International Journal of Education Research and Reviews

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 181-182, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Short Communication

Analysis of sound absorbing properties of different density local acoustic materials

*Ezeani O. Theophilus, Febresima R. C and Kelechuwu Victoria Mbaka

Department of Physics, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Accepted 19 May, 2015

Abstract

Grounded element, sawdust, local plaster mud and sand were mixed in various contributions by weight and their sound absorbing properties were studied and analyzed. Their absorbing properties were compared with that of panel absorbers. Results show that, these local samples give results similar to that of panel absorbers

Keywords: Sound, sawdust, absorbing, properties, sand, mud, cement

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (3), pp. 165-170, May, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Enhancing maternal wellbeing in Ghana: Availability of resources for safe delivery in Akatsi and Keta Districts of Volta Region

*Heward G. Tsikata, Kwabena A. Chambas and Tsatsu H. J

Regional Institute for Population Studies, Ashesi University, P O Box GP 1632, Accra, Ghana.

*Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] 

Accepted 9 April, 2015

Abstract

The thrust of the present study was to examine resources available for safe delivery in Akatsi and Keta Districts of Volta Region of Ghana with a view to highlighting the importance of improving maternal health in these districts in particular, and by extension in Ghana as a whole. Interviews were conducted from a sample size of 6,250 respondents within the reproductive age group of 15- 49 years drawn from both districts in 2007. The results show that most of the women had only basic education and were generally petty traders, farmers and fishmongers. Only 39.2% of the women from Akatsi and 53.9% of their counterparts from Keta delivered in a hospital within 8 km from their places of residence, implying that a substantial proportion of the women from both districts traveled long distances to deliver their babies. Furthermore, delivery by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and assisted delivery at home by relatives and friends were still common, while the road network in both districts was poor. About 25% of the women from both districts spent more than 1 hr to walk to a health facility, while those who patronized vehicular means of transport had to pass through rough roads (61.2% in Akatsi and 52.2% in Keta). The findings also suggest that 36.4% and 29.1% from Akatsi and Keta districts respectively needed extra care from their attendants or experienced some degree of delay at the health facility level. The Government of Ghana should therefore aim at increasing girls’ participation at all levels of the education system in the country, and rehabilitate roads or construct new ones to help the people transport emergency complications to the health facility on time to prevent deaths. Every pregnant woman should be assisted by a skilled birth attendant because maternal deaths from pregnancies and birth complications are avoidable if the women are attended to by skilled professionals in well-equipped health facilities.

Key words: Childbirth, Ghana, health, maternal, mortality, pregnancy.

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 213-224, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A shift in higher educational standard with scientific progress from segregation to integrative/holistic universal education in the twenty-first century

*Jang K. lee, Seok Young-ae and Kang Moo-sung

Department of Educational Development, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea. 

*Corresponding Author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 17 May, 2015

Abstract

We moved from the Newtonian physical world of the industrial age to Einstein’s relativistic/quantum physical world of the twenty-first century. In the Newtonian science of the industrial age, where space, time, and matter were regarded as separate and non-integrated, our educational methods were based on non-integrated disciplines focused primarily on transmission of fragmented knowledge. However, in the information society of the 21^st century, universities and students alike have called out for a whole-person education based integrating different academic disciplines. The integrative holistic education paradigm resembles and parallels the integration of space-time-matter/energy in the universe. The three essential attributes of integrative-holistic education for the interconnected universe of the twenty-first century are:“globalization”,the movement from finite-borders to infinite-borderlessness,“humanization”, human advancement beyond materialism, and “futurization”, an emphasis on future-eternal values rather than immediate results. The direction of the twenty-first century education must transcend mere economic considerations and incorporate deeper dimensions of morality and spirituality for achieving global peace and prosperity in the twenty-first century.

Keywords: Integrative, holistic education, quantum physics, globalization, humanization, futurization.

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 183-190, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The role of school management towards executing an integrated arts curriculum

*Duma V. Monageng, Linah Mtetwa and Lious Dow Mohohlo

Department of Population Studies, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Gaborone, Botswana.

Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 17 May, 2015

Abstract

The implementation of the Creative and Performing Arts (CPA) syllabus at lower primary school level in Botswana, which was carried out in 2001, has been hampered by some administrative and logistical problems. It is the foregoing observation that has motivated a study, carried out towards the end of 2006 and early 2007, on the implementation of the syllabus with the following objectives: to establish what guidance has been given by the implementing authority to schools for the implementation of the syllabus, and to identify the problems and difficulties that have been encountered by the school administration in the implementation of the syllabus. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that, school administrators felt that they had not been duly recognized as key players in syllabus implementation. They suggested that specialization in the teaching of the subject be encouraged and that a syllabus review in which teachers would have more input be conducted.

Keywords: Music, Creative and performing arts, Syllabus implementation, integrated arts, Program monitoring, In-service training

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 171-180, June, 2015.  © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research paper

Disparity in the sharing of family income in Cameroon: A Gini decomposition analysis based on the Shapley-value approach

*Eyong N. Moute, Idriss L. Djemba and Fabrice Jean Kameni

Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 7 April, 2015

Abstract

On the basis of data drawn from two household surveys, this paper investigates the evolution of income distribution inequality in Cameroon between 1984 and 1996, a period characterized by a serious economic crisis. The paper decomposes inequality into within- and between-groups components, using the Shapley-value approach and total expenditure per adult equivalent as a welfare indicator to find the contributions of these components to overall inequality at the national level. Decompositions are carried out according to household socio-economic characteristics such as the residence area,the stratum, the educational level, the gender, and the age group of the household head.The study results indicate that inequality in total expenditures declined only slightly between 1984 and 1996,and that the contributions of within-groups inequality components to overall inequality for all the five household socio-economic characteristics analyzed in the study, overwhelmingly explain total inequality at the national level in Cameroon. The policy implications of the study for each of the five household socio-economic characteristics considered revolve around the main conclusion of the paper according to which the reduction of inequality in Cameroon, as in most African countries, depends not only on the design and implementation of growth policies conducive to poverty and inequality reduction, but also on the political will of decision makers who should be motivated to optimize social welfare for their populaces while achieving social justice in terms of equity in the distribution of income.

Keywords: Total expenditures, inequality, decomposition, Gini coefficient, Shapley-value, inequality components, economic crisis, Cameroon.