Solid Waste Management at University Campus (Part 4/10): Perceptions, Attitudes, and Practices of students and vendors.

This-study is a-fourth-piece in a-series of 10. At a-general-level, this-research can be-regarded as a-descriptive-case-study of the-social-perception on solid-waste-management (SWM). The-Social Ecological-Model (SEM), the-Panarchy-framework, and the-Pred’s Behavioral-matrix informed the-study. The-main-instruments utilized, are: document-analysis (of over 250 published-materials), a-structured- questionnaire (sample-size of 374, for students), and an-interview (of 37 vendors). Discrete-Choice Experiment-technique, which originated from mathematical-psychology for investigating individual preferences, was employed. A-preliminary-study/testing of both-instruments, for validity and reliability, was conducted according-to ISO 20252:2006 (E): Market, Opinion and Social-Research-Standard. The-data-analysis was done via Minitab and Microsoft Excel-software. The-Statistical-Package for Social-Sciences (SPPS-17, version 22) computer-software-program was used to-compute the-Cronbach’s alpha co-efficient. Cronbach’s-alpha-test of internal-consistency was performed, and demonstrated high- inter-item-consistency (Cronbach’s for students’- questionnaire a = 0.828; and for the-interview-guide, for vendors a = 0.713). The-study revealed, that both; students and vendors: (i) have-recognized SWM as a-major-problem, at-the-campus; (ii) perceived the-campus as-dirty and very-dirty; (iii)  do not currently pay for WM-services rendered, to-them, but would-be willing to-pay, only for drastically-improved SWM-services; (iv) demonstrated relatively-good level of awareness of health and environmental-effects of improper-waste-disposal-behaviors; (v) do recycle few-materials, at a-limited-extend; majority of recyclers are females; and (vi)  exhibit ‘knowing-doing-gap’, which is the-gap, between knowledge and practices, on wastes-disposal. The-respondents have also-approximated, that they generate from 0.14 to 1.4 kg/day/ per-student, and 1.7 kg/day/per-vendor, on-average, which is comparable-with estimations for waste- generation-rates, in-sub-Saharan-Africa. It-is also-evident, that the-knowledge, attitudes, and practices, of the-respondents, need to-be-improved, requiring significant and sustained-behavioral-change, which can-be achieved by Environmental-Education (EE). The-state of EE in-Kenya, and the-level of Environmental- Sustainability reporting, by Kenyan-universities, was examined. From the-specifics of EE, in-Kenya, it-is revealed, that its-main-efforts are directed towards wildlife- and natural-habitat-conservation; in-contrast, SWM is yet to-receive due-attention. Several-recommendations were also-made, at different-levels of the-SEM, via C4D-strategy-approachers, and including areas for further-research. The-study hopefully contributes (in-its small-way) to the-body of knowledge, on the-subject-matter, and may add insight on the-relevance of EE in-SWM. The-findings might also-help in-providing-information that is of practical- value to-policy-makers and planners, such-as NEMA-Kenya, which is beyond the-university boundaries. The-research-findings are also potentially-helpful to the-local-community, as they highlight the-need for the-local-community, to-get involved in-SWM.   Keywords: SEM; C4D strategy; ESD; Environmental Education; Recycling; Performance Contracting; Social norms; Environmental Sustainability reporting; Kenya

Factors Affecting Cheating-Behavior at Undergraduate-Engineering

This study is a fraction of a larger-research on cheating in exams at the School of Engineering (SOE). The study-design used a descriptive-survey-approach and a document-analysis. A designed confidential self-report-questioner was applied as the main-instrument for this-study, with the sample-size of 100-subjects, and a response-rate of 95%. The tool was pre-tested to ensure its validity and reliability. The study focused on the Attribution-Theory and the Pareto-principle. The data-collection-instrument was subjected to the statistical-analysis to determine its reliability via Cronbach’s alpha-coefficient, and found high inter-item consistency (a > 0.9). The major-results of this-study revealed that 65% of respondents declared that cheating is, in fact, a common-phenomenon in the SOE; 60% of students also affirmed, that it is, actually, difficult to eradicate cheating in examinations in the SOE; and 70% of students acknowledged that they use mobile-phones to Google or to assess notes, during examinations. The results also illustrate that cheating, undeniably, is a very-real-issue of massive-concern at SOE; accordingly, several-recommendations to fight cheating were given and areas for further-research were identified as well. The findings of the study would potentially help in curriculum-development and delivery approaches, and for the improvement of the exciting or establishment of new academic-integrity-polices, which would, in turn, limit the growing-tendency by candidates, to seek short-cuts to good-grades, in their academic-endeavors. Keywords: cheating, engineering, students, questioner, integrit

Awareness of Engineering Faculty on Plagiarism

Plagiarism has been a-serious and widely-condemned-epidemic, devastating institutions of higher-learning all-over-the-globe, which un-questionably constitutes an-actual-threat, to the-strengthening of global- authentic-scholarship. Moreover, it-has-been suggested that academic-dishonesty, including plagiarism, is growing, requiring universities to-devote increasing-time and resources, to-combat it. The-understanding of various-perspectives of the-phenomenon is vital, for finding long-lasting-solutions. It-is alongside this-notion; therefore, that this-study investigated awareness and perception of engineering-faculty on plagiarism. This-paper presents findings from a-small-part of a-larger-study on-plagiarism, at the-School of Engineering (SOE). The-current-study is a-cross-sectional-survey, conducted in an-institutional-setting, which relied on Situation-Awareness-Theory, to-explain the-associations of the-main-variables. 15 senior-academic-members of staff (N=15), from SOE were invited to-complete a-questionnaire (developed for the-purpose of the-study). The-questioner was pre-tested, to-ensure its-validity and reliability. A trial-survey (pre-testing) was conducted, according to ISO 20252:2006 (E). The-Statistical-Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-17, version 22)-computer software-program was used, to-compute the-Cronbach’s alpha co-efficient, which demonstrated high-inter-item-consistency, and, therefore, reliability (Cronbach’s a=0.817). Descriptive-statistics was used to-analyze, both; qualitative and quantitative-data. Overall, the results of this-study suggest a-worrying-lack of understanding, among engineering-faculty, on basic elements of scientific-writing and resulting-from-it, plagiarism. The-study also revealed complete-lack of legal-framework, to-deal with plagiarism, its-prevention and punishment, at an-institutional-level. Besides, the-current-study provides a-number of steps-forward, into the-field of plagiarism-research. In-particular, more than a-few-key-concerns, such as: (1) Imitation-behavior, inbuilt in us; (2) The-concepts of Intellectual-property, Copyright and Copyright-Law; (3) Widespread-exposure to the-Internet and its-consequences, on-plagiarism; (4) A ‘double-edged-sword’ of plagiarism; and (5) Code-plagiarism (particularly important, in engineering), were holistically-looked-into, hopefully-offering a-much deeper grasp on the-subject-matter. The-authors also gave few-recommendations, for improving the-current situation, at the-school. This in-turn, will-contribute (in its-small-way) to-ensuring genuine-intellectual offerings, to-excellence, in-scholarship. Keywords: academic dishonesty, academia, attribution, questioner

Solid Waste Management at a University Campus (Part 3/10): Waste Generators, Current Practices, and Compliance with relevant-law-provisions.

This-study is a-third-piece in a-series of 10.  It can-be-subdivided into: (i) identification of waste generators, at the-subject-university; (ii) establishing background-information on Solid-Waste-Management (SWM)-system, from the-service-providers’ point of view; (iii) observation and examination of current-SWM-practices; (iv) assessment of compliance of SWM-practices with SWM-laws and regulations; and (v) SWOT-analysis. Main-instruments, employed by the-study, were-limited-to: document-analysis; regular physical-site-visits and non-participant-observations; questionnaire; and interviews. Besides maps, still-photographs, and a-flow-chart-diagram, were generated. Issues on: Universities and their-role in achieving sustainability; Waste-scavengers/pickers; Potential-dangers of uncontrolled-waste-dumpsite; Socio-cultural-barriers; and Financial-assistance for SWM-projects, were also-elaborated on. Numerous- barriers, to-effective-SWM, at-the-university, were reported; lack of readily-available, and sufficient- allocation of financial-resources, was identified as the-most-serious-barrier. On-the-other-hand, the-both- departments, responsible for SWM, have declared, that they have-being-stretched, indeed, to-perform their-duty, and they are just doing their-very-best, under the-circumstances. The-study also-revealed that: the-current SWM-system, at-the-university, is largely unacceptable, as it-is characterized as: (a) of Inferior-Quality and accessibility of SWM; (b) Inefficient; (c) of Poor-Legitimacy and social-acceptability; (d) Potentially-damaging to Health and Environmental-sustainability; and (e) Financially-incapable. In-particular, this-study has justified, that on-overall, the-open and uncontrolled-waste-dumpsite, at the-university, is making, all: environmental-pollution, health-impacts, and safety-violation, highly probable. People/students, residing near the-dumpsite, and waste-scavengers, as-well-as ecosystems of the-Kesses-Dam-complex and the-Sosiani-River, and ground-water of Rift-Valley-Basin, are facing impending-threat, from the-open and uncontrolled-dumpsite. The-study also-points-out on the-deficiencies/ gaps, that need-to-be bridged, to-meet the-legal-obligations, towards SWM, as there is a-gross non-compliance with the-legal SWM-provisions (both; international and national). Results of the-SWOT- analysis, points-out, that it-is necessary to-maximize both; strengths and opportunities, minimize the-external-threats, transform the-identified weaknesses into strengths, and to-take advantage of opportunities, along with minimizing both; internal-weaknesses and external-threats. In-this-regard, several-tailored-recommendations, were offered, including: on the-actual-operations (at both; a-long-term and short-term-scale); and on-Social involvement, in-WM. Besides, areas for further-research were identified. The-findings of this-study will-be used as-a-baseline, in-further-development of a-tailored-Integrated SWM-model/system, for the-university. The-study is, hopefully, also-contributes (in-its-small-way) to the-body of knowledge on-the-subject-matter. Keywords: SWM, SWOT analysis, waste pickers, dumpsite, littering, ISWA, UN.

Viewpoint of Undergraduate Engineering Students on Plagiarism

Undoubtedly, plagiarism has been a global-concern, especially so, in institutions of higher-learning. Furthermore, over the past-decades, cases of student-plagiarism, in higher-education, have increased, substantially. This-issue cannot be taken, without due-consideration, and it is crucial for educators, and universities, at large, to find the best-ways, to discourage and reduce the acts of students’ plagiarism. The aim of this-study, therefore, was to address plagiarism in professional-university-education from undergraduate-engineering-students’ attitudinal-perspective. In particular, to ascertain how plagiarism is defined by the students; which factors, they perceive, exacerbate plagiarism; how they justify plagiarism; and severity and penalty related to the misconduct. This-paper illustrates a fraction of a larger-research on plagiarism at the School of Engineering. The study-design used a descriptive-survey-approach and a document-analysis. A designed confidential self-report-questioner was applied as the main-instrument for this-study, with the sample-size (N=25), and a response-rate (RR=84%). The tool was pre-tested to ensure its validity and reliability. The data-collection-instrument was subjected to the statistical-analysis to determine its reliability via Cronbach’s alpha-coefficient, and found high inter-item consistency (a > 0.9). The major-results of this-study revealed overall and widespread-deficiency in students’ understanding of plagiarism; also more than half of the students, in the-subject-sample, were not adequately-informed about plagiarism in academic-writing; 76% of the respondents agreed, that those who say, they have never plagiarized, are lying; and also that everyone else around are plagiarizing (e.g., students, researchers, and academic-staff); 48% of the respondents agreed, that they keep on plagiarizing, because they have not been caught yet, while 33% stated, that they are tempted to plagiarize because, even if caught, the punishment (if any) will be light (the reward outweighs the risk). Several-specific-recommendations, on how to fight plagiarism, were provided, alongside with identification of areas for further-research. This-study would offer awareness to the undergraduates, lecturers, and the faculty-administrators, on the gravity of plagiarism-acts and how to avoid it, in the university. The study also will make a contribution (in its small-way) to the body of knowledge on the subject-matter. Keywords: Plagiarism, undergraduate, engineering, students

Longitudinal Comparative Study: Females’ vs. Males’ Graduation Outcomes in Undergraduate Engineering

Increasing post-secondary enrolments, reducing university-drop-outs, while, simultaneously, boosting graduation-rates, is a worldwide-dilemma, currently challenging any-university and any-educational-system. One of the most-pressing-issues facing universities, however, is the number of students, who fail to graduate. The literature-survey on gender-differences in scholastic-performance indicates mixed-results. The outcome of ‘‘degrees awarded’’ is a commonly-used-indicator in assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of engineering-programs. This-study conducted a comparative-examination of undergraduate “degrees awarded” to females and males, for the period between 2003 and 2014, over five-undergraduate engineering-programs at School of Engineering (SOE), Moi University (MU). The analysis is based not only on graduation-numbers, but on deeper-differentiation in terms of six-types of graduation-outcomes (degree-classification). In addition, the study attempted to determine whether there are significant-gender- differences in graduation-types and rates, among undergraduate-students at SOE, MU. This-study also reviewed the individual-and institutional-level-factors, that jointly predict students’ likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree in engineering. This-article is an account from a larger gender-related-study based on SOE, MU. Major-finding of the-study is that, female-undergraduate engineering-students performed as well as, and in some-instances, even better, than their-male-counterparts. The study recommended several-areas for further-research, as well as, specific-recommendations (departmental and school-level) as to how to increase graduation-rates. Keywords: graduation rates, degrees awarded, females, undergraduate, engineering education

A kidney transplant recipient with recurrent trichilemmal carcinoma and multiple other primary malignancies

Kidney transplant recipients are at increased risk of developing malignancy, with prolonged immunosuppressive therapy being a strong risk factor. Non-melanoma skin cancers are most commonly reported and multiple primary malignancies are also described. This is the first report of a recurrent trichilemmal carcinoma, a rare cutaneous tumour, in a kidney transplant recipient. This case, and the associated literature, indicate that regular screening, thorough examination, and tailored immunosuppressive regimens are critical in managing these patients

Faculty Perceptions on Cheating in Exams in Undergraduate Engineering

Cheating in examinations transpires in every-country of the world, and it is a fraudulent-behavior that involves some-form of deception, in which a candidate’s efforts, or the efforts of other-candidates, are altered; it has negative educational, social and psychological-effects. Even though cheating is widespread, it has been observed that some-faculties rarely-discuss rules and consequences of academic-dishonesty with their-students. The main-objective of this-study is to comprehend, cheating-phenomena, on a deeper- level, by evaluating perception of the-trend from the faculty’ perspective, so that ways could be proposed for preventing it from happening. This-study is a fraction of a larger-research on cheating at the School of Engineering (SOE). The study-design used a descriptive-survey-approach and a document-analysis. A designed confidential self-report-questioner was used as the main-instrument for this-study, with the sample-size of 25-subjects and response-rate of 84%. The tool was pre-tested to ensure its validity and reliability. The study focused on the Attribution-Theory and Constructivist-paradigm of research that view knowledge as socially-constructed from the context of cheating in examinations. The data collection-instrument was subjected to the statistical-analysis to determine its reliability via Cronbach’s alpha-coefficient, and found high inter-item consistency (a > 0.9). The results of the survey, where 81% of the respondents agreed that students frequently indulge in examination-malpractice, clearly revealed that cheating, indeed, is a significant-problem in the SOE. The challenge for the school is, therefore, to tailor effective-strategies to prevent cheating-opportunities, and to establish and enforce valuable-means of dealing with particular-patterns and types of cheating. Specific-recommendations on how to deal with cheating in examinations are also highlighted. Keywords: cheating, engineering, faculty, questioner, integrit

Prospective of Roof Rain Water Harvesting (RRWH) in Kesses Constituency, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

As a water scarce country, Kenya has witness an increased investment in Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) projects. Most of Roof RWH research is centred on the potential and implementation of RWH systems, however not much focus has been placed on examining the demand satisfaction of these systems. The main goal of this study was to demonstrate in spatial domains, the large potential for RRWH in Kesses Constituency and thereby provide a tool for advocacy and decision support, for RRWH in Kenya. This research was based on literature revision, statistical analysis of precipitation data set (January, 1994 to December, 2013), rainwater laboratory tests (Hardness, pH, turbidity, Chlorine, e-coli, suspended matter and colour) and concise field study using key informant interviews and structured questionnaires. The results were analyzed by Descriptive statistical methods. In addition analysis of variance ANOVA, Statgraphics Centurion XVI and Microsoft Excel were used. The study concluded that each of the study wards received a high RRWH reliability based on the amount of water available in storage and secondly, that RRWH can satisfy the minimum demand requirement throughout a year, given sufficient guttered roof area. Numerous recommendations were also made on correlated issues. Keywords: Harvesting, Kesses, Precipitation, Rainwater, Roof.

Characterization of Nonwoven Structures Made from Luffa Cylindrica Fibres

This-study is a-fraction of a-larger-research, on potential-alternatives, to polyethylene-shopping-bags. Dry-laid adhesively-bonded nonwoven-structure was produced, from luffa cylindrica fibres. Testing parameters of the-produced-nonwoven-structure were-limited-to: a-mass-per-unit-area, tested according to ISO 9073-1:1989; thickness (ISO 9073-2:1995); tensile-strength and elongation (ISO 9073-3:1989); tearing-strength (ISO 9073-4:1997); and bursting-strength (ISO 13938-2:1999). The-data-analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel, 2010 software. The-nonwoven-structure had mass-per-unit-area of (645-3386) g/m2; thickness of (1.48-1.80) mm; tensile strength of (1.4-110.2) N; elongation of (2.8-13.8) %; tearing-strength of (2,292.5-47,952.0) mN; and bursting-strength of (79.4-338.2) KPa. From the-test-results, it was obvious, that the-nature of bonding has significant-effect, on-the-mass per-unit-area, tensile-strength and elongation, tearing-strength and bursting-strength of the nonwoven-structure made from luffa cylindrica fibres. The-selected-properties, of the-nonwoven-structure, are comparable, with the-requirements, for bursting-strength and tearing-strength, specified by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), for shopping-bags. The-study, thus, presents a-potential-opportunity of replacing polyethylene-shopping-bags, on the Kenyan-market, with a-nonwoven-structure from luffa cylindrical, as a-potential biodegradable-substitute material for shopping-bags. Recommendations for further-research are also identified. Keywords: sustainable shopping bags, textile testing, natural fibres