ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF OJT TRAINING QUALITY FACTORS ON TVET STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION IN PREPARING FOR EMPLOYMENT IN OMAN

The Job Training has been utilised to provide work skills to TVET students in order to meet the labour market in Oman. It is important to determine whether the quality of the training is meeting to what TVET students’ needs. Therefore, this study examines the effect of the On-the Job-Training (OJT) quality factors on TVET students’ satisfaction. The internship is financed by Ministry of Manpower for TVET candidates in Oman and is meant to obtain employability skills. The study looked at the OJT training quality factors in relation to Trainer Quality, Effective assessment, Clear expectation, Learning Stimulation, Training Relevancy, Competence Development, Training Resources, Effective Support and Active Learning as found to have a direct link to students’ satisfaction. The pilot study of 30 samples was carried out and a random sampling method was used. Nevertheless, this study used a quantitative method of research. In addition, a descriptive method was used to analyse the data and the study results are provided in the form of explanatory notes. However, the reliability test was done i.e. Alpha Cronbach’s shows the range between 0.80 to 0.9 and this confirms the study results. The instrument of the survey of this study used the Coates (2009) AQTF quality indicator; using a five-point Likert scale. The literature review focused on Total Quality Management (TQM model) associated with 5-C TQM Model of Academic Excellence and Service Quality (SERVQUAL Model). Finally, the OJT training quality was measured against students’ satisfaction and the P-value was found to be statistically highly significant.  Article visualizations

FURTHER EVALUATION OF OJT TRAINING QUALITY FACTORS ON TVET STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION IN OMAN

The current demand in Oman’s labour market is to have a young skill full Omani who is capable to cope with the technical challenges in the industry, as work competence is found to be deficient. The quality of the work depends on the provision of On the Job Training (OJT) programme which is overseen by MoMP. As a result, there is a need for further investigation to determine the OJT quality factors that are associated with Trainer Quality, Effective Assessment, Clear Expectation, Learning Stimulation, Competence Development, Training Relevance, Training Resources, Effective support and Active Learning on students’ satisfaction. The study has embraced the quantitative and positivists method of research, using a stratified random sample to gauge 8 TVET institutes with a total sample of 317 participants. Additionally, the reliability of the test depends on Alpha Cronbach’s scale, and it scored acceptable levels i.e., 0.772 to 0.809. The survey instrument of Coates (2009) was adopted and the literature review was done to support the research conceptual frame. The support theories were based on SERVQUAL, TQM and Kirkpatrick four level of training evaluation model. The study survey used five Likert scales to analyze the data. The evaluation of OJT quality factors on TVET students’ satisfaction was measured, P value <0.01 and found statistically significant. The sample adequacy was measured by using KMO and Bartlett’s test and scored 0.833 within the threshold. Also, the research used three measurements of Goodness of fit and met the required threshold. Nonetheless, the hypothesis results showed an overall of 70% of hypotheses have a significant effect on TVET students’ satisfaction. Finally, the research contributes to developing work skills to meet students’ satisfaction.  Article visualizations

Snub 24-Cell Derived from the Coxeter-Weyl Group W(D4)

Snub 24-cell is the unique uniform chiral polytope in four dimensions consisting of 24 icosahedral and 120 tetrahedral cells. The vertices of the 4-dimensional semi-regular polytope snub 24-cell and its symmetry group {(W(D_{4})\mathord{/{\vphantom {(W(D_{4}) C_{2}}}. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} C_{2}}):S_{3} of order 576 are obtained from the quaternionic representation of the Coxeter-Weyl group \textbf{$W(D_{4}).$}The symmetry group is an extension of the proper subgroup of the Coxeter-Weyl group \textbf{$W(D_{4})$}by the permutation symmetry of the Coxeter-Dynkin diagram \textbf{$D_{4} .$} The 96 vertices of the snub 24-cell are obtained as the orbit of the group when it acts on the vector \textbf{$\Lambda =(\tau, 1, \tau, \tau)$}or\textbf{}on the vector\textbf{$\Lambda =(\sigma, 1, \sigma, \sigma)$}in the Dynkin basis with\textbf{$\tau =\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2} {\rm and}\sigma =\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}{2} {\rm .}$} The two different sets represent the mirror images of the snub 24-cell. When two mirror images are combined it leads to a quasi regular 4D polytope invariant under the Coxeter-Weyl group \textbf{$W(F_{4}).$}Each vertex of the new polytope is shared by one cube and three truncated octahedra. Dual of the snub 24 cell is also constructed. Relevance of these structures to the Coxeter groups \textbf{$W(H_{4}){\rm and}W(E_{8})$}has been pointed out.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Quaternionic Root Systems and Subgroups of the Aut(F4)Aut(F_{4})

Cayley-Dickson doubling procedure is used to construct the root systems of some celebrated Lie algebras in terms of the integer elements of the division algebras of real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions and octonions. Starting with the roots and weights of SU(2) expressed as the real numbers one can construct the root systems of the Lie algebras of SO(4),SP(2)= SO(5),SO(8),SO(9),F_{4} and E_{8} in terms of the discrete elements of the division algebras. The roots themselves display the group structures besides the octonionic roots of E_{8} which form a closed octonion algebra. The automorphism group Aut(F_{4}) of the Dynkin diagram of F_{4} of order 2304, the largest crystallographic group in 4-dimensional Euclidean space, is realized as the direct product of two binary octahedral group of quaternions preserving the quaternionic root system of F_{4}.The Weyl groups of many Lie algebras, such as, G_{2},SO(7),SO(8),SO(9),SU(3)XSU(3) and SP(3)X SU(2) have been constructed as the subgroups of Aut(F_{4}). We have also classified the other non-parabolic subgroups of Aut(F_{4}) which are not Weyl groups. Two subgroups of orders192 with different conjugacy classes occur as maximal subgroups in the finite subgroups of the Lie group $G_{2}$ of orders 12096 and 1344 and proves to be useful in their constructions. The triality of SO(8) manifesting itself as the cyclic symmetry of the quaternionic imaginary units e_{1},e_{2},e_{3} is used to show that SO(7) and SO(9) can be embedded triply symmetric way in SO(8) and F_{4} respectively

The hyperfine properties of a hydrogenated Fe/V superlattice

: We study the effect of hydrogen on the electronic, magnetic and hyperfine structures of an iron-vanadium superlattice consisting of three Fe monolayers and nine V monolayers. The contact charge density ({\rho}), the contact hyperfine field (Bhf) and the electronic field gradient (EFG) at the Fe sites for different H locations and H fillings are calculated using the first principle full-potential linear-augmented-plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method . It is found that sizeable changes in the hyperfine properties are obtained only when H is in the interface region.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, ICAME 2011 conference (Kobe, Japan

Size frequency and length-weight relationships of spined anchovy, Stolephorus tri from the coastal waters of Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia

Study on length-weight relationships of anchovy, Stolephorus tri collected from Benting Lintang (Lat. 5°44'33.62 N and Long. 102°39'22.84 E), the coastal waters of Besut, Terengganu was carried out on June and July 2010. Stolephorus tri are important component of marine ecosystems and commercially significant marine food resources in Malaysia. The mean size length of Stolephorus tri was 63.53 mm with a range of 51.0-76.0 mm. The average weight of Stolephorus tri was 1.57 g. The relationship between total length and body weight of Stolephorus tri was Log W = 3.0384 Log TL-5.2923 (W = 0.00001 TL3.0384). It is revealed that the exponent ‘b’ for Stolephorus tri was very close to the isometric value (b = 3). Therefore, the relative growth of Stolephorus tri was isometric in the coastal waters of Besut, Terengganu

Non-Isothermal Model for Nematic Spherulite Growth

A computational study of the growth of two-dimensional nematic spherulites in an isotropic phase was performed using a Landau-de Gennes type quadrupolar ensor order parameter model for the first-order isotropic/nematic transition of 5CB (pentyl-cyanobiphenyl). An energy balance, taking anisotropy into account, was derived and incorporated into the time-dependent model. Growth laws were determined for two different spherulite morphologies of the form tn, with and without the inclusion of thermal effects. Results show that incorporation of the thermal energy balance correctly predicts the transition of the growth law exponent from the volume driven regime (n=1) to the thermally limited regime (approaching n=0.5), agreeing well with experimental observations. An interfacial nemato-dynamic model is used to gain insight into the interactions that result in the progression of different spherulite growth regimes

Comparison of condition index in the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis between Sebatu and Pasir Panjang, Peninsular Malaysia

The condition index (which relates to the tissue dry weight to shell volume) of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis was investigated at Sebatu in Melaka and Pasir Panjang in Negri Sembilan from September 2003 to February 2004. Monthly samples of P. viridis were collected from culturing rafts at both sites. Variations in the average monthly condition index (CI) of P. viridis ranged from 21.06 to 26.72 g cm-3 and 15.18 to 19.41 g cm-3 in Sebatu and Pasir Panjang, respectively. Salinity values were lowest in November between 27.93 to 28.10 ppt in Sebatu and Pasir Panjang, respectively. Salinity then started increasing gradually until it reached 33.26 ppt in Sebatu and 31.23 ppt in Pasir Panjang in the month of February. Chlorophylla in Pasir Panjang showed higher fluctuation, ranging from 2.93 to 14.39 mg/L, while in Sebatu the fluctuations were lower and ranged between 7.70 and 9.37 mg 1-1. Rapid decline in CI values were recorded during January in Sebatu and February in Pasir Panjang. However, this rapid declining state of CI in P. viridis was an indication of its spawning period, when their gametes were released in the water column. These findings would help in the development of captive breeding techniques and mass seed production in aquaculture