Author: admin_irjstem

Public awareness of forensic science: A cross sectional study in Lebanon

admin_irjstem Abstract , , , ,

Paula Romanos
Independent researcher, Beirut, Lebanon
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Forensic science is the application of science in order to serve the law. Among the vast field of forensics, forensic DNA casework is widely considered as one of the most outstanding types of forensic evidence. To better implement forensic investigation procedures, public awareness of forensic science is crucially required. The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of awareness among Lebanese public community by assessing their knowledge and perception regarding forensics and to question their willingness to participate in the national DNA database or in scientific research. A cross sectional study was conducted over 400 adult Lebanese from both genders residing in the five Lebanese governorates. The survey questionnaire was designed and carried out from August 2021 to February 2022 with 89% as responsive rate. The participants’ characteristics were under study as well as their knowledge and perception statements in the purpose of investigating their relative association through independent t-test. The study revealed that 40% of the participants were aware of the forensic science. In addition, only 26% of the participants are willing to provide DNA sample. Moreover, sex and marital status factors has no impact neither on their public awareness nor on their intention to donate a DNA sample. Nevertheless, characteristics such as age, education, profession, and residency has significant differences. The survey identified that younger, employed, more educated people, and individuals residing in cities showed a better awareness of forensic science and intention to provide a DNA sample. However, it is very early to decisively predict the level of awareness and the rates of participation given the fact that nationwide surveys have yet to be launched. By consequence, awareness campaigns to increase public awareness on the importance of forensics is necessary to reduce concerns and gaps in Lebanese personal knowledge, and to encourage their future participation.

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Heuristic approach with teacher-made worksheets in general biology 2: A classroom innovation in distance learning

admin_irjstem Abstract , , ,

Abraham D. Cacay
San Felipe High School, San Manuel, Tarlac, Philippines
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Learning science is the most exciting part of being a high school student. The fun learning through exploration and laboratory experiments is the best part of science. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of the heuristic approach with the teacher-made worksheets as a teaching innovation in distance learning in helping the respondents to understand the topics of General Biology 2. This research employed a mixed-method; the qualitative data were evaluated using the phenomenological technique, while the quantitative data were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 (SPSS v.25). The researcher used a pretest, five teacher-made worksheets, a posttest, and a delayed posttest as tools. Also, focus group discussion was considered to find out the common problems encountered by the students and the researcher himself. All the gathered data was recorded digitally and through field notes and discreetly handled. There are 10 enrolled students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) during the school year 2020–2021, and they were all chosen purposefully. This study involved the five-week topics in the second semester of the 3rd quarter. Results revealed an increase in the respondents’ learning performance based on the mean percentage scores of the posttest. Based on the increase in the mean of the delayed posttest, the innovation promotes retention for the students. The researcher and the students had technical problems because of a power outage and unstable internet connections. Still, respondents face the challenges of output management and helping their parents first before learning. There is a significant difference in the respondents’ performance before and after implementing the innovation. The heuristic approach to teaching improved the performance of the STEM students at San Felipe High School under the subject General Biology 2. It is recommended that teachers use the heuristic approach to teach students how to work in a digital world.

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Remediating misconceptions related to particulate nature of matter using video animation: An action research

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Yonten Chophel
Daga Central School, Dagana, Bhutan
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Misconception sabotages the meaningful learning. Young learners can have misconceptions about the science concepts with which they interpret their new experiences, hampering the development of canonical scientific knowledge. Identifying and remediating the misconceptions of the learners is an important task as an educator. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the misconceptions of the 9th grade students on particulate nature of matter (PNM) concept and effectiveness of the use of video animations in remediating those misconceptions. The study adopted a mixed method approach. The sample consisted of 20 students studying in 9th grade of Daga Central School in Bhutan. The misconception was identified using the certainty of response index (CRI) diagnostic technique. The study revealed 10 kinds of misconceptions held by students related to PNM, under the four themes, i.e., All matter is made of discrete particles, Space between the particles is empty, Particles are in constant random motion, and Bonds or forces exist between particles, the number of students’ having misconception on the particulate nature of matter concept reduced considerably in the post-test after the use of video animations as the intervention. The study also revealed that most of the misconceptions that student possesses were rooted in their inability to understand the chemical concepts from macroscopic, sub microscopic, and symbolic perspective. The study contributed in two aspects: first, the study identified four themes in which students had misconceptions, alerting educators to be cognizant when involving in discourse of PNM concepts. Second, the study suggests that use of video animations as a potent strategy to teach PNM concepts to help students develop the canonical scientific knowledge on PNM concepts, as demonstrated by this study.

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Immediate supervisor’s satisfaction on teaching competence of teachers product by one state college in Western Visayas Philippines

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Soceline N. Batisla-ong
Iloilo State College of Fisheries-Dingle Campus, Philippines
Corresponding Email:[email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines are focusing on graduates employability. The immediate supervisors’ demand is very high as they look for graduates who are flexible, willingness to learn the job, technically competent, and committed to excellence. Thus, this study was conducted to determine immediate supervisors’ satisfaction on teaching competence of teachers produced by one State College in Western Visayas. The descriptive-quantitative research design with a standardized research instruments was employed. Since there were a total of 48 graduates in the year 2002-2019 the researcher decided to take them all as respondents. Frequency count, percentage, and mean were used in the descriptive statistical test and Mann-Whitney and Kruskall Wallis analysis for differences in the immediate supervisors’ satisfaction and teachers teaching competence level. Results revealed that respondents’ instructional skills, personal and social qualities were rated as “Surpasses Expectations” and “Very Satisfactory” in teaching competence. Moreover, it was found out there is no significant difference in the immediate supervisors’ satisfaction and on the teaching competence of teachers as to program, position, and number of years in teaching. Notably, results exclaimed that one of the college in Western Visayas is producing graduates who are viable to the academic institution where they teach. Furthermore, the school should not remain complacent considering the fast-changing advancement in the educational arena. Thus, the school administration and the dean of the college of education should closely monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the varied teaching strategies used by teachers ensuring that it enhance students’ communication, creativeness, and critical thinking skills.

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Protective face covering: An application of MobileNetV2 detector

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MN Musa, NO Badmos, IR Saidu, U Abdulrazaq
Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna Nigeria
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
COVID-19 has created a global serious health hazard with far-reaching consequences for society, our perceptions of the world, and how we live our daily lives. As a result, the World Health Organization recommended the use of face masks and social isolation to help reduce the rising number of infections. However, subsequent research has revealed that face masks alone can be ineffective, particularly in crowded settings or hospitals. Face shields can also be used in addition or as an alternative for face masks because they are indefinitely reusable and can be washed with soap and water or standard disinfectants. Because most detectors for fighting COVID-19 only focus on the face mask alone, we proposed a transfer learning model by fine-tuning the pre-trained MobilenetV2 architecture, to detect, recognize, and distinguish faces with shield, mask, and those without either. This study applied a standard image recognition pipeline, which is comparable to that used by most traditional recognition programs. In doing this, we first downloaded and scrapped images from search engines to form our dataset, we then pre-processed the images by the application of image augmentation to address the limited availability of the dataset for a better training and validation. After which a multi-class detection system was accomplished. The results of the study achieved 98 percent accuracy on the validated dataset. It is therefore recommended that this model can be improved to capture all forms of face covering and be integrated into CCTV cameras for its detection in important places like hospitals.

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Impact of antimicrobial stewardship program on antibiotic resistance and length of hospital stay of patients at Bicol regional training and teaching hospital: A retrospective descriptive study

admin_irjstem Abstract , ,

Paulo Martin B. Villanueva, John Bryle J. Zapanta
Polytechnic State University of Bicol/Manila Doctors College of Nursing, Philippines
Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital, Philippines
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
The study determined the impact of antimicrobial stewardship program on antibiotic resistance and length of hospital stay of patients at Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital. Specifically: (1) Determined the top three isolated organisms in the hospital antibiogram of 2017. (2) Determined the patient’s average length of hospital stay and antibiotic resistance of top three isolated organisms before AMS (2017), (3) Monitored the top three isolated organisms of 2017 after one (1) year of AMS (2019) in terms of Average length of hospital stay and Antibiotic Resistance, and (4) Compared the patient’s average length of hospital stay and antibiotic resistance of top three isolated organisms before AMS (2017) and after AMS (2019). The study used a retrospective and descriptive study, this design aimed to compare the antibiotic resistance and length of hospital stay of patients during the pre AMS (January 1 – December 31, 2018) and post AMS era (January 1 – December 31, 2019). Patient with respiratory infections shown at greater risk to be infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae and pseudomonas sp, while patient with would injury or related condition are at greater risk for staphylococcus infection. The pediatric patients are at higher risk for prolonged hospital stay compare to all other patients from the medical, surgical and OB-Gyne ward during the Pre AMS. After the 1st year of AMS (2019) implementation reveals a significant percentage of patients who still develop antibiotic resistance to Penicillin, followed by ceftriaxone and Amoxicillin. It implies that the impact of AMS to the average LOHS in 1-year period of its implementation was not significant, maybe due to other underlying factors not considered in this study, however the reduction in the antibiotic resistance can be attributed with the proper use of antibiotics with the regulation of Antimicrobial Stewardship program of BRTTH.

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Differentiated instruction to develop Al-Azhar students’ writing fluency

admin_irjstem Abstract , , ,

Abdelkareem Ali Abdelnaeim Mehany
Sohag University, Egypt
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Writing in English with confidence is a matter of great concern for non-native speakers. Since writing fluently requires a multi-dimensional mastery of language skills, students always regard it as an open question. This paper investigates writing skills which seem to be the least favored and most problematic skills to acquire in foreign language acquisition. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of Differentiated Instruction (DI) on the English writing fluency of the students in the first year of secondary education in Al-Azhar Institutes. To answer the study questions, the researcher adopted the quasi-experimental approach using the one-group design. The study subjects were thirty two (32) students who had been randomly chosen from the Secondary education of Al-Azhar Institutes in Sohag governorate, Egypt. The sampling method is probability sampling which means that every individual in the population has a chance of being selected. The researcher used a program based on Differentiated Instruction’s theory in teaching the study group in the second term of the year (2018-2019). The program consisted of 12 units. Each unit has four lessons. To measure the effect of the program, the researcher designed and validated a writing fluency test to be used as a pre and post-test. The data of the study were analyzed, using SPSS 19 software, to confirm the test reliability. The researcher used a t-test to spot the statistical differences in students’ performance before and after the intervention of the program. The study indicated that there are statistically significant differences at the level of (0.05) in English writing fluency skills of the first-year students in favor of the post-test. This meant that the use of the program had a significant impact on developing the students’ writing fluency at Al-Azhar Institutes. Based on those findings, the study recommended implementing the suggested program to bring about better outcomes in students’ writing fluency. It also was suggested that further research should be conducted concerning other language domains such as reading and listening.

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Working to leave or living to work?: Employees’ quality work life factors and its impact on turnover intention

admin_irjstem Abstract , , , ,

Leonilo M. Cruz, Bea Teresa S. Sengco, Nuquie P. Gadin
Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College, Philippines
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Turnover intentions should be seriously viewed by top management as it corresponds to actual action or decision of leaving the job. Employees’ loss has detrimental effect on the performance and lucrativeness of the organization. If employees are satisfied with their quality of work life, turnover intentions can be prevented. Thus, this study was conducted to determine through a quantitative research design whether the quality of work life factors (development, participation, compensation, supervision, and working environment) has a negative impact on turnover intentions of employees in a select private Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Philippines. Purposive sampling was utilized among 152 teaching and non-teaching employees who accomplished the questionnaire which includes the quality of work life factors scale and Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6). Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that quality of work life significantly predicts turnover intentions; however, it was found out that among the five factors, only development, compensation, and working environment were significant with turnover intentions. In addition, only compensation and work environment negatively predicted turnover intentions, while in contrast, development positively predicted turnover intentions of employees. In conclusion, when employees believe they are underpaid and work in a hazardous and unpleasant workplace, they are more likely to want to leave. The implications could provide information to management and the human resource department, allowing them to focus on key aspects that could minimize the institution’s employee turnover rate. Finally, in order to reduce employee turnover, it is suggested that the institution focus on developing and implementing compensation and work environment policies and programs.

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Mathematical realization of diagnosing COVID-19 using Boolean Algebra

admin_irjstem Abstract , , , ,

Daeuk Kim, Maria Nessie Sobina Chiang Yu, Ryan Rhay Vicerra, Raouf N.G. Naguib, Ronnie Concepcion II
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines/South Korea
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Corresponding Email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
COVID-19 has caused countless deaths across the globe. In developing countries like the Philippines, limited access to health services like ICU beds and PCR tests contributed more to COVID-19 related deaths. It is for this reason that the researchers developed a simple COVID-19 diagnostic tool using basic logic gates to determine whether one has COVID-19 or other related illnesses like flu, colds, and allergy. The researchers first collected information regarding the common symptoms of COVID-19 and similar diseases. The identified symptoms cough, fever, fatigue, loss of taste, and smell were used as the inputs for the circuit, while CODI-19 and other related diseases served as the output. The classification of symptoms was divided into often, sometimes, rarely, and never. In order to generate binary digits, often and sometimes were considered positive symptoms (1) while rarely and never were considered negative (0). Minterms were determined through the truth table of the conceptualized circuit. Furthermore, these are used to generate the Karnaugh map. Consequently, simplifying the Boolean expression for each output variable. This is a mathematical realization through Boolean algebra. Through the logic circuit created from Boolean expression, the researchers were able to successfully predict the expected disease based on the existence of symptoms. Furthermore, the researchers were able to translate the circuit into its complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) counterpart. While the designed tool is affordable and can be easily implemented, however, it still possesses a limitation as other COVID-19 positive patients are asymptomatic. Furthermore, the diagnostic tool was not tested on real-world data. Hence, the accuracy of the tool is based on theoretical experiments only.

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Relationship of customers’ satisfaction and loyalty on Shariah-compliant hotel in Shah Alam Malaysia

admin_irjstem Abstract , , ,

Ahmad Pitra, Ahmad Albattat
Jakarta Global University, Indonesia
Management and Science University, Malaysia
Corresponding email: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T
Along with the development of a business hotel in Malaysia, which makes it an effort to improve customer satisfaction factor. Malaysia is the one of Target Islamic Tourism with total number of visitors are from various countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Arab and other Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, it will lead to a new innovation in the hospitality industry in the concept of Shariah-Compliant Hotel (SCH). Malaysia is the one of the largest Muslim population that has a good opportunity for developing new innovative market of Islamic hotel. Shah Alam has two hotels that were implementing Shariah-Compliant Hotel concept (SCH) such as Grand Bluewave hotel & Depalma Ampang hotel. Therefore, this research was used simple random sampling method with a total sample of 207 respondents to be answered 52 statements or questions in the form of surveys. Through this study, we will emphasize on factors that support customer satisfaction such as facilities, restaurants, grooming staff and building design. Overall, all variables, received a better response from respondents, more than four (4, Agree). Therefore, these four variables are crucial to the satisfaction of customers who will maintain service quality that can affect to customer loyalty

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