Changes in lesson plans as teachers participate in a professional development on statistical literacy

Research on mathematics teacher knowledge has gained momentum recently; however, research on teacher planning is scarce, especially using lesson plans as the primary data source. This study examines how teachers' lesson plans change as they participate in a professional development, supporting them in implementing the Vietnamese reformed Curriculum 2018. Using a design-based research methodology, we developed a research-informed framework that assesses teachers' lesson plans for developing students' statistical literacy as emphasized in the mathematics Curriculum. Informed by research literature and data collected from teachers, the framework including seven criteria was shared and used by 61 teachers to reflect on the quality of their lessons. The analysis of 38 lesson plans shows all criteria have improved from pre- to post-lesson plans. The teachers included more explicit and comprehensive learning intentions in their post-lessons. Tasks in the post-lesson plans afforded more opportunities for students to develop statistical literacy, helped them engage in the statistical investigation using real data, and included multiple representations. Finally, the post-lesson plans tended to follow the constructivist teaching principles. Implications on ways to develop teachers' planning competence and suggestions for future studies are included. © 2023 Authors

Applying convolutional neural networks for limited-memory application

Currently, convolutional neural networks (CNN) are considered as the most effective tool in image diagnosis and processing techniques. In this paper, we studied and applied the modified SSDLite_MobileNetV2 and proposed a solution to always maintain the boundary of the total memory capacity in the following robust bound and applied on the bridge navigational watch & alarm system (BNWAS). The hardware was designed based on raspberry Pi-3, an embedded single board computer with CPU smartphone level, limited RAM without CUDA GPU. Experimental results showed that the deep learning model on an embedded single board computer brings us high effectiveness in application

MOTIVATION TO STUDY ENGLISH OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN

Motivation is regarded as an influential factor in the success of any activity. It plays a significant role in reaching the desired goals, including learning English. This research aims to analyze the students' motivation and factors affecting their motivation to learn English. The population of this study was 326 freshmen in nine faculties of natural sciences at Tay Do University. The quantitative data was collected through the questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS software. The results show that the students had motivation to learn English, but their motivation levels were not high. Additionally, the students had both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. However, the latter was higher than the former. Moreover, the results also indicate factors affecting learners’ motivation. The research findings contribute to improving English teaching and learning quality in Vietnam in general and in Tay Do University in particular. Article visualizations

Polarization versus Mori-Tanaka approximations for effective conductivity of isotropic composites

Our polarization approximations for the effective conductivity of isotropic multicomponent materials, constructed recently as approximate solutions to the minimum energy principles, are compared with the widely used Mori-Tanaka approximation, derived as an approximate solution of the field equations. The similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are analysed with illustrating numerical examples

Designing Functional Clothing for People with Locomotor Disabilities

This article presents a study on functional clothing for people with disabilities. The clothing items which were the subject of research, i.e. polo shirt, T-shirt, shirt, trousers and jeans, were designed for people with physical disabilities, namely for daily activities for people who often sit in wheelchairs. The study used the research method of anthropometric theory, pattern design, textile materials, and an actual survey to analyse and evaluate the reality of movement ability and perception of clothes to determine the requirements for people with disabilities. The authors proposed suitable materials and provided solutions to adjust the basic pattern to become more suitable for people with locomotor disabilities. Finished sewing products were tested and evaluated experimentally by people with leg disabilities at the Center for Sponsoring - Vocational Training and Employment Introduction of Ho Chi Minh City and the Association for the support of people with Disabilities and Orphans of Ho Chi Minh City according to the Likert scale with 5 rating levels for each criterion. The results showed that the Cronbach’s Alpha index was over 0.7. The research addressed the comfort of disabled people’s clothing, indicating promising further development of other functional clothing

The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Awareness and Purchase Intention: Case Study of Vietnam's domestic fashion brands

The study aimed to examine the impact of social media marketing on brand awareness and purchase intention for Vietnamese domestic fashion brands. Quantitative research was conducted on 302 Vietnamese people of Generation Z. The questionnaire designed on Google forms was sent to research samples who were willing to participate. Research results determined the role and benefits of social media marketing in 2 aspects: (1) information about the brand of social media marketing on social networks and (2) brand engagement on social networks. Social media marketing has a positive impact on brand awareness and purchase intention of Vietnamese domestic fashion brands. In particular, brand information when communicating on social networks has a direct and positive impact on brand awareness and purchase intention. Brand engagement on social networks has a positive direct impact on brand awareness and a positive indirect impact on purchase intention through brand awareness. The research results show that Vietnamese domestic fashion brands do quite well in social media marketing, and are highly appreciated by the online community of generation Z in Vietnam. In the future, in order to improve brand awareness and purchase intention, Vietnamese domestic fashion brands need to pay attention to the brand information properties of social media marketing programs and need to invest more in brand engagement characteristics of social networks. Keywords: social media marketing, brand awareness, purchase intentio

Isolation and identification of phenolic compounds from the leaf extract of Cassia alata L.

Cassia alata is one of the most important species of the genus Cassia which is rich in anthraquinones and polyphenols. This plant is used as a medicinal material of which the leaves are known to have laxative and antibiotic properties. In our study, the methanol leaf extract of C. alata showed a significant antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria strains Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The organic layers such as n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous layers, were prepared by partitioning the methanol extract with n-hexane and ethyl acetate successively.  We successfully isolated and identified the structures of five compounds from C. alata leaves. Their structures were elucidated by MS and NMR spectroscopic methods as well as comparison with literature data. These compounds were determined to be methyl 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzoate (1), kaempferol (2), (-)epiafzelechin (3), kaempferol-3-O-glucoside (4) and kaempferol-3-O-gentiobioside (5). Keywords. Cassia alata L., epiafzelechin, kaempferol, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol-3-O-gentiobioside

THE CURRENT CONDITIONS OF PROMOTING THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY

The purpose of the study was to have a comprehensive understanding of the existing conditions assured to give physical education (PE) programs to students at Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM). Through document synthesis, interviews, and statistical processing, the article gained a general evaluation of the current PE conditions according to the following aspects: facilities, administration, and curriculums. In terms of facilities, the total space for sports activities at VNUHCM is measured at 25,454m2, besides, the ratio of sports field area per student is 0.44m2/student. This indicates that VNUHCM’s students do not have enough space for their sports practice as standard. In terms of faculty, teachers at VNUHCM Sports Center are comprised 67.6% male, 88.2% at the age of thirty to fifty, and 100% holding postgraduate qualifications. In addition, 79.4% of the staff at the VNUHCM Sports Center graduated with PE specialized degrees, and 64.7% of them have less than five years of seniority. However, 68.8% of those who are currently delivering PE courses at this Center are visiting teachers. The statistic number reveals that the ratio of students per teacher at VNUHCM is 814.75 students/teacher, which reveals that the number of PE lecturers has not met the standard, and they have been in charge of a large teaching volume. In terms of curriculums, PE programs are conducted with 06 credits in total (90 periods), divided into 02 modules with 3 credits per each (45 periods). Students are allowed to choose their favorite PE content among 10 sports courses including football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, tennis, badminton, martial arts, aerobics, swimming, and chess. The results indicate that VNUHCM’s students actively participate in sports training and competitions to advance their physical fitness.  Article visualizations