MECHANISMS FOR ENHANCING THE COMPETENCIES OF BUILDING TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focused on Mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building tech- nology education students in the universities in South East Nigeria as solution to the per- sistent problems of craftsmanship in the building industry. Seven purposes of study were formulated for this study. In line with these purposes of study, seven research questions guided the study. The study adopted survey research design. The area of the study is South East Nigeria, with concentration on Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States, these are states in the zone that offer building technology education programmes at their univesi- ties. The population for the study is made up of 82 respondents who comprised 45 build- ing technology teachers in the technical colleges, 25 third and final year building tech- nology education students and 12 building technology education lecturers in the universi- ties. The population was not sampled because of the smallness. Structured questionnaire (instrument) with 165 items were employed for data collection. The instrument for data collection was validated by five experts from Imo State University and Federal University of Technology Owerri. The reliability of the instrument was obtained by single adminis- tration of the instrument to group of respondents from Akwa Ibom technical colleges and University of Uyo. The reliability coefficient was calculated with Cronbach Alpha which yielded internal consistency for the entire instrument as alpha 0.85. Total of 82 question- naire copies were administered to respondents in their various institutions with the help of three research assistants who worked with the researcher. And a total of 75 question- naires which represented 92% were collected back for analyses. The data collected were analyzed with mean and standard deviation in relation to the research questions. The re- sults of study identified that 26 mechanism cluster of upgraded building production aca-

demic programme ( X 4.01 ),  22 items in cluster of adequately managed human resources ( X  4.11  ), 21 items in cluster of value adding regular staff capacity building  system (3.97), 22 items in cluster of adequately maintained  structures with functional system support (4.14), 21 cluster of improved funding system (4.28), 20 items in cluster of Infor-

mation Communication Technology (ICTs) compliant programme (4.03) and 25 items in

cluster of adequate work site current technology updated facilities (4.22) were accepted as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building technology education stu- dents in the universities. However, the study showed that a cluster of adequately managed human resources (3.21) one items in cluster of adequately maintained structure (2.53) five items in cluster of improved funding system (2.80) and one items in cluster of updated fa- cilities (2.9) were not accepted as mechanism that will enhance the desired competencies. The hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance had all the calculated F-ratio were less than the table F ratio. The hypotheses of  no significant differences on the mean rating of the three groups of respondents on mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building technology education students in the universities were upheld. From the major findings, recommendations such as inclusion of practical courses, increasing programme duration from four to five years, updating of curricula, ensuring adequate staffing; admit qualified students, ensure ICT compliant programme to students  through new  practical computer  building drawing courses, provision of sufficient updated structures and facili- ties were made. Finally, suggestions for further research on the study were equally in- cluded.

xii

CHAPTER I

Background of the Study

INTRODUCTION

1

Building serves as shelter to humanity.  Shelter occupies top ranking after food and before clothing in the list of basic necessities of life and in the hierarchy of hu- man needs dependent on the prevalent competencies.  Competencies are the guid- ing principles of productivity that had stimulated the development of the built envi- ronment to bungalows, upstairs, edifices, multi-storeys, sky scrapers, ports, stadia, highways,  bridges,  dams  etc  by the  construction  industry  team of professionals, skilled craftsmen (blue pc rints  dream realizers) and their facilitators (teachers, in- structors or lecturers). The above progress necessitated clamours and intensification of energy on the development of competencies globally. The competencies that had transformed the built environment to residential, commercial and industrial buildings plus other engineering structures in various countries had depended on the levels of competence of the professional and sub-professioal operatives.

According to Snowflake (2008) competence is closely related to the level of proficiency at what some one does. It involves the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually for a job or occupation. In another contribution, Lorriman, Young and Kalinauckas (1995) referred to competence as efficient, effec- tive and proper application of skills based on appropriate knowledge and attitudes. They added that competence should be measureable  in a useful way and be de- scribed by active verbs showing actions such as to operate, procure, plan, maintain, design, report, specify, construct, evaluate etc. In the light of the above views, the bases for efficiency and productivity remain competencies.

Consulting (2008) wrote that competencies are broad based concepts which embodied all aspects of various technical and task components  which  are readily observable as to facilitate performance in occupations.They added that competen- cies include  the abilities  to use knowledge,  understanding,  practical and thinking skills to perform effectively to national or international standards required in employ- ment.  Consulting concluded that competencies should compose of from two to sev- en elemental skills as key competency clusters that enable the learner to achieve mastery in occupations at the completion of a training programme.

The overriding importance  of competencies  necessitated  the elaboration  of

core competencies by Wikippedia (2007) as areas of specialized expertise that result

1

in harmonized complex stream of technology and work activities which take various forms  like  technical/subject  matter  know  how,  a  reliable  process  and  or  inter- relationship between members of an institution.

In today’s  world  the potential  of any work force  will fully be realized  only through systematic balancing between short and long term competency programmes and technical and non technical competencies. The balancing of one aspect of com- petency against the other will serve as indicators to level of competencies in the sys- tem such as: (1) Performance  below the acceptable  standard of competence, (2) performance at acceptable standard of competence, (3) performance above accept- able standard of competence.

Attaining higher levels of competencies can only be through  developmental

programmes. Lorriman et al (1995) stressed that a person can only become compe- tent through development of competence by multi-way partinership to  position the individual  as a missionary  learner,  the teachers/educators  as  facilitators  and the training environment as organized institutions. They recommended that development for technology competencies should be of five  years training period based on for- ward view of real needs strategies to simplify processes and reduce waste. Lorriman et al concluded that effective competence development system should operate in the context of total learning system with the experts passing competencies to those in needs, since competence  development frame work depends on the ability to pass skills onto others.

Competencies in this study are those attributes which enable the application of skills, knowledge and attitude in the performance of technical task in occupations or professions. These attributes that result in high level man power which required long term training duration will always be successful if acquired from the tertiary edu- cation institutions such as universities and colleges.

University could be said to be a tertiary education institution where high level man power is produced for the development of the society. It is an institute of higher learning statutorily empowered to develop competencies of the under graduate and higher degree students. According to Collins (2002) university is an educational insti- tution designed  for instruction,  examination  or both for  graduation  of students  in many branches of advanced learning.

The building technology education students acquire their competencies which equip  them as graduate  technical  teachers  from the universities.  The  training  of building technology education students in West Africa first started  with the estab-

lishment of Vocational Teacher Education Department University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1962. Other Universities such as Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Enugu State University of Science and Technolgy and Ebonyi State University Abakaliki presently offer building technology education programme in South-East Nigeria.

Education  programme  is said to be field of human endeavour  designed  to meet the needs of individuals/society  and advance the course of humanity.  Cobb (1988) stated that the ultimate goal of an educational programme centers on human growth and continuity.    University programmes are guided or controlled by policies which are frame works that spelt out the goals of education system with expected means of accomplishment. According to Olaniyi (1998) educational policy is a set of decisions taken by a group concerning their educational goals and the methods of attaining them.

University  programmes  are  controlled  by the  policy  agencies  such  as  Joint Admission and Matriculation  Board (JAMB) responsible  for the conduct  of  unified matriculation  examination  for  Senior  Secondary  School  Certicficate  or  National Technical Certificate holders as preservice candidates for admission. Though, recent development had added post JAMB aptitude tests of the universities as final condi- tions for admissions (JAMB 2006; Guardian 2006).  On the other hand, in service candidates admissions into the universities are  done through the direct entry pro- gramme policies (Osuala, 1999).

The National Universities Commission (NUC) is another agency empowered by law to formulate policies for university programmes at both first and higher degree levels. The NUC set minimum standards for first degree  programmes  and covers such areas like space requirements, library, offices, lecture rooms and laboratory ac- commodations. This is in addition to specifying minimum staff student ratio for effec- tive learning and teaching, minimum workshop and laboratory facilities, and academ- ic programme as the curricula with the stated minimum course content in each de- gree programme. This is in addition to accreditation and reaccreditation of approved programmes.  The NUC  recommendations  are elaborated as: staff/student  ratio of

1:20 for technological education, conducive psychological, physical and social learn- ing environment, with adequate instructional spaces and facilities crucial for effective learning.  Concluding  that  Nigeria  adopted  unified  curricular  as  a  academic  pro- gramme which calls for flexibility of interpretations and instructional strategy of relev- ance made applicable to individual, local, and  national needs; all tailored towards solving the societal problems (Eke, 2002).  The approved programmes are handed

over to the universities with the academic course content as embodiment of the cur- ricular and other key components to facilitate the realization of set goals. The curri- culum is broken into courses arranged in semesters and assigned credit hours by the university`s departments. The minimum standard could be improved upon where necessary (Emeribe, 2006). Okebukola (2010) study showed that core courses that must be passed regard less of the university the  students attend are specified as part of this minimum academic standard (curricular content). Most universities adopt the minimum with the claim that what is regarded as minimum is loaded enough to be maximum and NUC has  taken steps to continually update minimum academic standards in response to national and global development.

Many universities in South-East and Nigeria in general, based on subsisting

policies run building technology education programmes for pre-service students for four years and for the in service students from two to three years for the award of first degree of Vocational  Teacher  Education  Certificate.  The  building technology education programme core courses constituted the technical competencies required for building production/maintenance  combined with  pedagogical skills which equip teachers to train craftsmen in the technical colleges and other technical institutions.

The Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Education Bulletin (2001) showed the four years building technology education academic pro- gramme to include: sixteen education courses, thirteen General Study courses (GS), eleven  Vocational  education  courses,  five related  technical  courses  and fourteen core building technology courses. The above  which totaled fifty nine courses had teaching  practice  and research  project at  the final year as aspects  of education courses.

These courses which are NUC unified curricula that emanate as minimum aca- demic standard  are therefore  applicable  to all building technology  education  pro- gramme  in South  East and other  Nigerian  Universities.    National  Education  Re- search Development Council (NERDC) (2004) stated that teaching and learning of various technological courses and related pedagogy should be combined with man- datory Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). At the completion of the four year programme and after the fulfillment of all the condition required by the universities, first degree is awarded to the recipient found worthy in both character and learning as graduates in building technology education as technical teacher.

Delandsheere (1987) stressed that the concern of development of competen-

cies are neither not passing of examination nor certification, rather they should cen-

ter on productive capacities of the student teachers to perform tasks in the  occupa- tions they are trained on. Therefore, the ultimate goals of  occupational  or profes- sional education such as building technology education are the level of functionality of the products after graduation. Similarly, Brown and Atkins (1988) added that uni- versity education should equip professionals in technology education such as build- ing technology education students with core competencies like theoretical, drafting, computation,  management  and  practical competencies.  These competencies  they said should be combined with mentoring or coaching that should transform to prob- lem solving and development of skilled manpower in occupations / professions for the economy.

The above implied that the building technology education students on gradua-

tion should therefore be competent in building production covering mastery in prepa- ration, purchase or supply of construction materials, designing/preparation of work- ing drawings, preliminary site operations, setting out of buildings, concreting,  build- ing services, carpentry and joinery, general construction/finishing work and mainten- ance. This should be coupled with estimating/preparation  of bill of quantities, elec- trical installation work, making of structural drawing, building surveying, landscaping, internal decoration etc. With the above building production capabilities enabled by the  competencies  from  university  programme,  the  building  technology  education graduates should be able to train skilled craftsmen in the technical colleges.

Technical colleges are regarded in Nigeria as principal vocational institutions which give full vocational training intended to prepare students for entry into various occupations. These are done by training of craftsmen in  building trades and other occupations for three years for the relevant industries.  Oranu (1998) wrote that it will be recalled that the trade centers were changed  to technical colleges in the late

1970s and the institutions now admit holders of junior secondary school certificate who are trained for three years to obtain National Technical Certificate (NTC) in vari- ous trades/occupations.  The building technology students after  graduation and as employed teachers should instruct crafts subjects to technical college students like: introduction to building construction, brick/blocklaying, concreting, building drawing, wall/floor and ceiling finishing, painting and decorating, plumbing/piping, wood work machine, carpentry/joinery  and  workshop practicals  (National Business and Tech- nical Examination Board, 2007).

The building technology teachers through their acquired competencies should

be able to instruct the above building subjects in the technical colleges to higher lev-

el of proficiencies. Obiegbu (2002) pointed out that instructors  of technical  institu- tions should be very vast in technical skills to the levels of the master craftsmen of the old who were able to train skilled craftsmen in construction occupations with li- mited facilities at their disposal through the traditional methods called action learning. The will be skilled craftsmen should be so prepared in the technical colleges to the extent that they will pass their crafts examinations of National Technical Certificate examination and be able to perform tasks in the construction industry without retrain- ing. This is because old institutions like Public Work Department, Nigerian Ports Au- thority and Nigeria Railway Corporation no longer train and retrain skilled craftsmen for the nation, Obiegbu concluded.

Unfortunately, recent developments had indicated that the technical colleges

are not meeting the challenges of training the expected craftsmen for the building industry which scholars blamed the non possession of competencies by the building technology education products from the universities. Studies by Dabalen, Oni and Adekola (2000) indicated that public and private employers believed that university graduates and indeed other higher institution products are poorly trained and unpro- ductive on the job especially in communication  and technical competencies.  Even Willington cited in Dangana (2002) had  questioned the functionalities  of schooling since universities were not providing the necessary technical competencies in occu- pations relevant for productivity in the world of work.

The above structural failures of our tertiary institutions to supply the quality of man power desirable for development were justified by Saint, Hartnett and Strassner (2003) views that the university system is characterized by resume falsification, pla- giarism, cheating, examination malfeasance, sexual harassment, contract kick backs and forceful purchase of professional lecture notes by students. Others, they added are menance of students gang starism, cult practices, examination misconduct, arm robbery, inadequate staffing worsen by rising workload, high death rate from assas- sination, kidnapping, disease or sickness like stroke, high blood pressure, heart at- tack or failure, HIV and AIDS. Others they said include commercialization of recruit- ment/promotion of staff and students selection not based on merit.

It is worthy of note that the building technology education academic staff are grossly inadequate, each of these building technology education lecturers in Univer- sities in South-East Nigeria, handles under graduate programme, post graduate dip- loma, master’s and doctorate degrees programmes. They supervise projects, teach- ing practice and industrial attachment. Most of these lecturers are involved in many

other institutions on full time, part time or as adjunt lecturers. They even serve as re- source persons at capacity building training programmes. This is in addition to pub- lishing to avoid perishing. Too much work load instead of promoting efficiency or ef- fectiveness cause sickness, death and lower output as earlier pointed by scholars. Other factors that had inhibited competencies of the building technology education students   include   curricula/academic   programme   with  too  many  education/GS courses without practical courses. Also included are poor funding, inadequate infra- structure and ineffective ICT application.

The negative effects of the above are that universities graduate building tech- nology education students with out the competencies to produce skilled craftsmen in the technical colleges for the construction industry. Many stakeholders in the industry fore saw eminent disaster to these unhealthy developments. According to Bamisili (2004) there had not been sufficient serious formal trained skilled craftsmen in Nige- ria for sustaining the construction  industry. The few available ones are of average age of 45-50years. He lamented that if care is not taken in the next ten years skilled craftsmen of real worth would have gone into extinction. Similarly Ogunbiyi (2004) contended that  information from various construction sites indicated that the stan- dards of craftsmanship in the construction industry had degenerated in quality and availability to the extent that most of the skilled craftsmen in Nigeria today are either from Ghana, Togo or Republic of Benin. A situation which he said could lead to inse- curity and uncertainties.

The failure of the technical college to produce skilled craftsmen due to the in competencies of the building technology graduate teachers had remained unhealthy and led to destabilization of the construction industry. Towe (1998) stressed that re- ports from national examination bodies indicated that for many years running the na- tions technical college products had not passed national technical certificate exami- nations that should qualify them as craftsmen.  Since the training situations of vari- ous technical education programmes had not been replica of working environment, the graduates had always required retraining to make them functional and produc- tive in their workplaces  (Fafunwa  cited in Okparaeke,  2006). To this end, Ajator (2004) revealed that the dwindled quality and quantity of craftsmanship has so ad- versely affected the productivity in the construction industry to the extent that the na- tion has  recorded trillions of naira losses to poorly executed contracts, collapsed building   structures,   work  site  accidents,   wastage   of  materials,   damages   to tools/equipment, high labour procurement cost and delayed or abandoned projects.

This Ajator maintained, is in addition to deprivation of other socio-economic benefits derivable from good housing project delivery. The after effects of the  above down turn in the construction industry which if uncontrolled  will paralyze the 21st  century development strides of the Nigeria built environments which will be more detrimental

on the south-east geopolitical zone discribed   as one of the fastest growing econo- mies in sub-saharan Africa (Ejiofor, 2002).  According to Utulu (2010) the people of South East are among the three majorities and most influenced ethnic group in Nige- ria with majority of them speaking Igbo language. This area was involved in the 1967 to 1970 bloody Nigeria – Biafra civil war. Utulu added that after the civil war Igbo land was devastated with many schools, hospitals, industries and homes completely de- stroyed.  Many  decades  after  the  war,  Igboland  had  remained  in  the  rebuilding processes till this day. The above processes are very essential for her to regain the past economic prosperity of urbanization and industrialization necessitating rapid in- frastructure development, Utulu concluded.

The construction industry could hardly meet construction development needs of South East Nigeria due to poor craftsmanship that had been blamed on deficien- cies of the technical teachers by bookmakers. Federal Ministry of Education (FME) (2000) admitted that the elements of buildingcore courses of technology education programmes ran by few Nigerian Universities are defective and that the processes of implementation of the programme are of questionable quality. These elements ac- cording to various literatures include: curricula/academic programme with too many non core technical courses with out practical work and short programme duration, Human resources that are inadequate and poorly managed, the staff capacity build- ing system detered by lack of human and other resources, structures and system supports that are inadequate, dilapidated and unmaintianed, funding System suffer- ing from  insufficiency  and appropriation  problem,  programmes  that are not I.C.T compliant and facilities inadequacy and not replica of those used in the work site (Faison, 1996; Delandsheere, 1987; Enemeli, 1998; Jinadu, 2000;   Onweh, 2006). On a general note the elements of the building technology education programme of the universities as reviewed are characterized by structural defects which are per- haps responsible  for the inability of the products to  meet the set goal of training skilled craftsmen for the building industry in the technical colleges. The components or elements of the building technology education programme used in the universities in the context of this study should therefore be transformed if the system is to be re- positioned.

However, Osuala (1987) stressed on the need for restructuring Nigerian uni- versity programme in order to fulfill the occupational/education  needs of the individ- uals and the nation.  The implication  of this emphasis  indicates  that  the building technology education programme being run in the universities is defective.  Efforts made to improve the qualities of the building technology education students in the universities in the past had only yielded marginal results. Obiegbu (2002) observed that effort of the Federal Government to enhance competencies in technical occupa- tions through training led to the establishment of Industrial Training Fund (ITF) by decree No 47 of 1971. He decried that the body instead of involving in post educa- tional institution training to improve competencies of manpower, ITF had only ended up funding of  industrial attachment programme  for students in the tertiary institu- tions. Other efforts to enhance competencies of building technology education stu- dents include; various state governments being involved in the mass recruitment of technology lecturers from foreign countries into Nigeria.   The Federal Government offered employment to technology expatriate staff from abroad  and the training of technical educators overseas (Akpan, 1997). Akpan equally added that the various governments had regularly granted bursary and scholar-ship to technical education students in the universities to encourage intelligent candidates to enlist in the pro- gramme. This is in addition to the provision of facilities and establishment of more institutions Akpan (1997) concluded.  Also reports from World Bank (1991) indicated that the use of various education technologies such as video tape technology, hard wares,  software,  and other advance  technologies  such as computer  assisted de- signs or instructions to impart complex manipulative skills had only tried to save cost but had failed to enhance significantly the competencies of the building technology education students in the universities.

The failure of the above remedial measures to enhance the competencies of the building technology teachers indicated that all attempts to produce  competent building  technology  education  students  who  after  graduation  should train skilled craftsmen that will function without retraining had been very difficult. Alternative solu- tion had therefore become imperative if the construction industry is to be saved from extinction.

For the building industry to be repositioned to meet the infrastructure needs of the nations developmental goals of globalization and industrialization and if the suc- cessful implementation of the national strategies to meet the goal of shelter for all in the year 2015 and beyond is to be achieved, trained skilled  craftsmen   must be

available  to the required  extent  (Fajuyitan,  2006).  Onweh  (2006)  concurred  that there should be competent building technology education students who after gradua- tion from the universities should be master craftsmen with the ability to perform pro- ductive tasks in the various aspects of building construction. They should be able to, he  continued,  use  the  competencies  acquired  and  possessed  to  train  skilled craftsmen who will not require retraining to upgrade the economy through meeting the infrastructure needs. Could the building technology education programme of the universities which the elements had been faulted by many scholars as characterized with many structural defects achieve these feats?

Farrant (1982) stated that there should be innovation when the educational system or elements of the programme failed to meet the aims and objectives of indi- viduals, the needs or expectations of the society and unable to reflect the changing technological trends. Innovation is the generational acceptance and implementation of new ideas, process, products or services. There is need through constant revi- sions to identify innovative practices which are characterized by newness and qua- litative differentiation from the existing forms or situations in order to transform the system to known best practices. (Thompson cited in Adesua,1988).

Since the elements of the building technology education programme of  the universities had been said to be of substandard which could be responsible for the inability of their products (building technology teachers) to train skilled craftsmen in the technical colleges for the building industry, these elements should therefore be subjected to innovations. Okebukola (2010) recommended that technology education programmes of the Nigerian universities should be subjected to innovations for trans- formation of competencies of the graduates through improvement in teaching of Eng- lish Language to improve literary and communication skills of graduates, gearing to- wards addressing our unique problems and needs by responding to global trend, re- viving reading culture through the production of books and journals instead of hand- outs, integrating  Student Industrial Work Experience  Scheme (SIWES) and entre- preneurial education into the curricula,  restructuring university technology curricula to  imbue students  with practical and analytical skills; incorporating  into university technology  curricula  professional  ethics  and technical  components  to closely  link theory with the world of work and providing technologically  updated   facilities for teaching of practical courses. Furthermore, Okebukola posited that  more attention should be paid to training of academic staff (teachers, instructors and lecturers) on content material development  and proper mode of delivery to  produce competent

graduates, who in return will ensure the achievement  of set goals in the  nation’s technology education system.

Innovations in the context of this study will necessitate strategies or conven- tions which will entrench desirable changes. These innovations if adopted will serve as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building technology educa- tion students in the universities for transformation.   Mechanism according to Trade- naked (2008) is the logical assembling of components, elements or parts and the as- sociated energy and information flow that enables a machine, process, or system to achieve the intended or desired results. It added that mechanisms involve combining or marshalling  resources  for efficient and effective use in the achievement  of set goals.  Olaitan, (1996) further stressed that mechanism seeks ways of enhancing the quality and quantity of manpower production in technical education.

Mechanisms  in  the  context  of  this  study  are combination  of  components which enable the system to achieve the desired results. These mechanisms should be development into clusters (mechanism clusters) that will tackle craftsmanpower problems   of the construction industry through the  building   technology education programme of the universties. The identified mechanisms will aim at enhancing the competencies of the building technology education students in the universities. En- hancing means increasing or further improving the good quality, value or status of something (Hornby, 2000). Similarly, Kirkpatrick (1987) said that enhancing entails uplifting, or turning for the better or even changing the system for good. The enhanc- ing as it applies to this study is to device strategies aimed at transforming the system to be better than the prevailing situations. This study therefore is aimed at adoption of the innovative elements of the building technology education programme as me- chanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building technology education stu- dents in the universities. This is with the ultimate aim of graduating building technol- ogy education students in the universities as competent technical teachers who will be able to train skilled craftsmen for the construction industry.

Statement of the Problem

With  the  needs  for  rapid  development  of  the  built  environment  by  the craftsmen as workmen, headmen, foremen or supervisors with the professionals of the construction industry after independence,  the University of  Nigerian Nsukka in

1962, started the training of building technology education students in  Vocational

Teacher Education (VTE) Department  to acquire competencies  to produce  skilled

craftsmen in the technical colleges. Today, many Nigeria universities including those from the South-East  geopolitical  zone equally train building technology  education students.  Since competencies  are attributes  that ensure  efficient  productivities  in technical occupations, the building technology education students from the Universi- ties should therefore possess the competencies that will upgrade them as experts in building construction with pedagogical skill to train skilled craftsman for the construc- tion industry.

Literature indicated that the building technology education students graduate from the universities incompetently, since they are not building construction experts. Okoh (2012) confirmed that graduates of Nigerian Universities are half baked since there existed gaps between what they are exposed to in the class rooms and what is actually obtainable in the employment sectors or worksite. This had manifested on the inability of the technical teachers to train skilled craftsmen in technical colleges, who in most cases could not pass the national technical certificate examinations and could not execute construction tasks in the industry without retraining. The failure on the part of NTC graduates (craftsmen) to execute skillful construction tasks in the in- dustry had resulted in collapse of buildings, delayed/abandoned projects, poor hous- ing delivery and fatal work site accidents. As a result, the construction industry had even reverted to the use of skilled craftsmen from nearby West African Countries to remain in business.

Should this situation remain prevailent, the construction industry stands  the risk of extinction resulting to stoppage of development of the Nigerian built environ- ment. With the consequence that there may no longer be increased building produc- tion to provide shelter for the homeless Nigerians/over crowded families and also to provide annually needed one million building structures for the achievement of vision

20-20-20 to make Nigeria one of the first 20th  economies of the world in the  year

2020.. The technical colleges may had failed to train the required skilled craftsmen to meet  the  above  demands  since  there  are  indications  that  construction  industry lacked local craftsmen to prosecute their projects.

Osuala (1999) blamed the failure of the technical colleges to produce skilled craftsmen to sustain the construction  indusry on the building technology  teachers whose training in the universities lacked production competencies. The training pro- gramme of these teachers, Osuala decried was characterized by obsolete curricula with less practical content, short programme  duration,  lecture methods  of instruc- tions,  inadequate/none  practically  oriented  manpower/university  trainers,  training

environment not a replica of the worksite, under funding and  inadequate/outdated facilities/structures.   These claim indicate that building technology education in the universities  are  characterized  by  faulty  elements   which  had  resulted  to  non- emergence of competent building technology teachers. Effort to improve the compe- tencies of building technology education students in the Universities through indus- trial attachment scheme, mass recruitment of technology lecturers from other coun- tries, training of technology educators overseas, granting of scholarship to technical education  students  to  admit the best brain, provision  of facilities  and use of ad- vanced electronic technologies to impact practical skills according to experts had not yielded positive results.

The element of the building technology education should therefore be streng-

thened through innovations. The innovated elements should serve as  mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building technology education students in univer- sities in South-East Nigeria. This is with a view to training competent building tech- nology  education  students  who  will  graduate  as   teachers  to  produce  skilled craftsmen in the technical college for the continous sustenance of construction in- dustry for the development of the Nigerian built environment.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose  of this study is to determine  mechanisms  for enhancing  the competencies  of building  technology  education  students  in  the  universities. The study is specifically designed to determine:

1.         the  up  graded  building  production  curricula/academic  programme  as  uti- lized/used mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building technolo- gy education students in universities;

2.         the adequately managed human resources   were used as mechanisms  for enhancing the competencies of building technology education students in the universities;

3.         the value adding regular staff capacity building system that served as  me- chanisms  for enhancing the competencies  of building technology education students in universities;

4.         the adequately maintained structures  with functional system supports  were provided as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building technol- ogy education students in universities;

5.         the improved funding system is adopted as mechanisms  for enhancing  the competencies of building technology education students in universities;

6.         the Information  Communication  Technologies  (ICTs)  compliant  programme was used as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building tech- nology education students in universities; and

7.       the adequate work site current technology updated facilities were utilized as

mechanisms  for enhancing the competencies of building technology educa- tion students in universities.

Significance of the Study

The finding of the study will be of benefit to the curriculum planners, university administrators, lecturers, researchers and building technology education students in the South-East and Ministry of Education.

The  curriculum  planners  such  as  the  National  Universities  Commission through the adoption of the findings of study will review the curriculum of the building technology education to include building technology practical courses in the universi- ties    and other packages to accredit and re-accredit building technology education programmes in the universities.

The finding of the study from published articles will enable the  South-East Ministries of Education to obtain information to recruit competent teachers and re- train their technical college teachers through staff capacity  building systems.  The outcome of the study if adopted by the university administrators will enable them to manage their human resources efficiently,  base student’s admissions and staff re- cruitment/ promotion on merit and updating of the technical teacher education struc- tures/facilities.

The information’s from the publishing of the findings of the study will expose the lecturers to the global best practices and modern technology through workshops, seminars and conferences. This will enable the lecturers produce competent building technology teachers who in turn will train skilled craftsmen in the technical colleges for the building industry.

The results of the study when packaged through publications, internets or so- cial media will enable building technology education researchers  to link  the  class room  with  the  building  industry,  introduce  innovations   in   building   production processes and make new discoveries on tools, equipment and materials. This is in addition to carrying out further research on the system.

Finally the adoption of the findings of the study by the above stake holders will be- queath the students with theoretical, practical, drafting, ICT, computation and con- struction management competencies. This will enable them to graduate with building production   competencies  and teaching skills to produce skilled  craftsmen for the building industry  who will perform construction tasks with out retraining and put to stop such negative trends like building collapse, project  delay/abandonment,  poor housing delivery work site accidents and use of skilled craftsmen from other coun- tries.

Research questions

The following research questions were answered by the study:

1.         What are the up graded building production curricula/academic  programme used as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building technology education students in universities?

2.         What are the adequately managed human resources adopted as mechan- isms for enhancing the competencies  of building technology education  stu- dents in the universities?

3.         What are the value adding regular staff capacity building systems that served as mechanisms  for enhancing the competencies  of the building  technology education students in universities?

4.         What are the adequately maintained structures  with functional system sup- ports provided as mechanisms  for enhancing the competencies  of  building technology education students in universities?

5.         What are the improved funding systems adopted as mechanisms for enhanc- ing the competencies of building technology education students  in universi- ties?

6.         What is the Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) compliant pro- gramme that served as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of build- ing technology education students in universities?

7.         What  is  the adequate  work site  current  technology  updated  facilities  that served as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building tech- nology education students in the universities?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses for this study were tested at P < 0.05 level of signi- ficance:

H01:    There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universities on use of up graded building production curricula/ academic programme as mechan- isms for enhancing the competencies of building technology teacher trainees in Universities.

H02.    There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universitieson the use of adequately managed human resources as mechanisms for enhancing competencies of building technology education students in Universities.

H03:    There was no significant difference on the mean responses of the  building technology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education students and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universities on value adding regular staff capacity  building system as mechanisms  for en- hancing the competencies of building technology education students in Uni- versities.

H04:    There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universitieson the provision of adequately maintained structures with functional system supports as mechanism for enhancing the competencies of building technology educa- tion students in the Universities.

H05:    There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universitieson the adoption of improved funding system as mechanisms for enhancing the com- petencies of building technology education students in Universities.

H06:    There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universities on the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) compliant programme

as mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of building technology edu- cation students in Universities.

H07:   There is no significant difference on the mean responses of the building tech- nology teachers in the technical colleges, building technology education stu- dents and building technology educators (Lecturers) in the universities on the use of adequate work site current technology updated facilities as mechan- isms for enhancing the competencies  of building  technology education stu- dents in universities.

Scope of the Study

The study is delimited to the identification of the mechanisms for enhancing the competencies of the building technology education students in the universities. This is with a view to focusing on the use of elevated elements of building technology teacher education  programme  such as building production  technology up graded academic programme,  use of adequately managed human resources, regularities in the use of value adding staff capacity building system, provision of adequately main- tained structures with functional system support, adoption of improved funding sys- tem, ICT compliant programme and  adequate work site current technology  updated facilities as mechanism clusters to serve as mechanisms for enhancing the compe- tencies of the building technology education students in the universities. The study concentrated on Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states area of the South-East Nigeria. However, Abia and Imo States which were parts of the area of the study were not involved in the study because they do not offer building technology education pro- grammes in their Universities.

₦5,000.00 – DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT Added to cart

---

---

---

---

---

Related Project Topics :