INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND GENDER ON TECHNICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN BASIC TECHNOLOGY IN NIGER STATE A. M. Hassan1,*, B. U. Kudu2 and R. Y. Karfe

Abstract

Design for the study is a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test design. The population for this study consisted of all the seven technical colleges in Niger State. Sample size for this study was 160 students from four selected technical colleges sampled from the population. The two instruments used for the study are Basic Technology Achievement Test (BTAT) and Basic Technology Interest Test (BTIT). The instrument (BTAT and BTIT) were subjected to trial testing. The research instruments validated by three (3) experts in measurement and evaluation in the Niger State College of Education, Minna and trial tested at Government Technical College, Lafiagi which is not part of the study. The Kuder Richardson 20 (K-R20) was employed for determining the reliability of the Basic technology achievement test at 0.78 while Cronbach alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the Basic technology interest test and 0.75 was obtained. Data for the study was collected through pre-and post-tests using the BTAT and BTIT. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.5% level of significance. Findings of the study revealed, among others, that cooperative learning method of teaching enhanced students’ achievement in basic technology. However, there was no significant difference between the effect of cooperative learning and gender on students’ interest in basic technology. Hence, it was recommended among others, that Basic technology teachers should be encouraged to employ it more in the teaching of Basic technology.