Teaching Practice Experience for Undergraduate Student Teachers: A Case Study of the Department of Education at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

Education is the key to development; however, it is impossible to think the quality of education without having academically qualified and professional responsible teachers. The main objective of this study was to examine the perspectives of undergraduate student teachers toward teaching practice experience as a tool of learning to teach. A qualitative research methods approach using semi - structure questionnaires was carried out to 351 second and third year undergraduate student teachers in the department of education of the Faculty of Science at Sokoine University of Agriculture. The findings indicate that the student teachers perceived teaching practice as an important tool of learning to teach because it promoted the development of teaching experience and prepared them for the real world of work. The results also revealed that teaching practice is sufficiently emphasised and lack of financial support and the mismatch of the teaching practice period with local secondary school calendar were the main challenges. The study recommends provision of adequate fund on time, close supervision, building strong university partnership with the local secondary schools need interventions if not be improved and given its due attention. Keywords: Practicum experience, Undergraduate, Education students,  Morogoro, Tanzania

Investigation of Noise Pollution in Restaurants in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania, East Africa

The assessment of the present status of sound levels in seven restaurants at Morogoro municipality was studied. The indoor and outdoor ambient noise levels were measured twice a day, thrice a week for a period of two months by using digital sound level meter. In addition, questionnaires survey was used to assess sources of noise pollution in restaurants environment. The results show that the measured noise level in all studied restaurants ranged from 61dBA to 64dBA. The measured indoor noise levels were higher than outdoor in B-One, High Classic and Vyakula vya Asili restaurants and vise versa in Saddiq, Princes and Malindi dishes restaurants. The correlation coefficients between the indoors and outdoors locations in all the restaurants were either negative or less than 0.3 thus suggesting little or no impact of the indoor environment on the outdoor environment’s noise level. In comparison with permissible Tanzania Bureau of Standards the measured indoor ambient noise levels in the restaurants were higher than the maximum permissible standard limit of 55dBA for mixed residential zones. As for sources of noise pollution at Morogoro municipality, the study shows that people who visit restaurants to have a meal encounter three kinds of noise pollution: the noise created by other customers, the noise from outside (the street), and the noise provided by the music systems which are run in most restaurants. Therefore, proper planning for restaurants areas and other use zones is recommended @ JASE

IPA-Open access -Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 Working in Noise Environment: An Investigation of Hearing Quality of Drivers in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

ABSTRACT The present study has been carried out to assess the hearing quality of commuter bus and taxi drivers in the fast growing Municipality of Morogoro, Tanzania. The study utilized a structured questionnaire and was carried out among 160 drivers randomly selected in August and September 2010. The questionnaire included questions regarding the self-assessment of the drivers about their hearing ability, past and present exposure to loud sound and the use of noise protective gears. The questionnaire was filled up by the respondents at a close supervision and the data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. The results show that most divers aged below 35 years and have been exposed to the traffic noise environment for 2 to 5 years. Nearly 4% of the respondents felt that their hearing ability was below average and complained of regular tinnitus. The results also show that only 17.5% used noise protective gears and that too, not often. Reasons for non-usage of protective gears (earplugs, earmuffs and canal caps) included awareness (24.4%), non-availability (50%), personal dislike (8.1%) and headache caused by its use (17.5%). Large percent (82.5% of the drivers did not use any method to reduce exposure to noise, while remaining used fingers or hands at time of loud noise to avoid noise exposure. The self-assessment of hearing by the commuter bus and taxi drivers in Morogoro Municipality suggests that most of the drives have normal hearing. However, this study suggests a systematic study with audiometry of these population groups be carried out in future