ERGONOMICS PRINCIPLES AS STRATEGY FOR PROMOTING STUDENTS' ACQUISITION OF PSYCHO-PRODUCTIVE SKILLS IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION TRADE IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of Ergonomic principles on students’ acquisition of psycho-productive skills in Building Construction Trade in Technical Colleges using non-equivalent control group quasi experimental research design. The sample for the study comprised of 80 (60 males and 20 females) randomly selected from the six technical colleges in Edo State, Nigeria. The instruments for data collection were Psycho-productive Skills Performance Test (PSPT) in Building Construction operations, Building Construction Interest Inventory (BCII) and lesson plans. Three experts validated the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Kuder Richardson 21 (KR-21) formulae and a reliability coefficient of .89 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed among others that Ergonomic principles were effective in enhancing technical college students’ acquisition of psycho-productive skills in Building Construction Trade. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that Ergonomics principles should be incorporated as an instructional technique into the technical college Building Construction Trade curriculum for effective instructional process.