Influence of Integration of Information Communication Technology in Teaching on Students’ Academic Performance

Teachers must understand the context within which students’ performance improvement takes place. Operational effectiveness and strategy are both essential to superior performance and strategy execution is crucial for quality and better students’ academic result. ICT can be a catalyst by providing tools which teachers use to improve teaching and giving learners access to electronic media that make concepts clearer and more accessible. Teachers in public secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya, have been integrating ICT in teaching, but students’ academic performance in KCSE examinations has been low as shown by the outcome of the examination results by Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). Few students qualify to join the various universities. This study used a survey research design to establish how the integration of ICT in teaching influenced the students’ academic performance. A total of 486 teachers (405 classroom teachers and 81 principals) from 81public secondary schools participated in the study. They were randomly selected from three clusters of schools namely National, Extra-County and County public secondary schools. Public secondary schools were selected because they are funded by the government and parents through parents’ teachers’ association (PTA) and are managed by the board of management (BOM). The findings of the study showed a positive influence on students’ academic performance with integration of ICT in teaching. The finding also showed that there was no relationship between gender and integration of ICT in teaching but there were relationship between teachers’ highest level of education, the age of the teacher and integration of ICT in teaching. The study concluded that integration of ICT in teaching is a vital component in improvement of students’ academic performance. Keywords: ICT, integration, academic performance, influence, acces

Store Image as a Mediator of Consumer Purchase Intention in Kenyan Supermarkets

The intensity of competition in the retail sector in Kenya is driving supermarket managers to position store image as a tool of competitive advantage. This study examined the mediating effect of store image on the relationship between psychographic and psychological factors and consumer purchase intention in anchor supermarkets in Kenya. Descriptive cross sectional survey was applied on a sample of 384 consumers. The composite construct of psychographic and psychological factors was regressed on consumer purchase intention, resulting in a positive significant effect. It was established that store image partly mediates the relationship between psychographic plus psychological factors and consumer purchase intention. The study recommends building of positive reputation of the supermarket to attract and enhance the consumer’s intention to purchase. Keywords: Store image, purchase intention, anchor supermarkets DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/66-06 Publication date:March 31st 2020

A method for generating virus-free cassava plants to combat viral disease epidemics in Africa

Here, we report a method to clean cassava plants from viral infections that cause cassava mosaic and brown streak diseases in Africa. Infected plants of resistant or tolerant varieties from Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were cleaned in the UK using a combination of tissue culture, chemotherapy and thermotherapy. In the first cycle of our virus-indexing procedure, we successfully cleaned 27 of the 31 varieties (87%), and after an additional three cleaning cycles, all plants were virus-free. Virus-free tissue-cultured plants were shipped back to Africa for distribution to farmers. This first cross-boundary effort provides important lessons for mitigating the two-major cassava viral diseases

The process and lessons of exchanging and managing in-vitro elite germplasm to combat CBSD and CMD in Eastern and Southern Africa

Varieties with resistance to both cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) can reverse food and income security threats affecting the rural poor in Eastern and Southern Africa. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture is leading a partnership of five national (Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) cassava breeding programs to exchange the most elite germplasm resistant to both CMD and CBSD. This poster documents the process and the key learning lessons. Twenty to 25 stem cuttings of 31 clones comprising of 25 elite clones (5 per country), two standard checks (Kibandameno from Kenya and Albert from Tanzania), and four national checks (Kiroba and Mkombozi from Tanzania, Mbundumali from Malawi, and Tomo from Mozambique) were cleaned and indexed for cassava viruses at both the Natural Resources Institute in the United Kingdom and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, in Kenya. About 75 in-vitro plantlets per clone were sent to Genetic Technologies International Limited, a private tissue culture lab in Kenya, and micro-propagated to ≥1500 plantlets. Formal procedures of material transfer between countries including agreements, import permission and phytosanitary certification were all ensured for germplasm exchange. At least 300 plantlets of each elite and standard check clones were sent to all partner countries, while the national checks were only sent to their respective countries of origin. In each country, the in-vitro plantlets were acclimatized under screen house conditions and transplanted for field multiplication as a basis for multi-site testing. Except for Tomo, a susceptible clone, all the clones were cleaned of the viruses. However, there was varied response to the cleaning process between clones, e.g. FN-19NL, NASE1 and Kibandameno responded slowly. Also, clones responded differently to micro-propagation protocols at GTIL, e.g. Pwani, Tajirika, NASE1, TME204 and Okhumelela responded slowly. Materials are currently being bulked at low disease pressure field sites in preparation for planting at 5-8 evaluation sites per country. The process of cleaning, tissue culture mass propagation, exchange and local hardening off/bulking has been successful for the majority of target varieties. Two key lessons derived from the process are that adequate preparations of infrastructure and trained personnel are required to manage the task, and that a small proportion of varieties are recalcitrant to tissue culture propagation

Production of freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria starter culture for cassava fermentation into gari.

peer reviewedSixteen lactic acid bacteria, eight Lactobacillus plantarum, three L. pentosus, 2 Weissella paramesenteroides, two L. fermemtum and one Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. mesenteroides were previously isolated from cassava fermentation and selected on the basis of their biochemical properties with a view to selecting appropriate starter cultures during cassava fermentation for gari production. In this study, the potential of these pre-selected strains as suitable freeze-dried cultures was evaluated. Their ability to tolerate the freeze-drying process was assessed by dehydration in a glycerol solution of increasing concentration, followed by staining with two fluorescent markers: rhodamine 123 and propydium iodide. Twelve strains that recovered more than 50% of their population value after visualisation on an epi-fluorescent microscope were produced in a bioreactor and freeze-dried. The technological characteristics identified after the freeze-drying process, were a high cell concentration or high survival rate. The ability of the freeze-dried strains to recover their acidification activity was evaluated through the determination of the pH, titratable acidity (% lactic acid/g Dry Weight) and cell count over 24 h on MRS broth. Ultimately, the strains L. plantarum VE36, G2/25, L. fermentum G2/10 and W. paramesenteroides LC11 were selected to be developed as freeze-dried starter cultures for gari production

Characterisation and biochemical properties of predominant lactic acid bacteria from fermenting cassava for selection as starter cultures

A total of 375 lactic acid bacteria were isolated from fermenting cassava in South Africa, Benin, Kenya and Germany, and were characterised by phenotypic and genotypic tests. These could be divided into five main groups comprising strains of facultatively heterofermentative rods, obligately heterofermentative rods, heterofermentative cocci, homofermentative cocci and obligately homofermentative rods, in decreasing order of predominance. Most of the facultatively heterofermentative rods were identified by phenotypic tests as presumptive Lactobacillus plantarum-group strains, which also comprised the most predominant bacteria (54.4% of strains) isolated in the study. The next predominant group of lactic acid bacteria (14.1% of total isolates) consisted of obligately heterofermentative rods belonging either to the genus Lactobacillus or Weissella, followed by the heterofermentative cocci (13.9% of isolates) belonging to the genera Weissella or Leuconostoc. Homofermentative cocci were also isolated (13.3% of isolates). Biochemical properties such as production of alpha-amylase, p-glucosidase, tannase, antimicrobials (presumptive bacteriocin and H2O2-production), acidification and fermentation of the indigestible sugars raffinose and stachyose, were evaluated in vitro for selection of potential starter strains. A total of 32 strains with one or more desirable biochemical properties were pre-selected and identified using rep-PCR fingerprinting in combination with 16S rRNA sequencing of representative rep-PCR cluster isolates. Of these strains, 18 were identified as L. plantarum, four as Lactobacillus pentosus, two each as Leuconostoc fallax, Weissella paramesenteroides and Lactobacillus fermentum, one each as Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides and Weissella cibaria, while two remained unidentified but could be assigned to the L. plantarum-group. These strains were further investigated for clonal relationships, using RAPD-PCR with three primers, and of the 32 a total of 16 strains were finally selected for the development as starter cultures for Gari production. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved