Scaling-up Assessment Techniques in Technology Education for

Sustainable National Development: Development and Validation of

Psychomotor Skills Assessment Guide for Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic
Circuits in Technical Colleges.
(A paper presented at the 3rd Annual International Conference of International Forum of Educational
Benchmarkers at the University of Uyo from 13th-17th May 2019.)

Aniekan Elijah Asukwo1 and Godwin Asuquo Akpan2

1
Department of Electrical Technology Education, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa
State, Nigeria.
2
Department of Vocational Education, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Correspondence Phone: 07068031933 Correspondence email: aaelija@mautech.edu.ng

Abstract
The study developed and validated a Psychomotor Skills Assessment Guide for diagnosis and repair
of electronic circuits in Technical Colleges as a scale-up to assessment techniques in Technology
Education. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study, and instrumentation
research design adopted. One urban and one rural technical college were purposively selected for the
study, and intact classes from these two technical colleges were used. Eighteen teachers and 62 Senior
Technical Three (ST3) students from the two selected technical colleges constituted the sample for the
study. A 22 item Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide Questionnaire (ECRAGQ) and a 17
item Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide (ECRAG) were used to generate data for the study.
Data obtained through the instruments were subjected to Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) on Mean, Factor Analysis, Cronbach Alpha and Fleiss Kappa for answering of the research
questions, while Independent t-test was used for testing the hypotheses at .05 level of significance.
Data analysis revealed that the ECRAG developed is valid and reliable; therefore, it is recommended
that Electronics Work teachers at technical colleges should downplay the use of product assessment
only, but rather combine both product assessment method and the process-based ECRAG.
Keywords: Electronics Work, Electronic Circuit Repair, Assessment Guide, Assessment Techniques,
Electronic Circuits, Sustainable National Development

INTRODUCTION

Technical Colleges offer various programmes at different levels leading to the award of National

Business Certificate (NBC)/National Technical Certificate (NTC) and Advanced National Business

Certificate (ANBC)/Advanced National Technical Certificate (ANTC) for craft level and advanced craft

level, respectively (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). Such programmes offered by the Technical

Colleges include Radio, Television and Electronics Work, among others. Radio, Television and

Electronics Work is an aspect of the Electrical/Electronic trade offered in Technical Colleges, designed

to facilitate communication system and also to produce competent craftsmen with the requisite trade

skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to be able to diagnose faults, and carry out repair and

maintenance on any Electronic system (NBTE, 2011; Owodunni, 2011; UNESCO, 2011; Shodeinde,
 2

2013). Furthermore, the curriculum of Radio, Television and Electronics Work serves to equip students

with functional skills upon graduation as technicians through their ability to understand and carry out

tasks in diagnoses, repairs and maintenance of electronic systems in industries (Asukwo, 2018). The

curriculum further emphasizes the need for students to be exposed to practical experiences in the

workshop where the students carry out tasks or projects which are to be assessed to determine the extent

to which psychomotor skills and knowledge have been acquired. The assessment of psychomotor skills

in workshops can be carried out by process assessment (evaluation of the chronological process in which

the task is carried out), product assessment (evaluation of the finished task or end-product), or a

combination of both assessment techniques can be used (Okeke in Moses et al., 2017). The purpose of

psychomotor skills assessment is to ensure that the students can manipulate tools and equipment to attain

the task specification that can serve as a valid and reliable predictor of skills acquisition in electronics

workshop practice and maintenance.

An effective assessment technique is supposed to evaluate the step-by-step practical activities

carried out by the students in a workshop setting (Ombugus, 2014). It is also supposed to determine the

extent to which the students can demonstrate practical competencies using a rating scale while the

teacher is observing the students perform the operations involved. Therefore, an effective assessment

technique should also make use of a valid and reliable guide. Adamu et al. (2015) asserts that validity

and reliability are two properties of an assessment instrument that indicate its quality and usefulness.

Validity is described as a judgment or estimate of how well and accurate a test measures what it purports

to measure in a particular context (Cohen, 2010; Usoro, 2018). Reliability of an assessment instrument

on the other hand is concerned with the overall consistency of the instrument. Usoro (2018) affirms that

reliability is the degree to which an assessment tool produces stable and consistent results.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Most Electronics Work graduates are jobless and roaming the streets of Akwa Ibom in search of

mean jobs different from their trade courses or chosen careers. This may suggest that these graduates

may not have mastered Electronics Workshop Practice and Maintenance tasks accurately before
 3

graduating or they may not have acquired the necessary psychomotor skills needed for self-reliance. To

ascertain the extent to which the students have mastered electronics workshop practice and maintenance

tasks or acquired the necessary psychomotor skills needed in a trade subject, each step of the tasks given

is supposed to be objectively, comprehensively and systematically rated by the teacher. The dominant

method of rating students’ psychomotor skills in electronics workshop practice and maintenance work

by teachers is by observation of the students’ completed tasks or finished products, otherwise known as

product assessment technique. The limitation of this technique includes the inability for more attention

to be given to the chronological process involved in accomplishing the tasks given to the students; rather

emphasis is placed on the quality of the completed task or finished product.

Therefore, in order to achieve observable psychomotor skills in students of electronics work at

graduation for sustainable national development, there is need for their performance in workshop tasks

during practicals to be evaluated using a well-developed and validated assessment guide which would

take into consideration the step-by-step process of the psychomotor activities leading to the completion

of the tasks and finished products, rather than relying on the conventional product assessment technique

only. It was against this background that it became necessary for the researchers to develop and validate

a guide for assessing students’ psychomotor skills in the diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits, as a

scale-up to assessment techniques in Technology Education.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Psychomotor Skills Assessment Guide

for the diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits.

Specifically, the study was conducted to:

1. identify the content as agreed by teachers for inclusion into the guide for assessing students’
psychomotor performance in diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits.
2. assess the construct validity of the developed guide.
3. determine the internal consistency of the developed guide.
4. determine the inter-rater’s reliability of the developed guide.
5. examine the stability of the developed guide.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study was designed to provide answers to the following questions:

1. What are the contents agreed by teachers for inclusion into the Electronic Circuit Repair
Assessment Guide?
2. What is the construct validity of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide?
3. What is the internal consistency of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide?
4. What is the inter-rater’s reliability of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance:

H01: There is no significant difference in responses of urban and rural Technical College
teachers on the psychomotor skill task items considered suitable for inclusion in the
ECRAG.
H02: There is no significant difference in the performance of urban and rural ST3 students
when rated using the ECRAG.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study focused on the development and validation of psychomotor skills assessment guide for

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits. It was delimited to the Nigerian Educational Research and

Development Council (NERDC) practical activities for Electronics Work enshrined in the workshop

practice module of the Radio Television and Electronics Work Senior Secondary School Trade

Curriculum. These activities are soldering and desoldering of electronic circuits, and electronic

measuring instruments.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study adopted instrumentation research design, which aimed at developing a psychomotor

skill assessment guide for diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits. Four research questions and two

research hypotheses were developed and formulated respectively to guide the study. The study had a

total population of 156 respondents comprising 29 teachers and 127 Senior Technical Three (ST3)

students in Technical Colleges in Akwa Ibom State. The sample was 80 respondents comprising 18

teachers and 62 Senior Technical Three (ST3) offering Electronics Work. Purposive sampling technique
 5

was used to select two Technical Colleges as well as intact classes from these two selected Technical

Colleges in which one was located in urban and the other rural.

The researchers developed a 22 item Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide Questionnaire

(ECRAGQ) that was administered to the 18 Electronics Work teachers in the two technical colleges for

construct validation. Data from the construct validation phase was used to assemble a draft 17 item

Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide (ECRAG). The ECRAG was construct validated by

subjecting elicited responses from Technical College teachers on content agreed for inclusion (as

contained in the ECRAGQ) to Factor Analysis. This was to examine the important psychomotor skill

items for inclusion into the guide. Performance objectives for Electronics Workshop Practice and

Maintenance were extracted from the Senior Secondary School Trade Curriculum and related literature,

and put together on a five-point likert scale to form the ECRAGQ; while information/data gathered from

the ECRAGQ were used to form the ECRAG. The ECRAGQ is a five-point likert scale with response

options of Highly Suitable (HS), Suitable (S), Moderately Suitable (MS), Unsuitable (U), and Highly

Unsuitable (HU) for each psychomotor skill item with corresponding values of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1,

respectively; while the assembled ECRAG is a five-point rating scale with scoring rubrics of Excellent,

Very Good, Good, Poor and Very Poor for each psychomotor skill item with corresponding values of 5,

4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively. The assembled ECRAG was tried out on 62 ST3 students of Electronics

Work in the two purposively selected state technical colleges in Akwa Ibom State with the assistance of

three raters, to ascertain its internal consistency and inter-rater’s reliability. SPSS (2011) package was

used to analyse the data from both instruments (ECRAGQ and ECRAG).

DECISION RULE

A mean of 3.50 (which corresponds to the lower limit of 4 points for Suitable) was taken as the

cut-off point for determining the suitability of a task item. A mean of 3.50 and above was considered as

Suitable (S) while a mean less than 3.50 (3.49 and below) was considered as Unsuitable (U).

Furthermore, in order to select the important tasks and psychomotor skills items for inclusion in

the assembled ECRAG from the administered ECRAGQ, a factor loading of 0.30 was chosen.
 6

Tabachnick and Fidell (2007) opined that a factor loading must be 0.30 or greater since anything lower

would suggest a really weak relationship between the variables. Therefore, any psychomotor skill item

with factor loading of 0.30 or over was considered Important; while a factor loading below 0.30 was

considered Unimportant. Similarly, a reliability coefficient of 0.70 and above signified an acceptable

coefficient for the internal consistency (George & Mallery, 2003; DeVellis, 2012), and a Kappa of 0.50

and above signified an acceptable level of agreement in the inter-rater’s reliability required for three

raters (Gwet, 2014). The inferential statistical tool used in testing the hypotheses of the study was

independent t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Any hypothesis with p value less than or equal to 0.05

was regarded as significant; otherwise, it was not significant (McGuinness, 2015).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Research Question 1

What is the content agreed by teachers for inclusion into the Electronic Circuit Repair

Assessment Guide?

The summary of responses to the questionnaire items related to Research Question 1 is presented

on Table 1.

Table 1: Mean of psychomotor skill task items considered suitable for inclusion in the
Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide
S/N Task Items n ̅ Remark
How suitable are the following task items for assessing psychomotor skill in diagnosis
and repair of electronic circuits?
1. Identification of measuring instrument 18 4.67 Suitable
2. Inserting respective test leads into the appropriate jack 18 4.17 Suitable
3. Clearing of zero error 18 4.06 Suitable
4. Correct connection of Multimeter 18 4.17 Suitable
5. Connection of source to be measured to measuring instrument 18 4.39 Suitable
6. Handling of measuring instrument 18 4.11 Suitable
7. Ability to use measuring instrument 18 4.50 Suitable
8. Handling of components while measuring 18 4.11 Suitable
9. Observation of safety rules while measuring 18 3.89 Suitable
10. Completion of measuring task within stipulated time 18 3.89 Suitable
11. Establishing of heat contact 18 4.44 Suitable
12. Sucking of molten lead using lead sucker 18 3.67 Suitable
13. Removing of electronic component from PCB without damage 18 4.06 Suitable
14. Handling of components while desoldering 18 4.39 Suitable
15. Handling of soldering iron 18 4.00 Suitable
16. Handling of Printed Circuit Board while desoldering 18 3.33 Unsuitable
17. Intactness of conduction tracks after desoldering 18 3.78 Suitable
18. Proper replacing of components into PCB 18 4.44 Suitable
19. Proper application of tin/flux while soldering 18 4.33 Suitable
20. Firmness of soldered joint 18 4.50 Suitable
21. Observing of safety rules while soldering and desoldering 18 4.22 Suitable
22. Completing soldering and desoldering task within stipulated time 18 3.94 Suitable

Cluster Mean 4.13

KEY: ̅ = Mean Response of Technical College Teachers, n = Number of Respondents
 7

Data in Table 1 indicate that the Mean ( ̅) of responses of Technical College teachers on the task

items considered suitable for inclusion into the ECRAG ranged from 3.33 to 4.67 with a cluster mean of

4.13. These results also indicate that the Technical College teachers considered 21 out of 22 task items

identified as suitable for inclusion into the ECRAG.

Research Question 2

What is the construct validity of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide?

The summary of responses to the questionnaire items related to Research Question 2 is presented

on Table 2.

Table 2: Factor Analysis of psychomotor skill task items considered important for inclusion
in the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide
S/N Task Items n Factor Remark
Loading
Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic Circuits
1. Identification of measuring instrument 18 0.85 Important
2. Inserting respective test leads into the appropriate jack 18 0.35 Important
3. Clearing of zero error 18 0.65 Important
4. Correct connection of Multimeter 18 0.40 Important
5. Connection of source to be measured to measuring instrument 18 0.17 Unimportant
6. Handling of measuring instrument 18 0.47 Important
7. Ability to use measuring instrument 18 0.94 Important
8. Handling of components while measuring 18 0.78 Important
9. Observation of safety rules while measuring 18 0.70 Important
10. Completion of measuring task within stipulated time 18 0.51 Important
11. Establishing of heat contact 18 0.77 Important
12. Sucking of molten lead using lead sucker 18 0.87 Important
13. Removing of electronic component from PCB without damage 18 0.67 Important
14. Handling of components while desoldering 18 -0.18 Unimportant
15. Handling of soldering iron 18 0.63 Important
16. Intactness of conduction tracks after desoldering 18 0.86 Important
17. Proper replacing of components into PCB 18 0.08 Unimportant
18. Proper application of tin/flux while soldering 18 0.90 Important
19. Firmness of soldered joint 18 0.56 Important
20. Observing of safety rules while soldering and desoldering 18 0.58 Important
21. Completing soldering and desoldering task within stipulated time 18 0.19 Unimportant
KEY: n = Number of Respondents

Data in Table 2 indicate that factor analysis on responses of technical college teachers on the 21

task items considered important for inclusion into the ECRAG, only 4 task items were considered

unimportant. These results indicate that only 17 task items out of 21 task items considered suitable for

inclusion into the ECRAG by the technical college teachers measures the psychomotor skills in the

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits it is designed to measure.

Research Question 3

What is the reliability of the internal consistency of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment

Guide?
 8

The summary of reliability coefficients from rating scores to the ECRAG items related to

Research Question 3 is presented on Table 3.

Table 3: Reliability Coefficient of the ECRAG

S/N Skill Item n α Remark
1. Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic Circuits 17 0.82 Highly consistent

KEY: n = Number of Task Items, α = reliability coefficient

Data in Table 3 indicate that the ECRAG possess a full length reliability coefficient of 0.82 and

is therefore adjudged highly consistent and acceptable.

Research Question 4

What is the inter-rater’s reliability of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide?

The summary of kappa statistics from rating scores to the ECRAG items related to Research

Question 4 is presented on Table 4.

Table 4: Distribution of Kappa Statistics for inter-rater agreement of the ECRAG

S/N Task Items n k Remark
Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic Circuits
1. Identification of measuring instrument 3 0.64 Substantial Agreement
2. Inserting respective test leads into the appropriate jack 3 0.78 Substantial Agreement
3. Clearing of zero error 3 0.57 Moderate Agreement
4. Correct connection of Multimeter 3 0.96 Perfect Agreement
5. Handling of measuring instrument 3 0.75 Substantial Agreement
6. Ability to use measuring instrument 3 0.77 Substantial Agreement
7. Handling of components while measuring 3 0.76 Substantial Agreement
8. Observation of safety rules while measuring 3 0.78 Substantial Agreement
9. Completion of measuring task within stipulated time 3 1.00 Perfect Agreement
10. Establishing of heat contact 3 0.61 Substantial Agreement
11. Sucking of molten lead using lead sucker 3 1.00 Perfect Agreement
12. Removing of electronic component from PCB without damage 3 0.65 Substantial Agreement
13. Handling of soldering iron 3 0.62 Substantial Agreement
14. Proper replacing of components into PCB 3 0.95 Perfect Agreement
15. Proper application of tin/flux while soldering 3 0.95 Perfect Agreement
16. Firmness of soldered joint 3 0.82 Perfect Agreement
17. Observing of safety rules while soldering and desoldering 3 0.96 Perfect Agreement

Full Length Kappa Statistics 0.71

KEY: n = Number of raters, k = kappa statistics

Data in Table 4 indicate that the three raters exhibited a perfect agreement among themselves in

terms of how they rated seven task items, a substantial agreement among themselves in terms of how

they rated nine task items, and a moderate agreement among themselves in terms of how they rated one

task item. The table also indicates that the three raters exhibited an acceptable level of agreement among

themselves in terms of how they rated all 17 task items, based on the acceptable Kappa value of 0.5 or

above. In overall, the ECRAG (comprising a total of 17 task items) also possesses full length Kappa

statistics of 0.71. The ECRAG is, therefore, adjudged to possess a substantial and acceptable level of
 9

inter-rater agreement in rating psychomotor performance of ST3 students in the diagnosis and repair of

electronic circuits.

Research Hypotheses 1

H01: There is no significant difference in responses of urban and rural technical college

teachers on the psychomotor skill task items considered suitable for inclusion in the

ECRAG.

Summary of results of testing Null Hypothesis 1 is presented on Table 6

Table 6: t-test analysis on the responses of urban and rural technical college teachers on the
psychomotor skill task items considered suitable for inclusion in the ECRAG.
S/N Task Items Location n ̅ SD df t p Decision
Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic
Circuits
1. Identification of measuring instrument Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 -1.33 0.20 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.80 0.42

2. Inserting respective test leads into the Urban 8 4.00 0.00 16 -0.67 0.51 Not Significant
appropriate jack Rural 10 4.30 1.25

3. Clearing of zero error Urban 8 3.50 1.60 16 -1.70 0.10 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.50 0.85

4. Correct connection of Multimeter Urban 8 4.00 1.06 16 -0.79 0.43 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.30 0.48

5. Connection of source to be measured to Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 0.59 0.56 Not Significant
measuring instrument Rural 10 4.30 0.82

6. Handling of measuring instrument Urban 8 4.00 0.00 16 -0.88 0.38 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.20 0.63

7. Ability to use measuring instrument Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 0.00 1.00 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.50 0.85

8. Handling of components while Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 3.11 0.00 Significant*

measuring Rural 10 3.80 0.42

9. Observation of safety rules while Urban 8 4.00 0.00 16 1.33 0.20 Not Significant
measuring Rural 10 3.80 0.42

10. Completion of measuring task within Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 3.66 0.00 Significant*
stipulated time Rural 10 3.40 0.69

11. Establishing of heat contact Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 0.33 0.74 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.40 0.69

12. Sucking of molten lead using lead Urban 8 4.00 1.06 16 1.33 0.20 Not Significant
sucker Rural 10 3.40 0.84

13. Removing of electronic component Urban 8 4.00 1.06 16 -0.25 0.80 Not Significant
from PCB without damage Rural 10 4.10 0.56

14. Handling of components while Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 0.59 0.56 Not Significant
desoldering Rural 10 4.30 0.82

15. Handling of soldering iron Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 3.61 0.00 Significant*
Rural 10 3.60 0.51

16. Handling of Printed Circuit Board while Urban 8 3.50 0.53 16 0.64 0.53 Not Significant
desoldering Rural 10 3.20 1.22

17. Intactness of conduction tracks after Urban 8 3.50 1.60 16 -0.89 0.38 Not Significant
desoldering Rural 10 4.00 0.66
 10

18. Proper replacing of components into Urban 8 4.00 0.00 16 -5.33 0.00 Significant*
PCB Rural 10 4.80 0.42

19. Proper application of tin/flux while Urban 8 4.00 1.06 16 -1.56 0.13 Not Significant
soldering Rural 10 4.60 0.51

20. Firmness of soldered joint Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 0.00 1.00 Not Significant
Rural 10 4.50 0.85

21. Observing of safety rules while Urban 8 4.50 0.53 16 1.72 0.10 Not Significant
soldering and desoldering Rural 10 4.00 0.66

22. Completing soldering and desoldering Urban 8 4.00 0.00 16 0.49 0.62 Not Significant
task within stipulated time Rural 10 3.90 0.56

KEY: ̅ = Mean Response of Technical College Teachers, SD = Standard Deviation, n = Number of

Respondents, df = Degree of Freedom, t = Observed t-value, p = Probability value (2-tailed)

Data in Table 6 indicate that there is no significant difference in responses of urban and rural

Technical College Teachers on the task items considered suitable for inclusion in the ECRAG except for

four items. Specifically, there is significant difference in responses of the teachers on the suitability of

handling of components while measuring, completion of measuring task within stipulated time, handling

of soldering iron, and proper replacing of components into PCB for assessing psychomotor skill in

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits.

Research Hypotheses 2

H02: There is no significant difference in the performance of urban and rural ST3 students

when rated using the ECRAG.

Summary of results of testing Null Hypothesis 2 is presented on Table 7

Table 7: t-test analysis on the scores of urban and rural ST3 students when rated using the
ECRAG.
S/N Task Items Location n ̅ SD df t p Decision
Diagnosis and Repair of Electronic
Circuits
1. Identification of measuring instrument Urban 40 2.66 0.25 60 1.87 0.07 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.46 0.32

2. Inserting respective test leads into the Urban 40 2.62 0.30 60 1.26 0.21 Not Significant
appropriate jack Rural 22 2.44 0.44

3. Clearing of zero error Urban 40 2.33 0.35 60 -0.71 0.47 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.42 0.32

4. Correct connection of Multimeter Urban 40 2.55 0.27 60 0.00 1.00 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.55 0.32

5. Handling of measuring instrument Urban 40 2.64 0.19 60 1.02 0.31 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.55 0.27

6. Ability to use measuring instrument Urban 40 2.64 0.26 60 0.97 0.33 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.53 0.35

7. Handling of components while Urban 40 2.48 0.21 60 0.67 0.50 Not Significant
measuring Rural 22 2.42 0.32

8. Observation of safety rules while Urban 40 2.55 0.34 60 0.74 0.46 Not Significant
measuring Rural 22 2.46 0.30
 11

9. Completion of measuring task within Urban 40 2.57 0.32 60 0.39 0.69 Not Significant
stipulated time Rural 22 2.53 0.30

10. Establishing of heat contact Urban 40 2.68 0.34 60 0.00 1.00 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.68 0.19

11. Sucking of molten lead using lead Urban 40 2.40 0.28 60 -0.39 0.69 Not Significant
sucker Rural 22 2.44 0.32

12. Removing of electronic component Urban 40 2.68 0.26 60 0.71 0.48 Not Significant
from PCB without damage Rural 22 2.62 0.24

13. Handling of soldering iron Urban 40 2.62 0.24 60 0.54 0.59 Not Significant
Rural 22 2.57 0.19

14. Proper replacing of components into Urban 40 2.71 0.21 60 1.54 0.13 Not Significant
PCB Rural 22 2.55 0.32

15. Proper application of tin/flux while Urban 40 2.60 0.22 60 0.86 0.39 Not Significant
soldering Rural 22 2.51 0.33

16. Firmness of soldered joint Urban 40 2.68 0.19 60 3.03 0.00 Significant*
Rural 22 2.44 0.24

17. Observing of safety rules while Urban 40 2.51 0.27 60 1.19 0.24 Not Significant
soldering and desoldering Rural 22 2.37 0.33
KEY: ̅ = Mean Scores of ST3 Students, SD = Standard Deviation, n = Number of Students, df = Degree of
Freedom, t = Observed t-value, p = Probability Value (2-tailed)

Data in Table 7 indicate that there is no significant difference in the rating scores of urban and

rural ST3 students when rated with the ECRAG except in the rating scores of one item. Specifically,

there is significant difference in rating scores of firmness of soldered joint while repairing for assessing

psychomotor skill in diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits.

Figure 1. Assembled Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

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DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The findings of this study are discussed as follows:

Content considered suitable for inclusion in the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

The result of the first research question shows that the Technical College teachers considered only 21

out of 22 task items identified as suitable for inclusion into the ECRAG. This finding is analogous to

Moses et al. (2017) as not all items identified by them were considered appropriate by the respondents

for inclusion in the instrument for assessing practical skills in Domestic Installation in Technical

Colleges of Yobe State. However, this finding is distinct from Yalams (2001), Okwelle and Okoye

(2012), Tsado (2013), Ombugus (2014), Ombugus and Ogbuanya (2014), and Adamu et al. (2015) as all

the items of the test instruments they developed were considered by the respondents as appropriate for

use in assessing students’ performance. The similarity and distinctness in findings is credited to the

discretion among the Technical College teachers on the task items perceived suitable for assessing

practical skills. Furthermore, the result on the first research hypothesis shows that there is a significant

difference in few responses of urban and rural Technical College teachers on psychomotor skill task

items considered suitable for inclusion into the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide (ECRAG).

This finding is distinct from Okwelle and Okeke (2012), Okwelle and Okoye (2012), Tsado (2013), and

Adamu et al. (2015) as there was no significant difference in the responses of the different groups of

respondents on the items appropriate for inclusion into the assessment instrument developed.

Construct validity of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

The result of the second research question shows that from factor analysis on responses of Technical

College teachers on the 21 task items considered suitable for inclusion into the ECRAG, only four task

items were considered unimportant. These results indicate that almost all task items considered suitable

for inclusion into the ECRAG by the Technical College teachers measures the psychomotor skills in

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits it was designed to measure. This finding is consistent with

Ombugus and Ogbuanya (2014) and Ombugus (2014) where only few instrument items were considered

unimportant through factor analysis. The consistence of the findings between the studies is hinged on the

use of factor analysis, which searches for joint variations in responses to unobserved latent variables, to
 13

determine which task items measure the skill they are designed to measure. Therefore, only task items

that measure the psychomotor skill they are designed to measure were included in the final draft of the

assessment guide.

Internal consistency of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

The result of the third research question shows that the ECRAG possess a full length reliability

coefficient of 0.82 and is therefore adjudged highly consistent and acceptable. This finding is analogous

with Yalams (2001), Tsado (2013), Ombugus (2014), Ombugus and Ogbuanya (2014), Adamu et al.

(2015), and Moses et al. (2017) where the instrument developed from their study possessed a high

reliability coefficient and was therefore adjudged consistent and reliable. This analogy in findings arises

from how well several task items that propose to measure the same general construct on the instrument

developed produce similar scores. The similarity in scores from the task items in the ECRAG shows

general agreement between them. Furthermore, the result on the second research hypothesis shows that

there is a significant difference in the performance of urban and rural ST3 students when rated using the

ECRAG in just one task item.

Inter-rater’s reliability of the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

The result of the fourth research question shows that three raters exhibited a perfect agreement among

themselves in terms of how they rated seven task items, a substantial agreement among themselves in

terms of how they rated nine task items, and a moderate agreement among themselves in terms of how

they rated one task item. The table also indicates that the three raters exhibited an acceptable level of

agreement among themselves in terms of how they rated all the task items, based on the acceptable

Kappa value of 0.5 or above. In overall, the ECRAG is, therefore, adjudged to possess a substantial and

acceptable level of inter-rater agreement in rating psychomotor performance of ST3 students in the

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits. This finding is consistent with Moses et al. (2017) where the

developed instrument had a full length inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.77 and was adjudged highly

reliable. However, this finding is distinct from Ombugus and Ogbuanya (2014) and Ombugus (2014)

where the developed instrument possessed an inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.57 and adjudged

reliable.
 14

CONCLUSION

Data obtained in this study indicates that the Electronic Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

(ECRAG) is a valid and reliable rating instrument that should be used in rating students’ practical skills

performance in Electronics Workshop Practice and Maintenance in Technical Colleges. The task items

of the assessment guide, as identified by the researchers, were considered suitable by Technical College

teachers for evaluating psychomotor performance in Electronics Work. Findings of the study also

revealed that the content of the ECRAG measures accurately what it purports to measure. Furthermore,

the ECRAG is consistent and demonstrates a substantial level of inter-rater agreement. Therefore,

adoption of the developed and validated ECRAG for use in all the Technical Colleges in Akwa Ibom

State will no doubt scale-up assessment techniques and remove the inconsistences associated with

performance assessment in Electronics Workshop Practice and Maintenance, and also help the students

improve on their practical performance for sustainable national development.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In view of the findings, the following recommendations are made:

1. Technical Schools Boards should adopt the Electronics Circuit Repair Assessment Guide

(ECRAG) for rating students’ practical performance in diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits

at NTC levels and other examinations at post- primary level.

2. Examination bodies such as National Business and Technical Board (NABTEB), National

Examination Council (NECO), and West African Examination Council (WAEC) should also

consider and adopt the developed assessment guide for rating student’s practical performances in

diagnosis and repair of electronic circuits at NTC levels and other examinations at post- primary

level.

3. Employers should also consider and adopt the ECRAG for recruiting electronics technicians.

4. Electronics Work teachers at technical colleges should downplay the use of product assessment

only, but rather combine both product assessment method and the ECRAG.
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5. Seminars and workshops should be organized to get electronics work teachers of Technical

Colleges acquainted with the ECRAG to enhance uniformity in the standard of rating students’

practical work using the assessment guide.

6. Educational administrators of Technical Colleges should extract the task items of the ECRAG

and make it available to their students of electronics work for study and practice, thus

acquainting them with the knowledge of what is expected of them.

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