Research Article
Desta Geneme Gebre, Solomon Areaya Kassa, Kassa Michael Wodeyesus
MEDITERRANEAN J SOCI, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 41-50
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to find out the indigenous number and number sense of people in Kafa and to explore its level of integration to school curriculum. To this end, the study followed a qualitative research method which utilized ethnographic case study (embedded) design. Data were collected from 22 key participants through interview, observation, and focus group discussion. In addition, content analysis was used to investigate the level of integration of number and number sense to school curriculum. Accordingly, the study found that base six (maqoo) and base sixty (uddoo) counting systems, fractions and measurement related mathematical systems are found embedded in Kafa agricultural setting. The study further found that indigenous number and number sense of Kafa people were partially integrated in school curriculum. The implication of the finding is that there is a need to improve the existing school curriculum in a way it covers indigenous number and number sense of the people in Kafa.
Keywords: indigenous counting, indigenous number, people of Kafa, ethnomathematics, integration
Research Article
Sandra Eberechukwu Augustine, Lois Nkechi Abraham
MEDITERRANEAN J SOCI, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 51-57
ABSTRACT
This study established students’ communication skills level in Google classroom in the Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt. The study used one group pretest-post-test pre-experimental research design and a sample size of 70 students from the Department of Educational Management, selected via purposive sampling technique. Two (2) research hypotheses guided the study. Google Classroom Communication Skills Test (GCCST), with a reliability coefficient of 0.87, was the instrument for data collection. Sign test and Quade’s Analysis of Covariance were for analyzing data. The results showed that the students’ communication skill level in Google classroom increased and significantly higher due to the tutorial on Google classroom utilization. However, the students’ communication skills level in Google classroom did not significantly differ based on gender. The results led to the recommendation that instructors expose students to the basic skills required to use and communicate effectively in every online learning platform before adopting such for instructional purposes.
Keywords: online learning, Learning Management System (LMS), Google classroom, communication skill, tutorial
Research Article
Ivy Kesewaa Nkrumah, Millan Ahema Tawiah, Kofi Ayebi Arthur, Lebbaeus Asamani, Ebenezer Takyi-Wadieh
MEDITERRANEAN J SOCI, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 59-66
ABSTRACT
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the defining global health crisis in contemporary times. To date, there is no particular cure for COVID-19 and prevention remains the chief approach in tackling the pandemic. Social distancing, hand sanitising, wearing of nose masks and handwashing have been imposed by the government of Ghana to limit the disease spread. However, research (e.g., Bonful et al., 2020) shows that some sections of Ghanaians do not fully adhere to the COVID-19 preventive measures. This study sought to examine the extent to which university students observe each of the aforementioned government-imposed COVID-19 preventive measures and the factors that impair students’ efforts to observe these measures. Using a multi-stage sampling procedure, a total of one hundred and eighty-three students (88 males and 95 females) with mean age of 26 participated in the study. A cross-sectional survey design was employed for the study, and a questionnaire was used for data collection. Whereas most respondents reported wearing their nose masks and sanitising their hands quite frequently, a significant few also declined practicing these. Maintaining social distancing was the least and most infrequent practiced preventive measure. The barriers to observing the preventive measures included the number of students the university maintains in a room, unavailability of the needed materials and inappropriate positioning of the handwashing and hand sanitising stations, the expressed discomfort associated with prolonged use of facemasks, and the social behaviours of students not taking such actions in response to normative group influence. It was recommended that the university management invest more resources to increase and equip the handwashing and hand sanitising stations, modify the existing policy on room intake in the university halls and review the policy on instructional periods to facilitate student’s efforts in observing the preventive measures. In addition, awareness creation in terms of billboards and screen teasers are needed on the campuses to sensitise and engender students to do the needful.
Keywords: COVID-19, barriers, preventive measures
Research Article
Eunice Torto-Seidu, Ivy Kesewaa Nkrumah, Lebbaeus Asamani
MEDITERRANEAN J SOCI, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 67-77
ABSTRACT
Test responses are mostly the chief basis for diagnosis, but educational appraisals of learners who experience difficulties mostly fail to account for the length of time the learner employs to respond to cognitive tasks. Impulsive children have been shown to experience challenges in school, not because they are less intelligent than the non-impulsive ones, but because of their fast conceptual tempo. This study employed a cognitive modelling procedure in attempt to reduce impulsivity in children, and subsequently enhance their performances in English language and Mathematics. A total of 93 primary four pupils who had been identified as impulsive, participated in the study. They were divided into four groups using the Solomon Four Group Experimental Design. The findings were that the experimental groups showed a reduction in impulsivity relative to the control groups at posttest and delayed posttest measures. The reduced impulsivity in the experimental groups translated into improved performance in Mathematics but this was not observed in the subjects’ performances in the English language. The results provide preliminary support for the efficacy of cognitive modelling training intervention as a mechanism for reducing impulsivity in children and enhancing their performance in Mathematics.
Keywords: impulsivity, cognitive modelling, academic performance