A portrait of Oxford Street, Accra’s most globalised high street – part 3

This is the third in a series of guest posts from Ato Quayson, Professor of English and the Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto. In this post, he examines the theatre which adorns Accra’s Oxford Street

Practical Leadership In Implementing Online Education Programs

The growing presence of online education can become a challenge for academic leaders and institutions to lead, manage, and explore in higher education. Online education can be complex when considering the social presence (Keast, 2022; Quayson, 2022), course development (Martin et al., 2019; Orlando, 2019), and economic outcomes (Burnett & Conley, 2013; Rubin, 2013; Seaman et al., 2019). However, unraveling the fundamentals of practical leadership can help educational leaders to facilitate, maintain, and implement online education programs. The study found published research studies that helped us to extricate the fundamentals of practical leadership in implementing online education programs in the following ways: the process of implementing online education programs, facilitation of the use of the Internet as the delivery method, and curriculum and instructional design. The study findings indicate that educational leaders should invest in high-speed Internet service and learning technologies, provide professional development trainings for students and faculty members, supply faculty members with certificate of completion after training, focus on technology challenges, and ensure that faculty members are recognized as course content curators

A 5-week Personalized Training Workshop To Assess and Evaluate Faculty Members Teaching Online

The authors developed the Skills of Inquiry (SoI) model accompanied by a logic model to assess and evaluate faculty members teaching online. The Skills of Inquiry is based on faculty members’ abilities to understand the online environments, skills development pertaining to online teaching, and acquisition of specific online skills. The Skills of Inquiry model was used to personalize a 5-week workshop training and development module specifically for faculty members teaching online. The training workshop is effective in training faculty members to acquire specific online teaching skills through customized and individualized professional development learning. The training is a self-paced asynchronous online workshop that is suitable for faculty members who are novice, mid-career, and veteran at online teaching. Faculty members would need personal computers or laptops with camera, high-speed Internet service, and learning management systems (LMS) to access training content including video, audio, and PowerPoint. To recognize specific skill competencies to teach online, faculty members must be awarded a digital badge or a micro-credential badge to culminate the experience of the workshop training as an investment in skills development and achievement

Impact of coarse aggregate on compressive strength of concrete / Jeriscot H. Quayson and Zakari Mustapha.

Over one-third of the volume of concrete is occupied by coarse aggregate and any changes in coarse aggregate type can affect its strength and fracture properties. The paper examined the impact of coarse aggregates on compressive strength of concrete. Slump and compaction factor tests were conducted on the mixture of quartzite and crushed granite course aggregates, and quarry dust (fine aggregate). Nominal mix (1:2:3) was adopted and mix compositions were calculated by absolute weight method. Twelve (12) cubes (150x150mm) of each type of coarse aggregate were cast for 7, 14, 21, and 28 days to determine their compressive strengths. Quartzite was found to have the highest average compressive strength of 24.48N/mm2 with an average density of 2160kg/m3 , while compressive strength of crushed granite was 22.01N/mm2 with an average density of 2300kg/m3 on the 28 day of testing. Concrete made from granite had the highest workability, while concrete made from quartzite aggregate had the highest compressive strength. Densities and compressive strengths of the individual aggregates accounted for the variation in strengths of the concrete, due to differences in properties and strengths. In conclusion, the effect of any type of coarse aggregate on the compressive strength of concrete will be known and also enable contractors to determine the type of aggregate to be selected for a particular work

The Patronage of Bamboo and Rattan Furniture Products – A Relief of Pressure on Wood use in Ghana

The natural high forest of Ghana has depleted greatly due partly to timber logging for primarily furniture and building construction. Almost all the traditional tree species that are solely harvested for furniture production have grown extinct even in the forest reserves. The lesser used species that are in use as replacement are also gradually becoming scarce, its main source of supply to the timber markets being the ‘bush cut.’ Should there be an implementation of the outright ban on the illegal chain saw operation which unarguably, is behind the dominance of the ‘bush cut’ sources, on the timber markets, acquisition of wood would be very difficult to come by. It is anticipated that if the taste for bamboo and cane products is enhanced  and the manufacturing processes made very efficient, the demand for timber (exploitation and depletion) will decline and therefore the supply of timber would also see a corresponding decrease, a very good “omen” for the country to manage the forests at the socially “optimal” level of timber exploitation and trade. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the level of interest of residents of Accra and its environs in furniture products manufactured from local materials other than wood. Using the convenience sampling method 200 people were interviewed using questionnaires. The study revealed that even though the respondents were aware of the negative impacts of wooden furniture production on the environment, more especially on the natural high forest, it is not time yet to develop taste for furniture produced with the other alternative naturally occurring materials such as bamboo and cane. Keywords : traditional tree species, dominance, manufacturing, environment, Rattan, Bamboo

The Contribution of Higher National Diploma (HND) Furniture Graduates in the Furniture Industry in Ghana

The Furniture industry in Ghana indentified greater importance in HND furniture graduate. However, the expectations of the furniture companies have fall shortened by inefficient delivery of skills and technology by the HND furniture graduates. The HND furniture graduates acquired highest knowledge and skills to facilitate design and production of furniture pieces. The furniture industries in Ghana have devious ways of production of items for indoor and outdoor without specific standards practice and procedures. The aim is to access and analyze the credibility of HND furniture graduate, and the expectation of furniture industry in Ghana. The HND furniture graduates in Ghana have lost focus, and interest to associate with the furniture companies. The furniture industry lack middle level manpower, insufficient ideals, skills and technology to wheel expectation of the industries to meet customer satisfaction. Keywords: furniture industry, HND furniture graduate, performance, furniture companie

Assessing Risk Mitigation Preference Effect on Supplier Commitment and Procurement Performance in the Public Health Industry in South-Africa

The lack of a well-stated risk mitigation strategy has caused several challenges within the South African Public Health sector. Additionally, setting a risk mitigation strategy around mitigation preferences can be challenging for procurement personnel. As such, risk mitigation penalty clauses in the case of failure of the selected supplier are not agreed upon from the onset of the contract agreement. This research proposes risk-sharing versus risk-shifting contracts as risk mitigation/reduction strategies within the supplier relationship of the public health sector. We evaluate the effect of risk shifting and sharing mitigation preference on supplier commitment and supplier performance in the public health industry in South Africa using structural equation modelling. The results show that there is a significant relationship between supplier selection and risk sharing, risk sharing and supplier commitment, risk shifting and supplier commitment, and risk sharing and procurement performance. However, there was no significant relationship between supplier selection and risk shifting and risk shifting and procurement performance. These results imply that to build a win-win supply chain, public health sector procurement managers should balance risk sharing and shifting mitigation strategy in procurement instances where appropriate to improve on a higher level of procurement performance

Empirical rheology and pasting properties of soft-textured durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) and hard-textured common wheat (T. aestivum)

Puroindoline (PIN) proteins are the molecular basis for wheat kernel texture classification and affect flour milling performance. This study investigated the effect of PINs on empirical rheology and pasting properties in Triticum turgidum ssp. durum and Triticum aestivum. Soft wheat (cv. Alpowa), durum wheat (cv. Svevo) and their derivatives in which PINs were deleted (Hard Alpowa) or expressed (cv. Soft Svevo). Presence of PINs affected flour particle size and damaged starch. PINs increased the pasting temperature and breakdown viscosity, while the effect on peak viscosity and setback were not consistent. Presence of PINs was negatively associated with GlutoPeak gluten aggregation energy and farinograph dough stability, suggesting a weakening of the gluten matrix. As regards dough extensibility, the role of PINs was evident only in common wheat: 5DS distal end deletion increased the resistance to extension, without affecting the dough extensibility. This study showed PINs to have different impact on pasting and rheological properties of T. aestivum and T. turgidum ssp. durum flours

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Stigma in Developing Countries The Case of the Furniture Sector in Ghana

In Ghana  the role and importance of technical and vocational education and training ( TVET) are not clearly understood by the citizenry. This has led to misconceptions and poor public image of TVET  because many people still hold the view that TVET is good for students who cannot use their brains or students who do not qualify for admission into the universities. Consequently, furniture design and production programme  at the pre- and  tertiary levels institutions  in Ghana are frowned upon  even among technical and vocational  graduates. This is indicated by the dwindling number of students patronizing wood work and furniture design programmes at these levels of training in recent times. The purpose of the study is the explore the nature and impact of  TVET stigma on the performance of the furniture trade and the trend of enrolment in both Technical and Polytechnic institutions. Using convenience sampling technique, data were collected from graduates  from pre-tertiary Technical and vocational institutions in the southern part of the country. The study revealed that guardian’s/parent’s dislike and low public image  as some of the stigma for the furniture profession. Furthermore, less than 50% of the respondents would be motivated to opt for the  programme even if an offer of full scholarship is made. The general negative societal perception about the furniture trade persist and that incites even graduates of technical and vocational institution not to opt for the programme. Keywords: technical and vocational education and training ( TVET), furniture, pre-tertiary and tertiary, stigma