PROCEDURES FOR ASSESSING OF STUDENTS’ PRACTICAL SKILLS ACQUISITION IN BUILDING TECHNOLOGY AT NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE) LEVEL

Abstract

The study examines the procedures for assessing students’ practical skills acquisition in building technology at Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) level. The population for the study comprises all Technical teachers in the School of Secondary Education, Vocational and Technical Programmes, Oyo State College of Education (Technical), Lanlate. Questionnaire was the instrument used in collecting data from respondents. Sampling was not employed for this study due to small size of the population. The data obtained were analyzed through the use of means and standard deviation. The findings revealed that nonavailability of practical materials, inadequate training facilities, and the limited time allocated to practical activities are some of the problems often confronted in the evaluation of students’ competence in practical skills. It also shows that predetermination of objectives, preparation of checklist, assessing students’ independence in handling practical task, assessing students’ ability in following the proper steps or procedures, assessing the overall quality of the completed task were some of the indices that could be adopted for the effective assessment of students’ competence in practical skills. Based on the findings, conclusion was drawn and it was recommended that government should make training facilities and materials adequate to technical teachers and training institutions, safety education should be emphasised in the teaching and handling of practical, and technology institutions and teachers should be kept abreast of the new trends of evaluation procedures through continue professional development.