Developing a Constructivist Model for Effective Physics Learning

The paper considered developing a constructivist model for effective physics teaching. The model is imperative because of the increasing difficulty in learning physics and the resulting poor academic performance in the subject. The paper reviewed two types of constructivism which are the social and cognitive constructivism. Highlights of correlations between the constructivist learning and the authentic learning were revealed. To applying the model to physics learning, it was argued that constructivist teachers should give serious attention to the prior knowledge of the students. This will determine the mode of teacher instruction. The teacher content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge are central to excellent teaching. The paper concludes that physics teacher should promote student interactions and respect student ideas being the kernel of the constructivist learning. Aina, Jacob Kola "Developing a Constructivist Model for Effective Physics Learning" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-1 | Issue-4 , June 201

The socio-demographic profile of hanging suicides in Ireland from 1980 to 2005

This paper provides a comparison of the socio-demographic profile of hanging suicides and suicides by other means in Ireland from January 1st 1980 to December 31st 2005. Data on 9674 suicides occurring in that time frame was provided by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO). 4031 (42%) of these deaths involved suicide by ‘hanging, suffocation or strangulation’ (HSS), with the remainder being suicides by other means. Binary logistic regressions were used to examine six potential risk factors for suicide across the two groups: Gender, marital status, employment in the agricultural sectors, residential location (urban/rural) and age were entered in Block 1 of the analysis, with year of death (pre 1994 vs. post 1994) added in a second block. Results indicate that those dying through hangings were statistically more likely to be male (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.8–3.5), single (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.2–1.4), rural-dwelling (OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.0–1.2), agri-employed (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.4) and to have died since 1994 (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 2.1–2.5). The magnitude of the group effect was moderate for all but the gender and time period comparisons. Hanging suicide victims (m = 37.7, sd = 16.7) were also significantly younger than other suicide victims (mean = 42.72, sd = 16.7), although the size of the effect was small (r = .16). Overall the six variables explained 6% of the variance in the criterion variable

Social Benefits of Multifunctional Agriculture in Finland

This study aims at assessing the costs and benefits of multifunctional agriculture, and it is one of the very first studies using a quantitative approach to this new subject. The starting point is that if current farm subsidies are regarded as means to maintain the multifunctional characteristics of agriculture, what happens if subsidies are reduced. The effects of the decline in agricultural support on multifunctional characteristics of agriculture in Finland are estimated using the cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Only a part of the consequences can be assessed by the CBA due to lack of data on the economic value of many elements of multifunctional agriculture. Hence, the results should not be generalised too strongly, but they still provide useful information for the political decision-making. Concerning further research, we should study, inter alia, what the so-called correct level of compensation for the adequate supply of public goods would be, and what kind of means of agricultural policy are the most efficient to unambiguously enhance the multifunctional character of agriculture.multifunctional agriculture, non-market benefits, externalities, cost-benefit analysis, Finland, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

DEMAND FOR CREDENCE CHARACTERISTICS IN BEEF

The recent food crises in Europe have raised public concerns about the quality and safety of food. The growing concern among the consumers towards food safety issues has increased the demand for quality attributes. Most quality properties of food products can be considered as credence characteristics, quality of which cannot be inferred before the purchase, and sometimes not even after the purchase. The aim of this study is to evaluate, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the value of new information about and the information systems set for credence characteristics of beef. Economics of information is the theoretical framework. The quantitative approach focuses to measure the ex ante value of credence characteristics, and the method of contingent valuation is applied for this purpose. In the beef supply chain there are two parallel information-based policies in Finland, which will increase the credence characteristics of beef quality and safety. First, the National Quality Strategy was drawn up by all parties involved in foodstuffs production to express the competitive advantages and strengths of Finnish food products relating to quality, safety, ethics, and ecology. Secondly, a beef identification and labelling system of the European Union was developed primarily to secure the safety of beef products and to increase the transparency and traceability of beef products in the supply chain. Through these systems more information about the credence characteristics of beef safety and quality will be made available to consumers. Results indicate that 59 % of Finnish consumers are willing to pay more to get information about safety and quality of beef products. Consumers are most concerned with diseases caused by food of animal origin. In addition, consumers desire more information about the use of GMOs in livestock production, the country of origin, and use of hormones in livestock production. Key words: beef, information, credence attributes, contingent valuation, willingness to paybeef, information, credence attributes, contingent valuation, willingness to pay, Demand and Price Analysis,

IMPACT OF INFORMATION ON THE DEMAND FOR CREDENCE CHARACTERISTICS

Most quality properties of food products can be considered as credence characteristics, quality of which cannot be inferred before the purchase, and sometimes not even after the purchase. Our objectives are: (1) To assess how much consumers are willing to pay (WTP) for meat products, of which e.g. origins and production practices are known, especially with regard to safety issues; (2) To compare the applicability, reliability, and efficiency of safety information provided by either private companies or public institutions, and (3) to explore the possibility of the so-called information paradox: is more information always better – or more beneficial – information?Demand and Price Analysis,

TFP AND ENDOGENOUS GROWTH IN SOUTH EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON ALBANIA

The main objective of this paper is to determine the forces that have driven the economic growth in Albania relative to Southeast and Central European countries from the beginning of transition period year 1993 until 2008, before the global crises was spread in developing countries. We are based in Growth –Accounting approach in order to specify the role of total factor productivity (TPF) as growth enhancing factor in different phases of their economic development and an econometric analyze of major growth factors based on endogenous growth theory. The main findings of this paper are: (1) TFP and capital accumulation has been playing an important role for all countries under survey, the impact of labor as growth enhancing factor has been limited (2) macroeconomic stability,trade openness, and investment in infrastructure matters to growth. Therefore we support the idea that Albania government should give priority of scare government resources towards these sectors.Productivity, economic growth, panel data analyze

Citizens' Attitudes Towards Multifunctional Agriculture

This paper examines Finnish citizens' attitudes towards multifunctional agriculture and further, the connections among these attitudes, consumers' willingness to pay, and some socio economic factors. Attitudinal dimensions were executed by using factor analysis. The respondents (N=1300) were distributed into clusters based on their attitudes. It would be expected that people who have positive attitudes, would also state high values of WTP. Instead, this study suggests that attitudes and WTP do not have a positive relation. People are willing to support domestic agriculture as a provider of safe and high-quality food. However, a remarkable proportion of Finnish citizens have a positive attitude towards externalities and joint products of agriculture.multifunctional agriculture, agricultural prices, attitudes, Consumer/Household Economics, Q18,

An empirical assessment of alternative exchange rate regimes in medium term in Albania

This paper examines the alternative exchange rate regimes and their feasibility to be applied in Albania in medium term. In all empirical work done until now is been found a very low relationship between money and inflation in Albania before and after using the indirect instruments of monetary control. As a result, the motivation for finding other strategies for monetary policy and exchange rate policy is strong and has opened the debate of practitioners in this field. We argue that moving from freely floating exchange rate regime and informal IT strategy in formal IT strategy would be a more preferable strategy that will deal better with the fragile sustainability of current account deficit in Albania but not without problems to be applied. --