ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Teachers and students perceptions on the use of mobile technology to facilitate teaching and learning in Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and students towards the use of mobile technology in the teaching and learning process. Also the study sought to recommend a model for teaching and learning using mobile technology tools. The descriptive research was used for the study. In all, 375 respondents participated in the study. They were made up of 300 students and 75 teachers selected from senior high schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Structured questionnaire was the main data collecting instrument. The study found that majority (84.7%) of the students in Cape Coast Metropolis had mobile phones as compared to those with personal computers and the majority (73.0%) of the students also had their mobile phones with them very often than their personal computers. The study also found that more than half of both the teachers and students also indicated that they would like to use mobile devices to support their teaching and learning. It was recommended that school administration should organize in-service education and training (INSET) on mobile devices and technologies for teachers and students.

Source: UCC
Teachers Scoring and Grading of Students’ Responses to Tasks: The Ghanaian Basic School Experience

This paper explored the scoring and grading practices of teachers in basic schools. The study sought to understand the various factors teachers take into account when scoring students’ responses to tasks in the classroom. The stratified sampling procedure was used to select 278 primary and junior high school teachers from whom data were collected for the study. In the descriptive analysis, the results revealed that teachers considered students’ behaviour such as punctuality, interest in subject and neatness of work presented, and number of questions attempted by a student, and awarded marks when grading. These academic and non-academic factors considered by teachers in this study during scoring and grading are consistent with the literature. In independent samples t-test analyses, primary school teachers did not differ significantly from their counterparts in the junior high schools in terms of factors they considered during the scoring and grading of students’ responses to tasks in the classroom. This study adds a circumstantial data to the existing debate on teacher classroom assessment practices.

Source: UCC
Teachers' and pupils' perceptions of the religious and moral education programme in the junior high school, implication for curriculum design

The purpose of the study was to find out teachers and pupils perceptions of the Religious and moral education programme in the junior high school in Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana and their implication for curriculum designed. The qualitative research design was used for the study. The population was all the teachers and pupils in the junior high school in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The sample random sampling was used to select twelve schools in Cape Coast and the purposive sampling technique was used to select twelve teachers and twelve pupils from the schools. The interview schedule was the instrument used and the data was manually analyzed. The findings revealed that both teachers and pupils has positive perceptions towards the religious and moral education programme. However the aims of the programme could not be achieves because they lacked teaching/learning materials/resources. Teachers mostly used discussion and dramatization methods in their teachings. Again, the study showed that some teachers had difficulty teaching certain aspects of the syllabus Also some pupils put up poor attitude towards the subject. It was therefore recommended that teachers be provided with teaching/learning materials/resources for effective teaching. Again, teachers should explore other teaching methods and use them for their lessons to arouse pupil’s interest. Ghana Education Service should organize in-service training, workshops and seminars for teacher. The Curriculum Research and Development Division should seek the views of teachers and pupils when designing the syllabus.

Source: UCC
Teachers' and students' perception of and attitude towards the religious and moral education programme in selected senior secondary schools in the Upper East region of Ghana

This study was conducted to find out teachers' and students' perception of and attitude towards the religious and moral education programme in senior secondary schools in the Upper-East Region of Ghana. The sample for the study consisted of 344 respondents comprising 50 teachers and 294 students. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the participants for the study. Six research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Two sets of questionnaire: one for teachers and the other for students was the research instrument used. The internal reliability co-efficient of the teachers' questionnaire and students' questionnaire were .80 and .61 respectively. The Independent sample t-test, frequencies and percentages were the main statistical tools used in the analysis of the data. The study established that (1) a majority (62.0%) of senior secondary schools RME teachers in the Upper- East Region had favourable perception of RME; (2) a majority (66.3%) of students in senior secondary schools in the Upper East Region had favourable perception of RME; (3) a greater number (60.0%) of senior secondary school teachers in the Upper East Region had favourable attitude towards RME; and (4) a considerable number (71.8%) of students in senior secondary schools in the Upper East Region had unfavourable attitude towards RME. The major challenges of teaching RME in senior secondary schools in the Upper East Region were that (1) 62.0%of the teachers stated inadequacy of other instructional materials apart from textbooks and that (2) 56.0% of the teachers stated the lack of in-service training for teachers. The study also unveiled the challenges of learning RME in senior secondary schools in the Upper-East Region. These were that (1) 72.0% of the students stated inadequate students' textbooks and that (2) 69.0% of the students stated inadequate teaching and learning resources apart from textbooks. The recommendations included the following: (1) The need to provide a conducive teaching and learning environment to sustain the positive perception that students have about RME; (2) the need to put in an implementation process so that students will develop positive attitude towards RME ; (3) the need to organise in-service training courses for RME teachers in senior secondary schools; (4) provision of instructional materials apart from textbooks for effective teaching and learning of RME; and (5) adequate provision of students' textbooks.

Source: UCC
Teachers' and students' perception of discipline in Armed Forces Secondary Technical School

Discipline is the bedrock of every educational institution. To attain the goals of education students should be taught to obey rules. As a result, a research was conducted to investigate teachers' and students' perception of discipline in the Armed Forces Secondary Technical School. Four research questions guided the study. The study investigated teachers' and students' perceptions on discipline, frequency of disciplinary problems and strategies to improve discipline. The population consisted of teachers and students. The sample comprised 135 students and 15 teachers. The techniques for sampling students and teachers were the cluster and random sampling respectively. Data was collected using questionnaires. The reliability of the questionnaires was determined. The Cronbach's alpha co-efficient obtained for disciplinary problems were .803 for students and .871 for teachers. On strategies for improving discipline, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient were .708 for students .861 for teachers. However, the co-efficient obtained on the perceptions of discipline were poor due to the nature of the items. The overall perceptions on discipline were based on measures, which enable students manage their behaviour without punishment. One of the most frequent disciplinary problems was cheating in examination. In addition, guidance and counseling was regarded as one of the most effective strategies for improving discipline. Among other factors, it was indicated that parents and the community could help improve discipline through regular visits to the school.

Source: UCC
Teachers' and students' perception of indiscipline in senior secondary schools: A case study of Sunyani Secondary School

Indiscipline in schools is a major concern of parents, teachers, students and all those who are involved in the education of the child. The spate of indiscipline in schools, in the home, at work places and on the roads is a concern of everybody in Ghana. The campaign against indiscipline by the vice-president of Ghana goes to confirm that there is indiscipline in the country. The study investigated the perceptions of teachers and students on indiscipline in Senior Secondary Schools with Sunyani Secondary School as a case study. Thus the research design was to find out the views of students and teachers of Sunyani Secondary School on the state of discipline in the school. Two hundred and sixteen students out of the student population of 1440 made up the students' sample for the research whilst 36 teachers were sampled out of the 64 teacher population. The sample for the students was drawn through a random sampling technique and the sample for each class was distributed according to programme of study and the number of students in each department. On the other hand, purposive sampling was used to select the teachers by picking those who hold position in the school as house masters, heads of departments guidance and counseling coordinators and assistant head masters. The instrument for the study was a questionnaire for both the teacher and student respondents. An item by item analysis of data was made using frequencies and percentages. It was found from the study that indiscipline is really on the increase and the most common forms of indiscipline in the school were stealing, cheating in examinations, sexual misconduct and going out of school without permission, and these also occurred often in the school. With acts of indiscipline there were divergent views. The teachers and students did not share similar views on the wearing of unapproved dresses; when the teachers thought it was a serious problem, the students thought otherwise. The study again revealed that school rules did not have much influence on the students so as to cause indiscipline in the school. The study rather found that there was the need for external control in ensuring discipline in the school. The respondents preferred corrective measures to punitive measures in ensuring discipline. It is better to reward students and counsel offending students rather than punish them. A suggested means of ensuring discipline in the Sunyani Secondary School, which is quite close to the Sunyani town, is the fencing of the school. Again the study revealed the need to invite parents of wrong doers to meet the headmaster for discussions, and for strengthening the guidance and counseling department to work more effectively.

Source: UCC
Teachers' attitude towards the teaching and assessment of effective outcomes in social studies in selected junior high schools in Cape Coast metropolis

The purpose, of the study was to find out teachers attitude towards the teaching and assessments of affective outcomes in Social Studies in selected Junior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The research design employed was the descriptive survey. Four zones in the Cape Coast metropolitan area namely OLA, Bakano, Abura and Cape Coast out of the eight zones in the metropolis were selected. Each zone is made up of a maximum of ten basic schools. The four zones selected gave a total of forty Social Studies teachers. The sole instrument used was the questionnaire. It consisted of open and close ended questions in consonance with the research questions and the objectives of the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistic such as frequencies, means and percentages. Strong evidence emerged that a lot of teachers who taught social studies were qualified teachers but had little knowledge on how to assess the affective outcomes. Based on these shortcomings they resorted to assessing mostly the cognitive outcomes. A few of them also indicated their lack of knowledge of some of the instruments used to assess the affective domain.

Source: UCC
Teachers' attitudes towards mainstreaming of children with intellectual disabilities: A study of teachers in the Akrom cluster of schools in Kumasi, Ghana

The main focus of this study is the ‘integration’ or ‘inclusion’ of children with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) in the general classroom system with children without such disabilities. There are growing concerns in both developed and developing countries with regard to changing the orientation in special education towards integration (inclusion), and this study is intended to address such concerns. One of the most important factors that would ensure successful integration is teacher preparedness or positive teacher perception about such a practice or programme. In this study, 71 regular teachers including the Kumasi Metropolitan Peripatetic Officer from the Akrom Circuit schools in Kumasi, were sampled for the administration of questionnaire on “inclusive education” practices. Responses to the questionnaires indicated that teachers in regular schools (as they exist now) were prepared to teach children with intellectual disabilities in the regular-classroom setting. Such teachers would however require in-service training, adequate teaching aids, smaller class size and other incentives as motivation. The success of inclusion therefore depends largely on the availability and quality of support that is offered in the mainstream programme. It was also found that ‘integration’ will benefit both handicapped and non-handicapped children, in terms of academic and social pursuits. The study recommends how integration can be implemented in the country, e.g. enacting of relevant laws to provide the required legal framework for successful integration, as well as suggestions for further study into related areas of integration.

Source: UCC
Teachers' equity sensitivity to the single-spine salary: the case of teachers in central and wsetern regions of Ghana

The purpose of this study was to determine how sensitive teachers were about the single spine salary. it surveyed 129 basic school teachers from Central and Western Regions with the Equity Sensitivity Instrument. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the resulting data. It was found that teachers were mainly equity sensitive just demanding what is fairly due them. This indicates that it is recommendable for the fair Wages and Salaries Commission to be fairer in the fixing of teachers single spine salaries or teachers might result to reducing their input to measure up to such discontented salary level.

Source: UCC
Teachers' fidelity of use of selected senior high school subject curricula

The study examined how faithfully senior high school teachers implemented selected senior high school subject curricula. Cross sectional survey design was used in the study. Using the level of use dimension of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), 111 senior high school teachers were randomly selected from the pool of accounting, business management, economics, geography and social studies teachers in the Central Region. Questionnaires were administered to the respondents and retrieved within 3 weeks. Data generated were analysed using frequencies and percentages. Results showed that senior high school teachers teaching accounting, business management, economics, geography and social studies in the Region failed to use the official curriculum in teaching. Accordingly, it is recommended that Ghana Education Service should politically engage teachers to willfully accept and use the curriculum instead of strengthening instructional supervision to ensure that teachers implement the official curriculum.

Source: UCC
Teachers' perception and needs of Distance education programme in Ghana

This study is an investigation into the perception and needs of teachers in relation to Distance Education. The simple random and stratified sampling methods were used to select three rural and three urban districts from three sampled regions in Ghana. An original instrument designed by the writer was used to collect data on the needs and perception of teachers on Distance Education. A 52-item questionnaire including a 4-point Likert type scale was administered to teachers to collect data on their needs and perception of distance education. The Survey Research had 8 null hypotheses tested for statistical significance using chi-square tests at alpha 0.05. The major result was that teachers in the area of the study; namely Greater Accra, Western and Central Regions of Ghana have positive perception towards the distance education programme and that the needs of rural teachers in respect to distance education are different from those of urban teachers. It is. therefore, being suggested that the distance education programme in Ghana is mounted and maintained. Again, print materials should be used at the initial stage. Finally the needs of urban teachers in relation to distance education must be catered for by the implementers of distance education.

Source: UCC
Teachers' perception of conflict management behaviours of heads of junior high schools in the Kwahu North District of Ghana

Competitions, misunderstandings and mistrust are likely to occur when people meet as a group which could ultimately result in conflict. Since in the school which is a miniature society, people meet as a group, conflict is likely to occur. In this regard, the researcher sought to examine the extent to which headmasters' management behaviours in conflict management contribute to or reduce conflict in Junior High Schools in Kwahu North District. The population for the study comprises teachers in the 42 Junior High Schools in the district, numbering 151. The sample size is 100, comprising 86 males and 14 females. The instruments used were questionnaire and interview guide. The questionnaire was pre-tested at St. Michael Junior High School. The revised questionnaire was used for the target population and the responses were analysed using frequencies and percentages. The study identified the following as some of the possible causes of conflict in the schools: (i) lack of flow of communication, (ii) competition among teachers (iii) dependence on one party by the heads. Lateral conflict was identified to be more common than subordinate conflict. There was low level of conflict occurrence in the schools. Some preventive techniques used by heads were staff meeting and team work. Compromise and arbitration were adopted by heads in conflict resolution. On the basis of the findings, the following recommendations are made: that heads should increase the rate at which they organise staff meetings in order to uproot conflicts before they occur. The use of compromise and arbitration should be maintained in order to lower the level of conflict occurrence in the schools in the district.

Source: UCC
Teachers' perception of the effectiveness of the administrative behaviours of their heads: A case study in the Nzema - East district of Ghana

The research work was on teachers' perception of the effectiveness of the administrative behaviours of their heads. The study sought to investigate the perception that teachers had on the behaviour of their heads as the heads carried out their administrative functions. The research questions formulated were based on the administrative functions of heads which included planning, organizing, cocoordinating, staffing and directing. It also considered the relationships that existed between the heads and the teachers. The descriptive survey design was deemed appropriate for the research work. The sampling technique used was a census as all 76 permanent teachers in the 4 Senior Secondary Schools were used for the study. Questionnaire was the main instrument used. It was made up of 45 closed-ended questions with 1 open ended question. A return rate of 100% was achieved for all the questionnaires that were administered. The statistical instrument used for the analysis of the data was the SPSS. The research brought out a distinction between those administrative functions that the heads performed effectively and those, which the heads did not perform well as perceived by their teachers. It also revealed that healthy interpersonal relationship did not exist between some heads and some of their teachers. Recommendations made include the organization of periodic in-service training for teachers, the heads should treat teachers in a humane manner and also ensure the use of proper communication channels in their schools.

Source: UCC
Teachers' perceptions about performance appraisal system in the Offinso municipal education directorate

Performance appraisal is a mechanism for determining the performance levels of employees in any organisation based on which reward and remedy programmes are implemented. Classroom teachers have a perception of the performance appraisal system at the school level as geared towards only promotions. This perception held by many classroom teachers impedes the level of their contribution to the appraisal process. The perception is addressed within four principal objectives. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches in the collection of data using Offinso Municipal Education Directorate as a case study. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted in the study. Collection of data for the study was principally based on the use of questionnaire for both classroom teachers and head teachers. Analysis of data was through the use of Statistical Package for Service Solutions (SPSS) Version 12 and Excel. The results of the study were that assessing performance of teachers on the job require the use of standards and involvement of teachers in the process. Performance appraisal is for many purposes than promotions. It is recommended that classroom teachers need to play a central role in the process of appraisal, while head teachers equally need to be trained to acquire appraisal skills, empowering them to be confident and responsive to that function.

Source: UCC
Teachers' Practices in Kindergarten Classrooms: Cognitive Constructivist Theory of Learning and Sociocultural Theory of Learning to the Rescue

The concern for how young children learn has been an issue that has agitated the minds of theories and researchers for a very long time. However, currently early childhood educators are becoming increasing aware of the impact of the cognitive constructivist theory of learning and the sociocultural theory of learning on teacher practices in kindergarten class rooms .Thus, the main thrust of this paper is to examine the affordances of the two theories of learning in terms of teaching and learning and assessment practices in early childhood classrooms. In addition, the contrarieties and connections which are inherent in both theories would be extensively discussed.

Source: UCC