Adoption of Whole Group Strategy on Standard Seven Learners’ Achievement in English Composition Writing in Public Primary Schools in Kisumu County, Kenya

Adaptation of whole group technique in teaching standard seven learners in English composition writing offers an opportunity for collaboration for nurturing effective communication skills. Appropriate adoption of brain wave, brain storming, pie storm and brain writing techniques influence learner’s achievement in composition writing skills. Whole group promotes critical thinking, writing skills, communication, and collaboration the group discussion translating to sharing and weaving ideals enhances the ability to boost learner’s achievement in composition writing. Absence of the implementation causes double tragedy to the learners and facilitators.   The study objective was to determine influence of whole class group strategy on learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. Drawing from critical thinking skills the study adopted non-equivalent control group with pre and post –test groups research design. Questionnaire, observation schedules and check lists were used to collect data  tired to descriptive statistics.The findings indicated that brain writing strategy was moderately used (m= 3.40 SD of 1.269), pie storm teaching technique is highly used (m= 3.733 and SD of 1.796), and brain wave and brain writing strategy relatively contribute to learners’ composition writing skills. The computed z values for whole class group strategy elements revealed a z-statistic value higher than the z- Critical value and P-value less than 0.05. Thus, the study rejected the Null hypotheses as there was a statistically significant relationship between: whole group strategy and learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. The study recommends for policy the use of inquiring-based learning in order to provoke critical-thinking in learners to cub negative attitude of embracing change of teaching for life and not for examinations.  A research on inferential statistics, especially multiple regression analysis ,whole group style to be trained to facilitators to impact on the learners achievement in composition writing Keywords: Whole group Brain storming; Brain wave; Brain writing; Composition writing; Learners achievements; Pie storm; DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-3-1

Development of a Virtual Environment-Based Electrooculogram Control System for Safe Electric Wheelchair Mobility for Individuals with Severe Physical Disabilities

Conventional wheelchairs are predominantly manual or joystick-operated electric wheelchairs. However, operating these wheelchairs can be difficult or impossible for individuals with severe physical disabilities. Due to losing control of their physical limbs, they depend on an attendant for assistance. As a remedy, bio-signals may be used as a control mechanism since they are readily available and can be acquired from any body part. This research proposes to use EOG signals to vail a control mechanism and test it in a virtual and actual electric wheelchair. The main contribution of the study is an investigation of the use of EOG to control an electric wheelchair in a virtual environment to determine safe control parameters for wheelchair use in complex environments. A customized data acquisition circuit was developed to acquire single-channel EOG signals using wet electrodes. The acquired signal was filtered and processed using feature extraction and classification techniques in MATLAB software. Two customized control environments were developed in Unity 3D, one with equally partitioned sections and the other with sections decreasing in size as the robot wheelchair approaches the target. Twenty-two test subjects (mean age 24.5, std 1.5) participated in the study, controlling the robot wheelchair in real-time with non or least instances of collision and oversteering. The system achieved an accuracy of 96.5% with a response time of 0.7s, translating to an ITR of 70.6 bits/min. Overall, the participants managed to navigate the virtual environment with a completion time of 101.94s ± 19.71 and 109.07s ± 13.25 for the male and female participants, respectively. In the scene with decreasing section sizes, 72% and 54% instances of collision and oversteering were reported, respectively, highlighting the need to consider the complexity of the control environment and the sufficiency of the participants' control skills to ensure safety in operations. The results confirm the usefulness of EOG as a control interface, with little or no need for recalibration. It provides a promising avenue for individuals with severe physical disabilities to operate wheelchairs independently in complex environments, enhancing their quality of life

Occupational exposure risk to radiation in open cast artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Western Kenya

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASSGM) is practiced at open-cast gold mines in Western Kenya. Mining is still going on in deep mines, with huge tailings littering the workplace for most miners. This mining exercise brings to the surface myriad radioactive materials from the earth’s crust, which pose physical and radiation hazards to miners. The aim of this study was to determine occupational exposure to radiation at artisanal gold mining sites. Four sites were studied for a period of six months. Environmental radiation exposure levels were measured using the Geiger Mueller tube (GMT) model; PHYWE, whereas thermoluminescent dosimeter badges (TLB) 802A were used to record personal radiation exposure levels. d-Orbital Limited Company provided UD-716AGL, used to read the radiation levels from the TLB. Exposure levels were reported in terms of monthly skin, eye, and body exposures. Results revealed an increase in counts per minute with an increase in depth in a range of 19.83 ± 3.87 to 27.83 ± 2.10 and a mean of 23.62 ± 5.17 cpm. Personal effective radiation exposure doses for the skin, eye and body were 0.19 ± 0.01, 0.19 ± 0.01 and 0.18 ± 0.015 for two sites in Western Kenya, whereas those in Nyanza had 0.27 ± 0.01, 0.27 ± 0.01 and 0.25 ± 0.05 mSv on skin, eye and body. The maximum dose threshold limit was estimated at 1.67 mSv per month. There was no significant difference in the radiation exposure of the eye, skin, and body between the sites as indicated by χ2 = 2.0 and p = 0.157 (at p<0.05) with df = 1. The study revealed that workers are exposed to ionising radiation, but the measured levels were within safe limits

Teaching Methods and Quality of Business Studies Textbook in Secondary Schools in Kenya

Well-structured business studies textbook provides enjoyable episodes of knowledge creation which promotes achievement learning outcome for sustained academic results. Business textbook represents potentially implemented curriculum as its vehicle through which intended curriculum is availed to learner encouraging achievement of learning objectives. However, adopting methodology that does not facilitate achievement of specific objectives may limit knowledge construction degrading learner’s mean score. The study adopted is exploratory research design. Data collected were both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data were analyzed through counts, percentages, means, standard deviations and Chi square tests while Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Cross tabulation results further indicated that teaching methods significantly influence quality of textbook implying that appropriate teaching methods supports achievement of learning. It was also found that presentation, visuals and differentiated instruction influence quality of instruction content encouraging learning. Therefore, it is recommended that teaching method selected should be learner centered to accelerate learning

INSTRUCTIONAL POLICY AND QUALITY OF BUSINESS STUDIES TEXTBOOK IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

Meticulously developed business studies textbook facilitates individualized learning contributing to the achievement of learning objectives even in the absence of the teacher. Think-pair and share is accelerated as learners are likely to discuss amongst themselves new knowledge acquired through business studies textbook hence boosting learner enthusiasm in construction of knowledge. However, instructional information in business studies textbook may not necessarily facilitate realization of specific objectives where policy governing textbook selection, acquisition and review is inadequate and missing full implementation. Nevertheless, in an instance where the instructional policy guiding textbook selection, acquisition and review are adhered to, the quality textbook is availed to learners in secondary schools in Kenya. This study adopted an exploratory research design through qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. Further analysis showed that textbook selection, acquisition and review influence quality of textbooks used in secondary schools thereby determining quality of learning through textbook contributing to achievement of academic excellence for lifelong learning. Therefore, it is recommended that educational policies be developed considering the needs of the curriculum as well as the learners in order to boost learner mean score in secondary schools in Kenya.  Article visualizations

Alternative approaches to access to justice in Kenya : a cost-benefit analysis

Most rural areas are geographically located far away from courts or any justice institution, making it hard for residents to access them. This report analyses relevant literature and sets out the conceptual framework; discusses the obstacles that impede access to justice in Kenya; maps out the nature of disputes and existing dispute resolution initiatives; provides a cost and benefit analysis of the existing access to justice initiatives; and concludes with a summary of the key findings, making recommendations towards enhancing access to justice policies that relate to scaling of existing access to justice initiatives

Entry Barriers for Food Processors to Supermarkets in Kenya

This paper addresses the domestically owned food-processing industry in Kenya and explores the sale of processed food products to the domestic ‘modern’ retail sector. Food processing represents a step up in the value chain compared to fresh food production and may thus, at least potentially, lead to economic development. In focusing on food-processing businesses and on domestic rather than global market sales, this paper distinguishes itself from studies on Sub-Saharan African suppliers to global value chains. The potential importance of domestic ‘modern’ retail formats to Kenyan food suppliers is underlined by the fact that after South Africa, Kenya is Africa’s second largest market for ‘formal’ retail, mostly because of the growing Kenyan middle class (EIU, 2013; Business Daily, 2015). What is not clear, however, is the extent to which retailers in Kenya currently source processed food products locally and thus whether food processing – as opposed to fresh food exports – retains importance for suppliers as well as for the Kenyan economy. This paper aims to contribute knowledge to this subject on which very little research exists. Based on fieldwork, the paper shows that a variety of entry barriers exist for Kenyan food processors that attempt to supply the emerging ‘modern’ retail sector domestically. The paper also shows how the requirements that processors must meet, especially for larger domestic supermarkets, tend to resemble those commonly described in the export sector, calling into question the extent to which domestic retail is a viable alternative in the longer run