ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF ECE TEACHERS IN GHANA: JUXTAPOSING THEORY TO PRACTICE

The quality of a preschool is a replica of its teachers. Thus, the specific training teachers have attained in Early Childhood Education plays an important role in their daily practices. Nevertheless, concerns have been raised in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa about the quality of ECE teachers. Consequently, convergent design of mixed methods was employed to juxtapose what we know to be the ideal quality of the ECE teacher and the current state of their quality. Using purposive, cluster, simple random and convenience sampling techniques, the study sampled 182 participants from Ga-South and Accra Metro in Ghana. Data in the form of questionnaire, interview and observation were collected. The questionnaire responses were analysed through simple descriptive statistics expressed in percentages and thematic analysis was used for the interview and observation data. Findings from this study confirms the weak training background of the participants. The majority of them had professional training up to diploma level and a reasonable number did not have any qualification at all in ECE training. The participants dominated their teaching and learning process with less learner engagement. In view of the findings, ECE teachers should be specifically trained in ECE methodologies and approaches. They should employ a child-centred mode of instruction and involve their learners in the teaching and learning process in order to promote active involvement and facilitate their learning. Feedback should also be provided to learners. Article visualizations

Research on Relationship between China and Ghana: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to long term participation by country A into country B. There are two types of FDI: inward FDI and outward FDI. Many African countries have already done much to create a more business-friendly environment and many have made impressive progress towards political and economic stability. In their efforts to revive economic activity they have scaled down bureaucratic obstacles band interventions in their economies, embarked on privatization programs and are putting in place pro-active investment measures. These efforts helped by other factors such as high commodity prices have borne fruit in recent years. Research on the impact of China on other developing countries is still at an early stage and there are still a number of key areas where current knowledge is limited. The result indicated that, China is the second highest country in terms of trade and FDI in Ghana. Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment, Development, trade, industries and Economi

THE CLASSROOM PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AS A “THIRD TEACHER” FOR AN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROVISION IN THE GA-WEST MUNICIPALITY OF GHANA

In spite of what literature has said about the relevance of the classroom environment and the fact that it can serve as the “Third teacher” in ECE provision, available data shows a lack of infrastructure in most Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana. The purpose of this study therefore, was to ascertain a first-hand information about the state of the classroom environment of the ECE centres in the Ga-West Municipality of Ghana and how it was serving as a third teacher for quality ECE provision. Using the convergent design (previously referred to as concurrent triangulation) mixed methods approach, data in the form of questionnaire, interview and observation were collected from 142 participants comprising four ECE circuit coordinators, 130 ECE teachers and four headteachers drawn from 20 schools within the Ga-West Municipality in Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The findings showed some general infrastructural problems in the form of inappropriate furniture, unresourced learning centres and overcrowding classroom space. This possibly limited the ability of some of the teachers to translate their training into classroom practice. It also hindered the role the infrastructure (the classroom environment) could play as a third teacher and how the children could benefit from their classroom environment to aid their learning. Thus, it is recommended that provision should be made to improve on the infrastructure to make it more developmentally appropriate. Additionally, the ECE classroom environment should be carefully arranged to create space to allow for children’s free movement. Tables and chairs used by learners should also be sized to their height and in an appropriate shape (e.g. semi-circle) for their activities and the learning centres should be well resourced and used

Mechanics of Electric Rope Shovel Performance and Reliability in Formation Excavation

Large-capacity rope shovels are used as primary production equipment in many surface mining operations. Current rope shovels have payload capacities in excess of 100 tons per pass. The dynamic payload and formation resistive forces result in severe stress loading of the shovel front-end assembly. Material flaws, high stresses, and harsh excavation conditions can initiate cracks in the dipper-teeth assembly. These cracks, under high stresses, can propagate to critical lengths resulting in fatigue failure of front-end assembly. Dipper-related problems can significantly reduce shovel availability. There is no fundamental research for understanding dipper fatigue failure resulting from high stress intensity, crack initiation, and propagation, the subject matter of this study. The Newton-Euler algorithm is used to build kinematics and dynamic models of the cable shovel front-end assembly. The models incorporate the dynamic resistive forces on the dipper-teeth assembly. Numerical simulations are used to generate the dynamic payload force and its dynamic left. Virtual simulation, based on the P&H 4100XPC shovel prototype in ANSYS (R15), is run to generate stress loading of the dipper-teeth assembly and equivalent (von Mises) stresses. Stress intensity factors are computed for various crack lengths in the dipper-teeth assembly, and the crack-propagation lives are computed for these cracks. The results show that a 75-mm crack can propagate to the critical length in 16 days. This research study provides a pioneering effort toward understanding shovel dipper fatigue failure due to high stress intensity, crack initiation, and propagation for understanding shovel reliability and availability for production efficiency and bulk production economics

Search Methods for Mobile Manipulator Performance Measurement

Mobile manipulators are a potential solution to the increasing need for additional flexibility and mobility in industrial robotics applications. However, they tend to lack the accuracy and precision achieved by fixed manipulators, especially in scenarios where both the manipulator and the autonomous vehicle move simultaneously. This thesis analyzes the problem of dynamically evaluating the positioning error of mobile manipulators. In particular, it investigates the use of Bayesian methods to predict the position of the end-effector in the presence of uncertainty propagated from the mobile platform. Simulations and real-world experiments are carried out to test the proposed method against a deterministic approach. These experiments are carried out on two mobile manipulators - a proof-of-concept research platform and an industrial mobile manipulator - using ROS and Gazebo. The precision of the mobile manipulator is evaluated through its ability to intercept retroreflective markers using a photoelectric sensor attached to the end-effector. Compared to the deterministic search approach, we observed improved interception capability with comparable search times, thereby enabling the effective performance measurement of the mobile manipulator

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE KINDERGARTEN PUPIL: THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS, GHANA

Socio-emotional development which includes a broad range of mental, behavioural, and self-control skills is used in social interactions to achieve social and emotional goals and adjustment. A well assessed socio-emotional development, through social skills, empathy skills and relationship skills, could help reform and guide against pupils mental, behavioural, and self-control skills and vice versa. This prompted the researchers to examine the influence of social skills, empathy skills and relationship skills on socio-emotional development of children in selected early childhood centres in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study was nested in quantitative design using Multiple Linear Regression Model. A sample of 242 kindergarten teachers from 149 early childhood centres in the Kumasi Metropolis were selected with the help of table of random numbers. The study established a strong and positive influence of assessment in the form of social skills, empathy skills and relationship skills on the socio-emotional development of the children in the selected centres. It is recommended that effective and regular in-service should be organized for kindergarten teachers in Ghanaian early childhood centres to expose to them to the need for sound assessment practices in the development of socio emotional skills of their learners. Teachers can influence the socio emotional development of their learners. They should therefore be mindful of their behaviours in the classroom and model a good behaviour for their learners to emulate. Article visualizations

The role of education and training to achieve positive mental health among young construction workers from the Global South

Education and training influence mental health. Past research, however, focuses mainly on negative mental health (e.g., depression), and very little is known about how education and training affect workers’ positive mental health, a crucial component of mental health. Meleis’ Transitions Theory, and Keyes' Two-Continua Model, both of which focus on human well-being, are employed to explore how education and training influence positive mental health among young construction workers from the Global South. We focus on young construction workers in Ghana aged 35 years and below. Using mixed methods, data were collected from different stakeholders, including young construction workers, and analysed using thematic analysis and structural equation modelling. Three types of education and training were identified, viz: formal education, personal mental health education, and workplace-supported education. All three types of education significantly influenced young construction workers’ choice of coping, which in turn significantly affected their positive mental health. The findings can reorientate mental health education and training programs to promote the positive mental health of the current and future construction workforce