Assessing Senior Secondary Students’ Attitude and Experiences towards Science and Technology in Jalingo Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria

This study examined the attitude and experiences of secondary school students towards science and technology in Jalingo metropolis of Taraba state, Nigeria. The population included all senior secondary 2 (SS 2) science students in senior Secondary Schools in Jalingo Metropolis. A total of 350 students (161 females and 189 males) were selected through simple random sampling method. The study used a descriptive survey design. The research instrument was a modified Likert scale questionnaire. The data obtained was analyzed using statistical tools (mean and standard deviation). Results indicated that there is a positive attitude towards science and technology. The result generally showed that students have positive experiences towards science and technology. The results also showed that there is a meaningful difference between males and females points of views on attitude towards science and technology and their experiences. According to this result, males have lower average sum (M=54.24) than the females with (M=55.52). The results of this research provide important information about Jalingo students’ attitude and experience towards science and technology and could be used by science educators for the development of science curricula and science text books

Jack U. Russell to Mrs. Silver, 9 April 1959

Professional correspondenc

Concept Mapping and Guided Inquiry as Effective Techniques for Teaching Difficult Concepts in Chemistry: Effect on Students’ Academic Achievement

The persistent poor performance in chemistry in Nigerian school system, especially at the secondary level, has been quite a serious problem. The major purpose of this study determined how the adoption of concept mapping and guided inquiry as instructional strategies can enhance more meaningful understanding of difficult concepts in chemistry and increase students’ academic achievement. To guide the study a research question and hypothesis were asked, formulated and tested at; 0.05 level of significance. The design was a non-randomized pre-test, post-test, control group quasi-experimental design using intact classes in 251 Senior Secondary three (SS III) Chemistry students in the three senatorial districts of Taraba state which were randomly assigned, experimental and group through balloting using the replacement and withdrawal technique. Face and content validity of instruments were ascertained using the Pearson’s Moment Correlation to obtain a reliability coefficient of 0.79. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was tested at; 0.05 level of significance, means and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. Also, Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) using the Sheffe test was computed to indicate the direction of the difference. The result of the analysis showed a significant difference between the performance of students exposed to the two experimental groups (concept mapping and guided-inquiry methods) and the control group (expository method), the result of the Sheffe test was in the favour of concept mapping. It was therefore concluded that concept mapping would be an effective teaching strategy for teaching difficult concepts in chemistry since it improved students’ performances/retention in the subject. Keywords: Difficult concepts, expository method, concept mapping and guided inquiry strategy

The Influence of Identified Student and School Variables on Students’ Science Process Skills Acquisition

Process skills are very fundamental to science but there is still a serious educational gap in bringing these skills into the classroom for students’ acquisition. The purpose of this study therefore was designed to ascertain the influence of selected variables such as: sex, students’ attitude, school location, school type, laboratory adequacy and class size; on students’ science process skills acquisition. The design adopted for the study is an ex-post facto design. The sample consisted of 450 SS III science students from Adamawa and Taraba States of Nigeria using stratified random sampling technique. The research instrument was Science Process Skills Knowledge Test (SPSKT) which was subjected to both content and face validity using Kuder Richardson formula 21 to obtain the correlation value of 0.78. The SPSKT was analyzed using means and t-test statistics. The study revealed that sex; school location and school type does not influence students’ acquisition of science process skills while students’ attitude, laboratory adequacy and class size influences students’ acquisition of science process skills. Based on the findings, recommendations were made amongst which are equipping all secondary schools laboratories to enable teachers adopt methods that will lead students to have the appropriate skills and have positive attitude towards science and using enabling environment which discourages large class sizes in science classrooms. Keywords: Sex, students’ attitude, school location, school type, laboratory adequacy and class siz

Chemistry Students’ Science Process Skills Acquisition: Influence of Gender and Class Size

Science process skills are central to the acquisition of scientific knowledge which is useful in problem solving in our immediate environment. In Nigeria, most secondary school students’ performances in chemistry in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) are generally low which could probably be attributed to lack or poor exposure to science process skills. The study therefore investigated the influence of gender, and class size on Chemistry students’ acquisition of science process skills. The design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. The sample comprised of 720 students drawn through multi-stage random sampling from Adamawa and Taraba States in Nigeria. The research instrument was Science Process Skills Knowledge Test in Chemistry’ (SPSKTC). The study indicated that gender have negligible influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills; while large class size have great influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills. The study concluded that most students in Nigerian schools experience difficulty in the acquisition of science process skills. Based on the findings, it was recommended that there should be reduction of student-teacher ratio in schools and training of teachers on science process skills to enable teachers adopt methods that lead students to have the appropriate skills

Enterprise Integrated Security Platform: A Comparison of Remote Access And Extranet Virtual Private Networks

The Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for both organizations and individuals. However, these opportunities also have created a double-edge sword as organizations attempt to connect trading partners, customers, and remote users while providing adequate security measures that are flexible and cost-effective. This paper explores why secured socket layer (SSL) may be better tool for secured remote access and extranets by comparing it to internet protocol security virtual private networks (IPSec-based VPNs)

Development of emergency response plans for community water systems

All water services systems, irrespective of size, location etc., should have emergency response plans (ERPs) to guide officials, stakeholders and consumers through emergencies, as part of managing risks in the water supply system. Emergencies in the water supply system may result from, among other causes, natural disasters, equipment failure, human error and intentional acts (e.g. vandalism). Simply put, an ERP prepares the organisation for emergencies and gives specific instructions about what to do if there is an emergency situation that may affect the water system. To assist water services institutions (WSIs), the Water Research Commission project ‘Water Safety and Security: Emergency Response Plans’ aimed to develop a generic ERP guide for community water systems (CWS). A CWS in this study was defined as a potable water service provided to a rural community where municipal constraints exist and there is either ‘no supply’ or water is provided up to a communal standpipe. Emergencies considered in this study include (i) unavailability of water or (ii) excess of water (e.g. flood) and (iii) water quality or pollution/contamination. CWS in 3 provinces in South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape), were visited to (i) identify the water service delivery status, methods and possible shared threats/vulnerabilities and risks (ii) identify water services challenges experienced by these communities (iii) ascertain who owns and who is responsible for water services (e.g. whether these communities are serviced by municipalities or by local chiefs and/or trusts) and (iv) investigate whether the systems have been documented and evaluated. Following site visits, an ERP guideline document with associated templates will be developed and workshopped with the selected communities, which will include: (i) conditions identified as emergencies, (ii) communication procedures/protocol/chain of command, and (iii) procedures detailing how to attend to the specified emergencies.Keywords: potable; supply; emergency; public healt

Do early neural correlates of visual consciousness show the oblique effect? A binocular rivalry and event-related potential study

When dissimilar images are presented one to each eye, we do not see both images; rather, we see one at a time, alternating unpredictably. This is called binocular rivalry, and it has recently been used to study brain processes that correlate with visual consciousness, because perception changes without any change in the sensory input. Such studies have used various types of images, but the most popular have been gratings: sets of bright and dark lines of orthogonal orientations presented one to each eye. We studied whether using cardinal rival gratings (vertical, 0°, and horizontal, 90°) versus oblique rival gratings (left-oblique, –45°, and right-oblique, 45°) influences early neural correlates of visual consciousness, because of the oblique effect: the tendency for visual performance to be greater for cardinal gratings than for oblique gratings. Participants viewed rival gratings and pressed keys indicating which of the two gratings they perceived, was dominant. Next, we changed one of the gratings to match the grating shown to the other eye, yielding binocular fusion. Participants perceived the rivalry-to-fusion change to the dominant grating and not to the other, suppressed grating. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we found neural correlates of visual consciousness at the P1 for both sets of gratings, as well as at the P1-N1 for oblique gratings, and we found a neural correlate of the oblique effect at the N1, but only for perceived changes. These results show that the P1 is the earliest neural activity associated with visual consciousness and that visual consciousness might be necessary to elicit the oblique effect

Contrasting baseline expression of stress axis genes in rainbow trout selected for divergent stress responsiveness

The expression of eight candidate genes, with roles implicated in the stress response and associated behaviour, was quantified in the brains of lines of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, that were selectively bred for divergent cortisol responses to stress. These lines represent a low responding (LR) and high responding (HR) line that are known to differ in their stress physiology and behavioural phenotype with LR always dominating HR. To understand whether there is differential gene expression in the brains of these lines fish were held individually and then sampled for brain gene expression of eight candidate genes (AANAT, calcineurin, CRF, urotensin I, glucocorticoid receptor II, mineralocorticoid receptor, melatonin receptor 1a, and melanocortin 2 receptor) to obtain a better understanding of the gene expression profile between HR and LR. Seven genes were expressed at a significantly higher level in the low-responding line compared to the high-responding line, and four genes, AANAT, CRF, UI and CaN, were positively correlated with baseline plasma cortisol concentrations. Only AANAT was not significantly differentially expressed between the two stress lines (due to high variation among individuals). Hence there is clear evidence of a tangible relationship between gene expression and stress physiology in these animals prior to stress