Criticism of Issues and Strategies of Nigerian OTM Curriculum Review and Implementation: A Study of Rivers State Polytechnics (Published)
This study adopted a survey research design on Criticism of Issues and Strategies of Nigerian OTM Curriculum Review and Implementation: a Study of Rivers State Polytechnics. The population of the study was numbered 866 OTM students with a sample of 270 using Krejie and Morgan as sampling technique. Five purposes, research questions and hypotheses were posed and formulated to guide the study. The research instrument used was called “Criticism of Issues and Strategies of Nigerian OTM Curriculum Review and Implementation (CIASONOTMCRAM)” with a four point scale. The instrument was subjected to face and content validation by three experts. To ascertain the reliability and consistency of measurement, a pilot study was done on 14 students which yielded 0.89 co-efficient. A total of 270 copies of the questionnaire were administered and successfully retrieved. Mean statistics was used to answer the research questions, Standard Deviation was employed to find out the extent in which scores clustered around the means and t-test used to analyse the hypotheses. The findings of the study confirmed that there was low level of review and implementation of OTM curriculum in Rivers State Polytechnics. Among other things, it was recommended that there should be very high level of regular review of OTM curriculum, training and retraining to enable lecturers possessed high level of ICT expertise in teaching OTM students to achieve high level of implementation of OTM curriculum in Rivers State Polytechnics
Keywords: Curriculum, OTM curriculum, Strategies., criticism of issues, level of implementation of curriculum, level of review of OTM curriculum, review of curriculum, rivers state polytechnics and Nigeria
Conformity of Agriculture Vocational School Curriculum: Skill Competency of Agricultural Product Processing Agribusiness with the Needs of the World of Work (Published)
Vocational school (VS) aims to prepare students to work in industries or to create their own jobs. Therefore, it is important for VS to prepare students to have better competencies needed by industries. The study aims to 1) review the suitability of the competencies of agriculture vocational school graduates, skill competency of agricultural product processing agribusiness with the competencies needed by the world of work; and 2) review the pattern of synchronization mechanism of agriculture vocational school’s curriculum in the intended competencies. Secondary data ws analyzed combined with the result of Focus Group Discussion in sample areas of study. The research results showed that 1) curriculum of agriculture vocational schools in the skill competency of agricultural product processing agribusiness is in accordance with the competencies needed by the world of work based on Level II Indonesian National Work Qualification Certification Scheme. However, there are (a) “inapplicable” core competencies (CC -3 and CC -4) in the subjects of production and processing of plantation and herbal commodities, production and processing of hardwood commodities/products (coconut, palm oil and rubber). This is due to no plantations and/or industries for processing these commodities around the locations of the sample schools, (b) core competencies and basic competencies are lack depth in the competencies needed by the industry, namely identification of tubers, fresh fruits, and vegetables for the production unit on the subject of production of processing vegetable products, and 2) legally and formally, there is no pattern of synchronization mechanism of these competencies, the existing synchronization pattern is incidental based on input from the alumni of the sample schools and/or through consultations of schools with industry as partners. this study concluded that the skill competency of agricultural product processing agribusiness refers to level II Indonesian National Work Qualification Certification Scheme, but the implementation varies depends on schools’ facilities, quality of particularly teachers of productive subjects, and the collaboration with industrial partner.
Keywords: Agriculture, Competence, Curriculum, Skill, agribusiness, the world of work, vocational school
Competency-Based Curriculum: A Framework for Bridging the Gap in Teaching, Assessment and the World of Work (Published)
In this era of creative and flexible learning, most vocational education and training (VET) in developing countries still adopt a passive approach to learning where students’ success in examination is based on their ability to reproduce a credible portion of their notes from memory. Although the curricula and teaching methods have remained largely unchanged in developing countries over the years, employers are increasingly demanding technical competencies, analytical thinking, communication and entrepreneurial skills. Essentially, the study seeks to find out how curriculum development processes of CBT provides framework for aligning teaching and learning processes to equip trainees with requisite skills and competencies to perform in the world of work. The study examines relevant literature and policy papers from several databases together with key stakeholder consultations to obtain insights into CBT curriculum development processes, underlying assumptions, philosophies, linkages with Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives, assessment practices and outcomes and their eventual effects on the achievement of relevant skills and competencies required to perform professional tasks. The study shows that although mastery of a job-specific task is important, it does not ensure a competent employee particularly in the context of rapid pace of technological change and high labour mobility. Moreover, when outcomes of learning are tied to descriptions of work, or specific workplace activity, it emphasises tradition and limits transfer of skills and labour mobility, leaving graduates largely for routine and restricted tasks which may not guarantee employability (Nuffield Review, 2008). Prospective employees need to acquire a broader range of soft skills, professional competencies and attitudes to continually adapt and transfer skills and knowledge in different contexts. It is imperative for industry to engage in innovative forms of collaboration to achieve industry–demand driven form of training and smooth transition of students from school to work. Feedback from assessment must focus on task-oriented information and corrective advice to build students’ self-esteem to self-regulate their learning towards the achievement of learning goals.
Keywords: Assessment, Competency-Based, Curriculum, Skills, Workplace
Competency-Based Curriculum: A Framework for Bridging the Gap in Teaching, Assessment and the World of Work (Published)
In this era of creative and flexible learning, most vocational education and training (VET) in developing countries still adopt a passive approach to learning where students’ success in examination is based on their ability to reproduce a credible portion of their notes from memory. Although the curricula and teaching methods have remained largely unchanged in developing countries over the years, employers are increasingly demanding technical competencies, analytical thinking, communication and entrepreneurial skills. Essentially, the study seeks to find out how curriculum development processes of CBT provides framework for aligning teaching and learning processes to equip trainees with requisite skills and competencies to perform in the world of work. The study examines relevant literature and policy papers from several databases together with key stakeholder consultations to obtain insights into CBT curriculum development processes, underlying assumptions, philosophies, linkages with Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives, assessment practices and outcomes and their eventual effects on the achievement of relevant skills and competencies required to perform professional tasks. The study shows that although mastery of a job-specific task is important, it does not ensure a competent employee particularly in the context of rapid pace of technological change and high labour mobility. Moreover, when outcomes of learning are tied to descriptions of work, or specific workplace activity, it emphasises tradition and limits transfer of skills and labour mobility, leaving graduates largely for routine and restricted tasks which may not guarantee employability (Nuffield Review, 2008). Prospective employees need to acquire a broader range of soft skills, professional competencies and attitudes to continually adapt and transfer skills and knowledge in different contexts. It is imperative for industry to engage in innovative forms of collaboration to achieve industry–demand driven form of training and smooth transition of students from school to work. Feedback from assessment must focus on task-oriented information and corrective advice to build students’ self-esteem to self-regulate their learning towards the achievement of learning goals.
Keywords: Assessment, Competency-Based, Curriculum, Skills, Workplace