English language classroom practices: Bangladeshi primary school children’s perceptions

English language teaching (ELT) has been investigated from various angles including how English language teachers perceive what happens in an ELT classroom. How primary school English language learners perceive their experiences of ELT is rarely reported in the published literature, particularly from developing countries such as Bangladesh. This article reports on a study that examined Bangladeshi primary school learners’ experience of English language classroom practices in which technology-enhanced communicative language teaching activities were promoted through a project called English in Action (EIA). EIA is a large-scale 9-year long international English language development project in Bangladesh, funded by the UK government. A semi-structured group interview was conducted with 600 Grade 3 students from different regions of Bangladesh. The findings showed that the learners found communicative language learning activities such as dialogue and role play more effective than translation and memorising grammar rules for learning English, although they enjoyed reciting and drills. The results also showed that these learners’ English teachers tended to mix both traditional and communicative approaches in their lessons. The paper critiques EIA and argues that any major language development project needs to consider the local context and learners’ views on language learning for its success

The Shale revolution: Global gas and oil markets under transformation

The shale gas and oil revolution has unexpectedly and forcefully begun to change the energy landscape in the USA. It is expected to spread beyond the USA, with far reaching implications for the global energy map, but also for the macro economy and politics of many countries. The purpose of this paper is to bring a better understanding to what prompted the revolution, to assess the production methods and associated environmental concerns, to speculate what can reasonably be expected in coming decades, and to sketch the full impact of a ripening shale revolution on the emerging economic and political policy choices for energy exporting and importing countries. We find that a large scale expansion can be expected in US shale gas and oil activities in the coming two decades. Globally, the shale leaders are likely to be countries that are already significant gas and oil producers. Setting up a policy framework to allow and promote shale development in a safe manner is a necessity for the launch of shale exploitation. The most important implication of a successful shale revolution would arguably be a downward pressure on gas and coal prices in regional markets and on the global oil price

Excellence in Agronomy - TRANSFORM work package. Useful resources: data management, analytics & modelling

List of resources available through the TRANSFORM Work Package of the Excellence in Agronomy Initiative along with URL to access those resources

Use case activity review

A set of strategic recommendations were made which require consideration by the entire Use Case implementing teams. This includes the demand partner, participating CGIAR centres, and DELIVER & TRANFORM representatives

A prescriptive approach to qualify and quantify customer value for value-based requirements engineering

Recently, customer-based product development is becoming a popular paradigm. Customer expectations and needs can be identified and transformed into requirements for product design with the help of various methods and tools. However, in many cases, these models fail to focus on the perceived value that is crucial when customers make the decision of purchasing a product. In this paper, a prescriptive approach to support value-based requirements engineering (RE) is proposed, describing the foundations, procedures and initial applications in the context of RE for commercial aircraft. An integrated set of techniques, such as means-ends analysis, part-whole analysis and multi-attribute utility theory is introduced in order to understand customer values in depth and width. Technically, this enables identifying the implicit value, structuring logically collected statements of customer expectations and performing value modelling and simulation. Additionally, it helps to put in place a system to measure customer satisfaction that is derived from the proposed approach. The approach offers significant potential to develop effective value creation strategies for the development of new product

Tomada de decisão no agronegócio baseada em inteligência artificial

Purpose: Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have become popular in the most diverse contexts of use. This research sought to investigate how AI tools were applied in agribusiness by assisting producers in decision-making. Design / methodology / approach: To this end, online and semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers and rural producers who use this type of technology on their properties. Findings: AI was found to be present in machinery, software, and other applications applied for crop monitoring, soil quality verification, and management in general. Users are quite optimistic with the results, especially in decision support during planting period. These differences are perceived before and after technologies utilization. However, interviewers still believe that the human presence is fundamental in the farming. Research limitations / implications: As limitations, it is highlighted the schedule for conducting the interviews, as well as the fact that they were performed online. Despite this, it was possible to verify the importance of the use of technology for the agribusiness sector, serving as support for the management of rural properties. Originality / value: In the Information Systems studies field to relate the use of AI and decision-making in a sector such as agribusiness is something recent and innovative.Finalidade: As ferramentas de Inteligência Artificial têm se popularizado nos mais diversos contextos de uso. A presente pesquisa busca investigar como as ferramentas de IA são aplicadas no agronegócio auxiliando o produtor na sua tomada de decisão. Desenho / metodologia / abordagem: Para tal, foram realizadas entrevistas online e semiestruturadas com gestores e produtores rurais que utilizam este tipo de tecnologia nas propriedades. Descobertas: Descobriu-se que a IA está presente no maquinário, softwares e outros aplicativos utilizados para monitoramento da lavoura, verificação da qualidade do solo e manejos em geral. Os usuários mostram-se bastantes otimistas com os resultados encontrados, principalmente no apoio à decisão durante o período de plantio. Essas diferenças são percebidas no antes e depois do uso das tecnologias. Contudo, os entrevistados ainda creem que a presença do humano é fundamental na lavoura. Limitações / implicações da pesquisa: Como limitações, destaca-se o cronograma de execução das entrevistas, bem como o fato destas terem sido realizadas de maneira online. Apesar disso, foi possível verificar a importância do uso da tecnologia para o setor de agronegócio, servindo como suporte ao gerenciamento das propriedades rurais. Originalidade / valor: No campo dos estudos em Sistemas de Informação, relacionar o uso da Inteligência Artificial e da tomada de decisão em um setor como o agronegócio é algo recente e inovador

Factors to Consider in a Potential Eradication Plan for African Swine Fever in the United States: A White Paper

This white paper presents background information on African swine fever (ASF) (Section 1) and factors to consider in designing an eradication plan should ASF be introduced into the United States and not be eradicated despite intensive efforts during the initial emergency response (Section 2). Section 3 focuses on proposed ASF status of production sites and states, and Section 4 covers approaches to regaining exports. All of the concepts discussed in this white paper need further discussion by USDA Officials, State Animal Health Officials (SAHOs), swine producers, industry associations and packers. This white paper contains information and suggestions for consideration only

Life cycle assessment of biofuels from Jatropha curcas in West Africa: a field study

In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to their potential role in curbing climate change and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. They may also participate to rural development by providing new markets for agricultural production. However, the growth of energy crops has raised concerns due to their high consumption of conventional fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, their impacts on ecosystems and their competition for arable land with food crops. Lowinput species such as Jatropha curcas, a perennial, inedible crop well adapted to semiarid regions, has received much interest as a new alternative for biofuel production, minimizing adverse effects on the environment and food supply. Here, we used life-cycle assessment to quantify the benefits of J. curcas biofuel production inWest Africa in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy use, compared with fossil diesel fuel and other biofuels. Biodiesel from J. curcas has a much higher performance than current biofuels, relative to oil-derived diesel fuels. Under West Africa conditions, J. curcas biodiesel allows a 72% saving in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional diesel fuel, and its energy yield (the ratio of biodiesel energy output to fossil energy input) is 4.7. J. curcas production studied is eco-compatible for the impacts under consideration and fits into the context of sustainable development

Hvordan påvirkes reallønnen av makroøkonomiske faktorer og næringstilhørighet? : En empirisk analyse av norske lønnsdata for sivilingeniører og siviløkonomer i perioden 1986 - 2009

Formålet med denne masteroppgaven har vært å studere hvorvidt det er en sammenheng mellom reallønnen til sivilingeniører og siviløkonomer og konjunkturene i den norske økonomien, samt hvilken betydning næringstilhørighet har for lønnen til disse yrkesgruppene. Problemstillingen for denne oppgaven er: ”Hvilken betydning har utviklingen i makroøkonomiske faktorer for reallønnsnivået til sivilingeniører og siviløkonomer, og hvordan varierer reallønnsnivået mellom de ulike næringene? En empirisk analyse av norske data for perioden 1986 til 2009” Analysene bygger på tidsseriedata for perioden 1986 til 2009 som er innhentet fra blant annet Statistisk sentralbyrå og Norges Bank. Datasettet omfatter alle lønnstakere i Norge med sivilingeniør- eller siviløkonomutdanning. I tillegg til pensjonsgivende inntekt, inneholder datasettet også informasjon om lønnstakernes alder, kjønn, regions- og næringstilhørighet. Datasettet inneholder også årlige observasjoner for de utvalgte makroøkonomiske variablene BNP, oljepris, realvalutakurs og styringsrente. Oppgaven tar utgangspunkt i økonomisk teori og tidligere forskning på området. Konklusjonene er basert på regresjonsanalyser og andre analyser utført i STATA, samt deskriptive analyser. Våre analyser viser at konjunkturer i økonomien modellert gjennom de valgte de makroøkonomiske faktorene BNP, oljepris, realvalutakurs og styringsrente, generelt ser ut til å ha liten innvirkning på reallønnsnivået til sivilingeniørene og siviløkonomene. Et unntak er imidlertid de høyest lønnede siviløkonomene. Videre ser det ut til å være en klar sammenheng mellom reallønnsnivå og næringstilhørighet for de to utdanningsgruppene. Ikke overraskende ser vi at lønningene er høyest i olje- og gassnæringen og lavest i offentlig sektor, både for sivilingeniørene og siviløkonomene