Articles

Development of TPACK-Based Teaching Materials on Biodiversity Subject to Measure Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

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Teaching materials are auxiliary elements employed to accomplish the goals of the educational process. The observed fact reveals a deficiency in teaching materials that incorporate Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for the purpose of developing students’ critical thinking abilities. Thus, there is a want for an instructional resource that may assist pupils in enhancing their critical thinking abilities. The objective of this project is to provide TPACK-based teaching materials on biodiversity that are credible, effective, and practical. In addition to elucidating students’ critical thinking abilities through the utilization of TPACK-based instructional resources. The methodology employed in this study is Research and Development (R&D) utilizing the ADDIE paradigm. The tool employed is a questionnaire sheet for the purpose of validating materials and media. The study yielded data indicating that teaching materials centered around Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) were valid and appropriate for learning purposes in the context of Biodiversity. The validity includes a material validation score of 91.25% and a media score of 96.42%, with an N-Gain of 0.75, indicating strong testing performance. Therefore, it can be inferred that educational resources rooted in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and focused on the topic of Biodiversity have a positive impact on students’ ability to think critically.

Highways the Death Door of Wild Life: A Comprehensive Study in Indian Thar Desert

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Highways play a crucial role in economic development of any country. Besides this, highways are also one of the causal agents of wild life destruction. The present investigation was based on the study of mortality rate in some selected wild animal groups in road accidents viz., Mammals, Birds and Reptiles on the national and state highways passing through the Indian Thar Desert, and the survey of biodiversity of roadside fauna and flora. The survey was also focused on the effects of highways on the population density and biodiversity of the area. Among the selected animal groups Mongoose, Squirrel, Wild Boar, Hedgehog, Chinkara, Desert fox, Nilgai, Greater Coucal (Crow Pheasant), Sparrow, Partridge, Babbler, White eared and Red Vented Bulbul, Peacock, Desert Monitor, Garden Lizzard, Skinks, Cobra, Vipers etc. were found killed in the road accidents. Maximum mortality rate in the road accidents during the survey was observed in Mongoose, Greater Coucal and Desert monitor (Varanus) throughout the study period. It was experienced that unavailability of safe passes across the highways, negligence driving and over speed of the vehicles were the major causes of wild life destruction on the highways.  Maximum mortality rate of wild animals was found in July to November in each calendar year and minimum was during the month December to February. By the present investigation it was suggested that making transverse tunnels across the highways at regular interval, warning signboards about the wild life abundance regions, awareness among the drivers for wildlife protection and covering the road sides with net fencing in wild life abundant areas may reduce some degree of wildlife destruction in road accidents.

Use of Intermediate Crops in the Establishment of Sown Parsley (Coriandrum Sativum L.) Plantations

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The article states that the Coriandrum sativum L. plant can be used as an intermediate crop in the establishment of plantations. Experiments have shown that the use of intermediate crops in the cultivation of cashmere (Coriandrum sativum L.) on plantations has yielded effective results. In particular, in the cultivation of Coriandrum sativum L., the use of intermediate crops for one year increased the yield to 6%, and in the case of continuous crop rotation using intermediate crops, this figure increased to 12-14%. The use of intermediate crops in the cultivation of medicinal and spice plants is important not only to improve the structure of the soil, but also to increase its economic efficiency.