Constraints to Effective Utilization of Student-Centered Instructional Strategies for Teaching Blocklaying, Bricklaying and Concreting at Technical College Level in Niger State, Nigeria

This study was designed to determine the constraints to effective utilization of student-centered instructional strategies for teaching Blocklaying, Bricklaying and Concreting (BBC) at technical colleges in Niger State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in the seven technical colleges in Niger state. The target population was 55 respondents consisting of 38 experienced and 17 less experienced teachers. The instrument for data collection was Questionnaire titled Constraints to Effective Utilization of Student-centered Instructional Strategies for Teaching Blocklaying, Bricklaying and Concreting (CEUSISTBBC). The instrument was validated by three lecturers from the Department of Industrial and Technology Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna. Cronbach Alfa was used to ascertain the reliability coefficient of the instrument which was found to be 0.89. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that all the teaching strategies identified are student-centered instructional strategies. The study further revealed among others, that lack of facilities, poor students relationship with one another, longer time required for student to achieve curriculum target, students demand to some specific nature, were the challenges hindering effective utilization of students-centered instructional strategies for teaching BBC at technical college level. Based on the findings, it was recommended that student-centered instructional strategies identified in the study should be made a requirement for teaching/learning situation at technical colleges in Niger state. Federal and state ministry of education should provide adequate funding, training and retraining opportunities, readily available teaching materials and resources, provide suitable learning environment, improve students ability to work together among others for effective utilization of student-centered instructional strategies for teaching BBC at technical colleges.