Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Performance in Teaching Engineering Drawing in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

There have been concerns about the performance of Nigerian school teachers’ in delivering occupational related courses. However, there are currently limited empirical data on this phenomenon – in particular with respect to the teaching of engineering drawing – to justify further actions from educational managers and policy makers. The aim of this study was to assess teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing using students’ perception as indicator of teachers’ performance. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design method with the target population of technical education students drawn from four (4) Federal Colleges of education (Technical) in Northern Nigeria. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to arrive at the study sample of 253 technical education students. A specifically designed instrument, the Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Performance Scales (SPTPS) was used to gather data on the three performance dimensions namely contextual, task and adaptability performance. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis methods were conducted to validate the performance constructs. The instrument has a high reliability of 0.90 based on the Cronbach Alpha method. The result of the analysis using estimation method indicates that students perceive their teachers’ performance to be at a slightly above average level (M= 3.51 ± 0.05 at the 95% confidence level). The teachers’ task performance, in particular, is found to be the least developed among the three dimension of performance while their adaptability performance is the highest while still being less than excellent. The data support the conclusion that there are aspects of teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing that is less than excellent and in need of further enhancements

Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Performance in Teaching Engineering Drawing in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

There have been concerns about the performance of Nigerian school teachers’ in delivering occupational related courses. However, there are currently limited empirical data on this phenomenon – in particular with respect to the teaching of engineering drawing – to justify further actions from educational managers and policy makers. The aim of this study was to assess teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing using students’ perception as indicator of teachers’ performance. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design method with the target population of technical education students drawn from four (4) Federal Colleges of education (Technical) in Northern Nigeria. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to arrive at the study sample of 253 technical education students. A specifically designed instrument, the Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Performance Scales (SPTPS) was used to gather data on the three performance dimensions namely contextual, task and adaptability performance. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis methods were conducted to validate the performance constructs. The instrument has a high reliability of 0.90 based on the Cronbach Alpha method. The result of the analysis using estimation method indicates that students perceive their teachers’ performance to be at a slightly above average level (M= 3.51 ± 0.05 at the 95% confidence level). The teachers’ task performance, in particular, is found to be the least developed among the three dimension of performance while their adaptability performance is the highest while still being less than excellent. The data support the conclusion that there are aspects of teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing that is less than excellent and in need of further enhancements

The portrayal of local and the international cultures in the Sudanese English Language Syllabus (Spine)

This paper explores issues related to the portrayal of the local culture as well as international culture in the English Language materials used in Sudanese schools The researcher then intends to venture into a thorough evaluation of the elements of different cultures in SPINE syllabus Sudan Practical Integrated national English series book 1to6 This study employs a set of checklist which has been used as a guideline to analyze the cultural aspects in a curriculum in order to examine English Language textbooks used in schools in Sudan The findings show that there was insufficient incorporation of cultural aspects into the English materials Many of the available cultural elements were presented at a superficial level and not discussed within the holistic cultural experience The findings suggest that the absence and the lack of certain cultural aspects in the materials may be due to the fact some cultural topics are avoided fearing sensitivity and that they may be implicitly portrayed through for example value integration moral and educational emphasis This study recommends that language learning materials must be able to present the language learners own culture and all the cultures that surround them and the materials must be useful and effective both as English learning materials as well as a tool for promoting cultural knowledge and understanding among Sudanese student

The Imperatives of Technical Drawing Skills in Teaching TVET Subjects: The Case of Nigeria

This paper focuses on the perceived imperatives of technical drawing knowledge and skills in teaching TVET Subjects. The concept of technical drawing is considered as an important means of communication in engineering, technology, industry and vocational fields. Therefore, the paper discusses the challenges militating against effective teaching and learning of technical drawing in Nigerian institutions. Some of the recommendations proffered are Technical Teachers teaching technical drawing should be given an inductive course in modern methods and techniques of teaching technical drawing to effectively impart the appropriate knowledge and skills of technical drawing to their students. Technical drawing should be made compulsory in all secondary schools in Nigeria. It should be accorded the same status as Mathematics and English, as these subjects form the entry requirements for all science, engineering and technological courses in tertiary institutions in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. The paper concludes that government should pay closer attention to TVET programmes by putting in place the required infrastructures, facilities and equipment to provide a conducive environment in TVET schools for effective teaching and learning of TVET subjects particularly technical drawing as a key to technological breakthrough. Keywords: technical drawing, Skills, teaching, TVET Subjects, Nigeria

To study prevalence of incipient iron deficiency in primary hypothyroidism

Background: Hypothyroidism, affects around 1% of general population. Anemia in association with hypothyroidism has been studied since 1881. Iron deficiency has multiple adverse effects on thyroid metabolism. It decreases circulating thyroid hormone concentration, blunts thyrotrophic response to TRH, decreases serum T3. Objective of current study was to find prevalence of iron deficiency in primary hypothyroid.Methods:In our study 70 patients were selected, out of which 50 were females and 20 were males, who were suffering from hypothyroidism. Iron deficiency in the study group was confirmed at baseline using multiple iron status indicators (serum ferritin, serum iron, TIBC & percentage Saturation). These patients were between age group 18-65 years.Results: In our study only 14 patients (20%) manifested with anemia (which was defined as Hb<12gm/dl), where as the prevalence of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) was 34.2%, in which 28.5% were females and 5.70% were males, thus showing that prevalence of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) can be higher than iron deficiency anemia itself, which is supported by literature.Conclusion:Iron deficiency was present in a significant portion of patients with primary hypothyroidism. It also concluded that frequency of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) was higher than iron deficiency anemia.

ACC-deaminase and/or nitrogen-fixing rhizobacteria and growth response of tomato (Lycopersicon pimpinellfolium Mill.)

The study aimed to identify and select important plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and examine the response of tomato growth upon inoculation. Inoculation with rhizobacterial isolates increased all the measured physical, chemical, and enzymatic growth parameters compared to control. However, the TAN1 isolate had the highest effect, and significantly (P < 0.05) increased the root length (8.25-fold), root fresh (8.36-fold) and dry (12.6-fold) weight, shoot length (6.92-fold), shoot fresh (7.18-fold) and dry (6.90-fold) weight, number of leaves (11.0-fold), chlorophyll a (6.25-fold), chlorophyll b (10.7-fold), carotenoid contents (8.80-fold), seedlings fresh (9.0-fold) and dry (8.71-fold) weight, plant macronutrient uptake, i.e. N (7.7- and 8.9-fold), P (10.5- and 11.4-fold), K (7.8- and 8.8-fold), Ca (12.7- and 8.2-fold), and Mg (12.6- and 9-fold) in shoot and root, plant micronutrient uptake, i.e. Zn (6.6-, 10.2-), Cu (9.3-, and 10.3-fold), Fe (7.7- and 10.7-fold), and Mn (4.7- and 5.7-fold) in shoot and root and plant antioxidant enzymes, i.e. glutathione S-transferase (10.7-fold), peroxidase (8.1-fold), and catalase (10.5-fold). Our results concluded that inoculation of agricultural crops with rhizobacteria is a very useful approach to increase the plant growth. The rhizobacteria having both 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase and nitrogen-fixing activity are more effective than rhizobacteria possessing either ACC-deaminase or nitrogen-fixing activity alone for growth promotion of crops

Evaluation of Physico-Chemical and Fungal Species Associated with Oil Contaminated Soil from Selected Automobile Garage in Sokoto Metropolis

This study was conducted with a view to evaluating the physicochemical and mycological properties of different oil contaminated soils collected from three different automobile garages in Sokoto Metropolis, and uncontaminated soil from the temporary site, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) was used as the control. The pH was determined using pH meter model Hanna (H1991301), quantity of mineral elements was evaluated in accordance with Murphy and Fungi were isolated from the three oil contaminated samples (A, B. and C) and the uncontaminated (sample D) as control, this was done by standard procedure using the method of P. Ren, T. Jankun & B. Leaderer. The physical, chemical, and mineral elements from the oil-contaminated soils of the three automobile garages and control. The results of particle soil analysis revealed the high content of sandy soil (96.2 to 87.3) and silt is the lowest with (2.5–0.6). Magnesium had the highest concentration of studied minerals, ranging from 193 to 649.2 mg/kg. while PH result revealed that the soil samples were pH value ranged from (16.85–16.20) in oil Contaminated samples, while the control had 15.90, and electrical conductivity ranged from 12.8–13.8 % and 28 % in control, four fungal isolates Aspergillus sp., Penicillum sp., Mucor sp. and Sporobolomyces sp. were identified based on colonial, sexual and morphological characteristics. These fungal strains can be used in bioremediation process and oil pollution reduction in aquatic ecosystems

Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of E-learning Instructional Design Quality

With the ever-growing adoption of E-learning as an alternative mode for instructional delivery, and indeed as part of the strategic plan by higher learning institutions to foster open and distance learning, the development of empirically tested guidelines to evaluate E-learning instructional quality is timely. The purpose of the study was three-fold, that is to, explore the underlying structure of the E-learning instructional design quality construct, test the adequacy of its psychometric properties in terms of common method bias, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and cross validate the consistency of the measurement model across samples. The quantitative data was collected from a stratified random sample of 837 students undertaking CISCO E-learning courses at ten different institutions of higher learning in Uganda. A 38-item self-reported questionnaire to measure E-learners’ perceptions on E-learning instructional design quality served as the research instrument. The collected data were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, with SPSS version 20.0 and AMOS version 22.0 softwares. The study results revealed that E-learning instructional design quality is a multidimensional construct with the sub dimensions of content quality, interface design quality, instructional strategies, content interactivity and E-learning feedback. Moreover, the measurement model was found to be free from common method bias and demonstrated adequacy in its validity and reliability. However, the results of cross validation indicated that the measurement model was not consistent across the three samples as shown by the variations in the model fit indices. The results are valuable to enable E-learning stakeholders to take strategic and evidence-based decisions regarding the integration of E-learning interventions for quality learning outcomes and enhanced future research in the domain of E-learning instructional design quality. Specifically, this study has successfully validated an E-learning instructional design quality questionnaire that educationists can use in evaluating E-learning courses regarding instructional design soundness