THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CONSTRUCTED FURNACE ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN HEAT TREATMENT IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of an improvised furnace on students’ performance in heat treatment in technical colleges in Rivers State. The study adopted research and development incorporating quasi-experimental design. It involved the use of control group, pre-test – post test design. The population of 194 students from four technical colleges in Rivers State was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was made up of Heat Treatment Achievement Test (HTAT) developed by the researchers. The achievement test consists of 50-multiple choice items with four options of A-D. The test items were identified and selected from the content of (NABTEB) syllabus on metal work technology. Test re-test method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument; the tests yielded 0.70, 073 and 0.72, 0.74 for the first and second tests respectively. Four experts in metal work technology were involved in both face and content validity of the instrument. The results obtained from the test scores were compiled and analyzed using statistical tools such as; percentage, mean, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in answering the research question and testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Improvised furnace had positive effects on students’ performance in heat treatment with a mean gain of 4.61. The difference in performance between those taught using improvised furnace and those taught using conventional teaching aids was found to be significant at 0.05 levels of significance. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that government, technical college principals and the different agencies should provide fund to procure the materials and component for designing and constructing furnace by the teacher for teaching heat treatment in technical colleges in Rivers State. Also, constant power supply, generators, accumulators, anvil, steel vessel, pipes and electric blower should be provided and distributed by the ministry of education to the technical colleges for construction of furnace for effective teaching of in Rivers State. The industries, government, nongovernmental agencies and private enterprises and communities should provide components, consumable materials necessary for teaching heat treatment and supply the materials directly to the individual technical colleges in Rivers State

THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CONSTRUCTED FURNACE ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN HEAT TREATMENT IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of an improvised furnace on students’ performance in heat treatment in technical colleges in Rivers State. The study adopted research and development incorporating quasi-experimental design. It involved the use of control group, pre-test – post test design. The population of 194 students from four technical colleges in Rivers State was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was made up of Heat Treatment Achievement Test (HTAT) developed by the researchers. The achievement test consists of 50-multiple choice items with four options of A-D. The test items were identified and selected from the content of (NABTEB) syllabus on metal work technology. Test re-test method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument; the tests yielded 0.70, 073 and 0.72, 0.74 for the first and second tests respectively. Four experts in metal work technology were involved in both face and content validity of the instrument. The results obtained from the test scores were compiled and analyzed using statistical tools such as; percentage, mean, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in answering the research question and testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Improvised furnace had positive effects on students’ performance in heat treatment with a mean gain of 4.61. The difference in performance between those taught using improvised furnace and those taught using conventional teaching aids was found to be significant at 0.05 levels of significance. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that government, technical college principals and the different agencies should provide fund to procure the materials and component for designing and constructing furnace by the teacher for teaching heat treatment in technical colleges in Rivers State. Also, constant power supply, generators, accumulators, anvil, steel vessel, pipes and electric blower should be provided and distributed by the ministry of education to the technical colleges for construction of furnace for effective teaching of in Rivers State. The industries, government, nongovernmental agencies and private enterprises and communities should provide components, consumable materials necessary for teaching heat treatment and supply the materials directly to the individual technical colleges in Rivers State

Resilience to cognitive impairment in the oldest-old : design of the EMIF-AD 90+ study

BACKGROUND: The oldest-old (subjects aged 90 years and older) population represents the fastest growing segment of society and shows a high dementia prevalence rate of up to 40%. Only a few studies have investigated protective factors for cognitive impairment in the oldest-old. The EMIF-AD 90+ Study aims to identify factors associated with resilience to cognitive impairment in the oldest-old. In this paper we reviewed previous studies on cognitive resilience in the oldest-old and described the design of the EMIF-AD 90+ Study. METHODS: The EMIF-AD 90+ Study aimed to enroll 80 cognitively normal subjects and 40 subjects with cognitive impairment aged 90 years or older. Cognitive impairment was operationalized as amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), or possible or probable Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The study was part of the European Medical Information Framework for AD (EMIF-AD) and was conducted at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC) and at the University of Manchester. We will test whether cognitive resilience is associated with cognitive reserve, vascular comorbidities, mood, sleep, sensory system capacity, physical performance and capacity, genetic risk factors, hallmarks of ageing, and markers of neurodegeneration. Markers of neurodegeneration included an amyloid positron emission tomography, amyloid β and tau in cerebrospinal fluid/blood and neurophysiological measures. DISCUSSION: The EMIF-AD 90+ Study will extend our knowledge on resilience to cognitive impairment in the oldest-old by extensive phenotyping of the subjects and the measurement of a wide range of potential protective factors, hallmarks of aging and markers of neurodegeneration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Nederlands Trial Register NTR5867 . Registered 20 May 2016