Poor School Libraries Affect Students Understanding of Public Administration

A study of factors influencing students understanding of public administration in Ghanaian and Nigerian universities, has established that, poor quality of university libraries affect students understanding of concepts in the study of the course. In their study title School library and students’ understanding of public administration, Awaah, Okebukola, Shabani, Yeboah, Gbeleyi, & Emmanuella (2022) argue that, there seem to be minimal research on the influence of school libraries on students’ understanding of public administration, propelling their investigation of the area. They further argue that, the gap in the public administration literature precludes educational managers from determining whether or not the variable influences students understanding of the course/programme; adding that, not establishing this places educational managers in a situation that inhibits them from placing measures to enhance the understanding of the course from the lenses of school libraries.

In response, they employed a mixed-method approach to investigate the influence of the variable in the study of public administration by Ghanaian and Nigerian university students using a sample of N = 650. Theoretically, their study is anchored on the Culturo-Techno- Contextual Approach (CTCA) which argues that, for students to understand concepts or topics, there is the need to teach them based on a tripod of culture, technology and context ( the environment). Drawing from the theory propounded by Professor Peter Okebukola of the Lagos State University, their study argues for cultural teaching methods ; emphasising that, students first translate knowledge from their cultural lenses before applying such to western contexts. Thus, teaching from a cultural lense will aid students understand concepts in the study of public administration. They further argue based on the CTCA that, the use of technology such as computers, mobile phones, youtube has becomes an integral part of student lives. It is therefore important to use these technological aids to foster teaching and learning of public administration. They explain context to mean, using examples related to the students environment as a basis of emphasising understanding in the study of public administration.

The results of their study suggest significant differences in corruption, governance, and defining public administration (p < .001) when there are poor school libraries. This imply, with poor school libraries, students find it difficult to understand corruption, governance, and defining public administration in the Ghanaian and Nigerian undergraduate public administration curriculum.

Based on the findings of their study, they recommend enhancing effective librarying that will influence students understanding of public administration; public administration books written by Africans should be stocked in the libraries to overcome the challenge of students complaining of books in the library not written to reflect local contents; current and up-to-date books should be made available in the libraries to ensure students overcome the challenges relative to outdated books in the library; library management make access to the online library available to students and finally, universities are encouraged to get into some partnerships with other libraries beyond their own where students can be allowed to use other library materials.

Their paper is published in the Sage journal Teaching Public Administration indexed in Scopus.

Reference
Awaah, F., Okebukola, P. A., Shabani, J., Yeboah, S., Gbeleyi, O. A., & Emmanuella, H. S. (2022). School library and students’ understanding of public administration. Teaching Public Administration, 01447394221103956.

Emmanuella Heloo is a former undergraduate student of the University of Professional Studies – Accra, currently studying at the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence at the Lagos State University

Fred Awaah is a lecture at the University of Professional Studies – Accra, Ghana.

Poor School Libraries Affect Students Understanding of Public Administration

By: Emmanuella Heloo and Fred Awaah
A study of factors influencing students understanding of public administration in Ghanaian and Nigerian universities, has established that, poor quality of university libraries affect students understanding of concepts in the study of the course. In their study title School library and students’ understanding of public administration, Awaah, F., Okebukola, P. A., Shabani, J., Yeboah, S., Gbeleyi, O. A., & Emmanuella, H. S. (2022) argue that, there seem to be minimal research on the influence of school libraries on students’ understanding of public administration, propelling their investigation of the area. They further argue that, the gap in the public administration literature precludes educational managers from determining whether or not the variable influences students understanding of the course/programme; adding that, not establishing this places educational managers in a situation that inhibits them from placing measures to enhance the understanding of the course from the lenses of school libraries.

In response, they employed a mixed-method approach to investigate the influence of the variable in the study of public administration by Ghanaian and Nigerian university students using a sample of N = 650. Theoretically, their study is anchored on the Culturo-Techno- Contextual Approach (CTCA) which argues that, for students to understand concepts or topics, there is the need to teach them based on a tripod of culture, technology and context ( the environment). Drawing from the theory propounded by Professor Peter Okebukola of the Lagos State University, their study argues for cultural teaching methods ; emphasising that, students first translate knowledge from their cultural lenses before applying such to western contexts. Thus, teaching from a cultural lense will aid students understand concepts in the study of public administration. They further argue based on the CTCA that, the use of technology such as computers, mobile phones, youtube has becomes an integral part of student lives. It is therefore important to use these technological aids to foster teaching and learning of public administration. They explain context to mean, using examples related to the students environment as a basis of emphasising understanding in the study of public administration.

The results of their study suggest significant differences in corruption, governance, and defining public administration (p < .001) when there are poor school libraries. This imply, with poor school libraries, students find it difficult to understand corruption, governance, and defining public administration in the Ghanaian and Nigerian undergraduate public administration curriculum.

Based on the findings of their study, they recommend enhancing effective librarying that will influence students understanding of public administration; public administration books written by Africans should be stocked in the libraries to overcome the challenge of students complaining of books in the library not written to reflect local contents; current and up-to-date books should be made available in the libraries to ensure students overcome the challenges relative to outdated books in the library; library management make access to the online library available to students and finally, universities are encouraged to get into some partnerships with other libraries beyond their own where students can be allowed to use other library materials.

Their paper is published in the Sage journal Teaching Public Administration indexed in Scopus.

Reference
Awaah, F., Okebukola, P. A., Shabani, J., Yeboah, S., Gbeleyi, O. A., & Emmanuella, H. S. (2022). School library and students’ understanding of public administration. Teaching Public Administration, 01447394221103956.

Emmanuella Heloo is a former undergraduate student of the University of Professional Studies – Accra, currently studying at the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence at the Lagos State University

Fred Awaah is a lecture at the University of Professional Studies – Accra, Ghana.

By: Emmanuella Heloo and Fred Awaah