Submission of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by postgraduate students has become a co... more Submission of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by postgraduate students has become a common phenomenon in learning environments globally. The purpose of ETDs is to train postgraduate students as knowledge workers in online publishing and also extend their skills beyond word processing. The challenge however, is that many postgraduate students are not adequately equipped to design, develop and submit their theses and dissertations electronically. This article reports on a project based on the design and development of a self-paced Interactive Multimedia Application (IMA). The courseware is based on the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) instructional system design model to guide postgraduate students to learn to publish their theses and dissertations electronically. Qualitative research design with descriptive approach was employed for the study. Testing of this self-paced computer-based learning material revealed that postgraduate students...
: The linguistic and cognitive importance of early language exposure for deaf children is well re... more : The linguistic and cognitive importance of early language exposure for deaf children is well reported in the literature. However, most of such studies have been conducted in industrialized countries with less of such studies conducted in developing and nonindustrialized countries such as Ghana. Therefore, hinged on the social interactionist theory of language development, this study explored the factors that influence early acquisition of sign language among deaf children from a low-resource setting in Ghana. Ten mothers of deaf children from these communities were purposively selected for the study. Data was gathered through observation, focus group discussion, and a face-to-face interview using a semistructured interview guide. The data were subsequently analyzed thematically. Parents' knowledge about their children's deafness, sociocultural beliefs, and the parents' interactions with their deaf children at home were found as core potential factors influencing early acquisition of sign language among deaf children in these low-resourced communities. Based on these findings, appropriate recommendations are made for policy and practice.
Preschool prepares children with the requisite skills and competencies necessary for formal educa... more Preschool prepares children with the requisite skills and competencies necessary for formal education. It provides parents with productive time for their work while their children are being cared for in kindergartens, day-care centers, crèches, and pre-schools where children are provided opportunities for stimulation and holistic development using play-based activities. Enhancing the quality of Early Childhood Care and Education has been expressed through research and policy initiatives, development programmes, advocacy, theories, and philosophies that underpin practice in pre-schools. A qualitative approach was employed to look at views related to Early Childhood Care and Education. The purposive sampling method was adopted for the study. The findings however suggest that children in general exhibit relatively different cognitive and social competencies in varied environments. Data collected and analyzed concluded that there was a significant disparity in the experiences of the children, teacher expertise and experience, and academic and play facilities coupled with differences in the social and economic backgrounds of children. It is recommended that further research be conducted in other pre-schools to verify the findings of this research.
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2015
Creative Art was introduced into Ghana’s primary school curriculum in 2007. Comprising Performing... more Creative Art was introduced into Ghana’s primary school curriculum in 2007. Comprising Performing, Literary and Visual Arts, Creative Art was intended to foster creativity development among primary pupils. However, Creative Art is taught by generalist classroom teachers who lack the specialized training, knowledge, skill and experience to identify efficient teaching-learning strategies that allow pupils to actively participate in art making experiences. This study adopted action research to guide 20 Lower Primary teachers in two schools to design and teach activity-based lessons in drawing, colourwork, weaving, printmaking, composition, and assemblage to 95 pupils using clay, crayons, drums, cardboard, glue, among other resources. The intervention workshops proved that in-service education and training could build the professional capacity of generalist teachers in Ghana to effectively implement the Creative Arts curriculum for primary schools. Ghana Education Service should train p...
The education system recognises the positive impact of induction on the retention and professiona... more The education system recognises the positive impact of induction on the retention and professional growth of Newly Qualified Teachers in Ghana. This points out the question of how teacher induction programmes should be planned, organised and implemented, and what it should entail. The study sought to examine the forms and strategies of induction programmes organised for Newly Qualified Teachers in Senior High Schools during their initial professional practice. Using the descriptive case study method, data was gathered from forty-two Newly Qualified Teachers, three Assistant head teachers (Academics) from three sampled schools and one municipal human resource officer, all from Ashanti-Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Questionnaire, interview, observation and document analysis were the research instruments used. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive analysis where similar themes and patterns were identified from responses and compared with literature. Find...
In Ghana, art paper is imported, expensive and often inaccessible to students in some communities... more In Ghana, art paper is imported, expensive and often inaccessible to students in some communities for lack of suppliers or funding. High costs prevent many Visual Arts teachers from assigning enough practice exercises that could help their students to master a variety of art mediums. The challenge therefore was to explore the possibility of recycling waste fabrics into reasonably good quality paper that interested Visual Arts teachers and students could use for demonstration and skills development lessons. The methodology involved pulping fabric and mulberry fibre, moulding, couching and drying them into sheets of different colours and texture. Tests of suitability involved drawing and painting on samples of the different sheets with colour pencil, poster and water colour, pastel, oil and acrylic paints. Although the papers reacted differently to the various mediums, the results show that useful art paper could be improvised for self-expression and skills development in the Visual Arts.
This paper primarily discusses the challenges deaf students in Ghana are likely to grapple with a... more This paper primarily discusses the challenges deaf students in Ghana are likely to grapple with as they access education provided for them in English language. The arguments discussed in this paper are supported by findings from a multiple site case study of five Schools for the Deaf purposively sampled from four regions of Ghana. Observations were made of 15 classroom teaching and learning processes at the basic school level. Interviews were also conducted with seven teachers to gather qualitative data for the study. The findings were that deaf students in Ghana access education, provided for them in their classrooms and textbooks, in much the same ways as their hearing counterparts whereas they do not have the same abilities as their hearing counterparts to effectively acquire and use English language. The poor access to English language as well as the limitations in technology developed for deaf students in Ghana reflect in some learning difficulties. This stagnation stifles the ...
International Journal of Education Through Art, 2011
... English language. doi: 10.1386/eta.7.2.187_1 ERIC APPAU ASANTE AND NANA AFIA OPOKU-ASARE Kwam... more ... English language. doi: 10.1386/eta.7.2.187_1 ERIC APPAU ASANTE AND NANA AFIA OPOKU-ASARE Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Cultural identity in the murals of Sirigu women and their role in art education and social sustainability ...
General Knowledge in Art (GKA) is a core subject for Visual Arts students in Ghana’s Senior High ... more General Knowledge in Art (GKA) is a core subject for Visual Arts students in Ghana’s Senior High Schools but an elective for Home Economics students. Unlike Textiles, Ceramics and allied Visual Arts subjects which are taught by specialist teachers, GKA has no specialist teachers: all Visual Arts teacher are deemed competent to effectively deliver the GKA curriculum; hence teaching and student achievement in GKA varies according to the strengths of GKA teachers. This paper describes an investigation of how the teaching methods, instructional strategies and resources employed by GKA teachers in Ghana’s Senior High Schools affect student achievement in the subject. Using findings analyzed from qualitative and quantitative data gathered via questionnaire administration to 420 GKA students (Visual Arts = 227 or 54.0%; Home Economics = 193 or 46.0%) in four schools in Ashanti Region; interview with nine GKA teachers, school librarians and storekeepers, as well as observation of 14 lessons...
The study examines the use of waste materials as instructional resources in teaching and learning... more The study examines the use of waste materials as instructional resources in teaching and learning Art lessons. Primary, Junior and Senior High School Art teachers in Ghana mostly teach their lessons without instructional resources because the government is not able to provide materials to create the needed resources. The study therefore explored local waste materials which create nuisance in the environment in Ghana to create appropriate teaching resources for Art in Ghana. This study shows differences in classroom atmosphere and student performance when instructional resources are used or not used in teaching and learning. The study adopted the exploratory, quasi-experimental and descriptive research methods. Art teachers from Kumasi were selected to teach with developed instructional resources after which lessons taught with and without the instructional resources were compared. The study found that when instructional resources are used for teaching and learning, lessons become mo...
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2014
Recycling to produce new products out of waste materials is not a regular feature of school art p... more Recycling to produce new products out of waste materials is not a regular feature of school art programmes in Ghana. A previous quasi-experimental recycling project revealed the possibility of using pulp waste fabrics and paper mulberry fibre to produce good quality art paper suitable for teaching and learning of drawing, painting, stitching, colour work, and book binding. This article reports on the follow up workshop aimed at introducing 15 art teachers in Kumasi to pulp art making to support effective delivery of the Creative Arts, Basic Design and Technology, and Visual Arts curricula followed in Primary, Junior High and Senior High Schools respectively. Besides learning to produce papers, the teachers tested the suitability of the produced papers using colour pencil, pastel, poster colour, watercolour, oil and acrylic paints. They also learned to sew sheets of the produced papers together into miniature books to teach calligraphy and encourage development of good handwriting sk...
The vibrancy and enthusiasm of students in the Textiles education of the Visual Arts programme in... more The vibrancy and enthusiasm of students in the Textiles education of the Visual Arts programme in the past is depleting currently. Most Senior High Schools (SHSs) and students are getting disillusioned about this decline and many schools are dropping Textiles from their menu of elective Visual Arts subjects. This makes it necessary to investigate the teaching and learning of Textiles in the senior high schools using schools that offer Textiles Education in Greater Accra Region as a case study. Mixed methods research approach with observation, interview and questionnaire administration were used to collect data using a convenience and purposive sample of 186 Textiles students and 12 teachers in seven senior high schools in the Accra Metropolis. Data were also sought from three textiles lecturers in a polytechnic, two universities, three West African Examination Council officials and two Curriculum, Research, Design and Development coordinators of the Ghana Education Service. The stud...
Submission of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by postgraduate students has become a co... more Submission of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by postgraduate students has become a common phenomenon in learning environments globally. The purpose of ETDs is to train postgraduate students as knowledge workers in online publishing and also extend their skills beyond word processing. The challenge however, is that many postgraduate students are not adequately equipped to design, develop and submit their theses and dissertations electronically. This article reports on a project based on the design and development of a self-paced Interactive Multimedia Application (IMA). The courseware is based on the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) instructional system design model to guide postgraduate students to learn to publish their theses and dissertations electronically. Qualitative research design with descriptive approach was employed for the study. Testing of this self-paced computer-based learning material revealed that postgraduate students...
: The linguistic and cognitive importance of early language exposure for deaf children is well re... more : The linguistic and cognitive importance of early language exposure for deaf children is well reported in the literature. However, most of such studies have been conducted in industrialized countries with less of such studies conducted in developing and nonindustrialized countries such as Ghana. Therefore, hinged on the social interactionist theory of language development, this study explored the factors that influence early acquisition of sign language among deaf children from a low-resource setting in Ghana. Ten mothers of deaf children from these communities were purposively selected for the study. Data was gathered through observation, focus group discussion, and a face-to-face interview using a semistructured interview guide. The data were subsequently analyzed thematically. Parents' knowledge about their children's deafness, sociocultural beliefs, and the parents' interactions with their deaf children at home were found as core potential factors influencing early acquisition of sign language among deaf children in these low-resourced communities. Based on these findings, appropriate recommendations are made for policy and practice.
Preschool prepares children with the requisite skills and competencies necessary for formal educa... more Preschool prepares children with the requisite skills and competencies necessary for formal education. It provides parents with productive time for their work while their children are being cared for in kindergartens, day-care centers, crèches, and pre-schools where children are provided opportunities for stimulation and holistic development using play-based activities. Enhancing the quality of Early Childhood Care and Education has been expressed through research and policy initiatives, development programmes, advocacy, theories, and philosophies that underpin practice in pre-schools. A qualitative approach was employed to look at views related to Early Childhood Care and Education. The purposive sampling method was adopted for the study. The findings however suggest that children in general exhibit relatively different cognitive and social competencies in varied environments. Data collected and analyzed concluded that there was a significant disparity in the experiences of the children, teacher expertise and experience, and academic and play facilities coupled with differences in the social and economic backgrounds of children. It is recommended that further research be conducted in other pre-schools to verify the findings of this research.
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2015
Creative Art was introduced into Ghana’s primary school curriculum in 2007. Comprising Performing... more Creative Art was introduced into Ghana’s primary school curriculum in 2007. Comprising Performing, Literary and Visual Arts, Creative Art was intended to foster creativity development among primary pupils. However, Creative Art is taught by generalist classroom teachers who lack the specialized training, knowledge, skill and experience to identify efficient teaching-learning strategies that allow pupils to actively participate in art making experiences. This study adopted action research to guide 20 Lower Primary teachers in two schools to design and teach activity-based lessons in drawing, colourwork, weaving, printmaking, composition, and assemblage to 95 pupils using clay, crayons, drums, cardboard, glue, among other resources. The intervention workshops proved that in-service education and training could build the professional capacity of generalist teachers in Ghana to effectively implement the Creative Arts curriculum for primary schools. Ghana Education Service should train p...
The education system recognises the positive impact of induction on the retention and professiona... more The education system recognises the positive impact of induction on the retention and professional growth of Newly Qualified Teachers in Ghana. This points out the question of how teacher induction programmes should be planned, organised and implemented, and what it should entail. The study sought to examine the forms and strategies of induction programmes organised for Newly Qualified Teachers in Senior High Schools during their initial professional practice. Using the descriptive case study method, data was gathered from forty-two Newly Qualified Teachers, three Assistant head teachers (Academics) from three sampled schools and one municipal human resource officer, all from Ashanti-Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Questionnaire, interview, observation and document analysis were the research instruments used. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive analysis where similar themes and patterns were identified from responses and compared with literature. Find...
In Ghana, art paper is imported, expensive and often inaccessible to students in some communities... more In Ghana, art paper is imported, expensive and often inaccessible to students in some communities for lack of suppliers or funding. High costs prevent many Visual Arts teachers from assigning enough practice exercises that could help their students to master a variety of art mediums. The challenge therefore was to explore the possibility of recycling waste fabrics into reasonably good quality paper that interested Visual Arts teachers and students could use for demonstration and skills development lessons. The methodology involved pulping fabric and mulberry fibre, moulding, couching and drying them into sheets of different colours and texture. Tests of suitability involved drawing and painting on samples of the different sheets with colour pencil, poster and water colour, pastel, oil and acrylic paints. Although the papers reacted differently to the various mediums, the results show that useful art paper could be improvised for self-expression and skills development in the Visual Arts.
This paper primarily discusses the challenges deaf students in Ghana are likely to grapple with a... more This paper primarily discusses the challenges deaf students in Ghana are likely to grapple with as they access education provided for them in English language. The arguments discussed in this paper are supported by findings from a multiple site case study of five Schools for the Deaf purposively sampled from four regions of Ghana. Observations were made of 15 classroom teaching and learning processes at the basic school level. Interviews were also conducted with seven teachers to gather qualitative data for the study. The findings were that deaf students in Ghana access education, provided for them in their classrooms and textbooks, in much the same ways as their hearing counterparts whereas they do not have the same abilities as their hearing counterparts to effectively acquire and use English language. The poor access to English language as well as the limitations in technology developed for deaf students in Ghana reflect in some learning difficulties. This stagnation stifles the ...
International Journal of Education Through Art, 2011
... English language. doi: 10.1386/eta.7.2.187_1 ERIC APPAU ASANTE AND NANA AFIA OPOKU-ASARE Kwam... more ... English language. doi: 10.1386/eta.7.2.187_1 ERIC APPAU ASANTE AND NANA AFIA OPOKU-ASARE Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Cultural identity in the murals of Sirigu women and their role in art education and social sustainability ...
General Knowledge in Art (GKA) is a core subject for Visual Arts students in Ghana’s Senior High ... more General Knowledge in Art (GKA) is a core subject for Visual Arts students in Ghana’s Senior High Schools but an elective for Home Economics students. Unlike Textiles, Ceramics and allied Visual Arts subjects which are taught by specialist teachers, GKA has no specialist teachers: all Visual Arts teacher are deemed competent to effectively deliver the GKA curriculum; hence teaching and student achievement in GKA varies according to the strengths of GKA teachers. This paper describes an investigation of how the teaching methods, instructional strategies and resources employed by GKA teachers in Ghana’s Senior High Schools affect student achievement in the subject. Using findings analyzed from qualitative and quantitative data gathered via questionnaire administration to 420 GKA students (Visual Arts = 227 or 54.0%; Home Economics = 193 or 46.0%) in four schools in Ashanti Region; interview with nine GKA teachers, school librarians and storekeepers, as well as observation of 14 lessons...
The study examines the use of waste materials as instructional resources in teaching and learning... more The study examines the use of waste materials as instructional resources in teaching and learning Art lessons. Primary, Junior and Senior High School Art teachers in Ghana mostly teach their lessons without instructional resources because the government is not able to provide materials to create the needed resources. The study therefore explored local waste materials which create nuisance in the environment in Ghana to create appropriate teaching resources for Art in Ghana. This study shows differences in classroom atmosphere and student performance when instructional resources are used or not used in teaching and learning. The study adopted the exploratory, quasi-experimental and descriptive research methods. Art teachers from Kumasi were selected to teach with developed instructional resources after which lessons taught with and without the instructional resources were compared. The study found that when instructional resources are used for teaching and learning, lessons become mo...
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2014
Recycling to produce new products out of waste materials is not a regular feature of school art p... more Recycling to produce new products out of waste materials is not a regular feature of school art programmes in Ghana. A previous quasi-experimental recycling project revealed the possibility of using pulp waste fabrics and paper mulberry fibre to produce good quality art paper suitable for teaching and learning of drawing, painting, stitching, colour work, and book binding. This article reports on the follow up workshop aimed at introducing 15 art teachers in Kumasi to pulp art making to support effective delivery of the Creative Arts, Basic Design and Technology, and Visual Arts curricula followed in Primary, Junior High and Senior High Schools respectively. Besides learning to produce papers, the teachers tested the suitability of the produced papers using colour pencil, pastel, poster colour, watercolour, oil and acrylic paints. They also learned to sew sheets of the produced papers together into miniature books to teach calligraphy and encourage development of good handwriting sk...
The vibrancy and enthusiasm of students in the Textiles education of the Visual Arts programme in... more The vibrancy and enthusiasm of students in the Textiles education of the Visual Arts programme in the past is depleting currently. Most Senior High Schools (SHSs) and students are getting disillusioned about this decline and many schools are dropping Textiles from their menu of elective Visual Arts subjects. This makes it necessary to investigate the teaching and learning of Textiles in the senior high schools using schools that offer Textiles Education in Greater Accra Region as a case study. Mixed methods research approach with observation, interview and questionnaire administration were used to collect data using a convenience and purposive sample of 186 Textiles students and 12 teachers in seven senior high schools in the Accra Metropolis. Data were also sought from three textiles lecturers in a polytechnic, two universities, three West African Examination Council officials and two Curriculum, Research, Design and Development coordinators of the Ghana Education Service. The stud...
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