GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Practicum 1 (EPY 306) is a compulsory course for second-year students of the Educational Psychology Department in the Faculty of Education of University of Buea. Both those reading Special Education and Educational Psychology are normally sent out to different primary schools in and around Buea for a precise duration to educate the students with practical knowledge on what to observe, and how to observe but due to the current situation of the country about COVID-19, just examination classes both at the basic and secondary level are operational that is class 6, form 5 and upper sixths.  Due to this, the institution decided to send us to the various faculties in the university.

The students are expected to carry out a critical observation of teaching-learning activities in their respective assigned Faculties, to gain new insight into life in the classroom, and the process of teaching and also to identify problems relating to the observation and propose solutions to the problem as well as observe if the measures put in place by the government to combat COVID-19 are respected. It can be termed a form of internship although not called as such. A major difference between a practicum and an internship involves the degree of expected involvement of the student with hands-on work. Internships are often more profound in terms of student practical involvement and hands-on work than practicum.

During this observation period, students were equally expected to dress appropriately as teachers, be punctual in their various classes under observation, and above all be obedient and trustworthy. Throughout this observation, the students were to keep a record of all what they had as observations and classes wherein at the end of the observation write a report and submit to their supervisors. This writing of report was principally based on the following issues;

• The objectives of Practicum I
• Location of the school
• A brief history of the school
• School climate and relationship
• General observation
• Problems encountered by the school
• Challenges faced by the learners
• Challenges faced by the student (I) carrying out observation
• Solutions to the challenges
• Personal observation of the Practicum
• Way forward/ recommendations
• Objectives of the Practicum 1

The objectives of the Practicum exercise will include the following;

• To gain field-based experiences that focus on the development of competences in the teaching and learning process.
• To observe how instructional material is presented and the effects on students.
• To also observe the learning environment and how the classroom is organized for the teaching-learning process.
• To observe the interaction between the learner and the teacher, learners and learners and learners and teachers
• Also, to observe the relationship that students and teachers have with the administration
• To observe classroom management and the effects on students’ learning
• To observe how students with learning problems are handled by their teachers and the behaviours of other students towards them.
• To observe the challenges faced by teachers and students and equally suggest appropriate solutions to the problems.
• To verify if theories of learning are being put into practice and to develop a deeper understanding of educational principles and their implications for teaching and learning.
• To write and present a coherent and rich report at the end of the teaching and observation practice.

Why are they Important?

A decade ago, simply having a good academic standing was enough to qualify you for a decent job. Today, good grades just don’t cut it. When it comes to securing employment, most schools or companies want to make sure you can put what you learned to practice. Practicums allow students to earn real hands-on experience with the best in the institution or industry.

Definition of Associated Terms

Practicum: A practicum is an undergraduate or graduate-level course, often in a specialized field of study that is designed to give students supervised practical application of a previously or concurrently studied field or theory. Practicum (student teaching) is common for education and social work majors. In some cases, the practicum may be a part-time student teaching placement that occurs the semester before a student’s full-time student teaching placement. The process resembles an internship; however, a practicum focuses on observation over work experience.

Learner: Anyone who is willing to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Teacher: a teacher is one who facilitates learning.

BACKGROUND AND CURRENT STATE OF THE INSTITUTION

In 1992/93 a series of presidential decrees transformed the Higher Education landscape profoundly by dissolving the University of Yaounde and creating six new universities. Decree No. 92/074 of 13 April 1992 transformed the university centres of Buea and Ngaoundere into fully-fledged universities. Another Decree, No. 93/026 of 19 January 1993, created the universities of Yaounde I and II, of Douala and Dschang. Whilst Decree No. 93/027 of the same date, defined common conditions for the operation of the universities of Cameroon, Decree No. 93/034, also of 19 January 1993, organized the University of Buea. The reforms introduced by the above decrees were aimed at improving the performance of higher education. Specifically, the reforms were aimed at achieving among others, the following.

• To increase the participation of different stakeholders in financing higher education institutions;
• To provide universities with more academic and management autonomy;
• To provide all Cameroonians equal opportunity to obtain university education;
• To expand and increase higher education opportunities and make university programmes more professional and more responsive to market forces;
• To make rational and optimal use of existing infrastructure, facilities and services.

Evolution of the University

Despite the economic crisis facing the country in the early 90s, the University of Buea started boldly in May 1993 with 768 students enrolled in the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) and the following three faculties:

• The Faculty of Arts with degree programmes in English, English and French, and History;
• The Faculty of Science with programmes in Chemistry, Life Sciences, Geology, Physics and Mathematics;
• The Faculty of Social and Management Sciences with programmes in Economics, Law and Geography.

Academic staffs were transferred from the defunct University of Yaounde and the Ministry of Scientific Research to run these programmes. Part-time lecturers from the University of Yaounde I was also used extensively.

Even though the Faculty of Health Sciences existed in 1993, it only admitted its first batch of students in 1997/1998. The Department of Education operated in the Faculty of Arts until the 1998/1999 year when it became an independent Faculty.

 

Student Enrolment

Student enrolment increased from 768 in 1992/93 to 4,704 in 1999/98. Enrolment was controlled by use of admission quotas for each discipline. Access was therefore very selective and based on objective criteria related to performance at the General Certificate of Education and Baccalaureat examinations. However, because of the growing number of school leavers and a modest increase in the capacity of our lecture halls and laboratories, student enrolment rose steadily to 5,380 in the 1998/99 academic year, 7,283 in 2002/03 and finally to 10,295 in 2006/07. It is noted that, because of limited classroom space, only about two-thirds of students who apply for admission are presently admitted. The competition for places is keener in some professional programmes, whereas few as 1 out of 10 applicants are admitted.

Funding

Funds to run the University come, for the most part from the State. State subvention has recurrent and investment components. The University generates revenue principally from registration fees. In 2007 such self-generated income accounted for about 35% of the University’s budget whilst expenditure on investment accounted for about 22% of the budget. Academic staff of the University also obtains research grants from foreign partners. For the 2006/07 year, such grants which were worth 200,000,000F represent a mere 4% of the University’s budget of 5,151,188,000F for 2007.

Infrastructure

The number of lecture halls of various capacities (50-650) is currently 35. There are also six science teaching laboratories and a central library. These halls are used by the 10,295 students who take a total of about 350 courses each week. Due to the large class sizes which are often split into several groups, the halls and laboratories have become grossly insufficient for all modes of teaching if lectures are not to spill over into the night.

Teaching

The University currently has five Faculties and one School. Each of them has several departments which are in charge of one or more academic programmes. At the moment the total number of departments is 25 and that of programmes 32. The problem faced by most departments is that of large enrolment about the small number of lecturers.

Summarily, the University of Education comprises eleven establishments distributed thus;

Eight (8) faculties, Two (2) colleges and one school.