Development of Multimedia Teaching Aids for Selected Physics Sub-Topics from the Topic of Simple Machine in Tanzanian Secondary Schools

Students studying science subjects in most Tanzania secondary schoolsexperience poor understanding of scientific concepts. Despite of several efforts made by stakeholders in alleviating the problem, it still persists. This might have been caused by among others, the lack of appropriate teaching aids to aid demonstration of difficult concepts in the subject. The objective of the study was to develop educational multimedia teaching aids for Hydraulic Press System and Screw and Jack sub-topic prototypes from the topic of simple machine in physics subject book two and assess their effectiveness in complementing classroom teaching in selected secondary schools. The study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature, with semi-structured questionnaires for assessment of interactive educational multimedia courseware as quantitative part, and collected data from 134 students from three selected secondary schools from Dar es Salaam and Singida regions. Prior to development and assessment of multimedia teaching aids, requirements for system design were collected from 80 Form two students and 3 physics teachers from Jangwani girls and St. Anthony secondary schools in Ilala and Temeke municipalities in Dar es Salaam region. Requirements were also collected from interview with examination officers from NECTA as well as from documentary review. The study findings revealed that the developed multimedia teaching aid prototypes assisted 88.8 per cent of the students to understand difficult concepts in physics more clearly, and about 74 per cent of them were motivated to learn the subject; thus, improving their way of learning the subject

Vitamin A Supplementation and Other Predictors of Anemia Among Children from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The associations of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and packed cell volume with socioeconomic factors, malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and nutritional status were examined among 687 children admitted to hospital with pneumonia participating in a double blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin A supplementation. Children were randomized to receive 2 doses of vitamin A (200,000 IU) or placebo at baseline, and additional doses at 4 and 8 months after discharge from hospital. Hemoglobin levels were measured at enrollment and, on a subset of 161 children, during follow-up. At baseline, hemoglobin concentration was positively associated with the number of possessions in the household, maternal level of education and quality of water supply, and inversely related to malaria infection after controlling for potential confounding variables. Children infected with HIV experienced a significant fall in mean hemoglobin levels over time. The risk of developing severe anemia (< 7 g/dL) during follow-up was lower for children who were breastfed for longer than 18 months as compared to those with less than 6 months of breastfeeding (adjusted prevalence ratio = 0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.02, 0.93; P = 0.04), and higher for children over two years of age as compared to 6 to 11 months-old infants (adjusted prevalence ratio = 8.11, 95% CI = 1.2, 55.8; P = 0.03). Children with repeated diagnoses of malaria had 4.1 times the risk of developing severe anemia than did children without the diagnosis (95% CI = 1.3, 13.5; P = 0.02). Vitamin A supplements were associated with an overall nonsignificant reduction of 14% in the risk of developing severe anemia (adjusted prevalence ratio = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.37, 1.99; P = 0.73). We conclude that malaria, HIV infection, low socioeconomic status, and short duration of breastfeeding are strong and independent determinants of adverse hematologic profiles in this population

Factors Influencing Implementation of Environmental Management Practices among Hotels in Tanzania

This study aimed to identify factors that influence implementation of environmental management practices among hotels in Tanzania. Basing on previous studies, five factors that were vital in the implementation of the hotel Environmental Management Practices (EMPs) were acknowledged as management commitment, business competitiveness, governmental regulation, employees training and hospitality industry awareness. The study wasconducted in two cities Arusha and Dar es Salaam whereby structured questionnaire with likert scale range from 1 to 5 was used to collect information from the sample size of 400 managers and supervisors of hotels. SPSS software was used for data entry and AMOS software version 23 was used to analyze multivariate analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings indicated that, management commitment affects positively implementation of EMPs in hotel, with significance p&lt;0.05; likewise business competitiveness effects positively the implementation of EMPs in hotel with significance p&lt;0.05. In addition, employees training on EMPs has significant positive effects on the implementation of EMPs in the hotel at p&lt; 0.001; also, implementation of hotel EMPs hassignificant positive effects on hotel business sustainability at p&lt; 0.001. Therefore, the implications to industry managers and expertise are: first, hotel managers’ commitment is vital for the successful EMPs implementation. Second, training of employees on implementation of EMPs is crucial in achieving business sustainability. Third, there is relationship between business competiveness and implementation of EMPs. Fourth implementing EMPs is crucial for sustainability of hotel business. This contributes to body of knowledge by coming with guiding framework on how the hotel could implement EMPs.The main limitation of this is lack of generalizability of the finding in TanzaniaThe study recommends future research in game parks and beaches, as these are visitors’ main attraction in Tanzania

Perspective Chapter: A Perspective on the Resettlement of Maasai Communities from the Ngorongoro Landscape in Tanzania

Tanzania is endowed with an abundance of natural resources, and the country has set aside more than 30% of its land for conservation. The Ngorongoro district is where both the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and the Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA) are located. Sometimes, it is confusing when talking about Ngorongoro as a region and the NCA as a conservation area. The NCA is an example of a diverse landscape in which humans (the Maasai tribe) and their livestock coexist with wildlife, but crop farming is prohibited. According to current projections, the Maasai population at NCA is approximately 120,000 people. And there are approximately 45,200 livestock. The increase in people is proportional to the increase in livestock, as the Maasai who live in the Ngorongoro landscape rely solely on animal husbandry as their main source of income. In the NCA, human and livestock population growth have a significant impact on wildlife and their habitat. To alleviate the pressure on the landscape, the Tanzanian government took the initiative to seek Maasai willing to relocate to another area, in this case, Handeni district in Tanga region

Factors Facing School Committees at enhancing the quality of Education in Tanzania. A Case of Monduli District

This study investigated factors facing school committees at enhancing the quality of education in Tanzania. Three objectives guided the study: firstly, to identify the problems that hinder committee members to effectively execute their responsibilities in Primary schools of Tanzania, secondly establishing the functional areas where the school committees perform to the best of their capacity as per standards predetermined and thirdly to explore challenges facing school committees in implementing their roles in Primary schools in Monduli district-Tanzania. The study employed qualitative approach under case study design. The study also involved a sample of 50 participants from five primary schools. The participants were selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data gathered in this study were analysed qualitatively by using Content analysis as per Herbaman and Miles stages which are: Data reduction, where data were selected, focused, Simplified, abstracted and transformed; Data display, where data were organized, compressed to permit conclusions to be drawn and action; and Conclusion-drawing and verification, where data processed through above procedures were digested to get their meaning and tested for their validity. The findings revealed that most of the members of the committee failed to implement different responsibilities due to variety of factors including the shortage of trainings that would provide highlights of their responsibilities. Further, it was revealed that local community participation in financing education was low because they considered it a role of the government. The study concluded that school committee is very important since it helps in enhancing the quality of education in schools of Tanzania. The researcher recommends that the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training should provide a guideline on procedures on how school committees can operate effectively. Orient with their working environment. Further, it is recommended that the society should work conjointly with school committee so that education quality is improved

Perceptions of stakeholders on effective discipline practices in Mbeya public secondary schools

The study explored perception of stake holders on effective discipline practices in Mbeya public secondary schools. Specifically, the study examined the views of heads of schools, teachers and parents regarding current discipline practices, determined which factors play a role in a well-organized school discipline practices, assessed the aspects leading to barriers to effective discipline practices, and determined the factors that can enhance effective discipline practices in secondary schools. Purposive, convenient and simple random sampling techniques were employed to obtain 42 respondents. Data were collected through semi interview. The study findings revealed that current discipline practices in secondary schools include roles performed by parents, teachers and heads of school in overseeing school rules and regulations, administering punishments as well as investigating children disciplinary characteristics both at home and school. The study also found key factors that play roles in a well organized school discipline include the use of advisory techniques through guidance and counseling, motivation, democratic style of leadership and the use of school disciplinary committee. Furthermore, the findings from this study show that there were many barriers impeding effective discipline practices in secondary schools. These include poor relationship between head of schools and staff members, deteriorated relationship between staff members, long distances covered by students to and from school and lack of parental cooperation on school matters. Lastly, the study found that the factors used to improve effective discipline practices, it include the presence of the school disciplinary meetings, managing a good relationship between students and teachers, parents and school administration, teachers and head of schools as well as community at large