INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR ENHANCING SKILL ACQUISITION AMONG DIGITALLY UNDERREPRESENTED ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS STUDENTS IN STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE

By N. B. Osita, I. A. Abubakar, M. C. Patrick & O. Ugochukwu

Abstract: The study examines instructional techniques for enhancing skill acquisition among digitally underrepresented Electrical/Electronics students in state-owned universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and comprised a population of 117 lecturers and final-year students of technical education. Census Subset (sampling) was applied to select 46 respondents (15 lecturers and 31 students) from the electrical/electronic technology option. Two research questions guided the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured 20?item questionnaire titled “Instructional Techniques for Skill Acquisition Questionnaire (ITSAQ)”. The instrument was face- and content-validated by two experts in electrical/electronic technology and one expert in measurement and evaluation from Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. The Cronbach's Alpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument, yielding a coefficient of 0.87. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The study identifies and discusses effective instructional techniques including the contextualized learning, differentiated instruction, and mentoring programs which can foster practical skill acquisition, promote lifelong learning habits, improve academic performance, and enhance employability for digitally underrepresented students in the evolving technological workforce. The paper also highlights implementation challenges such as an outdated curriculum, financial constraints, and poor institution–industry partnerships that hinder the adoption and effectiveness of these approaches in higher education settings.
Keywords: Instructional techniques, Skill Acquisition, Digital underrepresentation and Electrical/Electronics.