ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
An Investigation into Senior High School (SHS3) Physics Students Understanding of Data Processing of Length and Time of Scientific Measurement in the Volta Region of Ghana

Serious doubt have been raised in the Physics Chief Examiner’s report of the West African Examination Council of Ghana of both physics-1 (theory) and physics-2 (practical) as to whether science students really understand measurement of physical quantities. In view of this, the researcher use a mixed designed method to gather data from SHS3 physics students’ on their understanding of data processing of length and time. A population of 422 SHS3 physics students were sampled and a three item questionnaire on distance and time administered in order to find out whether the problem enumerated by the Chief Examiners’ of Physics concerning physics students exist and were either with the set paradigm or the point paradigm concept. Also twenty SHS3 physics were purposively selected and interviewed in order to validate students’ written responses. The study revealed that students do not have an understanding of using repeat in data set, anomaly in data set and straight line graph of data by the set paradigm concept i.e. all the three items on data processing of students (i.e. UR, AN, and SLG) were in line with the point paradigm concept of measurement. Also students seemed to have difficulty in plotting straight line graph by the use of lines of best fit.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into Senior High School Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge for Teaching Algebra

Research is replete with the fact that teacher knowledge affects student performance. However, the issue of which aspects of teacher knowledge influence student achievement has been a thorny one among researchers. This is partly due to the fact that over the years, several attempts at conceptualising teacher knowledge have produced domain neutral constructs making them virtually impossible to be accurately measured. As a result, several attempts to measure teacher knowledge have relied on proxy measures such as the number of university courses taken, the type of degree the teachers’ have etc. This study is posited on the fact that, instead of relying on proxy measures, there is the need for re-conceptualization of teacher knowledge in ways that is not only domain specific but also allows its components to be measured. In the early to mid- 2000s, researchers of the Knowledge of Algebra for Teaching (KAT) project attempted to do exactly this by hypothesizing three types of knowledge and developing items to measure it. Using the KAT conceptualization as a framework, this study was designed to investigate whether the three types of teacher knowledge hypothesized in the KAT framework will be corroborated. Two hundred and fifty two teachers from 40 senior high schools in three regions participated in this study. The cross-sectional survey was the main design used. Factor analysis conducted on data from this study did not only corroborate the three knowledge types hypothesised in the KAT framework but also permitted a modification to be made in the framework. Furthermore, analyses of data showed that in terms of the hypothesized knowledge types, while background in education did not significantly affect the quality of teacher knowledge, teachers with ten years and above teaching experience were significantly better. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that further studies be conducted to corroborate the seven factors that emerged in this study from the reconceptualization of the KAT framework.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into Senior High School Students’ Difficulties and Understanding in Naming Inorganic Compounds by IUPAC Nomenclature

This study assesses the difficulties that students have when naming inorganic compounds by IUPAC nomenclature. It uses a cross-sectional survey comprised of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample for the study consisted of 334 elective science Senior Secondary School (SSS 3) students in 2008/2009 academic year. Students were drawn from all schools offering elective science in the New Juaben Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana in that year. Of the sample population, 252 students were male and 82 were female with a mean age of 17 years and a standard deviation of 1.8 years. The instruments used for data collection were an achievement test and an interview. Some of the key findings include: students’ inability to write the correct names of certain elements in compounds, students’ inability to determine the central atom in compounds, students’ inability to determine or calculate the oxidation numbers of central atoms in compounds, students’ inability to write the correct names of radicals, and students’ lack of knowledge about valency. This study recommends that teachers pay particular attention to assisting students in locating central atoms of compounds and hence calculating their oxidation numbers. This study also recommended that chemistry teachers focus more intently on helping students to name radicals correctly.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into Senior High School Students’ Understanding and Difficulties in Writing Chemical Formulae of Inorganic Compounds

Students’ inability to write correct chemical formulae has for some time been a source of worry to the West African Examinations Council, the body responsible for organizing examinations in West Africa. Learning how to write chemical formulae is a vital area for one to progress in the study of chemistry and it is one of the exercises that give a lot of fascination and challenge to young chemists starting to learn chemistry. This study probed into the difficulties students have in writing correct chemical formulae from IUPAC names. The study used a cross-sectional survey using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample used for the study consisted of 334 SSS 3 elective science students for 2008/2009 academic year drawn from all the schools that offer elective science in the New Juaben Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The instruments used for data collection were achievement test and interview. Some of the key findings about students’ difficulties in writing chemical formulae from IUPAC names were: students lack of understanding of the Roman numerals that are put in brackets of IUPAC names, students difficulty in knowing what valencies are and the role they play in writing chemical formulae, students inability to write the correct formulae of some radicals and ions and inability to determine the cations and anions of ionic compounds and hence inability to combine certain cations and anions to form neutral compounds due to lack of knowledge about valency.

Source: UCC
An Investigation Into Senior High School Teachers’ Knowledge for Teaching Algebra

The performance of students has silently found its way into the hearts of various researchers and policy makers of which they have accepted the importance and the role of the teacher to play a crucial part in how students perform. As a result of that, several studies are filled with the fact that teacher knowledge affects student performance. However, the issue of which aspects of teacher knowledge influence student achievement has been a bone of contention among researchers. As a result, several attempts to measure teacher knowledge have relied on proxy measures such as the number of university courses taken, the type of degree the teachers’ have and so on. Using the expanded KAT conceptualization framework, this study was designed to investigate whether the seven types of teachers’ knowledge hypothesised will be corroborated. Two hundred and seventy-eight teachers from 16 senior high schools in the Eastern region and one public university in the Central Region of Ghana participated in this study. The cross-sectional survey was the main design used. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted on data from this study did not corroborate the seven knowledge types as hypothesised in the expanded KAT framework but rather three. Furthermore, analyses of data showed that preservice teachers exhibited high algebra knowledge for teaching than their in-service counterparts. Also, the study revealed that mathematics teachers with professional background qualification are relatively better than their counterparts without professional background qualification for teaching mathematics. It was recommended that in-service training on current issues should be organized especially for those in-service mathematics teachers to whip up their knowledge based in the area.

Source: UCC
An investigation into senior secondary school elective science students’ perception of their biology classroom environment and their attitude towards biology

This study focused on elective science students’ perception of their biology classroom environment and their attitude towards biology in low and high academic achieving senior secondary schools in the Central Region of Ghana. Data were obtained with Biology Classroom Environment Questionnaire and Attitude towards Biology Questionnaire, administered on 356 third-year elective science students. This was done after the senior secondary schools that offer elective science programme had been categorized into low and high academic achieving schools based on their performance in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination / West Africa Senior Secondary School Examinations for four years. Two third year intact classes were randomly selected from four schools under each category. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a follow-up analysis of variance (ANOVA) conducted showed that though elective science students in both school categories had a low perception of their biology classroom environment, they differed in their perception of their biology classroom environments which was influenced by teacher support, cooperation and equity. The difference was in favour of students’ in low academic achieving schools. Mean scores and Independent sample t-tests also showed that students’ in both school types had a positive attitude towards biology. Spearman’s Correlation revealed that no relationship existed between elective science students’ perception and attitude in both school types. However, Spearman’s Correlation found a relationship among the sub scales of biology classroom environment. It was, therefore, suggested in the thesis that, the study be replicated by another researcher using the actual performance of the schools in biology to find out the out come of the study.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into SHS3 Physics Students Understanding of Data Comparison of Scientific Measurement in Volta Region

Serious doubt have been raised in the Physics Chief Examiner’s report of the West African Examination Council of Ghana of both physics-1 (theory) and physics-2 (practical) as to whether science students really understand data comparison of physical quantities.In view of this, the researcher use a mixed designed method to gather data from SHS3 physics students’ on their understanding of data comparison of length and time. A population of 422 SHS3 physics students were sampled and a twelve item questionnaire on distance and time administered in order to find out whether the problem enumerated by the Chief Examiners’ of Physics concerning physics students exist and were either with the set paradigm or the point paradigm concept. Also twenty SHS3 physics were purposively selected and interviewed in order to validate students’ written responses.

Source: UCC
An investigation into tax compliance behavior of small and medium-sized enterprises in the kumasi Metropolis

The purpose of the study was to examine the tax compliance behavior of ownermanagers of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The study employed the survey design underpinned by the quantitative approach to research. The sample comprised 150 owner-managers of SMEs in the Kumasi Metropolis selected from three major sectors – manufacturing, trading and services using the stratified sampling technique. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations. The results show that the major acts of tax non-compliance committed by SMEs includedunderstatement of income, failure to file tax returns, and failure to pay taxes within the period required. It was found that majority of owner-managers of SMEs could not compute their tax liabilities and file their tax returns by themselves. Moreover, it was revealed that the factors that influence tax compliance behaviour of SMEs could be classified into four major categories – economic factors, social factors, institutional factors, and demographic factors. It was deduced from the findings that SMEs engage in various forms of tax non-compliance due to their limited knowledge in taxation and the seeming weaknesses in the tax administration system in terms of strict enforcement of tax laws and effective tax education. Hence, it was recommended that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) should heighten its public tax education and awareness campaigns with the aim of encouraging positive tax morale among taxpayers

Source: UCC
Investigation Into the Challenges and Motivation of Students With Visual Impairment to Complete Their Programme in the University of Cape Coast

I wish to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to my supervisors; Dr. Prosper Deku, Head of Department of Educational Foundations and Dr. Irene Vanderpuye for their immense contribution towards this work. They guided, directed and provided practical assistance for the completion of this work this far. May God richly bless them in diverse ways. I thank my mother, Ohemaa Esther and all other people who have contributed towards my education, especially at this stage. I am also highly indebted to all lecturers at the Department of Educational Foundations for the knowledge they imparted and the impact they have made in my life. I thank the various authors and researchers who made their knowledge and findings available to me upon which this study was a success. I thank all the participants of the study for their acceptance to participate in this study and the resource persons at the Resource Centre for Alternative Media and Assistive Technology (RCAMAT) for their assistance in diverse ways. I also thank Christiana Adjei Nyarko for her support and Jacqueline. Finally, I thank Professor Emmanuel Kofi Gyimah; Head of Education Department, College of Distance Education of the University of Cape Coast for his encouragement, motivation, financial and material assistance as well as the fatherly love he has for me. Daddy God richly bless you.

Source: UCC
An investigation into the emotional reactions to inclusion of Ghanaian mainstream teachers

Literature is replete with evidence of considerable pressure that many mainstream teachers may experience in their bid to respond to the diverse needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities and to achieve ever better results. In this study, the results of 100 teachers from mainstream primary schools in three of the ten regions of Ghana were examined. The analysis involved five bi-polar emotional reactions; namely: anxious/relaxed; encouraged/discouraged; confident/ diffident; satisfied/dissatisfied; self-assured/ worried. The results confirmed that in teaching children with SEN in the mainstream, teachers experienced psychological stress. On the basis of the findings, suggestions for more information about SEN, supply of resources and inter-agency collaboration were made.

Source: UCC
An investigation into the experiences of international volunteer tourists in Ghana

The expectation of a memorable experience is one of the elements that motivate volunteers to travel. Experience has however remained an elusive and complex phenomenon subject to multiple interpretations. There is a lack of common language to explain the volunteer tourist’s experience. This study explores the experiences of volunteer tourists to Ghana using the Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE) theory. The results from a survey of 336 international volunteer tourists suggest that experiences are largely tied to social, cultural and tourism attributes of the destination. Such experiences may be positive or negative

Source: UCC
An Investigation Into the Mentorship Programme of the Colleges of Education in Ghana: Central-western Zone In Perspective

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the teacher-trainee mentorship programme of the Colleges of Education in the Central-Western Zone of Ghana with special reference to mentor competencies, stakeholders‟ perception of the mentoring process, sources of conflict between mentors and mentees and the effects of financial cost on mentoring. A descriptive survey and phenomenology designs were adopted to answer the objectives for the study. Structured questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data for the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The total sample size for the study was 1451 respondents. The outcome of the study was that, stakeholders had positive perception of mentoring and perceived it to be beneficial. Mentees and the college representatives generally felt that the duration of the mentoring process was too long. The mode of selection of mentors was less formal, and the mentors had less training in mentoring though they were predominantly trained teachers. The views of stakeholders on the competencies of the mentors were mixed, but in most cases, they still felt that the mentors were able to deliver relatively well on their job. Financial cost was found to be a binding constraint on all the stakeholders but the mentees were the most affected. Conflict was not a widespread phenomenon in the mentoring process though packets of it were identified. It was recommended that the colleges had to expand and formalise mentors training, remunerate the mentors and move for the introduction of mentoring as a full course at the college for the students. Schools of attachment need to provide decent accommodation for student teachers on out segment programme.

Source: UCC
An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Mathematics Teachers’ Efficacy and Their Students’ Achievement at the Junior High School in the Cape Coast Metropolis

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the efficacy of mathematics teachers and the mathematics achievements of Junior High School students in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Specially, the study examines the sources of mathematics teachers’ efficacy, assess the factors that influence mathematics teachers’ efficacy, and assess the relationship between mathematics teachers’ efficacy and student achievement. The study used the descriptive cross-sectional research design. A quantitative approach was used in the study. The study used a sample of 80 mathematics teachers and 333 JHS three students. The data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire and district mock examinations of JHS three students at the basic education. Responses from the questionnaire and the district mock examinations were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software for processing. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Precisely, percentages, frequencies, means, correlation, and factor analysis were used as the data analytical tool. The study found that the sources of mathematics teachers’ efficacy were enactive mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, physiological and emotional states. Also, the study found that the factors that affect mathematics teacher’s efficacy were student engagement, classroom management, and instructional strategies (IS). Finally, the study found a positive significant relationship between mathematics teachers’ efficacy as well as student achievement. It was therefore recommended that in mathematics, professional development must strengthen knowledge of content and pedagogical curriculum of mathematics.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into the Study Habits of Distance Learners: Implications for Guidance and Counseling Services

This study looked at the study habits of University of Cape Coast Distance Education learners in the Cape Coast Study Centre in the Central Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used to conduct the study. Stratified and simple random sampling procedures were used to select 338 Business and Education distance learners. A self-designed questionnaire, which consisted of 40 items, was used to collect data from the respondents. Data collected was analysed by the use of descriptive (frequencies and percentages). The results of the study revealed that Distance Education students exhibit study habits such as reading while lying in bed, not being able to study for a minimum of three hours in a day, do not look for additional materials from the internet as well as reading over their notes before their next face-to-face meetings. It was found in the study that distance education students need guidance and counselling on time management, prioritizing their daily activities, as well as how to develop effective reading skills. It is therefore recommended that distance education students be provided with guidance and counselling on effective study habits as a support service.

Source: UCC
An investigation into the use of Angela Reilly Harden’s math lab games in the teaching and learning of linear algebra at the senior high school level

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Angela Reilly Harden linear algebra games as a means of consolidating the learning of linear algebra at SHS form one of Armed Forces and Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School. One hundred and twenty first year students were randomly selected for the study. Sixty students were selected for the control and sixty students for the experimental groups. For both groups, a test was applied as a pretest before the instruction. Both groups were exposed to the traditional classroom teaching. The control group took an additional traditional instruction supported by teacher. The experimental group was exposed to computer assisted instruction. A posttest was administered to determine the effect of the treatment on the two groups. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in the gathering of the data. The qualitative data were collected through the responses on teachers’ and students’ questionnaire while the quantitative data were collected from the results of the pretest and posttest. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software was use to make descriptive analysis of the data and hypothesis testing. The findings of the study showed that the students who were exposed to Angela Reilly Harden linear algebra games did not have any significant urge over their counterparts exposed to the conventional classroom instruction. Based on the research findings recommendations were made on the need to develop relevant CAI packages for teaching in Ghanaian secondary schools.

Source: UCC
An Investigation into Weaknesses Exhibited by Senior High School Biology Students in Graph Work in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

The purpose of this study was to examine Biology students’ weaknesses as far as graph work is concerned. The target population was SHS 3 students offering biology as an elective science subject in Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis during the 2009/2010 academic year. However, the accessible population was elective biology students from six schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. At each school an intact class was randomly selected and used. In all a sample size of 230 students was used. The study revealed that elective biology students have difficulty with providing headings, an appropriate scale, and labeling the axes of graphs.

Source: UCC