A Digital Lego-Based Learning Environment for Fraction Ordering

Learning environment is a process where learning is activated or enabled and the resources to support it are made available to a learner in order to construct and acquire knowledge. An environment must be simulated with features that enable learning to be fascinating, motivating and required mental process for critical thinking. What is to be learnt is crucial in learning and the focus of learning as a domain knowledge is fraction ordering, which is one of the topics in Mathematics. Hence, this paper develops a digital Lego-based learning environment for fraction ordering.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i4.1

Digital game-based quadratic factorisation learning system using tic-tac-toe

Learning is in form of continuous process that should translate to produce knowledge. The process of learning is very crucial in the fields of education and psychology which must be planned with appropriate strategy and approach. Several researchers have made many contributions to what could increase learners’ engagement in learning process that would lead to successfully learning outcome. Game technology in conjunction with learning have been attested as one of the ways that increase learners’ learning motivation and attention and have hands-on experience for effective learning performance. The conventional mode of learning mathematics as a subject seems abstract, tedious and dreadful to most students but with the deployment of game technology to learning would promote entertainment-education for constructive and cognitive knowledge processes. Hence, a digital game-based quadratic factorisation learning system is developed using the game theory of tic-tac-toe. The system is built on Microsoft. Net Framework and game logic. The system was subjected to a performance evaluation based on six criteria such as ease of use, intuitive user interface, correctness of results, usefulness of the system to problem solving, system speed of solving the problems and memory usage by the system. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the system is efficiently suitable for the underlined objectives.Keywords: digital game, quadratic factorisation, learning system, tic-tac-to

Development of an Ontology-Based Personalised E-Learning Recommender System

E-learning has become an active field of research with a lot of investment towards web-based delivery of personalised learning contents to learners. Some issues of e-learning arise from the heterogeneity and interoperability of learning content to suit learner’s style and preferences in order to improve the e-learning environment. Hence, this paper developed an ontology-based personalised recommender system that is needed to recommend suitable learning contents to learners using collaborative filtering and ontology. A pre-test is carried out for users in order to segment them in learning categories to suit their skill level. The learning contents are structured using ontology; and collaborative filtering is used to collects preferences from many users and then recommending the highest rated contents to users. The system is implemented using JAVA programming language with Structured Query Language (MySQL) as database management system. Performance evaluation of the system is carried out using survey and standard metrics such as precision, recall and F1-Measrure. The results from the two performance evaluation models showed that the system is suitable for recommending the required learning contents to learners

Tropical Landscapes and Nature-Culture Entanglements: Reading Tropicality via Avatar

Landscape integrates both natural and cultural aspects of a particular geographical area. Environmental elements include geological landforms, waterscapes, seascapes, climate and weather, flora and fauna. They also necessarily involve human perception and inscription which reflect histories of extraction and excavation, of planting and settlement, of design and pollution. Natural elements and cultural shaping by humans – past, present, and future – means landscapes reflect living entanglements involving people, materiality, space and place. A landscape’s physicality is entwined with layers of human meaning and value – and tropical landscapes have particular significance. The Tropics is far more than geographic and needs to be understood through the notion of tropicality. Tropicality refers to how the tropics are construed as the exoticised Other of the temperate Western world as this is informed by cultural, imperial, and scientific practices. In this imaginary – in which the tropics are depicted through nature tropes as either fecund paradise or fetid hell – the temperate is portrayed as civilised and the tropical as requiring cultivation. In order to frame this Special Issue through an example that evokes tropicality we undertake an ethnographic and ecocritical reading of Avatar. The film Avatar is redolent with images of tropical landscapes and their nature-culture entanglements. It furthermore reveals classic pictorial tropes of exoticism, which are in turn informed by colonialism and its underlying notions of technologism verses primitivism. Furthermore, Avatar calls to mind the theories of rhizomatics and archipelagic consciousness

Development of a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Based Personalised E-Learning System

The major challenge of the traditional learning system is space-time restriction and it is teacher-centred. The emergence of Information Technology gave rise for e-learning systems which are characterized with the components of teacher-centred and one-size-fits-all strategy. Subsequently, the concept of personalisation with learning technology was introduced that provides adaptation of learning contents to learning requirements of the learners. Hence, this research paper develops a personalised e-learning system that matches teaching strategy with learners’ learning style using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  The emphasis is laid on adaptive teaching strategy and revising the teaching strategy for the purpose of increasing learners’ learning performance. The mathematical model is developed for profiling learners to determine their learning style based on the MBTI questionnaire and Dynamic Bayesian Network is applied to revise the teaching strategy. The system is implemented using PHP and Wamp server and the database is designed using Structured Query Language (SQL). The developed system is tested using Undergraduate students studying Information Technology at Federal University of Technology, Minna. The percentage analysis of the students’ scores shows that 78% of students passed and the remaining 22% passed when the strategy was revised. The performance evaluation of the system is carried out and from the analysis it can be concluded that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Based Personalised E-learning System developed is appealing to students and the performance of students improved significantly

Development of Mobile Access to FUTA Digital Library

Intellectual research findings and output of patent constitute a great impetus to national wealth creation and the development of the world at large. This can only be achieved through great access to a wealth of knowledge and experiences of past scholars that have contributed immensely to the intellectual bank. In the past, accessibility was only through entrance into a physical structure called “library” with books purchased with huge amount of money, arranged on a shelf.  The advent of Information and Communication Technologies has made accessibility and sharing of the wealth of experiences by scholars much easier. This wealth of experiences could now be powered by organizations, government, institutions and even individuals. But this technology is also limited in wider global coverage due to lack of infrastructure and non-exploitation of standard ICT policies especially in developing countries like Nigeria.  This paper develops a mobile platform that provides access and reuse of digital library to enhance academic findings and output of scholars in Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Nigeria. Keywords: mobile computing, digital library, information, universit

Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure and the Quest for Environmental Sustainability in the Niger Delta: The Prospect of Natural Gas Utilization in Nigeria

Natural gas distribution infrastructure is critical to socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability in Nigeria. Environmental degradation has benefited largely from inadequate natural gas utilisation and infrastructural development in the domestic and regional networks to gather, transmit and distribute the associated gas produced. Thus, this paper explores the concept of gas development to promote sustainable development and to tackle the problem of environmental degradation in Nigeria. It identified the various natural gas utilisation projects in the domestic, regional and international networks to stimulate economic growth as well as the quest for environmental sustainability across the gamut of Nigeria. These projects enable captured gas to be harnessed for socioeconomic and environmental benefit, eliminate routine gas flaring and create the much needed gas infrastructure for development. Quite remarkably, natural gas distribution infrastructure creates undisputed domestic and regional hub gas based opportunities for industries in the domestic network. It also acts as industrial feedstock to consolidate the market share in high value export market through the liquefied natural gas (LNG), Escravos Gas Project and the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) in the West African sub region. Keywords:  Natural gas utilisation; environmental sustainability; environmental preservation; JEL Classifications: O13, Q5

Design of a Digital Game-Based Learning Environment for Solving Quadratic Equations Using Completing-the-Square-Method

Various preconceptions about the effectiveness of applying digital-games approach in tandem with traditional teaching methods subsist in spite of learners increasing usage of digital devices and digital games. This trend obviously underplays the existing technological advancements made in respect to digital devices and computer game programming. This research paper applied the digital game approach to the teaching of mathematics with a view to boosting learner’s interest while mitigating boredom, difficulty and apprehension towards solving problems. It employed story-telling technique and role-play (both fun elements) to mathematics learning while still preserving the traditional stepwise approach to problem-solving in mathematics. A digital game-based environment was developed based on the battleship game. This environment was used to learn how to solve the quadratic equation using completing the square method. Performance evaluation was carried out to determine if the system aligns with the underlined objectives. The findings showed that using the digital game-based learning system helps in reducing learners’ apprehension in solving the quadratic problem and improved their cognitive skills in solving quadratic equations

Deteriorating hemostatic functions of adult female Wistar rats mediated by activities of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) – piroxicam and Vitamin E

Summary: The status of hemostatic parameters, are useful physiological markers of organ and tissue damage and dysfunction. This study investigated the effect of Piroxicam on some hemostatic parameters of albino Wistar rats. Twenty-four (24) female albino Wistar rats were used for this study, they were randomly divided into four (4) groups of six (6) rats each. Group A served as control, Group B and C were rats treated with 0.1 mg/kg and 0.2 mg/kg piroxicam while Group D served as 0.2 mg/kg piroxicam treated rats administered with Vitamin E. The experiment lasted for a period of 4 weeks, after which the rats were euthanized. Blood sample was collected for measurement of bleeding time, clotting time, fibrinogen level and platelets count. One-way ANOVA was used to compare, means and a p<0.05 was considered significant.Result: Data generated showed that Piroxicam significantly (p<0.05) decreased the clotting time, platelets count and fibrinogen level. Piroxicam also significantly (p<0.05) increased the bleeding time level of the rats. Co-administration of Vitamin E significantly (p<0.05) increased the bleeding time, it also significantly decreased the clotting time, fibrinogen level and platelets counts.Conclusion: This study therefore shows that Piroxicam impairs hemostasis while Vitamin E administration further enhances the activities of Piroxicam on hemostatic parameters.Keywords: Hemostasis, NSAIDs, Piroxicam, Bleeding Time, Clotting Time, Fibrinoge