EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Author: Okeke Chinwe Susan
Department: Cooperative Economics and Management
Affiliation: Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka

This research was on the effects of community participation in rural development in Anambra State, Nigeria. This was in terms of conception, implementation and use of rural development projects. The research design for the study was descriptive. The population for the study was 4,182,032. A sample of four hundred (400) was drawn using Taro Yamani and multistage sampling techniques. The major sources of data were primary data which was drawn mainly with a questionnaire. Secondary data such as text books, journals and internet material were used for the review of related literature. The instruments used for analysis were both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics used were table, mean and standard deviation while inferential statistics was regression analysis. Chi Square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed that rural people participated in the establishment of rural projects such as markets and rural roads. Their participation in establishment and use of rural projects were found to have been influenced by their socio-economic background such as age, marital status and association. The most significant were age and marital status. Indeed, use of rural development projects was found to have significantly enhanced their socio-economic wellbeing. However, certain challenges such as illiteracy, needs differences among others constrain them from participating in rural development activities. In view of the findings, the researcher recommended that the literacy level of the rural dwellers should be improved through formal and informal education such as film shows, counseling, seminars and evening classes. Also, the level of participation by the rural dwellers should be increased through sensitization programmes that will enable them form more community based organizations such as fund raisers association and farmers’ association.

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DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PIPELINE MONITORING SYSTEM USING ACCELERATION-BASED WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK

Author: Nwalozie Gerald Chetachi
Department: Electronic and Computer Engineering
Affiliation: Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka

This thesis focused on the design and implementation of pipeline monitoring system using acceleration based wireless sensor network. In this research, a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based wireless sensor network was developed for nondestructive monitoring of pipeline systems. The system incorporates MEMS accelerometers for measuring flow-induced vibration on the surface of a pipe to determine the change in water pressure caused by rupture and the damage location. Also , field measurements of vibration were performed in pipe sections of a water filled loop subjected to a wide range of flow rates. In addition, experimental investigation of the relationship between flow induced vibration and the pressure fluctuations was carried out. The experimental result showed that there is a sharp change in the induced vibration of the pipe surface of about 0.07g-force and 0.22g-force, when the valves were half opened and completely opened respectively. Results also showed that the correlation coefficient of the measured data is 1.00, which showed that there is a positive linear relationship between the flow-induced vibrations and pressure fluctuations. Results show that a non linear but proportional relationship between the water flow rate and flow induced vibrations exist.

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DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ADAPTIVE INTELLIGENT MULTI – AGENTS FOR NETWORK PROTECTION

Author: Ihekweaba Ogechikanma Linda
Department: Electronic and Computer Engineering
Affiliation: Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka

This study focused on the emerging paradigm of network security, which is based on the use of the intelligent agent as an adaptive mechanism for network threat defense. Since network attacks vary considerably in their complexity and threat level, the dissertation focused on investigating the deployment of intelligent agents based security systems, to protect the network Dynamic Host Configuration Service (DHCS) from a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. The intensive work already done by others on intrusion detection was reviewed to show that a lot is still left to be done with respect to Denial of Services attacks. The dissertation as a proof of concept developed a multi-agent software prototype which demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of deploying intelligent agents to protect an enterprise network from Denial of Service attacks. The concepts and analysis framework on which the system design presented is based are clearly defined. Agent Oriented Software Engineering concepts are used to depict the behavioral specifications of the security system. A test network environment consisting of four computers connected with Ethernet switch was setup. The system implementation entails deploying the network security software on one of the computers running the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server service to protect the DHCP server from Denial of Service attack. In carrying out the DoS attack penetration test, a DoS attack tool was deployed from one of the work stations in the network. By initiating the attack from the work station while the agent security system was running, the DHCP address pool was protected. Also the attack work stations’ session was killed on the server. This clearly indicates that there was a trace back by the agent software.

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LEVELS OF PREPAREDNESS OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN ANAMBRA STATE

Author: Ozojie Ikechukwu Basil
Department: Educational Management and POlicy
Affiliation: Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka

Universal Basic Education (UBE) is one of the programmes introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria to eradicate illiteracy in the country. As a big venture, UBE requires adequate preparedness. The purpose of the study therefore was to ascertain the preparedness of schools for the implementation of the UBE programme in Anambra State. the design was a descriptive survey guided by five research questions. The population of the study consisted of 1285
respondents while the sample was 390 principals and primary school heads selected through proportionate stratified and simple random sampling techniques. A researcher-developed instrument duly validated by experts and whose reliability indices for the five sections using Cronbach Alpha were 0.82; 0.80; 0.86; 0.88 and 0.86 respectively. The researcher, with the help of six research assistants, administered the instrument. Mean was used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study include that there is low quantity of well experienced teachers with track record of achievements, and up to date on the UBE demands and low number of teachers that can manage classrooms effectively. It was, among others, recommended that teachers should aspire to be professionally trained in generalist areas so as to contribute effectively in the implementation of UBE programme and that school heads should recommend their teachers for on-the-job training programmes in classroom management.

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DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A STRUCTURED CLINICAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING STUDENT NURSES’ CLINICAL COMPETENCE

AUTHOR: NWONU, EUNICE IFEYINWA 

DEPARTMENT: EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND POLICY

AFFILIATION: NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

Assessment of clinical performance contributes to academic qualifications that incorporate professional awards. The administrators of Nursing Schools are facing the problem of subjectivity in practical examination of student nurses. This is evident in examination situations in which the examiner assigns any task of choice to the student and scores the student based on his/her perception of the student’s competence in performing the task. By this, some students are exposed to more difficult tasks than others and subjective scoring, all depending on the inclination of the examiner. In response to this problem, the study developed and validated a Structured Clinical Assessment Tool (SCAT) that will make it possible for all the students to be examined on the same tasks for any examination episode and judged on the same premise. Instrumentation research design was used. One hundred and thirty seven student nurses from three Schools of Nursing in the South East Zone of Nigeria formed the sample for the study. Prior to developing the tool, a competency assessment framework was developed based on the nursing process model with the five steps of the process being the core competencies and sub skills identified for each of the core competencies. The appropriateness of the sub-skills was verified using 52 nurse educators. The care sub-skills were pooled to form the model for SCAT. The model consists of twelve activity stations which are examination points where students perform specified nursing tasks and are scored using a predetermined standard. Initially 48 items (four per station) and their scoring guide were generated and four experienced nurse educator/managers were used to verify their appropriateness. Thirty six items survived the validation exercise using average congruency percentage. Data collected were analysed using alpha coefficient, t-test and analysis of variance. The results of the analysis confirmed the validity of the 36 items and showed that the items were able to discriminate between the high and low achievers. The high reliability index (0.84-0.99) for most of the procedure station items and moderate reliability index (0.69-0.78) for others confirm that the instrument has a good inter-scorer consistency and therefore is reliable. Based on these findings, the SCAT is a tool that has the potentials for reducing the subjectivity that is inherent in clinical assessments that are based on observation and is therefore recommended for assessing clinical competence of student nurses.

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