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Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana

Received: 28 November 2019     Accepted: 12 December 2019     Published: 24 December 2019
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Abstract

Visual Art Education in Ghana and the world over has been structured to give a holistic training to the student with emphasis on hands on practical skills acquisition. It focuses on creativity and innovativeness towards the production of high quality artefacts to fulfill societal needs. It is line with this mandate that the Visual Art curriculum has been crafted to refine and train students in the various art disciplines such as Textiles, Sculpture, Ceramics, Leather Work, Jewellery, Basketry and Graphic Design, just to mention a few. However, certain developments in recent times militate against the realization of this mandate. The craze for Graphic Design at the expense of other art subjects has almost reached its peak. 8 out of every 10 Visual Art students in the Tertiary and Senior High Schools prefer to offer Graphic Design. This unfortunate development has left most of the other art related subjects with few students. In most of the Senior High Schools in Ghana, the other art subjects have been scrapped leaving Graphic Design, General Knowledge in Art and a 3 dimensional art subject as the (subject combination). As a result, most of the teachers who teach the other art related subjects have become redundant except a few who teach General Knowledge in Art. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the cause of the problem and to proffer solutions. The study adopted the Purposive Sampling Technique. The sample population was made up of two-hundred and ten (210) respondents. The main research tools employed to collect data for the study were questionnaire and interview. A major finding of the study is that most respondents prefer Graphic Design because of its computer relatedness, general appeal and employment prospects. The study recommends that ICT should be incorporated into the curriculum of all art related subjects as well as rebranding of the other art subjects such as Sculpture, Leather Work and Basketry to be more attractive and appealing.

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15
Page(s) 73-79
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Visual Art, ICT, Graphic Design, Curriculum and 3 Dimensional Art

References
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[4] Agbenatoe W. G. (2011). Improving the quality of teaching and learning of General Knowledge in Art using Multiple Intelligence Lesson Plans, (Unpublished Master’s thesis), KNUST.
[5] Antwi-Boadi (2002). Evaluation of Final Year Secondary School Visual Art Project practical works: A case study of Secondary Schools in Ashanti Region, (Unpublished thesis), KNUST.
[6] Asihene G. N. (2009). Core Subject Teachers and Academic Performance of Visual Arts students in selected Senior High Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis, (MA Unpublished thesis), KNUST, Kumasi.
[7] Anthony V. M. (2014)Want: A Technical and Vocational University for Ghana. Daily Graphic pp8-9.
[8] Budu-Smith J. (20050. The Need for Polytechnics to Assert and create a Niche for themselves among Tertiary Institutions in Human Resource Development. Journal of Polytechnics in Ghana. Voloume 1. No. 1
[9] Danso-Sintim M. (2008) Comparative Study of Teaching and Learning of Textiles in Selected Senior High Schools and Vocational Institutions in the Eastern Region of Ghana, (a Master’s thesis), KNUST, Kumasi.
[10] Explode.com (2009). Research Population, retrieved: September 2019 fromExplorable.com: https://explorable.com/research population.
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[12] Education Centre (2006). Sampling in Research, the Hillingdon Hospital.
[13] Evans-Solomon F. (2004). Girl-Child Education in the Visual Arts: opportunities and Challenges, (MA Unpublished thesis) KNUST, Kumasi.
[14] Evans-Solomon F. and Opoku-Asare N. A. (2011). Girl’s motivation, participation and preference for Visual Art Subjects in four Senior High Schools in the Central Region, Ghana pp. 1-2.
[15] Fox W. and Bayat M. S. (2007). A Guide to Managing Research, Juta Publication pp. 45.
[16] Kwame Opoku-Bonsuetal (2017). Rethinking Materiality in Pre-Tertiary Studio Art Education in Ghana, Journal of Arts and Humanities pp2.
[17] Leedy (1974). Practical Research: Design Planning pp 5-6.
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[19] Mbahi (1990). An Investigation into the factors which determine students’ choice of Art Education in Secondary Schools in Nigeria, (Unpublished dissertation) University of London, Institute of Education pp 17.
[20] Nsiah-Gyabaah K. (2009). The missing Ingredients in Technical and Vocational Education in meeting the Needs of Society in Promoting Socio-Economic Development in Ghana: Journal of Polytechnics in Ghana: Volume 3, No. 3.
[21] Opoku-Asare N. A. and Siaw A. O. (2016). Curricula and inferential factors that affect student achievements in rural, urban and peri-urban Senior High Schools in Ghana: Evidence from the Visual Art programme, Sage Open, pp 1-13.
[22] Osei-Mensah (2012). Factors that influence the performance in General Knowledge in Art of Senior High School students in Abura-Asebu Kwamankese District in the Central Region, Ghana (a Master’s thesis), KNUST.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Gbadegbe Richard Selase, Quashie Mawuli, Amewu Joseph, Kofi Sarfo. (2019). Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana. American Journal of Art and Design, 4(4), 73-79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15

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    ACS Style

    Gbadegbe Richard Selase; Quashie Mawuli; Amewu Joseph; Kofi Sarfo. Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana. Am. J. Art Des. 2019, 4(4), 73-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15

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    AMA Style

    Gbadegbe Richard Selase, Quashie Mawuli, Amewu Joseph, Kofi Sarfo. Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana. Am J Art Des. 2019;4(4):73-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15,
      author = {Gbadegbe Richard Selase and Quashie Mawuli and Amewu Joseph and Kofi Sarfo},
      title = {Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana},
      journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {73-79},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20190404.15},
      abstract = {Visual Art Education in Ghana and the world over has been structured to give a holistic training to the student with emphasis on hands on practical skills acquisition. It focuses on creativity and innovativeness towards the production of high quality artefacts to fulfill societal needs. It is line with this mandate that the Visual Art curriculum has been crafted to refine and train students in the various art disciplines such as Textiles, Sculpture, Ceramics, Leather Work, Jewellery, Basketry and Graphic Design, just to mention a few. However, certain developments in recent times militate against the realization of this mandate. The craze for Graphic Design at the expense of other art subjects has almost reached its peak. 8 out of every 10 Visual Art students in the Tertiary and Senior High Schools prefer to offer Graphic Design. This unfortunate development has left most of the other art related subjects with few students. In most of the Senior High Schools in Ghana, the other art subjects have been scrapped leaving Graphic Design, General Knowledge in Art and a 3 dimensional art subject as the (subject combination). As a result, most of the teachers who teach the other art related subjects have become redundant except a few who teach General Knowledge in Art. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the cause of the problem and to proffer solutions. The study adopted the Purposive Sampling Technique. The sample population was made up of two-hundred and ten (210) respondents. The main research tools employed to collect data for the study were questionnaire and interview. A major finding of the study is that most respondents prefer Graphic Design because of its computer relatedness, general appeal and employment prospects. The study recommends that ICT should be incorporated into the curriculum of all art related subjects as well as rebranding of the other art subjects such as Sculpture, Leather Work and Basketry to be more attractive and appealing.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Factors Influencing the Preference of Graphic Design as a Visual Art Subject in Second Cycle and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Ghana
    AU  - Gbadegbe Richard Selase
    AU  - Quashie Mawuli
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    JF  - American Journal of Art and Design
    JO  - American Journal of Art and Design
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20190404.15
    AB  - Visual Art Education in Ghana and the world over has been structured to give a holistic training to the student with emphasis on hands on practical skills acquisition. It focuses on creativity and innovativeness towards the production of high quality artefacts to fulfill societal needs. It is line with this mandate that the Visual Art curriculum has been crafted to refine and train students in the various art disciplines such as Textiles, Sculpture, Ceramics, Leather Work, Jewellery, Basketry and Graphic Design, just to mention a few. However, certain developments in recent times militate against the realization of this mandate. The craze for Graphic Design at the expense of other art subjects has almost reached its peak. 8 out of every 10 Visual Art students in the Tertiary and Senior High Schools prefer to offer Graphic Design. This unfortunate development has left most of the other art related subjects with few students. In most of the Senior High Schools in Ghana, the other art subjects have been scrapped leaving Graphic Design, General Knowledge in Art and a 3 dimensional art subject as the (subject combination). As a result, most of the teachers who teach the other art related subjects have become redundant except a few who teach General Knowledge in Art. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the cause of the problem and to proffer solutions. The study adopted the Purposive Sampling Technique. The sample population was made up of two-hundred and ten (210) respondents. The main research tools employed to collect data for the study were questionnaire and interview. A major finding of the study is that most respondents prefer Graphic Design because of its computer relatedness, general appeal and employment prospects. The study recommends that ICT should be incorporated into the curriculum of all art related subjects as well as rebranding of the other art subjects such as Sculpture, Leather Work and Basketry to be more attractive and appealing.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Industrial Art, Ho Technical University, Ho, Ghana

  • Department of Industrial Art, Ho Technical University, Ho, Ghana

  • Department of Industrial Art, Ho Technical University, Ho, Ghana

  • Department of Industrial Art, Ho Technical University, Ho, Ghana

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