Turn-it-in: Turning off human judgement in detecting student plagiarism

Does zero percent similarity index in Turn-it-in indicate nil plagiarism? One would think so but our collective experience last semester with Turn-it-in indicates otherwise. While a useful tool in detecting plagiarism, solely relying on Turn-it-in can in fact increase of risk of undetected plagiarism and breed academic dishonesty. Turn-it-in is not perfect, it has its limitations, and with the number of IT savvy students we are dealing with today, they will find and exploit those limitations. This presentation will illustrate the dangers of over relying on Turn-it-in as the sole assessor for students’ submissions. Actual examples of methods used by students to “beat” Turn-it-in will be demonstrated. These methods will surprise many as these methods can generate a 0% similarity index for any document, even a document that is completely plagiarised. The presentation also provides recommendations and shares strategies and interventions developed to reduce student plagiarism

Effects of a Mathematics Cognitive Acceleration Program on Student Achievement and Motivation

This paper presents the effects of a cognitive acceleration program in mathematics classes on Tongan students’ achievements, motivation and self-regulation. Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics Education (CAME) is a program developed at King’s College and implemented worldwide with the aim of improving students’ thinking skills, mathematics performance and attitudes. The first author adapted the program materials to Tongan educational context and provided support to participating teachers for 8 months. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with 219 Year 8 students as the experimental group and 119 Year 8 students as the comparison group. There were a significant differences in the mean scores between the pre-test and post-test of the three instruments that were employed in the study, indicating that learning mathematics under the CAME program had a positive effect on levels of students’ self-regulation, motivation and mathematics achievement. Students also reported changes to the ways they learn mathematics

Rapid Health and Needs assessments after disasters: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Publichealth care providers, stakeholders and policy makers request a rapid insight into health status and needs of the affected population after disasters. To our knowledge, there is no standardized rapid assessment tool for European countries. The aim of this article is to describe existing tools used internationally and analyze them for the development of a workable rapid assessment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A review was conducted, including original studies concerning a rapid health and/or needs assessment. The studies used were published between 1980 and 2009. The electronic databasesof Medline, Embase, SciSearch and Psychinfo were used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-three studies were included for this review. The majority of the studies was of US origin and in most cases related to natural disasters, especially concerning the weather. In eighteen studies an assessment was conducted using a structured questionnaire, eleven studies used registries and four used both methods. Questionnaires were primarily used to asses the health needs, while data records were used to assess the health status of disaster victims.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Methods most commonly used were face to face interviews and data extracted from existing registries. Ideally, a rapid assessment tool is needed which does not add to the burden of disaster victims. In this perspective, the use of existing medical registries in combination with a brief questionnaire in the aftermath of disasters is the most promising. Since there is an increasing need for such a tool this approach needs further examination.</p

Kava and ethno-cultural identity in Oceania

Garibaldi and Turner (Ecol Soc 9:1, 5, 2004) explain the role that particular plants play in facilitating the shared ancestry, practices, and social experience of an ethnicity. This can include spiritual connections, cultural expression and practice, ceremony, exchange, linguistic reflection, socialization, and medicinal and/or dietary systems. They term these plants “cultural keystone species” and icons of identity, plants that if removed would cause some disruptions to the cultural practices and identity of an ethnic group. Undoubtedly, kava (Piper methysticum) is the cultural keystone species for many Oceanic and Pacific peoples, a “differentiating element of common culture” (Zagefka, Ethnicity, concepts of. In: Smith AD, Hou X, Stone J, Dennis R, Rizova P (eds) The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of race, ethnicity, and nationalism. West Wiley, Sussex, pp 761–763, 2016) informing their ethno-cultural identity. That influence is also extending to new non-Pacific Island user groups who have embraced elements of kava ethno-cultural identity in what has been termed diasporic identity formation in reverse. This chapter will discuss kava with specific reference to ethnic positionality in Fiji while recognizing the tensions from inside and outside the region that support and threaten the continuance of the kava drinking tradition

Continuing Role of Aroids in the Root Crop-Based Cropping System of Tonga

For many generations, taro, together with other root crops, has been a major component of the traditional cropping system in Tonga and is its most important staple. The increasing problem of land shortage has resulted in a gradual change in the traditional cropping system, reducing the bush fallow to a minimum and replacing some root crops with vegetables. Susceptibility to drought has recently caused a marked decrease in taro production. In addition, the introduction of more attractive short-term cash crops has slowly caused taro to be replaced in their cropping system. This paper discusses the continuing important roles of taro either in a root crop based multiple cropping system or as a possible cash monocrop

A preliminary study into the potential of mayflies (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae and Caenidae) as bio-indicators of stream health in Fiji

In recent years, development of land for urban housing, more intensive agriculture and for tourism has contributed to the significant loss of natural habitat in the South Pacific. Much of this land conversion is associated with a degradation of local streams and rivers, and changes in riparian land use subsequently have a marked influence on the invertebrate communities occupying the associated water courses (Haynes, 1994). Chemical pollution, discharged waste, runoff from agricultural land, mining activities, and increased sediment sluicing caused by deforestation have all been demonstrated to detrimentally affect the abundance and species diversity of freshwater invertebrates (Haynes, 1999; Dudgeon, 2000)