Professionalising Natural Science Education and Multipronged Open Distance Learning

Abstract

Tobias et al. (1995) postulated in their book on “Rethinking Science as a Career” that Master's programs could produce graduates who provide the same level of expertise and leadership as professionals do in other fields. They say that they would do so by having the ability to use the products of scholarship in their work and by being familiar with the practical aspects of emerging problem areas. If we consider natural science consisting of physical sciences, biological sciences, mathematics, geosciences, and computer science, degrees in computer science and geosciences served as credentials for practice, whereas physics, chemistry, and biological sciences served as classical graduate education. Robbins-Roth (2006) collected 22 career descriptions for science graduates ranging from public policy to investment banking, and from patent examining to broadcast science journalism. There are several sectors of the society where the principles and knowledge of these science disciplines are used. On the other hand, there are many of the graduates in these disciplines who either are working in areas completely unrelated to their education and training or are unemployable. The need for preparing the science graduates professionally is well recognized (Schuster, 2011; Vanderford, 2010; Narasimharao, Shashidhara Prasad and Nair, 2011; Chuck, 2011).