Browsing by Subject "Academia"

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African studies: Evolution, challenges, and prospects
(Changing Perspectives on the Social Sciences in Ghana, 2014-05) Sackey, B.M.
The establishment of African Studies at the Institute of African Studies in the University of Ghana, Legon, could be rationalised as a two-fold initiative: to portray the independence of African people in terms of a paradigm shift in academic curricula, and to be a channel in leading the processes of decolonising the minds of a people just liberated from foreign domination. However, Africa Studies is constantly challenged on its relevance and comparability with other disciplines in both western and African scholarship. This chapter examines the scope of this ideology in contemporary times, and the extent to which African Studies has lived up to the mandate for its establishment. This chapter examines African Studies from its short-lived evolution at the School of African Studies from 1949 to 1950 to its current niche in the Institute of African Studies, established in 1961 and inaugurated in 1963. It examines some of its challenges and prospects and discusses the lingering question on the relevance of African Studies in modern scholarship, drawing on published material available to me as well as my own interviews with past and present students of African Studies, faculty, and some members of the public. The chapter also compares the structure of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon and University of Cape Coast, Ghana, which are different, yet complementary. The study affirmed that regardless of its challenges and continued denigration, African Studies, enables students to know and understand their roots, inherited past traditions, norms and lore, and above all, to redefine and uphold African consciousness in all aspects of life. As any multi-disciplinary field, African Studies should be open for controversies and divergences as such ambivalences could be desirable for its sustenance.
Balancing Academia and Clinical Proficiency in the Training of Nurses at University Degree Level in Ghana
(University Of Ghana, 2017-07) Adzimah-Yeboah, B.E.
Background: Countries all over the world including African countries and Ghana are encouraging the transition of nursing education from hospital based training in colleges to a University based degree level. At the University degree level, the preparation of student nurses involves acquisition of theoretical knowledge and also clinical practice, which if well done can serve as a double edged tool for blending theory and practice. Objectives: The study investigated the ability of university nursing lecturers in Ghana to balance theory and practice in training student nurses at the university level. The objective of the study was to explore the role and experiences of nurse academics in balancing theory and practice in training nurses at the university degree level. Significance: This study seeks to contribute to the discourse on empirical knowledge that will inform policy on the development of strategies and models that could bridge the theory and practice gap in training nurses at the university, enhance the acquisition of innovative clinical skills to address the theory and practice gaps in the training of nurses and finally, address the complex challenges facing the nursing profession in the contemporary health care system in Ghana. Methodology: Using an exploratory research approach with a Methodical triangulation design, data was collected from university nursing lecturers and university student nurses using individual interviews and focused Group Discussions. Results: Clinical practice was seen as an important measure for enhancing theoretical preparation of nursing students to make them wholly qualified and proficient in the delivery of nursing care. While this is so, the study also discovered that majority of nursing lecturers in the university had a short duration of clinical exposure of two (2) to three (3) years before joining academia. Although the nursing lectureres themselves recognize the importance of clinical practice proficiency in training nurses at the university degree level, the university academic calendar does not favour the inclusion of clinical practice in their academic programmes, thus making balancing academic work with clinical practice difficult. Some of the findings of this research were congruent with other studies whilst dissimilarities were also established among the Ghanaian nurse educators on the part of their unwillingness to endevour to blend theory with practice. Conclusion: The study concluded that although both lecturers and students accept that nurse educators in academia are obliged to blend theory and practice in training nurses. A number of difficulties do not favour this situation. Recommendations: The theses provided recommendations for nursing education, policy makes and areas of future research identified. For nurse education, university curricula should be designed to place priority on clinical practice. Universities must give autonomy to the schools of nursing in designing the academic calendar. Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana should put monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that university nursing lecturers acquire adequate clinical practice competencies.
Scientific Publications in Academia, The Role of Librarians
(University Of Ghana, 2018-07) Asafu-Adjaye, M.
The study investigated the scientific publications in academia, and the role of librarians. Libraries are the major channel for storing; disseminating; and preserving scientific publications and contribute to the research performance of individuals and institutions. They are the most enduring feature of the academy and central to the values and practice of scholarship. The study aimed at exploring the services, research support facilities offered by librarians to faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences. It further sought to find out the availability of infrastructure facilities, scholarly communication tools used by librarians to communicate with faculty members and also the collaborative efforts between the librarians at the University of Ghana libraries and the faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana. The theory of collaboration was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The mixed methods research design was used for this study. Data used for the analysis were drawn from 204 respondents from the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences with the use of questionnaires and structured interviews. The keys findings were that, less than half of the respondents like the services provided by the librarians; emails usage by about two thirds of the respondents was the most commonly used communication tools by librarians for faculty members. However, librarians had a perception from the interviews conducted that, faculty members were indifferent when it came to the use of the library and its facilities. The study recommends that, strategic interventions are necessary to improve the sensitisation on the services and research support services provided by librarians to faculty. Services on advice on research topic; bibliometric analysis need more attention for the faculty members. Capacity building of librarians (both in human resource and e-resources) should be enhanced in order to have better interactions with faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and College of Basic and Applied Sciences.