THE NEED FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION PEDAGOGICAL MODULE FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING IN TVET INSTITUTIONS: LECTURERS’ TYPICAL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Abstract

This paper emphasises on the needs analysis for the development of Technical Communication Pedagogical Module (TCPM) which could be adopted by the lecturers in skill-based higher learning institutions to teach technical communication. About 81% of the respondents indicated that fresh graduates lack communication skills. In addition, the total unemployment rate in June 2018 was recorded at 3.4%. Most of the employers as well as the graduates themselves reported that fresh graduates are unable to secure an employment due to poor communication skills. This raises the curiosity in determining the reasons for the ineffective course of study which supposed to be producing work-ready graduates. Therefore, before developing a technical communication pedagogical module which the educators could adopt to teach technical communication, it is crucial to determine lecturers’ typical instructional strategies for teaching technical communication. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 30 lecturers and the findings revealed that most of the lecturers over-rated themselves for all the five aspects in the questionnaire which are (1) subject matter knowledge, (2) instructional planning and strategies, (3) assessment, (4) learning environment and (5) effective communication.