Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Amedzofe

BACKGROUND: The global health system remains determined to leverage on every workable opportunity, including artificial intelligence (AI) to provide care that is consistent with patients' needs. Unfortunately, while AI models generally return high accuracy within the trials in which they are trained, their ability to predict and recommend the best course of care for prospective patients is left to chance. PURPOSE: This review maps evidence between January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2023, on the perceived threats posed by the usage of AI tools in healthcare on patients' rights and safety. METHODS: We deployed the guidelines of Tricco et al. to conduct a comprehensive search of current literature from Nature, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Dimensions AI, Web of Science, Ebsco Host, ProQuest, JStore, Semantic Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Emeralds, World Health Organisation, and Google Scholar. In all, 80 peer reviewed articles qualified and were included in this study. RESULTS: We report that there is a real chance of unpredictable errors, inadequate policy and regulatory regime in the use of AI technologies in healthcare. Moreover, medical paternalism, increased healthcare cost and disparities in insurance coverage, data security and privacy concerns, and bias and discriminatory services are imminent in the use of AI tools in healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have some critical implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3.8, 11.7, and 16. We recommend that national governments should lead in the roll-out of AI tools in their healthcare systems. Also, other key actors in the healthcare industry should contribute to developing policies on the use of AI in healthcare systems.

Abstract Background Globally, healthcare systems have always contended with well-known and seemingly intractable challenges like safety, quality, efficient and effective clinical and administrative patient-care services. To firmly confront these and other healthcare challenges, the World Health Organisation proposed a full adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) applications into patient care to stimulate efficiency and guarantee quality in patient management. Purpose This review aimed to establish the extent and type of evidence of the positive effects of the use of AI tools in patient care. Thus, the review mapped evidence by using articles published between January 1, 2010, and October 31, 2023. Methods Consistent with the protocol by Tricco et al., a comprehensive literature search was executed from Nature, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Dimensions, Web of Science, Ebsco Host, ProQuest, JStore, Semantic Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Emeralds, World Health Organisation, and Google Scholar. Upholding the inclusion and exclusion standards, 95 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review. Findings We report that the use of AI tools can significantly improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis to guarantee better patient health outcomes. AI tools also have the ability to mitigate, if not eliminate, most of the factors that currently predict poor patient outcomes. Furthermore, AI tools are far more efficient in generating robust and accurate data in real time and can help ease and accelerate workflow at healthcare facilities. Conclusion If properly integrated into the healthcare system, AI will help reduce patients’ waiting time and accelerate the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 3.4, 3.8, and 3.b. We propose that AI developers collaborate with public health practitioners and healthcare managers to develop AI applications that appreciate socio-cultural dimensions in patient care.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate Basic School teachers’ perspectives on the use of differentiated instructional approaches to promote creativity, critical thinking skills, cooperative teaching, and learning in the Ho-West District of Ghana.
 Methodology: A descriptive research design was employed, and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 289 teachers for the study. The data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and percentages.
 Findings: The findings of the study indicated that the teachers in the Ho-West district had a good understanding of differentiated instructional strategies and their impact on student performance. Additionally, the teachers were aware of how differentiated instruction can affect pupils’ knowledge and skill acquisition and recognized the importance of learning styles, motivation, and encouragement in improving learning outcomes.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: This study makes a unique contribution to the field of education by providing insights into Basic School teachers’ perspectives on the use of differentiated instructional approaches in promoting creativity, critical thinking skills, cooperative teaching, and learning in the Ho-West District of Ghana. The study's findings highlight the need for in-service programs, workshops, seminars, and short courses on differentiated instructional strategies to enhance teachers' practical training and further develop their existing knowledge of differentiated instruction. These findings have significant implications for theory, policy, and practice in education, particularly in the Ho-West District of Ghana. The study recommends that the Ho-West District directorate of the Ghana Education Service and stakeholders in education should organize such programs to enhance teachers' ability to apply differentiated instructional strategies and enhance creativity, critical thinking skills, and cooperative teaching and learning among pupils in the district.

Previous works on the analysis of anthems have focused on unearthing encoded latent meanings through the analysis of linguistic devices such as cohesive devices, deictic expressions, figures of speech, content words and clauses. However, the analysis of institutional anthems as a sub-genre of anthems has received minimal attention in linguistic research. The current study therefore adopts a qualitative exploratory procedure to conduct a transitivity analysis of process types and their encoded implications in selected Ghanaian university anthems underpinned by the transitivity framework by Halliday and Matthiessen (2014). The sample for the study is composed of anthems of four main or traditional universities in Ghana. The four anthems that serve as data for the study are anthems of University for Development Studies (UDS), University of Cape Coast (UCC), University of Ghana (UG) and University of Education, Winneba (UEW). The consensual coding strategy is used to check the validity of the coding process. The results indicate a preponderant use of material processes to spell out the expected actions to be taken by members of the universities to inure to the holistic progress of their institutions. Other process types such as relational, mental and verbal processes are minimally used to establish relationships, eulogize and personify the universities as important institutions worthy of praise. The study concludes that the creation of institutional solidarity was better represented through the analysis of process types in the selected Ghanaian university anthems. The implications of this study unveil the importance of university anthems in the representation of the goals, visions and missions of universities and recommend that tertiary institutions who use adopted anthems could relook at that by getting to compose their own anthems in alignment with the goals, vision and mission underpinning their establishment.

There is the need for the training of Early Childhood Education Teachers to appreciate and exhibit the integration of indigenous knowledge in the teaching and learning process. This paper aims to create the awareness in policy makers that the time to encourage and support Early Childhood Educators to use indigenous knowledge in facilitating themes and concepts is ripe. This knowledge is common in our Traditional Ewe Play Games hereafter called TEPG. The integration of traditional play games in teaching and learning at the Early Grade Level is one sure means of arousing learning interest in children. Traditional play games, sustain their interest towards learning and opens up multi- sensory learning behavior in them. Educational benefits of traditional play games cannot be overemphasized. Indigenous plays allow a multisensory spectrum of scaffolding, assessment and responsive feedback for coaching. The paper suggests that when Pre-service Teachers are properly trained to acquire the knowledge and skills in the use of indigenous play games at their training levels, they would be well equipped to facilitate the Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum hence producing functional citizens for the nation. This qualitative research adopted exploratory design to collect data through observation, interview and available literary materials. Descriptive approach was used to analyze the data.

The study sought to find out the role of computer technology in music education in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana. It aimed at surveying the use of computer technology for teaching music and exploring the instructional prospects for computer technology usage in music in Colleges of Education. The study employed Rogers’ Diffusion Innovation theory and descriptive survey research method. Data was collected from the respondents using questionnaire, interview, and observation. The study revealed that even though about 90% of the music tutors have good academic qualification and over five years teaching experience, lack of competence in handling computer technology in teaching music among some music tutors and incoherent ICT initiatives hindered proper application of computer technology in the field of music education. It is however envisaged that increasing access and coherent computer technology initiatives will be paramount for the teaching of music in the Colleges of Education.

BACKGROUND: The role of family caregivers in the management of cerebrovascular accident survivors is invaluable. So far, there is a strong evidence affirming the effectiveness of family support for cerebrovascular accident survivors. Meanwhile, caring for cerebrovascular survivors can be labour and time intensive and pretty stressful for caregivers. The purpose of the study was to examine the lived experiences of family caregivers of cerebrovascular accident survivors in the Ho Municipality in the Volta Region of Ghana. This aims are to establish their caregivers' knowledge, preparedness, and impact of caregiving on the caregiver, and coping strategies caregivers adopted. METHODS: Using a four-item (with 14 prompts) interview guide and descriptive phenomenological approach, we gathered and analysed data from 37 family caregivers in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. RESULTS: We found that caregivers had limited knowledge about cerebrovascular disease-risk factors and were ill-prepared for their caregiving roles. Additionally, we found limited knowledge about coping strategies among the caregivers. We further report that some caregivers lost close relationships, and their jobs because of the caregiving, they also used fasting and prayer as coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers suffered broken relationship, loss their jobs and incomes due to their caregiving roles. Moreover, some engaged in fasting and prayers, and alcohol use to cope with the stress associated with caring for the cerebrovascular accident survivors. We discussed the potential implications of our findings on the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4. The aim of this goal is to reduce by 75% premature deaths due to cerebrovascular and other non-communicable diseases by 2030.

This study is a quantitative research and used a correlational research design to investigate the relationship between pre-service teachers’ prior mathematics achievement (PA) at the senior high school and mathematics self-efficacy (MSEF) on learning and achievement in geometry and trigonometry in colleges of education. A sample of 449 pre-service teachers (264 males and 185 females) randomly selected from the population was used for the study. The result revealed a strong positive relationship between PA (r = 0.543), MSEf (r = 0.542), and geometry and trigonometry score. The study then concludes that the factors (PA, MSEf) have a positive relationship with geometry and trigonometry achievement. The study recommended that colleges of education should place much emphasis on pre-service teachers’ entry grade in mathematics when considering the requirement for admission.

A quasi-experimental non-equivalent group design research was conducted to use Maple software to reduce students’ errors in integral calculus in a senior high school in the Oti region of Ghana. Convenience and simple random sampling techniques were employed to obtain a sample of 80 students, which comprised 40 students in the control group and 40 in the experimental group. Tests in integral calculus and questionnaire were used for data gathering. The analysis revealed that students committed many conceptual, procedural and technical errors when solving integral calculus tasks. The results also indicated that the students of the experimental group exposed to the use of Maple software in learning integral calculus significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group exposed to traditional method. The researcher recommends the Maple assisted instruction in the teaching and learning of integral calculus and also the need to employed blended teaching approach using the Maple software to complement the traditional teaching strategy

The linguistic analysis of anthems of football clubs is a growing area of linguistic research. This paper therefore contributes significantly to literature on the linguistic analysis of anthems of football clubs by exploring the rivalry ties between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona through the prism and lens of the translated English language versions of their anthems. The study examines how stylistic devices are used to project, construct and reflect various themes in the anthems of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona towards deepening the rivalry ties between them. The study is underpinned by the linguistic and stylistic categories framework by Leech and Short (2007). The translated English versions of the anthems of Real Madrid and Barcelona are sourced from the official websites of the clubs. The findings of the study show that stylistic devices such as repetition, co-referencing, metaphors, personification, and parallelism are aesthetically used in the anthems to project the themes of identity, solidarity, resilience and praises in order to further deepen the rivalry ties between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona especially during El Clásicos. The theme of solidarity is dominantly projected stylistically to present FC Barcelona as a club that calls for internal solidarity in order to champion its Catalonian ideologies while Real Madrid is projected as a club that seeks to establish external solidarity through canvasing for a worldwide fun base. The findings of the study would help fans and players of the two clubs and all lovers of football to better appreciate the content of the lyrics in the anthems. The study concludes that, the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona is not only sourced from political and historical antecedents but can equally be sourced from anthems of the clubs since these anthems encode the ideologies of the clubs.

Purpose: Behaviour modification is considered a task of the home and the school. It is the duty of the school to nib in the bud any negative behaviour children pick from the home environment at the early grade level. This paper explores the impact and usefulness of messages from Traditional Ewe Folktales hereafter (TEF) in the training of early grade children in Ghana. 
 Methodology: This paper is a qualitative research. Primary data was collected from four separate storytelling sessions in home and school settings. Six stories were narrated in the home setting by two old ladies under moonlight for fifteen children each from a rural setting. In the school setting, one story each was narrated by two teachers in two different schools. Storytelling periods on the school time table was used. Three stories were considered for analysis; Two and one story each were randomly selected from the home and school settings respectively.
 Results: It was found that educational values are imbedded in TEF. The educational values include the values of the society such as honesty, hard work, teamwork, patriotism and turn taking. Regular and purposeful use of these stories has the propensity of modifying behaviour. The paper concluded that when these educational values are tapped and developed through appropriate exemplars in the enactment of the school curriculum, behaviour modifications would occur with sustainability. The use of teaching strategies like role play, dramatization and songs can drive the behaviour modification. The paper recommended that TEF should be included in early grade classroom activities as a teaching strategy but not a means of whiling time. Parents should support teachers to gain more knowledge of TEF for classroom practices. The school base in-service training should be revived to equip teachers with knowledge of TEF and its application in the classroom.

Abstract Health systems worldwide are facing unprecedented pressure as the needs and expectations of patients increase and get ever more complicated. The global health system is thus,forced to leverage on every opportunity, including artificial intelligence (AI), to provide care that is consistent with patients’ needs. Meanwhile, there are serious concerns about how AI tools could threaten patients’ rights and safety. Therefore, this study maps available evidence,between January 1, 2010 to September 30, 2023, on the perceived threats posed by the usage of AI tools in healthcare on patients’ rights and safety. We deployed guidelines based on that of Tricco et al. to conduct a comprehensive search of literature from Nature, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Dimensions, Ebsco Host, ProQuest, JStore, Semantic Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Emeralds, World Health Organisation, and Google Scholar. In keeping with the inclusion and exclusions thresholds, 14 peer reviewed articles were included in this study. We report that there is potential for breach of patients’ privacy, prejudice of race, culture, gender, social status, and that AI is also subject to errors of commission and omission. Additionally, existing regulations appeared inadequate to define standards for the use of AI tools in healthcare. Our findings have some critical implications for the achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3.8, 11.7, and 16. We recommend that national governments should lead the rollout of AI tools in healthcare, key actors in the healthcare industry should contribute to developing policies on AI use in healthcare, and governments in developing countries should invest and sponsor research into AI in their healthcare system.

The proud kente cloth has knowledge and cultural heritage which has ceremonial, symbolic and authority about the wearer that is best known and mostly widely recognized of all textiles in Africa. Its unique features are wide and invokes powerful emotions as well as symbolizes the fundamental nonverbal codes ever imagined in Ghana which cuts across religion, ethnicity and instill national pride. The purpose of the study was to establish the unique message kente possesses and communicates to society as well as its status. Most of the existing writers center on textile weaving, tools and techniques in textile weaving and the aesthetic nature of kente. Though these writings are important contributions to kente, its nonverbal communicative codes have not been well documented. The adoption of the kente among Agortime-Kpetoe weavers was primarily influenced by sensory experience, fit, and interpersonal impact, which serves as an example of how several parts of the kente clothing are interconnected. The sociolinguistic theory is used as a theoretical lens in this work as well. The study made use of qualitative data for its purpose. 15 people were chosen to take part in the study using purposive sampling methods. Participants included kente cloth consumers and weavers. Data for the study was collected using an interviewing guide. Present the study’s findings before you conclude. The study finds that the Agotime Kente mostly use non-verbal codes to communicate. The study's conclusions showed that while most modern kente cloths do not communicate, certain distinctive ones do, particularly those that are currently being woven. These include clothes that express concepts of religion, rivalry, position, authority, and royalty to the user. This supports the belief of the Agotime society that non-verbal codes are more reliable and plausible for expressing royalty, authority, status, and communication between people. Keywords: Ewe kente, Symbols, Sociolinguistics, Communication, Agortime-Kpetoe

This theoretical review examines innovation and change management in Ghanaian Colleges of Education. The key frameworks used to inform this exploration were Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation, Lewin’s Change Management Model, Kotter’s Eight-Step Model, Institutional Theory, and Resource-Based View. The study has reviewed the contemporaneous literature published between 2020-2023, incorporating global perspectives and the Ghanaian context, which have provided barriers, success stories, and lessons for leadership, policy and management of institutions. The study determined that effective innovation takes visionary leadership, strategic resource allocation, participative decision-making, and being sensitive to policy expectations and real-world contexts. The review identified a number of gaps, including limited, empirical research explicitly connecting theory to practice in Ghanaian Colleges of Education, as well as calling for context-specific change management frameworks. The review discusses implications for leadership, policy and management, including the call to innovate reforms and the need to conduct further empirical research, including longitudinal and comparative studies. This study offers a theoretical foundation that synthesizes global and Ghanaian perspectives into practical insights and a framework tailored for policy, leadership, and management in teacher education, that enables new initiatives and empirical research into sustainable innovation and change in Ghanaian teacher education institutions.

Aim: Teachers' knowledge of feedback systems encompasses their understanding of the purpose and types of feedback, as well as their knowledge of how to design and implement effective feedback processes. The practice of feedback systems refers to the extent to which they implement feedback processes in the classroom. This includes the frequency and quality of feedback provided to students, as well as the use of feedback to guide instructional decisions. Assessing teachers' knowledge and practice of feedback systems in junior high schools is important because effective feedback practices are essential for promoting student learning and academic achievement. This study aimed to assess mathematics and science teachers' Knowledge and Practice of feedback systems in junior high schools in Hohoe, Ghana.
 Methods: A survey research design was used to collect data from 104 mathematics and science teachers using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data.
 Results: The results showed that the mean Knowledge score of mathematics and science teachers was 3.12, indicating a majority agreement level of knowledge of feedback system. The mean practice score was 2.12, indicating a majority disagreement level of practice of feedback system in the classroom. There was no significant difference in knowledge and practice scores between male and female teachers. However, an inverse correlation was found between knowledge and practice scores, indicating that teachers with higher knowledge of feedback systems may not necessarily be effective at implementing those systems in practice.
 Conclusion: It was observed that majority of the participants do not practice feedback in their teaching.
 Recommendations: There is need for professional development programs and policies that support effective feedback practices in the classroom. Further research is needed to identify the contextual factors that influence teachers' feedback practices and their understanding of feedback purposes in Ghana.

The study was conducted on the use of Maple software to reduce student teachers’ errors in Differential Calculus at Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Volta Region - Ghana. The research design for the study was quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. Convenience and simple random sampling techniques were employed to obtain a sample of 104 student teachers, which comprised 53 student teachers in the control group and 51 in the experimental group. Test items were the instruments used for data gathering. Descriptive, paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test were used in analyzing data. Descriptive content error analysis revealed that student teachers committed many conceptual, procedural and technical errors when solving tasks in the differential calculus. The results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between student teachers’ of the experimental group exposed to the use of Maple software in learning differential calculus to control groups exposed to traditional methods. Consequently, it was recommended that Maple assisted instruction be incorporated in the teaching and learning of differential calculus in the school; and also there is the need for the mathematics teachers in the school to employ blended teaching approaches, in which Maple software are used simultaneously to enhance teaching of mathematics concepts.

This study explored the effective application of Maple software to reduce student teachers’ errors in Integral Calculus at Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Volta Region – Ghana. The study employed the quasi-experimental non-equivalent group design. Convenience and simple random sampling techniques were employed to obtain a sample of 80 students, which consisted of 40 students in the control group and 40 in the experimental group. Teacher-made Pre, -Post-Calculus Achievement Tests (CAT), and questionnaires were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Descriptive, Independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test were used in analyzing the data. Descriptive error analysis revealed that students committed many conceptual, procedural and technical errors when solving Integral Calculus tasks. The results also indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between students of the experimental group exposed to the use of Maple software in learning integral calculus to the control group exposed to traditional methods. The researchers recommend Maple assisted instruction in the teaching and learning of Integral Calculus and also the need to employ a blended teaching approach, in which Maple software is used simultaneously with traditional teaching strategy.

Instructional cue (IC) plays an important role in directing student's attention toward the most critical information about a movement task. Notably, an incorrect performance of a skill practiced for a long period is difficult to correct later. For this reason, physical education (PE) teachers need to constantly develop and implement good strategies that enhance students’ acquisition of critical features of movement skills. Teachers must use a variety of ICs targeted fairly at individual students and whole class. For effectiveness, different types of teachers’ ICs must be provided in an instructional setting. However, little is known about the effectiveness of teachers’ ICs in practical PE setting. The purpose of this pedagogical research in PE setting was to investigate targets, types and rate per minute of teachers’ ICs in netball shooting skill. The study was situated in three selected colleges of education (CoE) where descriptive processes were used to conduct the investigation. Digital video was utilized to record naturally occurring classroom events of pre-service teachers (n=77) and PE teachers (n=4). The video-recorded lesson lasted 1 hour (60 minutes). Two independent recorders used event recording instrument to document classroom events relating to types and targets of teachers’ ICs. Inter-observer agreement procedures revealed a good reliability of data collected for the study. Descriptive analyses were conducted using mainly percentages, frequencies and means. Major findings of the study showed that verbal, visual and kinesthetic ICs were the main types of Teachers’ ICs used during the instructional period. However, verbal ICs dominated the observed practical lesson. Findings also revealed that more verbal ICs were provided to the group than individual students. Non-verbal ICs which involved demonstrations and signals were mostly used to facilitate individual students’ acquisition of the shooting skill in netball. In each minute, students received teachers’ IC relating to the proper technique of performing assigned task.

Purpose: This study investigated the perceived impact of COVID-19 on students’ academic performance in Colleges of Education in Ghana.
 Methodology: Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A sample of 346 students was selected from a population of 3,500 students in three selected Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana using convenience sampling procedure. Data were gathered using questionnaire and analysed using means and standard deviation. Data were presented in tables after the analysis.
 Findings: The study found that students found it difficult to focus during online lessons and that their academic performance had worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of the challenges encountered by students during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the study revealed that poor internet connectivity, lack of needed resources like laptops to access online learning system and lack of conducive learning atmosphere in the house were identified. From the results, it was concluded that the COVID-19 Pandemic at its peak has been detrimental to the academic performance of students in Colleges of Education in Ghana.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy Recommendation: The study highlighted the fact that students can learn not only in-person but can engage in remote learning. This backed the position of the Transactional Distance Theory used in the study. In improving learning in the wake of COVID-19, Colleges of Education should provide platforms for online learning with easy access and usage for students. Generally, policy makers should make policies that would make online learning a part of the education system at all levels of education. This would be a positive adjustment caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
 

This study investigated problem-based learning by utilizing mixed method approach in which 100 pre-service teachers were randomly selected from four Colleges of Education in the Volta-Oti Region of Ghana and assigned to control and experimental groups. Trigonometry Achievement Test (TAT) and semi structured interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. During treatment, problem-based learning (PBL) method of instruction was used to teach the experimental group while the control group was taught by conventional instructional approach. Both pre-test (pre-TAT) and post-test (post-TAT) were administered to pre-service teachers and their responses were scored to obtain quantitative data. The results revealed that pre-service teachers in both groups had improved in their post-TAT compared to their pre-TAT. However, it was revealed that pre-service teachers in the experimental group performed better in the post TAT than those in the control group. Finally, the findings revealed that PBL instruction promotes students’ motivation. In conclusion, PBL instructional approach to teaching and learning of trigonometry concepts was found to promote students’ motivation and increased achievement in trigonometry than the conventional instruction. Subsequently, the implications for practice and research are discussed.