Winneba (C/R), Sept.18, GNA-Professor Telse A. Iwers, Vice Dean of Faculty of Education, University of Hamburg Germany, says teacher trainees needed to acquire knowledge about new teaching methods based on concepts of constructivism and research-oriented learning.
She said they needed knowledge on cooperative and collective learning with the support of digital tools for them to critically reflect on their actions with its underlying attitudes and values.
Prof. Iwers stated this in a keynote address she delivered at the opening of the sixth International Multi-Disciplinary Conference for Postgraduate Students held at the University of Education, Winneba.
The Conference, which is an initiation of Graduate Students Association of Ghana, University of Education, Winneba (GRASAG-UEW) Chapter, was on the theme: “Change and Digital Transformation in the New Normal: The Role of the Post-Graduate Student”.
It is to create a platform for postgraduate students to engage with the academic research community to generate a significant source of stimuli and motivation for them the world over.
Prof Iwers said postgraduate research experience was determined by students’ growing expectations to engage in serious academic work with their peers and the research community.
She underscored the need for teacher training programmes to focus on knowledge, skills and attitudes, values and ethics on digitalisation methods and about the change of their role as teachers from frontal instruction and front-line teaching to coach and facilitate as like in a scaffolding design of transform-oriented didactics.
She stated that there were two very significant reasons why students must deal with the concept of digitisation under the umbrella of development of digital data literacy employment for every pupil worldwide.
They are the development of digital literacy, the handling of data on the one side and the use of didactically founded digital methods on the other side.
Teacher training programmes, she indicated, had to enhance the knowledge, skill, attitudes, values and ethics of students dealing with any kind of data.
She added that methods to train processes of coding as well as processes of decoding for students therefore have to be developed systematically and they have to be integrated in the university curricula.
Earlier, Mr Issaka Akudugu, the President of GRASAC-UEW, said the university had continually worked in general academic terms and particularly on its mandate of training qualified professional teachers for all levels of education in Ghana and as result it was ranked among the top five universities in the country.
He stated that, Disciplinary Conference for Post Graduate Students of the university, instituted in August 2016, had become one of the biggest academic platforms where academics across the globe met annually to share their research ideas and proffer solutions to pertinent national issues to help in the development of all sectors of the country.
“It is our expectation that this year’s conference will produce the needed outcome that will be impactful to UEW and the nation as in our developmental drive”, he added.
Prof. Charles K. Assuah, Co-Chairman of the planning committee, stated that presentation skills was one of the essential skills for students in institutions of higher learning.
He added that the conference will help improve students’ presentation skills and encourage them to use systematic methods to facilitate their presentations in the classroom and future career as well.
He stated that the era of technological advancement demanded that they enhanced their presentation skills using innovative ideas to improve their ability to present information professionally.
Prof. Any Ofori-Birikorang, Pro. Vice Chancellor of UEW, who chaired the programme on behalf of Prof. Mawutor Avoke Vice Chancellor, in his opening remarks, said the annual international Multi-disciplinary Conference gave the country’s Graduate students the chance to explore a wide range of capacities for both domestic and global development.
Management of UEW pledged its continuous support for academic programme aimed at resourcing and developing products of the University to meet national and international obligations, he added.
