ABSTRACT
The study used survey research design to identify the skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of Radio and Television for the repairs of flat screen television (Liquid Crystal Display Television). Four research questions alongside with four hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data for answering four research questions and testing four null hypotheses. The questionnaire has five sections (A to E), with a total of 42 skill items on five point scale. The questionnaire was validated by three experts; two from the department of Vocational Teacher Education and one from the Department of Electronic Engineering, all in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability of the questionnaire after pilot testing was found to be 0.80. The population of the study consisted of 22 Radio and Television teachers and Technologists in accredited Technical Colleges in South Eastern States of Nigeria. The whole of this population was used for the study. Mean, standard deviation and t-test statistic were used for the analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire. The results of the analysis revealed the skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of Radio and Television from Technical Colleges in South Eastern States of Nigeria for the repairs of flat screen televisions (liquid crystal display televisions). The study recommended ways of imbedding the skills into the curriculum of Nigerian technical colleges.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Technical Colleges in Nigeria turn out craftsmen in various trades such as Mechanical, Building, Woods, Textiles and Electrical Engineering trade among a host of others. Radio and Television servicing is among the Electrical Engineering trade designed to produce craftsmen that will be able to carry out repairs in Radio and Television effectively. According to National Board for Technical Education (NBTE, 2001), the Radio and Television Craftsmen are expected to diagnose and clear faults of common types found in every section or stage in the blacks and white television; and understand the basic concept of colour. Therefore, the television servicing curriculum was designed to give the students of Radio and Television relevant skills to achieve the above mentioned objectives. Workshop technologist maintains equipment for both testing and component replacement. Radio and Television servicing teachers on the other hand implement the curriculum to ensure that their students acquire enough skills in television servicing.
The curriculum for television servicing contains theoretical knowledge and troubleshooting skills which contain logical procedure for the repair of radio and television. Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to
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repair failed products or processes (Wikipedia, 2011). Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes (Wikipedia, 2011). Miller (1998) emphasized that efficient troubleshooting call for combination of logical procedure with knowledge of theory of a circuit or system. Logical procedure in troubleshooting required deductive reasoning skills, dynamic test skills, static test skills as well a component replacement skills. Deductive reasoning skills involve application of the knowledge acquired to make judgment about situation. It is through deductive reasoning skills that a technician pin-point a particular unit as defective even before carrying out any test. To find out defective component(s) in a unit suspected to be defective, Doham (2000) listed two tests that must be carried out. These are dynamic and static. In dynamic test, signals are injected into the unit suspected to be defective and observe the output signals. An abnormal output signal indicates defective unit. Static test on the other hand involves measurement of current, voltage, resistance and continuity test. The result of such tests reveal defective component in a circuit. Once a component is found to be defective, the next thing is to replace it.
The present curriculum for television servicing is based on cathode ray tube (CRT) technology. What this means is that students are only equipped with knowledge and skills to carry out repairs in only television built based on CRT
technology. The curriculum based on CRT technology exposes students to skills of disassembling parts of television, fault-finding, component replacement and assembling skills among others. Certainly, such skills enable them to conduct repair based on CRT technology after graduation.
The operation of television based on CRT technology in power section is such that the output voltage of the power supply is stepped up via a fly back transformer to output of 10KV or more. Such high output voltage is required by CRT anode to make electron beam travel from its cathode to the phosphor (Miller, 1998). Clearly, this mode of operation results to consumption of large electrical energy. Furthermore, the distance required by electron beam to travel from cathode to the screen make CRT television bulky and produce less sharp image on the screen.
To overcome these shortcomings, Engineers turn to liquid crystal technology. Television based on liquid crystal technology contains two thin glass sheets which constitute the assembling of a typical shutter. The rear sheet polarizes the film, the active matrix components, addressing electrodes, and then the director. The only difference with the front sheet is the absence of active matrix components, which is replaced by patterned colour filters. There is liquid crystal placed between the two sheets which divides the liquid into individual shutters and maintains a precise distance between them. The shutter assembly
combines with control electronics and back light, for the production of an entire picture. The back light is generally provided by a single lamp in case of small sets, and a diffuser or frosted mirror is used to spread out the light. However, in case of larger displays, a single lamp is not bright enough and a number of separate lamps are used instead (Strivastava, 2010).
The liquid crystal technology makes liquid crystal display televisions (LCD TVs) much more thinner, lighter, consume less power and have better image quality than CRT televisions. The growth in the LCD TV segment of the flat panel Television Industry has been impressive. It has been estimated that the global shipments for LCD TVs reached 146 million units by the end of 2009 (Squidoo, 2010). Therefore, anyone in the TV repair business should start positioning his/her business for an upcoming boom in demand relating to flat panel television industry, particularly the repair need of Units that are going out of their warranty periods. It can be argue that the era of CRT TVs and the profitability in CRT TV repair is in its decline and hence, electronics repair business should be on the lookout for new riches that will bring in new revenue streams (Squidoo, 2010). Squidoo is not alone in predicting the future dominance of LCD TVs over CRT TVs. Strivastava (2010) stated that the televisions based on LCD technology are quickly replacing the major
competitors in the large-screen market, pushing al other technologies into extinction.
Strivastava (2010) further stated that in 2007, for the first time, LCD TVs surpassed sales of the conventional model based on CRT technology. From the above revelations one can conclude that in few years to come, televisions based on CRT technology will become obsolete. Such obsoleteness will push graduates to radio and television out of business of television repairs. This is due to the fact that they would not have learnt the repairs of LCD TVs. This study therefore is designed to identify the skills to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television for the repairs of Liquid Crystal Televisions (LCD TVs).
Statement of the Problem
Electronic technology, like other fields of technologies is witnessing rapid technological advancement. In fact, it can be argued that technological advancement in electronic technology is more rapid than any other field of technology in that an electronic equipment in vogue today may be obsolete in the next few months. The curriculum for radio and television servicing must therefore respond to changes in electronic technology so that the graduates of radio and television can fit into the business of radio and television repairs.
Before now, televisions based on CRT technology were the most dominant televisions all over the world. But the search for televisions with lower
energy consumptions, high on image resolution, distortion-free sound transmission and better appearance brought to television based on liquid crystal display technology, often called liquid crystal display television (LCD TVs).
The learning contents of the present curriculum for television servicing has not been reviewed to reflect the new technology; the liquid crystal display technology. There is therefore, mismatch between the curriculum for television servicing and the skills needed for the repairs of LCD TVs. In supporting this view, the United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 1999) observed that the mismatch of curricular in Technical and Vocational Education with the needs of the enterprises is a key issue not only in African countries but also worldwide. UNESCO explained that in African countries, the relevance and appropriateness of the curricular for preparing students for the world of work is not reviewed on a regular basis.
From the above assertions, it is observed that there is mismatch between the present learning contents for television servicing and the skills needed in the repairs of LCD TVs resulted to inability of graduates of radio and television from Technical Colleges to conduct repairs in LCD TVs. Therefore, what are then the skills needed by the graduates of radio and television from technical colleges for the repairs of LCD TVs?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to identify the skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television from technical colleges in the repairs of LCD TVs. Specifically, this study tends to identify:
(1) The deductive reasoning skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television from technical colleges in the repairs in LCD TVs.
(2) The dynamic fault-finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television from technical colleges in the repairs of LCD TVs.
(3) The static fault-finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs.
(4) The component replacement skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television from technical colleges in the repairs of LCD TVs.
Research Questions
This study was guided by the following research questions:
(1) What are the deductive reasoning skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs?
(2) What are the dynamic fault-finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs?
(3) What are the static fault-finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs?
(4) What are the component replacement skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs?
Hypotheses
Four hypotheses are formulated for this study and were tested at the probability of 0.05 level of significance and relevant degrees of freedom.
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean response of radio and television teachers and technologists on the deductive reasoning skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the mean response of radio and television teachers and technologists on the dynamic fault finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and Television in the repairs of LCD TVs.
Ho3: There is no significant difference between the mean response of radio and Television teachers and technologists on the static fault-finding skills needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs.
Ho4: There is no significant difference between the mean response of radio and television teachers and technologist on the component replacement skills
needed to be acquired by the graduates of radio and television in the repairs of LCD TVs.
Significance of the Study
National Board for Technical Education is responsible for designing the curriculum for Technical Colleges in Nigeria. Therefore, the findings of this study will help the curriculum planners in National Board for Technical Education to integrate skills for servicing LCD TVs into the curriculum of radio and television servicing. The graduates of radio and television will benefit from the skills identified for the repairs of LCD TVs when integrated into the radio and television service manual. The society will benefit from the LCD TVs repairs or services to be rendered by the graduate of radio and television that have gone through this study. The result of this study will help the trainers of radio and television repairs in technical colleges and other department of vocational teacher education to update their skills and knowledge in the repairs of LCD TVs. The findings of this study will as well be beneficial to the school administration on the need to send the radio and television servicing teachers for refresher course in the area of repairs of LCD TVs.
Scope of the Study
This study focused on the skill acquisition needs of graduates of radio and television from technical colleges in the repairs of LCD TVs. The study is limited to identifying the:
(1) Deductive reasoning skills needed to be acquired in the repairs of LCD TVs.
(2) Dynamic fault-finding skills needed to be acquired in the repairs of LCD TVs.
(3) Static-fault-finding skills needed to be acquired in the repairs of LCD TVs.
(4) Component replacement skills to be acquired in the repairs of LCD TVs. Other area that is related to this study but not included in this study is theoretical knowledge that graduates of radio and Television needed for the repairs of LCD TV.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
SKILL ACQUISITION NEEDS OF GRADUATES OF RADIO AND TELEVISION FROM TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN SOUTH-EASTERN STATES OF NIGERIA
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