.Comparative effects of the synchronous and the asynchronous instructional approaches concerning the students’ achievement and interest in electrical engineering at the Niger state college of Education.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the comparative effects of the synchronous and the asynchronous instructional approaches on College of Education students’ achievements and interests in electrical engineering. The population of the study comprises of 190 electrical engineering students. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted. Two research questions and two hypotheses tested at a 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The research questions were answered using Mean and Standard Deviations while the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that the asynchronous instructional approach was more effective in improving the students’ achievements and stimulated their interest in learning more than the synchronous instructional approach. The study also found out that there was a significant difference in the cognitive achievement of students taught Electrical Engineering with the asynchronous instructional approach than those taught with the synchronous instructional approach. However, there was no significant difference between the mean interest scores of students taught Electrical Engineering with the asynchronous instructional approach and those taught with the synchronous instructional approach. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends, among others things, that the National Commission for Colleges of Education should develop the appropriate framework necessary for encouraging the adoption of the innovative e-learning platform such as that of the synchronous and the asynchronous instruction while the management of the Colleges of Education under study should institutionalize and encourage lecturers to use asynchronous instruction in teaching. Finally, the Lecturers should adopt the asynchronous instructional approach in teaching and learning Electrical Engineering in the Colleges of Education under study..