Dr. Acquah , Andrews

Dr. Andrews Acquah is a Research Fellow in Curriculum and Teaching at the National Centre for Research into Basic Education, within the Institute for Educational Research and Innovation Studies at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. Over the course of a career spanning more than a decade in Ghanaian higher education, he has established himself as a scholar whose work bridges teacher education, curriculum studies, religious education, and research methodology. His professional trajectory reflects a consistent commitment to strengthening educational practice through rigorous inquiry, capacity building, and collaborative research that responds directly to the needs of schools and communities.

Dr. Acquah's academic formation took place entirely at the University of Cape Coast, one of Ghana's foremost institutions for teacher education. He obtained his Bachelor of Education in Arts degree from 2009 to 2013, before proceeding to a Master of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Teaching, which he completed in 2018. He  earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from the same university, completing the programme from 2022 to 2024. His doctoral work was recognised with the Dean's Award of Excellence for producing an outstanding thesis in the field of Curriculum and Teaching, presented by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies during the 57th Congregation of the University of Cape Coast on 24th April, 2025, an honour that underscores the quality and impact of his doctoral scholarship.

Dr. Acquah's professional career has unfolded across several of Ghana's leading institutions of higher learning, giving him broad experience in both distance and residential education. His earliest sustained teaching role was as a Part-Time Course Tutor at the College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast, where he taught undergraduate courses in the Psychology of Personnel Management in Education and Research Methods in Education from September 2015 to December 2021. In parallel, he served as a Part-Time Course Tutor at the University of Cape Coast's Institute for Education from December 2018 to May 2019, teaching undergraduate Educational Statistics.

He went on to serve as a Part-Time Assistant Lecturer at Valley View University's School of Education from 2019 to November 2021, where he taught undergraduate courses in Curriculum Studies, the Principles and Practice of Education, and Curriculum Studies in Nursing. He also facilitated the course "Curriculum Development and Management" at the University of Education, Winneba's Institute for Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development between August and December 2022.

Since 2022, Dr. Acquah has held his current position as a full-time Research Fellow at NCRIBE, IERIS, University of Education, Winneba. In this capacity, his responsibilities encompass developing proposals for research grants and projects, coordinating research projects, serving as a team member and investigator on research projects at the Centre, making presentations at seminars and conferences, engaging in capacity building, attending conferences and continuous professional development programmes, and participating in community service activities both within and beyond the university.

Dr. Acquah's research interests are both broad and interconnected. They include religious education, teacher education, curriculum development, implementation and evaluation, teacher continuous professional development, research methodology (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods), the philosophy and sociology of education, and students' affairs across all levels of education.

His technical and professional skill set is equally well-developed. He is proficient in grant proposal writing and the writing of research proposals, field data collection across quantitative and qualitative paradigms, quantitative data analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and SMART PLS, quantitative data interpretation and reporting, and research article writing. This methodological versatility has positioned him as a valuable collaborator on multidisciplinary research teams and a sought-after facilitator of research capacity-building workshops.

Dr. Acquah has built a substantial and steadily growing body of peer-reviewed publications, with contributions spanning religious education, curriculum studies, educational policy, student affairs, and educational philosophy. His most recent work includes studies on the influence of religious literacy and multicultural teaching competence on Religious and Moral Education teachers' self-efficacy in public basic schools in the Kumasi Metropolis, published in the Universal Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities in 2026, and on emotional intelligence as a predictor of teacher self-efficacy among Religious and Moral Education teachers in the Accra Metropolis, published in the Ghana Journal of Education and Teaching in 2026. A further 2026 publication in Discover Education examined the effect of Religious and Moral Education teachers' religious literacy on their teaching self-efficacy.

His 2025 publications include an exploration of the role of Social Studies and Religious Education in shaping student behaviour in a selected tertiary institution in Ghana, published in Religious Education; a qualitative analysis of Adinkra symbols and the 2025 inaugural outfit of Ghana's president, published in Frontiers in Sociology; and a study of postgraduate students' satisfaction with thesis supervision at the University of Education, Winneba, published in the International Journal of Social Science Humanity and Management Research.

In 2024, Dr. Acquah published work on indiscipline in Senior High Schools in Ghana in the Ghana Journal of Education and Teaching, a critical review of the Free Senior High School policy within the framework of curriculum development in the Journal of Advance Research in Social Science and Humanities, and an examination of teachers' perceptions of the politicisation of the pre-tertiary curriculum in selected basic schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the International Journal of Education and Evaluation

Earlier contributions reflect his enduring interest in religious education, educational theory, and student welfare. His 2023 work addressed educational support systems for teenage mothers, teachers' use of concept cracking pedagogy in Christian Religious Studies in Ghanaian Senior High Schools, explorations in curriculum studies, and basic school students' learning outcomes through leadership practices. His 2022 publications examined postgraduate students' experiences of global engagement, the relationship between internship programmes and school performance, and service delivery to students at Cape Coast Technical University. Publications from 2021 covered instructional supervision in Social Studies teaching, the educational philosophies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, the relationship between compensation and employee retention, and child labour in Ghana.

His earlier scholarship, dating from 2017 to 2020, includes analyses of the job characteristics theory and the achievement motivation theory as applied to school management in Ghana, the phenomenological approach to teaching religious education, faith development theory, the information processing approach in Religious and Moral Education, and the essentialist philosophers' perspectives on the aims of education. He also co-authored papers on conceptual and theoretical frameworks in research, political intolerance, community service as an indicator of student engagement, and academic advising at the University of Cape Coast.

Dr. Acquah has played significant roles in a series of funded research projects, demonstrating both scholarly leadership and hands-on methodological expertise. As a Research Fellow, he served as co-principal investigator on a project titled "Improving Senior High School Students' Writing in Ghana with Artificial Intelligence," funded by Google Research and Transforming Teaching Education and Learning between July and December 2025, with grant funding of $100,000.00. He also served as both co-principal investigator and project manager on a project examining the impact of the ethical artificial intelligence platform Studiosity on students' learning outcomes at the University of Education, Winneba, funded by Studiosity between January and April 2025 with a grant of $6,000.00. A third project, funded by the National Centre for Research into Basic Education, UEW, between March and August 2022, investigated basic school students' learning outcomes through leadership practices and the prospects for effective collaboration between the University of Education and basic schools across six districts and municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana.

In his earlier capacity as a Research Assistant, Dr. Acquah contributed to several funded projects, including a study of students' satisfaction with the University of Cape Coast experience, funded by the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy from September 2019 to December 2021; a Non-Formal Education and Skills Training Survey funded by UCC and EDQUAL from July 2019 to December 2021; the Secondary Education Improvement Programme funded by the Centre for Educational Research Evaluation and Development in May and June 2017; and a Tracer Study on the placement and utilisation of IEPA graduates in sectors of the Ghanaian economy, funded by UCC between March 2017 and June 2018.

Dr. Acquah is an active contributor to institutional and community life. His service has included membership of the delegation sent from IERIS to meet with the National School Inspectorate Authority on 12th March, 2026; service as a Field Officer for data collection in Cape Coast and Elmina on a project examining the appreciation, participation, and sustainability of historic forts and castles; and leadership of data collection teams in the Upper West and North East Regions of Ghana for baseline and endline assessments on improving Senior High School English writing skills with Milgo Artificial Intelligence in June and August 2025, respectively. He has also led data collection teams on the School Discipline Project in Takoradi, served as a faculty member for postgraduate thesis seminars at the University of Education, Winneba, and supervised Ghana Education Service Teacher Promotion Examinations between February 2020 and December 2021.

His community service includes supervising Ghana Education Service Teacher Promotion Examinations at St. Monica's College of Education and the KSTS Centre, serving as a team leader for Teacher Promotion Assistant Examiners in January 2025 and March 2023, and appearing as a panel member on "National Agenda" and "Love Line" on Radio Windy Bay, UEW, since 2022.

Dr. Acquah is also an accomplished peer reviewer, having reviewed constructively for Cogent Arts and Humanities since 2026, Discover Global Society since 2025, the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science and the International Journal of Teacher Educational Research and the Journal of Arts and Humanities since 2017, and the Ghana Journal of Education and Teaching in 2023, recommending reviewed articles for publication.

Dr. Acquah has presented his research at numerous national and international conferences. His conference presentations include papers on the nexus between digital competence and digital citizenship among technical university students in Ghana, delivered at the Applied Research Conference of Technical Universities of Ghana in May 2026; leadership style and pupil behaviour in a comparative study of male and female headteachers, presented in Canes, France, in August 2026; educational access for learners with disabilities, presented at a Jacobs Foundation Fellow-Led Conference in Accra in January 2026; and the influence of Religious and Moral Education teachers' religious literacy on their teaching self-efficacy, presented at the World Conference on Transformative Education in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2025. He has also served as a moderator at multiple international multidisciplinary conferences for postgraduate students.

Beyond presenting, Dr. Acquah has facilitated continuous professional development workshops for teaching staff across several Ghanaian districts and workshops on research data analysis using SPSS and research proposal writing for postgraduate students. He has participated in extensive further training on scientific writing, grantsmanship, research visibility, formative assessment, and supportive learning environments, and holds memberships in the University Teachers' Association of Ghana, UEW Chapter, and the International Association of Transformative Educators.

His recognitions include the Dean's Award of Excellence, certificates of conference paper presentation, and certificates of honour for his roles as a moderator at international postgraduate conferences.

Dr. Andrews Acquah's career to date reflects a scholar deeply invested in the improvement of education in Ghana and beyond. Combining rigorous methodological training, an expansive publication record, substantial experience in funded research, and a genuine commitment to teaching, capacity building, and community service, he continues to contribute meaningfully to curriculum studies, teacher education, and religious education. His work at the University of Education, Winneba situates him at the centre of efforts to connect educational research with practice, and his ongoing projects, particularly those exploring artificial intelligence in education and inclusive access for learners with disabilities, position him at the forefront of emerging debates in Ghanaian and African education.