Perspective on career assessment tools for evaluating students with specific learning disabilities

Purpose - The purpose of this research was to examine career assessment tools for evaluating students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs).Method - The paper adopted a narrative literature review of research papers connected to assessment tools for SLD students. Among the databases looked at were Pubmed, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, and PsycINFO.Result  -  The results emphasize the need for assessment tools to take certain domains of difficulty into consideration when evaluating the interests and skills of students with SLDs and profiling the learning characteristics linked with the individual learning impairment also offers useful information for job preparation.Implication – Students with SLDs typically have limited career options so it would be crucial to consider career evaluation as part of the career planning and transitioning process for this group.Originality - This research reinforces the significance of employing career assessment tools for the evaluation of persons with SLDs in the process of career transition.***Tujuan - Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji alat asesmen karir untuk mengevaluasi siswa dengan ketidakmampuan belajar spesifik (SLD).Metode - Makalah ini menggunakan tinjauan literatur naratif terhadap makalah penelitian yang berhubungan dengan alat penilaian untuk siswa SLD. Di antara basis data yang ditinjau adalah Pubmed, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, dan PsycINFO.Hasil - Hasil penelitian menekankan perlunya alat asesmen untuk mempertimbangkan domain kesulitan tertentu ketika mengevaluasi minat dan keterampilan siswa dengan SLD dan membuat profil karakteristik pembelajaran yang terkait dengan gangguan belajar individu juga menawarkan informasi yang berguna untuk persiapan kerja.Implikasi - Siswa dengan SLD biasanya memiliki pilihan karir yang terbatas, sehingga akan sangat penting untuk mempertimbangkan evaluasi karir sebagai bagian dari perencanaan karir dan proses transisi untuk kelompok ini.Keaslian - Penelitian ini memperkuat pentingnya penggunaan alat asesmen karir untuk mengevaluasi siswa dengan SLD dalam proses transisi karir

Empowering Learners Using Active Learning in Higher Education Institutions

Higher education institutions are expected to produce skillful, problem solver, and competent graduates. This becomes possible when the instructors are using the appropriate teaching methodology and the learners are active and empowered in the teaching-learning process. In relation to this, constructivism theory emphasized that the learner is the center of the learning and the instructors playing an advising and facilitating role. In the teaching-learning process, when the learners are empowered using the appropriate teaching methodology, they feel a sense of confidence, capability, competence, and self-esteem, enabling them to meet life’s challenges more effectively. Therefore, a shift in theory (education theory) to a more student-centered approach using active learning is recommended because this approach has its own role to make the students creative and competent in their study. Thus, this chapter of a book tried to address the contribution of active learning in the empowerment of learners in higher education institutions

Facebook as an instrument to enhance the career construction journeys of adolescent learners

Globally, the effects of Facebook® as a social media instrument are far-reaching for all, but more so for the 21st-century adolescent. Although most adolescents spend time on Facebook, this form of social media is inadequately used to enhance their teaching, learning and counselling experiences. Schools increasingly use Facebook for social engagement, or as a form of communication to parents and learners, thereby treating it as a notice board rather than an instrument for enhancing learning and development. While Facebook is used in the health and business sectors, few studies have explored the use of Facebook as an instrument for career development. Using a qualitative multiple case study design, this article explores the use of Facebook as an instrument that can enhance the career construction journeys of adolescent learners. Findings suggest that Facebook can contribute to career construction journeys. This study identified themes that are consistent with other career assessment instruments, such as the Career Interest Profile (CIP) and the Jung Personality Questionnaire (JPQ). The information found in Facebook profiles and statuses can be used as supplementary tools to identify alternative career narratives.Keywords: adolescents; career construction; career counselling; Facebook; social medi

Schottky barrier diode fabrication on n-GaN for altraviolet detection

There are many potential areas for the utilization of GaN-based nitride materials, including ultraviolet photodetectors. Ultraviolet photodetectors are used in the military for missile plume detection and space communications. Medically, ultraviolet photodiodes are used in monitoring skin cancer. Schottky barrier metal-semiconductor contacts are choice devices for the manufacture of ultraviolet photodiodes due to higher short wavelength sensitivity and fast response. They also require simple fabrication technology; suffer lower breakdown voltages, and record larger leakage currents at lower voltages as compared to p-n structures of the same semiconductor material. Thus the formation of a Schottky contact with high barrier height, low leakage current, and good thermal stability in order to withstand high temperature processing and operation are some of the most important factors in improving the performance of Schottky barrier photodiodes to be used for ultraviolet detection. The first stage of this study was to establish a chemical cleaning and etching technique. It was found that KOH was suitable in reducing C from the surface and that (NH4)2S further reduced the surface oxides. The next phase of the work was to select a metal that will allow UV light to pass through at a high transmission percentage: a combination of annealed Ni/Au was found to be ideal. The transmission percentage of this alloy was found to be above 80%. The next phase was the fabrication of Ni/Au Schottky barrier diodes on GaN to study the electrical characteristics of the diodes. Electrical characterization of the diodes showed that the dominant current transport mechanism was thermionic emission, masked by the effects of series resistance, which resulted from the condition of the GaN surface. Finally, we fabricated GaN UV photodiodes and characterized them in the optoelectronic station designed and produced during this research. Device responsivity as high as 31.8 mA/W for GaN and 3.8 mA/W for AlGaN were recorded. The calculated quantum efficiencies of the photodiodes were 11 % for GaN and 1.7 % for AlGaN respectively.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Physicsunrestricte

Progress thus far : women in physics in South Africa

Physics still has a long way to go in addressing acceleration of women to higher ranks of research and leadership. The general trend shows that the personal choices affect the acceleration of women to the top in both research and academia. My reference is on women who already obtained PhDs and are in positions in South Africa. Women in academia has a higher workload than men and women in research centers has a support issue. Figure 1 is a presentation of institutions that offers a full course in Physics, indicating the status of women with a PhD degree in South Africa. It is clear that in the past 12 years - since the launch of women in physics in South Africa (WiPiSA), there has been very little progress in accelerating women to the top. Amongst those listed, there is one HOD, 2 associate professors and 2 full professors. A very interesting information is the profile of a woman whose dad is a physicist, raised six children and have a son as a physicist. Personal journeys of women in physics in South Africa will be found in a later full paper on this topic, to be submitted elsewhere.https://aip.scitation.org/journal/apc2020-06-03am2019Physic

Tuning the surface properties of CuO films using the precursor aging approach for enhanced photoelectrocatalytic reactions

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.The surface properties of semiconductors have a significant influence on their photoelectrocatalytic efficiency. This research presents a precursor aging method for tuning the surface properties of CuO films, for enhanced catalytic response. A precursor solution made using copper acetate, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400, and diethanolamine, and aged for 1, 40, 80, 120, 150, 180, and 250 days is used in each case to fabricate CuO photocathodes via the dip-coating method. The films fabricated using the 1-day-old precursor reveal compact and homogeneous nanoparticles. The films eventually get tuned to yield highly porous and rougher surfaces after aging the precursors for 180–250 days. The film's bandgap decreases by 9% after 180–250 days of precursor aging. Photocathodes prepared using the 180-day-old precursor produce the optimum photocurrent density of 1.6 mA cm−2 at 0.35 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), representing a 196% increase relative to the films fabricated using the 1-day-old solution. They also produce an anodic onset potential shift of 260 mV. This improved photoelectrocatalytic response is due to the porous morphology of the films, which produces a larger surface area that enhances light absorption, increases active sites for catalytic reactions, and reduces charge transfer resistance at the photocathode-electrolyte interface.Externally funded UP postdoctoral fellowship program and South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCHI).https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21967350ChemistryPhysic

Heterojunction of nanostructured α-Fe2O3/CuO for enhancement of photoelectrochemical water splitting

Please read abstract in the article.The National Research Foundation; the World Academy of Sciences (NRF-TWAS); South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCHI); the University of Pretoria and the CSIR National Laser Centre Rental Pool Programme.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/jalcomhj2022ChemistryPhysic

Polyaniline nanoparticles for the selective recognition of aldrin : synthesis, characterization, and adsorption

We report the preparation, characterization, and property evaluation of molecularly imprinted polyaniline nanoparticles that can be used for the selective recognition of aldrin. The molecularly imprinted polyaniline nanoparticles were prepared by inverted emulsion polymerization using aldrin as a template and aniline as a functional monomer. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The spectral data confirmed that aldrin was successfully incorporated into the polymer matrix. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed that the prepared nanoparticles were spherical in nature with sizes ranging from 60 to 100 nm for nonimprinted particles and from 500 to 1500 nm for imprinted particles. The surface morphology changed from smooth to rough upon the incorporation of aldrin molecules. The electrical properties were evaluated using a four-point probe coupled to a source meter. The nonimprinted nanoparticles showed an electrical conductivity of 4.149 S/cm, which was reduced to 0.546 S/cm in molecularly imprinted polyaniline. The equilibrium dissociation constant and free equilibrium concentration were found to be 0.6 and 0.799 ng/μL, respectively. The adsorption characteristics of aldrin and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were investigated to determine the selectivity of the imprinted nanoparticles. The distribution coefficients for DDT and aldrin were 0.76 ng/ng and 1.31 μL/ng, respectively, indicating that the imprinted nanoparticles had a stronger affinity for aldrin than for DDT.The International Programme in Chemical Sciences (IPICS), Uppsala University, Sweden.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/synmet2018-11-01hj2018Physic

A study of the T2 defect and the emission properties of the E3 deep level in annealed melt grown ZnO single crystals

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Effects of L-arginine concentration on hematite nanostructures synthesized by spray pyrolysis and chemical bath deposition

Please read abstract in the article.The Department of Physics, University of Pretoria for support, the African Laser Centre (ALC, J.S.N.) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant No. N0115/115463 (SARChI, M.D.), NRF grant no. N00500/110983 (T.P.J.K.) and a grant from the Photonics Initiative of South Africa.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/physb2021-03-15hj2020Physic