Young scholar contributes to chapter about ICT education in Ghana in new book

Lincoln Scholar and John C. Young (JCY) Scholar, Princess Allotey ’21 partnered with Associate Professor of Education at Centre College Sarah Murray, to co-author a chapter in the book “Learning, Design and Technology: An International Compendium of Theory, Research, Practice and Policy.”

The Tema-based student and the Professor in their manuscript “Supporting the Development of Information Communication Technology Education in Ghana,” focused on the state of Information Communication Technology (ICT) education in Ghana at the K-12 level.

Allotey explained the processes they went through to obtain the necessary information.

“We examined governmental documents, past and current ICT initiatives, and students’ performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations—a national exam taken at the end of 9th grade.”

“We also provided recommendations on how to ensure ICT availability, sustainability, and accessibility at the K-12 levels,” she said.

Murray and Allotey conducted research on technology education in Ghana from August to September 2019 through a summer mentored research opportunity.

Her interest in conducting this research emanates from her experiences teaching in Ghanaian schools through the 2019 CentreTerm study abroad program to Ghana, led by Murray and Professor J.H. Atkins.

“In the schools we taught at, we realized that even the schools that had access to technology either had outdated computers and/or could not sustain them,” she said. “I had a similar experience in my K-12 education. Even though this is not representative of all schools in Ghana, we were interested in exploring this issue including the presence of a rural-urban divide in technology education access in Ghana,” Allotey noted.

Murray admitted it has been a wonderful experience collaborating with Allotey throughout this research and writing process.

“I have enjoyed watching her grow and develop as a scholar,” she added. “It has been an honour to see the culmination of her research through her JCY project,” she said.

Meanwhile, Allotey and Murray are currently working on a book publication with Routledge Publishing in addition to their recent work.

This new piece focuses on international comparative mathematics education—focusing on Ghana, Singapore and the U.S.—and forms part of Allotey’s JCY research project.

Princess Allotey is set to pursue a PhD in mathematical sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in the fall.