Assisting Students in Improving the Techniques of Answering Essay Questions in Social Studies at McCoy College of Education through Action Research

Abstract

The study was carried out at the McCoy College of Education in the Nadowli District of the Upper West Region of Ghana. It seeks to explore ways of assisting students in improving the technique of answering essay questions in social studies. A case studying level 100 students of the McCoy College of Education was carried out where it was found that they are lacking in the area of study. The researcher intends to determine why students in these classes perform poorly in essay assignments and examinations. The researcher sought to investigate to what extent the poor approach to essay writing, poor introduction, paragraphing, and conclusion writing coupled with inadequate expression, periodic essay tests and assignments, inadequate prompt and irregular marking of assignments and quiz scripts, and students' inability to use linking words among others is affecting their written essays in social studies. This phenomenon was ascribed after the study because students are not assessed regularly by essay questions. It is also the case that essay questions are not marked, and tutors do not regularly do assessments of students, a situation that has to do with a large student population, affecting the student–tutor population ratio. The study recommends that the institutions concerned with training teachers make adequate communication studies a hallmark of skills needed for teaching. The study's findings take particular interest in improving teacher trainees' oral and written communication skills and, by extension, their prospective pupils.