Globally, there is growing focus by governments and tertiary education institutions to increase the participation, retention and success rates of students from disadvantaged communities. Concerted efforts are being made to ensure the disadvantaged students gain tertiary qualifications and join various professions where they are under-represented. However, despite various government and university initiatives, students from disadvantaged communities are still facing numerous barriers that is impacting on their participation and completion of a university qualification. This study investigates potential learning barriers through the lived experiences of students from a particular minority group. The objective of the study is to propose strategies that will enhance students' success and completion rates of university qualifications. The study recognises that student perceptions through their lived experiences are beneficial to educators. Hence, data was collected via a survey questionnaire and focus group meetings. This research has the potential to make a significant contribution to the design and implementation of actionable strategies to help achieve better outcomes for the minority grouping of students struggling to complete a university qualification. It is anticipated that this research will help implement teaching and learning strategies that positively impacts students' participation and completion of a university qualification. This will in turn help inform government tertiary education policy for the benefit of the wider community.
The present work reports the electrochemical synthesis of poly N Terminal tetrahydrophthalamic acid on stainless steel 316 (S.S), which acts as a working electrode, using an electrochemical polymerization technique. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) characterized the formed polymer film. Corrosion protection tests for coated and uncoated S.S with polymer film were studied in 0.2 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution by using electrochemical polarization technique. Kinetic and thermodynamic activation parameters (Ea, A, Î"H*, Î"S* and Î"G*) were calculated. The biological activity of the polymeric film was determined against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus; Staph.aure) and negative bacteria (Escherichia coli; E.coli).In addition, the polymer film was modified with nanomaterials(ZnOnnano and Graphene).
This study examined the level of water scarcity across Kazaure town, Jigawa State and the strategies employed by public and private agencies to increase their resilience toward access to affordable and safe clean water supply. Water scarcity is one of the major challenges affecting the livelihood of people in Kazaure town. The aim of the study was to examine water scarcity at micro level, in Kazaure town. A total of 1520 samples were selected which constituted 0.4% of the total population. The respondents were selected using availability sampling at water collection points of which only 1500 questionnaires were successfully returned and 20 were not. The data was analysed using simple descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) single factor. Results revealed that 20% of the sampled population has resorted to land leasing near water sources for their farming activities, 53% has stopped dry season farming in the area of fishing, 45% of the sample respondents have stopped fishing while 56.5% indicated that they have resorted to providing their water needs by themselves. The study revealed that there are only 60 hand pump boreholes in the whole of Kazaure. The ANOVA test also indicated that there were no significant differences in terms of water sources between the settlements at 0.05 level (P 0.067) and there were significant differences in terms of water facility types between the settlements at 0.05 level of significance (P 0.046). It was established from the study that water scarcity has negatively affected livelihood activities in the study area. The paper recommends that private sectors should be encouraged to pool resources together to provide and improve water supply projects and state and local government should provide more mechanical powered bore holes in the areas for effective water supply.
AbstractA novel MnO2@EDTA-Ag nanocoral reef was constructed via a simplified redox reaction followed by EDTA and Ag nanoparticles impregnation to capture hazardous copper (II) from wastewater. A comprehensive characterization of the synthesized materials was conducted. The morphology of MnO2@EDTA-Ag in the form of a nanocoral reef was constructed of two-dimensional nanoplatelets and nanorod-like nanostructures. The optimal adsorption conditions proposed by the Plackett–Burman design (PBD) that would provide a removal % of 99.95 were pH 5.5, a contact time of 32.0 min, a Cu(II) concentration of 11.2 mg L−1, an adsorbent dose of 0.05 g, and a temperature of 40.3 °C. The loading of Ag nanoparticles onto MnO2@EDTA improved the adsorption capability of MnO2@EDTA-Ag. Additionally, the recyclability of MnO2@EDTA-Ag nanocoral reef was maintained at 80% after three adsorption–desorption cycles, and there was no significant change in the XRD analysis before and after the recycling process, implying its stability. It was found that nanocoral reef-assisted EDTA formed a chelation/complexation reaction between COO− groups and C–N bonds of EDTA with Cu(II) ions. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis proved the synergistic effect of the electrostatic interaction and chelation/complexation was responsible for the removal mechanism of Cu(II). Also, the results demonstrated no significant variation in MnO2@EDTA-Ag removal efficiency for all the tested real water samples, revealing its efficacy in wastewater treatment. Therefore, the current study suggests that MnO2@EDTA-Ag has substantial potential to be used as a feasible adsorbent for probable hazardous metals remediation.
Abstract Microsoft Excel skills are imperative in today's competitive market and the skill is highly demanded by businesses. The MOS Excel Expert Certification (MO-201) validates the competency that one should build to meet employers' expectations. The paper addresses the statistical mean rank difference in four skill groups of the certification test. Results of the four groups of the test were compared, using the Kruskal-Wallis's test. The null hypothesis of the equality of the means for different groups was rejected at the 5% level of significance. Because the null hypothesis was rejected, the Conover post hoc test was applied for multiple pairwise comparisons, to discern which of the sample pair combinations were significantly different. The paper examines some of the concepts of groups 2 and 3 questions where students struggled the most and rendered insights to overcome those hurdles.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of chemistry in Zanzibar Secondary Schools. It was conducted in all regions of Zanzibar in public and private secondary schools and Ministry of Education officials. The objective of the study included finding out causes of poor performance in chemistry. Views, opinions, and suggestions of teachers and students to improve performance of chemistry and a descriptive survey was adopted for the study. 45 teachers and 200 students were randomly sampled from 15 secondary schools in Zanzibar and ten Ministry of Education officials were purposively sampled for the study. Questionnaires and open-ended interview schedules were the main instruments used in obtaining relevant data from respondents. Data collected from the field was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis involved content analysis of the responses obtained through interviews and quantitative analysis involved generation of tables, frequencies and percentages. The results revealed that there were shortages of trained teachers, lack of proficiency in the language of instruction (English) and major facilities like laboratories and books. These led to poor delivery of subject matter and consequently resulting in poor performance. Based on the findings, this study recommends that provision of trained, competent, and effective teachers as vital aspects to be considered. Government through Ministry of Education should put effort to stalk libraries and equip laboratories with modern books and instruments. In addition, the ministry should strengthen teachers' training and encourage use of instructional media in class and make conducive learning environment to both teachers and students.
The study examined the determinants of adaptation to deforestation among farmers in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa state, Nigeria. Structured interview schedule were used to obtain information from 200 respondents selected through simple random sampling techniques. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (chi square test) statistics. The result indicated that majority (84%) of the respondents were male with 21-40 years of age representing 58.50%. The study also showed that most (45%) of the respondents had attained post primary education with majority (80%) having 6 and above years of farming experience. The respondents perceived fuel wood extraction as the major (42%) cause of deforestation in the study area. The result showed that the most (30.50%) frequently employed adaptation strategy against deforestation was reducing quantity of fire wood consumption. The study further showed that the factors which significantly influenced adaptation to deforestation among the respondents were age, farming experience and educational status with X2=9.216, 8.697 and 11.238 at P2=1.286, 7.923 and 5.862 at P
In addition to the more obvious forms of sexism in advertising, media critics and scholars raise concerns about various forms of nonobvious, or latent, sexism (e.g., "dismembered" body parts; makeup possibly resembling a bruise; women in potentially dangerous locations; bodies decorated as products). There is, however, no evidence that the public considers these ads sexist or is affected by them. To determine whether ads promote sexism even if the content is not identified as sexist, participants were exposed to ads containing no sexism, overt sexism, or latent sexism (i.e., content considered sexist by media experts, but not identified as sexist by a lay sample) and then read two vignettes describing incidents of sexual assault and sexual coercion. Participants exposed to ads with latent sexism showed greater acceptance of the sexual assault than did those in the no sexism ad condition and in the overt sexism ad condition. Regarding the sexual coercion vignette, latent sexism did not have the same effects; instead, participants exposed to ads with overt sexism were less likely to minimize the seriousness of the incident than participants in the other ad conditions. Therefore, acceptance of sexual assault can be increased by sexist content in ads even if the content is not identified as sexist. In fact, the evidence suggests that the types of latent sexism in this study produce more deleterious effects than sexism that is easily recognized.
AbstractTailoring a material that has a synergistic role as an adsorbent and a photocatalyst for environmental application is an attractive field for research. This article presents a study of facile synthesis of NiO and Ni/NiO with a synergistic role as super adsorbents in the lake of light and photocatalysts under light irradiation. Nano flower-like mesoporous NiO and Ni/NiO were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. XRD, SEM, EDAX, XPS, BET, and DR/UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques were employed for samples' analysis. The point of zero surface charge of prepared samples was detected by the batch equilibrium method. The adsorption efficiency was investigated in the absence of light using aniline blue as a pollutant model dye. The synergistic effect as an adsorbent and a photocatalyst was investigated under UV and sunlight irradiation. Different parameters affecting the adsorption in the dark have been optimized. The results showed that in the absence of light, the prepared samples are super adsorbents with a maximum adsorption capacity ranging from 210 to 230 mg g−1 and a removal % ranging from 95 to 100% within 2 h. Under UV or sunlight irradiation, the adsorbent/photocatalyst attained a dye removal % of 99.8% within 30 min. The adsorption data matched the pseudo-second-order model, and the equilibrium adsorption data showed compatibility with Langmuir model. The findings of experiments revealed that the adsorption is spontaneous, exothermic, and results in less entropy. Under sunlight irradiation, the dye removal efficiency increased by 19% in the case of Ni/NiO hybrid; it showed a removal efficiency of 99.5% within 30 min under sunlight irradiation versus 80% after 120 min in the dark.