ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Pre-service teachers’ reparedness to teach basic school mathematics exploring proficiency and self-efficacy after supported teaching in schools.

This study investigated the preparedness of pre-service teachers in colleges of education to teach mathematics by examining their mathematics proficiency and perceived self-efficacy after supported teaching is schools. The study also investigated factors that pre-service teachers perceive to influence their preparedness to teach mathematics. The population for this study was 21,500 level 400 pre-service teachers from the 46 public colleges of education in Ghana. The quota purposive sampling technique was employed to select 390 pre-service teachers for the study. The design of the study integrated quantitative analysis based on a causal-comparative framework and qualitative insights from open-ended questions. Mathematics proficiency test and self-efficacy for teaching mathematics questionnaire were the instruments used to collect data. Data collected from the test and questionnaire was analysed quantitatively whereas open-ended questions were analysed qualitatively. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyse pre-service teachers’ levels of preparedness, proficiency and self-efficacy. Independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to find differences in proficiency, self-efficacy and preparedness. Correlation and Regression analysis were done to ascertain and quantify associations, strength and direction of the linear relationship between preparedness (including proficiency and self-efficacy) and demographic characteristics (age, gender and programme of study). Factors that influence pre-service teachers’ preparedness to teach were explored via thematic analysis. The findings revealed that pre-service teachers are moderately prepared with younger participants exhibiting higher levels of proficiency. Gender-related differences were noted in self-efficacy, with females demonstrating enhanced confidence whiles males demonstrated higher proficiency and preparedness. The analysis of self-reported factors illuminated that mentorship emerged as a foundational support, enhancing both pedagogical and emotional readiness. The findings underscore the importance of tailored training programme for diverse age groups, ensuring gender-inclusive strategies to nurture self-confidence among all pre-service teachers.

Source: UEW
Pre-service teachers� intention to use learning management system: an integration of UTAUT and TAM

Purpose: This paper aims to develop and test a research model to explore the factors that influence pre-service teachers� intention to use learning management system (LMS). Design/methodology/approach: A cross-section study was conducted. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The total number of participants was 361 pre-service teachers. Partial least square structural equation model was used to analyze the data. Findings: The findings of this study found that the research model explained approximately 43% of the variance in behavioral intention. Also, the findings revealed that attitude and social influence had an effect on behavioral intention to use technology, but the facilitating condition had no effect on behavior intention to use technology. Finally, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence had an effect on attitude while facilitating condition had no effect on attitude. Originality/value: In technology acceptance research, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) have been broadly designed and empirically tested to elucidate the determinants that impact users� intention to operate technology in the developed world. However, research on the validation of TAM and UTAUT to explain the determinants that influence preservice teachers� intention to use a LMS in developing countries is insufficient. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the efficacy of the integrated model of TAM and UTAUT to explain preservice teachers� intention to use technology and explore the influential determinants that explain preservice teachers� intention to use LMS. � 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Source: UEW
Predicting elderly patient behaviour in rural healthcare using machine learning

The digitization of modern health care data in a rural community has produced a vast amount of patient data stored in health care record systems. Together with the rise of computing power this data could produce effective insight through advanced analysis of this data and include it in medical applications for use in daily operations. This is the case in which structured, semi-structured and unstructured dataset from emergency room admissions is used for machine learning, in order to develop models that predict the possibility of an elderly patient returning to an emergency room within 96 hours. Logistic regression was the selected algorithm since it commonly used in the healthcare data set. The results from the model had a recall of 73% and a precision of 78%. This paper discusses the implementation of such a model in daily operations with a new approach to cost benefits. In other instances, the study is a proof of the concept of predictive modeling in a health care context in rural communities. � 2020 CEUR-WS. All rights reserved.

Source: UEW
Predicting Engagement on Collaborative Learning Systems: Perceptions of Postgraduate Students

One of the main prerequisites for the implementation of collaborative learning systems in higher education is academic engagement by students. At the same time, user satisfaction on collaborative learning systems is a precondition for acceptance of such software by students. This presupposes that, for academic institutions to enhance students' participation and engagement on collaborative systems, they must be satisfied with the software. The main aim of this paper is to predict postgraduate students' academic engagement on collaborative learning systems. The paper proposes a model that integrates the Confirmation Expectation Model and Information System (IS) Success Model in order to uncover the factors that influence students' satisfaction while they are using collaborative learning systems. Using a questionnaire, the model is validated with responses from tertiary students in two public universities in Ghana. A PLS-SEM analysis of 146 valid responses was conducted. The hypothesized model explained 25.7% of the variance on Engagement. The results also confirmed all predicted relationships. Specifically, System Quality and Confirmation predicted Perceived Usefulness. Information Quality, Service Quality and Perceived Usefulness also influenced User Satisfaction and User Satisfaction impacted Engagement. The findings provide insightful perspective for institutions and developers of collaborative learning systems that could help to provide information that is relevant to students' academic activities. � 2020 ACM.

Source: UEW
Predictors of anxiety-induced sleep disturbance among in-school adolescents in ghana: Evidence from the 2012 global school-based health survey

(1) Background: Psychological problems of adolescents have become a global health and safety concern. Empirical evidence has shown that adolescents experience diverse mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, and emotional disorders). However, research on anxiety-induced sleep disturbance among in-school adolescents has received less attention, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. This study�s central focus was to examine factors associated with t anxiety-induced sleep disturbance among in-school adolescents in Ghana. (2) Methods: Analysis was performed using the 2012 Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS). A sample of 1342 in-school adolescents was included in the analysis. The outcome variable was anxiety-induced sleep disturbance reported during the past 12 months. Frequencies, percentages, chi-square, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results from the multivariable logistic regression analysis were presented as crude and adjusted odds ratios at 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and with a statistical significance declared at p < 0.05. (3) Results: Adolescents who went hungry were more likely to report anxiety-induced sleep disturbance compared to their counterparts who did not report hunger (aOR = 1.68, CI = 1.10, 2.57). The odds of anxiety-induced sleep disturbance were higher among adolescents who felt lonely compared to those that never felt lonely (aOR = 2.82, CI = 1.98, 4.01). Adolescents who had sustained injury were more likely to have anxiety-induced sleep disturbance (aOR = 1.49, CI = 1.03, 2.14) compared to those who had no injury. Compared to adolescents who never had suicidal ideations, those who reported experiencing suicidal ideations had higher odds of anxiety-induced sleep disturbance (aOR = 1.68, CI = 1.05, 2.71). (4) Conclusions: Anxiety-induced sleep disturbance among in-school adolescents were significantly influenced by the psychosocial determinants such as hunger, loneliness, injury, and suicidal ideation in this study. The findings can help design appropriate interventions through effective strategies (e.g., early school-based screening, cognitive-behavioral therapy, face-face counseling services) to reduce psychosocial problems among in-school adolescents in Ghana. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Source: UEW
Predictors of attrition intention and work-related stress among Tutors in Colleges of Education in Ghana

This study examined predictors of attrition intention and work-related stress among tutors in Colleges of Education in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, a comprehensive structured questionnaire was adapted and administered to 400 tutors who were randomly sampled from sixteen public Colleges of Education across the country. However, responses from 361 participants were retrieved and finally included in the study. Seven research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the demographic data of respondents while inferential statistics (Multiple regression, Pearson Product Moment correlation, Independent Sample T-Test, One-Way ANOVA, and Hayes moderation process) were used to analyse the research hypotheses. The study revealed that the combined predictors of attrition intention could have a significant impact on tutor attrition in Colleges of Education in Ghana. However, there were variations in the impact of the predictors, with remuneration, physical environment and safe working conditions having higher significance that could impact tutor attrition. The findings further indicated that, workload had a statistically significant positive but weak relationship with work-related stress among tutors. This suggests that as workload increases, work related stress also tends to increase, and vice versa. Further, the analysis again revealed that female tutors reported higher levels of work-related stress compared to male tutors. The difference was statistically significant, indicating that gender plays a role in work related stress experienced by tutors. The study recommended that, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Ghana Tertiary Education Commission should conduct a comprehensive review of the salary structure in public Colleges of Education to address remuneration concerns and consider implementing additional incentives to improve tutor satisfaction and retention. It was also recommended that, Management of Colleges of Education, in collaboration with Ghana Tertiary Education Commission should develop workload management guidelines and policies to effectively distribute workload, optimize timetabling, and provide necessary support and resources to reduce work-related stress among tutors.

Source: UEW
Predictors of parental status among junior high school students in the Awutu-Effutu-Senya district

The present study tested a model in which logistic regression analysis was used to distinguish students who come from single parent homes from those from both-parent homes based on the quality of teacher support and parental support, achievement ideology, academic performance and school behaviour. Data from random sample of 400 JHS students from the Awutu-Effutu-Senya district were analysed using logistic regression. The results revealed that teacher and parental support were very good predictors of parental status and those teachers discriminated against the students from single parent homes regarding the quality of support given to the students. Students’ own achievement ideology was also found to distinguish single parent students from bothparent students and that students from both-parent homes had much more positive achievement ideology than their counterparts from single parent homes. Although the students’ academic performance was also found to separate the two groups of students, this was very marginal and suggested that in fact, academic performance was not a very good predictor of parental status. Interestingly, the students’ indiscipline behaviours did not separate the two groups of students, thus suggesting that students’ from both-parent homes were just capable of exhibiting bad behaviours as their counterparts from single parent homes. I therefore recommend that teachers should be made aware of such findings and should be encouraged to give every student equal time and attention regarding their academic endeavours. Also, the department of social welfare should therefore provide support and welfare programmes for single parents. The government as well as the private sector should create more employment opportunities, give skills to the unskilled youth and also provide soft loans to skilled youth to start their own businesses. Single parents should be educated on the importance of education to the family so that they will see the need to put the education of their children above other needs. The present findings are discussed in relation to previous empirical studies. The present findings implications for Guidance and Counselling are addressed together with recommendations and the limitations.

Source: UEW
Predictors of potential for child abuse and academic performance among foster students in the Okai Koi North

The purpose of this study was to explore or find out the challenges foster students encounter in a bid to achieve satisfactory basic education.The descriptive cross sectional design was used. The target populationfor the study was 689 foster students and 2,689 non foster students. A sample of 210 respondents was selected from foster and non - foster students using the simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to gather the data on the variables selected for the study: Foster Parental Stress, Child Abuse, Teacher Support, Foster Parent Support, Coping Strategies, Permissive, Authoritarian, Authoritative, and Academic Concept. The reliability of the instruments was all above 0.60. The methodological inquiry was a cross sectional and descriptive design using quantitative research approach. A multivariate hypothetical model and Independent sample t-test, were employed to test hypotheses formulated for the study. Findings indicated that non foster students perform better than the foster students. It was also found that foster parents supportwas the better predictor of students’ academic performance than the teacher support and also foster parental stress was the only variable found which contributed significant incremental variance to foster parental strategies for child abuse.Again, parenting style was found to be an important predictor of foster students’ academic performance. There is therefore the need for parents to exhibit permissive parenting styles to relate positive academic performance. Based on these findings it was recommended that governmental and nongovernmental organizations and counselors should conduct seminars, workshops, that aim at acquainting parents with the different harmful nature of experiencing parental stress and its associated outcomes.

Source: UEW
Predictors of potential for child abuse and academic performance among foster students in the Okai Koi North metropolis in the Greater Accra region

The purpose of this study was to explore or find out the challenges foster students encounter in a bid to achieve satisfactory basic education.The descriptive cross sectional design was used. The target populationfor the study was 689 foster students and 2,689 non foster students. A sample of 210 respondents was selected from foster and non - foster students using the simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to gather the data on the variables selected for the study: Foster Parental Stress, Child Abuse, Teacher Support, Foster Parent Support, Coping Strategies, Permissive, Authoritarian, Authoritative, and Academic Concept. The reliability of the instruments was all above 0.60. The methodological inquiry was a cross sectional and descriptive design using quantitative research approach. A multivariate hypothetical model and Independent sample t-test, were employed to test hypotheses formulated for the study. Findings indicated that non foster students perform better than the foster students. It was also found that foster parents supportwas the better predictor of students’ academic performance than the teacher support and also foster parental stress was the only variable found which contributed significant incremental variance to foster parental strategies for child abuse.Again, parenting style was found to be an important predictor of foster students’ academic performance. There is therefore the need for parents to exhibit permissive parenting styles to relate positive academic performance. Based on these findings it was recommended that governmental and nongovernmental organizations and counselors should conduct seminars, workshops, that aim at acquainting parents with the different harmful nature of experiencing parental stress and its associated outcomes.

Source: UEW
Preparation and characterization of thermosetting wood flour composite material with high biomass content

Environmentally friendly materials with high biomass content have always attracted attention. In this work, wood flour (WF), a renewable and environmentally friendly substance was modified by castor oil-based polyurethane prepolymer (COPU) and urea-formaldehyde resin, respectively, to prepare thermoset composites with high biomass content and excellent interface compatibility. A special intensive mixer designed and produced by our laboratory was used for the first time to mix the biobased composites with high viscosity. The WF biomass content of the composites was as high as 70 wt% and the composites were prepared by melt blending and hot pressing. In effect, 70 wt% of WF biomass and 17.5 wt% of castor oil biomass were used to prepare wood-plant oil composite with almost 87.5 wt% of biomass. Through infrared spectroscopy (IR), emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermodynamic characterization, it was found that compared to composite materials which were prepared using WF and polypropylene (PP) or deactivated COPU, the interface compatibility and thermal stability of the composite materials obtained by WF and COPU or UF were significantly improved. The mechanical properties of the obtained composite material were attractive, and the bending strength and bending modulus of thermoset composites prepared using WF and COPU were as high as 69.2�MPa and 3765.8�MPa, respectively. The comprehensive results revealed that the WF-based thermosetting composite material with high biomass content as well as excellent performance and its application in composite panels are worth looking forward to. � 2021 Society of Plastics Engineers.

Source: UEW
Preparation of pre-service music and dance teachers in colleges of education, Ghana

The aim of the study was to examine preparation of pre-service music and dance teachers in Colleges of education, Ghana. The study examined how effective the preservice teacher preparation was in Colleges of Education in some selected Colleges of Education in Ashanti Region. The study examined the adequacy of the course content, the areas of the music and dance Education curriculum that need much emphasis and what are overstretched, the instructional materials and pedagogical strategies that are appropriate for effective teaching and learning of music and dance in the Colleges of Education, find out the special competencies student-teachers of music and dance need for their preparation and to explore interventions to improve music and dance programme in Colleges of Education. The study was guided by the Constructivism theory by Jerome Bruner in 1966 (Olorode and Jimoh, 2016). The researcher used qualitative paradigm in conjunction with positivism point of view. The instruments used for the study were questionnaires, observation and document search. Purposive sampling technique was used to select fifty-two pre-service teachers while stratified sampling technique was used to select seven tutors and five principals for the study. The research tools were field notebook, Infinix mobile phone, digital camera, video footage and voice recorder. The study revealed some of the following findings; mandatory music content in the second semester of the first year (PRA 121) and the principles and methods of teaching the performing arts 1 (PRA 221) and (PRA 211) as elective for second year first and second semesters, the reduction of the workload on the pre-service teachers’ (from a total of 89 hours to 65 hours) in the 2014 DBE, reduction of the duration of teaching practice by one semester, unavailability of some instructional materials and facilities, not visiting of places relevant to music and dance, inappropriate use of assessment strategy for teaching and learning and inadequate melodic and harmony compositional technique. The study concluded that there was inadequate content knowledge, pedagogy knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in the pre-service music teacher preparation. It was recommended that the methodology aspect of the course should be made core but not optional in the second year. There should be formidable content knowledge with respect to the totality of what is to be taught to and learnt by students, the one credit hour should be increased to two credit hours to enable the tutors positioning themselves very well for both theory and practical work. There should be availability of instructional resources and use in the classroom, tutors should provide links with the contemporary classroom environment in various ways that do not require recent personal teaching experience, tutors should use variety of assessment techniques to determine understanding. Again, it was recommended that composition lessons should take as its the traditional view that one learns to compose by imitation.

Source: UEW