Classroom Interaction: Tension between Belief and Practice, a Case Study of a University Teacher

Teaching is mainly an outcome of a teacher s perception Whatever teachers do in their classrooms is an outcome of their educational beliefs whether they are aware of their teaching philosophy or not Teacher s belief about how better a foreign language can be learned plays a significant role in deciding how they will conduct their classes English teachers have their beliefs and perceptions about various classroom activities and accordingly they execute these beliefs and knowledge in their classroom practices But does it always happen Very often it is found that their classroom practices bear the poorest samples of their beliefs This case study investigates a university teacher s beliefs about classroom interaction and her real classroom practices A questionnaire will be used to elicit the teacher s belief about interaction Observation of her classes in the light of interactive activities will be done An attempt will be made to see if there is any mismatch between belief and practice Does belief change over time through training Is there anything that resists chang

Software Defined 8, 16

Now-a-days digital circuits are getting more complex One IC in a digital circuit is used for a fixed purpose and its operation cannot be defined through software Because of this limitation digital circuit becomes larger in size When designing an 8bit digital circuit we do not include 16bit or 24bit components but this limits our scope of design and versatility of the design To overcome this problem an 8bit microcontroller is programmed which is able to do addition subtraction multiplication and 28 other digital operations in 8 16 24 bit level To add six 8 bit data 5 adder ICs are not needed anymore This IC can do it all alone For any logic operation the regarding mode needs to be selected in the same IC to perform desired operation It is software defined digital logic design IC This IC will save time space reduce cost in digital circuit designin

Role of Union Parishads in Ensuring Child Education in Bangladesh during flood- a Qualitative Study

Governments ratifying the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Children   have responsibility to ensure   the rights of children to education in every situation.  Bangladesh being a disaster-prone country faces flood and struggles with its consequences every year. During flood children are deprived of education along with many other basic rights in Bangladesh. But the fact is that there is scanty research on the scale of infrastructural and learning loss caused to primary education as a result of flood. So, our study firstly investigates the scale of damage to primary education institutions and the consequent learning loss at the said level.  It is also a fact that there are different steps to mitigate the negative effects of flood   on primary education. But without the participation of   grass root level local government authority, it is not easy to solve the problem. As a grass root level local government institution, the Union Parishad and its Disaster Management Committee should minimize the effect of flood on primary education and ensure the children’s right to education. But it is assumed that the Union Parishads do not perform this duty properly. So, our research also investigates whether the Union Parishads are performing their mandated responsibilities in this regard. We have followed a qualitative research method depending on interviews with two types of samples, field visit and document review. The interviews with both ten Head Teachers and ten Managing Committee members were conducted. The research indicates that Union Parishads are not doing their assigned duties of ensuring primary education during flood. The research recommends that in addition to developing the infrastructural facilities, the concerned committees of the UPs need to be proactive and more sincere about continuing primary education during and after floo

Impacts of Unplanned Urbanization on the Socio–Economic Conditions and Environment of Pabna Municipality, Bangladesh

Urbanization plays a significant role to progress and develop the human civilization because it radically changes the basic foundation of the ingredients of social, economic, political and cultural structures of a society and the country as well. Sustainable development can be acquired with the implementation of successful urban planning but a city or town even a country can be gradually unsuitable for living if the urbanization process is unplanned and haphazard. This study was based on the process of unplanned urbanization in Pabna municipality of Bangladesh and also dealt its effects on the current socio – economic conditions. The study showed that Pabna municipality is gradually developed owing to the unplanned urbanization yet many solemn and highly risky problems are perceiving and detecting for both human and environment such as overpopulation, haphazard housing service, health burdens, urban poverty, crime, child labor, erratic education system, mismanagement of waste, deforestation, air, water, sound and soil pollutions,  carbon emission, environmental hazards, traffic jam, mis– and unemployment, improper drainage system, inadequate entertainment facilities, drug abuse, vulnerable ecosystem, medley lifestyle and culture etc. Finally, the study made some highly effective suggestions and policy recommendations for escaping from these conditions by which Pabna municipality would be familiar as a model urban region in Bangladesh

Online Higher Education in Bangladesh during Covid-19: Its Challenges and Prospects

Online higher education in Bangladesh has not gained expected popularity and a switch to it has always been seen as a challenge despite its potentials here. So, our research investigates the challenges in implementing online higher education and prospects for this for Bangladeshi universities. To do this we have explored the background and evolution of e-learning and online learning in Bangladeshi higher education and the potentials that it might offer in this area. This is a study which may also be called a systematic review. This study reviews research publications on the topic that were published during the last ten years. The research publications include fourteen newspaper articles, twenty two journal articles, four doctoral theses, four reports, three conference proceedings and nine websites. The study finds out that there are a number of problems in implementing online higher education such as, negative perception of teachers, parents and students about the online education, digital divide in the country. On the other hand, online or at least the blended education can be a good alternative to face-to-face higher education of Bangladesh that faces a number of constraints such as, crisis of seats and reputed higher education institutes, session backlog, cost of higher education in universities as well as the conducive factors such as, digitalization, digital literacy, widespread use of mobile phone and the internet. This  study recommends that blended  courses  and programs may be offered in higher  education   of Bangladesh  considering  the  prospects it  offers  to our higher education providers  

Implementing Blended Learning in Bangladeshi Universities: Challenges and Opportunities from Student Perspectives

Blended education has been used worldwide for the last two decades as an alternative to full online education but not in Bangladesh. There was never any significant attempt to investigate people’s perception or experience of blended learning in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the people’s experiences with this new method, a three-month-long blended course in English Writing Skill was offered at a private university in Bangladesh, where eighteen students registered for the course. After completing the course, an open-ended interview protocol was used to collect primary data from 11 students. This qualitative research is based on an interview with 11 samples and other comments posted on Google classroom and Facebook. The interview contained 8 open-ended questions to elicit their experiences with the blended learning method, a new method for them on the one hand, and both face-to-face and online education. We also investigated the 4  essay scores of these 11 respondents to check whether their performance improved due to peer and teacher feedback on those essays in the blog created and used for posting student essays.  The majority of respondents have a highly positive opinion about the blended method for its positive impacts such as peer interaction and peer support, teacher feedback, as is evident from their improved scores in the successive essays, and other advantages such as learning varieties, flexibility and self-paced learning and quality of education. However, they mention a number of challenges in its implementation. It seems that blended courses will effectively reduce session backlog and cost of higher education, increase student-student and student-teacher interaction and ensure flexibility and quality of higher education in comparison with face-to-face and online education. This study is important for Bangladeshi higher education institutions because it is expected to enlighten policymakers about the importance of blended education

Automating assessment and evaluation for a bachelor’s degree program

Outcome-based education (OBE) makes learning happen and measures automating assessment and evaluation system. The objective of the study is to assess student’s learning in International Finance course and report OBE and propose strategies for continual quality improvement (CQI). In this study, a widely accepted self-developed spreadsheet used to measure course learning outcomes (CLO) and program learning outcomes (PLO) of international finance in a bachelor’s degree program of fall 2021. The method of sampling technique is purposive and a sample of 27 students have been considered for the analysis. Using direct method on specific parameters (quiz, assignment, presentation, and exams), an overall CLO attainment has been measured and compared with a targeted key performance indicators (KPI) (70% is set). Findings reveal that the first three out of five CLO have met the standard KPI. However, a CQI has been proposed for further improvement of CLO. Also, future works proposed to instrument CQI processes, engage industry experts and external OBE experts from foreign universities. Program self-assessment is mandatory for quality assurance at university and also preparation for accreditation of the program needs self-assessment. Therefore, CLO is mandatory for assessment and evaluation urgently

Exploring barriers to accessing healthcare services for older indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh

We aim to investigate the obstacles faced by elderly indigenous individuals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh when accessing healthcare services. A qualitative research approach was utilized, and data collection was carried out in three distinct regions of the aforementioned area. A total of 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and participant observations were conducted to achieve the research objectives. Thematic analysis utilizing both a deductive and inductive approach was employed to analyze the data. The Granheim method and Nvivo-12 software were utilized to process, analyze and code the data. The study's findings indicate that a lack of knowledge about healthcare needs, geographical barriers, poor financial conditions, higher cost of medical services, scarcity of hospitals nearby and communication barriers all contribute to inadequate access to healthcare services. By recognizing the factors that impede access to healthcare services in this region, this study offers valuable insight for policymakers and healthcare providers on how to enhance healthcare services for the indigenous population, especially the elderly. Furthermore, the government can adopt a more efficient approach to include these elderly individuals in various social safety net programs

The Bangladesh Risk of Acute Vascular Events (BRAVE) Study: objectives and design.

During recent decades, Bangladesh has experienced a rapid epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases. Coronary heart disease (CHD), with myocardial infarction (MI) as its main manifestation, is a major cause of death in the country. However, there is limited reliable evidence about its determinants in this population. The Bangladesh Risk of Acute Vascular Events (BRAVE) study is an epidemiological bioresource established to examine environmental, genetic, lifestyle and biochemical determinants of CHD among the Bangladeshi population. By early 2015, the ongoing BRAVE study had recruited over 5000 confirmed first-ever MI cases, and over 5000 controls "frequency-matched" by age and sex. For each participant, information has been recorded on demographic factors, lifestyle, socioeconomic, clinical, and anthropometric characteristics. A 12-lead electrocardiogram has been recorded. Biological samples have been collected and stored, including extracted DNA, plasma, serum and whole blood. Additionally, for the 3000 cases and 3000 controls initially recruited, genotyping has been done using the CardioMetabochip+ and the Exome+ arrays. The mean age (standard deviation) of MI cases is 53 (10) years, with 88 % of cases being male and 46 % aged 50 years or younger. The median interval between reported onset of symptoms and hospital admission is 5 h. Initial analyses indicate that Bangladeshis are genetically distinct from major non-South Asian ethnicities, as well as distinct from other South Asian ethnicities. The BRAVE study is well-placed to serve as a powerful resource to investigate current and future hypotheses relating to environmental, biochemical and genetic causes of CHD in an important but under-studied South Asian population.The Gates Cambridge Trust has supported Dr Chowdhury. Epidemiological fieldwork in BRAVE has been supported by grants to investigators at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. The Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit is underpinned by programme grants from the British Heart Foundation (RG/13/13/30194), the UK Medical Research Council (MR/L003120/1), and the UK National Institute of Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. BRAVE has received support for genetic assays from the European Research Council (ERC-2010-AdG-20100317), European Commission Framework 7 (Grant Agreement number: 279233), and the Cambridge British Heart Foundation Centre for Excellence in Cardiovascular Science; We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals: Cardiology Research Group in Bangladesh Mohammad Afzalur Rahman, Mohammad Abdul Kader Akanda, M Atahar Ali, Mir Jamal Uddin, SM Siddiqur Rahman, Amal Kumar Choudhury, Md. Mamunur Rashid, Nazir Ahmed Chowdhury, Mohammad Abdullahel Baqui, Kajal Kumar Karmoker, Mohammad Golam Azam; Setting up/implementation of fieldwork in Bangladesh Abbas Bhuiya, Susmita Chowdhury, Kamrun Nahar, Neelima Das, Proshon Roy, Sumona Ferdous, Taposh Kumar Biswas, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayed Sharif, Ranjit Shingha, Rose Jinnath Tomas, Babulal Parshei, Mabubur Rahman, Mohammad Emon Hossain, Akhirunnesa Mily, AK Mottashir Ahmed, Sati Chowdhury, Sushila Roy, Dipak Kanti Chowdhury, Swapan Kumar Roy; Epidemiological/statistical support in Cambridge Stephen Kaptoge, Simon Thompson, Angela Wood, Narinder Bansal, Anna Ramond, Clare Oliver-Williams, Marinka Steur, Linda O’Keeffe, Eleni Sofianopoulou, Setor Kunutsor, Donal Gorman, Oscar H Franco, Malcolm Legget, Pinal Patel, Marc Suhrcke, Sylvaine Bruggraber, Jonathan Powell; Data management Matthew Walker, Steve Ellis, Shawkat Jahangir, Habibur Rahman, Rifat Hasan Shammi, Shafqat Ullah, Mohammad Abdul Matin and Administration Beth Collins, Hannah Lombardi, Binder Kaur, Rachel Henry, Marilena Papanikolaou, Robert Smith, Abdul Wazed, Robert Williams, Julie Jenkins, Keith Hoddy.This is the final published version of the article. It was originally published in the European Journal of Epidemiology (Chowdhury R, et al., European Journal of Epidemiology, 2015, doi:10.1007/s10654-015-0037-2). The final version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0037-