Teaching the Debate

One very common style of teaching philosophy involves remaining publicly neutral regarding the views being debated—a technique commonly styled ‘teaching the debate.’ This paper seeks to survey evidence from the literature in social psychology that suggests teaching the debate naturally lends itself to student skepticism toward the philosophical views presented. In contrast, research suggests that presenting one’s own views alongside teaching the debate in question—or ‘engaging the debate’—can effectively avoid eliciting skeptical attitudes among students without sacrificing desirable pedagogical outcomes. Thus, there are good reasons to engage philosophical debates as an educator, not merely teach them

Reputation of University of Maroua at National and Regional levels in Cameroon

The study examined the reputation of University of Maroua at national and regional levels in Cameroon in terms of quality, staff promotability, students’ aspirations and the impacts. The paper further examined the administrative Capacity and the relationship between the leader and the led or subordinates as fundamental in reputation since her establishment in the region; its roles in national building of human capacity in both polities and manpower development in science and technology related courses. The study findings revealed that within four years of the establishment of this young University there is excellent work in all the faculties; human capacity all being improved, it behooves that students (human development) future career prospects, learning and research resources enhanced global utilization in a competitive economy. The study Vindicated stability enjoyed by both academic staff and students as meter of measuring its reputation, hence their human relation, their inputs and outputs achievements. The findings identified relationship as the instrument harnessing the different cultures, managing from the leadership ability. Profile recommendations were made including the need to extend the University’s reputation in the continent of Africa first before international level in all the variables indicated in the study including financial responsibility as this may give her a good percentage in bench mark among other Universities in Africa and the world over. Key words: quality, staff, promolability, students, aspirations, national, regional stability and relationship

Emerging Sexual Ethics and the Erosion of African Ethos

The emerging sexual ethics that characterise the contemporary society, remains new to Africa, a phase of the erosion of African ethos, and a negation of the sacredness and classical norms of sex, which deserves to be addressed by all and sundry. It is a contemporary trend brought to fore by homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals, among which are the radical feminists, who indoctrinate many with the practice and continuously push very hard for legalisation and acceptance by all cultures and religions. But interestingly, many cultures and religions still remain opposed to the practice and its evolved ethics since they abuse human sexuality and African ethos. Clearly, adherents and feminists of the ill-practices with the new sex ethics have lost touch with moral sanity and the metaphysical Being, God. Only worthwhile cultural traits need be borrowed into and imbibed by other cultures in contact. The rising ugly development can best be addressed through strong opposing legislations, the sustenance of cultural and moral norms and values (ethics) and attitudinal change

MANAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE UNEMPLOYMENT ALLEVIATION IN CAMEROON

Analysts have stressed the need for improved human capital development (HCD) in Cameroon and other developing nations on the ground that, a nation’s human capital is vital for a future technological breakthrough, international competitiveness and sustainable economic development. This empirical paper investigates the prospect of repositioning entrepreneurship education as a strategy for boosting human capital development and employability in Cameroon. This paper examined how entrepreneurship education can sustain unemployment in Cameroon. It stressed the importance of education in the growth and development of any economy. Before independence, the British and France literary education in Cameroon prepared graduates for white-collar jobs and did not make provision for self-employment. Cameroon changes to the new 6-7-3 system of education after independence, though stressed education for self-reliance did not arrest unemployment hence the need for entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship education, specialized training was designed to equip graduates with entrepreneurial skills for self-employment. It became necessary because of an increasing number of youth unemployment in Cameroon both National Education Board and the Advisory Council for Education initiatives and programs for entrepreneurship education have not arrested unemployment, perhaps, because it has not been effectively implemented as there was no clear indication to full implementation of entrepreneurship education curriculum in many institutions of higher learning. The paper, therefore, advocated for skill acquisition courses in our institutions of higher learning, hence this will go a long way to enable students to acquire basic entrepreneurial skills and innovations for self-employment or self-reliance; a well structured, unique and challenging curricula on entrepreneurship that will produce graduates with entrepreneurial skills for self-employment is needed as well as adequate funding of these institutions

Time-scales for the development of thermodynamic equilibrium in hydrocarbon reservoirs

This project investigates the time-scales for hydrocarbon components in an isothermal oil reservoir column to reach thermodynamic equilibrium under the competing influences of molecular diffusion and gravitational segregation by gravity diffusion. The influence of non ideal behaviour on the equilibrium compositional profile, as well as on the equilibrium time for some examples of binary and ternary hydrocarbon mixtures is also investigated. When the variation of hydrocarbon composition within a field cannot be described by standard steady-state models of gravity-diffusion equilibrium, it is usually assumed to be caused by some degree of hindrance to the connectivity of the oil volume, a situation known as reservoir compartmentalization. However, order of magnitude estimates of the time taken for thermodynamic equilibrium to be established by diffusion are similar to the ages of many hydrocarbon reservoirs (between 1 million and 100 million years). Thus it is possible that compositional variations within a reservoir may be simply due to there having been insufficient time from reservoir filling for diffusion to equilibrate compositions. It is important to determine the time-scales for vertical compositional gradients to be established in order to assess whether compositional profiles that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium are indicative of barriers to flow within the reservoir or simply that the reservoir fluids have not yet had time to establish a steady-state distribution. A macroscopic, numerical model of the thermodynamic behaviour of the reservoir fluids has been used for this investigation. The model has been validated against simple transient analytic solutions for molecular diffusion, as well as steady-state solutions for molecular/gravity diffusion in binary mixtures. It was found that a uniform mixture of methane and undecane will segregate over a vertical distance of 300m in a few hundred thousand years and that this timescale can be affected by non-ideal mixing and the relative proportions of the two components. Equilibrium time was found to be a function of the competing influences of molecular diffusion and gravitational segregation. We also use our model to investigate laboratory observations of compositional grading in ternary mixtures of methane, n-pentane and 1-methylnapthalene reported by Ratulowski et al. (2003) and why their numerical simulation produced an unexpectedly smaller separation when methylnaphthalene was replaced by n-undecane, although methylnaphthalene and undecane have almost the same molar weight. Our study also provides insight into the relative importance of density, molecular diffusion, initial composition and realmixture modelling (as opposed to ideal mixture assumptions) on compositional grading in a fluid more representative of a real crude oil

The Relevance of Budget Preparation in School Administration

A ZJER article on the importance of a school budget in the Nigerian educational system.Nigerian educational system is characterized by declining resources, rising costs and greater awareness for public accountability. These conditions make the management of the available human and material resources a social imperative. It demands a periodic preparation of the school budget. This paper therefore examines the concept of budgeting, its advantages in our school system and suggests some accounting requirements which are aimed at making the preparation of a budget less cumbersome and more realistic. It highlights four types of budgets: Zero-Base Budgeting (ZBB), Programme and Performance Budgeting, Planning, Programming and Budgeting Systems (PPBS) and Line- Item or Incremental Budgeting. This would enable the school administrators to avoid white elephant projects and use the lean available resources in achieving desirable targets. Indeed the school budget is the Head Teacher’s '‘stethoscope" and without it the school administration flounders, the paper observes

IMPERATINESS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ TECHNICAL SKILLS ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON

This article aimed at investigating the impact of school administrators’ technical skills on students’ academic achievement in Technical Secondary Schools in the South West Region of Cameroon. The variables investigated were; project management skills, financial management skills and school management skills. Data were collected from primary sources through administration of eighteen (18) questions items questionnaire using a four point Likert scale. Three (3) open ended questions items for data collection were constructed. These instruments were administered to eighty eight (88) school administrators and two hundred nineteen (219) teachers. Eight (8) interview guides questions were administered to fifty (50) students, given a total of three hundred and fifty seven (357) participants. The participants were randomly sampled from twenty five (25) functional technical secondary schools in the South West Region of Cameroon. The data collected from the research instruments were both quantitative and qualitative. Findings revealed that; project management skills have significant impact on students’ academic achievement with a calculated Chi-Square of 252.361, financial management skills have significant impact on students’ academic achievement with a calculated Chi-Square of 56.214 and school management skill have significant impact on student academic achievement with a calculated Chi-Square of 158.256. It was recommended amongst other things that, schools administrators should be trained to effectively manage school activities and finances for the interest of the schools toward students’ academic achievement in technical secondary schools in the South West region of Cameroon

Recruiting and Retaining Non-Traditional Secondary Music Students Through Modern Band

Despite the numerous research studies promoting popular music education, many school districts need to implement an ensemble that teaches popular music. On average, only 24 percent of high school students participate in an ensemble throughout their high school careers, and music educators are trying to address this through modern bands. This qualitative, postpositivist, existential-phenomenological study identifies how the implication of modern bands can increase and retain music enrollment in secondary schools and analyzes the effects on other traditional instrumental and vocal ensemble enrollments. This study examined secondary music directors’ perceptions of the impact of modern bands on traditional ensembles. To ascertain how modern bands can help increase enrollment and learn the effect on traditional ensembles, music educators with modern band programs from across the United States provided their perspectives through a qualitative survey. Additionally, music teachers were encouraged to discuss their views on how modern band affects traditional ensembles. The results of this study show that popular music may help increase enrollment in music programs without adversely impacting traditional ensembles. This research study will help music educators and district administrators understand the leverage modern band must increase music ensemble enrollment and its relationship with traditional ensembles. In addition, this research study could encourage more school districts to adopt popular music education to reach students that may have otherwise eluded the music program

State of Art on ORC Applications for Waste Heat Recovery and Micro-cogeneration for Installations up to 100kWe

The growing cost for energy production and distribution as well as problems related to environmental pollution have induced an increasing interest in the research of alternative solutions and in particular innovative technologies capable of compromising energy production cost, optimization and guaranteeing environmental sustainability. One of the technologies of increasing interest in recent years is the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). These systems are generally suitable for the recovery of low grade heat at low pressure this is a major advantage of the system in terms of safety and management. Furthermore, they enhance simple operation, low maintenance, and the use of a working fluid that is environmentally friendly. This paper presents a comprehensive and current literature overview of microgeneration systems up to 100kWe. A working fluid screening criteria has been discussed taking into account the environmental impact as well as the thermo-physical properties of various potential working fluids. From the analyses it emerges that the fluid most used in installed ORC systems is the R245fa also confirmed by means of a computational code developed for micro-systems of the size range. Components and expander selection has also been examined, the study reveals that the most suitable expander for the applications of these plant size ranges are the scroll for small installations and the vane or screw expanders for larger installations. Finally a detailed list of characteristics of both industrial and experimental prototype application is presented with references to their manufacturers

State of Art on ORC Applications for Waste Heat Recovery and Micro-cogeneration for Installations up to 100kWe

The growing cost for energy production and distribution as well as problems related to environmental pollution have induced an increasing interest in the research of alternative solutions and in particular innovative technologies capable of compromising energy production cost, optimization and guaranteeing environmental sustainability. One of the technologies of increasing interest in recent years is the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). These systems are generally suitable for the recovery of low grade heat at low pressure this is a major advantage of the system in terms of safety and management. Furthermore, they enhance simple operation, low maintenance, and the use of a working fluid that is environmentally friendly. This paper presents a comprehensive and current literature overview of microgeneration systems up to 100kWe. A working fluid screening criteria has been discussed taking into account the environmental impact as well as the thermo-physical properties of various potential working fluids. From the analyses it emerges that the fluid most used in installed ORC systems is the R245fa also confirmed by means of a computational code developed for micro-systems of the size range. Components and expander selection has also been examined, the study reveals that the most suitable expander for the applications of these plant size ranges are the scroll for small installations and the vane or screw expanders for larger installations. Finally a detailed list of characteristics of both industrial and experimental prototype application is presented with references to their manufacturers