ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessment of properties of juvenile and matured bambusa vulgaris and its potential utilization as engineering composite material

This study compared the chemical, anatomical, and physical properties of juvenile and matured Bambusa vulgaris culms and its potential utilization for engineering composite product. It also assessed the physical, mechanical and durability properties of laminated Bambusa vulgaris culm of two-year (Juvenile Bambusa vulgaris) and four-year (Mature Bambusa vulgaris) old. Culms were harvested and prepared to the length of twenty-one internodes. The first seven internodes were taken as bottom and the second seven internodes were also taken as middle whiles the third seven internodes were taken as the top. The study focused on the bottom and top portions. EN 13183-1, ISO 13061-2, BS 373 and TAPPI standard methods were used in determining the physical, chemical and anatomical properties of the mature and juvenile bamboo as well as the bamboo laminates. The study showed that, mature Bambusa vulgaris basic density ranged from 660.50kg/m3 – 691.80kg/m3 and that of juvenile Bambusa vulgaris density ranged from 383.53kg/m3 – 562.26kg/m3. The main chemical composition of juvenile Bambusa vulgaris was as follows: Cellulose = 48.62%; hemicellulose = 51.39% and lignin = 22.98%. That of the mature Bambusa vulgaris was Cellulose = 55.93%; hemicellulose = 44.08% and lignin = 29.11%. The vascular bundle arrangement for juvenile and mature Bambusa vulgaris was in both Type III and Type IV respectively. The mechanical properties of juvenile laminated bamboo were MOE = 587.7MPa; MOR = 43.42MPa and compressive strength = 37.58MPa whilst mature laminated bamboo was MOE = 13379MPa; MOR = 82.48MPa and compressive strength = 62.78MPa. Additionally, both treated juvenile and mature laminated bamboo were classified as resistant to fungi attack. It is recommended that mature Bambusa vulgaris is suitable to be used as engineered composite material.

Source: UEW
An assessment of public perceptions on male employee in the hospitality industry. a case study in some selected hotels in the Ho municipal

The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries on the globe. The dynamics in the industry worldwide are not the same. A lot of hospitality facilities and outlets are springing out in the Ho metropolis. The present study therefore sought to assess public perception about male workers in the hospitality industry. The objectives of the study were as follows: to identify the perceptions on male workers in the hospitality industry, to examine the factors that influence those perceptions, to find out factors that motivate males to take appointment in the hospitality industry, to compare the responses of the educated and uneducated on the perception on male workers in the hospitality industry and make recommendations for the study. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of the public on male employees in the Hospitality industry and the things that motivate males to take up jobs in the hospitality industry. The research design employed was both qualitative and quantitative (interview and survey) using semi structured interview guide and questionnaire as the main instruments. The population for the study was all the customers and staff in the hospitality industry in the Ho metropolis. Sample size was 200 and the simple random sampling technique was used. The data was analysed using the soft ware known as Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The findings on the demographics of the educated respondents showed that 58% were males and 42% females of which most of them were between the ages of 41-50 years. With regards to their educational level 40% of them were Diploma/Higher National Diploma or HND holders followed by 32% of them who either had Senior High School/Technical/Vocational (SHS/TECH/VOC) certificate. Results showed that, males are hard working, their services are needed and that people prefer male chefs to female chefs. It was also revealed that, culture, nature and nurture and educational level influences people’s perceptions on male workers in the hospitality industry. Again, it showed that working environment, passion and orientation at home motivate males to take up jobs in the hospitality industry. The study recommends that there should be a change on the negative perception of people on male workers in the hospitality industry because they are seemed hardworking than their female counterparts and in most cases people prefer male chefs to female ones. There should be career guidance and counselling to encourage more males into the hospitality industry. A good working environment should be created in the hospitality industry and parents should also encourage their male children at home who want to take up employment in the hospitality industry to do so.

Source: UEW
Assessment of quality assurance practices of concrete production by construction firms in Ghana

Globally, failure of mass and reinforced concrete structures are frequently reported in the mass media. In Ghana, the failure of concrete structures is a yearly experience with dire consequences. Generally, the causes of failures include; lapses in design and construction, change in intended usage and deterioration of materials and components. To a large extent, the poor quality of concrete remains a significant issue. The aim of the study was to explore the implementation of quality assurance practices in the production of concrete by construction firms in Ghana and develop strategies for effective quality assurance in concrete production. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The target population of the study comprised construction project team professionals in D1K1 construction companies within the Greater Accra Region. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from construction project team members namely; Project Managers, Project Engineers, Site Engineers, Quality officers, works superintendents and site supervisors. Systematic random sampling was adopted to select the construction professionals covered in the survey using the sampling frame compiled for the list of the construction professionals. A sample size of ninety-five (95) was selected using Cochran’s formula and a response rate of 77% was achieved. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, chi-square and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings reveal effective quality assurance practices to include; the design of concrete products to fit use or purpose, production of concrete products to specifications and standards, a strict regime of supervision by experienced personnel, striving for excellence, adherence to the information contained in drawings and evaluation of performance requirements. It found that all construction project team members as respondents have a fair knowledge about the elements of quality assurance practices in concrete production. The major challenges faced by companies in their quest to ensure quality assurance practices included; difficulty to keep permanently employed key site operatives for concrete operations due to financial constraints, inappropriate use of construction materials in their right proportions, and difficulty getting certain skilled personnel for a specific task. It further revealed materials in the concrete mix must be free from impurities, be well-graded aggregates and required proportions of water-cement ratio should be used in an attempt to implement quality assurance practices. In conclusion, constructors and construction project team members in the construction industry must appropriately develop programs and principles that will necessarily ensure effective quality assurance practices in all types of projects. It, therefore, recommended that the implementation of formal quality management systems by all construction companies must be encouraged by the management of companies.

Source: UEW
An assessment of random practice and blocked practice approaches in skills acquisition, retention and transfer in teaching basketball skills to beginners in senior high schools

The purpose of this study was to assess the involvement of blocked and random practices in acquisition, retention and transfer in teaching basketball skills in Senior High Schools. A quasi-experimental design was used for this study. 60 participants were selected from Presbyterian Senior High School, Accra using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Participants were assigned (n = 30) to Blocked Practice Group (BPG) and Random Practice Group (RPG) respectively. The study involved teaching and learning of 3 basketball skills in 9 training sessions. The reliability coefficient yielded α = .78 using KR21. Four research questions were answered while 2 hypotheses were tested. Descriptive analysis of means and standard deviations was used to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of ANOVA and T-test was used to test the two hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. Results for acquisition indicated the BPG scored higher means than the RPG in all three skills. Results for retention showed much improved performance by the RPG than the BPG in all 3 skills. For transfer, similar results were obtained. ANOVA test for retention produced the following F-values at p<.05: chest pass 86.01; sidearm pass 44.82; and overhead pass 63.58. For transfer, the F-values at p<.05 were 232.54, 102.84 & 102.01 for chest, sidearm and overhead passes respectively, revealing significant mean differences among the three skills but with the RPG recording more superior values within and between group analyses than the BPG. Independent samples t-test revealed the existence of significant difference between random and blocked practices (t(58) = 17.61, p<.05, 2-tailed) in terms of overall learned skills. It was recommended, that physical educators should adopt BPG when the learning objective is isolated skill learning. RPG should be used when the main objective is based on retention and transfer of knowledge to the competitive milieu or to other related activities

Source: UEW
An assessment of resilience of petty traders to flood disaster in Agboboshine market, Accra-Ghana.

Curriculum design, implementation and evaluation play a vital role in the continuous improvement of educational programmes, the enhancement of student learning outcomes, and the overall effectiveness of the programme of study. These processes ensure that the curriculum remains responsive to the evolving needs of students and society with high standards of quality content delivery. The African Studies Curriculum at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has been implemented for over two decades with its challenges, including students’ motivations, cultural content, teaching methods, techniques and strategies. In this regard, the study was set out to evaluate the implementation of the African Studies course in order to unravel the extent to which the intended outcomes of the African Studies curriculum in UEW has been achieved. With pragmatic worldview, and rooted in the curriculum Evaluation Model, Theoretical, conceptual and empirical literature within the domain of curriculum implementation in African Studies were critically reviewed. An explanatory sequential design within the mixed method approach was adopted while the Krejcie and Morgan Table for sample size determination was employed to sample three hundred and seventy-five (375) students from a total of 15,000 first year students offering African Studies courses at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Seven (7) students were purposively selected from the sample size of 375 for the qualitative data. Again, five (5) lecturers from the African Studies Centre of UEW were purposively selected for the study. Instruments for data collection included questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. Quantitative data analysis was done by using SPSS statistics analytical software. Descriptive and inferential statistics was employed for the quantitative analysis, whilst thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings showed that even though students are motivated by series of decisions in selecting courses in African Studies courses, they are basically influenced by external factors such as department, colleagues and the popularity of the courses. It was concluded that some Departments choose specific courses based to relativity to their areas of specialism and future academic pursuits. It was recommended that, there is the need for course recommendation systems in physically-based university environments in Ghana. This has become necessary since African Studies courses are mandatory by which reason is to re-orient the misconceptions of students concerning the continent and carving the positive African image. Fresh students should be oriented to alleviate the misconceptions associated with course selection.

Source: UEW
An assessment of risk management practices of government funded affordable housing projects in Ghana

Construction projects are initiated in complex and dynamic environments resulting in circumstances of high uncertainty and risk, which are compounded by demanding time constraints. The government funded affordable housing projects in Ghana have been abandoned or are being worked on at a snail’s pace. Based on this, the study aimed at assessing risk management practices in construction projects focusing on government funded affordable housing projects in Ghana. Descriptive research design was employed for this study. The study involved the Borteyman, Koforidua and Kumasi government funded affordable housing projects, which included a total of 159 site managers. A census survey was adopted to sample all the 159 site managers on the Borteyman, Koforidua and Kumasi government funded affordable housing projects were included in the study. The study found that design variations, tight project schedule, bureaucracy of government, delays in payments, changes necessitated as a result of government policy, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, and high performance or quality expectations are the particular risk associated with the affordable housing projects in Ghana. It appeared from the study that delays in payments, under-budgeting contingency costs, changes in design scope, risk of rework, and tight project schedule can be reduced by the stakeholders. The study concluded that the proposed framework for the government funded affordable housing projects in Ghana is appropriate for analysis but it might be modified in the future as the project develops incorporating the project related risks which may appear during project execution. The study recommended that risk management technique (BBN) should be applied into any construction project at the initial stage of the project to get maximum benefit of the technique. Keywords: Risk Management, Projects, Government Funded, Affordable Housing

Source: UEW
Assessment of sawdust briquettesas valuable biomass fuel-energy productsin relation to their solid woods from ten plants of different densities

Forests are enormous energy stores for fuel. Global resource base and supply are currently diminishing due to rapid population growth. Their management involves schemes, which provide accessible alternatives and sustainable energy sources for posterity, while meeting today's needs.Option involves densification of loose and granular wood and agricultural residues into compact and easily transportable fuel (i.e., briquette). This work compared the inter-specific calorific value (CV) variation of binder-less briquettes using sawdust from ten hardwoods and theircorresponding solid woods. The shavings were pressed at 300 oC and a load of 98 KN (i.e., 10 tonnes) in a Piston presser. Briquettes (0.7g) and corresponding solid woods (0.7g) were combusted ina bomb calorimeter. CV was directly proportional to wood density. High-density timbers (Miliciaexcelsa, Mansoniaaltissima, Antiaristoxicaria and Tectonagrandis) pressed best with greater briquette CVs (i.e.,21.66-28.53 MJ/Kg) than their corresponding solid woods (i.e., 17.29-25.93MJ/Kg). However, solid woods of the lowdensity timbers(Triplochitonscleroxylonand Ceibapentandra)produced slightly greater CVs (17.96-22.46 MJ/Kg) than their briquettes (12.10-19.89 MJ/Kg). The non-timber species (Jatrophacurcas, Moringaoleifera and Bambusa vulgaris) generated lessCVs but greater for thebriquettes (17.96-19.02 MJ/Kg) than theirrelated solid woods (21.66-24.20 MJ/Kg). Thus, the voluminous hardwood sawdust produced annually as residues abounds in much potential energy and could be briquetted and utilized as bio-energy to generate heat for domestic and industrial applications and rid the atmosphere of the health-threatening pollutant.

Source: UEW
Assessment of school-based drivers influencing teaching and learning of social studies in Senior High Schools in the Akuapem South and Akuapem North Districts of the Eastern Region

Chief Examiners‘ WASSCE annual reports on Social Studies largely attribute candidates‘ abysmal performance to lack of knowledge of the subject matter and inability to establish the nexus between concepts as well as inadequate preparation. Consequently, candidates‘ performance in the subject are comparatively low to what is regarded as the norms of Standard Performance. Hence, the main objective of this study was to assess school-based drivers influencing teaching and learning of Social Studies in the SHSs in the Akuapem South and Akuapem North Districts of the Eastern Region. The study adopted school-based cross-sectional survey using descriptive correlational research design. Data was collected from 261 final year students from five SHSs and 33 social studies teachers using structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS Version 24. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD) was conducted to summarise the data and t-test was applied to establish if there is a statistically significant difference in the views of students and teachers on the schoolbased drivers and effective teaching and learning of social studies. The study revealed that the key school-based drivers influencing the teaching and learning of social studies in the districts relate to classroom environment; lack of management supports in terms of resource provision for practical lessons, lack of supportive physical environment such as large class size = 32.881, mean difference = 6.2422, p<0.05)- thus preventing teachers from engaging students in practical work and individualising their assignments (t-statistics=37.563, mean difference= 3.0920, p<0.05); and teachers inability to use diagnostics assessment tools to unraveled students difficulties and support them. The conclusion is that, the key drivers influencing effective teaching and learning of social studies are school-based and policy driven. The study therefore recommends that the government should support the teaching of the subject through provision of adequate resources. Again, the student-teacher ratio should be reduced.

Source: UEW
Assessment of seasonal variations in water quality of river Tordzie, Ghana

River Tordzie is one of the poorly studied rivers in Ghana in terms of its water quality. There is little data on the quality of water from this river. The purpose of the study was to assess the water quality of River Tordzie which runs through some communities in the Volta Region. Samples were taken in March (dry season) and July (wet season) in seven communities along the river in the study area. Sixteen physicochemical parameters and three heavy metals were analysed. Lead and cadmium were determined using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer using an air-acetylene oxidizing flame. Total hardness, pH, turbidity, chloride and phosphate were determined by EDTA titration, a PC 700 Eutech multi-parameter bench top meter, a potable metalyser HM 1000 Trace2O, argentometric titration and ascorbic acid spectrophotometric method respectively. From the analysis, it was found that the pH, Total hardness, sulphate, phosphate, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chloride, and nitrate were within the permissible limit of Bureau of Indian surface water quality standard as per IS: 2296. Heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and iron were also within the standard during the dry season but the concentrations of cadmium and lead were above the standard limits during the wet season. Water quality index (WQI) analysis was conducted and the result for the dry season was found to be 92.19 and for the wet season to be 1227.84. The results showed that, the water from this river cannot be used for domestic purposes without treatment. When Nemerow’s Pollution Index (NPI) was conducted, it was found that colour, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), cadmium, and lead were the main parameters causing the quality of the river to decline. The result from the t-test analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the observed values during the dry season and wet season (p = 0.815 > 0.05). The quality of water from river Tordzie was therefore affected by changes in the seasons.

Source: UEW
An assessment of sports facilities in senior high schools and the effect on sports development in the Tano North and South Districts of Ghana

This study was conducted to assess and evaluate the state (current) of sports facilities and effects on sports development at the Senior High School (SHS) in the Tano North and South districts in Brong Ahafo region, Ghana. A quantitative research approach was used for the study. The research technique used was descriptive survey method. The significance of the study was to create awareness that availability of sports facilities in the Senior High School improve sports performance. The study again would help SHS students to develop good attitude towards sports participation. The study would also provide data upon which further research into areas of physical education could be done. Three research questions were raised. The instruments used were interviews, observations and questionnaire. Data was analysed using chi square(x²) to test the hypotheses and find the relationship between availability of sports facility and sports performance. The findings revealed that the study fails to accept the hypotheses that there is no significant relationship between sports performance and provision of sports facilities. Both teachers and students accepted in the study that there is a significant effect of availability of sports facilities on sports performance and also agree that existing facilities are not properly maintained. The descriptive analyses revealed that sports facilities in the various schools were not adequate for their PE subject requirement. Other findings are that most of the facilities have paths and passages across them since people use them as routes to their destinations, for celebrations and other activities. This indicates that there are no proper management systems put in place. Generally, the study has revealed that sports facilities in the Tano North and South were inadequate and have significant effect on sports performance. Some recommendations were that administrators and other stake holders should invest in sports facilities to beef up performance

Source: UEW