Samlafo, B.V, Bobobee, L.H, Yeboah, P.O & Serfor-Armah (2014). Speciation of Se(IV) and Se(VI) in Human Blood Samples from Residents of Wassa West District, a Mining Impacted Area of Ghana. The International Journal Of Science & Technoledge,2, (9),131-135.http://www.theijst.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/26.ST1409-044.pdf.ISSN: 2321-919X
Abstract This paper examines the speciation of selenium(IV) (selenite) and selenium(VI) (selenate) levels in human whole blood samples from Tarkwa and its environs, a mining impacted area in Ghana, using hydride generation atomic absorption
spectrophotometric technique.Selenium(IV) in the experimental subjects ranged from 0.08±0.01 μg/mL to 0.50±0.02μg/mL with a mean of 0.29 μg/mL, while the controlsranged from 0.02±0.1 μg/mL to 0.21 ±0.05 μg/mL, with a mean of 0.07 μg/mL. Significant differences existed between the levels of selenium(IV)concentrations in experimental and controlsubjects(p=0.0001 <0.05). The selenium(VI) in experimental subjects ranged from 2.97±0.52 μg/mL to 4.39±0.42 μg/mL,with amean of 3.63 μg/mL, while the control ranged from 0.60 μg/mL to 1.0 μg/mL, with a mean of 0.89 μg/mL.Significant differences exited between the levels of selenium(VI) in experimental and the control subjects (p=5.98 x10-14<0.05). The measurement precision
determined by relative standard deviation was within ±5%. The accuracy of the determination was evaluated by analysing certified standard human hair reference material GBW 09101. The observed valueswere within ±6% of the certified values.
Keywords: blood, selenium, speciation, health, toxicity, mining, nutrient, hospital
Jun 19, 2015
Owusu, S. (2014). On exceptions to Akan vowel harmony. International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology,1, (5),45-52.http://www.ijsrit.com/details.php?month=201412.ISSN: 2313-3759
Abstract The vowel harmony in Akan is described as a phonological process of regressive assimilation (i.e. advanced vowels assimilate unadvanced ones that precede them Dolphyne (1988) devotes a section of her book to Akan vowel harmony. She identifies six groups of words that deviate from the Akan vowel harmony rule. This paper argues that some of the words discussed in Dolphyne (1988) as exceptions to the Akan vowel harmony rule do not break the vowel harmony rule in the language. This is because unadvanced vowels cannot assimilate advanced vowels that precede them. Rather, it is the advanced vowels that assimilate unadvanced ones that precede them. In effect, there are virtually no exceptions to the vowel harmony rule in Akan.
Jun 18, 2015
Owusu, S.
2015 West African Linguistics Congress (WALC 2015). d’Abomey-Calavi, République du BENIN 11th August to 16th August, 2015
Paper presented:
Communicative Language Testing: Does BECE English language Test Measure Students’ Communicative Competence?
Abstract The English language syllabus for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) issued by the Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ministry of Education is designed to assist students to develop the language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The English language syllabus requires that 10% of teaching, learning, and testing should be devoted to listening skills, and 30% should be given to each of the other three language skills (reading, speaking, and writing skills). Teachers of English and test developers are therefore expected to adopt communicative language teaching and communicative language testing respectively in teaching and testing of English Language in Ghana. A communicative language test is intended to measure how learners are able to use language in real life situations. Communicative language testing does not just test knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question, how communicative is the BECE English language Test in assessing students' competence (knowledge of the language) and performance (actual use of the language in concrete situations)? The results show that BECE English language Test (designed and administered by the West African Examinations Council) is only able to test students’ grammatical competence but not communicative competence.
Jun 18, 2015
Owusu, S.
8th Linguistics Association of Ghana Annual Conference (LAG 2015). Kumasi, Ghana Monday, July 27 to Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Paper presented:
Washback Effect of BECE and WASSCE English Language Test on Teaching and Learning of English Language in Ghana
Abstract The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) English language tests administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) are high-stakes tests which have very important consequences for the junior and senior high school leavers. The English language syllabus for both junior high school and senior high school levels has listening, reading, writing, and speaking components. Unfortunately, the BECE and WASSCE English language tests do not assess students on all the language skills. Although the WASSCE English language test has oral English component (which was introduced in 1999), it assesses candidates on listening comprehension only. Since teachers and students are likely to concentrate on what is going to be assessed, there may be negative washback effect on teaching and learning of English language in junior and senior high schools in Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question, what kind of attention is given to those equally important language areas that are not covered in BECE and WASSCE? 300 students and 12 English language teachers from 3 junior high schools and 3 senior high schools were selected for the study. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of data revealed that teachers of English and their learners focused their attention on language areas and skills that are covered in the BECE and WASSCE.
Jun 18, 2015
Wilson, K. B., & Agyenim Boateng, K.
International Research Initiatives Conference (IRIC). Government Secretariat, Accra, Ghana 7th – 8th October 2014
Paper presented:
Utilisation of Knowledge in Emerging Technologies in Teacher Education: Insights from Students in Higher Institutions
Abstract This study presents empirical report about how students utilise the knowledge in emerging technologies to support their personal learning. The study describes the abilities and experiences of students and wide range of technologies they use to support their personal learning. The study used a closed-ended self-answering questionnaires and focus-group-discussions (FGD) to collect empirical data from students. Stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents. The data from the questionnaire were analysed using simple means, frequencies, standard deviation, Kendall’s and cross-tabulation using SPSS software to identify and compare students’ ICT use and ability. Findings from the study showed a significant difference of computer usage in level of proficiency by gender. The main findings are: 1. A number of students have access to various kinds of technology tools (hardware & software applications) and devices; 2. Students use wide range of ICT technologies innovatively in both academic and non-academic settings; 3. Male students’ were more adventurous in the use of technology than their female colleagues; 4. Students complained that their older trainers have an aversion for technology as compared to the young trainers. The results furthermore, suggested that students used technologies within the objectivist model of teaching and learning. The study recommends that efforts should be made to provide frequent in-service technology training for teacher educators. There is the need to bridge the technology gap between the old and the young as well as male and female students in use. Students’ should be encouraged to do project based assignments that require the use of technology to enable, especially female students develop their creative skills.
Jun 18, 2015
Wilson, K. B., & Acheampong, B.
1ST International Conference on Language, Literature, and Communication (LALICOM): Codification, Standardisation and Communication: Linguistic and Literary perspectives on English and Indigenous Languages use in Anglophone West Afri. Winneba, Ghana 3rd-5th February, 2015
Paper presented:
Language Students' Attitude toward the Use of Computer Technology: Implications for Communication and the Practice of Teaching
Abstract The study investigated language students' attitude with a focus on how they use computer technology for communication in the education environment. The study used self-answering questionnaires with closed-ended items to collect empirical data from a group of language students. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed using a stratified sampling to select respondents. The data collected were analysed using simple means and frequencies. The main findings are: 1. Most students have some access to the technology. 2. Most students enter the university with their technology skills or acquire them through the first semester compulsory ICT course, and not their main programme of study. Implications and suggestions for student training were provided. The authors recommended the following: Increased access time to promote improved utilisation of resources; deliberate effort to include technology training skills and assessment of that in courses studied by pre-service English language teachers. From the findings, English language-teacher education programmes need to provide students with further training programs in their specific area aside the mandatory general ICT course to help enhance their skills in the use of computers as an instructional tool for language-teaching and learning.
Jun 18, 2015
Wilson, K. B. (2014). Computer Usage Among University Teacher-Trainees. . Journal of US-China Education Review A,4, (6),387-395.ISSN: 2161-623X
Abstract This study reported the findings of a survey from a broader study conducted to: (a) find out the level to which students use computers; (b) compare which gender is more proficient in computer use; and (c) discuss the relationship between students’ age and their computer proficiency. Activity theory was adopted as the theoretical framework to explain behavioural intentions of computer interactions. The study used self-answering questionnaires with closed-ended items to collect data from a group of teacher-trainees. A total of 1,500 questionnaires were distributed using a stratified sampling to select respondents. The data collected were analysed using simple means, frequencies, standard deviation, independent sample t-test, Chi-square test, and cross-tabulation. Findings from the study showed a significant difference of computer usage in level of proficiency by gender. The main findings are: 1. Younger students have higher computer proficiency skills as compared to the older students; 2. The students use computers for various activities including listening to music, playing games, researching, chatting, and e-mailing; 3. The students get access to educational resources including electronic journals, e-books, open educational resources (OER), educational digital video disk/compact disc (DVD/CD), and online databases; and 4. Male students have higher technology literacy skills than female students. The study recommended that efforts should be made to provide more access time to computing facilities to increase students’ computer usage. There is a need to bridge the computer usage gap between male and female students. Older students should be encouraged to improve their technology literacy skills. Furthermore, the results suggested that the students used technologies within the objectivist model of teaching and learning. From the findings, teacher education programs need to provide teacher-trainees with further training programs to help them enhance their skills in the use of computers as an instructional tool for teaching and learning.
Jun 18, 2015
Wilson, K. B., & Agyenim Boateng, K. (2014). Integrating ICTs into the Teaching process: Issues in Pedagogical Practices in Teacher Education. International Journal of Computing Academic Research,3, (4),96-103.http://www.meacse.org/IJCAR/archives/46.pdf.ISSN: 2305-9184
Abstract Traditional teaching methods have been used in teaching and learning since the advent of formal education. However, their limitations in different circumstances vary depending on student and instructor needs, where they are and who they are. This study looks at the issues and implications of integrating ICTs into teacher education with a focus on instructors. pedagogical practices. This study used a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect empirical data from instructors of teacher education institutions in Ghana. Using stratified and convenience sampling, 16 instructors were interviewed whiles 100 closed-ended self-answering questionnaires were administered to the instructors of which 75 were returned. The quantitative data was analysed using simple means, frequencies, standard deviation, and cross-tabulation. Responses to the open-ended questions were analysed according to themes. Findings from the study showed a substantial difference of technology usage in teaching and level of technology proficiency among instructors. The main findings of the study are: 1. In spite of the huge investment made by stakeholders in education, technology use and literacy level among instructors is still low; 2. Some instructors used technology to support their pedagogical practices; 3. A number of the instructors were inept and lacked innovative ideas to use technology; 4. Some instructors still depend heavily on the Victorian methods of teaching; 5. Some of the instructors encourage students to use technology to do group work. The lessons drawn from the study could be used to formulate ideas in the deployment of ICT tools and facilities. Efforts should be made to provide continuous training for practicing teachers. It is hoped that this study will provide information to support teacher.s pedagogical practices. The results could be a useful reference for the design of ICT curriculum for Teacher Training programmes.
Abstract This qualitative ethnographic case study, adopted a socio-cultural theoretical perspective and interpretive qualitative analysis techniques, to investigate five mentoring relationships from five mentors and mentees involved in the innovative Cooperative-Reflective mentoring model of teacher professional learning in mentoring relationships at the University of Education, Winneba, (UEW), Ghana. This model is underpinned by the concepts of collegiality, reciprocity of learning, collaborative activities and critical reflection by the mentoring dyad. The data were collected from interviews, observations and document analysis. Trustworthiness of the study was ensured through the multiple sources of data, peer review, member checks, as well as the description of themes in the participants’ own words. The study revealed that although the involvement of classroom teachers in the professional training of student teachers is a novelty in teacher education in Ghana, and a great departure from the old teaching practice, the programme has some conceptual and implementation challenges. First, the old conception of a hierarchical relationship between mentor and mentee persists contrary to the concepts of collegiality, collaboration, reciprocity and critical reflection. This is attributable, partly, to the inherent power of the mentor and, partly, to the professional culture of the teaching profession. Second, the collegial relationships which are to result in this mentoring relationship model are theoretically well intended but practically problematic because of the social structure of the Ghanaian society and the professional culture of the teaching profession in Ghana. Again, reciprocity of learning through critical reflection by both mentor and mentee in this model of teacher professional learning concept also appears to have been theoretically well intended but practically problematic because of the same reasons for forging collegial relationships. This seemingly lack of sensitivity to the socio-cultural and professional contexts in which the model is being implemented is a major setback to the arguably innovative move towards school-based teacher training and the greater involvement of practising teachers in the professional training and development of student teachers as well as in the life-long learning of practising teachers. We, therefore, propose a re- conceptualisation of the mentoring model to take into account the socio-cultural and professional contexts within the context of implementation since theoretical positions alone cannot provide sufficient basis or framework for the development of a mentoring programme. It is the interaction between particular mentors and particular mentees in their particular contexts that determines the type of relationship to be established and the type of professional learning that will result.
KEYWORDS: Mentoring relationships, collegiality, collaboration, reciprocity, critical reflection and professional learning

Abstract Advances in information communication technologies (ICT) and the exponential growth of internet usage are rapidly influencing the delivery of education and the transformation of teaching and learning approaches. One such transformation is the Moodle, an e-learning software platform, which is a Learning Management System (LMS) with the potential of integrating course deliveries in teaching and learning modes. The moodle platform is being adopted in a hybrid form into a Masters degree programme offered by the Distance Education Centre at the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana. A review of the literature reveals that there has been successful implementation of the LMS in diverse academic programme deliveries. However, since this is an innovation in the Ghanaian context, the study aims at exploring the experiences of developers during the preparation and development of coursewares for a distance mode delivery programme. Mixed methodologies of quantitative and qualitative methods using questionnaires and interview guides as instruments were used in collecting data from 50 courseware developers who worked collaboratively in developing the materials. Findings from the study will be used in informing the development of other coursewares and during the revision of the current materials.
KEYWORDS: Learning Management Systems (LMS), distance education, online tutoring, courseware,development and collaborative work