University of Nigeria

The Definition of Standard ML

Standard ML is a general-purpose programming language designed for large projects. This book provides a formal definition of Standard ML for the benefit of all concerned with the language, including users and implementers. Because computer programs are increasingly required to withstand rigorous analysis, it is all the more important that the language in which they are written be defined with full rigor. One purpose of a language definition is to establish a theory of meanings upon which the understanding of particular programs may rest. To properly define a programming language, it is necessary to use some form of notation other than a programming language. Given a concern for rigor, mathematical notation is an obvious choice. The authors have defined their semantic objects in mathematical notation that is completely independent of Standard ML. In defining a language one must also define the rules of evaluation precisely—that is, define what meaning results from evaluating any phrase of the language. The definition thus constitutes a formal specification for an implementation. The authors have developed enough of their theory to give sense to their rules of evaluation. The Definition of Standard ML is the essential point of reference for Standard ML. Since its publication in 1990, the implementation technology of the language has advanced enormously and the number of users has grown. The revised edition includes a number of new features, omits little-used features, and corrects mistakes of definition.

Contrasting Computational Models of Mate Preference Integration Across 45 Countries

Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.

Factors influencing knowledge about childhood autism among final year undergraduate Medical, Nursing and Psychology students of University of Nigeria, Enugu State, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Knowledge and awareness about childhood autism is low among health care workers and the general populace in Nigeria. Poor knowledge about childhood autism among final year medical, nursing and psychology students who would form tomorrow's child health care professionals can compromise early recognition and interventions that are known to improve prognosis in childhood autism. Educational factors that could be influencing knowledge about childhood autism among these future health care professionals are unknown. This study assessed knowledge about childhood autism among final year undergraduate medical, nursing and psychology students in south-eastern Nigeria and determined the factors that could be influencing such knowledge. METHODS: One hundred final year undergraduate students were randomly selected from each of the Departments of Medicine, Nursing Science and Psychology respectively of University of Nigeria, Enugu State, Nigeria making a sample size of three hundred. A socio-demographic questionnaire and knowledge about childhood autism among health workers (KCAHW) questionnaire were administered to the students. RESULTS: The total mean score for the three groups of students on the KCAHW questionnaire was 10.67+/-3.73 out of a possible total score of 19, with medical, nursing and psychology students having total mean scores of 12.24+/-3.24, 10.76+/-3.50 and 9.01+/-3.76 respectively. The mean scores for the three groups showed statistically significant difference for domain 1 (p=0.000), domain 3 (p=0.029), domain 4 (p=0.000) and total score (p=0.000), with medical students more likely to recognise symptoms and signs of autism compared to nursing and psychology students. The mean score in domain 2 did not show statistically significant difference among the three groups (p=0.769). The total score on the KCAHW questionnaire is positively correlated with the number of weeks of posting in psychiatry (r=0.319, p=0.000) and the number of weeks of posting in paediatrics (r=0.372, p=0.000). The total score is also positively correlated with the number of credit hours of lectures in psychiatry/abnormal psychology (r=0.324, p=0.000) and the number of credit hours of lectures in paediatrics (r=0.372, p=0.000). The field of study also influenced knowledge about childhood autism (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: Peculiar situation in this environment as signified by inadequate human resources needed in the area of clinical psychology training often times necessitates employing first degree graduates in psychology into clinical positions. This calls for additional exposure of the undergraduate psychology students to training curriculum aimed at improving their early recognition of symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in this environment.

Effects of two teaching methods on the achievement in and attitude to biology of students of different levels of scientific literacy

Relationship between STS approach, scientific literacy, and achievement in biology

Abstract This study set out to investigate the relationship between STS approach, scientific literacy (SL), and achievement in biology. A quasi‐experimental design of the nonequivalent group was employed. Four secondary schools, eight teachers, and 246 students from Nigeria were involved in the study. Two classes were randomly selected from each school and assigned to either the experimental or control group. Two instruments were used to collect data: an Achievement Test on Reproduction and Family Planning and a SL Scale. Results showed that there is no relationship between SL and achievement in biology. The split‐wise posttest regression showed a weak positive relationship between SL and achievement in biology for the experimental group and a no relationship for the control group. However, STS approach mediated between SL and achievement to effect a slightly stronger significant positive relationship. The slope of SL was greater when we controlled for instruction showing that the relationship between SL and achievement is not spurious when instruction is taken into account. We therefore conclude that STS approach might be affecting other variables in the science classroom that in turn affect achievement in the sciences. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 87: 31–39, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10012

Cognitive-behavioural reflective training for improving critical thinking disposition of nursing students

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The importance of critical thinking in improving treatment practices in, for instance, the nursing profession, cannot be overemphasized. Despite this importance, empirical studies have shown that helping strategies to train learners on critical thinking disposition are needed. Given this knowledge gap, this study investigated the impacts of cognitive-behavioral reflective training for improving the critical thinking disposition of nursing students. METHOD: Of all the students screened, a total of 167 participants were assigned to the treatment group and waitlisted control group. A researchers-developed training program aimed at improving critical thinking disposition was delivered in English language by therapists. RESULTS: Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the critical thinking disposition of nursing students in the treatment and control groups as measured by CTDI-M at the posttest. At the posttreatment and follow-up measures, there were consistently improved impacts of CBRT on the critical thinking disposition of nursing students in Nigeria as measured by CTDI-M. CONCLUSION: Following the results, we concluded that cognitive-behavioral reflective training was beneficial and had sustained improvement in enhancing the critical thinking disposition of nursing students.

Causes and effects of theory-practice gap during clinical practice: the lived experiences of baccalaureate nursing students

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the baccalaureate nursing students' lived experiences of the causes and effects of TPG during clinical practice in a tertiary health institution in Enugu, Nigeria. METHOD: A qualitative design using existential descriptive phenomenological approach was adopted to explore 20 baccalaureate nursing students at 500 level of study. The class level of the students was purposively sampled and the exact number of students sampled using snowball technique. Semi-structured interview guide was the instrument for data collection. Data were collected using audio-tape recorder, face to face in depth discussions, and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULT: Five broad themes and 12 subthemes emerged from this study namely: Resource constraints (limited resources, resource improvise); Unhealthy human attitudinal and behavioural factors (nurse clinicians, nurse educators, student nurses factors); Environmental system challenges (paradoxical academic design and structure, paradoxical clinical setting); Integration Inadequacy (team cooperation paucity, scarce surveillance, insufficient timing of clinical placement); Observing effects of TPG (observing adverse impacts, observing positive implications). CONCLUSION: The causes of TPG during clinical practice emerge from nursing education and practice. TPG have adverse impacts on patients, nursing students, nursing education and practice, other health practitioners, while linkage to response is its positive implication.

Effects of audiovisual technological aids on students' achievement and interest in secondary school biology in Nigeria

While Science teaching and learning is changing at an amazing pace in developed countries, same cannot be said of developing countries. Nigeria secondary school classrooms have remained 'chalk and board' affair with students seated in rows copying notes. In a developing country such as Nigeria, teachers need sustained support from colleagues at tertiary level who are compliant with the new technologies to help them learn how best to integrate technology into their teaching. In this paper, we describe a study that employed quasi experiment of the non-equivalent control group design. 150 senior secondary two (SS2) students of two intact classes randomly selected from two schools were assigned one to experimental and other to control. . Training was given to a regular teacher of Biology that taught experimental group while the control group teacher did not receive training but given a template on the conduct of the study. Two instruments for data collection were Biology achievement test and Interest scale. Mean and Standard Deviation and ANCOVA were used for data analysis. Result revealed that group exposed to lessons with Audio-visual technological contents integrated achieved higher in test scores than the group not exposed to. It was recommended that classroom teachers keep pace with development trend by learning and using new technologies (Audio-visual) in instructional delivery.

The biology of Clarias ebriensis Pellegrin, 1920 (Osteichthyes: Clariidae) in an African rainforest river basin

A review of MRI studies in Africa with special focus on quantitative MRI: Historical development, current status and the role of medical physicists

ENHANCING STUDENTS' ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY THROUGH INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES

In this research, the impact of peer tutoring and group tutoring led to team learning approaches on the attitude of the students towards and achievement in biology. The thesis had been motivated by four research questions and six null hypotheses. The research had used a quasi-experimental method. In particular, the design of the un-equivalent control group. The sample size was 182 SS 1 students from the four sampled government senior high schools in Port-Harcourt metropolis, River State, Nigeria in four intact classrooms. Two of the classes were exposed to peer tutoring while the remaining two were exposed to peer-led team learning strategies. Biology Attitudinal Scale (BAS), and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were data collection instruments. BAS construct validity was developed using factor analysis, while BAT material validity was calculated using the specification table. Reliability for BAS and BAT was obtained using formula 20 (K-R 20) from Cronbach Alpha and Kudar-Richardson. Mean and the standard deviation was used to answer the study questions while Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the hypotheses at 0.05 significance point. The findings showed that peer-led team learning approach is better than peer tutoring in enhancing the attitude and achievement of the students in biology. The implications of the findings were highlighted and recommendations made.