Assessment literacy is part of the Economics teachers’ professional competence, yet little attention in the form research has been undertaken in this area. This study therefore explored Senior High School (SHS) Economics teachers’ conceptions of the purposes for undertaking classroom assessment. In specific terms, the study investigated Economics teachers’ understanding of the various motives that inform their assessment practices. The study also examined the influence of the Economics teachers’ demographic variables such as age, gender, and teaching experience on their conceptions of classroom assessment. It further assessed the influence of formal training in assessment on the teachers’ conceptions of the construct. The study was a descriptive type which employed the survey method. Participants of this study comprised 301 Senior High School Economics teachers drawn from the Central and Ashanti regions of Ghana. The participants were made up 213 male and 88 female teachers. A 50-item version of Brown’s Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory scale was adopted as the questionnaire for this study. Using a test-retest procedure of two-week interval, the TCoA which also made provisions for the demographic data of respondents on a different section, was administered on 36 Economics teachers. A reliability index of .813 was obtained. The data were analyzed using mean, t-test, and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical techniques.The findings of the study showed that a majority of the Economics teachers (mean score = 3.01) consented to the idea that classroom assessment leads to improvement in teaching and learning as well as ensuring school accountability (mean score = 3.27). The study also found that gender and age did not influence teachers’ conception of assessment. The study recommends that community of learners be organized for experienced and less experienced Economics teachers to enable them exchange ideas on the various purposes of classroom assessment.

Good teaching is crucial for implementing the school curriculum and is taken seriously by teacher training institutions. Pre-service teachers of various colleges of education are taken through multiple assessment strategies to obtain information for improving teacher training curricula to achieve the aim of training quality teachers for effective curriculum implementation. One of the ways of sourcing information for fine-tuning teacher training is the assessment of pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Sourcing information on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs helps to determine their readiness to implement the school curriculum after their training. This study aimed to assess the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service economics teachers at the University of Cape Coast using a quality teaching model as a framework. All 77 final-year pre-service economics teachers at the University of Cape Coast were included in the study. A questionnaire aimed at measuring the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service economics teachers were used to collect data. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics. The study’s key findings were that pre-service economics teachers were highly self-efficacious in teaching economics; male pre-service economics teachers had a higher self-efficacy belief than their female counterparts; and there was a weak, insignificant positive relationship between self-efficacy belief and pre-service economics teachers’ performance in off-campus teaching practice. It was recommended that female pre-service economics teachers should be encouraged more by their lecturers to help them improve their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching senior high school economics.

The government of Ghana, as part of its digitisation agenda, intends to provide all senior high school students in Ghana with tablets that are loaded with textbooks and other educational materials for their studies. This initiative is flaunted as one of the game-changing development that is yet to happen in the country. This study employed a modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model to examine Economics students’ behavioural intention to use tablets for learning. The study was quantitative research with a focus on a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A total of 354 senior high school Economics students were selected for the study. A five-point Likert scale instrument was adapted as the data collection instrument for the study. A two-staged partial least square structural equation modelling–artificial neural network approach was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that effort expectancy, facilitating condition, social influence, and hedonic motivation had a significant positive influence on Economics students’ behavioural intention to use tablets for learning. However, habit and performance expectancy had no significant influence on Economics students’ behavioural intentions. Therefore, it was recommended that the implementation of the student-tablet policy should be hinged on social influence, effort expectancy, facilitating condition, and hedonic motivation (the student’s motivation) to use tablets due to internal satisfaction.

This study examined the washback effects of the high-stakes test (WASSCE) on the teaching and learning of economics. Specifically, the study examined the perceived washback effects of WASSCE on economics teachers’ classroom instructional practices, implementation of the Economics syllabus, and students’ learning practices in Ghana. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Ultimately, 600 and 100 SHS Economics students and teachers were selected for the study, respectively. Data were collected through a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Descriptive (mean and standard deviation) statistics were used to analyse the data that were obtained. The findings of the study revealed that the WASSCE Economics examination had negative washback effects on classroom instructional practices, implementation of the Economics syllabus, and students’ learning practices. The study recommends that Ghana Education Service and heads of institutions should provide appropriate in-service training to SHS teachers on testing practices and their effects to avoid the situation of teachers spending their instructional periods, preparing students for tests.