The influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities in the teaching of electrical/electronics techno-logy education courses are observed at all levels and spheres of technology education. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2008) defined technology education as tertiary education offered in the universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education (Technical) for the production of high level skilled manpower who can apply scientific knowledge to solve environmental problems, provide goods and services for the convenience of man. [Z1] Its cardinal goals are to: (1) provide the technical knowledge and skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development of Nigeria (2) give training that imparts the necessary skills for the production of technicians, technologists and other skilled personnel who shall be enterprising and self-reliant. To achieve these and other goals of technology education, adequate instructional materials and facilities are highly needed. The goals of technology education can be achieved through the body of well-funded agencies. Federal Republic of Nigeria[Z2]  (2004) stated that vocational education is that form of education which leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge. Hence, it can be known that technology is a paramount aspect of human life. Technology refers to the use of products of creativity, inventions and scientific research in the service of man. Electrical and electronics technology education is one of the major options or special areas offered in Nigerian universities under the Department of Technology and Vocational Education. [Z3]  In some universities in Nigeria, the departmental name may vary from vocational and technical education to even, vocational teacher education yet they offer similar electrical/electronic courses like Technology and Vocational Education Departments.

However, the teaching and learning of electrical/electronic specialized area as a field of study in technology education is vital in the production of workforce with potent understanding and diverse skills in the design, development, production, management and utilization of current electrical and electronics devices and circuits.

According to Carribbean (2001), electrical and electronics technology [Z4] is a field of study that provides both theoretical and hands-on knowledge of current electrical and electronics devices and circuits. Hence, electrical and electronics technology (EET) education syllabus is designed to provide the essential fundamental knowledge and the analytical, practical and experimental skills necessary for a lifelong career in the field of electrical and electronics technology. It also provides students with fundamental knowledge and skills for the workplace and professional pedagogy skills in electrical and electronics field.

Meanwhile, for effective teaching and learning of electrical and electronics technology education, instructional materials and facilities are necessary. Instructional materials and facilities on their own help to facilitate teaching and learning and are used to influence concrete and permanent change in technical behaviour.

According to Eya (2006), instructional materials are all forms of information carriers which can be used to record, store, preserve, transmit, concretize or retrieve information for the purpose of teaching and learning. Wale (2006) was of the opinion that the use of instructional materials would make discovered facts glued firmly to the memory of students. According to Ogwa (2002), instructional materials include audio visual aids, tools, equipment, machines, educational materials such as chats and ICT instructional resources. He also said that, instructional aids mean all the materials or teaching aids or material resources which the teacher utilizes for the purpose of making teaching and learning more effective and meaningful to students.

In the same sense, instructional facilities for  vocational and technical education encompass all basic hand tools, equipment, classrooms, workshops, laboratories, electrical and electronics instruments among others which help the learners to learn  properly (Bulama, 2001). This means that technology and vocational education programmes require tools and equipment that will help in the facilitation of the acquisition of occupational skills in the diverse areas of electrical and electronic technology. Anyakoha (1994) observed that useful skills can be developed and reinforced by the appropriate selection and use of instructional facilities, materials and tools.

However, upon the usefulness of instructional materials and facilities in the teaching and learning of electrical and electronics technology education, the present situation unveils the scarcity and inadequate instructional materials in technology and vocational education programmes in Ebonyi State University. The problem of this study is that  the researcher found out that hundred percent of classroom teachers do not use films, slides, film strip, overhead projectors, tools, ICT resources, machines and equipment while teaching. At times, some of the instructional materials are not available in the right amount and quality to ensure effective utilization. Most electrical/electronic teachers do not locally improvise known foreign electricity teaching aids because of funds and experience. According to Owoh (2009), inadequacy of funding in science and technology teaching is acute in Nigeria, more so at this time that the country is struggling to get out of the quagmire of economic recession.

The effects of all these inadequate instructional materials and facilities in the teaching and learning of electrical and electronics courses have not been determined so that all concerned will provide adequate solution. The general purpose of this study is to deter-mine the influence of, inadequate instructional materials and faculties on the effective teaching and learning of electrical and electronics technology education courses in Ebonyi State University.

Research question

The following research questions were formulated to guide this study:

What are the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on teachers’ effective teaching of electrical and electronics technology education courses?

What are the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on students’ effective learning of electrical and electronic technology education courses?

Hypotheses

This research was guided by the following hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO₁:     There is no statistical significant difference between the responses of teachers and students on the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on the effective teaching of electrical and electronics technology education courses. 

HO₂:     There is no statistical significant difference between the responses of teachers and students on the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on the effective learning of electrical and electronics technology education courses.

This study adopted descriptive survey research design. The area of the study was Ebonyi State and it was specifically carried out in the Department of Technology and Vocational Education of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, where Electrical and Electronics Technology Education Courses are taught by teachers and learnt by students. The population of the study was made up of six (6) lecturers (Teachers) and 50 students that offer electrical/electronic (E/E) technology education, making a total of 56[Z1]  respondents. The study involved a population of few persons that can be fully studied; therefore, no sampling was carried out. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire with a four-point response scale of: Strongly Agree (4), Agree (3), Disagree (2) and Strongly Disagree (1). [Z2]  The instrument was face validated by two experts in Technology and Vocational Education Department and one expert from the area of measurement and evaluation in the Department of Science Education. Their criticisms and suggestions were integrated in the final draft to improve the instrument holistically.

The instrument was trial tested twice with two weeks interval on equivalent subjects in Enugu State University of Science and Technology, being 20 in number. The trial test results were subjected to Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient computation to establish the type of reliability called coefficient of stability using test-re-test method. The computation yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.89 which was good enough for the instrument. The instrument was therefore confirmed to be both valid and reliable enough. It was then administered directly to the subjects for their responses with the aid of two research assistants. Due to the high level of enlightenment of the respondents, all the 56 questionnaires sent out were all correctly completed and returned for analysis, representing 100% return rate. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the student t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.

The data collected were analyzed and the results are presented in Tables 1-4 in line with the research questions and hypotheses.

Research question 1

What are the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on teachers’ effective teaching of electrical and electronics technology education courses?

The results of analysis of data relating to this research question are presented in Table 1.

Research question 2

What are the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on students’ effective learning of E/E technology education courses?

Testing of hypotheses

Hypothesis 1 

HO₁:     There is no statistical significant difference between the responses of teachers and those of students on the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on the effective teaching of electrical and electronics technology education courses.

Hypothesis 2

HO₂:     There is no statistical significant difference between the responses of teachers and those of students on the influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities on the effective learning of electrical and electronics technology education courses.

 [Z1] 

Based on the data collected and analyzed as shown above, the following findings were made in this study.

 

 1. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities make electrical/electronics teachers to dissipate a lot of energy during lesson delivery without achieving much (x = 3.31, t-cal = 0.67).

2. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities hinder concrete technical instruction by teachers (x = 3.38, d = 0.18).

3. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities hinder the effective teaching of electrical/electronic courses.

4. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities make the teaching of electrical/electronics courses very boring, abstract and theoretical.

5. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities reduce electrical/electronics teachers zeal and interest in teaching (x = 3.52, t=0.31).

6. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities reduce students’ interest and zeal in electrical/electronics lectures and learning (x = 3.77; t = 0.44).

7. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities hinder students’ participation in electrical/electronics lecturers and instruction (x = 3.43; t=0.97).

8. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities hinder various classroom interaction patterns possible in electrical/electronics learning (x = 3.52; t = 0.61).

9. Inadequate instruction materials and facilities jointly hinder students  practical  skills  acquisition  in  electrical

electronics courses (x = 3.52; t=0.54).

10. Inadequate instructional materials and facilities jointly reduce students score in electrical/electronics semester examinations and CGPA on graduation (x = 3.70, t = 0.50).

This study generally indicated 32 classified influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities but only 10 critical ones were outlined under the findings of the study. From the analysis tables presented, it is clear that all the teachers and students agreed to the fact that all 32 items generally influence the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics (E/E) courses negatively. In the same vain, there was no significant difference between the responses of teachers and students as shown in t-test (Tables 3 and 4). Both groups agreed that the use of inadequate instructional materials and facilities greatly affect students’ skill acquisition in electrical/electronics. This is in line with Ogwa (2002) who stated that techno-logy and vocational educators require teaching aids to specifically help students acquire the necessary skills in their subject area.

They also agreed that the use of inadequate instructional materials and facilities affect teachers’ motivation in teaching electrical/electronics technology education courses. When adequate instructional materials are provided to the teachers, they feel energized and motivated and their sense of ownership and empowerment increased. Well implemented school improvement plans on the use of instructional materials and facilities in teaching and learning of electrical/electronics can increase collegiality and give teachers the satisfaction thereby committing themselves to school improvement goals. According to Eya (2006) instructional   materials   make  the  teachers’  job  easier, faster and more effective. He maintained that when a teacher sees that he has relevant materials to teach his subject, he becomes more eager to go and teach.

Academic performance, according to Bossaert et al. (2011), is the outcome of education showing the extent to which students, teachers or institutions have achieved their educational goals. Academic performance generally refers to how well a student is accomplishing his or her tasks and studies. This can be measured with the permanent changes in the behaviour of a student as a result of the knowledge acquired. This is in line with Tomporowsk et al (2008) who wrote that the purpose of learning is to effect a permanent change in behaviour of the learner. Therefore, the sole aim of teaching is to gain experience. This emphasizes that when instructional materials and facilities are used in teaching and learning of electrical/electronics, the academic performance of the students will be improved. This is in line with items 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of Table 2 which revealed that use of inadequate instructional materials and facilities reduce the academic performance of students in electrical/electronics and hinder practical skills acquisition in electrical/ electronic courses. Items 1, 2 and 3 of Table 2 revealed that inadequate instructional materials and facilities hinder the interest of the students in teaching and learning of electrical/electronics hinder their participation in electrical/electronic lectures and increase truancy. Interest and ability should determine the directions in education. In electrical/electronics technology education, interest becomes driving force to achieve the desired goals. 

If student’s interest can be generated in the lesson all the attention can  be  focused on areas learned. But if the students do not have the interest or lack attention to a lesson, it can also influence the interest of the teachers thereby affecting the variety of ways or methods of teaching. Hence they cannot achieve the expected learning objective. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) specifically stated that instructional materials and facilities arouse the interest of students in the teaching and learning technical subjects. Mbaga et al. (2014) stated that it is only a well-developed instructional system headed by the teacher and assisted by adequate instructional materials and facilities that can positively influence the production of high caliber graduates at all levels of educational system. In the same vein, Ogbu (2014) greatly emphasized the importance of adequate, effective and efficient instructional materials and facilities in technology and vocational education, if wastages must be curbed in Technology, Vocational Education and Training (TVET). [Z1]

Conclusion

Influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities in the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology education are innumerable and most often with grave consequences not only in the school system but also to the larger society where the graduates eventually work. The influences identified in this study truly point to the great need for adequate provision and effective utilization of suitable instructional materials and facilities in the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology education in Nigeria.  

That government and E/E programme proprietors should provide instructional materials and facilities adequately to prevent all the negative influences of inadequate instructional materials and facilities to effective teaching of Electrical/electronics courses.

That all concerned, such as State and federal government, school administrators, parents, teachers and non-governmental organizations should join hands to adequately provide instructional materials and facilities in order to eradicate their negative influences on the effective learning and practical skill acquisition in E/E courses. 

The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.