Assessing Effective Utilisation of Instructional Time by Secondary School Teachers in Northern Region, Ghana

This study investigated teachers’ total utilisation of allocated instructional time and its’ effects on students learning in Senior High Schools in Northern Region, Ghana. Despite several conceptual and theoretical models regarding the significance of “time” in effective teaching and learning, little is known on how teachers in Ghana spend their time in the school and how the usage varies across SHS in Ghana. This qualitative-case study investigated teacher use of instructional time and draws its validity from Caroll’s model of school learning (Carroll, 1963) and Bloom’s Mastery learning approach to teaching (Bloom, 1971). The study found that factors that impede total utilisation of instructional time in the selected schools include teacher absenteeism (including maternity and study leave) without alternative arrangement, inadequate preparation, poor teacher-student relationship, teacher involvement in social activities (including social ceremonies) instead of attending to the allotted instructional time, delays at school’s events (including Headmaster’s assembly), and teachers’ attendance to school wide activities (including sporting activities, committee and board meetings). The study therefore recommends effective planning process that accommodates teacher replacement in times of leave, ill-health and other natural phenomenon, and payment of teachers based on instructional time utilisation. Keywords: Effective; Usage; Instructional Time; School DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-2-1

Financing a sustainable ocean economy

The ocean, which regulates climate and supports vital ecosystem services, is crucial to our Earth system and livelihoods. Yet, it is threatened by anthropogenic pressures and climate change. A healthy ocean that supports a sustainable ocean economy requires adequate financing vehicles that generate, invest, align, and account for financial capital to achieve sustained ocean health and governance. However, the current finance gap is large; we identify key barriers to financing a sustainable ocean economy and suggest how to mitigate them, to incentivize the kind of public and private investments needed for topnotch science and management in support of a sustainable ocean economy

Blue Food Demand Across Geographic and Temporal Scales

Numerous studies have focused on the need to expand production of ‘blue foods’, defined as aquatic foods captured or cultivated in marine and freshwater systems, to meet rising population- and income-driven demand. Here we analyze the roles of economic, demographic, and geographic factors and preferences in shaping blue food demand, using secondary data from FAO and The World Bank, parameters from published models, and case studies at national to sub-national scales. Our results show a weak cross-sectional relationship between per capita income and consumption globally when using an aggregate fish metric. Disaggregation by fish species group reveals distinct geographic patterns; for example, high consumption of freshwater fish in China and pelagic fish in Ghana and Peru where these fish are widely available, affordable, and traditionally eaten. We project a near doubling of global fish demand by mid-century assuming continued growth in aquaculture production and constant real prices for fish. Our study concludes that nutritional and environmental consequences of rising demand will depend on substitution among fish groups and other animal source foods in national diets

A Computer Programme to Determine the Bending and Pitting Stresses of Gears and the Effect of Varying the AGMA Stress Equation Parameters on the Stress Values

Gears are one of the most critical components in mechanical power transmission systems. The bending and surface strength of the gear tooth are considered to be the main contributors for the failure of the gears in a gear set. Thus, analysis of these stresses has become imperative in the area of research on gears to reduce errors and omissions in order to prevent the failures, and therefore, optimize the design of gears. The objective of this project is to write a computer programme developed from Microsoft Excel and Matlab softwares, the application of which is aimed at reducing the errors and omissions when calculating the bending and pitting stresses using the AGMA methodology effectively, efficiently and quickly in the design and analysis of spur and helical gears. The procedures employed include  extraction of all the figures from the various graphs, obtaining an equation of the graphs extracted using the curve fitting tool function in Matlab and using the graph equations together with other equations of AGMA. The computer programme has been tested successfully and it has been established that its application is capable of determining the bending and pitting stresses of any spur and helical gears and their corresponding safety factors using the AGMA methodology. Keywords: Gears; Transmission system; Gear set; Bending and surface strength

A Review of the Production, Recycling and Management of Marine Plastic Pollution

The human attachment to plastic has intensified recently due to its lightweight, versatility, low-cost and durability and so has the damage to the marine environment as marine plastic pollution has correspondingly increased. As a result, there has been increasing concern on the issue of marine plastic pollution. Policy-based organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme have drawn public attention to the scope, magnitude and impacts of marine pollution in recent decades. Research on marine pollution can play a significant role in contributing to policy-making processes in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Life Below Water (SDG 14), by providing scientific analysis on the effects and sources of marine plastic pollution. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical overview of marine plastic pollution and its potential effects on marine ecosystems. It also discusses SDGs that are relevant to marine plastic pollution and suggest priorities for further research.Science, Faculty ofOceans and Fisheries, Institute for theReviewedFacult

How COVID-19 Could Change the Economics of the Plastic Recycling Sector

The price of oil has a great influence on prices of recycled plastics and, therefore, plastic recycling efforts. Here, we analyze the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on crude oil price and how this, in turn, is likely to affect the degree of plastic recycling that takes place. Impulse response functions and variance decompositions, calculated from the structural vector autoregression, suggest that changes in crude oil prices are key drivers of the price of recycled plastics. The findings highlight that because plastics are made from the by-products of oil, falling oil prices increase the cost of recycling. Therefore, the price of recycled plastics should be supported using taxes while encouraging sustained behavioral changes among consumers and producers to selectively collect and recycle personal protective equipment so that they do not clog our landfills or end up in our water bodies as plastic waste.Science, Faculty ofNon UBCOceans and Fisheries, Institute for theReviewedFacultyResearche