ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The Nature and causes of Mathematical anxiety among Senior High School Students

The study investigated the nature and causes of mathematical anxiety among Senior High School (SHS) students and the extent to which age and anxiety level can predict their mathematics performance. Cross-Sectional survey design with a mixed-method approach was adopted to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample of 270 final year students from non-science departments of four (4) public Senior High Schools in the Agona West municipality at the Central region of Ghana for the study. Questionnaire and semi structured interview protocol were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and later, secondary data was also collected on students’ mathematics examination scores. Frequency count, percentage, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, and regression analysis were the statistical tests used in analysing the quantitative data collected for the study while the qualitative data was presented in descriptive words. The result showed that 64% of the respondents have high mathematical anxiety, while only 2% have low mathematical anxiety. However, 34% of the participants have moderate mathematical anxiety. Besides, it was discovered that students’ mathematical anxiety stemmed from assessment practices such as poor test taking, poor test preparation, examination conditions, the structure and content of assessment items, etc. as a prevalent cause. Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed a strong and significant negative relationship between students’ mathematical anxiety and their performance in mathematics, while a regression analysis unearthed that mathematical anxiety score can be considered as a significant variable in predicting students’ mathematics performance at the Senior High School level of education. Finally, the researcher concluded based on the findings that Ghanaian SHS students have a high level of mathematical anxiety which is strongly connected to assessment practices as the cause and has a converse relationship with their academic performance in mathematics. Also, students’ mathematical anxiety scores can predict their performance in mathematics.

Source: UEW
The nature and extent of code-switching and code-mixing of songhay speakers of French

The present thesis entitled “The Nature and Extent of Code-switching and Code mixing of Songhay Speakers of French” is a research work on language contact phenomena of code-alternation by Songhay speakers of French. The study aims at analysing the switches by classifying and categorising them according to the existing models on CS and CM constraints. It also aims at analysing the context that conditions this language practice. To achieve these goals, the study comprises five chapters and an oral corpus of the recorded conversations of the participants. The population of the study is all Songhay speakers of French. 90 participants are selected out of five groups called “grins” in Bamako, Gao and Timbuktu. Three instruments are used in the study: participant observation, a questionnaire for thep bio-data of the participants, and a conversational interview to get ideas and opinions of six selected respondents. The study has confirmed the ‘equivalence of structure constraint’ of Poplack (1980) stating that, in the inter-sentential switching where sentences or clauses are juxtaposed, there is no violation of the grammar of the two languages involved in code-switching. In the intra-sentential switching where French words are inserted in a Songhay-based code, the inserted words are not transformed but sometimes take the Songhay inflectional affixes to adapt the Songhay grammar system. This confirms the ‘Matrix Language Frame Model’ of Myers-Scotton (1993a, b). The intra-sentential type of switching has been revealed more frequently used than the inter-sentential one with 82% of speeches, confirming Poplack’s (1980, 1981) ‘size of constituent constraint’. The most striking finding is the frequent use of the past participle of the verbal forms of switches. The study has also revealed phonological processes of assimilation, insertion and vowel consonant harmony in the intra-sentential type of switching of participants of the Gao dialect of Songhay. The study has demonstrated that this linguistic practice does not endanger the native language, but ‘denatures’ it by a massive invasion of foreign words.

Source: UEW
The nature of formal reasoning among Junior High School pupils in selected integrated science logic tasks

This study was carried out to determine the nature of formal reasoning among junior high school pupils in some selected schools in the Effutu Municipality. This study thus used logical reasoning tests in integrated science and in general knowledge as well as an interview protocol in collecting data. The integrated science logic tasks were based on topics chosen from the integrated science syllabus for form one, two and three pupils. However, the general logic tasks were based on general knowledge with the level of pupils taken into consideration. In choosing the sample for the study, 150 pupils were randomly selected from five public junior high schools in the Effutu Municipality. They were then served with different items based on their syllabus. Cronbach-Alpha reliability values of 0.750, 0.780, 0.860 and 0.916, 0.826, 0.783 were obtained in the ISLT and GLT for form 1,2 and 3 respectively. The validity of the instruments was established by supervisors and other senior lecturers in the Department of Science Education, University of Education, Winneba. Out of the total sample, 30 pupils were randomly selected for the interview. The results of the two tests and the interview were used to determine the nature of their formal reasoning pattern. It was found that most pupils were operating at the concrete operational level of reasoning with just a handful being at the formal operational level of reasoning. Again the few pupils who could do formal reasoning mostly exhibited conservational, probabilistic and combinatorial reasoning with few pupils doing correlational, controlling variables and proportional reasoning. On the whole, the form one pupils did more formal reasoning than form two and form three in the general logic tasks. The trend however changed in the integrated science logic tasks as the form three pupils did more formal reasoning than the form one and two pupils. It was also found that University of Education, Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xiii on the average all pupils performed better in the integrated science logic tasks than in the general logic tasks, implying that pupils‟ formal reasoning was subject oriented.

Source: UEW
The nature, access and use of instructional materials in kindergarten schools a case study in Atwima Nwabiagya district

The study investigated the nature, access and use of instructional materials in kindergartens in the Atwima Nwabiagya District in the Ashanti Region. Specifically, the study sought to identify the nature of instructional materials that are available and accessible in kindergartens in the district, determine the extent of use of instructional materials by the kindergarten teachers in the district, find out the challenges in the availability and accessibility of instructional materials in kindergartens schools in the district, find out the challenges in the teachers’ usage of instructional materials in the district. A descriptive research design was used to collect data from a sample of 160 kindergarten teachers through a structured questionnaire. The reliability test for each segment of the questionnaires yielded Cronbach’s alpha scores of 0.79, 0.73, 0.65 and 0.85 respectively. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. According to the findings, majority of instructional materials for teaching at the kindergarten level were unavailable and a few which were available too were insufficient, manufactured and poorly conditioned. Results indicated that, majority of the kindergarten teachers never used instructional materials in teaching and learning and this was due to their unavailability. The findings showed that, majority of the kindergarten teachers had challenges with availability and accessibility of instructional materials. Moreover, results revealed that majority of the kindergarten teachers were not confronted with competency challenges in the use of instructional materials in teaching. Based on the findings, it is recommended that school authorities should provide and make instructional materials accessible to teachers. Again, kindergarten teachers should improvise some of the instructional materials locally and the Ministry of Education should supply the required instructional materials to the Kindergarten schools in the district on time.

Source: UEW
Nature, prevalence and effectiveness of corporal punishment in basic schools in Ejisu-Juaben Municipality

Corporal punishment has become a topical issue in the world today regarding its usage and effectiveness in schools. The purpose of the study was to assess the nature, prevalence and effectiveness of Corporal punishment in Ejisu–Juaben basic schools. The study employed a descriptive sample survey design. A sample of 90 respondents comprising of 30 teachers/ headmasters and 60 pupils was used. Two sets of questionnaire were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The major findings of the study were that offences that attracted corporal punishment include bullying, absenteeism, coming to school late, fighting, examination malpractices, talking/noise making. Other offences are disrespect of teachers, leaving school without permission, attack on teachers, pilfering/stealing, moving about in class, sexual malpractice, damage to school property, drug abuse and disobedience/violation of school rules and regulations. With regards to the seriousness of offenses/ misbehaviours, coming to school late, examination malpractices, eating in class, disrespect of teachers, leaving school without permission, moving about in class, talking/ noise making, sleeping in class and disobedience /violation of school rules and regulations were the agreed serious offenses. On the nature and types of corporal punishments, caning/spanking, kneeling down, scrubbing toilet and urinal pits, weeding around the school compound, suspension, digging of pits, watering trees and running round the school block were the corporal punishments given to students in the schools. With respect to prevalence of punishments used in the schools, caning/spanking of students, kneeling down, scrubbing toilet and urinal pits, weeding around the school, watering of trees and running around the school block were often used. Finally, on the effectiveness of corporal punishments, caning of students, making students kneel down, making students scrub toilet and urinal pits, weeding around the school, digging pits, making students water trees and letting students run around the school compound were the punishments considered to be effective in the schools. It was recommended that workshops should be organized to sensitize teachers to use more positive strategies of discipline instead of corporal punishment.

Source: UEW
Negation in Dangme

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of negation in Dangme. It considers the negative morpheme in Dangme, and how some of its allomorphs are used in the language. The segmental variants of the negative morpheme in Dangme are [wē] or [bé] or [-í] or [΄]. The choice of any depends largely on the shape of the verb stem. I consider the segmental [wē] allomorph as the underlying form since all the other allomorphs are derived from one another. Data for this paper was collected mainly from Dangme students of the University of Education, Winneba, and as a native speaker, I also provided some of the data for this work. The purpose of this paper is to examine these allomorphs of the negative in Dangme. This paper is organized into three sections. In the first section, I give a brief background of Dangme. I include background on the vowel system of Dangme and discuss only the verbal system of Dangme which is relevant to this study. I then briefly discuss the lexical and grammatical functions of tone in Dangme. In the second, I examine the negation strategies: morphological, syntactic, lexical and phonological. I also discuss factors affecting the choice of a negative morpheme in Dangme. The last section summarizes and concludes the paper.

Source: UEW
Negation strategies in Gonja

Dwumadie yi hw11 mp1ns1mp1ns1mu a 1fa ns1mp4de1 titire a 1da adi w4 Kojo Antwi ne Daddy Lumba 4d4 nnwom no bi mu. Botae1 titire ne s1 1hw11 ns1mp4de1 a 1da adi w4 annwomtofo4 baanu yi nnwom ahodo4 mu, kasasuo a w4de di dwuma de da ns1mp4 no adi, 1na w4n mu biara nnwomto4 adey1su. Ns1mmuafo4 du na mede m’ani sii w4n so faa anto nhyehy1e1 kwan so twetwee nk4mm4. Mede 4kasa ne sukyer1 nkyer1kyer1mu a megyinaa ns1mmoano ne ns1mmuafo4 anoms1m a mekyere guu afidie so na 1y11 mp1ns1mp1ns1nmu no. Kojo Antwi 4d4 nnwom num ne Daddy Lumba 4d4 nnwom num ne emu ns1mmoano ahodo4 na megyinaa so y11 mp1ns1mp1ns1nmu no. Dwumadie yi annyina adwenemus1m/ti4ri biara so s1de1 Bruan ne Clarke (2006) de to dwa fa ns1mp4de1 nhwehw1mu ho no. Nhwehw1mu yi ada ns1mp4de1 bi te s1 ahonu ne adwensakyera, akor4kor4 ne mpata, 4d4 a 1som bo anaa 4d4 mmapa, huamm4die, anigyina, abamubuo, b4hy1, adansedie ne ayeyie. Ebinom nso ne akor4kor4 ne nnyegyeso4, osoowa y1 nnaada anaa aho4f1 nkyer1 suban, honam ak4nn4 ne anisop1, mmaa akosua kumaa hy1 tokurom, mpam atopabuo, k4te1 ne 1tw1die nnyegyeho ne aware1 mu b4hy1 adi. Afei kasasuo ahodo4 bi te s1 nteamude1, mm1, s1-s1ntefo4, s1-nipa, mmrane, ntotohos1m, anihanehane, sabuakwan, kasammraani, amp1-mmuae1 as1mmisa, ntimu, nnyinah4ma, adwenemu mfonin, nnyegyee1 ne 1nne nsisiso4 a annwomtofo4 no de dii dwuma nso nhwehw1mu yi ada no adi. !b1daa adi s1 Daddy Lumba de kasasuo bi te s1 kasammraani ne sabuakwan dii dwuma yie, na Kojo Antwi nso de kasa fann/ferenkyemm dii dwuma. Bio, dwumadie no ma y1hunuu Kojo Antwi ne Daddy Lumba nnwomto4 adey1su sononko a 1da nso ne w4n adey1su a 1y1 p1 a 1kyer1 nimde1 a w4w4 ne kwadare a w4akwadare w4 Akan Kasa mu nkitahodie mu ne nkitahodie kasasu. Afei nsusui1 pa a 1b1ma anom kasadwini b1gyina w4 sukuu ahodo4 mu ne Akan Haelaefo nso krataa yi ada no adi.

Source: UEW
Negation strategies in Gonja

This thesis discusses the concept of negation strategies in Gonja, a Guan language spoken in the Savannah Region of Ghana. It focuses on how sentential, imperatives and constituent negation is marked in Gonja. Negation in Gonja is marked via the use of syntactic independent particles which come before the verb. The analysis is mainly descriptive and is cast within the theoretical framework of the Basic Linguistic Theory (BLT) by Dixon (2012). The study also examined the various preverbal particles used in the language for marking negation. Data for this thesis were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were drawn mainly from naturally occurring spoken texts (spontaneous speech) which were recorded from a Gonja speaking community in the East Gonja District dialect. The spontaneous data which were phone recorded were formally and informally transcribed for the analysis. These were supplemented by elicited data, as well as data based on my native speaker intuition. The secondary data were collected from some Gonja books. The findings in this study indicate that, Gonja employs one strategy for marking of negation. The overtly expressed negative markers are maa, maŋ, maaŋ, saŋ and manɛ used for negating declaratives and imperatives and constituent constructions respectively. The findings show that these preverbal negative markers interact with aspectual markers in the language. The findings further indicate that there is incompatibility between the progressive aspectual and future markers in Gonja negation. I conclude that in Gonja, there is no overt morpheme that is attached to the verb to mark the imperative mood.

Source: UEW
Neoliberalism and Housing Provision in Accra, Ghana: The Illogic of an Over-Liberalised Housing Market

The economic hardships experienced by African countries in the late 1970s forced many of them to fall on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for financial relief. The two institutions� reaction in almost all cases was to impose structural adjustment programmes (SAP) on those countries in an attempt to stabilize and grow their economies through market forces, with little intervention from the state. Ghana became an unwilling apostle from 1983 when it implemented various rounds of the programme because of the deplorable state of its economy. The country became so committed to structural adjustment that it was portrayed as an extraordinary example of the efficacy of neo-liberal policies in restructuring broken economies. Primary among the benefits to the country was economic liberalization and a corresponding increase in domestic and foreign private investments, especially in the housing industry. Since then, Accra, the national capital, has faced an overproduction of housing for high-income earners thus leading to a dramatic rise of gated communities. On the other hand however, there has been virtually no production of housing for low-income earners, thus exacerbating their continued dependence on the informal sector for housing provision in Accra. With this stark difference, the paper argues that the neoliberal policies of the 1980s have rendered government irrelevant in the housing market, especially in the provision of housing for low income earners, and for that reason accelerated the development of poor housing and slums in the city of Accra. � 2014, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.

Source: UEW
Net calorific values and mineral concentration of thirteen tree and shrub species in Ghana

Obtaining accurate and reliable information on biomass characteristics of tree species is important as it aids in selecting plant species that optimize fuel production for bioenergy. In this study, the net calorific value (NCV) and mineral concentration of 13 plant species selected from the Guinea savanna ecological zone of Ghana were investigated. Significant variation in NCV across the species components was found, with branch wood from most of the species exhibiting higher values compared to stem wood or the bark tissues. Accurate and reliable information on plant biomass could therefore be obtained through plant partitioning. High mobility of Zn and Pb after uptake was observed in the studied species. Apart from Cd whose concentrations in the species exceeded the recommended levels, no toxic levels were observed for the rest of the heavy metals. Thus, the major drawbacks in the use of the species as biomass resource are their higher concentrations of Cd and to some extent, higher ash contents. On account of the relatively high NCV, low ash content and low mineral concentrations, D. microcarpum, and C. febrifuga were found to be most suitable candidates for biomass production and subsequent bioenergy optimization in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. � 2017 Taylor & Francis.

Source: UEW
Network traffic analysis using wireshark in solving network problems

Network traffic analysis is an arrangement of strategies that are progressively used to evaluate the transfer of packets across a network. This movement of information encompasses the period and length of the transferred packets and the state of the correspondence packets. The analysis of system activity gives data about the client as well as the destination of packets thereby enabling system administrators get information to help the network. Analysis of network activity is a significant undertaking resulting in valuable contributions both to the commercial sector and the research community. The study explores the use of networking tools as well as models to ensure network efficiency. To be able to capture data traffic, Wireshark application was installed and run to capture packets of data passing through the network interface card. Other tools like Microsoft Windows 7/Win Server 2008, Microsoft Office 2007, Mozilla Firefox and Wincap was used to support the study. The study revealed that when packets are captured using the Wireshark, the application indicates the date the activity was carried out on the subnet. Those packets traverses therefore if the source is known an inference can be made as whether at that time the use was supposed to work or not so that date and timing can be monitored. The study found that by virtue of knowing the source and destination of the IP address, administrators can easily identify the user of that particular personal computer. The study recommends that in order to maintain undisturbed links in the network, activities of users of the network must be monitored to find out what they do with their personal computers that is connected to the organization’s network.

Source: UEW
New approaches to the fractional dynamics of schistosomiasis disease model

In this paper, schistosomiasis fractional order dynamic model is examined via exponential law kernel sense and Mittag-Leffler kernel in Liouville�Caputo sense. Some special solutions for two operators are obtained using the iterative scheme through Laplace transform and Sumudu�Picard integration technique. The uniqueness and existence of solution for both operators are established. The numerical solutions for both operators approve that the desirable results can be obtained when alpha value is less than 1. � 2019

Source: UEW
New aspects of poor nutrition in the life cycle within the fractional calculus

The nutrition of pregnant women is crucial for giving birth to a healthy baby and even for the health status of a nursing mother. In this paper, the poor nutrition in the life cycle of humans is explored in the fractional sense. The proposed model is examined via the Caputo fractional operator and a new one with Mittag�Leffler (ML) nonsingular kernel. The stability analysis as well as the existence and uniqueness of the solution are investigated, and an efficient numerical scheme is also designed for the approximate solution. Comparative numerical analysis of these two operators reveals that the model based on the new fractional derivative with ML kernel has a different asymptotic behavior to the classic Caputo. Thus, the new aspects of fractional calculus provide more flexible models which help us to adjust the dynamical behaviors of the real-world phenomena better. � 2018, The Author(s).

Source: UEW
News media framing of an organizational crisis A content analysis of midland savings and loans crisis

This study investigated the News Media coverage of Midland Savings and Loans crisis which occurred in 2018. Through a qualitative thematic content analysis, a total of 20 news articles from the Daily Graphic and the Daily Guide were analyzed to examine the dominant news frames, the different news frames and tone of voice present in the selected newspapers. The findings revealed that blame attribution, identification of a cause, solution, solidarity and moral evaluation frame were the dominant news frames employed by the selected newspapers. The study also found that the two dailies employ approximately identification of a cause frame in their reportage. The other four dominant frames were used differently by the selected newspapers. Moral evaluation was the least used frame in the reportage of the selected newspapers. Additionally, the prevalent tone of voice was negative in the two media outlets.

Source: UEW