Daystar University Repository

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Conference/ Workshop/ Seminar/ Proceedings/ Lecture Series
A collection of conference, workshop, seminar, proceedings, and lecture series showcasing diverse topics and cutting-edge research from faculty and staff of Daystar University.
Daystar Archives
An archival collection chronicling the institutional history, academic achievements, and diverse heritage of Daystar University.
Daystar University Publications
A collection of Publications by faculty and staff showcasing research, academic achievements, and institutional insights of Daystar University.
Lectures and Speeches
A collection of Lectures and Speeches from distinguished speakers across various disciplines of Daystar University.
Policies
A collection Policies and Operational Manuals from different departments of Daystar University.

Recent Submissions

Toward Altmetric-Driven Research-Paper Recommender System Framework
(IEEE, 2017) Maake, Benard; Ojo, Sunday; Zuva, Trano
The volume of literature and more particularly research-oriented publications is growing at an exponential rate, and better tools and methodologies are required to efficiently and effectively retrieve desired documents. The development of academic search engines, digital libraries and archives has led to better information filtering mechanisms that has resulted to improved search results. However, the state-of-the art research-paper recommender systems are still retrieving research articles without explicitly defining the domain of interest of the researchers. Also, a rich set of research output (research objects) and their associated metrics are also not being utilized in the process of searching, querying, retrieving and recommending articles. Consequently, a lot of irrelevant and unrelated information is being presented to the user. Then again, the use of citation counts to rank and recommend research-paper to users is still disputed. Recommendation metrics like citation counts, ratings in collaborative filtering, and keyword analysis' cannot be fully relied on as the only techniques through which similarity between documents can be computed, and this is because recommendations based on such metrics are not accurate and have lots of biasness. Henceforth, altmetric-based techniques and methodologies are expected to give better recommendations of research papers since the circumstances surrounding a research papers are taken into consideration. This paper proposes a research paper recommender system framework that utilizes paper ontology and Altmetric from research papers, to enhance the performance of research paper recommender systems.
Utilization of Open Access Library Resources by Postgraduate Students at Karatina University, Kenya
(Open Access Library Journal, 2022) Tarus, Valentine; Namande, Ben Wekalao; Maake, Benard
Open Access (OA) are research publications published in scholarly journals or institutional repositories online without restrictions. It enables end users to consume, transfer and reproduce the full text of scholarly works in their fields of study. OA library resources support academic and research within institutions of higher learning as it strives to provide an alternative solution in a place where there is no equality in information and knowledge. The pursuit and use of OA library resources reduces the information divide between developed and less developed countries. Despite the availability of the OA library resources, there is still low uptake of OA library resources in Kenyan universities. The aim of this study was to investigate the utilization of OA library resources by postgraduate students. Objective of this study was to determine challenges facing utilization of open access library resources by post graduate students. The study employed descriptive research design while both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The findings established that there were internet challenges, information overload and inadequate awareness on the availability of OA library resources. The study recommends the increase of awareness of OA library resources and services, increase internet speed, conducting training on OA library resources and services for library staff as well as students
The Constraints Of The Adoption Of Gamification For Education And Training In Higher Education Institutions : A Systematic Literature Review
(2023) Maake, Benard; Ojo, Sunday; Akinyinka, Akindele; Oguta, Stephen
Gamification, a concept that describes the use of game design elements in non-game scenarios, inan attempt to induce fun and motivation in non-game scenarios, has found application in a variety of contexts. In education, popular gamification elements that have been introduced to make learning fun includes the use of points, levels, missions, leaderboards, badges, and avatars. New gamification such as the use of social robots is now in vogue. Despite the enormous potential of these gaming concepts, researchers have unearthed some challenges that face the adoption of gamification in educational systems of Higher Education Institutions. In this study's systematic literature review, the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework was used to explore the difficulties encountered when using gamification in training and education at colleges and universities and tosuggest potential solutions. Several researches that employed gamification were elicited from databases such as google scholar, Scopus and research gate. The shortcomings encountered during the deployment of gamification in these studies were summarinld. The study's findings reveal that Ill difficulties encountered when adopting gamification in education and training in higher education institutions can be divided into three categories: design concerns, issues with short-term engagement, and problems with user adaptability. Likewise, potential fnes for the issues were mapped out for future designers of educational gamified systems to follow.
Towards a Serendipitous Research Paper Recommender System Using Bisociative Information Networks (BisoNets)
(IEEE, 2018) Maake, Benard; Ojo, Sunday O.; Zuva, Tranos
In recent times the rate at which information is being processed and shared through the internet has tremendously increased. Internet users are in need of systems and tools that will help them manage this information overload. Search engines and recommendation systems have been recently adopted to help solve this problem. The aim of this research is to model a spontaneous research paper recommender system that recommends serendipitous research papers from two large normally mismatched information spaces or domains using BisoNets. Set and graph theory methods were employed to model the problem, whereas text mining methodologies were used to develop nodes and links of the BisoNets. Nodes were constructed from keywords, while links between nodes were established through weighting that was determined from the co-occurrence of corresponding keywords in the same title and domain. Preliminary results from the word clouds indicates that there is no obvious relationship between the two domains. The strongest links in the established information networks can be exploited to display associations that can be discovered between the two matrices. Research paper recommender systems exploit these latent relationships to recommend serendipitous articles when Bisociative Knowledge Discovery techniques and methodologies are utilized appropriately.
Whose Voice Counts? Inclusivity in Participatory Budgeting for Climate Change Adaptation in Makueni County
(Daystar University, School of Communication, 2025) Mutua, Boniface Musyoki; Nyaga, Daniel Murimi; Ng’ang’a, Alice; Kithinji, Boniface; Mwangi, Victoria
Devolution provides an opportunity for social, political and economic empowerment through distribution of power, resources and decision-making. Meaningful participation means not only participating in identification of priorities but also sharing of the development outcomes. There has been numerous studies on the impact of devolution and public participation on local economic development, however, there is need to study the nexus between participatory budgeting and climate change adaptation. The objective of this paper is therefore to study inclusivity in participatory budgeting and how it influences climate change adaptation measures. The study will be anchored on Deliberative Democracy Theory and key elements in the study will include assessing whose voice is prioritized or marginalized in the climate change adaptation decision making. It will also explore how decisions on climate change initiatives are made considering power dynamics. The study will apply qualitative approach, and purposive sampling will be applied supplemented by snowball sampling. Four rural wards will be purposively selected and four Focus Group Discussions targeting farmer group, youth group, persons with disabilities and water resource group (1 FGD per ward). Data collected through 3 - 4 key informant interviews amongst civil societies and government officials in sectors affected by climate change and citizens who have attended participatory budgeting forums. In conclusion, the study will address policy issues such as the threshold of public participation, the legitimacy of the process, mechanisms of removing the barriers for participation and the necessary institutional capacity to translate participatory budgeting outputs into climate change adaptation measures.