Factors Affecting Skills Acquisition among Students of Electrical Installation and Maintenance Work Trade in Technical Colleges of Gombe State

Abstract

The study examined the factors affecting skills acquisition among students of electrical installation and maintenance work trade in technical colleges of Gombe state. The study has four specific objectives. In order to achieve these objectives, four research questions were poised and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Pragmatism theory propounded by Charles Sanders Peirce in 1870s was adopted as the theoretical framework. The design of the study was a descriptive survey. The population of the study consisted of 438 respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used to draw 280 respondents that consist of 220 students, 36 teachers and 26 administrators across the six technical colleges of Gombe State. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire based on Likert scale which was developed by the researcher and validated by three experts. The instrument was trial tested on 20 students, 5 teachers and 5 administrators in one Technical College in Yola Adamawa. Cronback Alpha was used to compute the internal consistency of the instrument which yielded a reliability index of 0.89. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions. While, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed teachers' and students' related factors which among others include inappropriate methods of teaching practical; inadequate consumable materials for practical skills training; teachers' lack of professionalism, low level of knowledge and skills; and students' personal interest, inadequate workshop materials, high academic expectation, personal safety and workplace hazards respectively as responsible for the failure of practical skills acquisition in Technical Colleges of Gombe State. The study further revealed that that socio-economic background and carrier aspiration of the students and parents have effect on acquisition of practical skills in electrical installation and maintenance work. The study recommended that factors that hinder practical skills acquisition should be tackled, students should be properly guided to pursue their carrier aspirations, aspirations of parents and their children's carrier should be in harmony.