PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING MICROECONOMICS COURSE

Teaching and Learning (T&L) methods in the present days need to be creative and diverse in order to produce quality graduates. Memorization method will produce students who are unable think critically since they are regimented to memorize facts only. It may cause students easier to forget the contents when there is a disturbance during the memorization process. One of the courses that need attention to encounter this problem is Microeconomics. Based on a preliminary study, it was found that students had problem to master Microeconomics. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify problems faced by students who enrolled in a Microeconomics course at a local Malaysian university. Results of the study found that the course was challenging for students to master since they had low visualization skill. Therefore, it was difficult for the students to visualize complex graphs and interpret data in the graphs.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNATIONAL TEACHING PRACTICE PROGRAM: PERCEPTIONS FROM MALAYSIAN AND INDONESIAN TRAINEE TEACHERS

The aim of this research is to evaluate the trainee teachers’ perception on the effectiveness of the international teaching practice program implemented by various international public higher institutions. The research questions cover the aspect of generic skills inclusive of communication skills, teamwork skills, and problem solving skills, together with the aspect of lesson plans, attitudes, and knowledge. 70 fourth year students from UTM, UNY, UPGRI Semarang, and UNIMUSH Makassar were randomly selected as the sample of this research. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and T-test at 0.05 level of significance. Overall findings show that both Malaysian and Indonesian trainee teachers’ perceptions retained at high level during the international teaching practice program. They also recorded positive perceptions on generic skills (mean = 4.14 (Malaysian); mean = 4.09 (Indonesian)), trainee teachers’ lesson plan (mean = 4.12 (Malaysian); mean = 4.14 (Indonesian)), trainee teachers’ attitude (mean = 4.12 (Malaysian); mean = 4.16 (Indonesian)), and trainee teachers’ knowledge (mean = 4.19 (Malaysian); mean = 4.15 (Indonesian)). Future recommendations are also included to improve the program in the near future.

Hubtic number in graphs

The maximum order of partition of the vertex set \(V(G)\) into hub sets is called hubtic number of \(G\) and denoted by \(\xi(G)\). In this paper we determine the hubtic number of some standard graphs. Also we obtain bounds for \(\xi(G)\). And we characterize the class of all \((p,q)\) graphs for which \(\xi(G)=p\).

Sensorimotor pathway controlling stopping behavior during chemotaxis in the Drosophila melanogaster larva

Sensory navigation results from coordinated transitions between distinct behavioral programs. During chemotaxis in the Drosophila melanogaster larva, the detection of positive odor gradients extends runs while negative gradients promote stops and turns. This algorithm represents a foundation for the control of sensory navigation across phyla. In the present work, we identified an olfactory descending neuron, PDM-DN, which plays a pivotal role in the organization of stops and turns in response to the detection of graded changes in odor concentrations. Artificial activation of this descending neuron induces deterministic stops followed by the initiation of turning maneuvers through head casts. Using electron microscopy, we reconstructed the main pathway that connects the PDM-DN neuron to the peripheral olfactory system and to the pre-motor circuit responsible for the actuation of forward peristalsis. Our results set the stage for a detailed mechanistic analysis of the sensorimotor conversion of graded olfactory inputs into action selection to perform goal-oriented navigation.

Maxillary denture flange and occlusal discrepancies of Vertex ThermoSens in comparison with conventional heat-cured denture base materials

This study was conducted to investigate the maxillary denture bases and occlusal discrepancies using the Vertex Thermosens in comparison with the conventional polymethyl-methacrylate materials. Twenty maxillary denture bases were prepared from the Vertex ThermoSens and a conventional heat-cured denture base materials. Acrylic maxillary second molars were arranged in their respective positions on the ridge. After curing of both types of denture bases, they were deflasked with their respective master casts. Reference points were prepared for measurements of the antero-posterior and cross-arch dimensions at the denture borders using caliper device. Furthermore, the teeth discrepancies were measured between reference points in the ligual aspect of the second maxillary molars. The recorded data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 20. The results showed initial shrinkage of both denture bases in the antero-posterior and cross-arch dimensions immediately after decasting. This contraction was compensated gradually during storage in water up to 2 weeks. Regarding the variable time, there was a significant difference between the tested materials. Moreover, the results revealed occlusal discrepancies and shifting of teeth inward immediately after decasting, followed by outward movement after storage in water for 2 weeks. Regarding the variables time and materials, there were significant differences. Both materials exhibited inward shrinkage in the antero-posterior and cross-arch dimensions immediately after decasting. Both denture bases showed inward shifting of teeth immediately after decasting, followed by outward movement after storage in water up to 2 weeks.

Blended Learning and Student Satisfaction: An Investigation into an EAP Writing Course

This paper investigates students satisfaction in a blended English writing course for Academic Purposes in Iraq. Blended learning is a novel mode of approaching education and learning in Iraq so it is very relevant to attempt to determine what factors can help it its success. Its novelty comes not from its use of online platforms such as Moodle but blending the traditional face-to face approach and distance teaching in a way that foster critical thinking and ongoing participation of the students. Different factors were emphasized and investigated regarding satisfaction, among them, the instructor-student and student-student interaction, in addition to the pedagogical aspect of the course. Student’s background such as their job and age and family status were not considered in this study. A modified questionnaire of student’s satisfaction in an online course was used to determine the approximate of satisfaction. The result of the research helped the administration office to apply some improvements to the newly-founded Blended courses in Iraq.

A Postcolonial Reading of Wole Soyinka’s Kongi’s Harvest

Post-colonial literature is concerned with the matters of decolonization, cultural, economic and political freedom of the previously colonized nations. Post-colonial theory places more emphasis on the criticality of colonialism and its establishment resulting in neo-colonialism with the accentuation of the power of the west over the colonized (Prasad, 2003:7). Post-colonial literature attempts to explore the challenges and results of decolonization of a nation, particularly those nations who have been given political and cultural independence and were formerly colonized by colonial powers. This study attempts to examine Wole Soyinka’s Kongi’s Harvest to explore and criticize the season of anomy in African society in postcolonial context. The study explores how Africans began to colonize themselves even after the departure of the colonial rulers in Kongi’s Harvest. The result reveals that the reason for the impoverishment of the decolonized African nations is as a result of bad leadership quality, corruption and colonial mentality transmitted into the postcolonial era. For this reason, it is discovered that even after the end of colonization in Africa the colonizers left their surrogates (indigenous colonizers) behind to continue from where they stopped.

Human Rights at Stake: Shirley Jackson’s Social and Political Protest in “The Lottery”

Nowhere is American author Shirley Jackson’s (1916-1965) social and political criticism is so intense than it is in her seminal fictional masterpiece “The Lottery”. Jackson severely denounces injustice through her emphasis on a bizarre social custom in a small American town, in which the winner of the lottery, untraditionally, receives a fatal prize. The readers are left puzzled at the end of the story as Tessie Hutchinson, the unfortunate female winner, is stoned to death by the members of her community, and even by her family. This study aims at investigating the author’s social and political implications that lie behind the story, taking into account the historical era in which the story was published (the aftermath of the bloody World War II) and the fact that the victim is a woman who is silenced and forced to follow the tradition of the lottery. The paper mainly focuses on the writer’s interest in human rights issues, which can be violated even in civilized communities, like the one depicted in the story. The shocking ending, the researchers conclude, is Jackson’s protest against dehumanization and violence.

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Hedging in Facebook Comments: A Sex- and Age-based Approach

The study investigates the effect of sex and age on the use of hedges in Facebook comments. The sample of the study consists of 300 comments written by native male and female Facebook users as their reflections to the same posts. The procedures followed in this study cover the discussion of the phenomenon and then its relation to world of social media. Then, an analysis of the posts of the sample of the study is tackled. The analysis aims at exploring whether the variables, sex and age, are traceable in reflecting the ways by which male and female language users can give their stances via hedging in Facebook comments. Hyland’s (2005) model is adopted in the process of analysis. The findings uncovered that there are fundamental contrasts with respect to sex and age in the area of hedging; female users make more use of hedges than male do in addition to the idea that the older one grows, the more use of hedges is.

Pauses by Student and Professional Translators in Translation Process