Assessment of Students Performances in Biology: Implication for Measurements and Evaluation of Learning

Scienceeducation is believed to be a vital tool for individual and societal development at large. The persistent low levels of students' achievement in sciences at the various public examinations in Nigeria have continued to draw the attention of major stakeholders in education. This study examined academic achievement of Senior Secondary School students in biology and gender difference in students' achievement was examined. Ex-post facto design of descriptive research was adopted for the study. A proforma was used to collect data from a sample of two hundred (200) students, selected using stratified random sampling procedure from the Science secondary schools in Kano state Nigeria. The data collected were the students' performances in biology achievement tests. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and independent-sample t-test. Overall results showed that the test internal consistency reliability is low and unsatisfactory; the students performed below average (M=47.02, SD=16.493 (47%). Similarly, gender difference exists in biology performance with another significant difference between performance of urban and rural school students. The study concludes that, biology test used in Kano state qualifying examinations to assess students potential ability in biology is not a reliable measurement tool and that, academic performance of students in biology is unsatisfactory and evidence of differential performance between gender and schools locations. The implication for measurements and evaluation of learning as well as recommendations has been discussed

Quadrature formula for evaluating left bounded Hadamard type hypersingular integrals

Left semi-bounded Hadamard type Hypersingular integral (HSI) of the form H(h,x)=1/π1+x/1-x λ-1∗∗1 1-t/1+t h(t)(t-x)2dt,x∈(-1.1), Where h(t) is a smooth function is considered. The automatic quadrature scheme (AQS) is constructed by approximating the density function h(t) by the truncated Chebyshev polynomials of the fourth kind. Numerical results revealed that the proposed AQS is highly accurate when h(t) is choosing to be the polynomial and rational functions. The results are in line with the theoretical findings

Aproveitamento integral dos alimentos como método de redução da insegurança alimentar

Trabalho apresentado no II Congresso Nacional do PROJETO RONDON, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 23 a 25 de setembro de 2015 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.Podemos definir insegurança alimentar (IA), como a situação em que não é toda população que possui acesso aos alimentos de maneira permanente na quantidade e qualidade necessárias a vida. Assim os governos que visem estabelecer a segurança alimentar e nutricional, devem o fazer sem que haja prejuízo a outras necessidades essenciais, para que todas as ações que forem feitas aumentem o poder aquisitivo das famílias e o acesso aos alimentos, visto que quanto maior o número de pobres em uma região, maior a possibilidade de IA. Conforme IBGE, no Mapa da Pobreza e Desigualdade dos Municípios de 2003 e da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios de 2013, pode-se ver que os municípios de Acarape – CE e Água Azul do Norte – PA estão em áreas que tem risco de IA. No Brasil cerca de 70 mil toneladas de alimentos são descartadas diariamente. Com o aproveitamento integral dos alimentos, podemos reduzir o desperdício, aumentar o teor nutritivo das preparações e o poder aquisitivo populacional, reduzindo a IA. As intervenções realizadas objetivaram reduzir a IA nos municípios de Acarape –CE e Água Azul do Norte – PA, contemplados pelas operações Mandacaru e Itacaiúnas, respectivamente. Capacitando os atores sociais a usufruir dos alimentos de maneira integral, visando que o conhecimento fosse propagado aos demais habitantes dos municípios. Inicialmente feitas dinâmicas de grupo, para descontração e interação. Também ocorreram palestras com passagem informações relevantes a prática, como o valor nutricional de partes incomuns dos alimentos e que são desprezados pela maioria da população e receitas em que podemos aproveitar estas partes. Em seguida foram realizadas preparações de receitas junto aos participantes. Finalizando a oficina foi feita degustação das preparações e entrega dos livros de receitas. Atingiu-se o público de 59 pessoas em Acarape e 40 em Água Azul do Norte. A participação dos habitantes nas oficinas ficou caracterizada por grande empenho e satisfação dos mesmos com a oportunidade de conhecer novas possibilidades que impactariam diretamente no dia-a-dia. Após retorno das equipes a suas instituições de ensino, através de mídias sociais, os moradores dos municípios relatavam que as ideias das oficinas de aproveitamento integral eram discutidas e passadas adiante pela população mostrando que a oficina foi bem sucedida, dando oportunidade para motivação dos moradores transformarem onde vivem

The Effect of Agricultural Credit on Agricultural Productivity in Bichi Local Government Area, Kano State, Nigeria

This study was set out to investigate the impact of agricultural credit on farm productivity in Bichi Local Government, Kano State, Nigeria. The major objective of the study was to establish the effect of access to credit on agricultural productivity in Bichi, Kano State, Nigeria. The study used a sample size of 359 respondents. OLS regression was used to determine the effect of agricultural credit on farm productivity. The study revealed that credit access had a significant effect on agricultural productivity. The study concluded that credit access improves production however accessibility to credit is limited by high interest rates and lack of collateral security. The study recommended the need for the government to increase access to agricultural credit by farmers who do not have collateral security to present to commercial banks. This would be achieved by the government providing commercial banks with venture capital which allows farmers to borrow at subsidized rates. Furthermore, the government should encourage farmers to form cooperative unions so that they can be able to access credit from financial institutions without necessarily providing collateral security

A Review of the Applications of Moringa oleifera Seeds Extract in Water Treatment

Moringa oleifera is a single family of shrubs and trees that is cultivated in the whole of tropical belt. It belongs to the family Moringaceae and is one of the 14 known species. The tree has been described as a multi-purpose tree for life. It has, in recent times, been advocated as an outstanding indigenous source of highly digestible protein, Ca, Fe, Vitamin C, and carotenoids suitable for utilization in many of the developing regions of the world where undernourishment is a major concern. The seeds are eaten green, roasted, powdered and steeped for tea or used in curries. It has found applications in medicinal uses, as cosmetics, in food supplements, and in water treatment. One of the active ingredients in the M. oleifera seed has been identified as a polyelectrolyte. Its use for coagulation, co-coagulation, or coagulant aid has been a subject of investigation in many parts of the world. Softening of water with M. oleifera has also been identified to have potential advantage since it is accompanied by very low reduction in alkalinity, which is required to provide the necessary buffering capacity to achieve required treatment objectives. Many researchers have also identified the presence of an active antimicrobial agent in Moringa oleifera seeds. This paper presents a review of these various applications of M. oleifera seeds extract in water treatment and highlights the areas requiring further investigations. Key words: Moringa oleifera, seeds extract, water coagulation, softening, disinfection

Effect of different heat processing methods on the proximate composition of Piliostegma reticulatum seed meal

Plants (legumes) are important sources of dietary protein for both human and animals, but the presence of antinutritive factors affect the nutritional quality of the legumes. Unless these factors are destroyed by processing methods, they can exert adverse physiological effects when ingested by animals. To improve the nutritional quality of legumes for animal feed, it is important to establish a processing method that  will remove or reduce these antinutritive factors The objectives of this study is to determine the  processing method suitable for processing P. reticulatum seed for animal feed formulation. The proximate composition of the raw and differently heat processed P.reticulatum seed were investigated using  Association of Officials Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 1990). Complete randomized experimental design  with triplicates replications was applied. The raw seed revealed the following result moisture (7.27%),  crude protein (34.20%), crude fire (6.05%), ether extract (5.51%), ash (7.21%), nitrogen free extract  (47.03); the result of 30 minutes boiled seed was moisture (7.26%), crude protein (36.01%), crude fibre (4.71%), ether extracts (7.10%), ash (8.09%) and nitrogen free extracts (44.08%); 60 minutes boiled seed indicated the following results moisture (6.25%), crude protein (31.54%), crude fibre (3.33%), ether extract (8.22%),ash (14.01%) and nitrogen free extract (42.90%); traditionally boiled seed results were moisture (7.07%), crude protein (28.48%), crude fibre (3.07%), ether extracts (12.89%), ash (11.76%) and nitrogen free extracts (43.78%); 40 minutes toasted seed results were moisture (1.91%), crude protein (31.94%), crude fibre (5.29%), ether extracts (11.21%), ash (13.02%) and nitrogen free extracts (38.62%); The results of 80 minutes toasted seed were moisture (5.16%), crude protein  (20.96%), crude fibre (5.24%), ether extracts (9.04%), ash (8.74%) and nitrogen free extracts  (55.69%); 120 minutes toasted seed results were: moisture (10.24%), crude protein (24.12%), crude fibre (3.42%), ether extracts (9.03%), ash (11.27%) and nitrogen free extracts (52.16%) and the traditionally roasted seed record the following results moisture (3.20%), crude protein (31.37%), crude fibre (2.60%), ether extracts (8.15%), ash (12.91%) and nitrogen free extracts (44.20%). In the  proximate analysis, T2 (30 minutes boiled seed) had the highest crude protein content (36.01%), disadvantaged when compared with T3 (60 minutes boiled seed), T5 (40 minutes toasted seed) and T8 (traditionally roasted seed) in the other parameters. Among these treatments (T3, T5 and T8), T3 has an advantage over the others in terms of moderate crude protein (CP) and nitrogen free extract and also had the highest ash content. T1 (raw seed), although has high (34.20%), but recorded the highest crude fiblre and the lowest ash content. Thus from this finding of this study, T3 appeared to be the best in terms of proximate composition for animal feed formulation.Keyword : Piliostigma reticulatum, seed, heat processing, proximate composition

A survey of ecto and intestinal parasites of Tilapia Zillii (Gervias) in Tiga lake, Kano, northern Nigeria

One thousand eight hundred specimens of Tilapia zillii (Gervias) from Tiga Lake, Kano, Northern Nigeria were examined using hand lens and microscope between July, 2007 and June 2008 for parasites , 782 (53.4%) of these were infected. Parasites recovered were, Clinostomum spp. 74 4.1%) Procamellanus spp. 111 (6.1%), and Protozoa Cyst 198 (11.0%). Adult fishes were more infected than the juvenile, females were significantly more infected (

Growth performance and nutrient utilization of African catfish (clarias gariepinus) fed varying dietary levels of processed cassava leaves

Four isocarloric and isonitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 0%, 33.3%, 66.7% and 100% cassava leaves to replace equal weight of maize meal. All the four treatment diets were fed to catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings in replicate for 16 weeks. The best growth response was obtained in fish fed 66.7% cassava leaves inclusion. Fish fed 100% cassava leaves had the lowest growth response. All the treatment diets showed that growth due to increasing dietary cassava leaves were significant (