GST COURSE CONTENT

COURSES, PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES 

INTRODUCTION

General Studies programme and the university academic departments are Siamese twins. As one cannot separate typical Siamese twins without causing a fatal injury, one can hardly uncouple General Studies and any academic discipline without inflicting a moral blow to the students' education.

Consequently, every student, irrespective of his/her academic discipline, needs General Studies in order to give validity to his/her education. Diving neck-deep into any academic discipline without proper exposure to General Studies courses is like building a house without foundation; the consequences of such serious omission cannot be over­emphasized.

General Studies Unit is adequately staffed. Lecturers are competent academic staff drawn from the various departments of the University. The supporting staff, also drawn from the University's administrative wing, are experienced, placed and urbane. At the helm of the programme is a Director-a seasoned, senior academic.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE PROGRAMME

Over the years, university education has come to mean different things to different people. For some, it is a means of economic advancement; and for others, it is a means of manpower training.

Most importantly, the university has the unique task of producing for its nation, graduates, knowledgeable and dependable enough to lead them to lofty heights, tomorrow. Such graduates must not be men, parochial, or lacking in intellectual curiosity, or subjective in their approach to matters. They must be men whose education are not only broad-based but intellectual and by virtue of;

1. Their intellectual capacity can subject to constant questioning and evaluation any knowledge acquired in order to acquire further knowledge, and
2. Their quality of mind can reflect on any given matter with fresh insight, unbeclouded by dogma or the narrow constraints of their disciplines.

These desiderata that make university education worth having at almost any price constitute the package, which General Studies aspire to inculcate in every university undergraduate and future leaders of our nation.

AIM OF THE PROGRAMME

General Studies Programme seeks to instill in every University freshman and undergraduate in spite of his discipline, that self-confidence laid on solid foundation expected of every university-educated man. The quality of any graduate’s foundation is determined by the extent of his exposure to subjects/disciplines that predispose him to “think”, i.e. deliberate reflection OR in the words of R. F. Goheen “careful, dispassionate, reflective thought” and that rare thing, free-born, untrammeled, individual thought; the kind of thinking that may go contrary to the accepted, that wants to examine and re-examine every premise”. It is obvious that many tertiary institutions today turn out robots because of deficiency in their educational system. The ambition of General Studies Unit is to sidetrack this severe defect and ensure that graduates turned out by this university are men and women who can think, men and women who can be objective and impartial in the handling of data, and who can be as accurate as possible in their observations and conclusions and should be able to apply their knowledge of a given situation to many other situations.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES COMMISSION
APPROVED MINIMUM ACADEMIC STANDARDS

1. ’ General studies courses are compulsory for all categories of students.
2. JAMB/PRE-DEGREE ENTRANTS:

Every undergraduate admitted into the university via JAMB, PRE-DEGREE school or their equivalent for a four-year degree programme is required to take and pass a total of ten (I0 credit)  load courses in General Studies to qualify for graduation.

1. DIRECT ENTRY STUDENTS

Direct entry students admitted to do a three-year degree • programme must take and pass a minimum of eight (8) credit load courses to qualify for graduation.

1. TWO-YEAR DEGREE STUDENTS

The above category of students, normally in the Faculty of Education will take and pass GST: 101 & 107-use of English L and II and GST 103: Nigeria Peoples and culture to qualify for graduation.

1. GST CORE COURSES:

All GST core courses carry two (2) credit loads each. They are to be taken in the two semesters of the students first year in the university. Faculties/Department 'whose students are unable to take all the required GST courses in their year should move the course(s) not taken to their second year.

A LIST OF GST CORE COURSES

GST  101    Use of English I

GST 102     Introduction to Philosophy and logic.

GST 103     Nigerian Peoples and Culture

GST 104     History and Philosophy of Science

GST 106     Social Science

GST 107     Use of English II

GST 22       Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies

GST 101 AND 107: USE OF ENGLISH I AND II

For most Nigerians and Nigerian students, learning through the medium of English Language is learning through the medium of a second language. This pre-supposes learning from a position of linguistic disadvantage.

Whereas, to be fully integrated into the personality of the learner, and to be effectively applied or utilized, learning tasks are best related to the learners cultural heritage, experiential background, practical needs and linguistic facility. But in our secondary schools and tertiary institutions * the new skills and knowledge, which the students seek to acquire, can only be obtained from books written in English lecture's also delivered in English. Study efficiency in our schools and tertiary institutions obviously presupposes language competence. The kind of language competence that is required of an undergraduate, therefore, is one, which enables him to comprehend readily and use with great facility both spoken and written English.

Use of English as an aspect of GST course is therefore designed and taught as a developmental, rather than a remedial course to assist our students in universities to effectively contend with the linguistic barrier between them and their set goals.

“Use of English” as a package programme contains in addition to language proficiency other valuable skills as you can see from the course contents below.

COURSE CONTENT

GST 101: USE OF ENGLISH I

1. Study Skills
2. Reading Skills
3. Language Skills
4. Lexis and effective use of the Dictionary
5. The sentence and its parts
6. Rules  of concord and faulty expression 
7. Introduction to literature I 
8. Grammatical influence on meaning 
9. Direct and reported speech 
10. Mechanical skills in writing 
11. Use of the Library 

1. Teach students how to collect information (data) from the library with speed and accuracy both during and after their studies 
2. Lecturers on use of the Library will expose students to the following: definition of library, types of libraries, library resources, organization of library classification schemes and library etiquette. 

GST102: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC 

1. D

The course is designed to 

1. Provide the beneficiaries with a sound and all-inclusive foundation on which to base their learning. 
2. Through the imparting of philosophical and logical attitudes, liberate and enlarge the insights and perceptions of the beneficiaries so as to give qualitative and practical meaning to their education. 
3. Assist the students develop the critical habits of presupposition less reasoned analysis and openness  and thereby promote tolerance which is itself necessary in a multi-ethnic, religious and cultural society, like Nigeria. 
4. Provide the beneficiaries a comprehensive and broad perspective in which all forms of human experience are shifted; assessed, evaluated and applied to the preservation of culture and society. 
5. Assist the beneficiaries develop position and sound ethical, moral and social value. 

1. COURSE CONTENT 

1. Definition of logic as a science of law of though expression of it, as distinct from other disciplines that study the human mind 
2. Definition of logic/concepts: Affirmative and negative statements or propositions, universal, particular and singular propositions, the four standard propositions of logic, distribution of terms, middle, major and minor terms. 
3. Rules for determining validity and invalidity of arguments. Fallacies resulting from violation of the rules. Fallacies in logic as obstacles to critical thinking. Definition, semantics and syntax as aids to logical thinking.
4. Forms of arguments. Inductive and deductive arguments. Importance of inductive logic in Science and Technology. Deductive logic and syllogism.
5. Inference. Kinds of inference:, mediate and immediate inference conversion, observation to contraposition.

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

1. (a) Nature and scope of Philosophy

1. Definitions of Philosophy to show it has no one definition that covers its scope.

1. Main branches of philosophy with concentration on ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and theories of knowledge.
2. Problems of philosophy
3. Some great names in philosophy; Ancient, medieval and contemporary'.
4. Issues in African philosophy: witchcraft, reincarnation, and monopolotheism.

GST 103: NIGERIAN PEOPLESAND CULTURE

Nigeria as a geographical expression comprises many tribes with diverse culture who have by either design or accident come to live together as one nation. Experience over the years, colonial and post colonial shows that Nigeria is capable of becoming a formidable nation, indeed, a force to reckon with in the world if she can bury her cultural prejudice, marry her cultural differences and live together as one nation.

One way of achieving this feat (unity in diversity) is by exposing our students in tertiary institutions (leaders of tomorrow) to our peoples-Nigerian Peoples and Culture through the medium of classroom lectures; authenticated by the NYSC Programme which promotes inter-tnbal/ethnic affinity.

GST 103 is therefore designed to:

1. Impress on the mind of every student the spirit of nationalism, patriotism, personal and group discipline, leadership by example and respect for constituted authority.
2. Encourage/assist the students to cultivate positive moral attitudes to life.
3. Inculcate in students the spirit of self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance, pioneering and maintenance culture.
4. Restore respect for positive traditional values and to encourage research into the Nigerian cultural heritage.
5. Enhance synchronization of Nigeria’s culture with the national development efforts.
6. Become conversant with Nigeria’s historical and political trends.

COURSE CONTENTS

1. Concept of culture:

Culture contact, social, ethnicity and integration.

1. Cultural Expressions in Nigeria

Culture areas and their characteristics.

1. The Igbo of Nigeria, cultural traits
2. Relationship between culture, tradition and education
3. They study if Nigerian history and culture in pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary times.
4. Evolution of Nigeria as a political unit 
5. The Nigerian perception of his world
6. Concepts of functional education.
7. Individual and National development, National
8. Economy, Balance of Trade, and Economic self- reliance.
9. Norms and values, moral obligations of the citizen and social justice.
10. Types of music in Nigeria
11. Nigerian Organology.

GST 104: HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

1. INTRODUCTION

This course seeks to flash light on man in his cosmic environment; his quest to understand the natural laws and how he applies these laws for the control of his environment. As earlier stated in this handbook, the greatest asset of the University educated man is that, in addition to his deep knowledge in his discipline, he knows little about everything; Consequent upon this versatility, he is more useful to himself and his community.

A rudimentary knowledge of (say) environmental effects of chemicals, plastics, wastes and other materials, chemical and radio chemical hazards, relationship between science and culture etc does not in anyway diminish the image of the arts graduate

It rather enhances his leadership chances since communities look up to knowledgeable men for leadership

1. COURSE CONTENTS

1. SCIENCE IN SOCIETY

1. Science as a social institution and need.
2. The Scientific method and the scientific revolution
3. Relationship between science and technology
4. Relationship between science and culture in Nigeria v.     Introduction to various areas of science and technology.

1. MAN: HIS ORIGIN AND NATURE:

1. Metabolism and its control
2. The cell theory
3. Man’s position in the animal and plant kingdoms
4. Evidence of evolution of man-micro to microbiology

1. MAN AND HIS COSMIC ENVIRONMENT

1. Solar and stellar systems
2. Land forms
3. Human ecology
4. Climate
5. Vegetation and animal life 
6. Terrestrial and cosmic life.

1. MAN AND HIS ENERGY RESOURCES:

1. Solar Energy, Photosynthesis.
2. Fossil fuel, nuclear energy etc
3. Generation and distribution of energy

1. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE SOCIETY AND IN THE SERVICE OF MAN:

1. Man as an intellectual animal.
2. Technology and the struggle for hunjan survival.
3. The scientific basis of technology, agriculture, transport, communication, entertainment, welfare, war, culture.

6. RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES:

1. Environmental effects of chemicals, plastics, textiles, wastes and other materials.
2. Chemical and radio-chemical hazards.

GST 106; SOCIAL SCIENCES

1. INTRODUCTION

Man does not live in isolation. He lives amidst other beings, his fellow man and other creatures. He interacts with them and manipulates his biophysical environment to serve his need and desire.

Any field of study involved with the study of man's interaction with his environment is social science. Social science therefore is an embodiment of all disciplines that study man, his observation, ideas, knowledge, and activities in his society.

Goals: Social science is designed to enrich students in the faculties of Agricultural Science, Medical Sciences, Natural and Applied Sciences including the Departments of Science and Technical Education with the basic knowledge of man's relationship with his environment.

This course helps the students to acquire relevant leadership skills. It also helps the students to realize their general roles in their own development and in the social and economic development of their country.

1. COURSE CONTENT

1. Classification of social systems and interpersonal relationships.
2. Personality traits and leadership qualities
3. Peaceful co-existence among nations and concept of human rights.
4. The role of media
5. Development: Meaning, scope and indices of development, factors of development-social, political and economic factors of development.
6. Developing nations and characteristics of developing nations,
7. Economic systems and its characteristics/features- capitalism, socialism and mixed economy.
8. Self Reliance and National Development
9. Public Enterprises and public goods/services-features of public enterprises and public goods, and distribution of public goods.
10. Economic growth and spatial population.

GST 107: USE OF ENGLISH II

COURSE CONTENTS

1. Phonetics and phonology of English
2. Language Registers
3. Varieties and style in English
4. Comprehension and Interpretation
5. Introduction to Literature II 
6. Writing 

• Summary writing 
• Essay and Letter writing 
• Technical writing 
• Science writing 
• Research Report and other reports 

1. Art of Public Speaking 

• Choice of Topic 
• Speech Preparation 
• Speech Delivery 

GST 222: PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION STUDIES 

1. Specific Course Title: Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies 
2. Course Number/Number of Creditis 

Course Number: GST222

Course credit Load  2 

1. Purpose and Objectives 

1. PREAMBLE 

The National Universities Commission recently organized expert panels that comprehensively reviewed the curriculum of academic programmes in Nigerian universities as well as merged the prescriptive Minimum Academic Standard (MAS) of 1989 with the outcomes –based Benchmark Statements of 2001. 

The resultant curriculum (BMAS) is designed to ensure the production of better skilled graduates, who will be sufficiently empowered to meet the changing needs of the nation and the African region as well as the challenges of global competitiveness in the labour market. The reviewed General Studies Programme, which included GST 222 – Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies, will lay emphasis on cultural wholesome education, moral instruction as well as environmental concerns. The general essence is to produce a more knowledgeable  skilled, practical, entrepreneurial and / change-oriented graduate. Specifically, GST 222 will enable the graduates to inculcate character traits and attitudinal disposition that will promote positive social changes, a non­violent culture of conflict resolution and a culture of peace ' building.

i.

1. GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

To develop the intellectual capabilities of individuals to appreciate and promote peaceful co-existence.

1. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Define basic concepts of peace, conflict and violence 

• Discuss  several specific cases of conflict and violence    '
• Describe diverse mechanisms of peace making, peace keeping, peace building and peace promotion
• Illustrate various methods/strategies of conflict management, as well as diverse mechanisms of conflict resolution and transformation 
• Capacity building of students for conflict resolution 

4.0 PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS OR SENSITIVITIES

The course is intended to run as part of the General Studies Courses (GST) in the three segments of tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria: universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The course therefore will be taught to every student who has fulfilled the general requirements for admission into the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria, irrespective of whatever academic discipline she/he is offering.

No prior knowledge of either peace or conflict studies is required. However, a good background in philosophy and human existence, Nigerian peoples and cultures, use of the library and information and communication technology (ICT) study skills as covered under General Studies in the first year, will be an advantage.

5.0 COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course, GST 222, discusses basic concepts in peace, conflict studies and conflict resolution. It demonstrates peace as a vehicle of unity and development and exposes critical issues. This involves identifying and analyzing various types of conflicts eg. ethnic/religious/political/economic/resource-related conflicts.

The course elaborates on the root causes of conflicts and violence in Africa: • citizenship problems such as the indigene/settler phenomena, state-propelled violence, the influence of external factors on African and values, control of natural resources, imposition of politics/power-related conflicts in Africa e.g. national borders. The course explores the management, resolution and transformation of conflict and the security problems created by conflict situations. It also looks at mechanisms of peace keeping and peace building, peace promotion, non-violent methods and strategies of conflict management, specifically the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) spectrum which includes community-based proactive activities, good governance, communication, collaboration, dialogue, mediation and arbitration, adjudication and crisis management. It also focuses on other important related issues such as women and gender, youths in conflict and peace building, identity, groups such as religion and ethnicity, the environment; and management such as regional organizations and international bodies in conflict resolution, and civil society groups. Strategies like the use of, for example, traditional. Council of Elders, ECOWAS/ECOMOG, All African Council of Churches, IGAD, African Union, United Nations and its organs/organization, etc. will be considered.

6.0 Course Length

30 hours following a standard 15 week semester, that is two hours per week.

The course will be taught in the second year so that all students, including those admitted through the Direct Entry mode, can take it

Important:

GST courses listed under each Faculty are compulsory courses for every’student registered in that faculty. Students are advised to study it carefully before completing their course registration forms.

*NOTE: An undergraduate must take and pass all the compulsory General Studies (GST) courses before he/she qualifies fro graduation. _r

GENERAL STUDIES COURSES REQUIRED

EBONYI STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IKWO 

DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL STUDIES UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMME 

IN AFFILIATION WITH EBONYI STATE UNIVERSITY, ABAKALIKI

FIRST SEMESTER 2021/2022 ACADEMIC SESSION COURSE ALLOCATION SCHEDULE

SIGNED:

Dr. M. N. Okafor                                                                                                                  DR. S. I. IKORO

HOD, GSE Department                                                                                                          DEAN, SCH. OF EDUCATION