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The purpose of this paper is to describe: a new taxonomy of metacognitive skills designed to support the study of metacognition in the context of web searching; a data collection instrument based on the taxonomy; and the results of testing the instrument on a sample of university students and staff.

The taxonomy is based on a review of the literature, and is extended to cover web searching. This forms the basis for the design of the data collection instrument, which is tested with 405 students and staff of Sheffield University.

Subjects regard the range of metacognitive skills focused on as broadly similar. However, a number of significant differences in reported metacognition usage relating to age, gender and discipline.

These findings contribute to the long‐term aims of the research which are to: develop a model of the actual and potential role of metacognition in web searching, and identify strategic “metacognitive interventions” that can be built into an intelligent information retrieval system, driven by the model, capable of enhancing retrieval effectiveness by compensating for metacognitive weaknesses on the part of the searcher.

The value of the paper lies in: the consideration of metacognition in the context of web searching, the presentation of an extensible taxonomy of metacognitive skills, development and testing of a prototype metacognitive inventory, finding of significant differences in reported metacognition usage according to age, gender and discipline, and reflection of the implications of the results for future research into web searching.

As seawater is a complex, delicately balanced solution of many salts containing living matter, suspended silt, dissolved gases and decaying organic material, it is important to separate the effect of salts from the other factors to emphasize the corrosion rate due to the salinity. Salinity is defined as the total weight in grams of solid matter dissolved in 1,000g of water. The relative proportion of salts does not vary appreciably in interconnected seas. Variations in salinity in open‐ocean surface water typically range from 32–37.5 per cent. In open circulating systems, sea water may be used as industrial cooling waters, particularly for industry located at the coast. New technologies using non‐toxic organic instead of inorganic chemicals as corrosion inhibitors are advanced and have been introduced successfully in cooling waters treatment.

There is an urgency to build a critical view of information and communication technologies in society and education in order to harness their pedagogical potential. Generally, the Covid-19 pandemic demanded transformation, which is one of the possibilities in times of crisis. Despite the pandemic exposing digital exclusion in many parts of the planet, digital technologies concurrently have overcome, at least in part, social isolation through the provision of remote activities. The functionality of technologies motivated the question that guides the present investigation: how does the use of technologies before, during, and after the pandemic period appear in the products of the ISATT academic community? The objective is to come to know the contribution of ISATT and the degree to which its input is current and relevant. To meet our goal, we conducted an exploratory study gathering data by means of Google Form questionnaire. ISATT members invited to answer the questionnaire were also participants in the survey. Our intent is to map and describe the relationship between technology and creative teaching and categorize the different approaches used. Our analysis will allow ISATT community members to evaluate their interests, foci, trends, and contributions.

The objective of this paper is to establish a quantitative method to determine the levelness (L) of coloration by spectrophotometric measurements. Previously, the L of coloration is mainly evaluated by visual assessment.

Hence, we are not able to produce quantitative L data because the visual evaluation of the same colored material obtained from different observers can be quite different. Color levelness is actually a description of the uniformity of color shade in different places of the fabric. It is a very important parameter for the quality of textile coloration, quality control, and communication between laboratories.

Thus, this research work evaluates the L parameters by using different variables, including: a) three different natural fabrics; namely, wool, silk and cotton dyed with yellow natural dye from onion skins under the effect of different mordants, and b) three different natural dyes; namely, onion skins, turmeric and madder applied on wool fabric samples under the effect of different mordants.

The obtained results show that dyed samples with the highest color strength (K/S) have the highest unlevelness (U) and the lowest color difference (ΔE) values (i.e. the highest light fastness). These results are obtained regardless of the fabric type or dye used.

The present study is carried out to optimize the dyeing conditions for silk fabrics using a new natural dye, Vervain barks at different pH values in the absence of mordants. Also, experiments are implemented to investigate the effects of processing conditions on color difference, color scale, color strength and light fastness characteristics. The changes in the morphology of the silk fabric surface after dyeing are studied using a scanning electron microscope. The pH in the acidic range 1-5 is optimum for dyeing, showing very good fastness properties for silk dyed fabrics

The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of Inequalities of Opportunity (IOP) among the young in Cameroonian labour market. IOP are the differences in outcomes which are explained by the circumstance factors, meaning that the variables which are beyond individual controls. For this purpose, this study performs the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) in order to quantify the IOP among employee over 10- to 25-year-olds. Using the data from the Fourth Cameroon Household Survey (FCHS4) carried out in 2014 by Statistical National Institute, IOP is quantified for each of 14 Cameroonian’s geographical areas. Based on the Dissimilarity index (D-Index) value, two main trends are outlined: a spatial subgroup including North-West, East and the urban regions which is characterized by a higher D-Index; meaning that IOP is relatively significant. In contrast, a more homogeneous subgroup with a lower IOP is found in rural, North and East regions. Moreover, regarding on the one hand the Shapley-Shorrock’s decomposition method, it appears that the mayor circumstances contributing to the D-index are socio-professional category, primary education and religious obedience of the household head which explain from 51% to 79% the overall IOP. While on the other hand, the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition shows that 80% of the gap in D-Index is explained by disparities in circumstances, rather than individual efforts. Finally, our conclusions argue in favour of effective decentralization, for a more inclusive employment policy that takes into account local labour market features.

In this paper, we review the literature on learner control and discuss the implications that increased control may have for training in e-learning environments. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the learner control literature, focusing on adults and workplace training. We begin by reviewing the literature on learner control, focusing on the positive and negative effects associated with providing adult learners with control in e-learning environments. We organize our review into instructional design factors that have been manipulated to provide learners with control and person issues that moderate the relation between learner control and outcomes. Then, we summarize developments in training research and in adult learning that relate to learner control in order to provide a theoretical context for understanding learner control in adult workplace e-learning.

Selfie is a popular self-expression platform to visually communicate and represent individual thoughts, beliefs, and creativity. However, not much has been investigated about selifie's pedagogical impact when used as an educational tool. Therefore, the authors seek to explore students' perceptions, emotions, and behaviour of using selfies for a classroom activity.

A triangulated qualitative approach using thematic, sentiment, and selfie visual analysis was used to investigate selfie perception, behaviour and creativity on 203 undergraduates. Sentiment analyses (SAs) were conducted using Azure Machine Learning and International Business Machines (IBM) Tone Analyzer (TA) to validate the thematic analysis outcomes, whilst the visual analysis reflected cues of behaviour and creativity portrayed.

Respondents indicated positive experiences and reflected selfies as an engaging, effortless, and practical activity that improves classroom dynamics. Emotions such as joy with analytical and confident tones were observed in their responses, further validating these outcomes. Subsequently, the visual cue analysis indicated overall positive emotions reflecting openness towards the experience, yet also reflected gender-based clique tendency with modest use of popular selfie gestures such as the “peace sign” and “chin shelf”. Furthermore, respondents also preferred to mainly manipulate text colours, frames, and colour blocks as a form of creative output.

The study's findings contribute to the limited studies of using selfies for teaching and learning by offering insights using thematic analysis, SA and visual cue analysis to reflect perception, emotions, and behaviour.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2021-0608/

The study aims to probe into university instructors' reactions to adopting the remote online learning model brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study investigates the instructors' perspectives, in the humanities and science classes, on the effectiveness of the emergency remote teaching (ERT) compared to face-to-face teaching.

The data for the study were compiled from the responses of 127 instructors representing two private universities in middle and northern Jordan. The sample included 66 faculty members in the humanities and 61 in the sciences. The instructors' responses were elicited through a Likert-type questionnaire consisting of 20 items.

The present study's findings have shown that online instruction is becoming more common despite the presence of some major challenges facing instructors. The results showed that the e-learning system seems to better suit the humanities courses compared to the sciences courses. The findings also showed that faculty members in the humanities are more satisfied with the effectiveness of the assessment tools utilized in the online courses than their colleagues in the sciences. In addition, humanities e-courses seem to provide a more interactive learning environment than e-courses in the sciences.

More training for instructors on how to design online course syllabi to ensure effective delivery is needed. Instructors need to develop ways to encourage students to interact in virtual e-classes to the same level as the on-ground classes. Instructors also need to adopt the “blended learning” system as a transitional stage before switching completely to online learning.

Different studies have investigated how COVID-19 has impacted education. The current study brings to light the perspectives of the Jordanian teaching staff on transitioning to ERT during the COVID-19 crisis taking into account the differences between humanities and sciences classes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rheological characteristics of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and hybridized nanocomposite consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and GNPs as an additive on lithium-based grease. The experiments of nanogrease are examined in different values of shear stress, apparent viscosity, temperature and shear rate using Brookfield Programmable Rheometer DV-III ULTRA and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

First, GNPs was mixed well with lithium grease using mechanical stirring at 3,500 rpm for 15 min at room temperature to form a homogenous composite at different concentrations (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 Wt.%). Afterwards, MWCNTs and GNPs are mixed and dispersed well in the lithium grease using a sonication path for 30 min and mechanical stirring at 3,500 rpm for 15 min at 28°C to form a homogenous nanocomposite.

The results indicated that 1 Wt.% of GNPs is the optimum concentration. Subsequently, the weight percentage of additives varying between MWCNTs and GNPs are tested, and the result indicate that the grease containing GNPs had a 75 per cent increase in shear stress and 93.7 per cent increase in apparent viscosity over ordinary grease.

This work describes the inexpensive and simple fabrication of nanogrease for improving properties of lubricants, which improve power efficiency and extend lifetimes of mechanical equipment.