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Assessment in Education

Course Code: 
EPS 311
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 300
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Guidance and Counselling

African Traditional Religion

Course Code: 
RHV 203
No. of Credits: 
2
Level: 
Level 200
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Guidance and Counselling

Roots of Islamic Civilisation

Course Code: 
RHV 202
No. of Credits: 
2
Level: 
Level 200
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Guidance and Counselling

SOLUTION EQUILIBRIA

Almost all reactions that concern chemists take place in solutions rather than in gaseous or solid phases. The course hence aims at exposing students to solutions of reacting molecules in liquids. It offers students an understanding of a variety of physico-chemical phenomena and ease of handling and rapidity of mixing different substances. Students will also be exposed to polyprotic acids, second and third dissociation constants, colligative properties, and predominant species as a function of pH. This course focuses on providing students with an understanding of the various solution properties and explanation of variety of physicochemical phenomena. Special emphasis will be placed on the properties of solutes and solvents, thermodynamics of electrolytes, kinetics and transport properties. The course covers aspects of colligative properties, reactions in solutions, advance buffer calculations, formation constant expression for complexes and polyprotics, titration and titration curves, and equilibria in redox and non-aqueous systems.

Course Code: 
CHE 804
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Science Education
Science Education

Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Physics II

This is the second of two courses designed to equip students with pedagogical content knowledge to enable them teach new or perceived difficult topics in the senior high school physics syllabus more competently in a variety of ways to reflect students’ different learning styles. Students will be able to develop special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers.

Appropriate strategies for successful teaching of selected topics, generally, will be discussed. Students will also learn how to recognize opportunities where learners will be encouraged to develop their thinking skills as applied to the study of physics. 

Course Code: 
ESC 334
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 300
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Science

Introductory Atomic Physics, Heat And Optics

This course is meant to initiate the students to three of the important themes in physics; The atomic physics section introduces the student to the study of the structure of the atom as an isolated system of electrons and a nucleus, its energy states and interactions with other particles and with electric and magnetic fields. The heat aspect is structured to be introduced as a form of internal energy associated with the random motion of the molecular constituents of matter or with radiation.  The optics is designed to initiate the student to that branch of physics which involves the behaviour and properties of light including its interactions with matter. It considers the generation, propagation and detection of electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths greater than x-rays and shorter than microwaves.

Course Code: 
PHY 203
No. of Credits: 
2
Level: 
Level 200
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Science

Mrs. Evelyn Nyan

Past College Registrar, College of Education Studies

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Prof. Asare-Bediako presenting the lecture

Eradicate Plant Viruses to Save Lives-Prof. Asare-Bediako

20 Feb, 2020 By louis Mensah

A Professor of Plant Virology, Elvis Asare-Bediako, has called for the eradication of plant viruses in order to eliminate poverty and hunger to save lives.

Prof. Asare-Bediako noted that achieving food security in sub-Saharan Africa remained a great challenge, and indicated that plant viruses were a major contributing factor. “Plant diseases are therefore a threat to global food security,” he noted.

Prof. Asare-Bediako who is the Dean of the School of Agriculture made the call when he delivered his inaugural lecture on the topic “Plant Viruses: Fight the Enemy and Save Lives”.

Fight the Enemy 

According to Prof. Asare-Bediako, plant viruses which he described as "the enemy" were very destructive adding that “As agriculture struggles to support the rapidly growing global population, plant disease reduces the production and quality of food, fibre and biofuel crops”.  He further indicated that “The effect of plant diseases range from mild symptoms to catastrophes in which large areas food crops are destroyed”.  He stressed that catastrophic plant disease exacerbated the current deficit of food supply which several millions of people especially in sub-Saharan Africa were inadequately fed, leading to hunger and starvation. “Thus plant viruses are enemy to human existence or livelihood,” he stated.

Prof. Asare-Bediako described viruses as “submicroscopic entities that infect individual host plant cells” adding that “they have both living and non-living characters”. He said there were over 10 different plant viruses, which cause significant economic losses in Africa. “These viruses affect income, food and nutrition security and hence the livelihoods of people in sub-Saharan Africa,” he pointed out.

Some of the plant viruses or diseases he mentioned were cassava mosaic, cassava brown streak virus, sweet potato virus disease, maize streak disease, Rice Yellow Mottle Virus, Cowpea viral diseases, Groundnut rosette, okra mosaic, mealybug wilt of pineapple, cocoa swollen shoot virus, among others. Describing the nature of the viruses, Prof. Asare-Bediako said the leaf normally turned yellow with either of the whole leaf or in a pattern of stripes or blotches. In addition, he said there would be signs of leaf distortion with curling and stunting of the whole plant as well as abnormalities in flower or fruit formation.

Management of Diseases

On the management of the diseases, Prof. Asare-Bediako noted that it was important to conduct an assessment to map the geographic distribution and determine the status of the disease in addition to providing baseline data to prioritise research problems. He added that mapping disease epidemics would facilitate management decisions. He was worried that some agronomic practices of farmers were contributory factors to the spread of diseases in their farms. For instance, he said majority of the farmers in districts surveyed found out that they use seeds from uncertified sources, over-reliance, and abuse of pesticides in managing virus or disease and uncontrolled weeds.

Prescribing strategies for the management of plant virus diseases, Prof. Asare Bediako recommended that the source of infection should be eradicated to prevent the virus from reaching the crop, minimizing the spread of the disease by controlling its vector and utilizing virus-free planting material. Another important strategy he mentioned was to plant under protected environments such as screenhouse or greenhouse to reduce the risk of exposure to insects that were vectors of virus disease.

Contributions

As part of his contributions to eradicating the plant viruses, Prof. Asare-Bediako said he had conducted several kinds of research either alone or with colleagues and published the findings in peer-reviewed journals. He noted that some varieties of crops such as cassava, cowpea, maize among others have been released which were resistant to diseases. 

Recommendation

In his recommendation, the Dean of the School of Agriculture called for environmental policies that support valuable research and development efforts in plant virus disease control at all levels including institutional, national, regional, and Africa-wide. “There should be effective collaboration among scientists and virologists at the institutional levels and among institutions,” he noted. 

Prof. Asare-Bediako also said modern laboratory equipment and supplies were of critical importance in plant virology and therefore, asked for adequate financial resources from governments to effectively address plant virus problems in Africa. Furthermore, he said there was a need for adequate skilled manpower for virus detection, diagnosis, and control.


 

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