Akwantukese Festival of the New Juaben People: The Artforms and Their Aesthetics

Aesthetics play a vital role in the celebration of Akwantukese festival. In the course of the festival celebration, several visual art forms are seen and these art forms give aesthetic value to observers. The aesthetic value associated to the visual art forms in the festival can aid people acquire knowledge and satisfaction. Yet, very few people actively participate in the celebration and do a critical observation of these visual art forms. The study is therefore aimed at focusing the aesthetic values of the visual art forms in the Akwantukese festival celebration. The objective(s) of the study are: (i)to identify the visual art forms embedded in the festival celebration. (ii)to describe the visual art forms and bring out their aesthetic values. Phenomenology and descriptive methods under qualitative research approach was employed in this study. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 respondents for the research and the main research instruments used for data collection were interviews and observations. The results indicate that there are a lot of visual art forms seen in Akwantukese festival celebration that have aesthetic values and can be appreciated by all and sundry. The research concludes that some of the art forms used during the festival celebration have philosophical and symbolical meanings that express emotions such as happiness, dreadfulness, sadness and others. It is therefore recommended that the chiefs and the people of New Juaben Traditional area should try as much as possible to fully participate in the festival celebration in order to see the various visual art forms and appreciate their aesthetic values. Again the festival should be made attractive to the international communities in order to promote tourism.Keywords: Aesthetic values, art forms, performing art, Akwantukese festival, visual art, celebrationDOI: 10.7176/ADS/80-04Publication date: January 31st 202

Challenges Associated with the Content of the Art History Component in the General Knowledge in Art Subject: Implications for Art History Education in West Africa

The content of the Art History component in the General Knowledge in Art subject studied by various Senior High Schools in West Africa is largely of foreign art histories at the expense of the histories of African indigenous arts which are shallowly presented in the teaching syllabus to be taught students. This makes the students appreciate more of the artistic cultural heritage of foreign countries making them handicapped in the historical knowledge concerning their own rich African indigenous arts that identifies them as a people. Adentwi (2005) concurs that the content of an area of study must help learners to develop skills, values, norms, and attitudes that are considered peculiar to the society of the learner. A critical analysis of the content of the General Knowledge in Art subject proves contrary. There was therefore the urgency and utmost relevance to carry out a research to ascertain reasons why the content of the art history component of the General Knowledge in Art subject is foreign biased and advise on how there can be a balance of it with the African indigenous art histories  in the General Knowledge in Art. The researcher gathered data from primary and secondary sources by way of interviews, administration of questionnaire, as well as non-participant observation under the theoretical and qualitative research approaches.  Descriptive research method, Case Study approach and Document Analysis were adopted for this study. Eighty-Five respondents consisting of General Knowledge in Art tutors and General knowledge in Art students from five schools in the Ashanti region, Eastern Region and Greater Accra Region and W.A.E.C. Examiners as well as members of the Curriculum Research Development Division of the Ministry of Education were purposively and stratified Randomly sampled  for the study. The study maintains that the content of the art history component of the General Knowledge in Art subject has to be reviewed by incorporating more of the histories of the indigenous Art from Africa. It puts forward proactive suggestions to the Curriculum and Research Development Division of various Educational Centers and other agencies responsible for making educational decisions on how they can intensify the study of African indigenous art histories in the General Knowledge in Art subject. This would greatly assist in the promotion, propagation, preservation and instruction of West African students on the indigenous African Art histories. Keywords: African Indigenous Arts, Art history, Curriculum, General Knowledge in Art (G.K.A), Learning Outcom

Quality assurance policies and implementation in nursing and midwifery training colleges in Ghana

The study assessed internal quality assurance (QA) systems in health training institutions in the Upper West Region. The study adopted the cross-section analytical design with a sample size of 272 (67 health tutors and 205 final year nursing students) using systematic and purposive sampling techniques. Data for the study were collected with a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS and Stata. The study revealed that the majority (5 of 7) of nursing and midwifery colleges (NMTCs) in the Upper West Region have no quality assurance policy available, 65.7% of tutors indicated their institutions had quality assurance units/committees however these committees are inactive the total level of QA practices/implementation rate was low among colleges in the region. The study also revealed a lack of participatory governance and the existence of a poor communication system between staff and heads. The study contended that there is a need for heads (principals) of NMTCs in the Upper West region in Ghana should ensure the formation and functioning of QA units in their various institutions. These units should be empowered and allowed by heads to function as per recommendations by the regulatory bodies to support and to ensure quality training of nurses and midwives

Recidivism at the Kumasi Central Prison: A look into Guidance and Counselling Services

Recidivism is on the increase as ex-convicts who are expected by the society to be reformed in prison and reintegrated to lead meaningful lives, only return to crime shortly after their release and find themselves back into prison in spite of the harsh punishment and counselling services received while incarcerated. The study aimed to identify the adequacy and effectiveness of the Guidance and counselling services offered prisoners in Kumasi Central Prison, Ghana. Qualitative research method was primarily used to obtain data. The investigation revealed that the major setback in the Guidance and Counselling section of the Ghana Prisons is the lack of competent and adequate professional counsellors in the prison. Further findings indicated that there are no separate offices for the counsellors, neither are there counselling rooms, thus there is no privacy during counselling sessions. Besides, the prison is over-crowded making it very difficult for counsellors to meet counselling demands of inmates. The government should resource the Prison Service to attract qualified youth to reduce the problem of recidivism. Keywords: China insurance industry, Foreign fund, Challeng

A Model for Critique at the Design Studio for Higher Education

The article describes a step by step approach to effective critique at the design studio. The study was conducted at the Department of Communication Design, Faculty of Art- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. This study exploits the potential of using a model for the teaching and learning of critiques in the art and design education. The use of a model is developed so that lecturers and students offering studio courses and are practicing critiques can adapt in similar instructional delivery. Exploratory and participatory action research approach was adopted. The research tools employed were; questionnaire, observation and interviews, to examine students and lecturers’ knowledge and understanding of critique, preparation before the practice at the studio and if there is a need for a guide to help students in effective critiquing. Literature was reviewed on criticism, the design studio, design appreciation, models of criticism, forms of critiques, the language of critiquing, and how to conduct an effective critique sessions in the design studio. The data analysis revealed that there is still a need for a model to serve as a guide for students for effective analysis of design works. This helped to improve critique responses, communication and interactivity, creativity and collaborative skills among students at the studio. Keywords: Critiques, Art criticism, Design studio

Design and Fabrication of Metal Key Holders and Cufflinks as Souvenirs for Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

This study explored how to merge creativity in design with the Crest of KNUST to design and fabricate quality metal key holder and cufflink as souvenirs for KNUST. Based on the assumption that the various KNUST souvenirs seem to be limited in design and therefore lack creativity and variety, which limit the option of those purchasing. In executing the study, the philosophical underpinnings of the crest of KNUST was brought to bear. The study employed aesthetics and studio- based research methods under qualitative research approach to design and fabricate quality metal key holder and cufflinks to be used as souvenirs for Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. By using the Gestalt theory of design, which is concerned with the relationship between the parts and the whole of a composition, the researchers carefully select parts of the emblem of KNUST to design and fabricate a key holder and a cufflinks. Metal working techniques such as chasing and repoussé, fording and piercing were used to these souvenirs for KNUST.  The researchers made use of the various tools and machinery available at the various studios of Meta T l Product Section of Industrial Art Department, KNUST. These included the milling studio, 4th Year production studio where all the piercing vices, drilling machines, stakes and soldering turntable are made available and finally the forging studio where brass scraps were melted into ingot. Results of the study revealed that by adopting the fundamental processes such as idea development, forming processes, joining processes and finishing processes coupled with the fact that local metal scraps are used, underpin the argument that producing quality and professional metal souvenirs can be done here in Ghana to meet any standard elsewhere. This shows that other metal products could be produced as souvenirs for KNUST. After carefully observing some souvenirs of KNUST and other institutions of higher learning, unique designs based on the emblem of KNUST can be done. Keywords: fabricate, Gestalt, key holder, cufflinks, souvenirs, chasing and repousse. DOI: 10.7176/ADS/83-01 Publication date:July 31st 202

COVID-19 Lockdown: A Review of an Alternative to the Traditional Approach to Research

This study aims to offer alternative ways of conducting research in the periods of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic when the traditional research approaches are not feasible. This is crucial as some researchers hold the wrong perception that such difficult times are only fallow periods to focus on their personal and family problems. The study argues that there is the need for researchers to be busy carrying out investigations aimed at finding solutions to the multiplicity of problems faced by global communities as a result of the pandemic. Using desk research and document analysis of secondary data from published articles, the study discusses research approaches, particularly, alternative means of garnering primary and secondary data for investigating the COVID-19 pandemic from different academic disciplines. It posits that telephone and video conferencing interviews, text-based chats and e-surveys are alternative means for collecting primary data while secondary data from published articles and newspaper reports are viable means of generating reliable data for research. These alternative approaches to research would keep researchers busy in finding solutions to the difficult challenges faced during pandemics, the period their services are needed the most