Perception of Appropriateness of Nigeria’s Computer Science Students’ Curriculum in Providing Technical Skills and Knowledge for the Labour Market

This study examined the perception of students on the contents of the computer programme’s curriculum, describing the extent to which they perceived the course content to be up-to-date, industry relevant and adequate. Also, the determining factors for choosing Computer Science as a discipline among the students were examined. The study further investigated the relationship between their perception of the curriculum and how the curriculum has been able to build their technical skills. Two hundred and eighty-three final year students responded to a survey from four selected universities in South west, Nigeria. Spearman Rank correlation shows a significant relationship between student’s perception of their course curriculum and technical skills acquired. Also, students reported reputation and personal interest as the most rated factor that influenced the choice of their course of study while social activities and advice were the least ranked factors that influenced their choice of the discipline. This study concludes that the curriculum is relevant to the technical skills requirement of the students and the industries. The paper recommends an inclusive-based approach to curriculum design and development to guarantee industry uptake after graduation

Evaluating the effectiveness of varying concentrations of permethrin on ticks of genus Aponoma on Royal Pythons (Python Regius)

Quarantine programs in zoological gardens for reptiles including snakes can only be complete with acaricide treatment due to heavy infestation of ticks especially Aponoma species. The ticks can pose health threats to snakes including death few days to weeks after tick bite. The toxic effects of most available acaricides are grievous as snakes find it difficult to metabolize those drugs readily. The present study therefore focused on identifying these tick vectors and employing a modified method of acaricidal application on Python regius in order to reduce toxicity and health risks due to the acaricidal effect. The study was carried out in Royal python (Python regius) located at University of Ilorin Zoo, Ilorin, Nigeria. A total of ten Royal pythons were selected for the study. The snakes were randomly allocated to four groups (A, B, C and D), each group containing three snakes (A,B,C) and the last snake used as control(D). Off-shelf permethrin acaricide was diluted to three different concentrations and applied to the snake followed by a wiping-off mechanism at the concentration of 0.1%, 0.05% and 0.025% for treatment of groups A, B and C, respectively. The concentration of 1mg/ml (0.1%) produced the best result in terms of efficacy (using Abbott formula), tolerance and repeatability. The result obtained at 0.25 mg/ml (0.025%) concentration did not produce a desired effect with an efficacy of 85% compared with 100% obtained in 1mg/ml group, after treatment. This study therefore establishes that 1mg/ml (0.1%) permethrin produced the best result in terms of efficacy, tolerance and repeatability and can also be applicable in other snake species adhering to the protocols used in this study.Keywords: acaricides, permethrin, royal python, Aponoma, zoo, Nigeri