Technical Education Curriculum Research Articles

Integrating Digital Skills Competencies into Professional Diploma in Education Curriculum in Vocational and Technical Education in North-East Nigeria

The main aim of the study was to integrate digital skills competencies into Professional Diploma in Education curriculum in Vocational and Technical Education in North-East Nigeria. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. The study adopted a survey research design was carried out in northeast Nigeria. The population of the study was 1485 comprising 993 Vocational and Technical Education lecturers from 9 Colleges of Education (COEs) where PDE are undertaken in the northeast, 210 ICT experts from the 9 COEs, and 182 Education Supervisors from the Ministry of Education in the six States of the Northeast. The study adopted Simple random sampling and a sample size of 317 respondents was determined using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size table. A structured questionnaire was utilized to gather data for the study. The questionnaire was validated by three experts and a reliability index of 0.86 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha after a trial test. The data for the study was analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 l3v3l of significance. The study revealed that 26 digital skills competences, 26 general performance objective as well as 26 specific objectives each grouped into 8 clusters were found relevant for inclusion into the vocational and technical Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) curriculum in northeast, Nigeria. It was recommended that The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), and the National Teachers Institute (NTI) should adopt the identified digital competencies into the PDE curriculum of the Vocational and Technical Education curriculum; and the NCCE and NTI should update the curriculum guidelines and standards to explicitly include digital skills competencies as essential components of the PDE curriculum in vocational and technical education.

Re-imagining the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Curriculum that can Address the Skills Shortage Gap in South African Rural Communities

Re-imagining the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Curriculum that can Address the Skills Shortage Gap in South African Rural Communities

Self-Employment in Cameroon

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of self-employment in the Ndop Central sub-division in the North West Region of Cameroon. Specifically, the study aimed to examine the usefulness of technical education and finance in the creation of self-employment in the sub-division. Methods: Using a survey research design, data were collected from primary sources with the help of a questionnaire. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect the needed data from a sample of 384 people from three villages of the sub-division. Binary logistics was used to analyze the data. Results: Results revealed that the coefficient of technical education was significant and negative (-2.6581). This finding signifies that graduates from the technical system of education are less likely to join self-employment as compared to graduates of general education background. Also, the availability of finance was seen to have a negative effect on the probability of being self-employed (-0.0632). It implies that individuals who have easy access to loans are less likely to be self-employed. Implication: The study is expected to guide the government to revisit the curriculum and focus of technical education in the country, as regards its contribution to the unemployment problem of the country. The study also points to the fact that those who have access to loans are not those who deserve it.

Lab in Bag for Higher and Technical Education

Abstract— In order to generate future entrepreneurs capable of resolving challenges with the use of technology, institutions must implement programs that foster students' holistic development. To facilitate holistic development of students, NEP 2020 emphasizes on collaboration, communication, research, problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity skills that students need to be successful in today's world. NEP 2020 suggests to introduce blended learning environment which shows students the scientific method that can be applied to everyday life with emphasis on more practical oriented education unlike traditional science and math education. Students will become solution providers if they spend time in laboratories for experimentation and research. According to the current situation, higher and technical education curriculum provide limited time for practical work, and even if a student wishes to work extra during free periods, there are few resources available during working hours because there are very few labs and they are occupied with the regular curriculum conduct. Due to these limitations, students have fewer number of opportunities to discover solutions for real-world issues and applications. Access to the laboratory and laboratory equipment beyond working hours is the need of the hour. This is the reason for developing “Lab in Bag” to provide learning environment beyond working hours. Through these laboratory equipment’s, students will have access to a variety of hardware devices at home to explore and expand their knowledge. This will develop innovation and creativity in them. This philosophy can be achieved with the advantages of miniaturized and low-cost equipment and facilities. The focus of “Lab in Bag” is technical subjects involving hardware Experiments. The expected outcome of this setup is that it will provide students with a flexible platform which gives them opportunities to learn using reliable and economical setups. To measure performance of the “Lab in Bag” devices, experimentation is done using traditional equipment and equipment provided in Lab in Bag. This study explains that results with 0.002% error margin can be achieved with 30MHz-2Channel Oscilloscope and Digital Oscilloscope for Analog and Devices Electronics experiments. It further establishes positive correlation of flexibility, connectivity and reliability with usability. Positive correlation of these parameters shows that students are highly interested in using “Lab in Bag” for continuing research and innovation. Keywords—Innovation, “Lab in Bag”, experimentation, Analytical Study, Statistical Analysis, Correlation.

Quality assurance in Nigerian technical and vocational education and training institutions: strategies for improvement

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has become increasingly important in meeting the needs of the global workforce. The objective is to examine some activities that promote quality assurance in TVET institutions and recommend solutions to any challenges. A hundred and fifty questionnaires were administered only 50 responses were returned. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that the National Board for Technical Education curriculum is not reviewed regularly and the time span for the review varies from department to department. Also, local content is integrated into the NBTE curriculum. TVET institutions take accreditation seriously, all programmes for departments surveyed are accredited. 96% of the academic staff give feedback to students after continuous assessment and examination. Some equipment for students’ practical are obsolete. TVET trainers do not attend conferences/workshops/seminars as regularly as expected due to lack of sponsorship. Most departments do not conduct industry needs assessment and about 90% are not in partnership with any industry for curriculum enhancement nor job placement. The study concludes, curriculum review should be done at least once in two academic sessions with more emphasis on local content. For quality assurance the accreditation pattern should be improved upon. Also, feedback mechanism must be improved. The obsolete equipment needs to be replaced through increased funding for TVET institutions. For continuous professional development, conspicuous allowance should be provided for TVET trainers for conferences/workshops/seminars. Invariably, ccollaborative curriculum development with the industries is a key to entrepreneurship, and relevance in the work environment.

Solving Spatial Vision Difficulties Related to the Instruction of Welded Joints by Using PDF-3D

In this work, exploratory quantitative research on the opinion of the students of a course on Geometry of Welded Joints, in an introductory welding course of secondary technical education curriculum, on the didactic use of PDF-3D in the development of the course is carried out. For this purpose, a survey designed by the authors was used, which the students answered once the study of the subject had been completed. As a result, it has been found that the valuations of the virtual tool PDF-3D are very high, mainly in relation to motivation and ease of use. The importance that students attach to the ease of solving the spatial comprehension difficulties inherent to welded joints -and the imperfections linked with them- positively influences the ratings of this educational technology. On the other hand, this study reveals that students prefer a mixed methodology in which the presence of virtual resources is greater than that of the master class. Finally, the results obtained suggest that, given the lack of knowledge on the part of teachers of the potential of PDF-3D in the educational field, it would be advisable to offer specific training on the didactic use of PDF-3D to technical education professors.

Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities

There is a need for the agricultural technical vocational education and training curriculum in Zimbabwe to be reformed so that it can respond to changes in farmer demographics, the expanding roles of agricultural extension officers (AEOs), changes in technology and climate change. The current agriculture curriculum was developed for a different context altogether; therefore, it now lacks relevance to the prevailing socio-economic, political and environmental changes. There is a need for the curriculum to respond to the evolving needs of farmers, AEOs and institutions providing agricultural extension, and to match the changes in AEOs’ occupation role profiles. This article draws on curricular documents from five institutions involved in the agricultural extension curriculum and policy, together with 22 respondents, with the aim of exposing gaps in the agricultural extension curriculum. In addition, the article explores the ways in which the curriculum can be reimagined to meet the needs of small-scale farmers, AEOs and emerging agricultural developments and digital technologies. The authors advance what might be the processes of change in the curriculum, highlighting the weaknesses of the current curriculum as well as what a more responsive curriculum for Zimbabwe should look like in the light of both local and international expectations. In so doing, it contributes to a wider international debate about agricultural education reform.

21st-century competences and learning that Technical and vocational training

The 21st century is characterized by rapid developments in information technology and automation, with many routine and repetitive jobs being replaced by machines, both production and computers. The world of his technical and vocational education curriculum in the 21st century is full of challenges to face. Technical education and vocational education must be able to create learning that is able to make students have the competencies needed by the world of work in the 21st century. Technological developments make changes in economic, social culture and including education. This article aims to examine the competencies needed in the 21st century and how effective learning is for this century. The research was conducted using the literature review method. In the 21st century, the world of work is increasingly complex, graduate students from technical education and vocational education must have learning skills, literacy skills and life skills. Skill competencies taught to students must focus on one particular area, because in the world of work each worker will only do one type of work. Learning in technical and vocational education is recommended to use the application of the project-based learning model. Various research results have found that this model is able to make students have the skills needed in this 21st century.

But, Do I Need a College Degree?: Understanding Perceptions of College and Career Readiness among Students Enrolled in a Career and Technical High School.

Career and technical education (CTE) and college preparation curriculum in high school are often treated as mutually exclusive options rather than integrated, symbiotic tracks. However, increasingly career fields require some postsecondary education, and access to four-year college degrees are important for long-term earnings and mobility. In this two-year case study, we examined how 16 juniors enrolled in a CTE high school described and perceived their college and career aspirations. Our findings revealed that participants saw vocational and academic goals as mutually beneficial but experienced them through distinctive pathways, a disconnect amplified by a lack of resources in our sample site. While mechanisms to promote college-going existed, they were often only available to subsets of students and of limited utility. From this research, we suggest that the education system should expand dual enrollment opportunities, provide mentorship of diverse career possibilities, and begin integration between college and career planning earlier in students’ schooling. Moreover, we examine the possibilities demonstrated by this case study for K-16 pathways and how postsecondary institutions can meaningfully engage with CTE schools to support this integration.

Implementation of the technical and vocational education and training curriculum in colleges in Botswana: challenges, strategies and opportunities

ABSTRACT The study sought to establish challenges faced, strategies used as well as opportunities available for the effective implementation of the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) curriculum in colleges in Botswana. Results showed that there are no significant differences in the way curriculum is implemented in public and private TVET colleges. Results further showed that curriculum implementation by TVET lecturers is significantly influenced by the microsystem, mesosystem and exosystem factors and that the implementation is mostly done through the use of lecturer-centered teaching strategies. A number of challenges that affect the effective implementation of the curriculum were identified. Efforts by government to facilitate synergies between TVET colleges and industry hence opening up more sources of funding, and possibilities for skills development and exchange between industry and colleges were opportunities identified that could potentially enhance the implementation of the TVET curriculum.

English

Industrialisation generally accounts for wealth creation in the economy of a nation. A technician is needed in building an industry and the technician needs to be trained through technical education. Ghana as a developing nation aspiring to develop her industrial capability needs to strategically position its technical education as a key factor. The objective of this paper therefore is to review Ghana’s industrialisation agenda and its technical educational system toward establishing an industrial base as a future cultural heritage. The soft operations methodology of ethnography, which is gaining much popularity in Production and Operations Management (POM), was adapted for this study. The findings, among other things, revealed a high interest in industrialising the Ghanaian economy, which is characterised by an absence of a policy framework for technology development to feed the industry. This is coupled with a disconnection of formal education from application of indigenous knowledge in production methods. This therefore calls for a policy-shift to build a comprehensive technical and vocational education and training (TVET) curriculum with linkage to culture for industrial growth.   Key words: Technical education, industrialisation, development, training, economy.

The Need for Competencies Required by Vocational and Technical Educators for Quality of Job Performance in Technical Vocational Education

The study investigated vocational educators’ competencies required for job performance. Four questions gave credence to the study, and one reasonable guess. A descriptive survey design was adopted. A population of 127 vocational and technical educators’ participated in the study. Cronbach alpha technique was used for reliability coefficients of 0.84. The questionnaire was validated by three experts. Mean and standard deviation answered the research questions, while a t-test was used for the hypothesis at an alpha level of 5 percent. The finding revealed that vocational and technical educators require pedagogical, problem solving, and internet networking competencies to a very high extent for their job performance, and vocational and technical educators’ competencies were not influenced by gender. As such, the null hypothesis was rejected. It was therefore recommended that pedagogical, problem-solving and internet networking competencies contained in this study be embedded in vocational and technical education curriculum, as they are very critical for job performance in today’s digitalized and competitive economy.

STEM-Focused Career Courses and College Pipeline for Students with Learning Disabilities

Recent educational policies in the United States have fostered the growth of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career-focused courses to support high school students’ persistence into these fields in college and beyond. As one key example, federal legislation has embedded new types of “applied STEM” (AS) courses into the career and technical education curriculum (CTE), which can help students persist in STEM through high school and college. Yet, little is known about the link between AS-CTE coursetaking and college STEM persistence for students with learning disabilities (LDs). Using a nationally representative data set, we found no evidence that earning more units of AS-CTE in high school influenced college enrollment patterns or major selection in non-AS STEM fields for students with LDs. That said, students with LDs who earned more units of AS-CTE in high school were more likely to seriously consider and ultimately declare AS-related STEM majors in college.

Technology of Education and the Technical Reality of Education in Sudan: Analytical Samples

This study aims to examine the technologies of education and their importance, shedding light on their reality and status in Sudan especially in the secondary stage. It has become necessary to invest these technologies and include them in different aspects of the technical education curricula. Such a step helps cope with the innovative scientific development in the advanced countries, qualify professors and technicians, develop the factories and workshops, and create an attractive technical educational environment to the pupils. Thus, the researcher has adopted a descriptive analytical approach that is based on conducting pilot visits to certain technical schools in Al-Khartoum state. Different aspects of such schools were examined, such as: (crafts, commercial, female technical). Moreover, some interviews were made with a purposeful sample of headmasters and teachers of schools, taking into account their notes and suggestions. In addition, the technical education department at the ministry of education was visited to stand upon the workshops' recommendations and the scholarly papers presented in the field of technical education in Sudan. The study finally has concluded that the technical education in Sudan needs much more focus on using modern technology to cope with the scientific development of curriculla, educators and different educational tools. In addition, many parents do not encourage their children to go for such a type of education as they ignore the value of technical education.

Building codes and regulations for disaster resilience in Bangladesh: the case of Dhaka

Purpose The paper deals with the challenges and opportunities of enabling resilience of the built environment through building regulations and codes in a developing country context. The purpose of this paper is to explore how voluntary compliance can be achieved, drawing from the views of key stakeholders in this field. Design/methodology/approach Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is a central hub of more than 20 million people. The city is growing rapidly in an unplanned manner to host the increasing population, creating vulnerability to different hazards including earthquakes, fires and building collapses. The Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and the building and planning regulations of the Capital Development Authority are the key instruments for ensuring safety, but lack of compliance is widespread. The views of relevant stakeholders on issues relating to compliance of safe building codes for ensuring disaster resilience were documented and analysed. Findings It was found that those involved in construction activities are in most cases not aware of the BNBC; landowners were reluctant to follow regulations and codes to avoid extra cost; and construction workers were not interested in compliance as there were no incentives. While enforced deterrence is required, it has its limitations in a context such as Dhaka. Raising awareness and building capacity at all levels can offer a way forward for voluntary compliance. Incorporation of knowledge on regulations and codes for disaster resilience into university and technical education curricula are likely to allow developing the capacity of built environment professionals and widespread awareness can be raised through training, media and public events. Originality/value There are many publications on building regulations and codes, but few specifically focussing on disaster resilience. Also, much of the discussion on regulations and codes deals with compliance through enforcement, but hardly any deal with the idea of voluntary compliance. There are also a lot of publications on disasters in the case study city, Dhaka, but comparatively few on building codes and regulations specifically for disaster resilience.

TVET Curriculum Mapping and Its Responsiveness to the Labour Market Demand the Case of the Building Construction Fields in Ethiopia

The primary aim of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is to prepare for the country labour force meeting needs of the labour market, to enable people contribute to sustainable social, economic, environment and industrial development. Ethiopia has implemented the outcome-based Technical and Vocational Education and Training system since 2007. The Ethiopian outcome-based TVET system is a training delivery approach in which the labour market demand is identified and Occupational Standards (OS) are developed by industry and then the curriculum is developed based on the OS developed. Both the Ethiopian occupational standard (EOS) and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum derived from the OS have similar architectural structural mapping. The main objective of this article was to assess how the TVET curriculum mapping in the case of the building construction fields in Ethiopia responds to labour market demand. The main data gathering instruments used in the study were interviews and document analysis. The interviews were held with the TVET stakeholders such as the Federal and Regional TVET curriculum development officials, the TVET college principals, the HoDs and TVET trainers. The documents that were reviewed included the Ethiopian National TVET Strategy and other TVET working documents such as the Ethiopian Occupational Standard and the TVET Curriculum Development manuals as well as other literature related to the study. It is found out that the curricula of building construction fields are the direct and one-to-one conversion of their respective Occupational Standards. The findings again revealed that the general TVET curriculum mapping of the building construction fields have not addressed the country’s labour market demand and training needs. As a result of this, it was noted that the participants were not comfortable with the curriculum mapping of building construction fields laid by the Ethiopian TVET Authority. The paper concludes that the TVET curriculum should not necessarily have been the direct mirror and reflection of its OS when curriculum mapping was designed as it does not reflect the real societal and training needs of students.

Corrigendum to: Outcomes of a Safety and Health Educational Intervention in Auto Body and Machine Tool Technologies Vocational College Programs: The Technical Education Curricula for Health and Safety (TECHS) Study.

Corrigendum to: Outcomes of a Safety and Health Educational Intervention in Auto Body and Machine Tool Technologies Vocational College Programs: The Technical Education Curricula for Health and Safety (TECHS) Study.

Bridging the Missing Links in The Implementation of Technical Vocational Education and Training Curriculum in Nigeria

The implementation of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum requires some level of government commitment because of it nature and important towards reducing unemployment. Technical vocational education is a skill acquisition intervention programmes that target about learning wisdom which would make people appropriate and productive in designated areas of economic and technological activities. In order to meet the demand of this 21st century implementation of technical vocational education curriculum in Nigeria must in totality be overhauled by ensuring that what is needed to achieve its goal is put in place for positive outcome. This paper discusses the concept of technical vocational education and training and it’s important towards job creation, the nature of technical vocational education curriculum in technical vocational education institutions, technical vocational education curriculum implementation and the impediments of Technical vocational education curriculum implementation in Nigeria. It was concluded that TVET curriculum implementation faced a lots of challenges. Therefore, all stakeholders in the technical vocational education sub-sector should put hands in deck in order to improve the quality of technical vocational education programmes implementation in Nigeria for better outcome.

Students' Perceptions on the Need for Entrepreneurship Education in Addressing Youths Unemployment Challenges in Nigeria, Strategies for Implementation

This study is on student's perception on the need for entrepreneurship education in addressing unemployment challenge in Nigeria. Three research questions of this study have been analyzed using a descriptive research design.In light of this study, the following findings were made which include that entrepreneurship is essential for rapid and sustained economic growth, development and it creates the required manpower and skills necessary for accelerated growth, reduce unemployment and poverty. The curriculum of vocational and technical education should be reviewed periodically to identify the technical and vocational skill needed in the economy and youths should be exposed to training in technology, especially new discoveries from time to keep them in tune with trends of the technological world and thus avoid drudgery in their business.

Effects of Place-Based and Activity-Based Approaches in Technical Education, Interest and Retention

This study was designed to determine the effects of place-based and activity-based learning approaches on students' achievement, interest and retention in technical education. A pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group, quasi-experimental research design was adopted. The study constituted a total number of 122 subjects, 63 for the place-based education, while 59 for the activity-based learning. Three research questions and three null hypotheses, tested at 0.05 level of significance, guided the study. The instruments used for data collection were Technical Education Cognitive Achievement Test (TECAT), Technical Education Psychomotor Achievement Test (TEPAT) and Technical Education Interest Inventory (TEII) The reliability coefficient obtained was 0.78. Mean was used to answer the research questions; while ANCOVA was employed to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that students taught Technical education using the place-based education instructional approach had a higher mean score than students taught using the activity-based learning teaching method in cognitive achievement test, psychomotor achievement test and test for retention of learning. It was recommended among others that; The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should consider a review of technical education curriculum for Technical Colleges with a view to incorporating the place-based education instructional approach into the teaching of technical education.