Search

Blockchain technology usage in education sector has a capacity to change the way academic records, diplomas, and credentials are maintained, communicated, and verified. Thus, this study aims at understanding the role of blockchain in the higher education sector. Mixed method approach was used in the study for a deeper understanding of the concept. Study 1 is qualitative in nature which includes the structured interviews. On the basis of transcripts generated from study 1, study 2 assimilates Technology Acceptance Model and Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour to study the adoption of blockchain technology in higher education institutes. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS- SEM) has been applied to test the hypothesis derived. A total of 333 responses were gathered via offline and online modes from the state of Punjab, India. Further, the proposed model frame was tested and validated through SmartPLS software version 3.2.8. The results of the study reveals that Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Attitude, Perceived Behaviour Control, Awareness and Regulatory Support were found significant whereas, Personal Norms and Facilitating Conditions were insignificant. The study tries to extend the existing knowledge about the application of blockchain in the education system. Moreover, the study contributes to society by providing practical implications for policy formulation regarding deployment of blockchain technology in higher education institutions.

This paper studied the career experiences of emerging adults amid the pandemic and how they make sense of their career identities during this time. Twenty Indian Emerging adults (18-25 years) wrote narratives about their career stories during the pandemic. Using thematic analysis, three key themes of (1) Perceived Impact of Pandemic Crisis on Career Identity, (2) Positive Meaning-Making of Career Identity amid the Crises, and (3) Negative Meaning-Making of Career Identity amid the Crises were identified. The study concluded that despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on career experiences, most emerging adults cognitively reframed negative experiences as positive.

Background: Technology has been an integral part of our lives, and it has both positive and negative effects on adolescents. The engagement in structured extracurricular activities can be utilized as a prevention method for technology or internet addiction. This can channel their time and energy in the right direction and empower valuable results for youth. The present study was conducted to compare adolescents engaged in structured and non-structured extracurricular activities in terms of spending time on computers using the internet for education and entertainment. Methodology: In a cross-sectional research design, the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire was administered to a total of 124 adolescents (75 males and 49 females) to exclude adolescents with behavioral disturbances. In addition, a semi-structured interview was also used for understanding and analyzing the impacts of structured and unstructured extracurricular activities (in terms of frequency and duration). Results and Conclusion: Results indicated that academic grades were highest in adolescents involved in structured extra-curricular activities. Internet use and mobile use for social purposes were found to be higher among adolescents involved in structured extracurricular activities. Thus, active participation in structured extracurricular activities leads to the holistic development of adolescents, better academic performance, and decreased involvement in technology.

Introduction: The learning approach of undergraduate medical students can be influenced by motivations toward learning medicine as well as perceived outcomes such as their specialty preference in the future. In this study, we analyze the relationships between learning approach, motivation to study medicine, and factors related to their specialty preference. Methods: We conducted a structured questionnaire-based survey of undergraduate medical students after one year of joining. Learning approaches were assessed using a published questionnaire used on medical students after adapting it to our context. Questionnaires validated earlier in our setting were used to assess motivation to study medicine and specialty preference. Factor scores were extracted to examine the relationships between motivations to study medicine and specialty preference with their learning approaches. The data obtained were also analyzed based on the demographic characteristics of students. Results: Deep learning approach factors such as deep motivation, deep strategy as well as surface motivation were correlated positively (Pearson's r > 0.2 and p < 0.05 for all mentioned analyses) with the motivation to study medicine factor for professional calling and with the personal satisfaction factor for specialty preference. Deep motivation and deep strategy factors of the learning approach were also correlated with the professional growth factor of specialty preference. Conclusion: Deep learning approaches appear to be related to motivation to study medicine factors related to the professional calling and demands of the profession as well as for perceived personal satisfaction related to future specialization requirements.

Objective: This study examined the characteristics and quality of publicly available COVID-19 information education and communication (IEC) materials in India between March and December 2020. Design: An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed to examine the characteristics and quality of 265 purposefully selected IEC materials. Setting: The IEC materials analysed were those published between March and December 2020 on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website, Government of India. Methods: A checklist was utilised to examine the quality and characteristics of the materials. Thereafter, qualitative analysis provided insights into the contents of the materials with specific focus on the 'COVID-19 continuum of care'. Results: The majority (73.96%, n = 196) of the selected materials were directed towards the general public and had a focus on prevention (67.55 %, n = 179). Despite COVID-19-associated stigma, only 56 (21.13%) of the materials addressed this issue. However, most (95.47%, n = 253) of the materials adhered to quality standards for contents, readability and aesthetics. This qualitative analysis focused on the contents of selected IEC materials using the concept of 'continuum of care'. The analysis identified three important themes: prevention to early diagnosis and treatment; mitigation of stigma and discrimination surrounding COVID-19; and addressing the infodemic caused by COVID-19. Conclusion: The quality of materials was mostly satisfactory and appropriate to the emergent requirements. Strengthening audience engagement and attractiveness of the materials might enhance readability and actionability. A bottom--up approach to the development of future IEC materials, involving the community might widen the coverage of vulnerable populations in future crisis events.

The higher educational institutions and universities were forced to be shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and came up with an alternative to resume the teaching-learning process via a digital mode of education. Due to many shortcomings in the digital mode of education, it is now necessary to reopen educational institutions. As students are important stakeholders, the views and suggestions are necessary before actually taking a decision on reopening the educational institutions. With objectives on reopening of educational institutions, modification in the course curriculum due to many problems faced by students during online teaching-learning process, health and safety protocols to be followed, etc, 21 questions are designed. Likert scale is used in data collections and analysed using various statistical tools. The students have different views on the reopening of the institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The practical or project-based course curriculum irrespective of offline or online mode of teaching is suggested by most of the students. On the health and safety protocols, the percentage of students giving priorities for creation of disinfection room, hand sanitization station entry and common places and regular health checkup are 74.82%, 80.69% and 74.48%, respectively. On the issue of the health and safety rule implementation, 92.4 % of students committed to pledge to adhere to the health and safety protocols, but 72.9% of students expressed that it would be difficult to enforce health and safety measures to the students inside the institution.

Campus crisis management remains an understudied topic in the context of COVID-affected higher education. In this paper, we contrasted the ability to tame the wicked problems brought by the pandemic of COVID-19 in private and public universities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Kazakhstan, Uganda, and Ukraine. The cross-country analysis and diversity of institutional types allowed us to consider a wide range of challenges faced by academic leaders and their institutions during the global pandemic. By drawing on institutional policy reviews and interviews with university administrators, we have examined tensions between the human and institutional agencies on these crisis-stricken campuses given differing institutional coupling, sizes, resources, and missions. The focus on agential co-dependencies and institutional coupling lays the ground for conceptualizing campus crisis management as a culturally specific construct in the context of higher education affected by the global pandemic.

Purpose: The Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) is a standardized instrument used in voice assessment to assess voice quality. It has been translated and culturally adapted in several languages. This study aimed at developing and validating a Tamil version of CAPE-V through auditory perceptual evaluation of remotely recorded voice samples. Method: The Tamil version was adapted with permission from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to match the rationale in English CAPEV. The sentences were constructed by the first author and validated for content by two panels of experts. Forty-five participants (15 cases and 30 controls) were included in the study. Data recording was conducted online (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., app) for all samples. Three raters participated in the auditory evaluation and scored all samples using Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain (GRBAS) scale followed by CAPE-V with a week gap in between. Twenty percent of samples were repeated to assess intrarater reliability. The intrarater and interrater reliability measures for Tamil CAPE-V were established using intraclass coefficients (ICCs). To ensure construct validity, group differences were determined between the cases and controls. The concurrent validity was established by correlating Tamil CAPE-V with the GRBAS scale. Results: The intrarater reliability for Tamil CAPE-V ranged from moderate to excellent (ICC: 0.610--0.998). The Tamil CAPE-V obtained moderate to good interrater reliability for all parameters (ICC: 0.525--0.790) except pitch (ICC: 0.405). The differences between the cases and controls were statistically significant (p < 0.01). The correlation between CAPE-V and GRBAS was strong for overall severity, breathiness, and strain (r[subscript s] = 0.725--0.861) and moderate for roughness (r[subscript s = 0.678). Conclusion: The Tamil CAPE-V is a reliable and valid tool for auditory perceptual evaluation in Tamil-speaking populations.

The present study is part of an exploratory research study conducted to understand the Learning experiences of adult learners in Higher Education Institutes in India. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the motivational orientations of adult learners for lifelong educational courses and hence, the Educational Participation Scale (EPS) by Boshier was used to examine the motivational orientations among adult learners enrolled in selected lifelong courses. In total, seven motivational factors were identified among the adult learners to enroll in the Programmes: Communication skills and Social contact, Professional advancement, Intellectual recreation, Cognitive interest, Family Togetherness, Children Relationship and Educational Compensation. Age, gender, type of course and educational background had varying influences on the motivational orientation of the adult learners. Though professional advancement was found to be higher, Communication skills, social contact and family togetherness was found to be significantly higher among older research participants aged 50 years and above.

This paper describes a curricular project in which a network of media educators, in making a case for the educational and social values of an interactive documentary, integrated it in a media degree program to encourage activism in students and promote civic engagement. The project provides valid and important results in an immediate sense, while also establishing the foundation for strengthening the media curriculum at educational institutions. For educators, this has positive implications, as along with the traditional content we teach, we also strive to increase the awareness of civic issues among our students to make them better citizens.

Low-fee private schools (LFPS) educate some of India's poorest children. They have grown dramatically over the last decade in India and have changed the country's educational landscape (Srivastava, 2016), yet there is little conclusive evidence that the schools significantly help their students. Our study aims to better understand why and how the schools have grown, and we use a social entrepreneurship theory -- the push and pull theory -- to guide our research questions. We interviewed eight owners and asked: "what are the motivations of individual actors in setting up low fee private schools?" and "how do these actors justify continuing their work when presented with empirical research on these schools' mixed impact on the quality of education they provide? There were more pull than push factors. Owners' distrust of government schools, and the characteristically low-income nature of the communities drove them to choose the low-fee private school model. They justified their work despite evidence of these schools' mixed impact, arguing that their schools were different from the regular LFPS and that there is high parental support for their schools. We recommend policies to better support such individuals and provide them with an awareness of alternative paths to contribute to improving education.

Purpose: This study estimated the prevalence of depressive disorders among PhD students and analyzed the underlying factors in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilized an "Integrative framework" and a mixed-method approach involving survey and in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted among 240 PhD students using multistage cluster sampling in two public universities of Kerala, India. Data were collected using a self-administered Patient Health Questionnaire-9. In-depth interviews were conducted among 12 students using semi-structured interview guide. Multinomial regression and thematic analyses were undertaken to examine the factors associated with depressive disorders. Findings: About 31.7, 41.7, 17.9, 6.7 and 2.1% had no/minimal, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depressive disorders, respectively. Students belonging to economically weaker section (OR = 3.06; 95% CI = 1.32-7.12), having limited knowledge of local language (OR = 4.24; 95% CI = 1.00-17.95) and earning less than INR 20,000/month (OR = 2.36; 95% CI = 1.12-5.00) were more likely to report moderate to severe depressive disorders. In addition, thematic analyses of interviews found that financial hardship, disagreement between student-supervisor, compromised students' support services and an uncertain job market were the key factors affecting the mental health of students and inhibiting academic performance. Originality/value: This study adds to the existing literature by examining the prevalence and underlying factors of depressive disorders among doctoral students in the Indian context. The results of this study can act as a guide for universities and educational regulatory bodies to address the burgeoning issue of depressive disorders among research students in India.

Active learning promotes the capacity of problem solving and decision making among learners. Teachers who apply instructional processes toward active participation of learners help their students develop higher order thinking skills. Due to the recent paradigm shift toward adopting competency-based curricula in the education of healthcare professionals in India, there is an emergent need for physiology instructors to be trained in active-learning methodologies and to acquire abilities to promote these curriculum changes. To address these issues, a series of International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) workshops on physiology education techniques in four apex centers in India was organized in November 2018 and November 2019. The "hands-on" workshops presented the methodologies of case-based learning, problem-based learning, and flipped classroom; the participants were teachers of basic sciences and human and veterinary medicine. The workshop series facilitated capacity building and creation of a national network of physiology instructors interested in promoting active-learning techniques. The workshops were followed by a brainstorming meeting held to assess the outcomes. The aim of this report is to provide a model for implementing a coordinated series of workshops to support national curriculum change and to identify the organizational elements essential for conducting an effective Physiology Education workshop. The essential elements include a highly motivated core organizing team, constant dialogue between core organizing and local organizing committees, a sufficient time frame for planning and execution of the event, and opportunities to engage students at host institutions in workshop activities.

Educational technology designs in developing countries mostly focus on making knowledge resources widely available, through MOOCs, repositories and computer-based tutoring. The use of digital media for cognitive augmentation, particularly interactive designs that help learners understand modelling topics in STEM, is underexplored. We report a 3-year design study examining this potential in the Indian context, testing two iterations of an interactive system, Touchy-Feely Vectors (TFV). The design supports learning vectors, a modelling topic pre-university students struggle with. Virtual lesson-plans were co-designed with teachers to augment -- but not replace -- their existing practices, and to address classroom and resource constraints. Pre-post testing of TFV-1 (a computer-based prototype) showed that it helped students develop a more integrated vector concept, and improved their reasoning. Field-implementation of TFV-2 (a textbook-linked touch-screen based design) in 6-classrooms (3-Control, N=135; 3-Experimental, N=131) showed that it fostered cognitive engagement in average-students and geometry-algebra integration (model-based reasoning) in good-students. These results, along with a requirements analysis based on textbooks, indicate that the interaction possibilities supported by different representational media critically shape student reasoning. The study also illustrates a systematic approach to design and test digital media systems that support cognitive augmentation in developing countries.

Enhancing the problem-solving skills of learners belonging to socio-economically disadvantaged groups is a great concern in general and particularly in the Indian context. Problem-solving skills are the most important skills of the 21st century for all learners to acquire necessary competencies. The main purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of metacognitive brainstorming strategy, gender, and residential areas, and their various interactions on problem-solving skills in physics for ninth-grade learners who belong to socio-economically marginalised groups. The pre-test--post-test, quasi-experimental design was applied to 107 learners from two government-sponsored schools of the same nature located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The 55 learners in the experimental group were given intervention through a metacognitive brainstorming strategy, whereas the 52 learners in the control group were taught the same lessons by simply using the conventional method. Self-developed and standard problem-solving skills test with a reliability of 0.89 and validity of 0.94 were employed on them as pre-test and post-test instances. The correlated t-test, independent samples t-test, and 2 x 2 factorial design analysis of covariance were applied for data analysis through Statistical Package for Social Science. The results revealed that the brainstorming instructional strategy had a huge effect on problem-solving skills due to its large effect size value (2.23 > 1.2). Moreover, the problem-solving skills of learners in physics were found to be independent of gender and residential areas, and also of their interaction with the treatment strategy, when the pre-problem-solving skill was taken as a covariate.

Objective: To evaluate the interaction between the NLRP3 inflammasome and superoxide dismutase-2 (SOD2) to provide an insight into the complex host response in periodontitis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), who have an inherent upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Methods: Gingival tissues were collected from 51 patients divided into three groups: group 1, systemically and periodontally healthy; group 2, systemically healthy with periodontitis; and group 3, periodontitis with T2DM. Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome and SOD2 in terms of mean percentage, intensity and staining intensity distribution (SID). Results: The mean percentage levels of NLRP3 and SOD2 expression were statistically significantly higher in group 3 (49.16 ± 6.45% and 48.22 ± 11.66%, respectively) when compared to groups 2 and 1 (p < 0.001). While the groups with periodontitis with or without T2DM had statistically significant differences in these variables, the highest expression was found in the periodontitis patient group with T2DM (p < 0.001). NLRP3 and SOD2 mean percentages were positively correlated in groups 1 and 2 but were negatively correlated in group 3. Conclusion: NLRP3 inflammasome is significantly upregulated in periodontitis patients with T2DM. The negative correlation between SOD2 and NLRP3 in periodontitis patients with T2DM probably indicates insufficient endogenous SOD2 to effectively counteract the excessive oxidative burden and inflammatory state, thereby compounding periodontal destruction in cohorts with T2DM. Further, NLRP3 and SOD2 can be used as biomarkers of periodontal disease progression in periodontitis cohorts modified by DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most of the higher education institutions (HEIs) across the globe have replaced conventional teaching with online teaching. However, the technological preparedness of countries of varied nature differs significantly. In this context, the purpose of the study is to answer the following research question: how are the HEIs mitigating the difficulties that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate online teaching-learning process? The study is carried out based on a cross-sectional study from 281 academic professionals who are employed in HEIs in India and Ethiopia. The findings from this comparative study highlight that digital divide and lack of institutional preparedness are found to be major problems that constrained the effective implementation of online teaching/learning. Besides, this study also found that training programmes for the faculty members to utilize web resources and facilitate online teaching were found to be limited in both the countries. The article concludes by offering suggestions and policy advice to minimize the digital divide and for successful implementation of online teaching in HEIs.

Practical learning methodologies have become the need of the hour in the education sector, in particular in engineering education, to achieve technical competencies and skills. Advancements in web-based learning strategies have evolved over the years, and technology has played a major role in creating e-learning resources, among which remote labs are the ones transforming engineering laboratory delivery structure. In the present work, the methodology of improvising an existing traditional automation laboratory into an internet of things (IoT)-enabled laboratory with remote operation is presented. The implementation process of industrial internet of things (IIoT) for enabling remote operation of automation laboratory at the NIE, India is described in this paper. This paper describes the implementation of novel learning platform for programmable logic controllers (PLC), industrial PC (IPC), and hydraulic laboratories using a common IIoT architecture and framework. Additionally, user-level web-based application is created to control the use of all laboratory equipment from remote locations.

Personality covers the whole nature of the individual. Socio Economic Status refers to the position that an individual and family occupies with reference to prevailing average standards, cultural possession and participation in group activity of community. This paper reports on relationship between Personality and Socio Economic Status of student teachers. The sample consists of 1,080 student teachers of Madurai revenue district. A Multi-dimensional Personality Inventory constructed by Manju Rani Agarwall was used to get the data from the student teachers. Percentage analysis and Chi-square test were used for analyzing the data. The results showed that there is significant relationship between personality and socio economic status of student teachers.

The families of children with hearing impairments are more focused on early detection and intervention. Transition to school is a stressful experience to the parents as they miss out on understanding the importance of transition process and the information required for a successful, efficient and effective transition to school. The current study was aimed to evaluate the needs of parents on transition of their children with hearing impairment from preschool to inclusive school. Thirty five mothers of children with hearing impairment using cochlear implants in the range of 4-6 years participated in the study. "Scale of parental needs in transition to school" (Kargin, Baydik & Akcamete, 2004) was modified, adapted and administered on the mothers. Percentage analysis indicated that 75% of parents expressed need for information on most of the areas of transition to school. Correlation between groups was found to be significant with respect to educational status, age of the mothers and socioeconomic status of the families. Parents are the most influential yet significantly underrated factors in children's education and hence their information needs should be determined for successful transition process. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

Hearing impairment is an exceptional circumstance that restricts the child's ability to communicate verbally. Depression is a common stress-related response for hearing parents of children with hearing loss. Evidence suggests that mothers are more inclined than fathers to experience depression in response to their child's hearing loss (Mavrolas, 1990; Meadow-Orleans, 1995; Prior, Glazner, Sanson & Debelle, 1988) and mothers with depression have been found to be less effective at nurturing language and psychosocial development in their children. The aim of the study was to compare the levels of stress and depression in mothers of children using hearing aids and children who had cochlear implants. 50 mothers of children with bilateral profound hearing loss were divided into two groups according to the rehabilitation option used. Two self reporting scales Parental Stress Index (PSI) & Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) duly translated into Telugu were used for the study. The results revealed that mothers in both the groups have high stress levels. On comparison the mothers of children who had cochlear implant obtained significantly higher scores than mothers of children using hearing aid on PSI. The results on CESD revealed high depression levels in both groups with no significant difference in the mean scores between groups. Hence, the present study highlights the need for the rehabilitative professionals to focus on family-based intervention for children with hearing impairment. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

Intelligence involves the ability to think, solve problems, analyze situations, and understand social values, customs, and norms. Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. Intellectual ability involves comprehension, understanding, and learning from experience. The objective of the study is to find out the intelligence of High School Students. Survey method was used for the study. 1,564 high school students from Madurai and Virudhunagar Districts were taken as sample using stratified random sampling technique. Raven's Standard Progressive matrices were used to measure the intelligence of high school students. Mean, Standard deviation, and t test were used to analyze the data. The results showed that there is significant difference in intelligence test scores of high school students in terms of area of study, gender, medium of instruction and board of school.

Didactic lecture is an effective method to quickly pass on a high volume of information to a large number of students. However, if not well designed, lectures can be monotonous and provide only passive learning, with little scope for higher order learning skills. To address this drawback of lectures, we supplemented it with case-based learning (CBL), which has been shown to promote self-learning. After giving an overview of gastrointestinal physiology through lectures, CBL on peptic ulcer disease was implemented for first-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery students. The present study aimed to evaluate the students' and teachers' opinions on the notion of supplementing lectures with CBL. In previous reports, discussion using clinical cases was primarily employed as the solitary component for conducting CBL. In the present study, three different but mutually exclusive components, such as case discussion, concept map, and critical thinking exercise on a specific topic in gastrointestinal pathophysiology, were integrated to form the multicomponent CBL (MC-CBL). Students reported that MC-CBL could promote application of the knowledge learned in lectures in a more appropriate context (92.42% positive response), enhance their learning efficiency (98.46% positive response), promote their active participation in the learning process (98.48% positive response), and help them in integrating physiological concepts with clinical science (98.46% positive response). Teachers observed that MC-CBL could promote active learning, analytic, and problem-solving skills of students. In conclusion, MC-CBL appeared to be an effective supplement for the lectures, providing an opportunity for the students to relate the knowledge learned during lectures.

Assessment of communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging in an unfamiliar clinical environment due to their limited verbal output and inadequate motivation to communicate. To analyze whether the communication sample recorded at clinic represents the child's competence and performance, this study compared caregiver-child interaction in 24 to 48 months old children with ASD (n = 10, M = 38.2 months) at clinic and home. The 30-minute caregiver-child interaction at clinic and home was video recorded and analyzed for frequency of pragmatic acts (initiations and responses) and duration of joint engagement. Results indicated that children initiated and responded more at home than at clinic, whereas caregivers initiated and responded more at clinic. The study provides evidence that communication profile of children with ASD in multiple environments needs to be considered for obtaining representative and reliable communication sample for child-centered assessment and intervention.

Tropical tuber crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes and elephant foot yam play vital roles in global food security and economic development, particularly in developing nations. The present study examines the current scenario of tuber crop production and trade dynamics, focusing on India's role both as a producer and an exporter. Using empirical data from various sources including Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, the study analyses production trends, trade patterns and policy frameworks, to elucidate potential pathways for enhancing productivity, sustainability and competitiveness in the tuber crops sector. The analysis reveals significant growth in cassava and sweet potato production globally, with India emerging as a key player. However, climate change, pests and diseases, soil degradation, and trade barriers pose hurdles to the growth of the sector. This study also recommends comprehensive strategies, including climate-resilient agricultural practices, integrated pest management, soil health enhancement and infrastructure development, to address these challenges and promote the sustainable growth of tuber crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher Education is an integral part of any educational system. It should provide a platform in developing the holistic personality of a student teacher. This paper reports on personality of student teachers and the role of Teacher Educational institutions in developing it. The sample consists of 1,080 student teachers of Madurai revenue district. A Multi dimensional Personality Inventory constructed by Manju Rani Agarwal was used to get the data from the student teachers. Percentage analysis, Mean, Standard deviation and "t" tests were used for analyzing the data. The results showed that there is significant difference in personality of Government Aided and Self Finance College student teachers.

There is a great need to identify and develop positive attitude towards science subject of student teachers. The time has come to increase our efforts to develop positive attitude towards science subject among teachers, student teachers and school children. This is an immediate requirement of the present day. This paper reports on attitude of student teachers towards science with respect to their locality of the college. The sample consists of 1080 student teachers of Madurai revenue district. A scale on attitude towards science was used to get the data from the student teachers. Percentage Analysis, Mean, Standard Deviation and "t" tests were used for analyzing the data. The results showed that there is no significant difference in attitude towards science of urban and rural student teachers.

Teacher Education is an integral part of any educational system. It should provide a platform in developing the holistic personality of a student teacher. This paper reports on personality of student teachers and the role of Teacher Educational institutions in developing it. The sample consists of 1080 student teachers of Madurai revenue district. A Multi dimensional Personality Inventory constructed by Manju Rani Agarwall was used to get the data from the student teachers. Percentage analysis, Mean, Standard deviation and "t" tests were used for analyzing the data. The results showed that there is significant difference in personality of Government Aided and Self Finance College student teachers.

Analysing teaching-practice offers an opportunity to answer questions like what is critical to making a pedagogy democratic, what are the factors that support a teacher to be critical in her teaching? Or what restricts the teacher in being critical in her work? This paper seeks to address some of these questions by presenting the findings of an investigation into the practice of teachers who are committed to the idea of critical pedagogy. The scope of the study is limited to understanding the critical aspects that are related to the teacher's work within the classroom. The paper analyses the theoretical arguments that are relevant to critical pedagogy in relation to teachers' practices as they emerged during the study. The study, conducted in the South Indian state of Kerala, reveals that teacher subjectivity and schooling situations interact in a dialectical fashion to shape the nature of classroom teaching. The political subjectivity of the teachers, shaped by their close interaction with the Kerala Science Literature Movement (KSSP) makes their pedagogy critical in nature. On the other hand, the standardized curriculum and mechanically disciplined school environment continuously challenge the teachers' efforts at being critical in their work.

The present study reports perceptions of first-year undergraduate medical students (n= 120), regarding modified directed self-learning (DSL) sessions in physiology. Students were provided with prereading assignments (faculty developed PowerPoint slides containing diagrams with incomplete labeling/ flowcharts with missing steps) pertaining to the DSL topic 1 wk before the scheduled small-group DSL presentations. During DSL presentation sessions, which were facilitated by teachers, a few students individually presented learning objectives in the specified topic. Apart from that, students discussed answers for the questions in the prereading assignment. Students were also given an opportunity to use technology to support DSL, by way of involving them in Pecha Kucha (PK) talks. The impact of the modified DSL method was determined by requesting students to respond to a validated questionnaire. Frequency analysis of the responses revealed that > 60% of students were positive about the modified DSL sessions improving their DSL, presentation, collaborative learning, and information retrieving skills. Students agreed that PK talks helped them to learn how to organize content (65%), present concise information (65.8%), and apply creativity (72.5%). Even though small in number, there were comments that the prereading assignments were useful for learning. The present study revealed that, even though students actively participated in modified DSL sessions, their perceptions on satisfaction and usefulness of the same toward achievement of various skills were not encouraging. The study generated significant results, which implies that undergraduate medical students should be oriented on the relevance of active learning strategies in their future studies.

The economic reform policies are being introduced in India in phases since 1990. It demands for competent middle level skilled manpower in country. By keeping this in mind, National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, India introduces a revised policy in 1992 and promotes vocational education. Today, several institutions are offering vocational education in almost all parts of India. In this paper we have used multiple regression technique to estimate availability of middle level skilled manpower in certain part of India. This estimation is useful to Government agencies and Industries.

The term 'revolutionary' has a unique connotation in India's struggle for national liberation. It refers to those freedom fighters who scrupulously believed in the efficacy of armed resistance to overthrow British rule in India and justified employing extremist techniques to achieve the objective. Consequently, national revolutionism creates a distinct stream of thinking in the Indian national movement from both the moderate and extremist currents in the movement. While there is no end to the literature on both moderate and extremist thinking in British India, the political philosophy of the revolutionaries has not been satisfactorily addressed by academia in a meaningful manner. While there are a few notable exceptions, social scientists in India have generally ignored the revolutionary political ideas because of the foundation of British authority over Indian land; the nation's political development began to follow a pattern identical to the Western development model. Following that, some extensive Western influences were seen in education, economy, government organisation and administration, significantly impacting the intellectual development of the time. Moreover, the ideas of revolutionaries were, for the most part, immediate intellectual responses to the political challenges and crises that existed at the time of their birth. However, some of these topics were significant, such as formulating a critique of British imperialism, defining the national identity, reorganising Indian society and developing plans for national liberation. As a result, it will be necessary to examine and evaluate the political views of these revolutionaries in the context of the concerns and problems with which they were confronted at the time. This research explores and explains Bapat's political thought and situates him in Maharashtra's revolutionary and Hindu political traditions. Lastly, in the first instance, this research proposes a brief look at the development of Bapat's political career, which played a vital role in shaping his political ideas. Then, it explores the significant politics of colonial and post-colonial times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waiting is a ubiquitous constituent of many purchase situations. This research investigates the emotional discomfort experienced by customers visiting retail stores in India throughout the checkout process, focusing on three distinct phases: before joining the queue, while waiting, and during billing. The study examines the circumstances and underlying factors that lead to emotional discomfort among customers while they wait at the checkout counter. A cross-sectional survey involving 385 participants was undertaken to evaluate perceptions related to the waiting experience. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to validate the conceptual model. The study uncovers diverse contributors to emotional discomfort during queueing, such as extended wait times, physical constraints, and perceived time prolongation, highlighting the multifaceted nature of this experience. Notably, the absence of a significant link between emotional discomfort and overall satisfaction implies that, while emotional discomfort is a factor, other elements such as pricing, promotions, and product offerings may exert a more significant influence on customers' comprehensive satisfaction assessments. The research makes a significant contribution by shedding light on the challenges associated with prolonged waiting times at checkout counters in multi-brand food and grocery retailers. The results provide valuable insights into the emotional experiences of customers during waits and their impact on overall shopping satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The development of emergent literacy skills depends upon the literacy environments and experiences of children at home. Children's home literacy environment is closely related to the development of various aspects of emergent literacy like letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Dimensions of home literacy environment, such as physical (literacy) environment, child's own literacy habits, parental literacy habits, parent-child interaction for language and literacy activities, and parental beliefs about literacy, have been reported in literature. Methods: The present study describes the construction of a home literacy environment questionnaire for Tamil-speaking kindergarten children in the Indian context. The various dimensions of home literacy environment were described, and items related to each dimension were listed. Seventeen judges rated each item on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (no fit) to 4 (excellent fit). Their comments/remarks/opinion, specific to an item or dimension, were also taken. The rating responses were analyzed for content validity and internal consistency. Results: Content validity index was calculated at item level as well as scale level. The items in each subscale/dimension which had the item level content validity index scores higher than 0.78 were included in the final questionnaire and the other items were rejected. The scale level content validity index scores were higher than 0.90, indicating good content validity. Cronbach's alpha was calculated as a measure of internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha values were lower than 0.7 for three domains: physical environment, parent literacy habits, and parental beliefs. Conclusions: The questionnaire developed promises to be a useful tool to evaluate the home literacy environment of Tamil children who undergo formal education in English medium schools like in India. The questionnaire developed and presented here can help in collecting reliable data to make informed decisions about children's (whether typically developing or with developmental disabilities) home literacy environment.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyse the perception of students toward a computer-based exam on a custom-made digital device and their willingness to adopt the same for high-stake summative assessment. Design/methodology/approach: This study followed an analytical methodology using survey design. A modified version of students' perception of e-assessment questionnaire (SPEAQ) was used to elicit information from the subjects, who were drawn from a first-year post-graduate course in management and commerce, soliciting voluntary participation in the survey. SmartPLS 2.0 was the major analytical tool used to understand the theoretical robustness of observed and latent variables through structural equation modelling. The final model was retained based on the structural significance of the path coefficients. Findings: The results of the study offer ample evidence to establish the proposed theoretical relationship. It was found that the subjects of the study maintained a positive attitude toward e-assessment. Hence, the introduction of e-exams for high-stake assessment is suitable to current generation students. Research limitations/implications Findings of the study may be irrelevant to students who are not subject to e-learning processes, as an e-assessment can only be effective when students have ample exposure to working on computers. Practical/implications: A major practical implication of the study is that e-exams will positively influence the outcome of education and effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. Technology, as an eclectic paradigm, can amplify the educational outcome by boosting the competency of students to meet challenges of any emerging situations. Originality/value: The idea of an e-exam, using a custom-made device, is unprecedented. This paper offers a convincing empirical evidence to academic administrators to integrate e-assessment with e-learning programs.

The trend of "self financing" (Un-aided) institutions has implemented for the last twenty two years in Maharashtra state and other parts of India. The Government does not financially support these institutions. The "job satisfaction" of teachers working in such institutions is always questionable, particularly in those institutions that are situated in rural part of India. It causes a large amount of turnover of teachers. Here, we have attempted to analyze this question by making use of structural equation modeling. Such type of work is useful to institutions to retain their teachers and increase their involvement in institution. It also helps to determine quality of education.

As globalization brings world communities closer together, it also exposes many differences and distinctions that mark eastern and western societies. The world of education is no different in this regard. As western education establishments begin to take a hard look at redefining the very foundations of their industrial education model, they are becoming more open to incorporating many inherently eastern characteristics. Every research study conducted over the past twenty years, writes Nair, confirms that learning is not about memorizing content but about developing skills for living, a concept contradictory to the emphasis placed by schools on subject matter, according to the school planner and educator. By extension, the school building itself is frequently a mass-production "factory" designed to indoctrinate children with facts and figures so they can do well on standardized tests. Nair advocates that school design itself should be evolving to reflect the significant changes in the world of education. It does not, says the author, because of rigid programs that architects inherit from school establishment, a lack of imagination on the part of the designers themselves and a fear of failure with "outside the box" solutions. Because everyone has a preconceived idea about what a school should look like, architects are reluctant to experiment with innovation. Despite such setbacks, Nair advocates that ideas of respect for the individual learner and development the whole person be incorporated into educational architecture, concluding that "All of us, in the end, are stakeholders of education. What happens in education today will affect the world in which our children will live tomorrow--and that world will not be about east or west but about the things that unite as all as people."

In India, tobacco kills 900 000 people every year though the burden of tobacco is faced disproportionately in poorer states such as Bihar. Teachers may be a particularly influential group in setting norms around tobacco use in the Indian context. However, tobacco use among teachers remains high and perceptions of tobacco-related health risks are unexplored. To qualitatively explore perceptions about tobacco use among teachers in Bihar and to examine how risk information may be communicated through a variety of message formats, 12 messages on tobacco health risks varying in formats were tested in focus groups with teachers from Bihar. Participants stated that teachers were already aware of tobacco-related health risks. To further increase awareness of these risks, the inclusion of evidence-based facts in messages was recommended. Communicating risk information using negative emotions had a great appeal to teachers and was deemed most effective for increasing risk perception. Messages using narratives of teachers' personal accounts of quitting tobacco were deemed effective for increasing knowledge about the benefits of quitting. To conclude, messages using evidence-based information, possibly with negative emotions, testimonials with role models and those messages emphasizing self-efficacy in the format of narratives appear to appeal to teachers in Bihar.

Diarrhea is the major cause of discomfort and morbidity of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). The cause of diarrhea may be infective or non-infective. This is a prospective single center observational study from North India conducted over a period of approximately 4 years among 105 patients who underwent HSCT (autologous-72, allogeneic-33). The objective of the study was to identify the overall incidence and characteristics of diarrhea in HSCT in the real world, to evaluate any differences among allogeneic or autologous transplants, incidence of C Difficile among diarrheal patients, and antimicrobial usage among these patients. Diarrhea was present in 89 of 105 patients (84.7%). The mean diarrheal duration was of 8.39±4.57 days (range: 1–24 days). There was non statistical difference between the incidence of diarrhea amongst allogeneic and autologous transplants (78.9% Vs 87.5%). Out of 89 patients with diarrhea, 13 were CDTA positive. We could isolate Clostridium difficile in culture in only 7.6% of patients with CDTA positivity. Metronidazole was the antibiotic of choice for diarrhea in our post-transplant settings. Metronidazole was prescribed for a median duration of 8 days (Range: 3–18 days). Seventeen patients received oral vancomycin with a median duration of 8 days (Range: 5–14 days). We conclude by saying that diarrhea was a common post-transplant morbidity. Clostridium difficile is not common in patients with the diarrhea post hematopoietic stem cell transplant. All cases of diarrhea need not be infective particularly in allogeneic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-2 (NOD2) gene are associated with high susceptibility for infections and inflammation due to risk of inappropriate cytokine production and NF- κ B activation. We studied the incidence of three high-risk NOD2 gene SNPs (8, 12 and 13) among BM-transplant (BMT) recipients. Sequential patients undergoing BMT over 1-year period were prospectively studied. Patients were tested with MspI/HhaI or NlaIV restriction-endonucleases (Euryx, Gdansk, Poland) for NOD2 gene SNPs 8, 12, and 13, respectively. Regimen-related organ toxicity was graded using the Seattle-Bearman criteria. Forty patients were enrolled, their median age was 38 years (range 3–64), and 52.5% were males. Twenty patients each (50%) underwent autologous and allogeneic BMT. Majority of the patients (n = 38, 95%) developed febrile-neutropenia in the post-transplant period and 4 patients died due to overwhelming sepsis within day +100. Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) [grade I–II (n = 3) and grade III-IV (n = 6)] was observed in 9/20 allogeneic HSCT recipients. None of our 40 patients showed presence of any of the three NOD2 gene SNPs. The 3 commonly observed high risk SNPs (8,12, and 13) of NOD2 genes were not present in study population. It is quite likely that due to geographical and racial variations these polymorphisms are completely absent in North India. NOD2 gene is highly diverse and polymorphic variants can be absolutely different in various populations. Larger studies targeting sequencing of the whole NOD2 gene can convincingly rule out or confirm the role of NOD2 gene variants in Indian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited literature exists in India on WhatsApp use for health communication among frontline health workers like Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM). We conducted this study to assess the adoption of WhatsApp among ANMs and identify factors influencing its adoption. In addition, the study explored the perceptions of ANMs on WhatsApp use for sharing health information. We employed a mixed-method sequential explanatory design. We surveyed 259 ANMs, followed by in-depth interviews with 19 purposively sampled ANMs. We conducted multinomial logistic regression to identify factors associated with WhatsApp adoption and employed thematic analysis to analyze interviews. 257 ANMs responded to the survey questionnaire, of which 18.3%, 48.2%, and 33.5% had low, mid, and high levels of WhatsApp adoption, respectively. Education (AOR = 2.87 [95% CI = 1.20–6.85]), motivation (AOR = 6.31 [95% CI = 1.43–27.80]), and technical awareness (AOR = 2.91 [95% CI = 1.11–7.62]) were significantly associated with WhatsApp adoption. Thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in six themes describing perceptions and experiences of ANMs on WhatsApp use. They are: (i) a way of instant communication, (ii) provision for multimedia messaging, (iii) a quick fix tool for queries and concerns, (iv) make attendance and reporting easy (v) a way of reaching higher officials, and (vi) a cost-saving mechanism. WhatsApp facilitated ANMs' communication and service delivery at the grassroots level. Measures to improve motivation, technical awareness, and digital education will likely improve WhatsApp adoption among health workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews methodology, survey design, definition, and concepts used in five important data sources available on agricultural wages in India. Major limitations of the data sources are also discussed. The methods of wage data collection used by different data sources have followed different survey designs and methodology. These differences in data sources make it difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion on agricultural wage estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a theory-based, step-by-step approach to intervention development and illustrates its application in India to design an intervention to promote tobacco-use cessation among school personnel in Bihar. We employed a five-step approach to develop the intervention using the Social Contextual Model of Health Behavior Change (SCM) in Bihar, which involved conducting formative research, classifying factors in the social environment as mediating mechanisms and modifying conditions, developing a creative brief, designing an intervention and refining the intervention based on pilot test results. The intervention engages users and non-users of tobacco, involves teachers in implementing and monitoring school tobacco control policies and maximizes teachers' role as change agents in schools and communities. Intervention components include health educator visits, discussions led by lead teachers, cessation assistance, posters and other educational materials and is implemented over the entire academic year. The intervention is being tested in Bihar government schools as part of a randomized-controlled trial. SCM was a useful framework for developing a tobacco control intervention that responded to teachers' lives in Bihar.

Active learning pedagogies play an important role in enhancing higher order cognitive skills among the student community. In this work, a laboratory course for first year engineering chemistry is designed and executed using an inquiry-based learning pedagogical approach. The goal of this module is to promote higher order thinking skills in chemistry. Laboratory exercises are designed based on Bloom's taxonomy and a just-in-time facilitation approach is used. A pre-laboratory discussion outlining the theory of the experiment and its relevance is carried out to enable the students to analyse real-life problems. The performance of the students is assessed based on their ability to perform the experiment, design new experiments and correlate practical utility of the course module with real life. The novelty of the present approach lies in the fact that the learning outcomes of the existing experiments are achieved through establishing a relationship with real-world problems. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

Automation of power systems is gaining momentum across the world, and there is a need to expose graduate and undergraduate students to the latest developments in hardware, software, and related protocols for power automation. This paper presents the design, development, and commissioning of an automation lab to facilitate the understanding of substation automation (SA). The laboratory has relay intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) that support IEC 61850 protocol, a universal secondary test kit for testing the relays, a protocol converter that can be programmed and can handle a large number of power automation protocols, a Global Positioning Systems (GPS) clock for time synchronization, and all related software. In this paper, the retrofitting of the latest relay IEDs with the existing control center software has been demonstrated. The commissioning process and the experimental setup of the SA laboratory have also been described. A post-training evaluation emphasizes that the student learning experience is helping students to gain a better understanding of the theory and to have better career prospects in power automation. The SA laboratory, which demonstrates all aspects of substation automation, is being used extensively for research and training in this emerging field. (Contains 7 figures.)

To know the impact of intervention on the parents' participation in the education of children with reading and writing difficulties was studied in schools of Dharwad city. children studying in 6th standard were drawn from 14 schools. Total samples of 418 children were screened based on the child's previous academic performance of the class tests and teacher's rating. They were further tested and identified as difficult children (180 in reading and 114 in writing) using Kannada reading and writing tests. Normal children (165 in reading and 114 in writing) were also selected for comparison purpose. Findings of the study revealed that, at home, majority of children with reading difficulties (80%) studied on their own without any support from the family members. Only 39% of parents take care of their children's studies as against 60% in case of normal children. Similar trend was observed in writing also. During intervention programme parents were sensitized regarding the importance of their participation and encouragement in their child's education. Results showed that parent's involvement significantly improved experimental children to achieve better in schools than children of control parents. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Background: India made 2 important policy statements regarding tobacco control in the past decade. First, the India Tobacco Control Act (ITCA) was signed into law in 2003 with the goal to reduce tobacco consumption and protect citizens from exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS). Second, in 2005, India ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). During this same period, India conducted the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) in 2003 and 2006 in an effort to track tobacco use among adolescents. Methods: The GYTS is a school-based survey of students aged 13-15 years. Representative national estimates for India in 2003 and 2006 were used in this study. Results: In 2006, 3.8% of students currently smoked cigarettes and 11.9% currently used other tobacco products. These rates were not significantly different than those observed in 2003. Over the same period, exposure to SHS at home and in public places significantly decreased, whereas exposure to pro-tobacco ads on billboards and the ability to purchase cigarettes in a store did not change significantly. Conclusions: The ITCA and the WHO FCTC have had mixed impacts on the tobacco control effort for adolescents in India. The positive impacts have been the reduction in exposure to SHS, both at home and in public places. The negative impacts are seen with the lack of change in pro-tobacco advertising and ability to purchase cigarettes in stores. The Government of India needs to consider new and stronger provisions of the ITCA and include strong enforcement measures. (Contains 2 tables.)