INFLUENCE OF LECTURERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE ON STUDENTS’ SKILLS ACQUISITION IN INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

This study examined the influence of levels of lecturers’ digital competence on students’ industrial technology skills acquisition in Rivers State universities. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprised 416 Year 3 and Year 4 Industrial Technology Education students from Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. A census approach was adopted, while 236 properly completed questionnaires were used for data analysis. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Questionnaire on Lecturers’ Digital Competence and Students’ Industrial Technology Skills Acquisition. The instrument was validated by experts in Industrial Technology Education and Measurement and Evaluation, while a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.76 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Z-test was used to test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that lecturers’ technical digital competence positively influenced students’ industrial technology skills acquisition, with an average mean of 2.59 for students from Rivers State University and 2.75 for students from Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The findings also showed that lecturers’ pedagogical digital competence positively influenced students’ industrial technology skills acquisition, with average means of 2.64 and 2.66 for Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, respectively. However, the Z-test results indicated no significant difference between the mean responses of students from the two universities regarding technical digital competence and pedagogical digital competence. The study concludes that students in both universities generally perceive lecturers’ technical and pedagogical digital competence as beneficial to their acquisition of industrial technology skills, and that their perceptions do not differ significantly across the two institutions. It was recommended, among others, that universities should strengthen continuous professional development programmes that equip Industrial Technology Education lecturers with practical technical and pedagogical digital competencies for effective industrial technology instruction.