Benchmarking between the Physics Department Curricula at the Faculties of Education: Janzour, Libya, Ain Shams, Egypt, and Texas A&M, USA

Abstract

This study aims to conduct a benchmarking comparison between the Physics Department curricula at the Faculty of Education in Janzour, and the Physics Departments at both the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University in Egypt and Texas A&M University in the United States. The objectives are to achieve continuous development and improvement, to guide the department toward excellence and ongoing quality enhancement, and to enable it to understand its current standing among peer academic departments. The study adopts a descriptive analytical approach, with data gathered from the websites of the Physics Departments at Ain Shams University and Texas A&M University. The courses were compared in terms of their quantity, credit hours, and types (specialized, educational, and general).

The results showed differences in the number and credit hours of specialized, educational, and general courses. There was a small difference in supporting courses (mathematics) between Janzour Education and Physics at Texas University, while mathematics hours at Janzour Education exceeded Ain Shams University's Education Faculty by eight hours. General courses hours at Texas University exceeded Janzour Education by three hours, while Janzour Education exceeded Ain Shams Education Faculty by seven credit hours.Regarding educational courses, there was a larger gap, Ain Shams had 43 educational hours, while Janzour Physics had only 20 hours. Texas includes 12 practical hours in their educational courses, which Janzour Physics lacks entirely. Elective courses at Texas and Ain Shams universities vary between educational, specialized, and general courses, while at Janzour Education Faculty they are limited to specialized courses only, with two being chosen as alternatives to the graduation research.The study concluded with recommendations for development and quality improvement