Effect of Inquiry and Challenge-Based Instructional Strategy on Student Learning Outcomes in Electrical Installation and Maintenance Work in Niger State

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of inquiry and challenge-based instructional teaching techniques on student learning outcomes in electrical installation and maintenance work in technical colleges in Niger State. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the use of Quasi-experimental design. The study was conducted in all the technical colleges in Niger State, Nigeria. The targeted population for this study was 181 NTC II students who are taking electrical installation and maintenance work in the seven technical colleges in Niger State. The instrument that was used for data collection was Electrical Installation and Maintenance Work Achievement Test (EIMWAT). The instruments were subject to face and content validation by two experts in Department of Industrial and Technology Education, Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State and one expert from Government technical college, Minna Niger State. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was found to be 0.725 using Cronbach Alpha Statistics. Data collected for the study, was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the challenge-based instructional teaching techniques achievement test score is higher than the achievement score of inquiry-based instructional teaching techniques. Based on the findings it was recommended that the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should consider a review of electrical installation and maintenance work curriculum for Technical Colleges with a view to incorporating the challenge-based instructional teaching techniques into the teaching of electrical installation and maintenance work.