Reflections on the Concomitants of the Restrictive Visitation Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ubuntu Perspective

Caregiving is a prominent concept in the Ubuntu philosophy, and caring and visitation of the sick is regarded as an example of Ubuntu. The restrictive visitation policy adopted in the hospitals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the exhibition of this concept among patients, nurses, and families. The narrative inquiry was used to explore the reflections of the participants on the impact caused by the non-visitation policy experienced during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The narrative inquiry approach allowed the participants to tell their story as it is unique to them. The study used purposive sampling technique to select five participants for the webinar. Three themes emerged from the narrated stories which are 1) moral anguish of the caregivers; 2) mental health instability, and 3) erosion of trust in health care practitioners (HCPs). The non-visitation hospital policy was intended to reduce the danger of spreading COVID-19 within and outside the hospital; however, the care provided was devoid of the values of Ubuntu such as mutual respect, relational, responsibility, reciprocity, and interconnectedness. In retrospect, a case-by-case application of the policy would reduce the non-desirable effect of the policy on the patients, nurses, and patients' family members.

From the Big Picture to Detailed Observation: The Case of the GEF IEO’s Strategic Country Cluster Evaluations

This chapter introduces strategic country cluster evaluations (SCCEs), a concrete example of how the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has dealt with the increasing complexity of GEF programming. This complexity reflects the interconnectedness—in terms of both synergies and trade-offs—between socioeconomic development priorities and environment conservation imperatives that is typical of many country settings in which GEF projects and programs are implemented, such as least developed countries and small island developing states. SCCEs address this complexity by applying a purposive evaluative inquiry approach that starts from aggregate analyses designed to provide trends and identify cases of positive, neutral, or negative change, and proceeds to in-depth data gathering aimed at identifying the specific factors underlying the observed change in those specific cases. By establishing the interconnectedness and sequencing of the various evaluation components, rather than conducting these in parallel, SCCEs provide an opportunity to focus on a limited set of purposively selected issues that are common in clusters of countries and/or portfolios. This enables a comprehensive understanding of the factors at play in complex national and local settings.

The Quest for Motivation

Studies have shown Tabletop Role Playing Games (TRPGs) to be effective motivational learning tools that can be utilized in various subject matters. However, limited research has analyzed the elements within TRPGs that enable them to provide motivation to the users. As such, this study conducted an in-depth examination of the elements of TRPGs through the perception of players. Self-determination theory helped frame the study, while the Generic Qualitative Inquiry approach was used for the methodology. Semi structured interviews were conducted with six participants. Data revealed several themes that aligned with the motivational frame related to competency, relatedness, and autonomy. The findings indicate the importance of the roleplaying element and the connection between the player and their in-game character, as well as the effect choices within the game have on the players and other elements of TRPGs. Implications regarding design of TRPGs as learning tools are discussed.

Communication and Mathematic reasoning: Theory of planned behavior and inquiry

The purpose of this study is to investigate the aspects of communication and mathematical reasoning. In investigating the aspects of mathematical communication with an inquiry approach, of course there are several things observed related to learning mathematics. The focus of the material aims at observing communication and mathematical reasoning within the framework of inquiry, and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is geometry and algebra. The research method used a qualitative research by looking at case studies with research subjects consisting of 31 prospective mathematics teachers in Semarang city. From the aspect of communication and mathematical reasoning that exists, it can be seen from the answers of 31 prospective mathematics teachers with an authentic point of view of inquiry and a theory of planned behavior for problem solving. From the observation, several cognitive processes are adapted to the authentic framework of inquiry and the theory of planned behavior for algebra and geometry material. In reasoning, a wedge appears between mathematical reasoning and communication adapted to the framework of inquiry and the theory of planned behavior. The contribution of this study is to determine the communication framework and mathematical reasoning from the theoretical aspects of planned behavior and inquiry. It is important to know aspects of communication and mathematical reasoning from a different perspective.

Teaching Profession in Technical Education in Community Schools

Technical Education in Community School (TECS) is considered pertinent for the socio-economic transformation, particularly in a developing country like Nepal. Instructors of these schools are the key persons who transform curriculum into practice, however, their profession in their perspectives was hardly studied. With this consideration, this study was carried out to understand the experience of TECS instructors on their teaching profession. To attain this research objective, four instructors from the Diploma in Civil Engineering program of two TECSs were purposively selected, and a narrative inquiry approach was utilized to study the cases in-depth. The result showed that the instructors were interested in teaching in TECS; however, they were not ready to go to TECSs of remote villages. For them, the village settings lacked source for extra earning opportunities and career growth prospects. They were motivated to teach in Diploma in Civil Engineering as they could apply their prior knowledge and skills. At the same time, theoretical knowledge gained from their teaching in TECSs had been helpful for their engineering profession as well.

Experiences in the Application of Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Learning Resources during the Pandemic Period

This study reflected the experiences and perspectives of Learning Resource Coordinators during the COVID-19 pandemic in the application of the Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Learning Resources in the Schools Division Office, Central Luzon, Philippines. The study employed a narrative-inquiry approach to gather pertinent experiences from a group of participants. The participants were 10 Learning Resource Coordinators selected using a cluster sampling technique. The proponent used a research-made questionnaire to gather data. From the narratives of the informants, the proponent developed a unique thematic analysis. Based on the thematic analysis of the narrative inquiry, the informants revealed different perspectives and experiences, which state the different challenges met and the practical solutions in the delivery and correcting errors in the ADM Learning Resources. Based on the aforementioned findings, the proponent of this research provided some essential recommendations, in particular, an intervention program for this particular subject matter for learning resource coordinators and other significant key players of the Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) implementors.

THE EFFECT OF A GUIDED INQUIRY APPROACH TO MEASURING HIGH-LEVEL THINKING SKILLS OF MADRASAH ALIYAH STUDENTS ON ELASTICITY MATERIALS

Learning activities at MAN 2 Marabahan so far have led to observation activities but have not optimally applied the guided inquiry approach in detail. This resulted in students' higher order thinking skills have not been honed, which is actually very necessary in physics education. This study aims to measure students' higher order thinking skills. This research was analyzed descriptively. The samples of this study were students of class XI IPA 2 and XI IPA 3 as the treatment and class XI IPA 1 as the control class. Based on the results of the study, students' higher order thinking skills were better when using a guided inquiry approach.Keywords: influence, guided inquiry, higher order thinking skills, elasticity AbstrakKegiatan pembelajaran di MAN 2 Marabahan selama ini sudah mengarah kepada kegiatan pengamatan namun belum optimal menerapkan pendekatan inkuiri terbimbing secara terperinci. Hal ini mengakibatkan keterampilan berpikir tingkat tinggi siswa belum terasah, yang sebenarnya sangat diperlukan dalam pendidikan fisika. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur keterampilan berpikir tingkat tinggi siswa. Penelitian ini dianalisis secara deskriptif. Sampel penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas XI IPA 2 dan XI IPA 3 sebagai pelakuan dan kelas XI IPA 1 sebagai kelas kontrol. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian keterampilan berpikir tingkat tinggi siswa lebih baik saat menggunakan pendekatan inkuiri terbimbing. Kata kunci: pengaruh, inkuiri terbimbing, keterampilan berpikir tingkat tinggi, elastisitas