Factorial validation of sense of community scale using Nigerian mathematics, science, and social science education students: Implication for educational administrators and evaluators.

The ugly occurrences of security breaches have made the Nigerian populace to be leaving in fear. The most affected are the teaming adolescents of the school-age who may not have a good sense of their community. Thus, this study carried out the factorial validation of a 36-item sense of community scale (SoCS) developed by Cicognani et al. since no such study exists in Nigeria. The instrument was adopted and validated. A sample of 357 students in South East Federal Universities, Nigeria, was used for this study using a simple random sampling technique. The instrument's factorial validation was conducted by subjecting the data obtained to factor analysis to determine its validity and reliability. Besides, the principal component matrix with varimax rotation was used to carry out the exploratory and confirmatory factors analyses, while the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and confirmatory factor index (CFI) were used to determine the data model fit. Findings of the study showed that SoCS demonstrated good reliability (0.89) and model fit (RMSEA = 0.041, CFI = 0.951) in the Nigerian context. SoCS is a reliable scale for measuring the in-school adolescents' sense of community.

Analysis and forecasting of confirmed, death, and recovered cases of COVID-19 infections in Nigeria: Implications for university administrators.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern which eventually evolved into a pandemic. Nigeria was locked down in March, 2020 as the country battled to contain the spread of the disease. By August 2020, phase-by-phase easing of the lockdown was commenced and university students will soon return for academic activities. This study undertakes some epidemiological analysis of the Nigerian COVID-19 data to help the government and university administrators make informed decisions on the safety of personnel and students.The COVID-19 data on confirmed cases, deaths, and recovered were obtained from the website of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) from April 2, 2020 to August 24, 2020. The infection rate, prevalence, ratio, cause-specific death rate, and case recovery rate were used to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of the pandemic in Nigeria. Exponential smoothing was adopted in modeling the time series data and forecasting the pandemic in Nigeria up to January 31, 2021.The results indicated that the pandemic had infection rate of at most 3 infections per 1 million per day from April to August 2020. The death rate was 5 persons per 1 million during the period of study while recovery rate was 747 persons per 1000 infections. Analysis of forecast data showed steady but gradual decrease in the daily infection rate and death rate and substantial increase in the recovery rate, 975 recoveries per 1000 infections.In general, the epidemiological attributes of the pandemic from the original data and the forecast data indicated optimism in the decrease in the rate of infection and death in the future. Moreover, the infection rate, prevalence and death rate in January 2021 coincided with the predictions based on the analysis. Therefore, the Nigerian government is encouraged to allow universities in the country to reopen while university administrators set up the necessary protocols for strict adherence to safety measures.

A rational-emotive stress management intervention for reducing job burnout and dysfunctional distress among special education teachers: An effect study.

BACKGROUND: Job-related burnout and distress are adverse stress responses which affect individuals in their occupational environment. This study aimed at investigating the effect of a rational-emotive stress management program on job burnout and dysfunctional distress among special education teachers in Nigeria. METHODS: A pretest-posttest randomized control group design was used. The participants in the study were 54 special education teachers. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires. Participants were allocated to either the treatment group (n = 28 [59.1%]) or the waitlist control group (n = 26 [48.1%]), respectively. A rational-emotive stress management manual was used to deliver the intervention. We statistically analyzed the data collected at three-time points with repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: At baseline, the job-related burnout symptoms and distress scores of participants were high. However, an intention-to-treat analysis showed that the rational-emotive stress management intervention program was efficacious in reducing the levels of job-related burnout symptoms and dysfunctional distress among participants assigned to the treatment group, compared to a waitlisted group at post-treatment and follow-up meetings. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of a rational-emotive stress management intervention in reducing the level of job-related burnout and distress in a sample of special education teachers in Nigeria. Occupational health counsellors and other clinicians with sufficient knowledge of rational-emotive behavior therapy framework are urged to employ this approach in assisting other employees in managing job burnout symptoms, and distress.

Effects of a rational-emotive health education intervention on stress management and irrational beliefs among technical college teachers in Southeast Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Stress is the product of how an individual reacts and adapts to the specific demands and threats they encounter while carrying out given tasks. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a rational-emotive health education intervention (REHEI) on stress management, and irrational beliefs in a sample of technical college teachers in Southeast Nigeria. METHOD: The study design was a pretest-posttest control group. Repeated measures analysis of variance, paired t test and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data collected. RESULTS: The REHEI significantly reduced teacher stress in those teaching staff exposed to the treatment intervention, relative to a waitlist control group. Furthermore, the REHEI program significantly decreased irrational beliefs about teaching in those teaching staff exposed to the treatment intervention compared to a waitlist control group. CONCLUSION: The REHEI program can be used to coach teachers on how to manage and cope with stress and overcome irrational beliefs in teaching.