ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The integration of information communication technology in rural schools in the Salvelugu Nanton district

This study looks at efforts being made by the Ministry of Education and other education stakeholders to address the ICT situation in some schools based in Savelugu Nanton in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study highlights the plight of schools in rural areas where the lack of basic amenities such as adequate accommodation, furniture, water, etc. is the order of the day. The target population for the study was teachers and students in Senior and Junior high school within the Savelugu Nanton District . Two schools from both Senior and Junior high school were selected using random sampling technique. The research design employed was a descriptive survey. The data was collected through the means of a questionnaire, analyzed by the use of frequency tables as well as percentages. The study concludes that a number of challenges are impeding integration. These include: lack of resources, lack of training in ICT and inadequate support from the Ministry of Education for the implementation of any e-Education policy. The main recommendation of the study is that since all schools have not attained the same level of ICT integration, there should be a clearly defined audit to determine what is needed and how it should be provided

Source: UCC
Integration of Practical Work into Teaching and Learning of Physics at the Senior High School Level

Practical work forms an integral part of teaching and learning as enshrined in the teaching physics syllabus designed for senior high schools in Ghana. This presupposes that the final grade of students is influenced by their performance in physics practical work. Hence, practical work in physics needs to be utilised to improve students’ performance. This study, therefore, sought to examine how practical work is integrated into the teaching and learning of physics at the senior high school level in the Volta Region of Ghana. In all, 16 physics teachers and 212 science students randomly sampled took part in the study. It was found that though teachers accept practical work as an essential ingredient for students’ understanding of concepts, they are not up-to-date on how practical work should be integrated into the teaching and learning of physics as prescribed by the syllabus for physics. Also, the teaching of practical work is done via group work, hands-on activity, interactive demonstrations, discussion and lecture. It is recommended that teachers should adopt integrating practical work into lessons instead of separating them from theory.

Source: UCC
Integration of social media for smart pedagogy: initial perceptions of senior high school students in Ghana

Social media have become art of students ‘life as a result of their features and the predominant mobile smart medium of usage. In the advanced world, the social platforms have provided affordances for integration in education providing smart learning environments. However, within the Sub-Saharan African region, especially in Ghana, this phenomenon is emerging and warrants an investigation into the initial perceptions of students on integrating mobile phones and social media in the Ghanaian educational system. It is against this background that this study seeks to investigate senior high school students ‘perception of the use of social media for edagogical purposes. Bandura’s social learning theory and Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory formed the theoretical foundation of the study. The descriptive survey design was adopted for this study with data collected through a questionnaire. In all, 200 students were selected from a senior high school using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Statistical tools such as means, standard deviation, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression were employed for analysis. The study found that most of the students had positive perceptions towards the integration of social media and its effects on teaching and learning. There were no statistical differences in perception based on the mean scores of ages of students, year of study and programme of study in terms of social media integration in education and effects on teaching and learning. Furthermore, the perception on social media integration in education predicted the effects on integrating social media in teaching and learning. Consequently, both the perceptions of social media integration in education and its effects on teaching and learning predicted actual usage for learning. Based on the results recommendations were provided on policy and practice of social media use for academic purposes in secondary schools in Ghana

Source: UCC
Intellectual Capital, Corporate Governance and Performance of Selected Banks in Ghana

The study sought to investigate the role of corporate governance in the relationship between intellectual capital and the performance of banks in Ghana. It used a general dynamic method of moments for all the estimations. Theories like the theory of corporate governance and the theory of intellectual capital were used to support the role of corporate governance in the relationship between intellectual capital and bank performance. It was discovered that good corporate governance, as evidenced by the board’s size and independence, significantly improves intellectual capital’s effect on bank performance in Ghana. Specifically, intellectual capital influences the performance of banks in Ghana positively; board independence affects the performance of banks in Ghana positively; the role of board size on the performance of banks in Ghana was inconclusive in this study; and corporate governance played a positive and significant role in the nexus between intellectual capital and bank performance. The study’s findings served as the basis for the following suggestions: intellectual capital should be enhanced in the banks of Ghana to boost the performance of banks in Ghana. The Bank of Ghana should pass policies that ensure independence to promote high-performance banks in Ghana. Lastly, it was recommended that in-service training should be provided to the board in order to enhance their intellectual capital and board independence.

Source: UCC
An intensity analysis of land-use and land-cover change in karatu district, tanzania: community perceptions and coping strategies

Land-use and land-cover changes (LULCCs) are the result of complex interactions between the human (cultural, socio-economic and political) and the biophysical environment at different spatial scales. The present study assessed the spatial distribution of LULC (1976–2008) in the high and low altitude zones in the northern highlands of Karatu, Tanzania, using both qualitative (in-depth interviews and focus group discussions) and quantitative techniques (Intensity Analysis). The qualitative approach was used to elicit information on the coping strategies adopted by land users as transitions occurred with time and the Intensity Analysis was used to assess the systematic land losses, gains and persistence of the various land categories with time. The results of the Intensity Analysis show that overall land transformation is decelerating in both agro-ecological zones across the two-time intervals. In the low altitude zone, woodland, settlements and bushland are active categories unlike cultivated and grassland, which are dormant. In the low altitude zone, grassland systematically loses to cultivated areas during both time intervals. However, in the high-altitude zone, forest systematically loses to woodland during both time intervals. In both agro-ecological zones, land change was rapid during the ﬁrst interval and slowed during the second. We suggest that the fast change in land during the ﬁrst interval may be attributed to the villagization policy in the 1970s that sought to drive the population towards rural settlements.

Source: UCC
Intention to use and actual use of postpartum contraceptives among pregnant women in the Mfantseman municipality of Central Region, Ghana

Opportunities to reach women with family planning services, can occur along the continuum of care, throughout a woman’s pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. Evidence shows that integrating Postpartum Family Planning (PPFP) into Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programmes and services provides opportunities for increased use of family planning among women. This study assessed the intention of pregnant women in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana, to use and use postpartum contraceptives and the associated determinants. Changes in reproductive health behaviour were studied in the context of the proximate determinants’ framework. It was a prospective panel study carried out in two phases (1 and 2). Initially, a total of 1,914 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at Saltpond hospital, Mankessim, Anomabo and Biriwa health centres, were interviewed. The second phase was a follow up of 1,359 women who consented to be followed up in the postpartum period. Of that number, 1,004 were re-interviewed at least twelve months after delivery. Prenatal intention to use family planning was a strong predictor of postpartum family planning use and decisions of women to adopt PPFP were influenced by the woman’s acceptability and approval of family planning, supported by the partner. Pregnant women attending antenatal clinic and their partners need to be targeted for education and counselling on postpartum family planning by the midwives and doctors before they deliver.

Source: UCC
Inter-fuel substitution possibilities in South Africa: A translog production function approach

This study applies the translog production function to investigate technical change and energy substitution possibilities among petroleum, coal and electricity over the period 1980-2012. Ridge regression technique is introduced to correct for multicollinearity in the data. The study documents several findings: first, electricity and coal are found to be the major drivers of South African output and also have a faster technological progress over petroleum. Second, all energy inputs were found to be substitutes; therefore removing all price ceilings and subsidies on petroleum will decrease the demand for petroleum in effect protecting South African economy from external petroleum price shocks while reducing CO2 emissions. This will also increase the demand for electricity from renewable sources; however the success of this substitution will depend on policies geared towards large scale electricity production to meet demand. Third and finally, this study points to evidence that, even though coal dominates as the main energy source of South Africa, enhancement in research and development of renewable energy technologies could present opportunities for electricity as a potential replacer of coal; and as such, accelerating the CO2 mitigation effort of the South African government.

Source: UCC
Inter-Regional Trends in Causes of Childhood Blindness and Low Vision in Ghana

Background: Inter-regional trends of visual loss in most developing countries remain largely unknown. We compared the causes of childhood blindness among children attending blind schools in the northern (one school) and southern (two schools) regions of Ghana and assessed their need for spectacles and low-vision devices. Methods: Using a standardised methodology, children were examined by an ophthalmologist and optometrists in each location. Causes of visual loss were classified anatomically and by time of onset, and avoidable causes identified. Children identified with functional low vision were assessed and provided with low-vision devices. Results: A total of 252 children under 16 years of age were examined in the schools. The overall prevalence of total blindness was 73 (29.0 per cent), with similar proportions (p = 0.87) in the north (29 [28.4 per cent]) and south (44 [29.3 per cent]); 92 (36.5 per cent) had functional low vision. Two children improved with spectacles and 35 benefited from low-vision devices. Corneal scarring was significantly (p = 0.045) more prevalent in southern Ghana (n = 150) than in the north (n = 102), responsible for visual loss in 36 (24.0 per cent, 95% CI 17.2–30.8 per cent) and 14 (13.7 per cent, 95% CI 7.0–20.4 per cent) cases, respectively. No significant difference (p = 0.321) was observed in the prevalence of cataract between northern (28: 27.5 per cent, 95% CI 18.3–36.2 per cent) and southern Ghana (33: 22.0 per cent, 95% CI 15.4–28.6 per cent). Over 87 per cent of children had ‘avoidable’ causes of visual loss, with a higher proportion being treatable (124: 49.2 per cent) than preventable (96: 38 per cent). Conclusion: Cataract was the major cause of visual loss in the overall population. The south had a higher proportion of corneal scarring and late-onset blindness compared with the north. More than one-third of blindness in blind schools in Ghana could have been prevented by primary care interventions and nearly half could have been treated surgically to prevent visual loss. Two in five children in blind schools in Ghana could benefit from optical intervention.

Source: UCC
Interaction between Gender and Skill on Competitive State Anxiety Using the Time-to-Event Paradigm: What Roles Do Intensity, Direction, and Frequency Dimensions Play?

The functional understanding and examination of competitive anxiety responses as temporal events that unfold as time-to-competition moves closer has emerged as a topical research area within the domains of sport psychology. However, little is known from an inclusive and interaction oriented perspective. Using the multidimensional anxiety theory as a framework, the present study examined the temporal patterning of competitive anxiety, focusing on the dimensions of intensity, direction, and frequency of intrusions in athletes across gender and skill level. Elite and semi-elite table tennis athletes from the Ghanaian league (N D 90) completed a modified version of Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) with the inclusion of the directional and frequency of intrusion scales at three temporal phases (7 days, 2 days, and 1 h) prior to a competitive fixture.

Source: UCC
Interaction of kink-lattice solitons with small-amplitude waves in finite-size superlattices

Propagation of large-amplitude electromagnetic fields and their interactions with small-amplitude waves in finite superlattices are considered in the framework of the sine-Gordon theory. Finite-size effects result in modulating the large-amplitude fields to a lattice of kinked waves. This kink-lattice wave displays both a soliton feature and the particle property typical to nonlinear topological excitations. The interaction of the kink lattice soliton with weak electromagnetic waves reveals an unusual number (exactly three) of bound states, which is attributed to the finite size of the propagation medium

Source: UCC
Interelationship between stock price index and macroeconomic variables: Case of Ghana

The study sought to investigate the interrelationship between stock price index and macroeconomic variables taking Ghana as a case using the cointegration, vector error correction (VEC) and vector auto regression (VAR) approaches. Annual data covering the period 1991-2006 on real GDP, All-shares index, consumption, investment and consumption shares of real GDP was collected, interpolated into quarterly series for the analysis and used for the study. The outcome of the study showed that the real GDP is determined by consumption, investment and government activities. The index is influenced by changes in the real GDP, government activities and lags of the index itself. Investment is determined by the All-shares index and changes in consumption are accounted for by changes in government activities, the market index and lags of consumption. Bidirectional causality was found between the index and investment and a unidirectional causality was found between the index and activities of the real sector. The cointegration between the market index and the macroeconomic variables suggests that for a better market performance which has the tendency of increasing investor confidence in the capital market and investment, government should put measures in place that seek to ensure a stable macroeconomy.

Source: UCC
Interest free banking and finance in brunei darussalam: Present realities and future prospects

Brunei is among the few countries vigorously pursuing interest-free banking. Looking at its status, there is no doubt that Islamic banking and finance remains a governmental project in Brunei. This paper examines the development and progress of this institution in Brunei highlighting the present experiences, future prospects, and imminent expectations. Islamic banking and finance has ushered in a new economic order in the country. Although the system is still in its primary stages of development, it has been successful. Indeed, it has good prospects due to political will and cooperation. Political will is fundamental to the fruitful implementation of a new economic order and efficient Islamization in Brunei has facilitated the establishment of sound socio-cultural and economic foundations vigorously promoting the essential values of Islam. Nonetheless, the call‘ for economic diversification has some implications for interest-free banking institutions in the country because diversification invariably exposes an economy to international interests and more importantly, empowers the private sector. These bring forth the likelihood of promoting interest-based banking and financial practices. We, therefore, conclude that Islamic banking has been very successful in Brunei but it still remains vulnerable to non-political future challenges subject mainly to the economic fortunes and prospects of the petro-dollar

Source: UCC
Intergenerational relations and the power of the cell phone: Perspectives on young people’s phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa

Cell phones present new forms of sociality and new possibilities of encounter for young people across the globe. Nowhere is this more evident than in sub-Saharan Africa where the scale of usage, even among the very poor, is remarkable. In this paper we reflect on the inter-generational encounters which are embedded in young people’s cell phone interactions, and consider the wider societal implications, not least the potential for associated shifts in the generational balance of power. An intriguing feature of this changing generational nexus is that while many young people’s phone-based interactions, from their mid-teens onwards, are shifting away from the older generation towards friendship networks in their own age cohort, at the same time they are repositioning themselves – or becoming repositioned – as family information hubs, as a consequence of their phone expertise. The paper draws on mixed-methods research with young people aged c. 9–25 years and in-depth interviews with older age-groups in 24 sites (ranging from high density poor urban to remote rural) across Ghana, Malawi and South Africa.

Source: UCC
Intergenerational relations and the power of the cell phone: Perspectives on young people’s phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa

Cell phones present new forms of sociality and new possibilities of encounter for young people across the globe. Nowhere is this more evident than in sub-Saharan Africa where the scale of usage, even among the very poor, is remarkable. In this paper we reflect on the inter-generational encounters which are embedded in young people’s cell phone interactions, and consider the wider societal implications, not least the potential for associated shifts in the generational balance of power. An intriguing feature of this changing generational nexus is that while many young people’s phone-based interactions, from their mid-teens onwards, are shifting away from the older generation towards friendship networks in their own age cohort, at the same time they are repositioning themselves – or becoming repositioned – as family information hubs, as a consequence of their phone expertise. The paper draws on mixed-methods research with young people aged c. 9–25 years and in-depth interviews with older age-groups in 24 sites (ranging from high density poor urban to remote rural) across Ghana, Malawi and South Africa

Source: UCC
The Internal and Extrnal Organizational Factors that Affect Non_Governmental Organization’s Sustainable Fundraising in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

NGOs achieve their vision through projects but over the years the problem has been inadequate funding. This study used the SWOT Analysis to investigate the internal and external organizational factors that affect Non-Governmental Organization’s sustainable fundraising. A pre-validated questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analyzed using one- sample t-test, correlation and regression. The results reveal that, there are 29.5% local advocacy NGOs, 43.8% local operational NGOs, 24.8% international advocacy NGOs and 1.9% international operational NGOs. The result indicates that 26.7% were established predating 2006and 73.3% established after 2007.A one sample t- test on income and SWOT in respect of NGOs funded by founders and those funded by corporate, government and foundations together shows organizational threat to be insignificant at 5% alpha level. The regression analysis shows that 70.6% of the income raised by the NGOs was accounted for by organizational strength, organizational weakness, organizational opportunity and organizational threat. Though the NGOs performed well on the SWOT components special attention should be paid to stakeholders’ participation, strong donor support and qualified and experience staff, obsolete facilities, difficulty financing projects, weak networking, vulnerability to recession, demand for more accountability. The NGOs should plan ahead of time and involve everybody in their fundraising efforts in order to rake in the needed resources. The NGOs should also devote more time and resources to improving internal factors especially organizational strength since it was significant and has high and positive correlation with income.

Source: UCC