Using technology acceptance model to measure the use of social media for collaborative learning in Ghana

In this Digital era, thousands of teens in the universities use social network sites; it has become a way of life. Social Media Usage has recently received numerous debates in its impact on academics, with its advent, communities have become link to each other, but the lecture room still remains quite isolated, from other teachers, students, and a host of others who could potentially enhance learning. This study aimed at investigating the impact of social media usage on students’ academic performance through collaborative learning among university students in Ghana. Based Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw (1989), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a conceptual framework was adopted for the study. To achieve the objectives, a quantitative data analysis method was employed. A total of 200 students were randomly surveyed for the study. Regression analysis revealed that, Interaction with peers, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a significant positive relationship with collaborative learning. Furthermore, results suggested that there exist a significant mediation effects on the relationship between social media usage dimensions and academic performance. TAM does not take into account environment or economic factors that may influence a person’s intention to perform a behavior. The study recommends a clear mobile learning methodologies, rules and policies for integrating student activities on social media into their final gradesPeer Reviewe

Empathy and inclusivity to people from different cultures

The day men came to exist on this planet they became conscious of their differences when compared to others. Things like colour, language, dialect, ethnicity, tribe, religion, religious denomination, country of origin, culture, tradition, etc. can be factors that divide humanity. At times, such division can cause hatred, discrimination, racism and perhaps cause nations to go into war against one another. On the contrary, qualities like feeling empathy and inclusivity can make an individual to be thoughtful and sensitive towards one another. Through this webinar session with the students of COMM 3090 IIUM, we were able to communicate some Islamic ideas to the students and general audience. Ideas from the team were communicated via the Cyberworld. The findings indicated that schools, students, learning institutions, governments, nations around the globe, plus the United Nations should campaign against racism, marginalization of minorities, sectarian violence, foreign occupation, war, etc. in order to create a better world where peace and harmony prevail and people can live in acceptance of one another

Impact of Graphic Warning Labels on Cigarette Packs in Changing Smokers' Views and Habits: An Opinion Survey

Background: Smoking has become a major issue worldwide. With the advancement in technology, morevulnerable populations, such as teenagers, are also being harmed. One deterrent is the presence of graphiclabels on cigarette packs. With this rationale in mind, the objective of our study is to assess the impact ofthese warning labels on the habits and opinions of smokers.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing a validated paper-based questionnaire.The sample size was calculated to be 200 using statistical software. The study targeted students ofIslamabad, Pakistan, who were studying in twelfth grade and were smokers. The sampling method usedwas ‘snowball sampling’.Findings: 128 (64%) males and 72 (36%) females participated in the study. The mean age of the participantswas 17.59 ± 0.51 years. 40 participants reported choosing local brands for cigarettes due to cigarette‘freshness’, regardless of presence or absence of a graphic label, which was a new concept. 94% ofparticipants believed that presence of a visual label helped with understanding the harm and 78% believedthat the side effects were accurately portrayed. Participants who were more than 17 years of age believed thatthe graphic label provided a clear description of the consequences of smoking. Similar results were seen inthe female participants of the study.Conclusion: There is a general consensus on graphic labels altering the opinions of smokers. The presenceof these labels is, however, targeting only a specific type of audience and hence, should be expanded for alarger audienc

A psycho-spiritual life of the ego: an Iqbalian perspective

Over the centuries many great minds regardless in the East or West were preoccupied in the investigation on human nature and personality. Despite the existence of divergent theories on man in the West, quite a sizable number of biologists, psychologists and others who have influenced by the Darwinian Theory of evolution concluded that man is nothing more than an extension from the ape family. Yet others felt that is no connection between the body and mind. Some just believed in the mechanistic nature of the human brain in processing information at the expanse of rejecting the existence of the mind concept in man. While in the Freudian context the human psyche is divided into three warring parties; namely the Id, Ego and Superego. On the overall, the entity of the human soul has been rejected by mainstream psychologies in the West for the obvious reason that it is invisible/non-observable and intangible. In the maze of an ongoing debate in many areas of knowledge as to whether man is just made up of body or body-mind and soul, this paper intends to investigate Iqbal’s ideas on the life of the human ego. Particularly, the researchers are interested in investigating Iqbal’s ideas on man, the nature of the ego and the stages it has to journey in life before it reaches a state of immortality. During the course of writing the paper, the research team would make some sparing comparison to the Freudian concepts on human nature and personality. As a qualitative study, the research team would refer to Iqbal’s ideas present in his philosophical writings and poetry. Data related to the research will be collected from print and internet sources. The textual and content-analysis methods will be employed in interpreting the relevant data

Using technology acceptance model to measure the ese of social media for collaborative learning in Ghana

In this Digital era, thousands of teens in the universities use social network sites, it has become a way of life. Social Media Usage has recently received numerous debate in its impact on academics, with its advent, communities have become link to each other, but the lecture room still remains quite isolated, from other teachers, students, and a host of others who could potentially enhance learning. This study aimed at investigating the impact of social media usage on students’ academic performance through collaborative learning among university students in Ghana. (Based Davis et al,. 1989) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a conceptual framework was adopted for the study. To achieve the objectives, a quantitative data analysis method was employed. A total of 200 students were randomly surveyed for the study.  Regression analysis revealed that, Interaction with peers, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a significant positive relationship with collaborative learning. Furthermore, results suggested that there exist a significant mediation effects on the relationship between social media usage dimensions and academic performance. TAM does not take into account environment or economic factors that may influence a person’s intention to perform a behavior. The study recommends a clear mobile learning methodologies, rules and policies for integrating student activities on social media into their final grades

Using technology acceptance model to measure the use of social media for collaborative learning in Ghana

In this Digital era, thousands of teens in the universities use social network sites; it has become a way of life. Social Media Usage has recently received numerous debates in its impact on academics, with its advent, communities have become link to each other, but the lecture room still remains quite isolated, from other teachers, students, and a host of others who could potentially enhance learning. This study aimed at investigating the impact of social media usage on students’ academic performance through collaborative learning among university students in Ghana. Based Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw (1989), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a conceptual framework was adopted for the study. To achieve the objectives, a quantitative data analysis method was employed. A total of 200 students were randomly surveyed for the study. Regression analysis revealed that, Interaction with peers, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a significant positive relationship with collaborative learning. Furthermore, results suggested that there exist a significant mediation effects on the relationship between social media usage dimensions and academic performance. TAM does not take into account environment or economic factors that may influence a person’s intention to perform a behavior. The study recommends a clear mobile learning methodologies, rules and policies for integrating student activities on social media into their final grade

A simplified framework for orientation control of synthetic fibers in engineered cementitious composites using magnetic field

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) is attracting many researchers' attention due to its excellent mechanical and fracture properties. However, its widespread implementation is hampered by the issues related to the dispersion and orientation of its fibers. According to the fracture mechanics, the reinforcement would provide maximum bridging when placed perpendicular to the crack propagation. This study is focused on the magnetic-based orientation of synthetic fibers which are mostly used in strain hardening FRC also termed as Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). Initially, the PVA fibers were coated with waste iron particles using a hydrothermal synthesis procedure. This was done to make synthetic fibers magnetically responsive by the formation of a physical bond between iron and PVA fibers. A solenoid was used to provide a high-intensity magnetic flux to orient these fibers in the direction of magnetic lines. Three different ECC mixes were prepared and cast in wooden molds. The molds were then placed one by one into the magnetic field for the orientation of the fibers. The fibers were successfully aligned perpendicular to the flexure cracks in only flexure dominant regions with the aid of a magnetic field. The orientation of fibers was verified with the help of microscopic images of the tortured surfaces. As a result of well aligned fibers dispersed in the ECC mix, the flexural strength was increased by 21%

Frontiers in Psychology

The growth in social media use has given rise to concerns about the impacts it may have on users' psychological well-being. This paper's main objective is to shed light on the effect of social media use on psychological well-being. Building on contributions from various fields in the literature, it provides a more comprehensive study of the phenomenon by considering a set of mediators, including social capital types (i.e., bonding social capital and bridging social capital), social isolation, and smartphone addiction. The paper includes a quantitative study of 940 social media users from Mexico, using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings point to an overall positive indirect impact of social media usage on psychological well-being, mainly due to the positive effect of bonding and bridging social capital. The empirical model's explanatory power is 45.1%. This paper provides empirical evidence and robust statistical analysis that demonstrates both positive and negative effects coexist, helping to reconcile the inconsistencies found so far in the literature.Frontiers in Psychologyhttps://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.67876

The Impact of Bypass Fat on Milk Contents And Yield in Indigenous Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) of Sindh, Pakistan

Introduction: Buffalo and cow milk have a great affinity for strong bones, healthy teeth and in various heart diseases. The study was carried out on Kundi buffalo to assess the outcomes of bypass fat on dry matter, milk output, milk contents, body mass gain, nutrient digestibility, and production costs. Methodology: 12 buffaloes of early third and fourth lactation were selected, divided into two groups (six each) for ninety days experiment. In the test animals, additional 300 mg bypass fat was given with balance ration containing 16% of crude proteins, while in control group only balance routine ration was provided. The data was statistically evaluated using a one-way analysis of variance in a completely randomized design (CRD), and differences were assessed using a t-test. Results: The results indicated that mean values in group-A regarding the dry matter intake (DMI) was significantly elevated (P<0.05) (14.29±1.42 kg) as compared to control group (13.65 ± 2.174 kg). At the end of experiment the mean of daily milk production (7.73±1.115 liters/day) was also reported higher (P<0.05) in group-A. The milk yield of Group-A was raised up to 15.39% than the control group. Though, the buffaloes under bypass fat treatment were not found significantly higher in weight gain, but the milk contents in context of solids not fat, fat and total solids presented as P<0.05 between the treatments. Conclusion: Therefore, it is concluded from the conducted study that, bypass fat can be employed to produce milk both quantitatively and qualitatively at a reasonable cost

A review on SAPO-34 zeolite materials for CO2 capture and conversion

Among several known zeolites, silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO)-34 zeolite exhibits a distinct chemical structure, unique pore size distribution, and chemical, thermal, and ion exchange capabilities, which have recently attracted considerable research attention. Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a serious environmental issue. Current atmospheric CO2 level exceeds 414 parts per million (ppm), which greatly influences humans, fauna, flora, and the ecosystem as a whole. Zeolites play a vital role in CO2 removal, recycling, and utilization. This review summarizes the properties of the SAPO-34 zeolite and its role in CO2 capture and separation from air and natural gas. In addition, due to their high thermal stability and catalytic nature, CO2 conversions into valuable products over single metal, bi-metallic, and tri-metallic catalysts and their oxides supported on SAPO-34 were also summarized. Considering these accomplishments, substantial problems related to SAPO-34 are discussed, and future recommendations are offered in detail to predict how SAPO-34 could be employed for greenhouse gas mitigation