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Students’ Perceptions of Student Financial Support Services at the University of Cape Coast
Get PDFThe quality of support service provided to students in the tertiary institution landscape is very important. The University of Cape Coast in the past two years has been providing financial support services to students through the student financial support office. The student financial support office has disbursed funds for more than two academic calendars. However, there is yet to be a study to assess knowledge about its availability, delivery, and effectiveness as perceived by the students. The study was thus conducted to assess the student perception of the service provided by the financial support office. In all, 1041 responses were used for the analysis. Findings of the study indicated that staff interacted with students with respect, empathy, and professionalism, communicated well with students, and were well empowered in responding to students' concerns. The study, therefore, concludes that the SFSO generally are perceived by students as providing good service. However, the web page of the SFSO is should be improved and be made more interactive. The study recommends that to improve and sustain the service provided by the SFSO, staff should continuously demonstrate respect, and empathy, exhibit professionalism, communicate well and be well empowered to resolve students' concerns
POLITICAL SONGS AND ELECTIONS IN GHANA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC, 1992 – 2020
Get PDFThe Fourth Republic marked the return of multi-party democracy in Ghana. Since 1992, multi-party elections have consolidated Ghana’s democratic credentials within the global political landscape. Interestingly, the successes of these elections have described Ghana as a beacon of democracy in Africa. These success stories emanated from diverse factors such as available written constitution, independent Electoral Commission, citizenship participation, political party activism, finance, and rigorous campaign strategies. However, one major factor that has contributed tremendously to the success of Ghana’s elections is the role of political songs. Songs have played quintessential roles in sustaining and consolidating Ghana’s democracy. Since 1992, musicians have composed songs to support various political parties, which have been used extensively as campaign tools in Ghana’s Fourth Republic. Using the qualitative approach, this study investigates the relevance of political songs in sustaining Ghana’s elections. The study finds that since 1992, several political songs have been composed to support the efforts of election campaigns in Ghana, with the years 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 witnessing the peak of these political songs. The study also finds that political songs have played crucial roles in sustaining Ghana’s elections in political education, criticising aspirants, canvassing for votes, expressing issues of party achievements, and promoting peace and unity, among others. The study concludes that political songs have taken centre stage in the three decades of democratic practice in Ghana’s Fourth Republic
THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH IN LINKING CLASSROOM MATHEMATICS TO REAL-LIFE ACTIVITIES ON LEARNERS’ PERFORMANCE
Get PDFThe study aimed to determine the impact of using the Problem-solving approach to link classroom mathematics to daily life activities on learners’ performance. The constructivist theory and Polya's problem-solving approach were employed to create a link between classroom mathematics and real-life mathematical perspective. A sample of two intact classes comprising 101 students was used for the study. The control class received the traditional instruction, while the experimental class was treated with the designed intervention. The results indicated a statistically significant improvement in the post-test of the Experimental Group. It is recommended that teachers should endeavour to use the problem-solving approach in teaching to enhance learners' performance
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS
Get PDFThe study sought to find out the Senior High School teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Teaching Mathematics. The research design adopted for this study was a mixed method. The survey research method used a questionnaire to collect data, a semi-structured interview guide was also used in the collection of first-hand information. The researcher used the simple random sampling technique to select thirty (30) Mathematics teachers and 30 students in senior high schools in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region. The questionnaires were administered to mathematics teachers and interviews were conducted for the students to ascertain first-hand information. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the questionnaires and the interview data was analyzed thematically. Findings showed that the overall mean of (4.57, SD=0.57) which means teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching SHS Mathematics is high. The interview with the students also confesses the level of Senior High School Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Teaching Mathematics to be high as well. Therefore, it was concluded that even though the teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching SHS mathematics were high it does not contribute to the performance of the schools in the final examinations. It was therefore recommended among others that a probe should be launched into why the Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Teaching Mathematics could not contribute to better performance of students in Mathematic
ASSESSING GUIDANCE SERVICES IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN GHANA: A CASE OF A SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SUNYANI WEST DISTRICT
Get PDFThe study assessed guidance services in a senior high school in the Sunyani west district of Ghana. A mixed-method approach was employed for the study with the concurrent triangulation strategy as the design. The population of this study comprised all the Green Track students of the school. The sample size was 122 respondents made up of 120 students and two counselors. The students were selected through the convenience sampling method while the two counsellors were purposively selected. Instruments for data collection were questionnaire and semi-structured interview guides. The study revealed that all the students were aware of counselling departments as well as guidance services. The study recommended that the Management of the school should provide facilities like counselling offices, magazines, and audio and video tapes, for effective guidance and counselling service
Assessing the limitations of Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) implementation in Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAS). A case of Anloga District Assembly
Get PDFThis study sought to assess the limitations of GIFMIS implementation in Ghana: A case study of Anloga District Assembly. The main tool used for the data collection for this study was a structured questionnaire containing closed-ended questions. The study used the quantitative research approach as well as the explanatory study design. A total of 20 respondents were sampled, using the purposive sampling techniques. Descriptive statistical tools, such as frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the research data. The study revealed that the GIFMIS system is necessary to ensure effective and efficient revenue collection, ensuring efficiency, transparency, and accountability in financial management, ensuring timely dissemination of information, and maximizing payments and commitment controls of public funds. The results also revealed that inadequate ICT infrastructure, poor network connectivity, inadequate ICT skills of staff, and funding challenges among others are some of the limitations hindering the smooth operationalization of GIFMIS in the Anloga District Assembly in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study, therefore, recommends that the Government of Ghana should provide the needed resources such as ICT infrastructures, network connectivity, training of staff, computers, and other facilities needed to support the GIFMIS program in order to achieve its objectives
Small-Scale Mining, Environment and Livelihoods: Perspectives from Mining Communities in Ghana
Get PDFThe environment and livelihoods have come under severe strain in mineral-rich areas with the emergence of mechanised small-scale mining equipment, which generates more than five-fold increase in gold production. This article discusses the impact of mechanised small-scale mining on the environment and livelihoods of peasant farmers within broader climate change processes in Ghana. Methods used include community-level qualitative interviews, field observations, analysis of satellite imagery spanning the period 1987-2016, and published data on climate change processes affecting Ghana. The findings show water loss of more than seventy per cent, severely degraded lands and forests, with detrimental effects on livelihoods in the areas studied. Though the study did not find direct evidence of the impact of climate change processes on the environment, corroborative reports from research indicate about 1.6% rise in temperature across Ghana from 1960 to 2020, combined with extreme weather events such as torrential rains, excessive flooding and intensified evaporation from lands exposed through small-scale mining; these are very likely to have more adverse effects on the environment. The article concludes that the consequences of mechanised mining on the environment have been very detrimental in the face of domestic legislation and well-established environmental protection conventions and principles. The paper recommends a return to the observance of sound ecological principles and ideals by the State, and respect for the country’s legislation, to ensure sustainable livelihoods for people living in mineral-rich areas
EFFECT OF THE USE OF GEOGEBRA ON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN REFLECTION
Get PDFThe study sought to ascertain the effect of the use of GeoGebra on junior high school students’ performance in reflection. The study employed quasi-experimental non-equivalent pretest-posttest design. One hundred and ten (110) JHS two (2) students from two school were assigned to control and experimental group. Data was collected using test in the form of pre-test and post-test. Data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation, independent sample t-test and Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The findings indicated that students’ performance in the experimental group on post-test improved significantly as a result of the intervention (GeoGebra). Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers incorporate GeoGebra in teaching and learning of reflection to facilitate better learning outcome
Examination of Student Evaluation of Teaching in COVID19 Era: Transition from Manual to online using Google Forms
Get PDFWhen the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Ghana in March 2020, the studied University introduced an online Learning Management System (LMS) where all the courses previously taught face-to-face were migrated into the online LMS as a mitigation measure. Unfortunately, Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) remains paper-based in the increasing rate of COVID-19 infection among members within the University. Against this backdrop, the researchers have decided to explore the technology of Google Forms as a cost-free digitized method of Student Evaluation of Teaching as an alternative to the current paper-based feedback method. This paper investigates to find out if there will be statistical significance difference in the feedback questionnaire items' response rates and students’ satisfaction scoring patterns, respondents’ percentage rate, reliabilityfor both manual and online evaluation feedback methods and the number of comments written by students. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used to find out whether mode of students’ evaluation of teaching, that is manual and online, will affect the response rate and scoring pattern of students’ satisfaction of courses and lecturers. From the Mann–Whitney U test, the median scores in the manual and online tests indicate that the distributions in the two groups did not differ significantly
HOUSEHOLDS’ LIVELIHOOD ADAPTATION STRATEGIES AFTER THE CLOSURE OF LARGE-SCALE JATROPHA INVESTMENT: A CASE OF MION DISTRICT IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA
Get PDFAfrican possesses the largest land acquisition ratio as compared to other continents. Based on this, a Biofuel Africa Ltd a Norwegian biofuel company acquired over 23, 000 hectares of arable land for the cultivation of Jatropha in Mion District which created job opportunities, improved health care facilities and ensured access to quality education. All these resulted in the improvement of the livelihood conditions of the rural populace. However, due to due to lack of a ready accessible market, unfavorable weather conditions, pest and disease damages, low yield, and high cost of maintenance of farming logistics led to the seizure of operations by the Biofuel Africa Ltd. What then becomes the livelihood condition of the locals who depended on operations of the Biofuel Africa Ltd operations for survival. It is against this backdrop that this study sought to investigate the households’ livelihood adaptation strategies after the closure of large-scale Jatropha investment in the Mion District in the Northern Region of Ghana. The case study framework, simple random sampling technique, close-ended questionnaire as well as a semi-structured interview guide were used for this study. The study’s findings revealed that the adaptation strategies intensive farming, mixed cropping, shared land with relatives or friends, acquisition of land from other communities, petty trading, migration, encroachment, off-season farming and multiple strategies had a marginal positive effect on their livelihood outcomes. It is therefore recommended that land lease should be done within a midterm period with subsequent renewal. This will create an enabling environment to allow the rural population to return to their land if the company decide to stop operatin