pollution, Environmental Management and Sustainable Developmen

Growth, nutrient digestibility, ileal digesta viscosity, and energy metabolizability of growing turkeys fed diets containing malted sorghum sprouts supplemented with enzyme or yeast

Growth, apparent nutrient digestibility, ileal digesta viscosity, and energy metabolizability of growing turkeys fed diets containing malted sorghum sprouts (MSP) supplemented with enzyme or yeast were investigated using 120, 28-day-old male turkeys. Six treatments were laid out in a 392 factorial arrangement of treatments with three dietary inclusion levels of MSP (0, 50, and 100 g/kg) and supplemented with 200 mg/kg yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) or 200 mg/kg of a commercial enzyme. The experiment lasted for the starter (day 28–56) and grower phases (day 57–84) of the birds. Each treatment group consisted of 20 turkeys replicated four times with five birds each. Data were analysed using analysis of variance while polynomial contrast was used to determine the trends (linear and quadratic) of MSP inclusion levels. Irrespective of dietary supplementation with enzyme or yeast, final body weight (BW), total BW gain, and feed intake for turkey poults from day 29–56 was reduced (p< 0.05) with increasing inclusion level of MSP. Dietary supplementation with yeast resulted in increased (p< 0.05) feed intake while enzyme supplementation improved (p 0.05) with MSP inclusion levels.Enzyme supplementation reduced (p< 0.05) ileal viscosity but had no effect (p>0.05) on AME. Inclusion of MSP resulted in poor growth performance. This confirms earlier studies that utilization of MSP by poultry is rather poor. Supplementation with enzyme or yeast did not lead to any appreciable improvement in performance of turkeys in this study

Spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected areas of Ekiti state, Nigeria

This study examined the spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Natural tourism potentials give the tourism industry great respect among other industries in Ekiti State, as well as a major concern to businessmen and women, tourists, government officials, and the general public. Data for this study were collected from the personal survey and the random administration of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires on respondents in the study area. Results from this study showed that tourists very frequently, visit the tourists’ potential sites, due to a large number of tourists’ attraction sites in the area. This study recommended that there is a need for improvement of tourists’ potential sites in the study area. This study will be of great help to tourists, environmentalists’, researchers, planners and policymakers in the tourism industry, as well as boost the economy of Ekiti State and in-turn impact positively on the development of the State

Subjective Evaluation of Life Satisfaction by community-dwelling Spinal Cord Injury Patients Managed at the University College Hospital, Ibadan

Background: Life satisfaction in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) population is influenced by the ability to perform social roles and engage in activities. Investigations on the psychosocial aspects of SCI in Nigeria have concentrated on the objective dimensions, while much has not been documented, qualitatively, on life satisfaction among the SCI survivors in our setting. The research focused on the subjective evaluation of well-being related to social role performance among community-dwelling adults with SCI managed at the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria.Methods: The study design is descriptive and qualitative data collection was utilized. Seventeen SCI patients who had been discharged home were purposively selected and interviewed via telephone. The domains of life evaluated included sexual life, marital life, and general life satisfaction. These were assessed with an interview guide intended for this purpose. Data were thematically content analysed.Results: Some participants could return to employment and perform occupational roles. The participants described their life as dissatisfactory. Dissatisfaction was reported with sexual and marital life and social interaction after SCI. Family role performance was likewise dissatisfactory. The participants’ dissatisfaction with life post-SCI was largely influenced by their internalization and interpretation of the inability to function in areas of life they perceived important.Conclusion: The subjective evaluation of life reported by persons living with permanent SCI suggests that they require more support from their families, healthcare providers and the community at large. Additionally, their psychosocial needs deserve constant monitoring by the significant others and healthcare providers in order to provide timely countermeasures. Keywords: Life Satisfaction; Social Role; Spinal Cord Injury; Subjective Evaluation; Nigeri

Evaluation of the Job Satisfaction of Hospital Pharmacists in Osun State, Nigeria

Background: Hospital pharmacists play a crucial role in achieving favourable patient outcomes, there are however limited studies about their job satisfaction in Nigeria.Objectives: The study aimed at evaluating the job satisfaction of hospital pharmacists, factors influencing it and also sought to assess the views of policy-makers regarding the satisfaction of hospital pharmacists in Osun State, Nigeria.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of 91 out of 110 practicing pharmacists in secondary and tertiary hospitals in Osun State of Nigeria. Data were collected with two sets of pre-tested questionnaire, one for the hospital pharmacists and another for policy-makers. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and weighted averages were used to summarize the data while Exact Binomial Test was used to test for relationships at 5% level of significance. Results: The factors influencing job satisfaction were found to include age of the pharmacists (ꭓ2 = 193.287, p = .000), job relevance in the hospital (Weighted Average (WA) = 4.43) and status job confers (WA = 3.95). It also showed that adequate remuneration (WA = 2.43), advancement opportunities (WA = 2.87) and time for personal life (WA = 2.88) influenced their job satisfaction. Policy-makers agreed (WA = 3.52) with the respondents that work environment favoured employee satisfaction.Conclusions: The hospital pharmacists were satisfied with their jobs. Certain aspects of the job like remuneration, advancement opportunities, time for personal life will need improvement to further increase their job satisfaction

Evaluation of liquid and solid phase mixing in Chinese dome digesters using residence time distribution (RTD) technique

The Residence Time Distribution (RTD) technique was applied to evaluate mixing of liquid and solid phases in laboratory scale Chinese dome digesters mixed via hydraulic variation. To achieve this purpose, six laboratory scales digesters with different mixing modes and two total solids (TS) concentrations using appropriate tracers were studied over a theoretical hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 30 days. The three different mixing modes were impeller, unmixed and hydraulic mixing, each at influent concentration of ca. 7.5 and 15% TS concentrations. The mode of mixing strongly affected the effective or actual residence time (ta) and directly influenced the percentage of dead zones. The Chinese dome digesters had more dead volumes than the impeller mixed reactors and less than the unmixed reactors. This implied that mixing was more efficient in the impeller mixed reactors followed by the hydraulic mixed reactors and then the unmixed reactors, irrespective of the TS concentration. There was a clear relation between the RTD results and anaerobic digestion performance viz. methane production. There is need to optimize the hydraulic variation in the Chinese dome digester to reduce dead zones while also optimizing the effective residence time (ta).</p

Spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected areas of Ekiti state, Nigeria

This study examined the spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Natural tourism potentials give the tourism industry great respect among other industries in Ekiti State, as well as a major concern to businessmen and women, tourists, government officials, and the general public. Data for this study were collected from the personal survey and the random administration of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires on respondents in the study area. Results from this study showed that tourists very frequently, visit the tourists’ potential sites, due to a large number of tourists’ attraction sites in the area. This study recommended that there is a need for improvement of tourists’ potential sites in the study area. This study will be of great help to tourists, environmentalists’, researchers, planners and policymakers in the tourism industry, as well as boost the economy of Ekiti State and in-turn impact positively on the development of the State