Essel, Harry Barton
4 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFThe impact of a virtual teaching assistant (chatbot) on students' learning in Ghanaian higher education
By Essel, Harry Barton
Chatbot usage is evolving rapidly in various fields, including higher education. The present study's purpose is to discuss the effect of a virtual teaching assistant (chatbot) that automatically responds to a student's question. A pretest-posttest design was implemented, with the 68 participating undergraduate students being randomly allocated to scenarios representing a 2 x 2 design (experimental and control cohorts). Data was garnered utilizing an academic achievement test and focus groups, which allowed more in depth analysis of the students' experience with the chatbot. The results of the study demonstrated that the students who interacted with the chatbot performed better academically comparing to those who interacted with the course instructor. Besides, the focus group data garnered from the experimental cohort illustrated that they were confident about the chatbot's integration into the course. The present study essentially focused on the learning of the experimental cohort and their view regarding interaction with the chatbot. This study contributes the emerging artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot literature to improve student academic performance. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Ghana to integrate a chatbot to engage undergraduate students. This study provides critical information on the use and development of virtual teaching assistants using a zero-coding technique, which is the most suitable approach for organizations with limited financial and human resources.
Sustainable Development Goal for Education: Teachers’ Perspectives on Climate Change Education in Senior High Schools (SHS)
By Opuni-Frimpong, Nana Yeboaa
Any program intended to equip the populace, particularly young people, to combat climate change and its repercussions must include education. As crucial stakeholders in education, teachers have the primary responsibility of preparing young people to deal with the effects of climate change. In two districts of Ghana’s Bono region, the study assessed SHS teachers’ viewpoints on climate change and their willingness to include climate change concerns in classes. The degree to which climate change was incorporated into the syllabi of selected disciplines was also assessed. For this study, data was collected from a hundred (n = 100) SHS teachers from 10 of the 15 schools in the study area using a simple random sampling method. The Pearson chi-square test was used to examine the association between the subject content and teachers’ desire to teach climate change. The data were analyzed using SPSS (v25). The findings demonstrated that teachers’ readiness to educate about climate change was influenced by the subjects they taught. Subjects that were not science-based provided little information on climate change to teachers. Climate change is addressed in many areas in Integrated Science and Social Studies, and it is a core topic for all students. Climate change should be taught using an interdisciplinary approach, and in-service training for teachers could be beneficial. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Nomophobia among Preservice Teachers: a descriptive correlational study at Ghanaian Colleges of Education
By Essel, Harry Barton
The present study aimed at investigating nomophobia prevalence, thus, recurrence of anxiety without a smartphone, with preservice teachers in the Colleges of Education, Ghana. An actual sample of 345 preservice teachers responded to a 20-item questionnaire on nomophobia (NMP-Q). A one-way MANOVA between different groups statistics was applied in determining the differences in nomophobic behaviours among preservice teachers based on non-technology-related variables (gender, age, specialism, subjective economic status, sleep/rest hours, and religion) and technology-related variables (number of smartphones owned, smartphone ownership duration, active internet services, and daily internet usage time). The results evidenced that the vast majority of preservice teachers had mild to severe nomophobia, and their most significant anxiety was related to access to information and communication. Besides, non-technology-related variables in gender, sleep hours, and subjective economic status significantly impacted the preservice teachers' nomophobia. Technology-related variables that significantly influenced the nomophobic behaviour of preservice teachers included the number of smartphones owned, smartphone ownership duration, and active internet service. A sizable majority of the preservice teachers showed signs of mild to severe nomophobia. The present study provides prefatory support for the prevalence of nomophobia among the Ghanaian preservice teachers.
Flipping the Classroom in Senior High School Textile Education to Enhance Students' Learning Achievement and Self-Efficacy
By Boateng, Annette Akuamoah
The study analysed the impact of the flipped classroom (FC) approach on weaving experience, self-efficacy and students' learning achievement. To achieve this purpose, a quasi-experimental (pre-test/post-test) design, with a control group and an experimental group, was implemented. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the outcomes of the intervention. Forty- four first year senior high school students of an elective textile education subject participated in the study. An academic achievement test and a semi-structured group interview were employed as data-gathering instruments. Descriptive and inferential statistics (parametric and nonparametric tests), as well as thematic analysis were used to analyse the data collected. Findings of the study indicated that, regarding the acquisition of skill set and the maintenance of academic achievement, the students in the treatment group taught using the FC approach obtained higher levels of achievement juxtaposed with the students in the control group tutored with a traditional teacher-centred approach. The study further established that a flipped-classroom approach was engaging, interactive and exciting for students. The students in the experimental group, via the qualitative inquiry, expressed satisfaction with the practice in weaving and felt elevated in their knowledge, attitudes, self-learning, problem-solving and critical thinking skills acquisition. Therefore, the study recommended that the school adopt the FC approach as a method of teaching studio-based Visual Art subjects to support instructional hours.
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