Variables influencing the mathematics performance of first-year tertiary students : a case study

The need to understand which factors most strongly affect performance in first-year mathematics programs at Khon Kaen University (KKU), in North Eastern Thailand, provided the main focus of the study which is described. First-year mathematics students in the 1990-1991 academic year, from four KKU faculty groups (Medicine and Nursing, Agriculture, Science and Education, and Engineering) were involved in this study. Research literatures addressing variables which were likely to influence performance in early tertiary mathematical study, and variables associated with difficulties in learning mathematics at the transition from upper secondary school to tertiary studies, were reviewed. The first major aim of the study was to identify the variables which were good predictors of first-year mathematics performance at KKU. Results from stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that the following predictor variables were statistically significant and entered the regression equations for most Faculty groups: School Mathematics Achievement, Self-Esteem, Study Habits in Mathematics, and Faculty of Study. Other predictor variables that sometimes entered regression equations (depending on the Faculty group) were Socio-Economic-Status, Mathematics Language Competence, Mathematics Confidence, Attitude Towards Mathematics, and Gender. Depending on Faculty group, the statistically significant variables accounted for between 11% and 74% of scores on fist-year KKU mathematics examinations. The predictor variables contributed much more to the variance of scores on first-semester mathematics examinations than to the variance of scores on second-semester mathematics examinations. It was also found that scores on the Direct Entry Examination Mathematics test (administered by KKU) and the School Mathematics Achievement test (developed and administered by the author) had stronger correlations with first-year KKU mathematics performance than did scores on the National Entry Examination Mathematics tests (administered by the Thai Ministry of University Affairs). Scores on the three pre-university mathematics achievement test instruments were better predictors of first-semester mathematics performance than of second-semester mathematics performance. It was found that the mean Mathematics Confidence of male students was statistically significantly higher than that of female students, but there were no statistically significant gender differences in Mathematics Misplaced Confidence. Only about 30% of the main sample ( 30% of the male and 30% of the female sample groups) had appropriate confidence in mathematics, that is, they thought their answers were correct when they were, in fact, correct, and they thought they were wrong when they were, in fact, incorrect. So far as Faculty performance differences were concerned, Engineering students had the highest Mathematics Confidence scores, followed by the Medicine and Nursing group of students and the Science and Education group students. Agriculture students had the lowest mean Mathematics Confidence score. No statistically significant differences occurred in Mathematics Misplaced Confidence between different Faculty groups. The second main aim of the study was to investigate why many first-year students experienced difficulties in coping with their mathematics units. A small group of senior secondary mathematics teachers, university mathematics lecturers, and first-year mathematics students were interviewed during the first semester of the 1990-1991 academic year. Interviews were conducted by the author according to a questionnaire format, and were aimed at identifying factors causing difficulty in the transition from senior secondary to university mathematical study. The analysis of the quantitative data together with the interview data indicated that the major sources of difficulty were associated with: (a) students\u27 mathematical abilities; (b) curriculum content; (c) course organisation; (d) students\u27 study habits; (e) instructional styles; and (f) assessment procedures. The results of the investigation are discussed in the light of the relevant literature and related research. The study concludes with recommendations which are addressed to mathematics teachers and education administrators in senior secondary schools in Thailand, to the Thai Ministry of Education, and to the KKU Department of Mathematics

Planning A Business Expansion, Case: Doc Consultation J. Koskinen

The purpose of this thesis is to find out how to plan a business expansion for a small consulting firm in energy industry. The client of the thesis is Doc Consultation J. Koskinen, a private trader company, which is specialized in technical documentation and project management. The business focuses on a niche market. The business owner wishes to increase company’s market share by adding an employee to the business. To turn her idea into reality, the qualitative research was conducted to understand the nature of case company’s business, its target customers’ needs and their methods of selecting a supplier. There is no greater danger than expansion without great forethought and planning. This thesis focuses on implementing strategic business development tools to turn the expansion idea into a concrete plan. The theoretical part of the thesis combines the key concepts related to business development: business growth strategy, business model canvas (BMC), service marketing mix, and business plan. The chosen strategic tools for expanding a business are the BMC and business plan. The empirical part of the thesis was conducted with three semi-structured interviews. One semi-structured interview with business owner and two semi-structured interviews with existing customers. The collected data was analyzed and implemented into both business model canvas and business plan. Market analysis was conducted to determine the competitive advantages of the case company and to improve marketing strategies to boost business growth. Forecasting of future revenue and expenses was also done to estimate how much money the new employee will bring in and how much money the company requires for additional resources and activities. As a result of the thesis, the expansion idea was turned into a feasible plan. The existing business model was documented and modified to fit with the chosen growth strategy. The expansion plan was developed around the modified business model, marketing mix and financial plan. It consists of key components: executive summary, business description, products or services, market analysis, marketing mix, management summary and financial plan. The financial statements in the plan show that the business expansion idea is viable and profitable

การผลิตแคโรทีนอยด์จากอาเคียที่ชอบเกลือและการประยุกต์ใช้

Thesis (Ph.D., Food Technology)--Prince of Songkla University, 200

An Optimized High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method to Determine Natural Folate (5-Methyltetrahydrofolate) Content in Blood and Food Matrices

5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5 MeTHF) is the predominant natural form of folate in human blood and most foods. Therefore, it is of significance as an indicator of the natural folate content in foods and the folate status in humans. 5-methyltetrahydrofolate analysis was done in both human whole blood and food samples using reverse phase chromatography, an isocratic mobile phase of 6% acetonitrile: 94% 33 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.3), a flow rate 1.0 ml/min, and fluorometric detection. Excitation and emission wavelengths were set at 290nm and 356nm, respectively. The analytical column used was a C18 column (250x4.6mm i.d., 4 µm particle size) protected by a guard column, and equipped with a 100 µl injection loop. Procedures for thermal extraction, enzymatic deconjugation, and clean up protocol using a strong anion exchange column (SAX) were optimized. Deconjugation of folate polyglutamates in red blood cells was done using 10 g/L of ascorbic acid, which made the pH of the final mixture favorable for endogenous plasma pteroylpolyglutamate hydrolase activity. A 90-minute incubation period at 37°C was sufficient for the conversion of red blood cell polyglutamate folates to monoglutamates. In food samples, a trienzyme extraction method consisting of α-amylase, protease, and rat plasma folate conjugase were used to totally liberate folate prior to quantification. Food sample extracts were incubated with a combined rat plasma folate conjugase and α-amylase for 4 hours at 37°C followed by protease treatment for I hour at 37°C. For food samples a second extraction was needed owing to complexity of sample matrices. In blood samples, a second extraction showed no gains in peak area. All samples extracts were purified using a strong anion exchange column (SAX) procedure prior to HPLC analysis. 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was eluted with 3 ml of 0.1 M sodium acetate containing 10% sodium chloride and 1 % ascorbic acid (pH 4.5). The SAX column proved effective for clean up of blood samples. The chromatograms of food samples after the SAX clean up showed peaks other than 5-methyltetrahydrofolate peak, although they generally did not interfere with the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate peak. The retention time for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was approximately 18-22 minutes. Results for whole blood samples spiked with pure standard of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate yielded a mean recovery of 91.7± 5.1%. Food samples spiked in a similar fashion showed average recoveries of 103.7 ± 23.9%, 101.1 ± 4%, 131± 7.8%, 98.7± 10.6%, 107.9± 7 .5%, 100.1± 8.9% for Cheerios®, Kellogg\u27s® Product 19 Kellogg\u27s® Special K, milk powder, frozen mixed vegetables, and enriched macaroni, respectively. Both stock and working standard solutions were made using the buffer, which was used to elute 5-methyltetrahydrofolate from the SAX cartridge. A study of storage stability of working standard solutions indicated that there was no deterioration of the standard solutions up to 24 days of storage at -18°C

Stability of an AQCQ functional equation in non-Archimedean (n, β)-normed spaces

In this paper, we adopt direct method to prove the Hyers-Ulam-Rassias stability of an additivequadratic-cubic-quartic functional equatio