Bernice Oteng

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Social studies and history curriculum assessment in colleges of education in Ghana: Reflective practices of teacher educators

By Bernice Oteng

Assessment is a crucial and essential component of successful instruction and learning. As a result, teachers must examine their actions in the classroom through a process of reflective practices (self-observation and self-evaluation) and think about why they do it and if it works. This essay examines the reflective practices of Ghanaian teacher educators regarding the evaluation of social studies and history curricula. It made use of the sequential explanatory mixed method as a methodology drawn from questionnaires, interviews and document reviews. The findings disclosed that teacher educators in Ghana’s colleges of education have low efficacy and poor reflective practices when it comes to affective domain assessment. The study suggests that the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) should ramp up the instruction of the methods for evaluating the affective domain in coordination with Ghanaian universities. For Social Studies teacher educators, consistent professional development programs on the methods for assessing the affective domain should be organised. The universities in Ghana should train Social Studies History teacher educators in the field in the area of measurement and evaluation with particular emphasis on the construction of appropriate test items for determining expected outcomes. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

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Assessing the effect of information and communication technology usage on high school student’s academic performance in a developing country

By Ronald Osei Mensah

The aim of the study is to access the effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage on Second Cycle Schools (SCSs) student academic performance and its associated challenges in a developing country. To give teachers and students the chance to function in the information age, ICT integration in teaching and learning activities is essential. This study employed a mix method approach to access the effect of ICT usage on SCSs student academic performance and its associated challenges in Ghana. The respondents of this study were chosen using the Yamane formula. A total of one hundred and seventy-two (172) respondents were chosen for this study. Questionnaire and interview guide was used as data collection tool in this study. The study found that the majority of students use mobile phones, computers, the internet/modem, social media, digital cameras, or printers outside of school. The findings again indicated that, ICT usage has improved students’ academic performance. The findings further revealed that students face challenges when using ICT facilities in their learning processes due to limited access to internet connections and the attitude of some teachers when integrating ICT in class. The availability of ICT resources at SCSs and sometimes homes are critical to the success of ICT in SCS education. The study then recommends that parents should make an effort to provide ICT resources for their children. Furthermore, governments of developing countries should make sufficient funds available for providing universal access to ICT to unserved and underprivileged groups. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

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