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Breakthroughs in technology-based assessments recorded in the last decades have given impetus to the integration of technology in teaching practice supervision. This paper describes an electronic supervision (e-TP) model developed for the teaching practice component of the science teacher training program by one university in Zimbabwe. It further sought to determine how school Heads, Deputy School Heads, Heads of Departments and school based mentors from 5 purposively sampled Bindura Urban district schools embraced the electronic student teacher supervision and assessment (e-TP) model introduced (as pilot) by one science teacher education university in Zimbabwe. A qualitative case study research methodology was used to provide an understanding of the participants' experiences and acceptance of the e-TP process. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis procedures which helped identify common themes. Results of the study conclude that e-TP has great potential in improving student teacher supervision. It was observed that the university didn't do enough to disseminate and induct the schools on the implementation of the new model which on further exploration was the cause of the attitudes portrayed by the schools towards e-TP. It is recommended that the university should actively partner cooperating schools in the implementation of the innovation and offer training and support to both students and mentors regarding the acquisition and usage of the said technologies.

This study analysed the status of TPACK knowledge and its impact on the quality of technical and engineering education. The research was a case study of 20 lecturers who were purposefully sampled from the School of Engineering and Technology at a university in Zimbabwe. The lecturers had no prior training in pedagogy. The purpose of the study was to establish the level of appreciation of TPACK among the lecturers and how they were integrating it in their teaching. Mixed research methods were employed. A questionnaire on Likert scale was used and descriptive statistics performed on the data to get frequencies and means. Follow-up interviews were done to triangulate questionnaire data in the determination of lecturers' views on the use of TPACK to enhance understanding as effective strategies to use it in teaching engineering students. The study found out that most lecturers (70%) were confident of their pedagogical competencies. However, on the adoption and use of technology in their teaching, 60% agreed that they could adopt whilst 55% were still thinking about how technology could be used in teaching. The frequency of use of ICT technologies among lecturers is quite high (80%) besides the lack of technology use to support students with disabilities. The lecturers (70%) viewed TPACK as an enhancement to improved quality of technical and engineering education. ICT use has been perceived as to improving the quality of engineering teaching and learning. It can be concluded that engineering lecturers are competent in their knowledge about individual components of TPACK but not on the integration of these components for effective teaching besides them agreeing that it is important to have a balanced combination of knowledge with respect to content knowledge, methods, and technologies. The research recommends TPACK capacitation of lecturers through in-service training.

Purpose: This study aims to establish the online teaching behaviour of university lecturers as well as examine issues and challenges for online teaching in universities in Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 era and beyond. Design/methodology/approach: The study assumed a quantitative approach that employed a structured questionnaire for data collection. Structural equation modelling using AMOS version 22 and independent samples t-test were used for data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for data purification. Findings: The results of the study showed that organisational factors, technological factors, pedagogical factors, student factors and the gender of lecturers have a significant influence on the behavioural intentions of lecturers to teach online. The results also showed that the behavioural intentions of lecturers to teach online has a significant influence on the actual online teaching behaviour of the lecturers. The results also showed that lecturers mostly used the WhatsApp platform for teaching. Issues and challenges affecting the online teaching behaviour of lecturers in universities in Zimbabwe were also identified. Research limitations/implications: The results of this study have implications for policy and practice with regard to online teaching and learning during periods of pandemics and beyond. Practical implications: The results showed that for effective teaching to be done in universities, universities should not continue focusing on single platforms such as blackboard, Moodle and others, but should allow for a multimedia approach that factors in platforms such as WhatsApp, Google Classroom and others. This will ensure that even universities with limited technology infrastructure will be able to have online teaching occurring. Social implications: The study demonstrated the influence of gender in online teaching by showing that there are gender differences in the way university lecturers conduct online teaching. This also has implication on teaching and policy as these results demonstrate a need for universities to come up with strategies and policies that ensure despite gender differences, university lecturers should be able to effective teach online. Originality/value: While the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology has been widely used in research, the current study represents the first opportunity that the theory has been used to establish the online teaching behaviour of university lecturers in the context of Zimbabwe.

School-Based Assessment (SBA) can help achieve a holistic, child-centred and qualitative account of a pupil's performance. The same method has been criticised for being subjective, informal and open to teacher bias hence the reluctance by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) to embrace it for certification and selection into further education or vocational careers. In 2009, the prohibitive cost of administering national examinations due to economic problems faced by the country and the subsequent delays in releasing the results forced The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to enrol pupils from primary into secondary schools using SBA results. This survey, conducted using both qualitative and quantitative methods, was carried out at three purposively sampled secondary schools (162 pupils) and looked at whether there was consistency between the national examinations and the SBA results used to enrol pupils. A questionnaire with both open-ended and closed questions was used to collect data. Seven primary school trained teachers were interviewed to ascertain their knowledge on SBA and all of them had not received any formal training on SBA. Results obtained reveal that SBA can be a trusted benchmark for promotion of pupils from primary into secondary school as those pupils who passed teacher tests at Grade Seven also passed the ZIMSEC national examinations. In order to achieve efficient use of limited financial resources, the study recommends that the promotion of pupils into Form One be done using SBA results and that pre-service and in-service training of teachers on SBA be made a priority.

The practical work component offers unique challenges for university science courses. This is even more pertinent in an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) environment like the Bindura University of Science Education's Virtual and Open Distance Learning (VODL) programme. Effective ODL education should be flexible enough to accommodate science disciplines with practical components. The main challenges with practical work in ODL are that students are geographically scattered and that they come from very different educational backgrounds. In spite of these constraints, there is an equivalence motive as justification for compulsory practical work as a means to put degrees and diplomas in science education awarded through ODL programmes on the same level of achievement as those offered conventionally as they should equally develop practical scientific inquiry and problem solving skills. This Case Study evaluates the use of instructional technologies for science practical work, adopting Kumar et al (2005)'s five-stage model. The research revealed that although lecturers place great value on practical work, in practice they prefer using lecture notes and internet downloads more than other instructional technologies. Research participants do not use online tutoring at all though the philosophy of VODL requires the use of such technologies that support student-centred learning.

Lecturers use various electronic resources at different frequencies. The university library's information literacy skills workshops and seminars are the main sources of knowledge of accessing electronic resources. The use of electronic resources can be said to have positively affected lecturers' pedagogical practices and their work in general. The aim of this study was to reference an investigation of 30 lecturers' use of electronic resources in an effort to uncover correlations between library information literacy training and increased use of web based resources (for example, library journal databases, web search engines, open access journals, and so on), increased use of web resources and improved pedagogy as well as increased use of web resources and higher publication rates. Results indicated lecturers attended the Electronic Information Resources Skills Training and that they (86.7%) used at least one or more electronic information resources to find information for use for their teaching and/or research. 13.3% lecturers indicated non-usage of electronic information sources. Most of the lecturers (53.3%) indicated that they learnt about electronic resources through the workshops and seminars. The majority of the lecturers were motivated (motivate = 86.7%; 66.7% = very motivated and 20% = somewhat motivated) to learn how to use electronic resources. Lecturers mostly got information for their research papers through the Internet (83.3%) and 10% through electronic resources. The use of electronic information resources by lecturers proved to have positively affected their work as evidenced by the results. However, there is need to mount more and frequent electronic information resources training workshops.

This case study looked at 76 randomly selected preservice science teachers from Mbire and Guruve districts who were learning at the Mushumbi Centre in Zimbabwe and assessed their motivations for enrolling under the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE)'s Virtual and Open Distance Learning (VODL) programme. It also looked at the challenges they faced, their views on how instruction under the programme can be improved, and their deployment preferences after graduation. The districts are located in the remote Zambezi Valley, which is characterized by poor infrastructure, pests and diseases, frequent attacks by wild animals on people, domestic animals, and crops, harsh climatic conditions, and seasonal floods, which make it very difficult to attract and retain qualified teachers. Through targeted recruitment, BUSE's VODL programme sought to train relief teachers already serving in the area in the hope that personal history and family connections would entice them to continue teaching in these areas after attaining their teacher certification. Data was collected using a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. Results obtained indicate that despite a lack of funding, a shortage of reading materials, and the nonavailability of e-learning facilities, the students were motivated to join the programme for personal and professional motives and that the students, the majority of whom had taught for two or more years in the districts, would prefer deployments in the area after graduation. The study therefore recommends that deliberate efforts be directed toward the targeted recruitment of school leavers and relief teachers from disadvantaged rural areas who possess the requisite minimum entry qualifications to train as science teachers in order to improve teacher retention in remote areas. Further research into the intrinsic problems in BUSE's VODL programme and a close scrutiny of its course development techniques are also encouraged in order to overcome some of the problems encountered by both the students and the institution.

This research surveyed 11 purposely sampled Bindura University of Science Education (Zimbabwe) Bachelor of Science Education Honours Part III pre-service science teachers' use of improvised and virtual laboratory experimentation in science teaching. A self-designed four-point Likert scale twenty-item questionnaire was used. SPSS Version 10 was used to analyse data. Frequencies, means, standard deviations and standard error means were used to systematically evaluate variables on pre-service teachers' use of the technological resources. Most pre-service teachers (90.9%) used improvised laboratory experimentation in their teaching. However, although the pre-service teachers knew the value and benefits of virtual experimentation, they did not use the technology in their teaching. The methods course (Pedagogics in Science Teaching) for the pre-service science teachers should be more focused on specific instructional uses of technology and technical skills rather than familiarisation with technology, to effectively integrate technology in their teaching to support student-centred learning.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools form an important component in the teaching-learning process. The research surveyed 100 A' Level students' views on the availability of ICT tools and resources and their preparedness in terms of computer literacy to successfully integrate ICT resources in learning organic chemistry concepts. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data complemented by in-depth interviews and in-situ observations. Data collected was analysed using SPSS Version 15 to find frequencies of commonly held views. The study revealed students had no ready access to computers. Computer usage for learning purposes and other uses was relatively low. Schools had no Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) software. However, the students agreed to a larger extent that integrating ICT in teaching and learning of Chemistry enhances conceptual understanding of Organic Chemistry. The researchers recommend that it must not only be the role of the teacher to encourage for the increased use of ICT tools but all stakeholders (parents, government, industry) to realise fruits from this noble endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]