MOULDING POSITIVE CHARACTERS VIA INCULCATING VALUES IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING AND LEARNING

In this paper, I argue that it is pertinent to develop positive characters among all students as they are the future assets of a nation. A review of related literature shows that inculcating values and moulding character has been of great concern in the school mathematics curriculum of many countries. There are various categories of intrinsic values embedded in mathematics education. With careful and mindful integration into teaching and learning of mathematics, it is possible to inculcate positive values and thus produce positive characters of our future generation. Some suggestions on how to inculcate these values into mathematics teaching and learning at various school levels were discussed at the end of this paper. Keyword: mathematics teaching and learning; moulding character; values in mathematics educatio

Thai SF-36 health survey: tests of data quality, scaling assumptions, reliability and validity in healthy men and women

BACKGROUND: Since its translation to Thai in 2000, the SF-36 Health Survey has been used extensively in many different clinical settings in Thailand. Its popularity has increased despite the absence of published evidence that the translated instrument satisfies scoring assumptions, the psychometric properties required for valid interpretation of the SF-36 summated ratings scales. The purpose of this paper was to examine these properties and to report on the reliability and validity of the Thai SF-36 in a non-clinical general population. METHODS: 1345 distance-education university students who live in all areas of Thailand completed a questionnaire comprising the Thai SF-36 (Version 1). Median age was 31 years. Psychometric tests recommended by the International Quality of Life Assessment Project were used. RESULTS: Data quality was satisfactory: questionnaire completion rate was high (97.5%) and missing data rates were low (< 1.5% for all items). The ordering of item means within scales generally were clustered as hypothesized and scaling assumptions were satisfied. Known groups analysis showed good discriminant validity between subgroups of healthy persons with differing health states. However, some areas of concern were revealed. Possible translation problems of the Physical Functioning (PF) items were indicated by the comparatively low ceiling effects. High ceiling and floor effects were seen in both role functioning scales, possibly due to the dichotomous format of their response choices. The Social Functioning scale had a low reliability of 0.55, which may be due to cultural differences in the concept of social functioning. The Vitality scale correlated better with the Mental Health scale than with itself, possibly because a healthy mental state is central to the concept of vitality in Thailand. CONCLUSION: The summated ratings method can be used for scoring the Thai SF-36. The instrument was found to be reliable and valid for use in a general non-clinical population. Version 2 of the SF-36 could improve ceiling and floor effects in the role functioning scales. Further work is warranted to refine items that measure the concepts of social functioning, vitality and mental health to improve the reliability and discriminant validity of these scales

The association between overall health, psychological distress, and occupational heat stress among a large national cohort of 40,913 Thai workers

BACKGROUND Occupational heat stress is a well-known problem, particularly in tropical countries, affecting workers, health and well-being. There are very few recent studies that have reported on the effect of heat stress on mental health, or overall health in workers, although socioeconomic development and rapid urbanization in tropical developing countries like Thailand create working conditions in which heat stress is likely. OBJECTIVE This study is aimed at identifying the relationship between self-reported heat stress and psychological distress, and overall health status in Thai workers. RESULTS 18% of our large national cohort (>40,000 subjects) often works under heat stress conditions and males are exposed to heat stress more often than females. Furthermore, working under heat stress conditions is associated with both worse overall health and psychological distress (adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.49 to 1.84). CONCLUSIONS This association between occupational heat stress and worse health needs more public health attention and further development on occupational health interventions as climate change increases Thailand's temperatures.This study was supported by the International Collaborative Research Grants Scheme with joint grants from the Wellcome Trust UK (GR0587MA) and the Australian NHMRC (268055)

Implementation of lesson study as an innovative professional development model among Malaysian school teachers

Purpose – This qualitative study explored the implementation of Lesson Study, a kind of teacher-directed and bottom-up approach of the Japanese model of teacher professional development in the Malaysian education context.It seeks to answer the question of how implementation of lesson study as an innovative professional development model among Malaysian school teachers influences teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, and what school-based factors support or hinder the implementation of lesson study in the Malaysian context. Methodology – The case study method was employed involving two secondary schools in the state of Kedah.Each school set up a lesson study group as a case.Case A had 9 teachers while case B had 8. The participants of both cases engaged themselves in the lesson study process for a period of 12 months. Each lesson study cycle required the participants to collaboratively plan, discuss, teach, observe and reflect on a particular lesson. Due to various constraints, at the end of this study, case A conducted three lesson study cycles while case B conducted only two cycles. Multiple data sources were gathered through in-depth interviews, observations, group discussions and reflections as well as participants’ journal writing.Findings – The analysis of the qualitative data indicated that the lesson study group setting provided an encouraging opportunity and venue for the participants to collaborate, discuss and share their teaching knowledge and experiences. Consequently, the participants expressed that their content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge were enhanced.They became more reflective and keener in promoting active student participation in their lessons.Significance – This study revealed that the degree of knowledge enhancement was dependent upon each participant’s attitude and commitment towards the teaching profession.However, when provided with sufficient supporting factors such as positive support from the school administrators, committed and dedicated group leaders and strong collegiality among the lesson study team, lesson study could be successfully implemented as an effective and innovative mode of teachers’ professional learning

Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among small and medium enterprise workers in Selangor, Malaysia

Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 has always demanded employer to protect workers from noise exposure ≥85 dB. However, noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been the highest notifiable occupational health issue among Malaysian workers in 2014. A cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hearing loss (HL) among 146 adult manufacturing workers with noise exposure ≥85 dB was carried out in Selangor. Pure tone audiometry and a validated questionnaire were used to determine the hearing status and information of the respondents. The results showed that the prevalence of HL was 73.3% and the prevalence of hearing impairment was 23.3%. Male workers (63.0%) had higher prevalence of HL than female workers (36.4%). Mean hearing threshold levels of HL respondents were significantly higher than respondents with normal hearing. It was discovered that among workers with employment of more than 10 years, > 80% of them suffered from HL. Association between employment years and hearing condition (normal, non-bilateral and bilateral HL) was statistically significant, χ(4)= 10.51, p=0.033, with Kendall tau-c correlation showing positive and weak (p=0.18) association. Highest HL cases were found at 4 and 6 kHz. World Health Organisation and Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulation 1989 classification on degree of hearing impairment showed slight to moderate hearing impairment among the respondents and both standards did not differ much (8.9% vs 6.9%, respectively). As a conclusion, prevalence of hearing loss and hearing impairment among manufacturing workers were high. Age, male sex, monthly salary and employment years were possible influencing factors

Sinonasal Melioidosis in a Returned Traveller Presenting with Nasal Cellulitis and Sinusitis

We illustrate a case involving a 51-year-old man who presented to a tertiary hospital with sepsis secondary to an abscess of the nasal vestibule and pustular eruptions of the nasal mucosa. Associated cellulitis extended across the face to the eye, and mucosal thickening of the sinuses was seen on computed tomography. The patient underwent incision and drainage and endoscopic sinus surgery. Blood cultures and swabs were positive for a gram-negative bacillus, Burkholderia pseudomallei. He had multiple risk factors including travel to an endemic area. The patient received extended antibiotic therapy in keeping with published national guidelines. Melioidosis is caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, found in the soil in Northern Australia and Asia. It is transmitted via cutaneous or inhaled routes, leading to pneumonia, skin or soft tissue abscesses, and genitourinary infections. Risk factors include diabetes, chronic lung disease, and alcohol abuse. It can exist as a latent, active, or reactivated infection. A high mortality rate has been identified in patients with sepsis. Melioidosis is endemic in tropical Northern Australia and northeastern Thailand where it is the most common cause of severe community-acquired sepsis. There is one other report of melioidosis in the literature involving orbital cellulitis and sinusitis

A Three-Step Resolution-Reconfigurable Hazardous Multi-Gas Sensor Interface for Wireless Air-Quality Monitoring Applications

This paper presents a resolution-reconfigurable wide-range resistive sensor readout interface for wireless multi-gas monitoring applications that displays results on a smartphone. Three types of sensing resolutions were selected to minimize processing power consumption, and a dual-mode front-end structure was proposed to support the detection of a variety of hazardous gases with wide range of characteristic resistance. The readout integrated circuit (ROIC) was fabricated in a 0.18 ??m CMOS process to provide three reconfigurable data conversions that correspond to a low-power resistance-to-digital converter (RDC), a 12-bit successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a 16-bit delta-sigma modulator. For functional feasibility, a wireless sensor system prototype that included in-house microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensing devices and commercial device products was manufactured and experimentally verified to detect a variety of hazardous gases

Sugar sweetened beverages and weight gain over 4 years in a Thai national cohort – a prospective analysis

INTRODUCTION Sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) are implicated in the rising prevalence of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases worldwide. However, little is known about their contribution to weight gain in Asian populations. This study aimed to investigate weight change associated with SSB consumption between 2005 and 2009 in a large national cohort of Thai university students. METHODS Questionnaire data were collected from a large Thai cohort (the Thai Health-Risk Transition: a National Cohort Study). The analysis was based on responses from 59 283 of the 60 569 (98%) cohort members who had valid SSB consumption and weight variables in 2005 and 2009. The relationship between SSB consumption in 2005 and self-reported weight change was analysed using multiple linear regression models controlled for socio-demographic, activity and (non-validated) dietary factors shown to influence weight. RESULTS Higher frequency of SSB consumption in 2005 was significantly associated with greater weight gain between 2005 and 2009 in all age groups and in both sexes (p once per day) between 2005 and 2009 compared to those who maintained it was 0.3 kgs, while persons who reduced their consumption frequency (once a day to > once a month) gained 0.2 kgs less than those whose consumption remained unchanged. CONCLUSION SSB consumption is independently associated with weight gain in the Thai population. Research and health promotion in Thailand and other economically transitioning countries should focus on reducing their contribution to population weight gain and to diet-related chronic diseases.This study was supported by the International Collaborative Research Grants Scheme with joint grants from the Wellcome Trust UK (GR071587MA) (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/) and the Australian NHMRC (268055) and by a global health grant from the NHMRC (585426) (http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/). No employees of either funder were involved in the any aspect of the research