Experiential learning activities of students’ in mechanical/automobile technology education for developing competencies for 21st century

The knowledge age is altering the way the world works and universities have the obligation to best prepare students to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them. Thus teaching and learning methodology and organization in universities needs to change if students are to develop the range of innovative skills necessary to survive lifetime in the twenty-first century. However, key to this will be the students’ willingness and determination to become involved in the process and engage with practical oriented subjects that add meaning to their worlds. This increased focus and engagement in learning will lead to the development of a much broader range of attitudes, values, competencies and dispositions enabling them to respond positively to opportunities. Therefore, the study focused on determining the experiential learning activities essential of students’ in mechanical/automobile technology education for developing competencies for 21st century and differences across levels of academic instruction. The research adopted a descriptive survey design. Four research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The target population of 251 full-time students; in mechanical/automobile technology education in a Public University in Anambra State, participated in the study. A structured questionnaire of 94–items was used for data collection. It was face and content validated by three experts. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The Kruskal Wallis was used to test the hypotheses. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that mechanical/automobile technology students’ are required to engage in experiential learning activities involving critical thinking/problem solving, communication, collaboration and creative / innovative for developing competencies of 21st century. It was therefore recommended that in the course of curriculum implementation, mechanical/automobile technology lecturers should devote a substantial proportion of teaching and learning time to experiential learning activities for developing competencies for 21st century. Thus the graduates would possess requisites employ able skills, engage in wealth creation and become entrepreneurs.