Article Gold Open Access 2019

Developing soft skills through project-based learning in technical and vocational institutions

International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology
Journal · Vol. 9 · Issue 1 · pp. 2842-2847
Abstract

Soft skills have become critical in the preparation of employable graduates. The education system must, therefore, aim to ensure quality training for the production of employable graduates. Soft skills are personal abilities that one retains and can adequately be nurtured through active participation of students in the teaching and learning process. It is validated by researchers that the prevalent employability skills deficiencies have been one of the main causes of unemployment globally. Consequently, soft skills have all the potentials for equipping graduates with adequate employability skills. Thus, this study investigated the effect of project-based learning on the development of soft skills among technical students at technical and vocational colleges, Kaduna State, Nigeria Smart PLS software was used to test the developed model. As the sample size for this study was relatively small, the researchers were not certain to have normally distributed data. Subsequently, Smart PLS is appropriate for non-normally distributed data and therefore, it was used to simultaneously evaluate the measurement model, structural models and to confirm the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure. The study revealed that collaborative skills construct have a significant positive relationship with soft skills of technical students at technical and vocational colleges, while communication skills, initiative skills, and problem-solving skills have a positive insignificant relationship with soft skills of technical students at technical and vocational colleges. The findings of this study suggest that the curriculum of technical programs in Nigerian technical colleges need to be reviewed and geared more towards activity-based teaching and learning to enable technical students effectively develop soft skills for employment. © BEIESP.

Keywords

Author Keywords

soft skills technical and vocational education Smart PLS �Project-Based Learning

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Department of Technical Education, Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan waya, Kafanchan, Kaduna, Nigeria
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
1 Int J Eng Technol, (2002)
2 Maes, Jeanne D., A managerial perspective: Oral communication competency is most important for business students in the workplace, Journal of Business Communication, 34, 1, pp. 67-80, (1997)
3 World Journal of English Language, (2017)
4 Third International Inter Disciplinary Evidence Based Policies and Indicator System Conference, (2001)
5 Keller, Susan, Employability skills: Student perceptions of an is final year capstone subject, ITALICS Innovations in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, 10, 2, (2011)
6 Measures for Improving the Acquisition of Entrepreneurial Skills in Technology Education by the Polytechnic Students in the South South States in Nigeria, (2012)
7 Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, (1988)
8 International Conference on Social Science and Humanity, (2011)
9 Integration of Identified Employability Skills into the Namibian Vocational Education and Training Curriculum, (2010)
10 US China Education Review, (2012)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
5
Times Cited (Scopus)

References 10
Document Identifiers