Co-authors Sarah Murray and Princess Allotey ’21 contribute chapter in new book
Lincoln Scholar and John C. Young (JCY) Scholar Princess Allotey ’21 (Tema, Ghana), along with Associate Professor of Education Sarah Murray, co-authored a chapter in the book “Learning, Design and Technology: An International Compendium of Theory, Research, Practice and Policy.”
Their manuscript, “Supporting the Development of Information Communication Technology Education in Ghana,” focuses on the state of Information Communication Technology (ICT) education in Ghana at the K-12 level.
“We examined governmental documents, past and current ICT initiatives, and students’ performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations—a national exam taken at the end of 9th grade,” Allotey explained. “We also provided recommendations on how to ensure ICT availability, sustainability, and accessibility at the K-12 levels.”
Allotey’s interest in conducting this research stems from her experiences teaching in Ghanaian schools through the 2019 CentreTerm study abroad program to Ghana, led by Murray and Professor J.H. Atkins.
“In the schools we taught at, we realized that even the schools that had access to technology either had outdated computers and/or could not sustain them,” she said. “I had a similar experience in my K-12 education. Even though this is not representative of all schools in Ghana, we were interested in exploring this issue including the presence of a rural-urban divide in technology education access in Ghana.”
Through a summer mentored research opportunity, Murray and Allotey conducted research on technology education in Ghana from August to September in 2019.
As an individual who grew up in Ghana and having experienced the extent of access to technology education, Allotey said, being a co-author of this chapter is a unique opportunity to contribute to academic discourse on technology education in Ghana, including providing recommendations for future explorations.
“Secondly, since this is my first publication, it marks a milestone in my journey to pursue a career as a professor at a research institution,” she added.
Murray said it has been a wonderful experience collaborating with Allotey throughout this research and writing process.
“I have enjoyed watching her grow and develop as a scholar,” she added. “It has been an honor to see the culmination of her research through her JCY project.”
In addition to their recently published work, Allotey and Murray are currently working on a book publication with Routledge Publishing. This piece focuses on international comparative mathematics education—focusing on Ghana, Singapore and the U.S.—and forms part of Allotey’s JCY research project.
Allotey will be presenting her JCY research at the JCY Symposium on April 24.
“I am so thankful that Centre College provides a multitude of opportunities like our premier scholarship programs, undergraduate research, study abroad, study away and the JCY Scholars Program,” Murray said. “Each of these experiences contribute further to our students’ academic growth outside of the classroom. In addition, faculty members are provided unique opportunities for building collaborative relationships with their students that often last beyond a student’s career at Centre.”
Robert Schalkoff, director of the Lincoln Scholars Program, said Allotey has used the unique design of the Lincoln Scholars Program to reach her goals in a way that is unprecedented.
“As a first-year scholar, she immediately grasped how her Lincoln Seminar and then her themed summer experiences as a rising sophomore and rising junior could be linked to her research agenda, exploring the cultural and technological aspects of math education as a teaching assistant in Guatemala in 2018 and then as an independent researcher in Singapore in 2019, respectively,” he added. “As she started planning her Independent Pre-professional Project for 2020—done as a rising senior—she acknowledged her strengths but understood her need for more theoretical work. Accordingly, she identified and then landed herself a fully funded research internship in computational neuroscience in Japan for her final summer.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic caused the internship to be postponed but that didn’t deter Princess,” Schalkoff continued. “Instead, she turned COVID-19 into a way to learn how to theoretically model the spread of the disease when masks were employed, presenting parts of her work remotely to scholars in multiple African nations and then during the recent RICE Symposium at Centre. She is the first Lincoln Scholar to ever present at RICE three years in a row.”
Centre’s Lincoln Scholars Program is designed for students who have the deep desire and the capacity to change the world, and according to Schalkoff, Allotey embodies that spirit.
“I am excited about what Princess has accomplished so far, but truth be told, I am more excited to see the meaningful and positive changes she will make in the world in the future,” he concluded.
In the fall, Allotey will pursue a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.
View “Learning, Design, and Technology: An International Compendium of Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy” HERE.
View “Supporting the Development of Information Communication Technology Education in Ghana” HERE.
