Issahaku Sontaa Jakalia

Background Over the years, the number of prospective students intending to study physics at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has gradually declined. This has drastically affected the number of trained physics teachers in the country. As a matter of urgency, there is therefore the need to look at the factors that influence the choice of physics at the undergraduate level in UEW in order to encourage more students to enrol in the course.Purpose This study sought to find out the factors motivating the students at UEW, to major in physics, despite the general belief that the course is very difficult.Sample The participants of this study were physics students at the Department of Physics Education, UEW, Ghana. Purposive sampling was used to select 101 respondents.Design and Methods Questionnaire was used in gathering data. Interview and focused group discussion were used to validate the responses of the participants to the questionnaire. The questionnaire was analyzed using R version 4.22. Additionally, Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to rank the Likert form items.Results The findings indicated that students ranked interest (RII = 0.92) as their major motivating factor to read physics in the Department. Students also claimed that their parents had little influence on their decision to study physics. Whiles professional teachers used it as a conduit to secure study leave with pay from GES. Students who had difficulty in the subject also attributed it to their long delay at home after completing senior high school before gaining admission to the University.Conclusions The study recommends that there should be a concerted effort to arouse the interest of physics learners at the lower levels of education in Ghana by the Department of Physics Education, Winneba and other stakeholders in order to increase the enrolment of students in physics.

Purpose: The aim of this action research is to evaluate the impact of mathematical knowledge on students' academic performance in physics at Mawuli School, Ho. Methodology: A teacher-made test was the instrument used for data collection in this study. The test consisted of questions in both mathematics and physics. The mathematics questions were strategically selected to align with concepts relevant to the physics curriculum. Pre-test and post-test were administered using similar sets of questions. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. Findings: The study findings indicated a statistically significant positive correlation between students' mathematical knowledge and their performance in physics. Also, there was no significant difference in the performance of males and females students. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: It was therefore recommended that physics teachers prioritize assessing and enhancing students' mathematical proficiency prior to introducing physics topics that require mathematical application.