Wiawso College of Education

Teachers play an important role in the development of human capital yet the rate of teacher attrition continues to be a problem in Ghana. The research seeks to explore the extent to which ease of attrition from the teaching profession influences the choice of the teaching profession as a career by student teachers. This study adopted a quantitative research design and deployed a multi-stage sampling strategy. The sample size was 864. Deploying the ordered-logistic regression model, the study finds that the ease of attrition from the teaching profession does not influence the choice of the teaching profession as a career.

The purpose of the study was to assess the socioeconomic status and levels of parental involvement on the academic performance of Junior High School Students in the Upper West Akim District in Ghana. The study adopted the quantitative approach and specifically used the descriptive survey design. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used for the selection of schools and respondents for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software version 22 was used for analysis of data gathered. The study concluded that, parents’ socioeconomic status specifically; education, occupation and income levels, is an important factor that determines the academic performance of students in the Upper West Akim District. The educational and income statuses have a positive relationship with the academic performance of students. The findings from the study also revealed that, parents who ensure that their children study at home, provide their educational needs, discuss their progress with their teachers and attend PTA meetings regularly have children who perform better academically as compared to children whose parents do not see to it that their children study at home, provide the educational needs of their children, discuss their children’s learning with teachers and attend PTA meeting regularly. It is recommended that, Considering the strong positive relationship between parental involvement and academic performance, it is recommended that government through the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) should educate parents, teachers and school managers on the relevance of parental involvement in the education of the child and the need for the school to create an atmosphere that would involve parents in the education of their wards. It is also recommended that, adult literacy should be enhanced by government to improve the level of education of parents in the Upper West Akim District which will go a long way to improve participation of parents in children’s education and hence improve their academic performance.

Purpose The Ghanaian insurance industry has been transformed significantly from state-led to a market-driven one over the past decades. The empirical literature on the causal relationship between insurance and economic growth has been mixed, but little study on this has been done in Ghana. This study therefore empirically examines the effect of the growing insurance industry on the economic growth in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative research design was deployed in the study. The study used Johansen–Juselius cointegration test and vector error correction model. The study deployed quarterly data from the first quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2018 sourced from the World Bank (World Development Indicators), National Insurance Commission, Ghana Statistical Service and Bank of Ghana. Findings Findings revealed that there is a significant and positive short and long-run relationship between insurance and economic growth in Ghana, bidirectional causality between insurance and economic growth and also a long-run effect of innovations (shocks) in insurance on economic growth. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations of the study is the unavailability of quarterly data of some of the variables. Practical implications The study recommends the development and implementation of policies that promote an increase in coverage and access to insurance products to enhance economic growth. Originality/value The study finds a bidirectional causality running from insurance premium to economic growth and from economic growth to insurance which is consistent with the feedback hypothesis in the case of Ghana. Impulse response functions and the variance decompositions revealed that innovation (shock) in the insurance industry has a positive impact on economic growth.

The study aimed to determine how teaching students problem-solving techniques affected their academic problem-solving performance. A quasi-experimental research design was used for this study. The BIA Lamplighter College of Education's level 400 students make up the population for the 2022–2023 academic year. However, all upper primary students were chosen for the study because Problem-solving was a subject taught in that grade. There were three groups of 126 upper primary students in total. Intact groups were used in the study. The problem-solving technique was used in conjunction with the whole class, cooperative, and think-pair-share teaching methods while teaching Groups 1, 2, and 3 (G1, G2, and G3). Scores from the pre-and post-tests were used to gather information. The data were analyzed using ANOVA, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks, Kruskal-Wallis Test, both Wilcoxon W and Mann-Whitney U. The study's conclusions suggest that teaching through Problem-solving may enhance students' problem-solving abilities. The study also discovered that both students taught using whole-class teaching strategies and students led using cooperative learning and think pair teaching strategies benefit from the techniques. After using the "teaching through" problem-solving approach, there was no discernible difference in performance between male and female students.

Many studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are being conducted on various sectors such as health, finance and travel industry at large. This paper tries to assess the current and likely after effects of COVID-19 on hotel operations in Ghana, using the 3 to 5 star rated hotels as a case. The sample size was 50 out of the 55 hotels in this category in the country. The mixed approach was used to collect data by the use of questionnaire with both open and closed ended questions. Microsoft excel was used in the data analysis. The study found that the occupancy rate, operation capacity and employment were affected drastically by the pandemic therefore; it is recommended that hotels employ the use of discounts and promotions to attract guests. Industry players should sign up to insurance policies that can help cushion their businesses in times of crises.

Social Studies is an integrated discipline which is full of concepts, requiring a resourceful teacher to handle it. Social Studies syllabus for Ghanaian Senior High Schools is replete with concepts that are taught and learnt. There is therefore the need to conduct a study into teachers’ attitudes and factors towards teaching and learning of Social Studies concepts in selected Senior High Schools in Ghana. Non-probability sampling method was used. Twenty-one (21) interview checklists were used as the main tool for data collection. Social Studies concepts are to prepare students to be concerned and participatory citizens who are willing to help in solving personal and societal problems. It is recommended that frequent seminars and periodic or regular in-service training should be organized by the Ghana Education Service to help Social Studies teachers to acquaint themselves with the teaching and learning of Social Studies concepts to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the subject.

The study assessed knowledge base of food vendors’ hygiene practices in Koforidua in the eastern region of Ghana. As a descriptive survey study, fifty (50) respondents made up of food vendors were purposively and conveniently sampled respectively for the study. The data gathered was analyzed using SPSS Version 17 and converted into frequencies, percentages and tables. This study concluded that street food vendors do have relevant knowledge of hygienic food handling practices through the training they receive, but the knowledge they acquire is not put into practice. The study also revealed that effective and regular inspections by Environmental Health officers will couple stringent enforcement of all regulations governing their practices to streamline the activities of the food vendors for better health of their consumers. It is recommended that the training and certification of food vendors should be organized on a regular basis and should be designed using the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point (HACCP). Environmental Health Officers must conduct follow-up exercises after training programmes to ascertain whether food vendors are putting knowledge they have acquired into practice. It is also recommended that, the Metropolitan/Municipal/District environmental health officers should ensure that inspection of street food vendors are carried out effectively, efficiently and regularly so as to monitor the food handling practices of the food vendors’ right from the time of preparation to the point of sale. This is to ensure that food served to consumers is safe for consumption. Vendors who do not put the knowledge they have acquired into practice should have their certificates retrieved and signed up for retraining.

Teachers’ attitudes and levels of knowledge about inclusion and teaching children with special needs have become a sensitive issue over the past decades. The fact that a majority of teachers demonstrate limited knowledge and understanding of children with special educational needs (SEN), and thus have more negative attitudes towards teaching these children in mainstream classrooms, may significantly influence the quality of life and academic success of these children in schools. This cross-sectional study explored the levels of knowledge of and attitudes towards SEN among teachers in public basic schools in Ghana. Most participants had limited knowledge and understanding of teaching children with SEN and showed more negative attitudes towards children with SEN. There were significantly different levels of knowledge and understanding of children with SEN and attitudes towards children with SEN across baseline characteristics. The study results enrich the existing knowledge base on inclusion and contribute significantly to inclusive education policy development as well as indicating the potential for changes in practices.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of computer-assisted instruction approach to the teaching and learning of photosynthesis on the performance of second year Senior High School (SHS 2) Biology students in science. The design for the study was a quasi-experimental research. This study was carried out in Sefwi Wiawso SHS and Asawinso SHS all at Sefwi Wiawso Municipal Assembly in the Western North Region of Ghana. They are all mixed institution. The purposive sampling techniques was used to schools, classes and students for the study. One-hundred one (101) electives biology participants were purposively selected, they consist of SHS 2 Science of (55) fifty-five students from Sefwi Wiawso SHS and SHS 2 Home economics of (46) forty-six students also from Asawinso SHS. The third years were not selected because they were preparing to write their WASSCE. The main instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The study collected only quantitative data and employed quantitative method of data analysis. Data obtained from participants in both experimental and control groups on the Test 2 were analysed statistically using independent-measures t-test. The independent-measures t-Test was used to investigate whether any differences existed between experimental and control groups’ mean scores on the Test 2. The study further revealed that computer-assisted instructions gives feedback to learners to have the opportunity to master computer-assisted instructional package tool used. It is recommended that, computer-assisted instruction method should be encouraged in many Biology classes in Wiawso Municipal Assembly, since it gives students opportunity to see links between concepts, summarise and organise their works, thoughts logically and sequentially. Both genders must be encouraged to use computer-assisted instruction method to studying Biology.

This study adopted the Gaussian equation to eliminate noisy pixels in a segmented image. The equation was converted into a convolution kernel and the values were normalized to attain a perfect result. In order to preserve every information in the image, the border pixels were padded with zeros before the image was convolved with the designed kernel. A variance was computed from the result obtained from the convolution operation and the pixel that obtained the minimum variance was selected as the threshold. In order to obtain the optimum threshold, the computed threshold was multiplied by the optimization constant which ranges from 0.1 to 1, and the resultant was considered as the final threshold for the segmentation process.

The study examined consumers’ Awareness in food hygiene and food borne diseases in Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The research design for the study was a descriptive survey. The population of the study consists of one hundred (100) consumers. Convenience sampling technique was used to select seventy (70) consumers from the licensed food vendors and thirty (30) consumers from the unlicensed food vendors. Questionnaire was the main instrument for the study. The questionnaire had both open ended and close ended questions was on the consumers’ knowledge and perceptions on food borne diseases and the safety of foods. Data gathered checked, edited, coded, processed and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. The study concluded that the consumers of vended foods have some knowledge of food hygiene and food borne diseases; however, they ignore the health hazards associated with poor food handling by food vendors and go ahead to patronize the food the vendors provide. The study also indicated consumers patronized street foods because prices were moderate as compared to the formal establishments and ignore the unhygienic conditions at the vending sites. The correlation analysis shows further that consumers patronage (r=-0.095) had negative and non-significant relationship with food handling practices. It is recommended that Consumers of vended foods should be educated to help improve upon their knowledge in food hygiene and food borne diseases to enable them make informed choices and also prompt regulatory bodies such as the environmental health officers on unacceptable food handling practices of food vendors. It is also recommended The Metropolitan/Municipal/District environmental health officers should ensure that inspection of street food vendors are carried out effectively, efficiently and regularly so as to monitor the food handling practices of the food vendors’ right from the time of preparation to the point of sale.

Ghana is currently running a new teacher education program for the training of teachers at the pre-tertiary level. At the heart of the new national teacher education program is Supported Teaching in School (STS), the practical school-based component of the teacher education program embedded throughout the whole 4-years. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of STS in pre-service teacher preparation and identify any possible challenges associated with the program. The study adopted qualitative a case study design, with the main instruments for data collection being interviews and documentary analysis. Data collection was done through individual and focus group interviews, and documentary analysis of Student Reflective Journals. Individual interviews were conducted for six pre-service science teachers and the focus group interview was made up of four pre-service teachers using the Ishikawa or fishbone tool. From the analysis of data done using “topological analysis,” it was revealed that supported teaching in school is impacting on the pre-service preparation in; real classroom exposure giving them firsthand experience of the classroom situation; lesson planning and delivery; teacher professionalism as the pre-service teachers now exposed to traits of the teaching profession and qualities of a good teacher; and classroom management for effective lesson delivery. Particular challenges such as mentor-mentee relationship, lack of proper planning, and insufficient time for observation were identified to militate against the program. It is recommended that, appropriate training and incentives should be given to the mentors to prepare them adequately for the program.

The purpose of the study was to examine solid waste disposal situation and its resultant effects in Winneba The research adopted quantitative approach for the study. The design for this research was a descriptive survey. The population for the study were residents of Winneba Township the capital of the Effutu municipality. The area is a fast growing urban community. Stratified sample sampling technique was used to select the respondents for the study. One hundred and fifty-six (156) residents were selected using strata sampling to answer questionnaires. The data entry and analysis was done by using the SPSS software package. The data was edited, coded and analysed into frequencies, percentages with interpretations. The study revealed that there was irregular or lack of routine collection of waste by WMD of EMA and ZoomLion Ghana Ltd. The study also indicated that, the landfill did not meet the requirement of a sanitary landfill as in the case of EMA and therefore could be described as an open dump. It is recommended that, adequate dustbins and skips should be provided by ZoomLion Ghana Ltd. in collaboration with the WMD and Municipal Assembly for residents in the Municipality for waste storage. It is recommended that the landfill site should be properly managed to avoid heaping of waste and burning.

Many researchers emphasize the need to look at teacher self-efficacy in preservice teacher preparation and training for the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to explore science teachers’ efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers who are enrolled in general programme and those enrolled in science programme at a college of education in Ghana. Data for the study were collected from a total number of 227 preservice teachers using Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEB-B). Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics specifically mean and standard deviation and t-test. The results indicated that preservice teachers had high science teaching efficacy however, those who are enrolled in science programme were efficacious than their counterpart in the general programme. Also there was a statistically significant difference in gender on the preservice teachers' science teaching efficacy beliefs. Keywords: Self-efficacy, preservice teacher, science teaching, science programme, general programme. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-22-12 Publication date : August 31 st 2019

This study aimed to investigate the underlying fundamental causes of trainees’ poor performance in organic chemistry. For the study, a descriptive survey design was employed. In all, 182 level 300 science students from four Colleges of Education in the Ashanti, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions which constitute the ASHBA zone were purposively selected. Participants in the study were given a set of self-created questionnaires to fill out in order to get their opinions on the perceived causes of trainees’ poor performance in organic chemistry. The data collected were analyzed quantitatively using factor analysis. The results from the study showed that teacher factors, student factors and school related factors affect trainee’s low performance in organic chemistry. It was therefore recommended that colleges must provide a conducive environment and teaching learning materials for teachers to use appropriate teaching methodology to help trainees enhance their performance.

Technology has profound and lasting influence in classroom as being a powerful tool that can change the way lessons are taught by facilitating both teachers’ instruction practices and students’ learning processes. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of technology in teaching physics within the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana.The study employed descriptive cross-sectional survey. The population for the study was Senior High School (SHS) physics teachers and students of the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. The sample size for the study was made up of 20 teachers and 100 final year students. The main instrument used for the study was a questionnaire for both the teachers and the students. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations and frequencies. It was found that the physics teachers hardly use modern and digital forms of technology in teaching physics.

The purpose of the study was to examine techniques and strategies use in assessing Social Studies concepts in the three senior high schools in Sefwi Wiawso Municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana. Qualitatively, the research design for this study was a Case study. The population for this study consisted of all ten (10) Social Studies teachers in three public Senior High Schools (Wiawso Senior High School, Wiawso Senior/Technical school, and Asawinso senior high school) in Sefwi Wiawso municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used to select municipalities, schools, and Social Studies teachers for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was interview. The data were edited before being analyzed in themes and pattern. Being a case study design in qualitative research, the researcher read through the data several times so as to familiarize with the data, making notes, referring back to the research question, making decisions whether to focus on individual responses or on topics. The interview data were interpreted to articulate meaning, making decisions on whether to use direct quotes or the summary of respondents’ responses and reporting the data considering the interest of various audiences. The study revealed that teachers used various teaching techniques such as brainstorming, simulation, discovery-learning, role-play discussion, dramatization, problem-solving, and building a community implies that they believed in child-centered method of the teaching and learning of Social Studies. The study also concluded that Social Studies teachers use techniques and strategies like concept attainment, field trips, and debate co-operative learning in motivating and providing learners with the opportunity to interact with their own community or environment. It is recommended that Social Studies teachers should make effort either to go on field trips or make use of available experts that are in their communities by inviting them into the Social Studies classrooms to tap into their rich knowledge to enhance concept learning. It is also recommended that frequent seminars and periodic or regular in-service training should be organised by the Ghana Education Service to help Social Studies teachers to acquaint themselves with the modern teaching techniques and strategies that promote the teaching and learning of Social Studies concepts.

The purpose of this study was to determine school and teacher-related factors affecting low academic performance of senior high school students in integrated science in some selected districts in western region of Ghana. The research design used in this study is descriptive cross-sectional survey. The population of the study was made up of students and science teachers in selected senior high schools in the study area which comprises three districts; Ellembele District, Jomoro District and Nzema-East Municipal. A Sample of 342 students and 18 teachers were used for this study. In carrying out the study, a questionnaire was used as the main instrument for the data collected which were analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the results, it was seen that school-related factors causing poor performance in Integrated Science among students include; the inadequacy of facilities, poor state of existing facilities, general disturbances in class and the ineffective supervision of teaching. Moreover, inadequate number of science teachers, inability to complete syllabi, poor teaching style and little time spent in teaching were among the teacher-related factors which caused low academic performance in Science.

A qualitatively, interpretative design was adopted to evaluate type of laboratory practical Teacher Support Materials that could be used to teach practical skills of observation, listening and communication and manipulation of apparatus in titration. The population of the study consisted of three public Senior High Schools (SHS) in Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) municipality of the Central Region of Ghana. Each school offers chemistry as a subject to students. Convenient, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample schools, teachers and students for the study. Six (6) teachers were purposively sampled out of a total of 8 chemistry teachers because they had qualification in Science Education in Chemistry. Five (5) students from each school were randomly selected from each of the three SHS for focal group discussion. The main instrument used for data collection were semi structured interview guide and Observation Checklist (OC). Teachers interview schedule was used to solicit information from the chemistry teachers on how they perceived the use of Practical Skills- based TSMs for teaching practical process skills in titration at the SHS levels. The curriculum profile was used to collect data to answer the research question. For each of the four Lesson Profiles (lesson introduction, skill development, application and closure) of the lesson plan, the total number of scores was divided by the maximum possible scores for the profile and expressed as percentage and qualitatively describing the trends of emerging themes. The study concluded that there has been some improvement in the cognitive experience and pedagogical content knowledge of the teachers as well as the students in the use of the PS-based teacher support material in the laboratory. It is recommended that teachers and educators should thoroughly read and assimilate the contents and the processes described in the PS-based TSMs before they are used in teaching titration so as to develop practical process skills of the students.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Subject Conception and Efficacy Beliefs on the Teaching Effectiveness of Social Studies teachers. The study focused on how teachers’ conception of Social Studies affect their sense of efficacy and ultimately their teaching effectiveness. The study adopted a non-experimental descriptive design to achieve its objective. The population for the study comprised of fifty-two (52) JHS Social Studies teachers. In this study the accessible population was the same as the target population. All the fifty-two (52) teachers teaching Social Studies in the Tano South district were used for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample the respondents for the study. The data for the study was collected using the observation guide, questionnaire and teacher sense of efficacy scale adapted from Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, (2001). Mean, percentages, ranges and correlation were used to analyse the data using SPSS. The findings of the study showed that majority of the Social Studies teachers conceived the subject as citizenship education. Teachers’ also rated their sense of efficacy very high. However, the study revealed that most of the Social Studies teachers teaching effectiveness was low. The low teaching effectiveness would affect the realisation of the objectives of Social Studies. Also, there exist low correlation between teacher efficacy and teaching effectiveness as well as subject conception and teaching effectiveness. The correlation between teacher efficacy and effectiveness was weak and as such it is recommended that there should be a concerted effort to update and upgrade teachers’ knowledge with strong pedagogical skills and better understanding of the task of the Social Studies teacher through workshops and short courses.