Duration:                                              2 years

Actual Credit Load                          300

Minimum Credit Load:                 240  

Maximum Credit Load:               300

Total MBKS Credit Load:          192

ZNQF Level:                                      8

 

PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAMME

To prepare in-service teachers to teach physics up to ‘A ’Level and produce highly qualified personnel for educational institutions, government departments and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

2.0   ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Normal Entry:

Diploma/Certificate in Physics Education or equivalent from an accredited and recognised institution.

3.0   PROGRAMME CHARACTERISTICS

Areas of Study:

Physics Education

Specialist Focus:

Training teachers in Physics Education

Orientation:

Research and innovation-oriented. Teaching and learning are professionally oriented and focused on practical aspects

 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND FURTHER EDUCATION

Employability:

Graduates can be employed as teachers, lecturers, education inspectors, training officers, consultants, laboratory technicians in related chemical industries etc.

Further Studies:

Master’s and Doctoral studies in Physics Education

5.0   PROGRAMME DELIVERY

Teaching and Learning Methods:

Lectures, tutorials, laboratory classes, seminars, group work, industrial visits, micro-teaching, teaching practice, research project, individual independent study, and virtual and online learning.

Level 1 Semester 1

Code	Module Description	Credits
BED133	Information Communication Technology in Education	12
BED144	Schools Curriculum Competencies and Innovation	12
BCHS131	Culture and Heritage Studies	12
SEMA101	Calculus	12
SEPH101	Waves and Optics	12
SEPH102	Mechanics	12

Level 1 Semester 2

Code	Module Description	Credits
BED231	Assessment and Evaluation Techniques	12
BED131	Research Methods and Statistics	12
SEPH103	Robotics	12
SEPH104	Electric Circuits	12
SEPH105	Advanced Pedagogics in Physics	12
SEPH201	Modern and Thermal Physics	12

Level 2 Semester 1

Code	Module Description	Credits
BEIE501	Entrepreneurship and Industrialisation in Education	12
BEFM231	School Administration & Financial Management in Education	12
EDGS231	Gender Studies for Educators	12
SEPH202	Medical Physics	12
SEPH203	Electricity and Magnetism	12

Level 2 Semester 2

Code	Module Description	Credits
SEPH204	Electronics and Electronic Communication	12
SEPH205	Quantum and Solid-State Physics	12
SEPH206	Atomic and Nuclear Physics	12
BED232	Research Project	24
BED135	Contemporary Issues in Education	12

Electives

Code	Module Description	Credits
EFS 131	Sociological Issues in Education	12
EFPS 131	Psychological Issues in Education	12
EFPH 131	Philosophical Issues in Education	12

 

Module Synopses

BED133: Information Communication Technology in Education

This module employs a hands-on approach to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for the innovative use of information communication technology to enhance classroom teaching and learning. Topics include the role of ICT in education, software application in education, multimedia learning, the internet of things and emerging technologies and their application in classroom teaching.

BED144: Schools curriculum competencies and innovation

The module introduces students to the schools’ curriculum and basic theories of curriculum development. It explores the philosophy of the Zimbabwean competence-based curriculum and its implications for teaching. The specific competencies in the curriculum are analysed in relation to how they empower students with life-long competencies that prepare students for sustainable livelihoods inside and outside formal employment. Such competencies include but are not limited to creativity, innovation, industrialisation, and entrepreneurship.

BCHS131: Culture and Heritage Studies

This module introduces scholars to the definition terms of culture and heritage. The module exposes the learners to issues like civic education, spirituality, and tangible and nontangible Zimbabwean resources. History of Zimbabwe and its different ethnic groupings in different geographical locations. Learners would be challenged to be tolerant and enjoy the multicultural status of the nation.

SEMA101: Calculus

The module exposes Number systems: Natural, integral, rational and irrational, The principle of mathematical induction, The real number system: decimal and geometrical representation, inequalities and their solution sets, Functions: different types of functions and their inverses, Limits of functions, Continuity, Sequences and Series, Differentiation, Integration and their applications and the Mean value theorems.

SEPH101: General Mechanics, Waves and Optics

The module shall introduce the concepts covering kinematics, projectiles, vectors, Newton’s Laws, forces, momentum, gravity, work, energy, and power. It shall also deal with wave motion, the general equation of wave motion, Reflection of waves, refraction of waves, Fermat’s principle and its applications.

SEPH102: Mechanics

The module covers Kinematics, projectiles, vectors, Newton’s Laws, forces, momentum, gravity, work, energy, power, conservative and dissipative forces, impulse and moments, circular motion, motion of planets and satellites – geostationary orbits, relative velocity, uniform relative translational motion.  orbits, oscillations, elastic forces and resonance, equivalent systems of forces, systems of particles, and elementary theory of rigid bodies.

BED231: Assessment and Evaluation Techniques

The module covers assessment and evaluation issues in education across all subject areas. The content of the module includes an analysis of the concepts of evaluation, assessment and measurement in education, contemporary ideas on how to improve assessment and evaluation in schools; test designing, analysis of test results, national examinations and grading.

 BED131: Research Methods and Statistics

The module introduces students to the basic principles of research. It develops the students’ knowledge and skills in the following areas: identification of research problems in education; selection of appropriate research designs and data collection tools; data analysis techniques; research findings and conclusions; and research report writing. The module also introduces students to educational research that is aligned with sustainable development issues such as environmental conservation and poverty eradication.

SEPH103: Robotics

The module introduces the student to the main concepts and skills needed to assemble, programme, and control a simple robot. The module shall cover various multidisciplinary topics necessary to understand the fundamentals of designing, building, and programming robots such as kinematics, dynamics, trajectory planning, control of robot manipulators, and sensing. In addition, the module shall address the basic manufacturing techniques, robot terminology, different types of automation, safety, basic robotic programming, interfacing robotic communications, automated work cells, and robotic applications.

SEPH104: Electric Circuits

The module covers Circuit theory Kirchhoff’s law, loop theorem, currents in a multi-loop circuit, junction theorem, Thevenin Theorem, Norton Theorem, Maximum power theorem, AC circuit theory, impedance, reactance, phase diagrams, use of complex numbers in circuit theory, resonance, power factor, half power points, AC bridges, resistance, capacitance and inductance measurements, transformer, and three phase power systems.

SEPH105: Advanced Pedagogics in Physics

The module focuses on the development of the Physics teacher’s pedagogical skills. Emphasis is on contemporary issues in Physics education such as aims of Physics education, philosophical issues in Physics education, learning cycles, conceptual change models, constructivist approach to chemistry teaching and learning, the cultural perspective of science education, curriculum issues in Physics education.

SEPH201: Modern and Thermal Physics

The module seeks to focus on Modern Physics: Nuclear Physics: Thermal Physics: Thermometry, Zeroth law, laws of thermodynamics, heat transfer, entropy, Carnot cycle and heat engines, kinetic theory, ideal gas, kinetic interpretation of temperature and pressure, equipartition of energy, distribution of molecular speeds, Brownian motion, van der Waals equation.

BEIE501: Entrepreneurship and Industrialisation in Education

The module equips the students with entrepreneurial skills on how to set up and successfully operate business/production units within and outside educational environments. Students are expected to develop a conceptual framework for entrepreneurship and distinguish between wage employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship. Familiarisation with the incubation hub and the transformation of education into an industry are considered.

EFS131 & EFPS131 & EFPH131: Applied Educational Foundations

This module enhances students with basic philosophical, psychological and sociological theories that are central to the learning and development of children from diverse backgrounds. The module also interrogates the interconnection between educational foundations and innovation, thereby further equipping students with vibrant critical thinking skills to awaken the creative capabilities inherent in them.

EDGS231: Gender Studies for Educators

The module empowers the students with knowledge and skills that enable them to be gender sensitive in the university, workplace and in all their social interactions. Topics covered include Understanding Gender, Theories of Gender Inequalities, Historical Development of Gender, Gender Analysis, Gender Issues in society, Redressing Gender Imbalances, Empowerment and Strategies for creating a gender responsive environment. Every student has to pass the module to graduate.

BEFM231: School Administration and Financial Management in Education

The module introduces students to sound administration and financial management practices followed in schools and other educational institutions. It tackles the basic tenets of the nature and purpose of administration and familiarises students with skills in budgeting and budgetary control. Students are further introduced to the accounting systems in schools and the interpretation of policies and statutes that govern financial and asset management in educational institutions.

SEPH202: Medical Physics

This module exposes the student to the basic physics of biomedical imaging as well as provides a broad insight into the applications of physics in medicine. The module introduces key physical principles as applied to medical imaging and radiation therapy. Topics covered shall include imaging metrics, radioactivity, radiation therapy, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging.

SEPH203: Electricity and Magnetism

The module covers current and charge, Gauss’s law and applications, dielectrics, and m agnetic field and forces. Force on a current-carrying conductor and magnetic field. The magnetising field, magnetic susceptibility and permeability, Ohm’s law, transformers, capacitors, electrostatics, Cathode Ray Oscilloscope, the CRO as a voltmeter, a clock, and a display device.

SEPH204: Electronics and Electronic communication

The module focuses on the following areas: Switching algebra, logic devices, combinational logic devices and Data flow model – -analysis and synthesis, data processing devices, data routing devices, Sequential logic devices and FSM model Mixed logic circuits, modular design of devices   RTL architecture, analogue electronic devices and their models, analogue systems and their models. It shall also address digital transmission, analogue transmission, synchronous, asynchronous, and isochronous transmission modes, transmission media, circuit switching, packet switching, frame relay, routing: interior routing and exterior routing.

SEPH205: Quantum Physics and Solid State

The module shall cover atomic structure and atomic bonding, crystal structure, electrical and thermal conductivity of solids, Band theory, conductors, semiconductors, insulators, Electronic properties and processes of semiconductors, the diode law, Semiconductor devices; capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors and thyristors, Integrated circuits. It shall also address quantum mechanical principles.

SEPH206: Atomic and Nuclear Physics

The module exposes students to atomic and nuclear structures and provides an understanding of these phenomena based on quantum mechanics. The principles of quantum mechanics shall be applied to atoms, molecules and atomic nuclei to understand the structure of matter on a microscopic level, and their interaction with external electric and magnetic fields. The basic concepts and theories of nuclear physics are developed.

BED232: Research Project

In this final year, two-semester module each student carries out a research project in an area of his/her choice under the guidance of a supervisor. Through the study, students are expected to apply their knowledge and skills in research in the resolution of an identified research problem, as well as showing their appreciation of research as a viable process of addressing contemporary challenges and issues in education and their local environments.

BED135: Contemporary Issues in Education

The module exposes students to the most current global trends like Globalisation, Sustainable Development Goals, Gender, Human Rights, and Health pandemics and how these feed into and also how they affect the Zimbabwean Education system.  The thrust is to leverage current trends in promoting innovation, industrialisation and modernisation through Education 5.0.