Effects of Greeno Problem Solving Instructional Approach on Students’ Academic Achievement in Blocklaying and Concreting in Technical Colleges in Rivers State

The study was carried out to examine the effects of Greeno Problem Solving Instructional Approach on students’ academic achievement and interest in Blocklaying and Concreting in technical colleges in Rivers State. The study employed quasi-experimental design. The population for the study consisted of all 2015/2016 National Technical Certificate Class Two (NTC II) students from the four Technical Colleges in Rivers State, numbering 214; (150 males and 64 females). A sample of 124 was drawn from two technical colleges offering Blocklaying and Concreting using purposive sampling techniques. Two instruments were used for data collection in this study. They were the Blocklaying and Concreting Achievement Test” (BCAT) and “Blocklaying and Concreting Interest Inventory” (BCII) which were developed by the researchers. Three experts validated the instruments; one drawn from the Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and two from Department of Technical Education Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. Kuder Richardson formula 20 (K – R20) technique was used to estimate the internal consistency of Blocklaying and Concreting Achievement Test (BCAT)which yielded 0.80, while Cronbach Alpha was used to estimate the internal consistency of Blocklaying and Concreting Interest Inventory” (BCII) and it yielded 0.94. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance, using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings of the study revealed that students taught with Greeno problem solving instructional approach had higher mean achievement score than those students taught using the conventional lecture method in the achievement test and likewise the interest inventory test. The study recommended amongst others that Blocklaying and Concreting teachers should be encouraged to employ GPSIA in the teaching of the subject in all classes in technical colleges.