The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of implementation of inquiry-based science teaching and learning in Ghanaian junior high schools. We sampled 503 students, 18 integrated science teachers, and 23 educational administrators from rural and urban areas of four districts and municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana. We used concurrent triangulation mixed methods design to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Validities, reliabilities, credibility, and dependability of the instruments were adequate. Average item means and standard deviations, frequencies, percentages, ANOVAs, Two-way MANOVA, principal component analysis, and Cronbach alphas were calculated. Thematic analysis was also conducted. We found rare implementation of inquiry-based science teaching and learning in the selected Ghanaian junior high schools. We also found significant interaction of school location and school type on the implementation of inquiry-based science instruction. Specifically, we found that codeswitching of English and the local language significantly promoted the implementation of social aspect of inquiry in rural schools. We recommend more reforms in science teaching and learning in Ghanaian junior high schools to be aligned with the features of inquiry. We also recommend that code-switching of English and the local language be actively promoted in schools, especially in rural and public junior high schools.

The guidance needs of a particular student or group of students are likely to differ and evolve based on different variables. However, information on the influence of certain demographic variables on the guidance needs of teacher trainees at the Colleges of Education level in Ghana seems to be unavailable. Our purpose in this study was to investigate whether the guidance needs of teacher trainees in the Colleges of Education in Ghana varied based on their sex, age, marital status and the college in which they were enrolled. The study employed a survey research design in which data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from a total of 401 2nd-year teacher trainees (256 males and 145 females). Data were analysed using means, standard deviations, independent samples t-test and Kruskal–Wallis H test. The results showed that the guidance needs of teacher trainees in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region vary based on the trainees’ sex, age, marital status and college. It was recommended that college counsellors should take into account the demographic variables of sex, age, marital status and college when designing and implementing guidance programmes in Colleges of Education.   Keywords: Counselling, guidance, guidance needs, guidance needs assessment, teacher trainees

Serious doubt have been raised in the Physics Chief Examiner's report of the West African Examination Council of Ghana of both physics-1 (theory) and physics-2 (practical) as to whether science students really understand measurement of physical quantities. In view of this, the researcher use a mixed designed method to gather data from SHS3 physics students' on their understanding of data processing of length and time. A population of 422 SHS3 physics students were sampled and a three item questionnaire on distance and time administered in order to find out whether the problem enumerated by the Chief Examiners' of Physics concerning physics students exist and were either with the set paradigm or the point paradigm concept. Also twenty SHS3 physics were purposively selected and interviewed in order to validate students' written responses. The study revealed that students do not have an understanding of using repeat in data set, anomaly in data set and straight line graph of data by the set paradigm concept i.e. all the three items on data processing of students (i.e. UR, AN, and SLG) were in line with the point paradigm concept of measurement. Also students seemed to have difficulty in plotting straight line graph by the use of lines of best fit.

Conversion within quantities of same units and between quantities of different units is a thorny subject to students of Jasikan College of Education (Butterfield, Sutherland, & Molyneux-Hodgson, 2000) and its treatment by tutors sometimes becomes very difficult such that most tutors resort to handling the subject theoretically/ abstractly. When this happens most students seemed not to comprehend the subject. In view of this, the Reverse DTML-Conversion model (i.e. The Reverse D-Conversion model, The Reverse T-Conversion model, The Reverse M-Conversion model and The Reverse L-Conversion model) was designed. The Reverse DTML-Conversion Model is a model that has been designed by the researcher to make the teaching of conversion in measurement very easy to tutors and meaningful to students.