PENERAPAN PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS PRAKTIKUM TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR DAN KEMAMPUAN KERJA ILMIAH SISWA RNPADA KONSEP SISTEM PEREDARAN DARAH RNDI SMA NEGERI 2 PEUSANGAN

Anwar AR. Penerapan Pembelajaran Berbasis Praktikum Terhadap Hasil Belajar dan Kemampuan Kerja Ilmiah Siswa Pada Konsep Sistem Peredaran Darah di SMA Negeri 2 Peusangan. Tesis, Pembimbing I. Dr. Samingan, M.Si, Pembimbing II, Dr.Khairil, M.Si.ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui: (1) Peningkatan hasil belajar siswa pada konsep sistem peredaran darah yang dibelajarkan dengan pembelajaran berbasis praktikum (2) Peningkatan kemampuan kerja ilmiah siswa pada konsep sistem peredaran darah yang dibelajarkan dengan pembelajaran berbasis praktikum dibandingkan pembelajaran konvensional. Pengambilan data dilakukan di SMA Negeri 2 Peusangan pada tanggal 19 Agustus sampai dengan 16 September 2013. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode kuasi eksperimen dengan desain kontrol grup tes awal dan tes akhir. Populasi pada penelitian ini adalah seluruh siswa kelas XI IPA yang berjumlah 127 orang. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah tes untuk menilai hasil belajar berupa soal pilihan ganda dan kemampuan kerja ilmiah siwa berupa lembar observasi. Analisis data dilakukan dengan uji-t pada taraf signifikan 0,05. Hasil uji-t menunjukkan bahwa: (1) terdapat peningkatan hasil belajar siswa yang signifikan (p>0,05) antara siswa yang dibelajarkan dengan pembelajaran berbasis praktikum dengan pembelajaran konvensional, (2) terdapat peningkatan skor kemampuan kerja ilmiah siswa yang signifikan antara siswa yang dibelajarkan dengan pembelajaran berbasis praktikum dengan pembelajaran konvensional. Kesimpulan penelitian ini adalah (1) Pembelajaran berbasis praktikum pada konsep sistem peredaran darah dapat meningkatkan hasil belajar dan kemampuan kerja ilmiah siswa yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan pembelajaran konvensional, (2) Skor kemampuan kerja ilmiah siswa dengan pembelajaran berbasis praktikum lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan pembelajaran konvensional.Kata Kunci: Metode Praktikum, Hasil Belajar, Kerja Ilmiah Siswa, Sistem Peredaran Darah

Assessment of Structural Strength of Commercial Sandcrete Blocks in Kano State

This research was aimed at studying the strength properties of the commercial sandcrete blocks produced in Kano State. A total number of 250 block samples were randomly collected from five local government areas, fifty (50) from each of the local governments and cured for 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The blocks were subjected to various tests at wet and dry conditions as follow: wet compressive test, drying shrinkage, moisture movement and density all in accordance with established standards in the structural laboratory of Department of Civil Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the aggregates were subjected to sieve analysis and moisture content determination in the Geotechnical Laboratory of the department. The compressive strength was found to be between 0.25 N/mm2 and 0.92 N/mm2 which are far below the specified values (2.5 N/mm2 to 3.45N/mm2 respectively) in the Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS 87, 2000). It is concluded that the commercially produced sandcrete blocks in Kano State are of lower standard than expected. It is recommended that workshop should be organised periodically to enlighten the producers of sandcrete blocks. The importance of adhering to standard specifications should be emphasised and strict penalties be meted out to erring producers by the Nigerian Industrial Standard Organisation.Keywords: sandcrete blocks, compressive strength, Kano State, British standard, mix rati

Modelling of Hydropower Reservoir Variables for Energy Generation: Neural Network Approach

Efficient management of hydropower reservoir can only be realized when there is sufficient understanding of interactions existing between reservoir variables and energy generation. Reservoir inflow, storage, reservoir elevation, turbine release, net generating had, plant use coefficient, tail race level and evaporation losses are the major hydropower reservoir variables affecting the energy generation. Thus, this paper presents the modelling of reservoir variables of two hydropower dams along the River Niger (Kainji and Jebba dams) in Nigeria for energy generation using multilayer perceptron neural network. Total monthly historical data of Kainji and Jebba hydropower reservoirs’ variables and energy generated were collected from Power Holding Company of Nigeria respectively for a period of (1970-2011) and (1984-2011) for the network training. These data were divided into training, testing and holdout data set. The neural network summary yielded a good forecast for Kainji and Jebba hydropower reservoirs with correlation coefficients of 0.89 and 0.77 respectively. These values of the correlation coefficient showed that the networks are reliable for modeling energy generation as a function of reservoir variables for future energy prediction.Key words: Hydropower, reservoir variables, neural network, energy generation, coefficient of correlatio

CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LEGAL REGULATION OF MICROTRANSACTION ‘GACHA’: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ISLAMIC CRIMINAL LAW AND NATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

Microtransactions are a type of small-scale financial transaction conducted online. With the advent of the internet, trading transactions no longer require direct interaction between the seller and the buyer, as everything is done through online platforms. One form of microtransaction found in games is gacha. The issue of microtransaction gacha arises due to their inherent gambling elements. However, there is a loophole in current criminal law in Indonesia where no specific regulation governs this issue. This research aims to compare the differences in the legal regulation of microtransaction gacha between national criminal law and Islamic criminal law. The research methodology employed is a comparative method with a literature review approach. The findings of this research indicate that there is no specific regulation in national criminal law that categorizes microtransaction gacha as prohibited acts under the law, whereas, in Islamic criminal law, microtransaction gacha fulfill the elements of gambling and are therefore considered haram (forbidden). Therefore it is important to establish a framework of criminal law that regulates gacha systems to minimize the impacts caused by microtransaction gacha

PERAN PIMPINAN DALAM MEMBERDAYAKAN TENAGA PENDIDIK UNTUK MEMBANGUN GOOD UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE

The head of the higher education institution does not only play the role of administrator, manager, and supervisor of the programs established by the institution. The role of the head of the higher education institution to be a leader of the higher education institution must be able to grow the effectiveness of the planned program, be innovative in making decisions, as well as efficient in terms of time management, especially in terms of empowering educators. All of this must be internalized within the leadership of higher education institutions in building Good University Governance. This study uses qualitative research methods based on literature studies. The role of leadership in empowering educators to build Good University Governance will not be separated from its success in applying discipline, communication, participation, and building a professional work culture. Leaders of higher education institutions not only play roles as administrators, leaders, managers, or supervisors, but are holistically demanded to play an active role in internalizing strong responsibilities, as leadership capital capable of empowering teaching staff, effectively and measurably

RESEARCH EFFORTS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIA: DEVELOPMENT OF TRIP PLANNING MODELS

The critical situation of unwelcome frustration experienced by urban trip makers and roadside dwellers alike, calls for a very strong push by all stakeholders in the transportation sector to enhance the service performance of transportation facilities using Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Needed strategies for successful ITS implementation in both developed and developing nations, include but not limited to policy formulation and planning, funding of ITS projects, development and deployment of research products, system performance measurement, optimization of the performance of existing infrastructure, capacity building, etc. which could be much promoted with research efforts. Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS) and Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) categories as products of research on ITS were developed with data derived from urban trip makers on captive corridors, both in Ilorin, Kwara State and Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. The fundamental basis and status of the research activities targeted at developing and deploying the ITS in Nigeria are highlighted in the paper. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i3.

Bicaval obstruction complicating right atrial tuberculoma:the diagnostic value of Cardiovascular MR

Cardiac tuberculosis is rare and usually involves the pericardium. Myocardial tuberculoma is a very rare occurrence and only a few cases were reported

Potential determinants of salinity tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.) and modulation of tolerance by exogenous ascorbic acid application

Rice is a relatively salt-sensitive crop with the reproductive and seedling stages being the most sensitive. Two separate experiments were conducted to isolate potential determinants of salinity tolerance and to investigate the possibility of modulating salt tolerance by exogenous ascorbic acid (AsA) application. Rice plants were imposed to salinity (EC= 10.0 dS m-1) both at the seedling and reproductive phases of growth. Salinity at the seedling stage resulted a sharp decline in shoot and root growth related traits including leaf chlorophyll content, while hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels increased. Plants experienced with salinity at the reproductive phases of growth showed a significant reduction in yield attributing traits while the tissue levels of H2O2 increased. Exogenous AsA application reversed the negative impact of salt stress, modulating the root and shoots growth and yield related traits and lowering H2O2 and MDA levels. FL-478 was identified as the most tolerant genotype at the seedling stage, with Binadhan-10 being the most tolerant at the reproductive stage. Grain yield panicle-1 significantly and positively corrected with number of filled grains panicle-1, panicle length, plant height, and spikelet fertility, and negatively correlated with H2O2 levels. Stress tolerance indices clearly separated the tolerant and susceptible genotypes. A principal component analysis revealed that the first two components explained 87% of the total variation among the genotypes. Breeding efforts could therefore to undertake for developing salinity tolerance by manipulating endogenous AsA content in rice

Mining and analysis of audiology data to find significant factors associated with tinnitus masker

Objectives: The objective of this research is to find the factors associated with tinnitus masker from the literature, and by using the large amount of audiology data available from a large NHS (National Health Services, UK) hearing aid clinic. The factors evaluated were hearing impairment, age, gender, hearing aid type, mould and clinical comments. Design: The research includes literature survey for factors associated with tinnitus masker, and performs the analysis of audiology data using statistical and data mining techniques. Setting: This research uses a large audiology data but it also faced the problem of limited data for tinnitus. Participants: It uses 1,316 records for tinnitus and other diagnoses, and 10,437 records of clinical comments from a hearing aid clinic. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The research is looking for variables associated with tinnitus masker, and in future, these variables can be combined into a single model to develop a decision support system to predict about tinnitus masker for a patient. Results: The results demonstrated that tinnitus maskers are more likely to be fit to individuals with milder forms of hearing loss, and the factors age, gender, type of hearing aid and mould were all found significantly associated with tinnitus masker. In particular, those patients having Age<=55 years were more likely to wear a tinnitus masker, as well as those with milder forms of hearing loss. ITE (in the ear) hearing aids were also found associated with tinnitus masker. A feedback on the results of association of mould with tinnitus masker from a professional audiologist of a large NHS (National Health Services, UK) was also taken to better understand them. The results were obtained with different accuracy for different techniques. For example, the chi-squared test results were obtained with 95% accuracy, for Support and Confidence only those results were retained which had more than 1% Support and 80% Confidence. Conclusions: The variables audiograms, age, gender, hearing aid type and mould were found associated with the choice of tinnitus masker in the literature and by using statistical and data mining techniques. The further work in this research would lead to the development of a decision support system for tinnitus masker with an explanation that how that decision was obtained

The classification of skateboarding tricks: A support vector machine hyperparameter evaluation optimisation

The growing interest in skateboarding as a competitive sport requires new motion analysis approaches and innovative ways to portray athletes’ results as previous techniques in the identification of the tricks was often inadequate in providing accurate evaluation during competition. Therefore, there is a need to introduce an unprejudiced method of evaluation in skateboarding competitions. This paper presents the classification of five different skateboarding tricks (Ollie, Kickflip, Frontside 180, Pop Shove-it, and Nollie Frontside Shove-it) through the identification os significant frequency-domain signals collected via Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and the use of machine learning models. Onemale skateboarder (age: 23 years old) performed five different tricks repeatedly for several times. The time-domain data acquired from the IMU were converted to frequency-domain by employing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and a number of statistical features (mean, kurtosis, skewness, standard deviation, root mean square and peak-to-peak corresponding to x-y-z-axis of the IMU) were then extracted. Significant features were then identified from the Information Gain (IG) scoring. It was shown from the study that the Naïve Bayes (NB) classifier is able to acquire the highest classification accuracy of 100% on the test data compared to the other evaluated classifiers, namely Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and SupportVector Machine (SVM), by utilising the selected features, suggesting that the proposed methodology could provide an objective-based evaluation of the trick