TECHNIQUES OF ENCOURAGING SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' INTEREST IN TECHNICAL DRAWING

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Education is a significant instrument utilized to enhance society through various training programs provided at various levels of institutions. Such training is supposed to prepare its graduates to become better citizens capable of making significant contributions to the society. According to the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) (2013), the aims of education are to enable individuals to live in and contribute meaningfully to society by developing relevant skills, mental, physical, and social talents and competences. The extent to which these objectives are met is judged by students' performance in examinations administered by various examination bodies. Reports on secondary school and technical college students' performance in external examinations conducted by these bodies have not been promising in recent years. According to Aworanti (2013), given the rate of reduction in secondary school students' success in scientific and technical related topics, particularly technical drawings in external examinations, the aims of technical education may not be met.

Technical drawing is a technical education discipline that is taught as a subject/module at several levels of the Nigerian educational system, including secondary schools and postsecondary institutions. Technical drawing is a senior secondary school (SSS1-SSS3) subject that is constructed with curriculum objectives for senior secondary school students to encourage pre-vocational outlook in technology, medium of communication among technologists, engineers, architects, and others, and is widely used in many fields and professions. The course covers how humans may contribute to the planning and development of our society's infrastructure. However, in the context of technical education, technical drawing has been regarded as a highly significant science topic, and its relevance in any nation's scientific and technological progress has been extensively documented.

Technical drawing is a topic that is given in most science and technical focused courses in senior secondary schools, highlighting the importance of efficiently teaching technical drawing in our institutions. A systematic integration of a variety of instructional methods has been used in the teaching and learning of technical drawing, and various methods are used to improve learning and increase the level of high performance of students' academic achievement and productivity, as well as the methodology used in teaching technical drawing in schools.

Various techniques are used to instruct students, including the lecture method, questioning method discussion, play-way method, problem posing method, demonstration method, field trip/excursion method dramatization approach, and others. According to Ezeji (2008), successful teaching requires a high level of inventiveness in assessing, synthesizing, and presenting knowledge in novel and effective ways. Different disciplines have different techniques of conveying knowledge to students, and these are the factors that should be considered in the teaching and learning process. Technical drawing is a topic that students struggle with since it involves psychomotor abilities (FRN, 2009). Psychomotor skills in technical drawing encompass actions that need finger and hand movement synchronization as a consequence of cognitive planning. Handling pencils, manipulating drawing equipment, sliding the T-square, setsquares, ruler, and appropriate eraser use are examples of activities. The issue of students' poor academic accomplishment in technical drawing has been placed on the approach used by teachers to teach the subject. According to Osinen and Nwoji (2016), instructors have challenges in utilizing new technologies and keeping up with teaching techniques of diverse vocational courses. However, the effective execution of any technical education curriculum is dependent on the quality of teachers and their competence to handle, operate, and use tools and equipment available for student instruction (Olaitan 2021).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Today’s world of technology has been characterized by the increasing impact of vocational subjects on the life of people.  It is clear that the teaching of technical drawing appear to be inadequate in measure with the changing demands of the society. Lack of qualified teacher to teach technical drawing and high cost of instructional material had resulted into low enrolment of students in Technical drawing which is a consequence of low interest and attitude of students towards the subject. As observed by Sunday and  Louis (2020),advancement in technology has influenced all sphere of human lives and all sectors of the economy positively. Technology has made work easier and faster. In the educational sector for example, technology are employed in the areas of teaching and learning, for generating, keeping and retrieving of information. However many workers including teachers seems not to have the knowledge and skills for using the new technology and method for their daily work routine. It was observed by Ginika (2022) technical Drawing teachers are still using one or a combination of two or more conventional teaching methods to deliver their lessons. This teaching method seems not to encourage students participation in the teaching learning process. Consequently, students are not likely to have mastery of the subject matter. This could have resulted to poor academic achievement in technical drawing over the years. Therefore upon this premise that  the researcher seeks to investigate techniques of encouraging secondary school students' interest in technical drawing.

1.3OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of this study is to investigate techniques of encouraging secondary school students' interest in technical drawing.Specifically, the study seeks to:

i.          To determine whether utilization of necessary drawing instruments will enhance learner’s interest on technical drawing.

ii.        To examine if improved teaching method and teaching experience encourages student interest in technical drawing.

iii.      To ascertain whether parents support in drawing projects and assignment motivates student interest in technical drawing.

iv.      To investigate if retraining of teacher and improved teacher’s competence encourages student interest in technical drawing.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i.          Does utilization of necessary drawing instruments will enhance learner’s interest on technical drawing?

ii.        Does improved teaching method and teaching experience encourages student interest in technical drawing?

iii.      Does parents support in drawing projects and assignment motivates student interest in technical drawing?

iv.      Does retraining of teacher and improved teacher’s competence encourages student interest in technical drawing?

1.5SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The aspiration of Nigeria in recent years has been technological advancement and self-reliant economy.  In each of the above reasons, the importance of vocational subjects cannot be overlooked, because they are the bedrock or foundation upon which the above aspiration can be built and reliably achieved.  This survey is undertaken because of the feelings that students interest and attitude towards Technical drawing is very low.  It is expected that the result of this study would Enhance students interest towards technical drawing. It will help teachers teaching technical drawing to develop the right attitude towards their students and subject. And also help parent to encourage their children to offer technical subjects.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study was centred on enhancing students interest in Technical drawing in Senior Secondary School in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only Senior Secondary School in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other secondary schools in other  States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Vocational subject: This is connected with subject that could lead to acquisition of skill.

Strategies of teaching: is taken to mean a plan intended to achieve the art of teaching effectively.

Apprenticeship:- It means people that are learning skill of doing things.

Attitude: It is a learned predisposition to react consistently in a given manner either positively or negatively to certain persons object or concept.

Achievement: What a person has done successfully especially using his own effort and skill.

Enhance: Mean to increase or further improve the good quality, value of student in technical subject.

Interest: The feelings that you have when you want to know or learn more about something.