Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge(TPCK) and Techno Pedagogy Integration Skill ( TPIS) Among Pre-Service Science Teachers- Case Study of a University Based ICT Based Teacher Education Curriculum

The research is partly financed by University of Malaya  Research  Grant Abstract The paper is an attempt to evaluate  an effective Technology  based Teacher Education course for Pre Service Science Teachers. The Technology in Science Education – a core course - is prescribed for an University based Pre-Service Science teachers Education program. The  particular course is evaluated based on the TPACK framework which is an extension of the pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman,1986).The TPACK framework offers a viable and effective  means  for actual tryout  of a  Technology enabled  Teacher Education Program. The volume of research that extruded from the TPCK/TPACK construct has provided deeper understanding of how teacher knowledge is related to pedagogical integration of digital technologies in educational contexts. As part of  curricular transaction during the eleven week semester, the seven  dimensions  of  TPACK viz., Technology Knowledge(TK), Content  Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge( PK), Technology Content Knowledge (TCK), Pedagogical content Knowledge (PCK), Technology Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK),TPACK (Technology pedagogical Content  Knowledge)  and  an  eighth  dimension TechnoPedagogy Integration Skill ( TPIS) was evaluated with reference to the attainment of concepts and acquisition of skills. The effectiveness of the course was  assessed by  a  Pre service Teacher’s TPACK assessment inventory which comprised of an achievement test in Science which assessed pre service teachers attainment of science related concepts based on School level Science. The inventory comprised of  a list of questions which pertain to the 7 dimensions as identified by the TPACK framework, The abbreviations and explanations are the same used by Mishra and Kohler( 2006). TechnoPedagogical Integration Skill (TPIS) was assessed by the  assessment of teaching performance using technology before and after the course. Studies  have reported  that  the  implementation of TPACK  framework has  contributed to enhancement of   Technological and Pedagogical concepts  related to the subject (Hammond & Manfra, 2009a; Khan, 2011; Manfra & Hammond, 2008; Schul, 2010a, 2010b,Chai ,Koh and Tsai, 2013,Angeli & Valanides, 2005; Bowers & Stephens, 2011; Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Tee & Lee, 2011; Shafer, 2008). Similar attempts have been  done earlier to  assess  the impact of  TPACK using reliable and valid instruments (Schmidt However, the present study  attempts to evaluate the  effectiveness of  a teacher preparation course with respect to  technological and pedagogical skill  acquisition and deployment for teaching science. Content Analysis of the course  modules  highlighted  possibilities to draw  parallels  with  the TPACK  framework and  it was thus  that is was  used  as a  frame of reference for  the study.  Keywords: TPCK, University based ICT incorporated Teacher education curriculum, Pre service Science teachers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-6-07 Publication date: February 29th 202

Behavior of fire exposed concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns under concentric axial loads

This paper presents the result of an experimental investigation of axial behavior of concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns exposed to high temperature under the action of monotonically applied concentric axial loads. The columns were exposed to ASTM E-119 standard fire curve until 600°C and kept constant for two different exposure time (i.e., 60 and 90 minutes). Failure patterns and reduction in strength, ductility and stiffness of CFDST columns are reported. Factors influencing the strength, ductility and stiffness of CFDST columns during fire exposure, i.e., exposure time, temperature of concrete core and temperature of inner steel tube, are also discusse

Prediction-Based Channel Selection Prediction in Mobile Cognitive Radio Network

The emerging 5G wireless communications enabled diverse multimedia applications and smart devices in the network. It promises very high mobile traffic data rates, quality of service as in very low latency and improvement in user’s perceived quality of experience compared to current 4G wireless network. This encourages the increasing demand of significant bandwidth which results a significant urge of efficient spectrum utilization. In this paper, modelling, performance analysis and optimization of future channel selection for cognitive radio network by jointly exploiting both CR mobility and primary user activity to provide efficient spectrum access is studied.  The modelling and prediction method is implemented by using Hidden Markov Model algorithm. The movement of CR in wireless network yields location-varying spectrum opportunities. The current approaches in most literatures which only depend on reactive selection spectrum opportunities result of inefficient channel usages. Moreover, conventional random selection method tends to observe a higher handoff and operation delays in network performance.  This inefficiency can cause continuous transmission interruptions leading to the degradation of advance wireless services. This work goal is to improve the performance of CR in terms number of handoffs and operation delays. We perform simulation on our prediction strategy with a commonly used random sensing method with and without location. Through simulations, it is shown that the proposed prediction and learning strategy can obtain significant improvements in number of handoffs and operation delays performance parameters. It is also shown that future CR location is beneficial in increasing mobile CR performance. This study also shows that the number of primary user in the network and the PU protection range affect the performance of mobile CR channel selection for all methods

A systematic review of the methodologies used to evaluate telemedicine service initiatives in hospital facilities

Background: The adoption of telemedicine into mainstream health services has been slower than expected. Many telemedicine projects tend not to progress beyond the trial phase; there are a large number of pilot or project publications and fewer 'service' publications. This issue has been noted since 1999 and continues to be acknowledged in the literature. While overall telemedicine uptake has been slow, some services have been successful. The reporting and evaluation of these successful services may help to improve future uptake and sustainability. The aim of this literature review was to identify peer reviewed publications of deployed telemedicine services in hospital facilities; and to report, and appraise, the methodology used to evaluate these services

Handover Algorithm based VLP using Mobility Prediction Database for Vehicular Network

This paper proposes an improved handover algorithm method for vehicle location prediction (VLP-HA) using mobility prediction database. The main advantage of this method is the mobility prediction database is based on real traffic data traces. Furthermore, the proposed method has the ability to reduce handover decision time and solve resource allocation problem. The algorithm is simple and can be computed very rapidly; thus, its implementation for a high-speed vehicle is possible. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, QualNet simulation is carried out under different velocity scenarios. Its performance is compared with conventional handover method. The superiority of the proposed method over conventional handover method in deciding the best handover location and choosing candidate access points is highlighted by simulation. It was found that VLP-HA has clearly reduced handover delay by 45% compared to handover without VLP, give high accuracy, hence low complexity algorithm

Open University Malaysia : way forward in Science and Technology education

One of Malaysia’s national agenda is to move towards a scientific and progressive society. Government strategies for Malaysia described in this paper highlights the importance of life long learning in achieving its national agenda. Open University Malaysia as a pioneer in open and distance education has a role in promoting life long learning in Malaysia. This paper highlights the key features of the university i.e. blended learning mode and e-learning platform which offers various benefits that could provide supports for creating an innovative society. In the context of science and technology, creating an innovative society means creating manpower with good foundation in basic science knowledge and science skills, a sense of appreciation of contributions and innovations in science and technology, positive attitudes and awareness on ethical issues. This paper proposes strategies to invest in the future by retraining man-power, promoting basic science and increasing the quality of technical courses. (Authors' abstract

EVALUATING A NEW SUBCARRIER MAPPING ICI-SC SCHEME USING LINEAR MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ALAMOUTI COMBINER (LMLAC) DECODING TECHNIQUE

This paper presents a new subcarrier mapping scheme ICI-SC technique that use Linear Maximum Likelihood Alamouti Combiner (LMLAC) as a decoding technique to mitigate intercarrier interference (ICI) problem with low complexity decoding system for space time frequency block codes (STFBC) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in the frequency selective environments. We provide details of the mathematical models of the proposed scheme and simulate its error performance caused by frequency offset (FO). We also analyze the impact of the STFBC of the system. The simulation results showed that the scheme has the ability to reduce ICI effectively with a low decoding complexity and maximum diversity in terms of bandwidth efficiency and also in the bit error rate (BER) performance especially at high signal to noise ratio

Spectrum occupancy measurement: a case for cognitive radio network in lagos, Nigeria

The proliferation in technologies and with the recent introduction of new paradigm for wireless communication, the demand for wireless devices has increased drastically in recent years. This therefore, posed a major threat on the available frequency spectrum and as a result, an efficient method for the utilisation of the limited frequency spectrum is required. As the scarcity of frequency spectrum is a major problem in the telecommunication field, cognitive radio technology has been identified as a promising solution to this problem. Cognitive radio allows the opportunistic access of licensed bands by unlicensed users without causing harmful interference to the licensed user. There is a need to evaluate the utilisation level of the licensed bands in order to identify which frequency bands can be used for cognitive radio implementation. Nevertheless, spectrum measurement campaigns have been conducted mostly in USA and a few other locations around the world. In this paper, the results of the measurement campaign conducted in Ikeja, the capital city of Lagos, Nigeria covering the range of frequency 700 MHz up to 2.2 GHz is presented. The measurement results are analysed and compared to the frequency allocation table published by the Nigerian Communications Commission. The results obtained show that the frequency spectrum is underutilised and therefore a significant amount of spectrum is available for the future implementation of cognitive radio networks

Service Quality Performance Measurement Tool in Islamic Non-Profit Organisation: An Urgent Need

This study examines the service quality performance measurement tools introduced in the previous literature. This study, subsequently propose a new performance measurement tool engineered from the best performance measurement tool that fit into the Islamic perspective within the non-profit organisations. Using content analysis, this study assesses relative strengths and weaknesses of five performance measurement tools in order to determine which instrument would best fit in the Islamic non-profit organisation perspective. The results of the analysis show that most studies have relied on SERVQUAL (1985). Further review shows that the potential best fit model that could adapt to Islamic non-profit organisation is Carter Instrument. This study subsequently re-engineered Carter Instrument to develop INOPERF (Islamic Non-profit Organisation PER Formance). The findings in this study provide guidelines to Islamic non-profit organisations in Malaysia to measure service quality.Key words: Service quality; Performance measurement; Non-Profit organisation; Islami

Potency and efficacy of a low pathogenic H5N2 inactivated vaccine against challenge with a Malaysian H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

The potency and efficacy of an avian influenza (AI) H5N2 inactivated vaccine that was developed at Veterinary Research Institute, Ipoh was tested. The percentage sequence identity of the HA gene of the H5N2 vaccine virus to the challenge virus [A/chicken/Malaysia/5858/04 (H5N1)] was 88.2% by nucleotide and 90% by amino acid sequences similarities, respectively. As for the HAI segment, the nucleotide sequence similarities were 88.3 % and by amino acid sequence 87.7%.For potency testing, the heterologous killed H5N2 AI vaccine, formulated as an oil emulsion was administered only once subcutaneously in twenty five two-week old commercial broiler chickens. The HI antibodies were not detectable at week 1 post vaccination. The HI GMT attained was 30, 63, 200, 54 and 32 by week 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 post vaccinations. Efficacy study was conducted on ten SPF chickens at week 3 post vaccination. 60% of the birds (6/10) with HI titres ≥ 64 - 128 survived the challenged. H5N1 challenge virus was reisolated from all the birds with HI titre ≤ 32 that died, and each of the birds that survived with HI titres of 64 and 128, from the oropharynx and cloaca at day 3 post challenge. This vaccine protected 60% of chickens against mortality and did not prevent shedding after challenged with a HPAI H5N1 virus