@article {431, title = {THE INTEGRATION OF HIV/AIDS STUDIES INTO THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM OF EDO STATE, NIGERIA: AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century }, volume = {23}, year = {2010}, month = {July/2010}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {158-165}, abstract = {HIV/AIDS has become a threat to every individual, family, community, nation and the entire humankind in the contemporary modern world. Scientists, researchers, traditional healers and medical practitioners have not succeeded in their effort to get a cure for the scourge of HIV/AIDS. People in the developing countries, especially, those in rural communities, are less informed about the pandemic. The absence of the study of HIV/AIDS in the school curriculum has resulted in the fact that people do not formally learn to know more about the pandemic and this has resulted in myths regarding its causes and spread. In Edo state of Nigeria like many other parts of Africa victims of HIV/AIDS do not receive much support from their families because of the fear that they risk contracting the disease by drinking from the same cup, eating from the same bowls or touching the victims. Lack of education has been a single most serious cause of wrong perceptions and myths. One way to demystify HIV/AIDS is to integrate the study of the pandemic into the mainstream school curriculum as a teaching and learning subject. Public education through technological media does not reach a majority of the rural population in Edo State which is why the spread does not seem to abate. This paper explores the feasibility of introducing HIV/AIDS into the school curriculum in the Edo State of Nigeria. It is assumed that the teaching of HIV/AIDS in schools could assist in dispelling the myths surrounding the pandemic and that the knowledge gained from studying the disease might empower the people to live with it, manage it and reduce the infection and stigma attached to HIV/AIDS.}, keywords = {HIV/AIDS awareness, stigma}, issn = {1822-7864}, url = {https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/search/article?articleId=2594601}, author = {Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour and Matthew Ovbiebo Osaigbovo and K E Mohitlhi} } @article {421, title = {SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON THE STUDYING OF MATHEMATICS BY BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN LEARNERS}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century }, volume = {23}, year = {2010}, month = {July/2010}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {30-40}, abstract = {This study sought to explore how social factors influence learner{\textquoteright}s Mathematical development. The respondents were selected according to a mixed method approach, where the dominate approach was quantitative method. The study was undertaken in was one science college in East London. Data analysis was with the aid of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Independent variables for this study were grouped into: (i) characteristics of mathematics achievement (MA) and (ii) characteristics of MA members. Results revealed that the social variables significantly predicted learners{\textquoteright} mathematics achievement. These were status of parent, duration of parental ship, parents{\textquoteright} attendance at school meetings. Other significant predictors included financial and material contributions to learners from parents. }, keywords = {mathematics education, social influence, South Africa}, issn = {1822-7864}, url = {https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/search/article?articleId=2594591}, author = {Anass Bayaga and Xoliswa Mtose and Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour} } @article {233, title = {BRIDGING THE CONTENT KNOWLEDGE GAP OF TEACHERS: AN AGENDA TO IMPROVE BUSINESS STUDIES TEACHING IN SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRYSIDE SCHOOLS}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century }, volume = {12}, year = {2009}, month = {May/2009}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {108-116}, abstract = {Transformation{\textquoteright} became the buzz word in South Africa in 1994. Lots of changes have taken place in all aspects of the new South Africa as a result of democratization and education is not an exception to this reality. The changes in education seek to provide equal opportunities for all citizens of the new democratic society. With the introduction of Outcomes Based Education stakeholders of education e.g. government, communities, parents and the general public, have become obsessed with quality of teaching and learning. To achieve quality education teachers must be more knowledgeable and skillful in some particular subjects to be able to teach well. This is however contrary to the observation of these writers. The reality is that most economic and management science teachers in the rural black schools have some gaps in content knowledge of the subjects. The existence of insufficient content knowledge among Business Studies (i.e. Accounting, Business economics and Management) teachers is a direct result of the apartheid education policy which did not provide better resources for training of teachers for countryside schools. Most of the teachers in the countryside schools were trained in under-resourced {\textquoteleft}home land{\textquoteright} colleges of education with little emphasis on content knowledge of business studies subjects. With the drastic changes taking place in the curriculum and content, particularly of business studies subjects in the new South Africa, it has become more apparent that teachers of these subjects need both in-depth knowledge of the content as well as the methodology or skills for imparting the specific content to their learners. The paper which is a case study advocates for the use of in-service training programmes for Business Studies teachers in the countryside schools as a strategy to fill in the gaps in content knowledge. The experiences of the authors are validated by a small-scale empirical investigation. }, keywords = {in-service, quality}, issn = {1822-7864}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1393267218.pdf}, author = {Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour and Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor} } @article {290, title = {MICRO-TEACHING: A TOOL TO ENSURE QUALITY IN TEACHER TRAINING AT A DISTANCE}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century }, volume = {15}, year = {2009}, month = {November/2009}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {125-131}, abstract = {The word {\textquoteleft}micro{\textquoteright} denotes a very small portion of a bigger entity. In education domain micro-teaching refers to teaching practice that involves a small number of learners. Quality on the other hand connotes the degree of excellence, something which is up to standard or fits the purpose for which it is meant. In this ever changing competitive global society Higher Education institutions strive to achieve quality in the programmes, courses, qualifications and services offered to their clients. There is some misconception and myth among some people about the quality or standard of teachers trained at a distance. This paper debunks that myth and argues that micro-teaching can be used as a tool to ensure quality of pre-service teachers trained at a distance. The paper reviews relevant literature to support the experiences of the authors and explores the efficacy of micro-teaching in enhancing professional training of teachers through distance education mode. The literature study and the experiences of the authors are validated by a case study on micro-teaching by distance teacher trainee students.}, keywords = {quality, standard}, issn = {1822-7864}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1395387145.pdf}, author = {Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour and Akwasi Arko-Achemfuor} }