The 1st National Research Conference on Teacher Education in Ghana took place on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, in the Auditorium of the Accra College of Education. The conference was centered on the theme, “Teacher Education In Ghana: Prospects, Challenges, And The Way Forward” with the aim to provide a platform for College Tutors to share their research outcomes with the public and policymakers.
Opening the conference, the Principal of the Accra College of Education, Prof. Samuel A. Atintono, noted that the outcome of the conference would help contribute to policymaking and practice within the teacher education sector in Ghana. He introduced the Chair, Mr. Akwasi Addae Boahene who provided a brief speech about the purpose of the gathering. The Plenary Session was divided into four presentations each addressing critical aspects of teacher education.
In a joint presentation, on the Transformative Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Educationand Its Potential Future Impact, Prof. Daniel K. Twerefou and Prof. Isaac Wiafe highlighted AI's benefits, including simplifying tasks, aiding literature reviews, summarizing findings, and developing academic resources such as course outlines and presentations. They demonstrated how ChatGPT could be used to develop a Course Outline on any undergraduate course program. And how an AI software like Paperpal can be used to assess research by comparing and contrasting it with other research works.
Making a presentation at the conference, Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, Provost of College of Education, University of Ghana mentioned the critical role of research publications and grants in advancing academic careers. He emphasized how publishing builds credibility, fosters growth, and opens doors to collaboration, while grants provide essential resources for projects and career.
In her concluding remarks, Director of the Global Quality Assurance Association, Dr. Violet Makuku, outlined the association's mission and its efforts to improve quality education in academic institutions in Ghana. She emphasized that quality education extends beyond teaching and learning to include the learning environment and institutional behavior. She advocated for academic institutions to adopt a quality culture and practice total quality assurance management to ensure both educational and infrastructural excellence. The conference was well attended by various stakeholders in the Academic Quality Assurance space, including Directors, Deans, Lecturers, Researchers, Students, and Teachers from educational institutions across the country.