ABSTRACT
The study was motivated by a
great concern about the future and continuity of woodwork practical projects in
all tiers of society and our education system particularly in Colleges of
education (Technical). The concern stemmed from poor performance, low and
declining skill practice in performance. Pertinent questions and doubts were
raised on the strategies employed by teachers currently teaching woodwork in
Colleges of Education (Tehcnical). The study therefore focused on the
in-service training, motivation, instructional materials and teaching technique
in woodwork practical project as a frame of reference. Four research questions
guided the study and hypotheses formulated were tested at 0.05 level of
significance. The study adopted a survey research design. The area of the study
was the seven Northwestern states. The population and sample for the study was
made up of 15 woodwork lecturers and 28 instructors in the seven Colleges of
Education (Technical). A questionnaire titled “Strategies for improving practical
projects in woodwork in Colleges of Education (Technical) in Northwestern
states of Nigeria” consisting of 70 items was structured, based on the woodwork
practical projects, administered to 43 teachers. Data collected were analyzed
using eh means and test statistics. The study recommended re-training,
motivation and in-service training for woodwork teachers not once but on
regular basis through workshops and seminars.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGE i
APPROVAL
PAGE ii
CERTIFICATION iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
v
TABLE
OF CONTENTS vi
ABSTRACT
ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
Background
of the Study 1
Statement
of the Problem 6
Purpose
of the Study 7
Significance
of the Study 7
Research
Questions 8
Hypotheses 9
Scope
of the Study 9
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATURE 10
Conceptual
Framework 12
Colleges
of Education (Technical) 12
Practical
Projects in Woodwork in Colleges of Education (Technical) 13
In-service
Training as Strategy for Improving Practical Projects in Woodwork 15
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Motivation
as Meansof Improving Practical Projects in Woodwork
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17
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Instructional
Material in for Improving Practical Projects in Woodwork
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19
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Teaching
Techniques for Handling Woodwork Hand and Machine Tools
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22
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Theoretical
Framework
|
34
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Theory
of Performance (ToP)
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34
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Social
Cognitive Career Theory (SCT)
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36
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Theory of Skill Development (TSD)
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38
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Review
of Related Empirical Studies
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39
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Summary
of Review of Related Literature
|
43
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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
|
45
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Design
of the Study
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45
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Area
of the Study
|
45
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Population
for the Study
|
46
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|
Instrument
for Data Collection
|
46
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Validation
of the Instrument
|
46
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Reliability
of the Instrument
|
47
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Method
of Data Collection
|
47
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Method
of Data Analysis
|
47
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CHAPTER IV: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF
DATA
|
48
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Research
Questions One
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48
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Research
Question Two
|
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50
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Research
Question Three
|
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51
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|
Research
Question Four
|
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52
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|
Hypotheses
One
|
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53
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Hypotheses
Two
|
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55
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Hypotheses
Three
|
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57
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Hypotheses
Four
|
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59
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|
Findings
of the Study
|
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61
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Findings
of the Hypotheses
|
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63
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Discussion
of the Findings 64
CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 69
Re-Statement
of the Problem 69
Summary
of Procedures used 69
Major
Findings of the Study 70
Implication
of the Study 71
Conclusion
72
Recommendations
73
Suggestions
for Further Research 73
References
75
Appendix A
List of Colleges of Education in Northwestern Nigeria 81
Appendix
B Letter Introduction 82
Appendix
B Questionnaire 83
CHAPTER
I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Woodwork is one of
the practical-based courses in Colleges of Education (Technical). Woodwork
basically deals with the use of wood. Wood is a material cut from complex
living organism called tree. Trees are first felled before cutting into logs.
Waltan in Mohammed (2011) stressed that these logs are thereafter converted or
sawn into various sizes, making it suitable for building and constructional
purposes. Woodwork is the art of producing objects or things from wood in
buildings or rooms such as doors, windows, roof, bed, cupboards, chairs, and
tables. Woodworkincludes timber technology, safety rules in the workshops,
tools and classification of materials such as nails, adhesives, fitting and
their uses. Preparation of timber, classification, construction joint, forestry
and product of trees, woodturning, repairs, and maintenance of tools and
equipment are practical aspect of woodwork (Rix, Has, and Teixeira 2008).
Making things from
wood is one of the oldest occupations in the world. Woodwork according to
National Policy on Education (Federal Government of Nigeria [FGN], (2004)
comprises machine/hand tools, carpentry and joinery, upholstery and furniture
making. In the past, the woodwork personnel were the most important person in
the house building industry being the designer, builder and furnisher of the
home. All woodwork students learn the
skills that enable them to work in a workshop or on-site, these skills are
transferable from one discipline to the other (Scottish Further Education Unit,
2005). At a workshop bench a joiner can make a great range of components: door
and screens, windows and stairs to name a few.
On site, a carpenter will be involved in the construction of a building,
building partitions, floors, roofs and the installation of the components made
by the joiner (Berger 2003). The craft of the woodwork has a real and tangible
tradition behind it, which involves the use of working drawings. Working
drawings are preliminary skills of practical geometry which is necessary before
the varied work of carpentry and joinery can be successfully undertaken; the
need for skill acquisition is inevitable (Okoro, 2006) through colleges of
education.
Colleges of
Education aim at providing students with knowledge, attitude, and skills
leading to gainful employment in the teaching profession and the world of work
(FGN, 2004). The institutions that provide technical education in Nigeria
include, Technical Colleges, Colleges of Education (Technical), Polytechnics,
and Universities. They give full training intended to prepare students for
entry into various occupations (Okoro, 2006). Delmar (2006) stated that
woodwork requires technical skills from students for good performance in areas,
such as how to use and maintain hand and power tools on given job.
Motivation as defined by Offorma
(2012), is a condition which initiates, guide and maintains behaviors until
some goal is reached.Ngwoke (2004) described motivation as the internal state
or mental and psychological state in an individual which compels energizes,
sustains and directs the individuals activity towards a goal. Motivation is a
psychological construct to explain purposive or goal-directed behavior in human
beings. Motivation in this study is an attempt aimed towards imitation,
arousal, energizing, and sustenance of interest in woodwork teachers to engage
in and remain in-service train, or retrain in large scale practical project
woodwork
In-service training
is a training programme aimed at improving the teacher. Therefore, woodwork
teachers with varying qualification, knowledge and skills need to update their
knowledge and skills through regular training, in order not to be obsolete. This
informed the introduction of Technical Teachers Training Programme (TTTP). The
programme was principally designed for improvement of technical teachers’
knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, this programme was conceived without first
identifying the needs of the teacher (Oranu, in Sowande, 2001). In other words,
there is need to first find out the
areas the teachers lack required strategy and need for improvement in their
performance before embarking on any training or re-training of technical
teachers.
Teachers’ ability to
use a variety of instructional materials and a combination of teaching methods
and the ability to manage group learning is at the core of practical projects.
This means that the teacher understands the need for careful preparation of lessons
and schedules and that he/she able to organize teaching and learning around a
variety of learning modes such as individual and group learning materials and
teacher support services are critical to success in teaching and learning at
this level of schooling. Practical projects apart from services to area that
are thinly populated, also help to create educational opportunities for
students by bringing college closer to home and meeting the needs of
communities. Many of today’s on-the-job injuries result from the improper use
of hand tools. Workers have lost their eyesight and had their vision impaired,
tendons severed, bones broken, and arms, legs and fingers infected through
puncture wounds, all because of unsafe practices with hand tools or use of tools
poorly designed for the specific job. There is no set of established codes
concerning the proper use of hand tools and power hand tools, It is necessary
for woodwork teacher or instructor to stress the seriousness of using hand
tools because the used of tools in woodwork is inevitable (Rix, Haas, &Teixeira, 2008). Therefore,
woodwork students have to be taught proper skills of handling woodwork tools.
Practical projects
in woodwork can be taught with the use instructional materials on how to handle
woodwork hand tools. Although, most colleges don’t have modern instructional
equipment and media, this is why above 90% of technical teachers in Nigeria are
mostly using the chalkboard and textbook method which is regarded as
traditional method in teaching and learning process(Shuaibu, 2007). Some
teachers are not all that capable to operate machines and available equipment,
so the few colleges that have them are unable to use them effectively, which
will results to inability of the teachers to put across the concepts to the
students. This could contribute to poor performance of students in practical
projects.
Students in woodwork
need to acquire skills in order to be employable in woodwork establishments. Such
skills in woodwork would assist the student in employment. According to Barlaw
(2001), employability prospects of woodwork graduate depends largely on the
acquired work skills whether in self or paid employment. However, Bukar (1994)
noted that process of skill acquisition and development, as it cuts across the
three domains of educational objectives is cumbersome, tedious, and time
consuming. This calls for enormous skills from teacher of practical based
course like woodwork especially in Colleges of Education (Technical).
Strategy is planned series of
actions for achieving something. According to Egbita (2006), instructional
strategies are decisions about organizing people, materials and ideas to
provide learning. Also, Hamza (2010) posited that strategy teaching requires
comprehensive instruction that include attention to promote knowledge (what to
do), procedural knowledge (how to do it) as conditional knowledge (when and why
to do it) as a coherent and substantiated logic for making one set of choices
rather than other. Operationally, strategy is the total pattern of decision,
which shapes the long-term capabilities to the overall strategy. Strategy is
the reconciliation of technical requirements with operational resources (Umar,
2010).
The ultimate and successful test of
a good technical education programme is not how much factual information
students can remember, but what technical skill they possess or perform in
their technical fields of employment (Okoro, 2006). There is urgent need to
restrategize the quality of the graduates of woodwork in order to reach this
aim, practical project. The fundamental ingredient of woodwork practical
project is skill development and subsequently, the need for it to be improved
upon. The skill improvement strategy when developed, is therefore utilitarian.
According to Abimbola (2007), skills are not just acquired in vacuum; they are
rather developed in a workshop or laboratory that is replete with the latest
facilities and necessary materials. In line with this, acquisition of skill in
practical work is essential (Ikpeamaonwu, 1991).
The state of any
nation’s economy depends on the quality of skills its workers acquired. FGN
(2004) stipulated the needs to prepare future citizens for useful and
productive lives through the acquisition of appropriate practical skills
required as craftsman and technician sub-professional level. To achieve this
objective, it does not only require human resources, but also requires
material, tools, equipment and skills. Skills are not acquired in a vacuum, in
other to enhance standard and quality, proper instructional material must be
available which forms the greatest aspect of skill acquisition (Beck,
1994). Offorma (2010) stressed that the
success of an educational programmeis largely dependent on the quality of its
teachers. Re-training of woodwork teachers to meet the current technological
needs of the society is essential. According to Abdullahi (2010), teachers
should be trained not once or twice, but on continuous basis to make them up to
date to stand the rapid changes in the technological world.
Woodwork students
from College of Education in the North-West geo-political zone are not properly
skilled in practical, hence the study.In the midst of other factors that lead
to poor performance of Colleges of Education (Technical) students, the
competence of the teachers must be outstanding. As the saying goes, no
education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. This becomes
necessary to identify the strategies for improving the woodwork teachers in
woodwork practical project in the North West zone of Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
Today’s
world of technology depends largely on high skilled manpower for productivity.
Colleges of education (Technical) have major role to play in the production of
this competent manpower for wood industries. It is expected that graduates
should posses skills which will enable them perform in their areas of
discipline. Osuala (2001) observed that the skilled job opportunities in
industries are not filled up. Oranu (2001) stated that Colleges of Education
(Technical) products are weak in practice of their trades.
Many Colleges of
Education graduates especially those in woodwork are jobless. They are jobless
not because of the absence of the job opportunities but because they are not
skilled enough to take up the available teaching and industrial jobs (Osuala,
2001). In extension, this means the graduates of Colleges of Education are not
competent to take up available employment. UNEVOC (2007) expressed that
majority of graduate of woodwork in developing countries are not self-reliant
due to incompetence reason not far away from poor practical project
orientation.
Unfortunately,
despite all effort by government to ensure qualitative education at the
Colleges of Education (Technical) and bring about high competent products both
in academic and employability, there have been persistent reports of high
failure rate among students (FGN, 2001; NCCE, 2009). One probable cause of the
high failure of the students in recent years according to NCCE (2010) Chief
Accreditation Community Report is partly due to poor performance in practical
by the students. Abdullahi (2010) attributed students’ lack of practical skills
necessary to develop and manage their career lives to the growing gap that
exist between students school experiences and the real world of work. The
problem of this study therefore is to determine strategies for improving
practical projects in woodwork so as to produce skilled craftsmen and
technicians in woodworks to train technical teachers for secondary schools and
technical colleges.
Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of
the study therefore is to determine the strategy for improving practical
project in woodwork in Colleges of Education (Technical) in Northwestern states
of
Nigeria. Specifically, the study will determine:
1. In-service
training needs for improving practical projects
2. The
need motivation of teachers as means for improving practical projects
3. Instructional
materials for improving practical projects
4. Teaching
techniques for improving the use of hand and machine tools
Significance of the Study
The findings of the
study will be beneficial to the ministry of education and researcher, wood
industries, curriculum planners, technical education teachers, student and the
society at large. The findings of this study will be beneficial to the Ministry
of Education. They can use the result of the study to organize training
workshop and seminar for woodwork teachers in order to update their skills and
knowledge in woodwork. The ministries will also use the findings of the study
to employ teachers, for instance using the woodwork teacher for Colleges of
Education (Technical).
The findings of the
study will be beneficial to wood industries where College of Education
(Technical) graduates seek for employment upon graduation. Woodwork graduates
will be better equipped with practical skills to perform more effectively in
tier various jobs and assignment in the industries. This will also help the
industries minimize the huge financial expenditure on retraining of Colleges of
Education (Technical) graduates upon employment.
The findings of the study will
provide suitable information that will aid at objective planning and successful
curriculum, beneficial to curriculum planners and training institutions. In
that this institution will be able to incorporate the aspect of teacher
competency required, as identified practical project skill in the curriculum.
The findings will help the curriculum planner aimed at persuading woodwork
teachers, technicians to improve practical project practice as well as develop
practical skills, knowledge and attitude favorable to change in woodwork
today.
The findings will be beneficial to
technical education teacher; it will improve the quality of skills needed in
practical education providing employment to vocational programme.
The findings of the study will be
beneficial to woodwork teachers because if the quality required of these
teachers are upgraded through in-service training with the findings of this
study, the teachers will use the new knowledge to teach practical better to
students.
This invariably will motivate the
students to learn and also give the teacher’s job satisfaction. The findings of the study will be beneficial
to students because when the woodwork teachers are well equipped with the
practical knowledge required, students will be instilled in the proper
knowledge. The students will therefore learn better and be able to work more
effectively due to improved skill acquisition. If this is achieved, parents
will also be happy because they will see value in their efforts.
The society will also benefit from
the findings of the study because when students graduate with expected skills,
they will reduce the problem of quack woodwork technical teachers, thereby,
offering good services to the society. This will go a long way in achieving the
much-needed technological development in Nigeria.
Research Questions
This study is guided by the following research
questions:
1.
What are the in-service training needs of
teachers needed for improving practical projects in woodwork?
2.
How can motivation of teacher improve practical
projects in woodwork?
3.
How can instructional materials improve
practical projects in woodwork?
4.
What are the teaching techniques that will
improve the use of hand and machine?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses
formulated to guide this study and is tested at 0.5 level of significance.
Ho1:
There is no significant difference in
the mean responses of instructors and lecturers on the need teacher for
in-service training to improve practical projects.
Ho2:
There is no significant difference in the mean responses of instructors and
lecturers on the need for motivation of teachers as a means of improving
practical projects.
Ho3:
There is no significant difference in the mean responses of instructors and
lecturers on instructional materials for improving practical projects.
Ho4:
There is no significant difference in
the mean responses of instructors and lecturers on the teaching techniques for
tools handling to improve practical project.
Scope of the Study
The study is
delimited to improving practical projects in work through in-service training,
motivation, instructional materials and use of hand and machine tools in
woodwork. It is delimited to woodwork lecturers and instructors in
North-western states of Nigerian on strategies for improving other aspect of
woodwork like theoretical are not covered by the study.
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