Developing Female Pre-Service Teachers' Mathematics Self-Efficacy by Integrating History of Mathematics into Teaching During Lesson Study

History of mathematics (HOM) was incorporated into peer teaching during lesson study as a strategy to augment the mathematics self-efficacy of female pre-service teachers in Ghana. An overview of studies on methodological approaches of integrating the history of mathematics into the teaching and learning process was presented. Mathematics Self-efficacy Scale and Grade Descriptor Grid were used to assess 12 female pre-service teachers' confidence level and performance respectively during lesson study. Results revealed that pre-service teachers exhibited a moderate self-efficacy level as well as moderately good performance in lesson instruction. A web-based questionnaire item responded by participants revealed that integrating HOM into lessons has the potential to improve teachers' self-efficacy. The impact of the study included: change of pre-service teachers' perception about teaching mathematics, a positive attitude towards mathematics, broadened conceptual knowledge and exposure to the multiplicity of problem-solving approaches. It was recommended that innovative pedagogical strategies should be adopted to enhance females' self-efficacy towards teaching mathematics. Also, teachers need to participate in lesson study as a professional collaboration which can improve their pedagogical knowledge. Further studies should investigate the relationship between prospective female teachers' self-efficacy and their mathematics achievement.

Technology Integration into the Teaching and Learning of Geography in Senior High Schools in Ghana: A TPACK Assessment

In Ghana, the integration of technology into the teaching and learning process seems to be making strides in tertiary education. However, the case is not the same in Senior High Schools. This study, therefore, sought to assess Senior High School Geography teachers' knowledge in integrating technology into their classroom adapting the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model as a framework for analysis. The study adopted the descriptive survey design to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research problem. Through a survey, a total of 113 geography teachers participated in the study, responding to a TPACK survey questionnaire. The data were analysed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study showed that teachers possessed a high level of content and pedagogical knowledge in geography. The analysis, however, showed that teachers were not as confident as they were in content and pedagogy compared to technological knowledge and its subsequent integration into the teaching and learning of geography. It was, therefore, recommended among others that courses at the higher education level should integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into teaching and learning to help student-teachers appreciate the place of specific technologies, hardware and software in the teaching and learning of their respective disciplines.

Humor and Expression of Anger in Socially Maladapted Youth

Appropriate regulation of emotions is important for maintaining physical and psychological health and well-being, as well as social adaptation and development. In the prevention of social maladjustment, it is particularly important to support factors that contribute to the proper control of emotions, especially anger. One such factor is humor, which helps to relieve emotional tension and express anger in a safe way. This research aims to identify the types of anger expression occurring in adolescents who are socially maladapted and determine whether there are significant differences in the use of humor between (sub)groups of minors due to their type of anger expression. The study was carried out in twenty-four juvenile correctional institutions in Poland and included a sample of 705 minors (29% females and 71% males, aged between 12 and 21 years old, with an average age of 17). Two research tools were used: the Anger Expression Scale (AES) and the Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ). K-means cluster analysis led to the separation of three types of anger expression in the group of socially maladjusted youth: Anger-out, Low-Anger, and Anger-control. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) analysis revealed the statistically significant differences between the groups of minors (clusters) in their use of three styles of humor: affiliative, self-enhancing, and aggressive. These findings can be used in the design of modern interventions in the field of prevention and promotion of mental and social health.

Tools and Teaching Strategies for Vocabulary Assessment and Instruction: A Review

Vocabulary is a complex intermediate component between oral and written language, which the influence on associated skills and general language abilities (e.g., decoding processing, comprehension) has been largely studied in children, suggesting its important role in literacy. The main aim of this article is to review some questions on vocabulary assessment and stimulation in children and identify the advantage of new technologies for evaluating and training vocabulary. It seems necessary to give the importance of vocabulary in language and literacy development, and the heterogeneity of vocabulary acquisition, depending on preschool word exposure (e.g., familial environment). After a state-of-the-art of conceptualization of vocabulary's notion, we revisit assumptions on vocabulary assessment and instruction indicating the main existing tools. This review lies in the attempt to enhance perspectives for new valid and effective tools using digital technologies.

Explaining Gold-Mining and Non-Gold Mining Areas' Inequalities in Learning Achievements in Burkina Faso's Primary Education: A Decomposition Analysis

Research shows that learning achievements inequalities exist between students from gold mining areas and those from non-gold mining ones. However, there is no evidence on factors that explain this "new" geographic educational inequality. Exploiting the gold mining boom in Burkina Faso, this study employed re-centered influence function decomposition to explore students' background and school factors which explain these learning achievements inequalities and also estimate the proportion of inequalities explained by unmeasured factors. Findings suggest that, relative to student background factors, most of the learning achievements inequalities between the two types of areas are explained by school factors. Moreover, unmeasured educational factors explain a non-negligible proportion of the inequalities, higher for students on the lower and upper tails of the learning achievements distribution. Suggestions for policymakers are discussed based on the findings of the present study.

Extent of School-Based Management Committee Involvement in Public Secondary Schools Administration in Abuja, Nigeria

Given that managing schools to attain expected goals is becoming challenging in the present competitive society, it becomes paramount that collaborations, especially with a highly innovative group of people are encouraged. In the light of this, the purpose of this study is to investigate the extent of School-Based Management Committees' (SBMCs) involvement in public secondary school administration in Abuja. A descriptive survey design was used for the study, and 3 research questions were answered in relation to the 3 research objectives of the study. The population of the study was 460 respondents, and a sample size of 250 respondents was drawn through proportionate random and convenience sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Arithmetic mean was employed in analyzing the research questions. The result revealed among others, that the school-based management committees play a passive role in planning in public secondary schools in Abuja. It was concluded that for schools to effectively meet the academic need of the Abuja community, their collaborations with the SBMCs have to be very active and productive. To this end, SBMCs need to become more committed to collaborating and helping the schools in terms of planning, staffing and monitoring.

Selecting Program of Study for Undergraduate Students in the Valley View University, Kumasi

The paper investigates the selection of courses of study by undergraduates of Valley View University, Kumasi. Data were collected from the school of social science education which focused on 10% of the total population, two hundred and ten (210). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version. Findings of the study reveal that economic influence has been found the most important allied to the desired choice of the programme of study. Other factors include school, peer and gender influence. It further argues that, for students to have access to their preferred program of study, there should be E-learning, academic guidance, orientation and avoidance of family influence. The study further recommends that families should serve as guides and support their wards in the selection of courses rather than imposing various programmes on them due to reasons such as sustainment of family business. In addition, Ghana Education Service (GES) should inculcate guidance and counseling into the Senior High School (SHS) syllabus to enhance prior knowledge on the selection of course or programme of study in the tertiary institutions and organizations of career exploration activities to help them decide on the programme of study.

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Australian Primary and Secondary School Students' Online Learning Experiences

The impact of COVID-19 has seen many schools across the globe transition from face-to-face teaching to emergency remote teaching in a short period of time. This has impacted the quality of students' educational experiences. The study reported here draws on data collected from students, teachers, and parents in eight schools in New South Wales, Australia using a qualitative approach including surveys, and draws a Community of Inquiry framework to understand the experiences of students. Results of the study showed that social impacts were extensive and that limited interactions resulted in the loss of engagement and motivation for a majority of students who also reported a high level of understanding of what was expected of them but felt the workload was too high. It is suggested that more time be provided for social engagement to support motivation and engagement.

Support Teaching in Schools: Perceptions of Teacher Trainees

Support Teaching in Schools (STS) is a vital element in any teacher education programme. It is considered the most fundamental way in helping teacher trainees to become effective implementers of the school curriculum. This study sought to ascertain the perception of teacher trainees on the benefits and challenges of the STS program in Akrokerri College of Education. This study used a hybrid research technique to find out about the perception of teacher trainees towards STS. The study data were collected through online questionnaires, and then descriptive statistics and content analysis approach were used to analyze research questions. The main objective of the paper was to examine teacher trainees perception concerning STS; to find out whether the opinion of teacher trainees on STS differ with regards to gender; to ascertain the benefits and of STS to the teacher trainees; and to identify specific challenges of STS during COVID 19 pandemic. In all 235 teacher trainees responded, findings from the study proved that teacher trainees perceived support teaching in school (STS) as beneficial, as it has helped them connect college base training to practical skills and knowledge of the teaching profession. Time wasting due to single bus for conveying students to practice schools; lack of proper orientation; the inability of some link tutors to visit schools; insufficient teaching and learning resources were some of the challenges encountered by teacher trainees. Other challenges emanating from STS as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic were lack of orientation on online STS, poor internet connectivity, inadequate time and the artificial nature of STS.

Students' Approaches to Learning the New B. Ed. Programme in Ghana: Evidence from Colleges of Education within Mampong Municipality

This paper explores the use of surface and deep learning strategies of students in two Colleges of Education within Mampong Municipality: St. Monica's College (Single-Sex College-Female) and Mampong Technical College (Single-Sex College-Male) who were enrolled to read a Four-Year Bachelor of Education programme. Drawing on Biggs et al.'s Revised Study Questionnaire (2001), the study investigates whether student-teachers adopt a predominantly surface or deep learning approach to their studies for the New B. Ed. programme introduced into the Colleges of Education. From February to April 2021, we employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 332 participants (level 200 and 300) who were enrolled to study the four-year B. Ed. programme which was introduced in 2018. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests were used to examine participants' age, sex and level of study in correlation with their learning approaches (Deep or Surface). A significant difference in the Deep learning approach was found between males and females in both schools (p = 0.47). However, there was no significant difference between age, level and learning approach. Their responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings suggest that student-teachers appear to adopt deep learning strategies in their studies at Colleges of Education and that this approach to learning was used regardless of the discipline in which they were enrolled.