Enhancing practical skills acquisition for engineering students in refrigeration and air conditioning programme at Kyambogo University

Abstract

This study was aimed at enhancing practical skills acquisition for engineering students in Refrigeration and Air conditioning (RAC) programme at Kyambogo University (KYU). A situation analysis carried out revealed that the world of work which involves employers and end users of RAC equipment demands hands on practice to solve operational challenges. Strategies to address the problem of "teaching and learning resources" were suggested during a future workshop from which a problem statement was developed. Research objectives were formulated which centered on: Identifying the challenges in the existing teaching and learning process in the RAC courses at KYU; Establishing practical skilling strategies for the students of RAC programme at KYU; Implementing practical skilling strategies for the students of RAC programme at KYU and evaluating the implementation of practical skilling strategies for the RAC students at KYU. The researcher used participatory action research model as the operating method to the practical skills acquisition process of the students. The methods of data collection included; interviews, observation and focus group discussions. The findings revealed that: Maintenance of equipment, lack of instructional materials; lack of a learning workshop place and improper time tabling were the main challenges during the teaching and learning process. The study implemented the following practical skills acquisition strategies: maintenance of practical equipment, carrying out holistic teaching, organizing field trips for students, availability of the practical learning space, allocation of adequate practical time, procurement of instructional materials, observation of health/safety measures and carrying out workplace learning. The researcher then evaluated the implementation by: developing assessment sheets, reflective logs and questionnaire documents as tools for testing the impact of the study. It was concluded that equipment handling within the available learning space and workplace learning be emphasized during the teaching and learning process. It was recommended that, the established practical skilling strategies should be maintained to improve the quality of the graduate students from the Refrigeration and Air conditioning programme.