Optimising TVET Students’ Practical Skills Outcome and Career Interest Via Personalised Workstations

Abstract

This study explored the influence of personalised workstations on practical skill acquisition and career interest of technical education students. The study was conducted on 300 and 400-level students from the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, Nigeria. The population for study comprises of 312 students from the 2023/2024 academic session of the faculty. Data collection was conducted using a 32-item structured questionnaire based on the two research hypotheses, employing a 5-point Likert scale. The research instrument was subjected to face validation by three specialists from the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Data collected was analysed to determine the internal consistency of the measure items using Cronbach’s alpha (α). A reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained indicating that the instrument was reliable for the study. The correlational survey research design was also used to investigate the relationships between personalized workstation and practical skill performance of woodwork students. A simple linear regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. Findings of the results show that personalised workstations significantly influence the practical skill acquisition and career interest of students. The study recommends among other things, that the management of technical institutions should provide learning equipment and training materials needed for the execution of practical activities in the workstations.