DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AUTO MECHATRONICS INSTRUCTIONAL TASK SHEETS FOR AUTO MECHANIC INFORMAL APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING

The study developed and validated an automechatronics instructional task sheet for automechanic informal apprenticeship training in Lagos State. It adopted a research and development (R&D) design. The study area was Lagos State, Nigeria, with a population comprising 427 master mechanics from the formal automotive service sector, 100 automechanics from the informal sector, and 42 educators in automotive and mechatronics engineering from technical colleges and tertiary institutions in Lagos State. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select 16 automechanics from the informal sector for trial testing of the instructional task sheet.The study utilized the Automechatronics Instructional Task Sheet Items Rating Instrument (AITSIRI) and the Automechatronics Instructional Task Sheet Evaluation Checklist (AITSEC) for data collection. Data analysis involved mean and standard deviation to analyze raters ratings and agreement, and paired sample t-tests to determine significant differences in automechatronics skills of automechanics before and after usng the instructional task sheet and test if there is a significant diffrence in the mean ratings of master mechanics and educators regarding task items considered relevant for inclusion in the instructional task sheet. Findings revealed no significant difference between master mechanics and educators rating regarding the task items' considered relevant for inclusion in the instructional task sheet. However, there was a significant improvement in automechatronics skills among mechanics before and after using the developed instructional task sheet, demonstrating its effectiveness in skill enhancement. The study recommends implementing the instructional task sheet in mechanic villages or clusters to equip apprentices with the skills needed to handle modern vehicles.