Month: January 2018
Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on Tourist Demand and Consumer Surplus
In this paper, we analyze the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on the Korean tourist demand and estimate the consumer surplus. The Poisson regression model is often used for a dependent variable with the count variable. However, the number of trips is greater than zero, so this paper applies the truncated Poisson regression model to estimate …
Factors Affecting Human Capital Efforts in Developing Economies: A Case Study on Cuba
Cuba faces considerable domestic and global challenges as they strive to compete in the global marketplace and increase their population’s quality of life. Cuba has invested in human capital development activities (i.e. universal access to education and guaranteed healthcare, food rations and housing) which are unique to the region. While these efforts have made an impact, research …
Evidence-Based Development of an Undergraduate Disaster Volunteerism Course for English Learners
Disaster management is a field of increasing importance as global climate change increasingly impacts our world. Students can, and often do, play important roles in disaster response. Following the 2011 Eastern Japan Great Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear plant disasters many students became involved in a variety of disaster response activities. These activities benefited the disaster …
Learners’ Perspective of the Critical Benefits of Digitalisation of Teaching and Learning in Nigeria Higher Education
In recent years, the Nigeria youths have embraced online interactions through social media, though for social interactions with least applications to teaching and learning. Some examination bodies in Nigeria have adopted digitalisation of examinations to select suitable enrolments to the university, but none of the higher institutions have commenced digitalisation of teaching and learning whereby …
Sustainable Education: Institutional and Academic Plans for Student Success
In view of recent efforts to redefine the meaningful role of education on a global scale, this paper will outline some of the latest attempts to overcome struggles related to a decrease in student enrollment and restore a renewed interest in learning by operating on multiple ranges.At an institutional level, a description of the case …
A Case Study in Collaboration, Cross-Disciplinarity, and Mixed Reality Prototyping in Higher Education
The Supercourse brings together students from five different university degree-programs to develop mixed reality prototypes, in collaborative teams, using elements of design thinking and lean startup methodologies. The class exists within the context of a larger university initiative around student-driven entrepreneurship called “Zone Learning”, and in addition to it’s stand-alone goals in mixed-reality technologies, serves …
Concurrent Instruction of Japanese Adult Learners via Independent Call Methods and Classroom Instruction
This presentation focuses on the efficacy of teaching EFL learners through an approach that combines independent computer-based grammar learning with weekly classroom-based lessons focusing on speaking, listening, and writing. The fifteen-week study aims to measure language learning through standardized testing, classroom observation, and online quiz results. Conscious learning was also monitored through periodic surveys. Learners …
Top Global University Project: Promotion of Around-The-Clock Liberal Arts Education and its Educational Outcomes
This presentation describes the educational outcomes resulted from the implementation of the project “Promotion of around-the-clock liberal arts education.” This project was implemented at Akita International University as part of the Top Global University Project sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) to become ‘Japan’s world-class liberal arts university.’ It …
How Do Executives’ Values Influence Corporate Responsibility Adoption
Strategic Leadership theory posits that senior executives are responsible for shaping their organizations’ strategic direction. Values are central in guiding behaviour. Executives’ value systems, acting as their perceptual filter, impact executives’ information scanning, diagnostic and decision-making processes. Hence executives’ value systems play an important role in influencing organisational approaches to corporate responsibility (CR) adoption. While …
Student and Teacher Inter-Agency in Negotiated Learning Environments
Opening exciting new opportunities for student learning and fulfilment calls for curiosity, creativity, empathy and the ability to negotiate, and re-negotiate, learning environments. This negotiation requires a degree of agency on the part of students and adults who take active roles in co-constructing learning trajectories in line with students’ aspirations. Student agency does not involve …
Case Study of Administrative Planning in Japan: Initiation Stage of Citizen Participation and Information Sharing in Child-Rearing Support Plan
In Tokyo, encouraging the acceptance of childcare centers is an urgent issue as many children still need a nursery. The Japanese government has implemented an institutional reform, and local governments have formulated a new child-rearing support plan along with the reform.However, the reform is focused on extending the duration of child care at nurseries and …
Information Sharing and Administrative Planning: From Japan’s Local Government Ordinances
There is presently no provision for administrative plans under the Administrative Procedure Law of Japan. In administrative planning, utilizing the amendment of the Administrative Procedure Act and the stipulation of the procedure for public comment in 2005 enables control over the level of discretion involved in the planning process to a certain extent.Further, the establishment …
A Study on Education in Japanese Legal Expression: Through a Survey of Japanese University Students
The text on Japanese law is known for being difficult for Japanese people. The law is a part of the liberal arts curriculum at high school and university. The courses are focused on understanding the content of the law; however, the difficulty also lies in law-specific Japanese expression.This research aims to clarify whether the degree …
Cosmetic & Disruptive Technologies Management in Education
The user experience is well developed in the business world but less so in the world of Education. Hours of testing and development are spent on refining the best process by large companies like SAP and IBM to provide customers with the best experience that inspires confidence and develops the company brand. These processes are …
Improving Online Readiness in Higher Education: A Case Study
eLearning is becoming the sine qua non of higher education due to its increasing popularity and numerous Learning Experience (Lx), sociological and ecological benefits. eLearning can increase self-directed, active, social and personalized learning opportunities and reduce physical limitations, which can lead to higher student enrollment and more diverse, accessible, sustainable and scalable educational opportunities. University …
Bio-Oil Production From the Pyrolysis of Blue-Green Algae for Sustainability Alternative Fuels
Pyrolysis experiments of blue-green algae (Arthrospira platensis) were carried out in a custom-built tube reactor to determine the pyrolysis conditions which was affected by the production of pyrolysis oil. The effects of process variables; the operating temperature (400-600 oC), raw material federate (0.4-3.0 kgh-1 ), particle size (150- 800 µm) and N2 flowing rate (50-250 …
Managing to Reduce the Risk of Mango Harvest and to Make the Value of Integrated Agro-Tourism: A Case Study of Mango Orchard Entrepreneur in Chachoengsao, Thailand
Mango is a kind of fruit which can be planted all over the world including Thailand, and Chachoengsao is one of five provinces where mangoes are planted the most in Thailand as the soil in those areas are suitable for planting mangoes. The objectives of this research were 1) to study the body of knowledge …
Efficiency Analysis of Rice Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana
This paper examines the efficiency of two rice producer groups in Kassena–Nankana Municipality, the upper east region of Ghana. Comparing the efficiencies of the two rice producer groups will help to recognize the group capable of utilizing their fewer inputs while increasing productivity. The first farmer group practices irrigation and the second group engage in …
Examining Conflicts Over Land Acquisition and Ownership in Dormaa Traditional Area, Ghana
In Ghana, conflicts over land are ubiquitous largely due to competing views of ownership as well as diverse cultural and economic interests. In some cases, land conflicts are so contentious that it takes nearly three decades for coming up with any settlement. This paper focuses on the Dormaa traditional area, the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana, …
Qattara Depression and Its Hydropower Potential
The Qattara Depression in Egypt has been suggested to be used for hydropower production. This paper investigates the possibility of having a Hydropower plant in this location to solve the current energy problem in the region, by providing the most updated results that would be used in such a project compared to previous studies. Hydrological …
Assessment of Disaster Safety at Matara District General Hospital in Sri Lanka
Hospitals are essential infrastructures in responding to disasters. They are expected to remain functioning during and in the immediate aftermath of disasters. Sri Lanka has experienced a number of natural disasters such as tsunami of 2004, and experienced inadequate disaster preparedness at many local hospitals. However, very limited research has been conducted in Sri Lanka …
Kenya-Tanzania Conservation Synergy for Migratory Lesser Flamingoes
Every year, about 805,000 flamingoes migrate between Lake Nakuru, Kenya’s primary flamingo feeding site, and Lake Natron, another important breeding site in Tanzania. In 2008, the Kenya National Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Lesser Flamingo set the stage for concerted and harmonized conservation initiatives. For effectively monitoring the conservation of lesser …
Lending Māori Artistic Practice Structures to Academic Research and Writing: Mahi-Toi
Māori (Indigenous New Zealand) researchers may have one or many mahi-toi (artistic) talents. All mahi-toi are ideas brought forth from the conceptual world into the physical realm by mahi-ā-ringa (work with hands), and the practitioner is the conduit. When the mahi-toi practitioner is also the researcher and vice-versa, the vernaculars in both circles enrich and …
The Gap Between Curriculum, Assessments, and National Standards Within Vietnamese English Language Teacher Education
English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) in Vietnam is undergoing rapid change in response to the requirements of a rapidly evolving socio-economic context. Vietnamese government is playing a leading role in making many changes to educational policy to prepare for the development of ELTE in the globalisation contexts. The issue is that there are still significant …
Curriculum Development and K-12 Challenges in the Philippines: A Reflexive Case Analysis Towards Redesigning Language and Literature Education in College
Higher education in the Philippines has been challenged to adopt changes in the curriculum given the institutionalization of K-12 basic education program in the country. In this context, faculty and administrators of higher education institutions in the country needed to take proactive measures to redesign its curriculum that would meet the need of a new …
Exploring Vietnamese EFL Teacher Educators’ Professional Development in the Context of the National Foreign Languages Policy
This presentation outlines a project researching Vietnamese teacher educators’ professional development (PD) in a period of ongoing educational transformation, initiated by the national language policy (Project 2020). The empirical research examined current English language policies issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and EFL teacher training institutions (N = 50) as well as …
Educational Television in India: Challenges and Prospects
Today, in India television is considered as an important medium that is being extensively used to impart information to its viewers. The availability of new information technologies at the global level, satellite television broadcasting has been increasingly used for distance education and training in India. Research reveals that television differs from other media in the …
Culture and Identity in Public Green Spaces: The Story of Suropati and Menteng Park in Central Jakarta, Indonesia
Changing the role of parks and green spaces to fit into the sustainable city framework are now an ongoing agenda for city planners worldwide. One popular concept is how green spaces promote urban liveability and sociability among city dwellers. While parks provide environmental benefits, parks are also public spaces that come with historical heritage, culture …
Surviving at Fire and Post-Fire Debris/Mudflow Prone Zones in Colorado Front Range in Light Feng-Shui
Extreme climate patterns in recent decades have led to frequent fire events, rainstorms and debris/mudflows in Colorado Front Range, USA. The landforms of Rocky Mountains coincide with these natural hazards. Once people settle in hazard-prone zones, they are in danger. In many cases, disastrous tragedies stem from design errors. These mistakes in practice reflect a …
The Integration of iBooks and Travel Documentary Films for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
Authentic travel documentaries provide language learners with a deep insight into the target language and culture. A travel documentary as short as 30 minutes not only takes people to travel, as its name suggests, but also serves as a miniature encyclopedia encompassing such aspects of the target country as history, politics, culture, geology, music, military, …
Estimating Effectiveness and Efficiency of Solar Energy Policy for Indonesia: A Hybrid Agent-Based Model Analysis
We estimate the impacts of four renewable energy policy interventions to photovoltaic (PV) market size, government expenditure, economic growth, and environment. For this reason, we develop an agent-based model dedicated to capturing the specific economic and institutional features of developing economies focusing on Indonesia. We undertake an integrated approach to ABM by combining input-output analysis, …
Conceptualizing Media Health Literacy in Thailand: Bridging Between Media and Health Concept
Health literacy concepts have been addressed for a period and are continuously reviewed, redefined, and used as variables in health behavior research. Many studies indicate health literacy as a determining factor of health behavior, namely health literacy is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes. The widely used definition of health literacy is “the …
Students’ Intercultural Communication Competence in Rural Areas of Japan
Most local governments in rural areas of Japan have been suffering from population decline. Local companies in the areas are supplementing the shortage of workforce by employing overseas students in the areas. Most Japanese students born and brought up there are expected to play important roles in local companies after graduation. It is predicted that …
International Posture and Ideal L2 Self as Determinants of Informal Mobile-Assisted Language Learning
In recent years, mobile devices have become popular tools used to facilitate language learning due to their unique characteristics such as portability and flexibility. While these devices can be used in a variety of contexts, they are especially useful for informal learning because they have become normalized in the lives of users. However, engagement in …
Scouting Method: Innovative Process for Happiness of Life: A Case Study From Scouting in Thailand
The 75-year Harvard Study of Adult Development on happiness indicates three lessons learned for being a “happy person” including social relationship, the satisfaction of social relation, and health. Therefore, good social relations should be created for every level of social structure, both vertical and horizontal relationship, however, making it real is the hard problem in …
Leveraging Online Databases to Enhance Australian International Students’ Academic Skills: A Case of Gapminder
The academic adaption in the university context has become a challenge facing the international students in Australia (Yu & Wright, 2016). To date, a number of students have experienced ‘academic shock’ (Savic, 2008) as they may initially lack of appropriate academic skills as well as proficiency in the English language to adapt to the new …
Transformational Model of Management for Integrated Schools in the Philippines
One of the Department of Education’s initiatives to increase the literacy rate in the Philippines has been the conversion of elementary schools into integrated schools, meaning, a high school department is created or added. In the Northern Luzon area particularly in Ilocos Norte and Laoag City, nine elementary schools have been converted into Integrated Schools. …
Economic Evaluation of Pastures in the Kyrgyz Republic
This paper estimates the economic valuation of pastures in the Kyrgyz Republic. The agriculture sector of the Kyrgyz Republic faces a challenge of pasture overgrazing by shepherds. One reason for this act is insufficient salaries of shepherds. Most shepherds of these pastures are not aware of the economic value of these natural assets. This calls …
The Effect of Socio-Economic Status on Informal Mobile-Assisted Language Learning
Japan is known as a highly technological proficient country with a wealthy population. However, since the 1990s, the country has been in economic recession. Currently, one in six Japanese children lives under the poverty line. This growing socio-economic gap reduces the chances these children have to gain access to quality education and the technical skills …
Taiwanese Students’ Place in the World: Lessons from Inventors and Left-Handers in EFL Textbooks
Despite of their considerable influence on multiple aspects of learning, language textbooks have most often been investigated for their cultural representation, frequently from the perspective of whose culture is represented, including target culture, source culture, and international cultures. Using examples from two lesson in two EFL textbooks, this article highlights the need for studies to …
Deaths of Rural Police Departments threaten the Security of Their Small Towns
Small town police departments have the same legal and operational obligations as those in urban areas, but far fewer resources due to their smaller tax bases. If a town can no longer support their police department, it is disbanded and rarely revived. When a police department is disbanded, the town contracts with the county sheriff’s …
Factors Influencing Education Students’ Perception of Aggression at a University in South Africa
Short description: A multivariate approach was applied focussing on perceptions of students’ self, relationships and aggression.Long description: The dynamics of learning at a university from undergraduate to post-graduate is complex. Aggression is part and parcel of everyday life and learning. Knowledge management within such a context poses challenges to those involved, i.e. for student-learners, professors …
Applying Health Equity to the Classroom: Using the IOM Report on Social Determinants of Health to Teach Professionals
The US Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2016 report urges educators to incorporate the social determinants of health into training the US health workforce at every level: clinicians, administrators, educators, researchers, and policy makers. The IOM study on a framework to support teaching health professionals about social determinants of health was commissioned because “[e]ducating health professionals …
Decolonizing the Contemporary African University: Towards an Inevitable Alternative
Studies show that many universities in developing countries imitate the Western university model (Chan, Li, & Yang, 2017). In the same line of thought, other researchers contend that African universities are also appendages of the Western University model (Mamdani, 2008). This essay proposes the decolonization of the temporary African University. The paper first depicts that …
The Effects of Culture on Consumers’ Response to a Carbon Tax and Container Deposit Scheme: A Sustainable Consumption Study
As the temperature of the planet rises, governments are adopting measures to curb human activities that contribute to global warming. Introducing policies that people would adopt and to achieve the desired outcome is, however, a growing challenge. This situation is not quite unexpected particularly in multicultural societies where people have diverse cultural values and attitudes …
Environmental Intensity of Human Wellbeing in Bhutan : Evidence from Regression Analysis
A special volume on ‘Absolute Reductions’ in the Journal of Cleaner Production (Akenji, Bengtsson, Bleischwitz, Tukker, & Schandl, 2016) emphasised the need for a radical socio-technical transformation that can bring material, energy and emissions within the ecological limits. Economic activities are at the heart of consumption of materials and energy and emissions being the waste …
Where were you Mutti? Reflections on the Success of Decreasing Gender Bias in Education History Texts for Senior Secondary Schools in New South Wales
One of the transformations of modern history has been the institutional recognition of female agency to historical processes. Given that schools are natural connectors between society on matters of culture and social democracy, this suggests that a study of senior history texts presents an opportunity to critique the progress of educational reform in female inclusion, with the school as mediator …
Teacher Perceptions and Beliefs About Field Trips as a Curricular Source
In today’s educational arena, field trips are often viewed as an extracurricular activity disconnected from curriculum. Currently, teachers are experiencing pressure to prepare students of all ages to be college and career. Policy makers are mandating commercialized curricula as a means to ensure proficiency on standardized assessments. These types of curricula are often void of …