Effectiveness of a Digital Oscilloscope for the Teaching of Some Radio, Television and Electronics Work Concepts at the Technical College Level in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out the effectiveness of the Digital oscilloscope (D.O.) for the teaching of some Radio, Television and Electronics work concepts at the technical college level. There are two research questions and three null hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The population for the study consisted of 160 students from the four technical colleges that offer RTE, from which 124 students were sampled and randomly assigned to either experimental group or control group. A structured questionnaire titled; ‘Researcher made performance test’ (RMPT) was used for data collection. RMPT consists of three rating scales. There are 8 skills to be observed and assessed in each rating scale. The draft of the RMPT and table of specification were given to six experts from two universities for validation. The simple mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data for answering the research questions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to test H0₁ to H0_3. The findings include; students that were taught using the Digital Oscilloscope had a higher score in the performance test than those taught using traditional oscilloscope. It was recommended that; due to the numerous advantages, which include large screen using data projector for demonstration, easier to operate, portability, among others. All hands must be on deck to see that the digital oscilloscope is purchased by all concerned and used to complement the traditional oscilloscope for teaching not only RTE, but all related areas.

Keywords: Digital oscilloscope, Traditional oscilloscope, performance test, Radio Television and Electronics