Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana
Ghana has recently renewed its commitment to build a strong Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) base for improved socio-economic development. This commitment hinges on recognizing that the strength of the nation’s STI policy depends on the quality of pre-tertiary education and training in scie...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1288413/full |
| _version_ | 1797196663655235584 |
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| author | Gordon Akon-Yamga Godfried Funkor Komla Tsey Robert Kingsford-Adaboh Wilhemina Quaye Diana Amoni Ntewusu |
| author_facet | Gordon Akon-Yamga Godfried Funkor Komla Tsey Robert Kingsford-Adaboh Wilhemina Quaye Diana Amoni Ntewusu |
| author_sort | Gordon Akon-Yamga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ghana has recently renewed its commitment to build a strong Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) base for improved socio-economic development. This commitment hinges on recognizing that the strength of the nation’s STI policy depends on the quality of pre-tertiary education and training in science and mathematics to produce a critical mass of young people well-prepared for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses at the tertiary level. However, despite numerous interventions to improve upon STI, Ghana still performs poorly, along with other Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) countries with common STI indicators in the Global Innovation Index. Using Ghana as a lens, this article highlights the challenges in STEM teaching and learning throughout the sub-region. The qualitative research approach was adopted to allow an in-depth exploration of participants’ perspectives. Six pre-tertiary schools (three Junior High Schools and three Senior High Schools) and the University of Ghana, Legon, were selected due to the availability of their students and teachers to participate in the interviews in Accra, the capital city. This article argues that, to develop the critical mass of human capital needed for sustainable development, there is a need to improve the performance of students in STEM subjects at the pre-tertiary level. In addition, performance improvement, which is linked to student interest in the study of STEM subjects, should increase the quality of students entering tertiary education institutions. These students will then be trained to meet the quality of human resources needed to run the STI system—a step toward achieving sustainable development this article recommends the redesign of STEM curriculum at the pre-tertiary level to align with tertiary STEM education as that in turn aligns with Ghana’s STI system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T06:31:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbe245e298834c448e3f0cca6f7d9b20 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T06:31:39Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbe245e298834c448e3f0cca6f7d9b202024-04-23T04:35:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2024-04-01910.3389/feduc.2024.12884131288413Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in GhanaGordon Akon-Yamga0Godfried Funkor1Komla Tsey2Robert Kingsford-Adaboh3Wilhemina Quaye4Diana Amoni Ntewusu5CSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), Accra, GhanaUniversity Child and Youth Development Centre (UCYDE), Accra, GhanaCollege of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Ghana, Accra, GhanaCSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), Accra, GhanaCSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), Accra, GhanaGhana has recently renewed its commitment to build a strong Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) base for improved socio-economic development. This commitment hinges on recognizing that the strength of the nation’s STI policy depends on the quality of pre-tertiary education and training in science and mathematics to produce a critical mass of young people well-prepared for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses at the tertiary level. However, despite numerous interventions to improve upon STI, Ghana still performs poorly, along with other Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) countries with common STI indicators in the Global Innovation Index. Using Ghana as a lens, this article highlights the challenges in STEM teaching and learning throughout the sub-region. The qualitative research approach was adopted to allow an in-depth exploration of participants’ perspectives. Six pre-tertiary schools (three Junior High Schools and three Senior High Schools) and the University of Ghana, Legon, were selected due to the availability of their students and teachers to participate in the interviews in Accra, the capital city. This article argues that, to develop the critical mass of human capital needed for sustainable development, there is a need to improve the performance of students in STEM subjects at the pre-tertiary level. In addition, performance improvement, which is linked to student interest in the study of STEM subjects, should increase the quality of students entering tertiary education institutions. These students will then be trained to meet the quality of human resources needed to run the STI system—a step toward achieving sustainable development this article recommends the redesign of STEM curriculum at the pre-tertiary level to align with tertiary STEM education as that in turn aligns with Ghana’s STI system.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1288413/fullSTEMeducationGhanachallengesactors’ perspective |
| spellingShingle | Gordon Akon-Yamga Godfried Funkor Komla Tsey Robert Kingsford-Adaboh Wilhemina Quaye Diana Amoni Ntewusu Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana Frontiers in Education STEM education Ghana challenges actors’ perspective |
| title | Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana |
| title_full | Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana |
| title_short | Perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning STEM subjects in Ghana |
| title_sort | perspectives from students and teachers about the challenges of teaching and learning stem subjects in ghana |
| topic | STEM education Ghana challenges actors’ perspective |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1288413/full |
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