Hands-on-Skills Enhancement DVD for Complementing Electrical Students’ LaboratoryBased Exercises in School-Based Assessment in Jamaica
By
Simon M. Yalams,
Denise Bernard-Facey,
yalamss@yahoo.com
carldenjulissa1@yahoo.com
Richard Lawrence,
zemikidd@gmail.com
School of Technical and Vocational Education
University of Technology Jamaica
Abstract
The dearth of equipment and material supplies for training and enhancing students’ hands-onskills in many laboratory-based subjects at the secondary/technical high schools level can be
very challenging especially for students preparing for various kinds of School-Based
Assessments or Caribbean School Certificate Examinations (CXC), and for those seeking to
enter the job market. This study developed an instructional DVD that could complement
secondary school level students’ efforts in hands-on electrical technology laboratory-based
exercises as they prepare for School Based Assessments (SBA) in Jamaica using locally
available resources. The DVD was tested on a sample of 30 students drawn randomly from three
Technical High Schools. The result of the try-out revealed high potential of the educational
resource in improving students’ learning of practical skills. Recommendations were made for
improvement based on the outcome of the test.
Introduction
In many developing countries, coupled with the economic situations across the globe,
establishing and managing of many Technical and Vocational Education programmes are
becoming increasingly difficult. The dearth of equipment and material supplies for training and
enhancing students’ hands-on-skills in many laboratory-based subjects at the secondary/technical
high schools can be very challenging, especially for students preparing for various kinds of
assessments or examinations. The aim of every Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (TVET) programme is to prepare its products with adequate knowledge, skills and
attitude for entering the job market and for higher studies. In this generation, the workforce and
job demands are high and competitive, thus, requiring highly competent persons to join.
Unfortunately in some TVET-based schools, the graduates due to numerous factors do not often
realize these skills and competences. Some of which include poor teaching and learning, illequipped or total absence of instructional resources (Mackenzie, Yalams, Davis and Samuda,
2012). Where TVET labs are ill equipped, the situation tends to compel instructors and teachers
into teaching mostly the theoretical components only and thereby neglecting the hands-on
laboratory components. This practice has been lamented and criticized by many experts. For
transition from the high school to tertiary education in the Caribbean, students are required to
possess good grades in the Caribbean School Examinations Certificate (CSEC), Caribbean
School Certificate (CXC) or Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ). These examinations
require comprehensive preparations in general education as well as in the technical and
vocational components. These preparations include both summative and formative assessments,
one of which is the School-Based Assessment (SBA). The SBA usually focuses on especially
those areas often featured in the CSEC, CXC or CVQ, which are externally conducted
examinations. TVET teachers in Jamaica are expected to provide guidance to their students in
ensuring that there is a clear understanding of the requirements of the external examination, as
this assists them in optimizing learning for the examinations (Bennett-Facey and Lawrence,
2012). In the past, reports have shown that in some schools, some teachers engage in a practice
of reviewing or completing the SBA assignments for the students, instead of allowing the
students to try it by themselves, and often such assignments are then refined by the students and
re-submitted (Bennett-Facey and Lawrence, 2012). No doubt, this practice is unprofessional and
unacceptable in teacher education. One reason associated with this kind of unprofessional
practices has been lack of observing the assessment ethics on the part of the teachers. Some of
the justifications often given for this kind of practice have to do with the ill-equipped and
deteriorating conditions of the laboratories in the schools (Bennett-Facey and Lawrence, 2012).
At the high school level, Electrical and Electronic Technology is one of the subjects offered at
CXC level under the Industrial Technology cluster of subjects. The general aim of TVET is to
provide technical training in the use of traditional as well as new materials, systems and
processes that are related to the industry to the students. Thus, it is organized as a unit and
provides relevant course of study for secondary school students aspiring for various careers
related to Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, and Building Technology among others. For each
of these subjects, the students write CXC examinations to graduate.
The CXC (2011) report for Electrical Technology clearly indicates that, many Electrical
Technology students do leave the high schools and enter the tertiary education without fully
understanding the topics covered in the Electrical Technology syllabus for that lower level. The
report also indicates that, the number of candidates who wrote the CXC examination in 2011 was
3526, but that the overall performance resulted in only 25.83% who obtained Grade II, and
above. Although not much literature exist that speak about the poor performances of students in
Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Caribbean, yet, from the
researchers’ experience and point of view, it does not mean that all is going on well especially in
Jamaica where this study was conducted. Thus, the researchers considered it appropriate
therefore, to address this gap by providing an instructional resource that would complement the
efforts of the teachers and enhance students’ learning of Electrical Technology in especially the
hands-on-exercises in preparation for the SBA, and the CXC examination. The study was guided
by four research questions, however; only one of them is discussed in this paper. The research
question discussed reads: “How does the students’ results compare based on the pre and post
achievement tests?”
The other three research questions which focused on “the steps followed in developing,
validating and trying-out such DVDs” have been explained in detail in similar studies by some of
the researchers one of whom is a co-author to this paper, and have been documented. Readers are
therefore referred to the works of Yalams, Taylor, Brown and Henry (2012) for more details.
Methodology
The study adopted a Research and Development (R&D) design. The steps involved in
developing the resource included writing, editing and validating the production scripts, planning
the on-location activities, recording of the lab exercises and producing the demo version of the
DVD. This approach is recommended by researchers (Yalams, Williams, Wright, Dixon, Davis,
Russell, Goulbourne & Reynolds, (2011), and Yalams, Aliyu, Kwasu, & Abdulhamid, 2012).
The developed demo version of the DVD was modified and tried out on selected 30 (tenth and
eleventh grade) Electrical Technology students preparing for CXC. The sample was drawn from
three High Schools within St. Catherine area of Jamaica. From each of these three schools 10
participants were randomly sampled and involved in the study. Purposive and random sampling
methods were used to select participants. The sampled students were first given pre-test based on
the content of the curriculum, which addresses two aspects of lab-based exercises. After that,
they were taught in another setting with the aid of the developed DVD and were given a posttest.
The grades for the two tests were computed and compared as discussed in this paper.
Research Question: How does the students’ results compare based on the pre and post
achievement tests?
Results of the tests administered in the three selected schools showing comparisons in percentage
scores of the students for both the Pretest and Posttests were presented in Bar Chart format as
shown below:
50
DtechA10
80
75 85
DtechA9
60
DtechA8
DtechA7
70
75
DtechA6
65
DtechA5
65
85
DtechA3
DtechA2
70
DtechA1
70
0
20
40
60
Pre -Test
90
75
DtechA4
95
80
Post - Test
85
9095
85
95
100
Figure 1:School A.
Data in figure 1 shows that, of the 10 students tested in this school, the highest improvement was
witnessed by candidate number dintilA10 who in the pretest obtained 50% and got 80% in the
posttest. Candidate DtechA2 who had 80% and 85% in the pre and posttest respectively
witnessed the lowest improvement. Other candidates showed various improvements as can be
seen in figure 1 above.
8085
80 90
St.CathA10
St.CathA9
75
St.CathA8
95
90
90
St.CathA7
40
St.CathA6
St.CathA5
85
Pre -Test
75
55
Post - Test
7075
7580
St.CathA4
St.CathA3
65
St.CathA2
80
60
St.CathA1
0
20
40
60
80
80
100
Figure 2:School B.
Figure 2 shows that, in this school, the highest improvement was witnessed by candidate number
St.CathA6 who in the pretest obtained 40% and got 85% in the posttest. The lowest improvement
was witnessed by candidate St.CathA5. In real sense it was a decrease in performance for this
candidate who in the pretest obtained 75% and 55% in the posttest respectively. Also candidate
St.CathA7 showed no improvement. Other candidates showed various improvements as can be
seen in figure 2 above. Such cases are rare but unique which may have to do with individual
students’ predicaments and not a general situation.
70
HTa10
85
65
HTa9
85
HTa8
70
HTa7
50 55
HTa5
HTa4
60
30
HTa3
0
20
40
Pre -Test
Post - Test
75
80
50
HTa1
85
75
45
HTa2
95
90
75
HTa6
90
80
60
80
100
Figure 3: School C.
In figure 3, candidate number HTa3 who in the pretest obtained 30% also got 75% in the
posttest, which was a great improvement. Candidate HTa5, who obtained a score of 50% and
55% respectively in the pre and posttest respectively, witnessed the lowest improvement. Other
candidates showed various improvements as can be seen in figure 3 above.
Summary, conclusion and recommendations
Based on the results of the study, it can be seen that all the students from the three schools
showed various levels of improvement and a few cases of decrease in their post achievement
tests than the pretests. From the result of this pilot test, it can be implied that the developed
Electrical Technology Instructional DVD (ETID) was effective in complementing Electrical
Technology Students’ Practical Ability in School Based Assessment Laboratory Exercises.
Based on the findings, it can be concluded therefore, that an Instructional DVD for
Complementing Electrical Technology Students’ Practical Ability in School Based Assessment
Laboratory Exercises at the CSEC Level in Jamaica has been developed, validated and tested on
the target population. This development marks a remarkable achievement in the effort towards
moving Jamaica forward in the field of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
With this development, if the DVD is made available to the schools and used effectively, at least
every student sitting the Electrical Technology CSEC examination and School Based
Assessment labs will have the opportunity to attain better grades and have a more appreciation
for the area of study. The DVD also has the tendency of helping students to become more
competent in the task areas covered. The outcome of this study can serve as a catalyst for
motivating TVET teachers to be more proactive in incorporating video technology in delivering
their lesson to students; and also in creating videos and instructional DVDs for the subjects they
teach. DVDs such as this will be of significant benefit to high school students, as it will enhance
their learning and their practical abilities as they prepare for SBA. Besides, this DVD can
become additional educational resource that school administrators can include in the school
curriculum and let students have access to at any given time if the need arises. Based on the
findings of this study, it was recommended thus:
1. The initiative of developing Electrical Technology Instructional DVD should be
expanded to cover other areas of TVET.
2. In order to further validate this version, it should be tested on a larger sample including
those from the Secondary and Technical High Schools in Jamaica.
3. There should be further studies on what has started by developing more resources on
areas such as Electronics and similar areas in ET that are not covered in this DVD.
4. It is recommended that the final version of this DVD be developed on a commercial scale
and distributed to students at the secondary level to enhance their learning and practical
ability.
5. It is further recommended that stakeholders in the education sector such as the Ministry
of Education, Parents, Students and Teachers support innovative projects such as this.
References
CXC. (June 2011). Electrical/Electronics Technology Report. St.Michael, Barbados: Caribbean
Examination Council.
Denise Bennett- Facey and Richard Lawrence (2012). Development and Validation of an
Instructional DVD in Electrical Technology for Complimenting Students’ Practical
Ability in School Based Assessment Laboratory Exercises at the CSEC Level in Jamaica.
McKenzie, D.N., Yalams, S.M., Samuda, K.C.J. & Davis T. D. (2012). Situational Analysis and
Challenges Confronting TVET Laboratories in Selected Technical High Schools in
Kingston Jamaica and the Need for Intervention A paper presented at the UWI/UNESCO
Caribbean Conference on TVET on March 7-9, 2012 at Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa,
Montego Bay, Jamaica. Available on:
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Yalams, S.M.; Taylor, A.; Brown, B.; and Henry, D. (2012). Testing the Efficacy of
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