Effects of Constructivist Instructional Approach on Woodwork Students’ Academic Achievement and Retention in Government Technical Colleges in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate effect of constructivist instructional approach on woodwork students’ academic achievement and retention in government technical colleges in Kano state, Nigeria. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design in which intact classes were used. Two research questions were raised to guide the study, two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample size was 50 students selected from the two technical colleges in the state. The instrument used for data collection was Woodwork Achievement Test (WWAT) which was validated by three experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.71. Mean was used to answer the research questions while ANCOVA was used to test the null hypotheses. The study found that students in experimental group performed higher than those in control group with 17.18 mean differences. This implies that constructivist instructional approach is more effective than demonstration method in teaching woodwork. The study among others recommends that government and ministry of education should encourage the use of constructivist instructional approach in teaching woodwork trade in Government Technical Colleges in Kano State, Nigeria. National Board for Technical Education should consider reviewing its curriculum to incorporate constructivist method of teaching her programs.