Development and Standardization of an Instrument for Assessing Carpentry and Joinery Students’ Practical Skills in Nigerian Senior Secondary Schools

Abstract

The study aimed to develop and standardize an instrument for assessing carpentry and joinery students’ practical skills for Nigerian Senior Secondary Schools (IACJSPS). Three research questions guided the study. The study employed an instrumentation research design and it was carried out in the North East, Nigeria. The population for the study was 267 respondents, comprising eight teachers and 259 SSS III students that are offering the carpentry and joinery trade. Five senior secondary schools were purposively selected from the basis of offering C&J trade subject; all the five carpentry and joinery teachers from the selected schools were used in the study, while a sample of 92 SSS III students was selected using a simple random sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection in the study were the Appropriate Competencies Questionnaire (ACQ) and the draft Instrument for Assessing Carpentry and Joinery Students’ Practical Skills (IACJSPS). The instruments were validated by three experts and pilot tested at Saint Joseph College Vom, Plateau State. Based on the data obtained from the pilot test, the IACJTSPS was finally developed and tried out on the sampled carpentry and joinery trade students. The data obtained from the tried out was analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha and the reliability coefficient of the developed IACJSPS was found to be 0.88. The findings of the study were that: 90 competencies were considered appropriate for inclusion in the IACJTSPS. The developed IACJTSPS was found to be valid and reliable. It was therefore recommended that carpentry and joinery trade teachers of Nigerian senior secondary schools and examination bodies (NECO and WAEC) should adopt the IACJSPS as an instrument for assessing students’ practical skills.