









































Beem, H.  
Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2  
DOI 10.14434/gjte.v2i1.31224

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Beem. 2020. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
NonCommercial NonDerivative 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which 
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction without revision in any non-commercial medium, provided you 
give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,

Effect of Hands-on Science Activities on Ghanaian Student Learning, 
Attitudes, and Career Interest: A Preliminary Control Study

Heather Beem

Abstract
A quasi-experimental study was carried out with 309 Form 3 students across 9 public Junior High 

Schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The effect of Practical Education Network (PEN)’s approach of 
training STEM teachers to employ hands-on activities using low-cost, locally-available resources was studied 
in terms of student learning outcomes, attitudes towards learning science, and interest in STEM majors/
careers. Over a 2.5-month period, the science teacher at each experimental school received a weekly training 
on a hands-on activity and lesson observation by the respective PEN Trainer. A survey on attitudes towards 
science and a previous edition of the national exam (BECE) were administered to all students before and 
after the intervention. The mean pre-post differences were compared between the experimental and control 
schools. The intervention caused an average of 10.9% increase in exam scores (difference-in-differences), 
but the results were mixed at the school-level. Unpaired t-tests and Hedge’s g tests were used to determine 
statistical significance between the two groups. Student engagement increased significantly (p = 3 x 10-7, g = 
0.85), and student enjoyment of science increased 22% more, on average. The intervention disproportionately 
affected the females positively, enabling greater learning gains (14.5% vs. 5.3% for the males), greater 
increase in engagement, and a significant shift in interest towards STEM majors and careers, which their male 
counterparts did not experience. Results from this study should inform the design of future studies with longer 
duration and which account for factors such as school infrastructure quality.
Keywords: STEM, Ghana, Hands-on activities, Attitudes

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
In Ghana, students use the phrase “chew and pour, 

pass and forget” to describe their experience of learn-
ing in school. This phrase expressively captures how 
students are asked to “chew” information, repeating 
facts over and over again, “pour” (vomit) them out on 
the exams, attempt to pass the exams, and then prompt-
ly move on with their lives (Blench & Dendo, 2006, 
Quansah & Asamoah, 2019). The dominance of this 
phrase in the Ghanaian vernacular points to the wide 
recognition that a shift in pedagogical practice is need-
ed. Ghanaian educationists have pointed out the detri-
mental effects that “chew and pour” has on students’ 
creativity (Haffar, 2016) and ability to translate theory 
to useful outcomes (Adomako-Ampofo & Kaufmann, 
2018).

The future world of work in Africa is technology-

based (World Economic Forum, 2017). For the growing 
youth population in Africa to rise to these demands, the 
education system needs to be able to engage students, 
drive deep learning, and build their interest in STEM. 
Ghanaian education stakeholders clearly express that 
a shift in teaching practice is key to achieving this. The 
new national curriculum states “Ghana believes that 
an effective science education needed for sustainable 
development should be inquiry-based” (Ministry of 
Education Ghana, 2019). Interventions that can create 
enduring, transformative change in STEM teaching in 
Ghana should be developed and tested.

Practical Education Network (PEN) is an NGO 
seeking to shift the dominant pedagogical mode in West 
African STEM classrooms from rote to experiential. Sur-
vey data collected from a few hundred Ghanaian public 
Junior High School (JHS) teachers reveals that virtually 
all teachers see the benefit of using hands-on activities, 
but 80% cite the lack of resources as the main challenge



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  19 

they face in teaching more experientially. Furthermore, 
less than 5% reported having attended any relevant 
training towards this challenge within the last year 
(Practical Education Network, 2016). With minimal 
resources and training available, most Ghanaian teach-
ers feel there are no realistic alternatives to the “chew 
and pour” approach. PEN is tackling this challenge by 
training science and mathematics teachers to employ 
low-cost, locally-available materials for the develop-
ment and deployment of hands-on activities, which are 
aligned to the national curricula. The aim of this study 
is to determine the impact of PEN’s approach on stu-
dents in the Ghanaian classroom. We hypothesize that 
regular use of these low-cost, hands-on techniques in 
the science classroom will improve Ghanaian students’ 
exam scores, attitudes towards learning science, and 
their interest in pursuing STEM in the future.

Literature Review
Research in science education has established 

strong positive effects when students are taught using 
experiential pedagogies. These approaches have been 
shown to enhance student attitudes (Gormally, Brick-
man, Hallar, & Armstrong, 2009), improve exam scores 
(Abdi, 2014), increase scientific process skills (Ergul et 
al., 2011), and potentially encourage more students to 
pursue STEM-related careers (van den Hurk, Meelissen, 
& van Langen, 2019). The body of literature has largely 
been developed in the Global North, but a recent study 
(Bando et al., 2019) compiled the results of randomized 
controlled trials deployed across four Latin American 
countries, assessing the efficacy of the inquiry-based 
approach across a total of 17K students. Their results 
showed a 0.16 standard deviation increase in science 
test scores after 7 months of practical science learning. 

There is a pressing need to understand how to 
contextualize international best practices for African 
education, given the low learning outcomes presently 
being recorded here. In the early 2000’s, Ghana began 
participating in the Trends in International Mathemat-
ics and Science Study (TIMMS). Ghana has continu-
ally ranked near or at the bottom of the participating 
countries (Buabeng, Owusu, & Ntow, 2014). Despite 
Ghanaian education stakeholders’ recognition that 
improvements in learning outcomes are needed, only 
a few studies have been conducted to determine the 
efficacy of experiential pedagogies in the local science 
education context. One study at the senior high school 
level (Aboagye, 2009) compared the effectiveness of a 
particular constructivist approach (the three-phase

learning cycle) with the traditional approach used 
in Ghanaian science classrooms. It was used in the 
context of teaching one specific topic (direct current 
electricity). In South Africa, Kibirige, Rebecca & 
Mavhunga (2014) studied 60 high school students, half 
of which were undergoing three weeks of experimental 
work (using standard laboratory equipment) and the 
other half which were undergoing traditional lecture 
methods. In both cases, they measured improvement 
on exam scores as a result of the practical sessions. 
These studies indicate that experiential pedagogies 
can improve learning outcomes in the African science 
classroom. More such studies should be done to 
understand details of implementation, and they should 
also be carried out at earlier levels of schooling. In 
Ghana, students in senior high school have already 
chosen a major of study. In order to understand and 
impact students’ career prospects, interventions and 
studies are needed at the primary and junior high 
school levels. 

Even if the efficacy of such pedagogies is 
established in the African context, the question of 
how to implement such approaches still remains. In 
Ghana, less than 10% of public junior high schools 
contain any laboratory equipment (S. Mohammed, 
personal communication, March 2015). For hands-on, 
experiential lessons to be widely deployed, teaching 
and learning materials must be low-cost. (Davis & 
Chaiklin, 2015) studied the use of classroom objects, 
such as tables and chairs, as teaching and learning 
resources for Ghanaian students to learn measurement. 
With over 500 hands-on activities made from materials 
available locally in Ghana (Practical Education Network, 
2020), PEN’s content is one of the most extensive and 
relevant resources currently available to the Ghanaian 
science teacher. Its alignment with the Ghanaian 
national curriculum also warranted its infusion into 
the latest revision of the primary school science 
curriculum (Ministry of Education Ghana, 2019) and 
the accompanying Teacher Resource Pack’s list of 
“Practical Science Lesson Resources” (National Council 
for Curriculum & Assessment, 2019).

In addition to the content itself, teacher training 
is a key component in enabling a shift from rote to 
experiential pedagogies. In Ghana, where teacher-
centered approaches tend to dominate science 
teaching (Buabeng, Ossei-Anto, & Ampiah, 2014), 
teacher training has been pointed out as a key factor to 
improving student outcomes (Buabeng, Owusu, & Ntow, 
2014). The details of how a teacher implements

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  20 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

practical content also affects the efficacy of the 
approach (Abrahams & Millar, 2008). Various teacher 
training interventions have been successfully carried 
out in Ghana, but they have mostly been focused on 
literacy and numeracy (Aizenman & Warner, 2018; 
Johnston & Ksoll, 2017).

The role of gender as it relates to science education 
in Ghana has been subject to some investigation. 
(Donkor & Justice, 2016) sought to uncover the reasons 
behind the gender gap in students pursuing science in 
the Upper West Region of Ghana. Further research is 
needed to elicit key mechanisms that can close the gap. 
The study in South Africa mentioned above (Kibirige et 
al., 2014) found no difference in results across gender 
lines.

This study seeks to understand the efficacy of 
Practical Education Network’s approach, which aims 
to tackle the aforementioned challenges through its 
STEM teacher training program that equips Ghanaian 
teachers to leverage local materials and carry out 
hands-on, experiential pedagogies in their classrooms. 

The research questions are as follows:
1. What effect does PEN’s approach have on 

learning outcomes?
2. What effect does PEN’s approach have on 

student attitudes to learning science?
3. What effect does PEN’s approach have on 

student interest in STEM majors and careers?

Finally, any difference in results across gender and 
geographical (rural vs. urban) lines are to be elicited.

Methodology
Overview
A quasi-experimental, quasi-controlled method was 
employed to measure the effect of training Ghanaian 
science teachers to use practical, hands-on activities in 
their Junior High School classrooms. Three PEN trainers 
were selected to lead the intervention. All three are 
public JHS science teachers who had attended PEN’s 
Introduction to Hands-on Science training program in 
the past and performed well enough to be invited for 
a second round of training, the completion of which 
promoted them to PEN Trainer status. Each PEN 
Trainer was enlisted to train 1-2 science teachers in 
their respective Circuits- the next geographic division 
below a District and usually composed of 5-20 schools. 
Those teachers were, in turn, prepared to deliver at

least one hands-on activity per week in their classroom 
over a 2.5-month period. The study took place during 
the 3rd (final) term of the 2016/7 Academic Year at 9 
public schools in various locations within the Greater 
Accra Region. In total, N = 309 students were involved 
in the study: 135 from the experimental schools and 
174 from the control schools. The trainers solicited and 
received permission from each participating school to 
include information on their teachers and students in 
this study, All school, teacher and student names have 
been kept anonymous, but select pictures are shown to 
aid in depicting the intervention. 

School Selection
The trainers were asked to select their own 

participating schools- both experimental schools 
and control schools. They were allowed to choose 
any schools so long as they were located within their 
Circuit. In all cases, the selection ended up being 
driven by 1) those which were most easily accessible 
for the trainers, in terms of distance to travel, and 
2) those at which they were positively received by 
the headteachers. The author’s assumption was that 
all schools within the same Circuit would be similar 
socioeconomically and in terms of exam performance. 
The trainers were briefed on the goals of the study, 
including the intention that both experimental and 
control schools be similar. They were asked to use their 
knowledge of the schools to select those they deemed 
to be comparable. 

All of the schools are located in the Greater Accra 
Region of Ghana. Two of the Circuits are located in 
rural areas (Kofi Kwei and Ashalaja - both within the 
Ga South District) and one Circuit is in an urban area 
(Kwabenya - within the Ga East District). The total 
number of experimental schools is five and that of 
control schools is four. Table 1 provides the code

Table 1. List of participating schools



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  21 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

used to refer to each school in the course of this 
study, their type (experimental: “Exp” or control: 
“Ctrl”), the location of the school (Urban or Rural), and 
the total number of students engaged in each school. In 
each case, all of the students in the final year (Form 3) 
class were engaged in the study. This Form was chosen, 
as their students would be taking the terminal exam for 
JHS, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), 
shortly after the end of the study.

Tools Administered
After permission was solicited from the Ghana 

Education Service (GES) District Offices and the schools 
were selected, a pre-test was administered to the 
students at all 9 schools (experimental and control). 
This pre-test was used to determine a baseline for the 
three main outcomes of interest in this study: student 
exam scores in science, student attitudes towards 
learning science, and student interest in STEM majors 
and careers. One tool was used to measure the first 
outcome and a second tool was used to measure the 
other two outcomes.

The first tool, which was used to assess the first 
research question, was the full Integrated Science 
portion of a previous Basic Education Certification 
Examination (BECE). Nearly all students write this 
exam in June, but a second version of the exam is 
offered in the following February for a small minority 
of students who require writing it then. The February 
2017 version of the BECE is the tool which was 
administered to the students participating in this study. 
This was at the suggestion of a former examiner for the 
West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the body 
overseeing the national exams, as he believed that few 
to none of the students in this study would have seen 
that particular exam. That person also created the 
marking scheme used for assessment in this study.

The second tool administered was a paper survey, 
which included the following survey questions (SQ): 

SQ1. Which of the following subjects do you 
intend to study in Senior High School (SHS)? 

SQ2. What job are you most interested in working 
after you leave school? 

SQ3. How frequently does your science class 
include hands-on activities? 

SQ4. How engaged are you in the hands-on 
activities? 

SQ5. How easy is it to learn science?
SQ6. Do you enjoy learning science? 
SQ7. If you do, why? If not, why not? 

The second research question (students’ attitudes 
towards learning science) was measured via SQ4-7. The 
third research question (students’ interest in pursuing 
STEM majors and careers) was measured via SQ1-2. 
Finally, SQ3 was simply used as a check for whether 
the experimental schools were indeed receiving the 
intervention. 

For SQ1, all potential subjects that students have as 
options for their SHS “major” were listed. SQ2 and SQ7 
were open-ended responses. Options for SQ3 included 
”Never”, “Once per month”, “Once per week”, and “More 
than once per week”. SQ4 and SQ5 were answered on a 
Likert scale from 1 to 7. SQ6 was a yes/no question. 

Both the survey and the exam were administered in 
paper form to the students. PEN staff administered the 
surveys so as to best enable students to provide honest 
feedback in the absence of their teacher. The trainers 
administered the exams. 

At the end of this period, similar tools were 
administered to the students to serve as the endline. 
The survey was the exact same as that administered 
at the beginning of the intervention. The exam 
administered at the end was, however, a different 
version. The post-test exam was shorter, composing 
only Part 1 of the two parts composing the BECE. It 
was created by compiling questions from different 
years’ versions of Part 1 of the Integrated Science 
portion of the BECE. Given the short duration of 
the intervention, only a portion of the syllabus was 
covered. The selection of past questions ensured that 
the syllabus topics covered by both sets of teachers 
would appear on this exam. The selection was done 
by the research team and checked for fairness by the 
WAEC examiner mentioned above. Both experimental 
and control schools completed this endline exam. One 
intern completed the marking of all exam scripts so as 
to ensure uniformity.

Intervention (Training + Lesson Observation)
Once the pre-test (survey and exam) had been 

administered at all 9 participating schools, a 2.5-month 
period of the intervention commenced at the 5 
experimental schools. The intervention consisted of the 
following steps, was repeated on a weekly basis, and is 
also depicted schematically in Figure 1.

1. The experimental school teacher notified PEN’s 
Logistics Officer of the science curriculum topic 
they would be treating in the next week.

2. PEN’s Logistics Officer procured locally-available 
materials for a PEN hands-on science activity



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  22 

 corresponding to that topic, and he delivered 
the materials to the PEN trainer.

3. The PEN trainer trained the experimental 
school teacher on PEN’s hands-on science 
activity for that syllabus topic.

4. The teacher delivered the practical lesson to 
their Form 3 students, while the PEN trainer 
observed.

5. The PEN trainer provided feedback to the 
teacher on their lesson delivery.

The PEN trainer visited the experimental school(s) 
in their Circuit twice a week- once to train the 
teacher and once to observe the deployment of the 
practical lesson. This cycle continued every week in 
the experimental schools, while the control schools 
were exempted. Figure 2 shows a picture of one of the 
teacher training sessions and trainer observation of the 
lesson on heat energy. Figure 3 shows the PEN activity 
used to teach the digestive system, as carried out by 
students at one of the experimental schools after their 
teacher had been trained on the lesson.

Data Analysis
Research Question 1 – student exam scores:

In order to determine the level of effect that the 
intervention had on the exam scores, a difference-in-
differences analysis was carried out between the means 
of the experimental and control groups. Pre-test and 
post-test exam scores are first presented independently.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Figure 1. The process flow completed weekly over the course of the intervention.

Figure 2. Teacher training and lesson monitoring of a PEN 
activity on heat energy transfer through painting of Milo tins. 



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  23 

whose responses were captured in both the pre and 
post surveys were considered in this analysis. Before 
carrying out the t-test, an F-test was carried out to de-
termine whether each dataset was of equal or unequal 
variance. The final method was included as an addition-
al measure of the magnitude of difference between the 
two groups due to its utility in working with smaller 
sample sizes. The effect size is considered small if g ≥ 
0.2, medium if g ≥ 0.5, and large if g ≥ 0.8.

For Research Question 3, the potential responses to 
the corresponding survey questions (SQ1 - SHS major 
and SQ2 - future job interest) were first categorized 
into STEM or non/STEM responses. For SQ1 (SHS 
major), STEM responses were considered to be “Gen-
eral Science”, “Agric Science” or “Other” if the response 
included something in the line of “Technical” or “Elec-
tricals”. For SQ2 (future job interest), STEM responses 
were ones such as “engineer”, “doctor”, “nurse”, “tech-
nician”, “accountant”, “pharmacist”, “architect”, etc. The 
survey results were digitized and analyzed in Excel. For 
Q6 which has a binary choice of answers, the number 
of respondents in each category was counted before 
and after the intervention. The pre-post difference in 
number of respondents in each category was compared 
between the experimental and control schools. For the

questions which were answered on a scale (Q3-5), 
statistical analysis was done to determine the signif-
icance of any difference in the means over time. Both 
the means between the pairs of schools and the means 
between the experimental and control schools were 
compared. The schools in the Ashalaja Circuit (ES2, ES3, 
CS2) were excluded from this analysis due to the logisti-
cal challenges of the trainer falling ill and not being able 
to administer the post-survey at all of his schools. 

The same statistical analyses were carried out with 
the data disaggregated across gender and geography, 
with the goal of elucidating any effects that may have 
been felt more strongly within either the female or male 
subsets and within either the rural or urban subsets. 

Confirmation of activity implementation
 In addition to information received from the 

PEN Trainers regarding details of the intervention im-
plementation, the results from Survey Question 3 (“How 
frequently does your science class include hands-on activ-
ities?”) were used to determine whether the hands-on 
science activities had indeed been delivered regularly 
at the experimental schools. Using the same statistical 
analyses described for the above (t-test, Hedge’s g), the 
difference in results over the course of the interven-
tion was compared across the combined experimental 
schools and combined control schools. 

Follow-up school visits
After this analysis was done, follow-up visits to the 

schools were carried out. The results to the study’s 
Research Questions were presented to the teachers and 
trainers involved, and their interpretation of the find-
ings were elicited. Quotes were collected and key ones 
are reported here.

Logistical Challenges
The trainer for the Ashalaja Circuit fell severely ill 

partway through the study. He was therefore unable to 
carry out the full intervention at his set of experimen-
tal schools. He was also unable to be reached after the 
study, so the exact number of trainings he ran remains 
unknown. For this reason, the only results included for 
the Ashalaja Circuit schools (ES2, ES3, CS2) are the pre-
test (exam and survey). Those schools were excluded 
from all analyses involving a comparison over time.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Figure 3. The PEN model of 
the digestive system, utilizing 
locally-available resources, 
constructed by students at 
ES2.

The difference in the means 
over time is presented last, 
and only includes students 
who completed both pre-
test and post-test exams.

Research Questions 2&3 
– student attitudes to 
learning science; student 
interest in STEM majors/
careers:

Three main methods 
were used to answer these 
research questions through 
comparison of the experi-
mental and control groups: 
1) comparison of yes/no 
responses over time, 2) 
two-tailed, unpaired t-test 
to determine the p-value 
using a 5% significance 
level, 3) test for effect size 
using the Hedges’ g statis-
tic. Only those students 



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities Activities  24 

Results
Confirmation of activity implementation

Results from SQ3 “How frequently does your science 
class include hands-on activities?” (scale of 1 to 4) 
are shown in Table 2, with sample size (N) included. 
Overall, the experimental schools reported significantly 
higher increase (Δ) in frequency of including hands-
on activities compared to that of the control schools 
over the course of the intervention (p = 0.007). A 
small effect size (g = 0.47) was also measured. This 
serves as a confirmation that, on average, the trainings 
were successfully being translated to classroom 
implementation in the two Circuits that this analysis 
was done on.

Disaggregation of respondents whose gender was 
reported shows that both males and females at the 
experimental schools reported significant increase 
in frequency of hands-on activities compared to their 
counterparts at the control schools. The males reported 
an even higher increase than the females.

Research Question 1 (Exam Scores)
The results of the student scores on the old 

(February 2017) BECE exam administered before the 
intervention (Pre-Test) are shown in Figure 4 (left). The 
scores are presented in the form of box-and-whisker 
plots to capture the average (marked with an “X”), 
the range of the 1st to 3rd quartile (the box edges), 
and the overall range (the whiskers). One box-and-
whisker plot is shown for each school, and the results 
are grouped into the three Circuits. The experimental 
schools are marked in red and the control schools are 
marked in blue. Before the intervention, all schools 
scored between 20 to 39%, on average. On average, 
the urban schools (Kwabenya Circuit: ES1, CS1) 
performed slightly higher than the rural schools before 
the intervention (35% vs. 27%). On average, there was 
minimal difference in the pre-test results between the 
experimental schools and their counterparts within 
their own Circuit. In each Circuit, the experimental 
schools scored slightly higher on average (Circuit 1 by 
8%, Circuit 2 by 1%, Circuit 3 by 2%).

Figure 4 (right) shows the student exam scores 
after the intervention. All schools improved on the 
exam, with post-test averages at each school ranging 
from 45 to 72%. The overall range of results increased 
for most of the schools, indicating a widening of the gap 
between the higher- and lower-performing students. 
The Ashalaja Circuit schools (ES2, ES3, CS2) were 
excluded from here on. 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Table 2. Significance of change in SQ3 (frequency of hands-
on activities) results.

Figure 4. School-level Pre-Test and Post-Test exam scores. 



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  25 

 In order to determine the effect of the intervention 
beyond any learning that occurred in the normal mode 
of teaching (as observed in the control schools), the 
difference between the pre- and post-tests was calcu-
lated for each school. These results are shown in Figure 
5. Each experimental school(s) is best compared to the 
control school(s) within its own Circuit. In the Kwaben-
ya Circuit, the experimental school (ES1) showed a 
larger improvement in learning than its control school 
(CS1): 33% vs. 20%. In the Kofi Kwei Circuit, one 
experimental school (ES4) showed a smaller improve-
ment than the control schools (CS3, CS4) (9% vs. 25% 
average) while the second experimental school (ES5) 
showed a much bigger improvement (48%) than those 
control schools.

The overall difference-in-differences of exam scores 
was +10.9%, with the experimental schools improving 
more than their counterparts over the course of the 
year. The difference-in-difference within Circuit 1  
alone was +12.8%. Circuit 3 had mixed results  
across the different schools, resulting in an aver- 
age difference-in-differences +4.1% in that Circuit.  
Results from the surveys and follow-up visits  
reveal reasons for the difference in results with- 
in Circuit 3.

Table 3 presents these results, disaggregated  
across gender. Note that gender information was  
missing for one student, so there is a discrepancy  
in sample size (N) between the overall value and  
the disaggregated ones. 

The female students improved 14.5% more than their 
counterparts, which is a greater change than the male 
students experienced (5.3% more than their counter-
parts).

Research Question 2 (Attitudes to Learning Science)
Enjoyment of learning science (SQ 6-7)

The results of the survey question that elicited stu-
dent enjoyment of science (SQ6) are shown in Figures 6 
and 7 (before and after the intervention, respectively). 
On average, students in both sets of schools reported 
similar attitudes before the intervention: 89% of ex-
perimental school students responded that they ”Enjoy 
Science” as did 84% of the control school students. 

In the schools that did not receive PEN’s interven-
tion, student interest decreased over the course of the 
2.5 months. The opposite trend was recorded in the 
experimental schools. Those who reported enjoying sci-
ence in the experimental schools increased by 7% and 
their counterparts in the control schools decreased by 
15%. Therefore, on average, the students who received 
the intervention experienced a 22% greater increase in 
enjoyment of science.

The open-ended responses to SQ7 reveal some 
reasons why students enjoyed learning science. 
Examples include “The teachers make it interesting,” 
“The practicals make it more fun,” “helps me to define 
things in my own words,” “helps me to picture,” “helps

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Figure 5. School-level change in exam scores over the course 
of the intervention. 

Table 3. Difference-in-differences of exam scores at experi-
mental schools (ES) and control schools (CS).

Figure 6. Pre-Test student survey responses on enjoyment of science 
at the experimental and control schools



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  26 

give me an idea about the topic,” “helps in making 
learning easier,” “helps me remember well,”

Engagement level,ease of learning science (SQ 4-5)
A summary of the results of changes in student 

engagement level and ease of learning science are 
captured in Table 4. Both questions were answered 
on a scale of 1 to 7. The mean of the change in values 
(∆) between all the control schools and experimental 
schools is shown for each question. The significance of 
the difference between the two sets is captured through 
the t-test and Hedge’s g test. The sample size (N) of 
respondents (those from the 2 eligible Circuits and who 
answered both the pre and post surveys) is listed. 

For SQ4 “How engaged are you in the hands-on 
activities?”, a significant difference and large effect size 
were measured (p = 3x10-7, g = 0.85). This reveals that 
the intervention had a significant impact on the level of 
engagement that the experimental school students felt, 
compared to their counterparts. There was, however, 
no significant difference or effect size in the pre-post

change between the control and experimental 
schools for SQ5 “How easy is it to learn science?” 
(p = 0.672, g = 0.07). 

Disaggregation of this data across gender and 
geography is captured in Table 5. Both genders 
experienced a change with large effect size for SQ4 
(Engagement), but the effect size on the females 
was even higher, nearly reaching a value of 1 
(gfemale = 0.92, gmale = 0.77).

Disaggregation of this data across urban 
schools (Kwabenya Circuit) and rural schools (Kofi 
Kwei Circuit) also reveals two differences of note. 
For SQ4 (Engagement), there was a large effect 
size for the urban schools (g = 0.981) compared

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Figure 7. Post-Test student survey responses on enjoyment of sci-
ence at the experimental and control schools

Table 4. Significance of change in SQ4-5 (level of engagement, ease of learning science) results

Table 5. Significance of change in SQ4-SQ5 results, disaggregated across gender and geography

to a medium effect size for the rural schools (g = 
0.528). One of the experimental schools in the rural 
circuit (ES4) only reported a change of 1.33 points out 
of 7, on average, on this survey questions. The other 
experimental schools (ES5 and ES1) had changes of 
2.143 and 2.204 points out of 7, respectively. Note that 
ES4 is the same school whose students experienced 
less improvement on their exam scores than its 
counterparts (Figure 5), suggesting that this school may 
not have implemented the intervention as effectively as 
the other two experimental schools. For SQ5 (Ease), the 
urban schools experienced no effect size (gurban = 0.059) 
but the rural schools did experience a small effect size 
(grural = 0.284).



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  27

Research Question 3 (Interest in STEM Majors and 
Careers) 

Results from the final two survey questions are 
shown in Table 6 and are disaggregated across gen-
der. When asked of the SHS major they intended to 
study and the career they were interested to pursue, 
the males at the experimental schools did not shift 
their response between non-STEM and STEM options 
with statistical significance or effect size (g = 0.07), 
compared to their counterparts at the control schools. 
The females at the experimental schools, however, did 
significantly shift towards both. They shifted towards 
STEM majors with small effect size (g = 0.22) and to-
wards STEM careers with medium effect size (g = 0.48), 
compared to their counterparts at the control schools.

Follow-up visits to the schools
Remarks by the Trainers and Teachers were cap-

tured during follow-up visits to each of the sites, except 
for the schools in Ashalaja Circuit, due to an inability to 
establish communication with the Trainer. They cited 
factors that influence the state of the learning

environment in each respective school. These are 
captured in Table 7 along with observations made by 
the data collection assistant, which are categorized as 
that of the Researcher.

From these remarks and observations, it is seen 
that the pair of schools in the Kwabenya Circuit had 
comparable key factors in terms of their learning 
environment. The infrastructure in both schools was 
similar and both teachers had similar levels of teaching 
experience. They also did not experience any major 
attendance issues. Hence, in this pair of schools, the 
intervention was able to be conducted as intended, and 
with an accurate comparison. 

For the Kofi Kwei Circuit, the Trainer observed that 
learning gains in his Circuit, which is a rural one, would 
be harder to come by than those achieved in the urban 
schools. Visits to the two experimental schools in his 
Circuit revealed key differences between them. ES4 
struggled to get regular attendance, due to the school’s 
poor infrastructure. The infrastructure was of such low 
quality that the school would not operate during any 
day in which it rained. Also, the students there were

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Table 6. Significance of change in SQ1-2 (desired SHS major, career) 
results, disaggregated across gender

Table 7. Remarks and observations captured during follow-up visits to the schools

found to have poor English reading ability. 
Finally, the teacher being trained through the 
intervention had been placed at the school 
through Ghana’s mandatory National Service 
program, meaning that he was a fresh universi-
ty graduate, with no prior teaching experience. 
For these reasons, the ES4 students did receive

the intended 
dosage of the 
intervention. 

Evidence 
collected in the 
follow-up visit to 
ES5 revealed that 
the intervention’s 
implementation 
had not only been 
consistent, but 
eagerly adopted 
by the school’s 
Teacher. He 
appeared to have 
fallen in love with 
the science con-
tent, as he had 
gone the extra 
mile to create 
science-based



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  28

posters to hang around the class. This was not an 
explicit suggestion in the training provided. The school 
infrastructure was also of sufficient quality to allow 
constant attendance during poor weather conditions. 

The Trainers and Teachers also made suggestions 
for improving the intervention next time, and these 
remarks have been captured in Table 8. All agreed that 
this intervention was helping their students, but they 
suggested that if further learning gains are desired, 
then the approach should be intensified. They sug-
gested commencing the intervention with students in 
earlier year groups, increasing the frequency of the 
intervention, and increasing the number of resources 
used, so as to enable smaller group sizes.

Discussion
Over the course of a short (2.5 month) period, 

this intervention enabled significant improvements in 
Ghanaian students’ science education experience, as 
a result of the introduction of hands-on activities into 
the classroom. Key quantitative results mentioned in 
the previous section are combined with the qualitative 
perspectives elicited in the follow-up visits for discus-
sion here. 

Research Question 1 (Exam Scores)
Overall, the intervention improved the exam scores 

for students at the experimental schools 10.9% more 
than the control schools over the 2.5-month period. 
The comparison between schools was the cleanest at 
the Kwabenya Circuit, where both schools are situated 
in the same cluster and have similar teacher quality. 
The difference-in-difference of exam scores there was 
12.8%.

One experimental school (ES4) did not improve as 
much as its counterparts, but this can be attributed to 
their inconsistent implementation of the intervention. 
The experimental school who recorded the greatest im-
provement overall (ES5) found the program to be such

a significant benefit that their headteacher made a visit 
to the District Education Office specifically to thank 
them for supporting this intervention. Directly after this 
study was completed, they also announced that they 
had achieved the highest score ever documented in the 
school’s history on the science portion of the BECE that 
year.

The female students across all schools improved 
their exam scores more than their male counterparts 
(14.5% vs. 5.3%), revealing the significant 
finding that this hands-on teaching approach can 
disproportionately enable learning gains for females. 
Given the widespread theme of males scoring higher 
than females in science/STEM subjects, this result 
merits further investigation. Few approaches in 
Sub-Saharan Africa have been measured to enable 
significant improvement in exam scores in STEM fields, 
much less to disproportionately favor learning gains for 
females. 

It is also worth noting that the females reported 
less increase in frequency of hands-on activities 
experienced in their classrooms than their male 
colleagues. Nonetheless, the females managed to 
improve their learning outcomes more than the males. 
The reported lower frequency could be a result of 
teachers engaging the males more than females in the 
execution of the activities and/or the male students 
dominating the activities. These phenomena have been 
documented in Western literature (Jovanovic & King, 
1998; Tobin & Garnett, 1987). Further studies in Ghana 
should include a specific gender lens in the lesson 
observation to determine the gender dynamics at play 
in hands-on activity execution. 

Research Question 2 (Attitudes to Learning Science)
Another substantial result is that while student 

enjoyment of science decreased (−15%) in the control 
schools over the course of the intervention, there was 
an increase (+7%) in enjoyment of science in the 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Table 8. Remarks captured during follow-up visits to the schools: suggestions for improving the intervention’s efficacy



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  29 

experimental schools. The inclusion of hands-on 
activities in the classroom countered the natural loss 
of enjoyment in science that students experienced in 
standard classrooms. Gains in interest in science/STEM 
likely play a role in enabling gains in the aforemen-
tioned exam scores. 

The level of engagement that the experimental 
school students reported had a significant increase 
with large effect size compared to their counterparts. 
The females reported an even larger increase than the 
males. This indicates once again that the female stu-
dents in this study were even more positively affected 
by this intervention than the males. If the previous 
explanation for the females’ response to “frequency of 
activities” is accurate, then female students could stand 
to benefit from even higher engagement level increases 
if teachers are guided to involve female students more 
in the activities. 

There was no significant improvement in the ease 
of learning science, either for males or females. Longer 
interventions should be conducted to determine if the 
gains in enjoyment and engagement captured here 
can translate into deeper learning of and comfort with 
science concepts.

Research Question 3 (Interest in STEM Majors and 
Careers)

Interestingly, although student enjoyment of sci-
ence improved at the experimental schools, a univer-
sally equivalent shift towards selecting a Science-based 
program to study in SHS was not measured. The female 
students did positively shift with a small effect size 
(gfemale = 0.22), but their male counterparts did not (gmale 
= 0.07). One teacher in the study offered an interpre-
tation of this: “[The students] think they might not get 
the required grades to get admission for the Science...
They have the zeal, but academically they are not good 
enough to be taken for Science...The system tries to 
inhibit them.” These comments suggest that the Ghana-
ian educational system is not structured to support all 
students with a growing interest in science. The admis-
sion requirements to gain entry into a Science program 
are high, so a student may shut his or her mind to that 
as a viable option to pursue. It is also interesting to note 
that females did significantly shift to selecting STEM-
based careers over the course of the intervention (p = 
0.04, g = 0.48). The intervention again affected female 
students disproportionately, this time by opening up 
their mind to different aspirations for their long-term 
careers.

Limitations
Implementation Levels

A few inconsistencies in levels of the intervention’s 
implementation across the experimental schools have 
been identified. These are summarized in Table 9. At 
the Kwabenya school (ES1), the Trainer and Teacher 
implemented the intervention thoroughly, as evidenced 
by the high level of change reported by students in 
their level of engagement in the lessons (Table 5, SQ4, 
Urban). Follow-up visit observations confirm that the 
students regularly attended and therefore had the 
intended dosage of exposure to the intervention. The 
implementation at the Ashalaja schools (ES2, ES3) had 
begun, but was incomplete, due to the trainer falling ill 
partway through. Finally, the Kofi Kwei schools (ES4, 
ES5) had different levels of implementation. The ES4 
Teacher did not completely implement the intervention, 
as it was revealed during the follow up visit that 
students had not regularly attended school during the 
intervention period. ES5, on the other hand, had no 
attendance issues. Their teacher not only implemented 
the intended intervention, but he appeared to amplify 
his craft as a result. These levels of implementation 
quality have been kept in focus for interpretation 
and discussion of the results. Future studies must 
put stronger measures in place to ensure thorough 
implementation in all experimental schools.

School Selection Process
 The school selection process employed did not 

compare exam results explicitly, but the trainers were 
tasked to carry out the school selection based on their 
knowledge of the schools’ general performance. Future 
studies should include a more thorough list of criteria 
for school selection. This will help both to ensure the 
schools’ ability to implement the intervention and it 
will also enable a clearer comparison between the pair 
of experimental and control schools. 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

Table 9. Assessment of implementation level at each 
experimental school



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  30 

Programmatic & Policy Implications
A few potential implications for PEN’s program-

ming and other African teacher training organizations 
arise from these results. Given the strong correlation 
between implementation level and learning gains 
achieved in this study, PEN should develop systems 
to ensure that the methodologies their teachers are 
trained on get implemented in the classroom. This will 
involve working even more closely with key stakehold-
ers, such as District Education Officers, headteachers, 
and national education bodies to ensure that monitor-
ing activities reinforce the use of hands-on activities 
and that curriculum standards also encourage teachers 
to use hands-on activities. 

Given the example of the E5 school achieving its 
historically highest national exam score in science 
after going through this intervention, and thanks to 
the teacher there being enthusiastic enough to take up 
the new approach, PEN should consider identifying 
motivated teachers and focusing their interventions 
on them. A focus on intrinsically motivated teachers 
will likely result in higher learning gains than would be 
achieved through its current approach of offering train-
ing to all available participants. This must, of course, be 
balanced with the organization’s goal of seeing wide-
scale adoption of hands-on pedagogies. 

PEN and other African STEM organizations should 
consider pursuing a specific gender focus to their pro-
gramming, since the gains achieved among the female 
students are strong in both attitudes and learning out-
comes . Furthermore, PEN and other teacher training 
organizations should consider including a component 
of its training that guides teachers to reduce any bias 
they may have in involving male students more than 
females in the activities. 

Ghana’s government has a goal of seeing 60% of its 
university students pursuing STEM majors. A strong 
STEM pipeline will be achieved by having students first 
gaining interest in the subject, then electing to study 
STEM subjects, and then pursuing STEM careers. This 
short intervention achieved strong gains in building in-
terest and small gains in shifting future career pursuits. 
Future studies should be carried out to determine the 
length and type of intervention needed to achieve large 
gains in shifting career pursuits towards STEM disci-
plines. Policymakers should consider the admission 
requirements and societal perceptions around pursuing 
Science majors/disciplines as they formulate plans to 
achieve their goal.

Conclusion
A quasi-controlled experimental study was 

conducted in 2017 with 9 schools in Greater Accra 
Region to preliminarily assess the impact on Ghanaian 
students when their teachers are trained to carry out 
hands-on activities with locally-available materials. 
On average, students undergoing the intervention 
improved their exam scores by 10.9% more than 
their counterparts over the course of the 2.5-month 
period, but discrepancies existed at the school level. 
These discrepancies are attributable to challenges 
that impeded a complete implementation of the 
intervention at select schools. 

In spite of implementation challenges, the students 
in the experimental schools still experienced significant 
shifts in their attitudes and interests over the course 
of the study. Students undergoing the intervention 
increased in their enjoyment of science 22% more 
than their counterparts, and their levels of engagement 
increased significantly (p = 3 x 10-7, g = 0.85). Female 
students experienced greater gains than their male 
counterparts in terms of exam scores, engagement 
levels, and interest in pursuing STEM majors and 
careers. And despite the commonly held belief that 
learning gains are slower in rural schools than urban 
ones, the school with the highest exam score gains 
in this study was in a rural area. They even broke 
their own school record for national exam scores 
immediately following this intervention. A longer 
intervention is likely needed to achieve significant gains 
in student response to the ease of learning science. 

Preliminary evidence for multiple lines of 
questioning around the role of hands-on activities in 
the Ghanaian context have been brought to the fore 
in this study. The findings add to a nascent body of 
knowledge of the effect of hands-on pedagogies in the 
West African context. The effect of experiential STEM 
pedagogies on student attitudes, career interest, and 
societal barriers have been uncovered, call for deeper 
investigation, and merit attention from policymakers. 

A multitude of factors influence the efficacy of 
interventions such as this one. In order to accurately 
assess the role of practical teaching methodologies in 
the Ghanaian classroom, a greater number of these 
factors should be considered in the school selection 
process. In particular, the level of infrastructure should 
meet a certain level in order for the school to be 
selected. If poor infrastructure prevents the students 
from coming to school, it does not matter whether their 
teacher is equipped to teach with practical activities

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2



Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  31 

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2020) Vol 2

that week or not. A refined version of this study was 
undertaken in the 2017/8 academic year (Babb & 
Stockero, 2020) to better control for some of these 
variables. Geographic proximity is no longer being 
considered as sufficient evidence of school similarity. 
School infrastructure, teacher background, and 
students’ prior years exam performance are also now 
being considered. Successful findings must be scaled 
up nationwide to shift the status quo for STEM teaching 
and learning in Ghana.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Evans Sackitey, 

Peace Sampson, and Fredrick Ohene Atta Opoku for 
their contributions to the logistics of this study. Thanks 
to Jacob Babb for his input in ideating some of the 
initial designs of this study. Dr. Anne Marshall of MIT’s 
Teaching and Learning Lab was a key resource in the 
design of the study as well. Finally, thanks to the PEN 
trainers, teachers, headteachers, Ghana Education 
Service officials, and students who enabled this study to 
be completed. 

References

Abdi, A. (2014). The effect of inquiry-based 
learning method on students’ academic 
achievement in science course. Universal 
Journal of Educational Research, 2(1), 37–41. 

Aboagye, G. K. (2009). Comparison of learning 
cycle and traditional teaching approaches on 
students’ understanding of selected concepts in 
electricity. Doctoral dissertation, University of 
Cape Coast.

 
Abrahams, I., & Millar, R. (2008). Does practical 

work work? A study of the effectiveness of 
practical work as a teaching and learning 
method in school science. International Journal 
of Science Education, 30(14), 1945–1969. 

Adomako Ampofo, A. & Kaufmann, E.E. (2018). 
Interview by K. Simtim-Misa. KSM Show- Prof 
Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Dr. Elsie Effah 
Kaufmann, Hanging out with KSM part 2. 
[YouTube Clip].

Aizenman, N. & Warner, G. (2018). What can we learn 
from Ghana’s obsession with preschool? National 
Public Radio.

Babb, J. J., & Stockero, S. L. (2020). Impact of Practical 
Education Network on students in selected 
Ghanaian junior high school science classrooms. 
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science 
and Technology Education, 1-13. 

Bando, R., Näslund-Hadley, E., & Gertler, P. (2019). Effect 
of inquiry and Problem Based pedagogy on learning: 
Evidence from 10 field experiments in four Countries. 
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 
Working Paper No. 26280. 

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1053967.pdf 
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1053967.pdf 
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1053967.pdf 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500690701749305 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500690701749305 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500690701749305 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500690701749305 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_lXmwfORQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_lXmwfORQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_lXmwfORQM
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/19/613655788/when-it-comes-topreschool-does-father-really-know-best
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/19/613655788/when-it-comes-topreschool-does-father-really-know-best
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18117295.2020.1814662 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18117295.2020.1814662 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18117295.2020.1814662 
https://www.nber.org/papers/w26280
https://www.nber.org/papers/w26280
https://www.nber.org/papers/w26280


Beem, Effect of Hands-on Science Activities  32 

Blench, R., & Dendo, M. (2006). A dictionary of Ghanaian 
English. 

Buabeng, I., Ossei-Anto, T. A., & Ampiah, J. G. (2014). An 
investigation into physics teaching in senior high 
schools. World Journal of Education, 4(5), 40–50. 

 
Buabeng, I., Owusu, K. A., & Ntow, F. (2014). TIMSS 

2011 science assessment results: A review of 
Ghana’s performance. Journal of Curriculum and 
Teaching, 3(2), 1-12. 

Davis, E. K., & Chaiklin, S. (2015). A radical-local 
approach to bringing cultural practices into 
mathematics teaching in Ghanaian primary schools, 
exemplified in the case of measurement. African 
Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and 
Sciences, 11, 1-15. 

Donkor, A. K., & Justice, D. K. (2016). Girls education in 
science: The challenges in northern Ghana. Journal 
of Education & Social Policy, 3(1), pp 82-96. 

Ergül, R., Şımşeklı, Y., Çaliş, S., Özdılek, Z., Göçmençelebı, 
Ş., & Şanli, M. . (2011). The effects of inquiry-based 
science teaching on elementary school students’ 
science process skills and science attitudes. 
Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy 
(BJSEP), 5(1), 48–68. 

Gormally, C., Brickman, P., Hallar, B., & Armstrong, 
N. (2009). Effects of inquiry-based learning on 
students’ science literacy skills and confidence. 
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching 
and Learning, 3(2). 1-22. 

Haffar, A. (2016). State of Ghana’s educational system 
destroys creativity? Graphic Online. 

Johnston, J., & Ksoll, C. (2017). Effectiveness of 
Interactive Satellite-Transmitted Instruction: 
Experimental Evidence from Ghanaian Primary 
Schools. Stanford Center for Education Policy 
Analysis (CEPA) Working Paper No. 17-08.

Jovanovic, J., & King, S. S. (1998). Boys and girls in the 
performance-based science classroom: Who’s doing 
the performing? American Educational Research 
Journal, 35(3), 477-496.

Kibirige, I., Rebecca, M. M., & Mavhunga, F. (2014). 
Effect of Practical Work on Grade 10 Learners’ 
Performance in Science in Mankweng Circuit, South 
Africa. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 
5(23), 1568–1577. 

Ministry of Education Ghana. (2019). Science 
Curriculum for Primary Schools. Accra, Ghana: 
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 
Ministry of Education Ghana.

National Council for Curriculum & Assessment. (2019). 
Teacher Resource Pack – Primary Schools. Accra, 
Ghana: Ministry of Education Ghana.

Practical Education Network. (2016). Field Research 
Report on STEM Teacher Training Project. PEN.

Practical Education Network. (2020). Our Work. PEN.

Quansah, F., & Asamoah, D. (2019). Chew, Pour, Pass, 
and Forget: Students perception of authentic 
assessment in universities in Ghana. Social Science 
and Humanities Journal, 3(3), 901-909. 

Tobin, K., & Garnett, P. (1987). Gender related 
differences in science activities. Science Education, 
71(1), 91-103. 

van den Hurk, A., Meelissen, M., & van Langen, A. 
(2019). Interventions in education to prevent STEM 
pipeline leakage. International Journal of Science 
Education, 41(2), 150-164. 

World Economic Forum. (2017). The future of jobs and 
skills in Africa preparing the region for the fourth 
industrial revolution. Executive Briefing. Cologny/
Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.

Heather Beem, Ph.D., (hbeem@ashesi.edu.gh) is an 
Engineering Lecturer at Ashesi University, Berekuso, 
Ghana. She is also the CEO and Founder of the Practical 
Education Network.

Author

http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/English/Ghana%20English%20dictionary.pdf
http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/English/Ghana%20English%20dictionary.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158569.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158569.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158569.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1157678.pdf  
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1157678.pdf  
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1157678.pdf  
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/168994/158457
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/168994/158457
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/168994/158457
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajesms/article/view/168994/158457
http://jespnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_1_March_2016/10.pdf
http://jespnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_1_March_2016/10.pdf
http://see-articles.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1313-1958/2011/1313-19581101048E.pdf 
http://see-articles.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1313-1958/2011/1313-19581101048E.pdf 
http://see-articles.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1313-1958/2011/1313-19581101048E.pdf 
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1136707.pdf 
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1136707.pdf 
https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/state-of-ghana-s-educational-system-destroys-creativity.html 
https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/state-of-ghana-s-educational-system-destroys-creativity.html 
https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/viewFile/4693/4553 
https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/viewFile/4693/4553 
https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/viewFile/4693/4553 
https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/viewFile/4693/4553 
https://nacca.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/TEACHER-RESOURCE-PACK-P1-P6.pdf
https://www.practicaleducationnetwork.com/our-work 
http://sshj.in/index.php/sshj/article/download/309/135
http://sshj.in/index.php/sshj/article/download/309/135
http://sshj.in/index.php/sshj/article/download/309/135
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pamela_Garnett2/publication/229797557_Gender_differences_in_science_activities/links/5a1a436c0f7e9be37f9a60e4/Gender-differences-in-science-activities.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pamela_Garnett2/publication/229797557_Gender_differences_in_science_activities/links/5a1a436c0f7e9be37f9a60e4/Gender-differences-in-science-activities.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09500693.2018.1540897
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09500693.2018.1540897

