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introduction
The Department offers courses for the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, the Bachelor of Science Education, Bachelor of Education (General Science), the Bachelor of Biotechnology, the Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and the Bachelor of Biological Science degrees.
The B.Sc. degree programme is aimed at producing graduates capable of entering a wide range of professions and fields including teaching, industry and the civil service.
Students in the B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry programme will have the flexibility to transfer to the B.Sc.Ed. programme in the first two years. Conversely, students in the existing programmes, except the B.Ed.Gen.Sc., can transfer to the B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry programme subject to qualification requirements approved by the Departmental Board and the Senate.
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The Bachelor of Science degree programme in Chemistry is of four years duration. In addition to the chemistry courses, each student is required to take minor and supporting courses as well as university and faculty required courses from other departments in the Faculty of Science. In the final year, a student will be given an opportunity to carry out research work on a project in a specific area of chemistry under the supervision of academic staff.
Three media of instruction are used - lectures, tutorials and practicals - the frequency and extent of each being shown for each course in the Course Outlines. Tutorial groups are small, usually 6 students, to enable students and lecturers to become acquainted and to encourage each student to participate actively. Tutorials are used for problem-solving, discussions about practicals, lectures, assignments and tests. The frequency of assignments and tutorials varies according to the needs of students. The minimum number of tutorials for each course is indicated with each course outline.
assessment of courses
Normally, marks from practicals, assignments and tests constitute a continuous assessment component of 20%, and the end-of-course examination marks constitute 80% of the overall course assessment. Courses with no practicals are also assessed on a 20:80 basis, using marks from assignments and tests to compose the 20% component. Chemistry Laboratory courses are assessed wholly on a continuous basis. BSc Ed students majoring in Chemistry will each choose a project in their 5th semester. Assessments of this course are divided into three components, namely the supervisor's assessment, assessment of written reports, and assessment of a seminar which is given by the student on his or her project. The supervisor's assessment takes into consideration the student's understanding of the principles and theories underlying the experiments, the student's approach to and handling of problems, initiative, diligence and laboratory techniques.
departmental regulations
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A minimum of 160 ‘A’ Level points for two ‘A’ Level passes; the two ‘A’ Level passes must be in Chemistry at grade ‘C’ or better and one other science subject (Physics, Biology or Mathematics), OR
A minimum of 200 A-Level points for three ‘A’ Level passes; one of three ‘A’ Level passes must be in Chemistry at grade ‘C’ or better with two other science subjects (Physics Biology or Mathematics); OR
An International Baccalauraeate score of 30 points with minimum of 5 points in Chemistry at higher level, preferably with two sciences at higher level.
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Students wishing to major in Chemistry must have a pass in Chemistry at GCE 'A' level, or the equivalent.
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Students in the B.Sc. Ed. Programme can choose Chemistry as a major subject provided he/she normally passes the main examinations in each of the Semesters 1 and 2 Chemistry courses.
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Normally, a student will only be registered for a course if he or she has already taken and passed any specified prerequisites or their equivalent.
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A student must perform satisfactorily in practicals, when prescribed, in order to sit the end of course examination.
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A student who fails a course may sit the supplementary examination only if permitted to do so by the Departmental Examination Board. The pass mark for a supplementary examination is 40%, (no continuous assessment marks are included).
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A student who fails both the main and supplementary examinations is not allowed further resit examinations but must repeat the course and sit the main examination.
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In order to graduate with B.Sc.Ed, a student majoring in Chemistry must pass 44 units of Chemistry courses while a student whose minor subject is Chemistry must pass 20 units of Chemistry course.
physical resources
Laboratories, Stores and Workspaces
There are spacious, equipped laboratories and instrument rooms housing spectrophotometers, etc., stores for glassware and chemicals. Currently there are four research laboratories (assigned for Inorganic, Organic, Physical and Analytical Chemistry Research), a general teaching laboratory and three teaching laboratories each for Inorganic, Organic & Physical/Analytical Chemistry.
Laboratory Equipment
The Department is well-furnished with the usual small items of glassware commonly found in undergraduate teaching laboratories and has, in addition, a good selection of small instruments such as conductivity meters, pH meters, direct-reading colorimeters, refractometers, etc.
Larger items of equipment comprise of:
- Three FTIR Spectrophotometers.
- Three UV/VIS Spectrophotometers (including one UV/VIS/NIR).
- Two Gas Chromatographs with Mass Spectrometers.
- Two Gas Chromatographs with either FID, ECD and TCD detectors.
- Two High Performance Liquid Chromatographs with either Conductivity, UV, Refractive Index and Fluoresence Detectors.
- One Semi-preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Diode Array detector.
- Two Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometers (including one equipped with Graphite Furnace).
- One Electrochemical Analyser Equipment.
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