An evaluation of the African Studies curriculum in the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana

Abstract

Curriculum design, implementation and evaluation play a vital role in the continuous improvement of educational programmes, the enhancement of student learning outcomes, and the overall effectiveness of the programme of study. These processes ensure that the curriculum remains responsive to the evolving needs of students and society with high standards of quality content delivery. The African Studies Curriculum at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has been implemented for over two decades with its challenges, including students’ motivations, cultural content, teaching methods, techniques and strategies. In this regard, the study was set out to evaluate the implementation of the African Studies course in order to unravel the extent to which the intended outcomes of the African Studies curriculum in UEW has been achieved. With pragmatic worldview, and rooted in the curriculum Evaluation Model, Theoretical, conceptual and empirical literature within the domain of curriculum implementation in African Studies were critically reviewed. An explanatory sequential design within the mixed method approach was adopted while the Krejcie and Morgan Table for sample size determination was employed to sample three hundred and seventy-five (375) students from a total of 15,000 first year students offering African Studies courses at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Seven (7) students were purposively selected from the sample size of 375 for the qualitative data. Again, five (5) lecturers from the African Studies Centre of UEW were purposively selected for the study. Instruments for data collection included questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. Quantitative data analysis was done by using SPSS statistics analytical software. Descriptive and inferential statistics was employed for the quantitative analysis, whilst thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings showed that even though students are motivated by series of decisions in selecting courses in African Studies courses, they are basically influenced by external factors such as department, colleagues and the popularity of the courses. It was concluded that some Departments choose specific courses based to relativity to their areas of specialism and future academic pursuits. It was recommended that, there is the need for course recommendation systems in physically-based university environments in Ghana. This has become necessary since African Studies courses are mandatory by which reason is to re-orient the misconceptions of students concerning the continent and carving the positive African image. Fresh students should be oriented to alleviate the misconceptions associated with course selection.