Cultural Teaching Methods Enhance Students Understanding of the Human Resource Management Curriculum in Ghana’s Higher Education

While generally learning is believed to be effective based on a student’s cultural background and experiences, some studies in recent times have examined the phenomenon of teaching within cultural lenses. In one such study, Fred Awaah, Munkaila Abdulai, and Esther Julia Korkor Attiogbe of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, have reported that, using cultural teaching methods as a tool for teaching enhances students understanding of the Human Resource Management curriculum in Ghana compared to the lecture method.

The empirical study adopted a quasi-experimental design to gather data from 245 4th-year undergraduate students studying HRM at a Ghanaian public university. The experimental group with a population of 115 students was taught with the Culturo techno contextual approach (CTCA) – the cultural teaching method, whilst the control group with a population of 130 students was taught using the lecture method. The data was collected using the HRM achievement test (HRMAT). The data were analysed using the descriptive analysis of covariance technique with pre-test scores added as a covariate.

The study found that, the experimental group (those taught with the cultural teaching method) significantly outperformed the control group in the study of HRM, affirming the effectiveness of the cultural teaching method over the lecture method. The novelty of the study is the application the CTCA to the study of HRM in the Ghanaian higher education space. It will, therefore, benefit HRM education in the country when educational stakeholders adopt a sequential and methodical approach to teaching and learning HRM using the CTCA.

The implication of the paper for practice and society is that the CTCA should be adopted on an experimental basis for teaching in Ghanaian universities as it is established that the CTCA is effective for teaching and learning HRM. This can be facilitated by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and other professional organisations by organising workshops, seminars and conferences for lecturers on using the CTCA to teach HRM in Ghanaian universities. Further, the results imply that the HRM curriculum should take a much more explicit account of the cultural context of the society which provides its setting and whose needs it exists to serve. Additionally, teachers (practitioners) will need to understand the HRM course from a cultural perspective to guide students in understanding key concepts. There must also be technological support in the form of the provision of electronic devices and software that will aid students' understanding of the concepts in the HRM course.

The study published by the Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education is available at Delivering lessons with the CTCA and the lecture method: which one enhances learning in Ghana’s undergraduate human resource management curriculum? | Emerald Insight

BY Fred Awaah, Munkaila Abdulai, and Esther Julia Korkor Attiogbe

University of Professional Studies, Accra

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