Managing Transitions: Coping Strategies for New Principals in Colleges of Education, Ghana

Principals’ transition in Colleges of Education in Ghana is critical to quality teacher education and training, but it comes with complexities and challenges to newly appointed principals. However, there is a seeming absence of research on strategies for smooth transitions in Colleges of Education in Ghana. This study was therefore conducted to establish strategies that promoted the College of Education principals’ transition management in Ghana. Phenomenological research design was used for the study. Ten (10) newly appointed principals of public colleges of education were purposively sampled for the study. Interview protocol was the research instrument used. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis method. The study established that capacity building, relationship building, appropriate leadership style and maintenance of discipline were key among the coping strategies for smooth transitions. This study then provides a guide for new principals. It was recommended that this area should be further explored and a model for managing transition designed to support College of Education principals’ in transitio

Défi personnel, défi virtuel ou l'île du multimédia

International audiencePresentation by two teachers of a successful lesson which they had prepared together and used with classes at different or mixed levels of ability. Authentic passages from a reality TV series were the starting point for the preparation of lesson materials for use in a multimedia lab. If the subject matter is of interest in itself, its exploitation in class sho uld create a desire to understand and exchange ideas while carrying out the set tasks. These tasks include various levels of interactivity, information gap activities and decision - taking. The specific organisation of the multimedia lab is itself conducive to that indispensable requirement: motivationPrésentation par deux enseignants d'un cours préparé conjointement et utilisé avec succès chez des publics différents. Des documents authentiques de type télé - réalité sont le point de départ d'un travail de médiatisation et de didactisation e n vue de son utilisation en salle multimédia. Si le sujet est intéressant en lui - même, son exploitation doit susciter le désir de comprendre et d'échanger grâce aux tâches que les apprenants doivent accomplir. Ces tâches comprennent différents niveaux d'in teractivité, des partages d'information, et des prises de décision. L'organisation de la salle multimédia pour un apprentissage des langues par les tâches prédispose elle - même à l'indispensable motivation

Potential Impact of the Kwacha Appreciation on Zambia Agriculture

The rapid recent appreciation of the Kwacha has placed these gains at risk. The sudden strengthening of the Kwacha since November 2005 has reduced the Kwacha value of agricultural exports by 30%, forcing reductions in farmgate prices and eroding exporter profit margins. As in a classic case of Dutch Disease, large inflows of foreign exchange–whether from surging international copper prices, foreign aid or speculative financial inflows–have contributed to the strengthening Kwacha. The subsequent rapid appreciation of the Kwacha risks making much of Zambia’s export agriculture uncompetitive on world markets.food security, food policy, Zambia, appreciation impact, Farm Management, Q18,

Does hybrid density functional theory predict a non-magnetic ground state for delta-Plutonium?

Hybrid density functionals, which replaces a fraction of density functional theory (DFT) exchange with exact Hartree-Fock (HF) exchange, have been used to study the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of delta-Plutonium. The fractions of exact Hartree-Fock exchange used were 25%, 40%, and 55%. Compared to the pure PBE functional, the lattice constants expanded with respect to the experimental value when the PBE-HF hybrid functionals were applied. A non-magnetic ground state was realized for 55% HF contribution; otherwise the ground state was anti-ferromagnetic. The 5f electrons tend to exhibit slight delocalization or itinerancy for the pure PBE functional and well-defined localization for the hybrid functionals, with the degree of 5f electron localization increasing with the amount of HF exchange. Overall, the performance of the hybrid density functionals do not seem superior to pure density functionals for delta-Plutonium.Comment: 24 pages (double spaced), 5 figures, 1 tabl

Length-Weight Relationships and Food Preference of Two Coastal Marine Fishes, Galeoides decadactylus (Polynemidae) and Sphyraena sphyraena (Sphyraenidae) off Cape Coast, Ghana

The food and feeding habits of most commercially important marine fish species in Ghana had not been studied. The aim of the paper was to study the diet spectrum of two coastal fishes of Ghana; Galeoides decadactylus (Polynemidae) Bloch, 1795 and Sphyraena sphyraena (Sphyraenidae) Linnaeus, 1758, both of tropical fish species. Fish samples were obtained in 2011 from sandy beaches near Cape Coast township in the Central Region of Ghana, noted for beach seining. Length-weight measurements were taken from well-preserved fish specimens from which stomachs were extracted for the analysis of the food contents, using frequency of occurrence, numerical and gravimetric methods, as well as index of relative importance. The length-frequency analysis showed a size distribution with a modal size of 11.0–13.9 cm for both species. The length-weight relationships for both fish species showed strong correlation between the weight and length with correlation coefficient (r2) and exponent b for Galeoides decadactylus as 0.9869 and 2.9893, and that for Sphyraena sphyraena as 0.9861 and 2.9094, respectively. Juvenile shrimp and fish fry formed the bulk of the food items in the stomachs of the two fish species. Juvenile shrimps occurred in 77.18% of the stomachs observed for G. decadactylus and accounted for 80.20% of the total number of the food items whilst comprising 63.14% of the weight of food consumed. That of S. sphyraena was, respectively, 66.7% by frequency, 87.0% by numbers and 96.3% by weight. Juvenile shrimp had the highest IRI in the diet of G. decadactylus whereas in S. sphyraena fish fry recorded the highest IRI. Literature evidence showed that the diet spectrum and aspects of growth of the two fish species reported elsewhere in the tropics were comparable to that off the coast of Cape Coast despite the differences in geographical location. The findings in this study will contribute to the knowledge gap on the diet of most commercially important fish species in Ghanaian waters

La voix à la carte

National audienceL'article décrit une expérimentation mettant en oeuvre une nouvelle approche du laboratoire de langues à base de matériels informatiques. Une explication des avantages du numérique et de la carte vocale par rapport au magnétophone analogique est suivie d'une description des possibilités offertes par certains logiciels du commerce. On aborde ensuite le rôle que peut jouer l'ingénierie pédagogique moyennant quelques connaissances informatiques. Un exemple est donné de pilotage de la carte son par "fichier de commandes" MSDOS mais, surtout, on met en avant l'occasion qu'offre cette nouvelle technologie pour créer une configuration de laboratoire de langues plus conviviale et plus apte à encourager des activités communicatives. Pour réussir une telle configuration, il est nécessaire, selon nous, d'établir un projet qui donnerait toute sa place aux besoins de formation de l'équipe pédagogique

Ephebiatrics in General Practice

A CAJM article on Ephebiatrics in General Medical Practice

Informatiquement parlant : l'intégration de l'informatique en anglais langue orale

International audienceThe article describes a learning environment for spoken English built around 12 PCs equipped with sound boards. With the help of English-speaking language assistants under a teacher's responsibility, the learners use English as their only working language in what are often very concrete situations. The learners perfect their oral production by using specific software tools which also facilitate teacher correction and evaluation.L'article décrit un environnement d'apprentissage de l'anglais langue orale à base de 12 ordinateurs équipés de cartes son. A l'aide d'animateurs anglophones sous la responsabilité d'un professeur, les apprenants utilisent l'anglais comme unique langue de travail dans des situations de communication souvent très concrètes. Des outils logiciels spécifiques aident les apprenants à mieux construire leur production orale tout en facilitant le travail de correction et d'évaluation par l'équipe pédagogique