COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTIVIST AND CONNECTIVIST TEACHING METHODS ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN MECHANICAL CRAFT PRACTICE IN GOVERNMENT TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

This study investigated the comparative effects of constructivist and connectivist teaching methods on students’ achievement and retention in Mechanical Craft Practice in Government Technical Colleges in Lagos State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted, using two intact classes as study groups. Two research questions were posed to guide the study, and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Data were collected using the Mechanical Craft Practice Achievement Test (MECPAT), which was validated by three experts and found to have a reliability coefficient of 0.81 using the test-retest method. The sample comprised seventy-five (75) National Technical Certificate (NTC) Year II students drawn from two government technical colleges: forty-five (45) students from Government Technical College (GTC), Ikorodu, were taught using the constructivist and connectivist teaching methods, while thirty (30) students from Government Technical College (GTC), Ado Soba, were taught using the traditional demonstration method. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the constructivist and connectivist teaching methods had significant positive effects on students’ achievement and retention compared to the traditional demonstration method. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in both academic achievement and retention. Based on these findings, it was recommended that constructivist and connectivist teaching methods should be adopted for teaching Mechanical Craft Practice to enhance students’ knowledge, mastery, and retention in Government technical colleges in Lagos State, Nigeria