STRATEGIES FOR MOTIVATING TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS TOWARDS SKILL ACQUISITION IN WOOD WORK TECHNOLOGY IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA

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Abstract

The study was  carried out  to  identify strategies for  motivating technical college students towards skill acquisition in wood work technology in Lagos state, Nigeria. To carry out the study, seven research questions were answered while seven null hypotheses were tested. Survey research design was adopted. The population for the study is 70 respondents which comprises of all 24 principals/vice principals and 46 teachers of  wood work in the  six technical colleges in Lagos State. Due to  the manageable size of the population, the entire 70 subjects constituted the respondents from which data for the study were collected. Therefore, there was no sampling for the study. The instrument for data collection was a 107-item structured questionnaire. The questionnaire is made of two parts; One and two. Part one solicited information on personal data of the respondents while part two was structured into seven sections in line with the specific purposes of the study. The response options for the part two were  5-point Likert  ratings of  Strongly Agree  (SA),  Agree  (A),  Undecided (U), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) with corresponding values of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The instrument was face validated by three Lecturers from the Department of Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. In order to establish the reliability of the instrument, the questionnaire was administered on 13 woodwork teachers in Technical Colleges in Ogun State. The internal consistency of the  instrument  was  established  using  Cronbach  Alpha  reliability  method  which yielded a coefficient of 0.77. The data for the study was collected by the researcher with the help of three research assistants. The data collected were analyzed using mean  and  standard  deviation  for  answering  the  research  questions  while  t-test statistics was employed for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data collected and analysed, the study identified 18 teaching strategies,

17 educational facilities, 15 SIWES related strategies, 27 laboratory related strategies,

8 employment related strategies, 6 scholarship related strategies and 15 production unit related strategies that could be used for motivating Technical College students towards  skill  acquisition in  woodwork technology in  Lagos  State.  There  are  no significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of Principals/Vice Principals and woodwork teachers on 92 out of the 107 strategies for motivating Technical College students for skills acquisition Woodwork Technology whereas, there was significant differences in their mean ratings on the remaining 15 strategies. Based on these findings, the study among others recommended that Federal government should formulate a policy to boost the image of technical and vocational education in the country for improved interest of youth in woodwork and other aspects of technical education.

Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

Vocational education is  the  acquisition of  skills and  techniques in  chosen occupation or professional to enable an individual earn a living. Rapid changes in the industrial sectors such as in the field of technology, manufacturing, woodwork and information technology, has contributed towards a competitive world. Consequently, the industrial sector will require dynamic and versatile workers to face up to the challenges of workplace of today. Workers not only require having high technical skills but also need to master skills to complement the current industrial needs.

The National policy on education (2004) explains technical and vocational education as a form of education which prepares individuals to acquire practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge required as craftsmen and technicians. According to Lamidi (2006) vocational technical education is the key to knowledge and skills acquisition which would lead to entry level programmes including  workshop  experiences  and  work-based  instruction.  In  accordance,  Eze (2007) also explained that vocational technical education increases students’ achievement and earnings, their academic standard and also provides them with viable choices for profitable careers. Technical and Vocational Education objectives rest on skill acquisition and application of scientific knowledge in problem solving.

Skill acquisition in woodwork has to do with the individual possessing the requisite capabilities in technical related occupations in the major areas of money- yielding aspects such as upholstery, cabinet marking, home furnishing and services of

woodwork products. Skill acquisition according to Okorie (2000), is a well established habit of doing something. It involves the acquisition of performance capability in a given specialized area of human endeavour.

Skill is the ability to perform work to expectation or standard. A skill is a capability for a smooth sequence of coordinated behavior that is effective relative to its objectives, given the context in which it occurs. Okorie (2000) said that skill is a manual dexterity through repetitive performance of an operation. A skill according to Michael (2004) is an individual capacity to control elements of behavior, thinking and feeling within specified contents and within particular task domain. Skill, according to Hull in Amoyedo (2006) is the well established habits of doing things by the people. Skills are acquired through experience and training (Nwachukwu, Bakare and Jika,

2009). Skills are well acquired when somebody is well supervised in the field.

Skills acquisition is high-flying in many trades such as: woodwork, metalwork, building construction, tailoring and  dress  making, agriculture, spinning, weaving, dyeing,  pot-making,  shoe-making  and  repairing,  plumbing,  electrical  installation, block laying and concreting, painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery, furniture making, motor vehicle mechanics work, electronics radio and television servicing, sign-writing, printing etc in Nigeria. It varies in nature and complexity according to the trade involved (Okolie, 2010). Individuals who opt for skill acquisition should, among other things, posses qualities such as that would enable them succeed in it. Therefore, the acquisition of appropriate skill in woodwork is necessary to every student offering the course in technical colleges for sustainable empowerment.

Technical colleges offer vocational education programmes for prospective craftsmen  and  technicians  needed  to  sustain  the  nation’s  economy in  industrial, agricultural, business and commercial sectors. The aim of technical colleges according to National Board for Technical Education (NBTE, 2007) is to give training and impart the necessary skills in various occupations such as wood work leading to the production of craftsmen and technicians who will be enterprising and self reliant. Enemali (2000) stated that technical colleges in Nigeria are required to produce skilled craftsmen for economic development. Okoro (2006) stated that technical colleges are established to give full vocational training intended to prepare students for entry into various occupations. Bakare, Ochepo and Miller (2011) explained that technical colleges are set up to equip individuals with skills in various trades or occupations such as metalwork, electrical installation and maintenance, electrical/electronic, automobile, building construction, painting and decorating, radio and television work, fabrication and welding, carpentry and joinery and woodwork.

Wood is a hard, tough substance that forms the trunk of a tree. Technically, the term wood includes other parts of the tree such as the roots and branches. The process of working with wood is called woodwork. According to Hornby (2000), woodwork is also  seen  as  the  activity  or  skill  of  making  objects  from  wood  by  woodwork craftsmen. Woodwork has areas of specialization and these include carpentry, joinery, cabinet making and wood machining. FRN (2004) identified areas of woodwork as follows: upholstery, carpentry and Joinery, wood machines and furniture making. There are six state Technical Colleges in Niger State and one of them is Federal Technical College. These science and technical colleges run various trade courses

including woodwork, Metalwork practice, Block laying and Concreting, Electrical Installation and Maintenance Practice, painting and Decorating etc. Students admitted into these trade courses spend three (3) years in school for the award of National Technical Certificate (NTC) after completion of the course. Holders of this certificate are grouped as craftsmen.

In order to evaluate technical colleges in Nigeria, National Business and Technical Examination Board, (NABTEB) came into existence in 1992 to conduct examination leading  to  the  award  o  f  the  National  Technical  certificate  (NTC), National Business Certificate (NBC), Advanced National Technical Certificate (ANTC) and Advanced National business Certificate (ANBC).

A woodwork graduate of technical college should be capable of independent work; they should interpret technical drawing and perform all the calculations relating to his/her trade. He/she should also have sufficient knowledge of elementary science to understand the materials in which he works with. Therefore, training in technical colleges  should  be  geared  towards  achieving  the  aims  and  objectives  of  the programme which include: to secure employment at the end of the programme as craftsman, set up their own businesses and become self-employed and able to employ others and pursue further education in advanced craft technical programme or in tertiary technical institutions. However, for the students to avail themselves to the opportunities in woodwork technology, they need to be motivated.

Motivation is  a  strong  force  in  achievement. Moula  (2010)  observes  that motivation is one of the factors that contribute to academic success; that parents and

educators should strive to understand the importance of promoting and encouraging academic motivation early in life. Feldman (2005) refers to motivation as factors that direct and energize the behaviour of humans and other organisms, while Wood (2002) sees motivation as a process that initiates, directs, and sustains behaviours to satisfy physiological or psychological needs. Motivation is also seen as what gets one going, keeps one going, and determines where one is going (Slavin, 2006). Motivations are of two major types, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is based on the internal factors  such  as  self-determination, effort,  challenge and  curiosity while  extrinsic motivation incorporates external factors such as rewards and punishment (Santrock,

2005).

Strategy is deliberately choosing different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. Amesi (2011) argued that strategy is all about competitive position, about differentiating yourself in the eyes of the students or customer as the case may be, about adding value through a  mix of activities different from those used by competitors. The author further viewed strategy as a combination of the ends (goals) for which the firm or institution is striving and the policies by which it is seeking to get.

According to Martins-Umeh (2002), there is need to improve the quality of developing   human   resources   in   vocational   technical   education   programmes considering the operations of VTE, the quality of graduates produced and the rapid growth of unemployment. For Nigeria to be self-reliant and achieve its goals and objectives, it should be through proper implementation of VTE programmes, thereby

improving the quality of the graduates produced by technical vocational institutions. VTE must emphasize the use of hands, and head directed by intellectual application of knowledge to produce. VTE programmes must be capable of training people who can be functional in a highly interwoven world where the world of work and education are intricately linked. The acquisition of skills according to Eze (2007) must be based on immediate relevance of the qualification and certificates to the economic and social welfare of the nation.

Statement of the Problem

Woodwork is a practical oriented trade introduced to the programme of technical colleges for individuals to acquire skills for employment. The skill acquisition in  the  present curriculum of  woodwork do  not  show  much  need  for individuals  to  acquire  the  skills  to  perform  in  woodwork  industry.  It  is  the insufficiency of the skills in the curriculum that leads to production of half baked and unemployed woodwork  graduates.  Employers of  labour  also  complain  that  most woodwork, craftsmen from technical colleges are not able to perform most of the skills satisfactorily. The craftsmen cannot work independently except in company of others who were trained informally. Lack of skill acquisition by woodwork graduates has hindered them from securing jobs in construction sites. The problem of the study therefore was that skill acquisition in woodwork are presently not enough in the curriculum of woodwork, trades and the graduates turned out every year therefore could not acquire needed skills for performance in the workplace.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study was to determine strategies for motivating Technical  College  students  towards  skill  acquisition  in  woodwork technology in Lagos State. Specifically, the study determined:

1.  Teaching strategies to motivate skills acquisition by technical College students toward skills acquisition in woodwork Technology.

2.  Utilization  of  educational facilities  as  a  strategy for  motivating  Technical

College students for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

3.  SIWES  as  a  strategy  to  motivate  Technical  college  students  for  skills acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

4.  Well equipped laboratory as a strategy to improve acquisition.

5.  Employment as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

6.  Scholarship as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

7.  Use of production unit as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in woodwork Technology.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will be of benefit to graduates, students of woodwork, teachers, society, curriculum planners, school administrators, parents and technical education.

Woodwork graduates will benefit from findings of this study. The graduates can use the acquired skills to seek further training in form of capacity building by government or enabling bodies. The capacity building can be attend on weekends or any convenient period at skills acquisition centres. The findings of the study will also benefit the administrators of skills acquisition centres in Lagos state. The identified skills could be integrated to the programme of skills acquisition centres in the State. These skills can now be used to retrain youths.

The  findings  of   the   study  will  benefit  the  teachers  of   woodwork  if implemented. If identified skills in this study are integrated into the curriculum of technical colleges, the same skills could be used to organize workshop and seminars for teachers for effective teaching of woodwork in technical colleges.

Students of woodwork in technical colleges will also benefit from the findings of the study as they will acquire relevant skills that will make them functional and self employ after graduation since the skills identified can be used to train the teachers who will in turn impart the acquired skills  and knowledge to his students for better future.

The government through curriculum planners and developers will also benefit from this study. The curriculum planners and developers could adopt the skills and integrate into the curriculum of woodwork. This will save their time and energy as already identified skills will be used. Also the government can make use of already identified skills whenever there is need for seminar or workshop to re-train technical teachers in woodwork.

The society will also benefit from the findings of this study if implemented. Crop of skilled woodwork, carpentry and joinery graduates will be available to work in the society in order to solve some problems regarding to woodwork trades. The woodwork industries will also benefit from the study if the findings are used to retrain the graduates of technical colleges. Crops of woodwork graduates with sellable skills will  be  available  for  employment  in  the  woodwork  industries.  There  will  be woodwork graduates to boost the output of the industries. The findings of the study will also benefit the parents of the graduates of woodwork. Their wards/ children with woodwork skills will secure employment on time make their job search easier and take care of their parents from their salaries. Educational researchers will also benefit from the study as this study will serve as sources of information or literature. They can make use of the study while carrying out researches.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1.  What are the teaching strategies to motivate skills acquisition by technical

College students toward skills acquisition in woodwork Technology?

2.  How  can  utilization  of  educational  facilities  be  a  strategy  for  motivating

Technical College students for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology?

3.  How can SIWES be a strategy to motivate Technical college students for skills acquisition in Woodwork Technology?

4.  How can well equipped laboratory as a strategy to improve acquisition?

5.  How can employment as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology?

6.  How can scholarship as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology?

7.  How can the use of production unit as a strategy for motivating Technical

College student for skill acquisition in woodwork Technology?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho1: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and  woodwork teachers on  the  teaching strategies that  motivate Technical College students for skills acquisition Woodwork Technology.

Ho2: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on the utilization of educational facilities as a strategy for motivating Technical College students for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

Ho3: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on SIWES as a strategy to motivate Technical College students for skills acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

Ho4: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on the well equipped laboratory as a strategy to improve acquisition of skill by Technical College students in Woodwork Technology.

Ho5: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on the employment as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.

Ho6: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on the scholarship as a strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.Ho7: There  is  no  significant difference in  the  mean responses of  principals/vice principals and woodwork teachers on the use of production unit as s strategy for motivating Technical College student for skill acquisition in Woodwork Technology.



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STRATEGIES FOR MOTIVATING TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS TOWARDS SKILL ACQUISITION IN WOOD WORK TECHNOLOGY IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA

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