Assessment of the level of technological literacy possessed by vocational and technical education student in tertiary institution in delta state

The extent to which people can take full advantage of the benefit of technology  as well as to recognise, address or even avoid some of its pitfall largely depend on their level of technological literacy. The extent to which vocational and technical education (VTE)  students in Delta State sufficiently possess the knowledge of technology is not known. This situation necessitated the assessment of the level of technological literacy possessed by VTE students in tertiary institutions in Delta State. The purpose of the study was to assess the level of technological literacy possessed by vocational technical education (VTE) students in tertiary institutions in Delta state.  Four research questions guided the study. Four null hypotheses were also tested at 0.05 level of significance. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised 775 final year VTE students of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka and Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba. The population is manageable; as a result, the entire population. A Thirty-five (35) item questionnaire structured on a five point rating scale was the instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire elicited information from VTE students on four components of technology literacy. Seven hundred and seventy five (775) copies of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents but 702 copies of the questionnaire were completed and returned. The face validity of the instrument was carried out by three experts. A reliability test of the instrument was also conducted using Cronbach alpha reliability co-efficient method. Cronbach alpha reliability co-efficient obtained for the four clusters were 0.80, 0.82, 0.85, 0.89 respectively and overall cronbach alpha reliability co-efficient of 0.84 was obtained. Data collected were subjected to analysis using mean, standard deviation and z -test statistics. Findings showed that VTE students in tertiary institutions in Delta State possess high level knowledge of: Nature of technology, technological system, impact of technology on society and technological experiences. The test of statistical significance of hypotheses revealed that there were differences in technological literacy levels between male and female VTE students, and also there existed significance difference in technological literacy level of VTE students in university and their counterparts in colleges of education. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that Government and stakeholders in education should co-operate in providing tertiary institutions with suitable technological systems, equipment, infrastructural facilities and packages that will ensure that VTE students are trained with modern application packages to enable them embrace new technology. Furthermore, the vocational and technical education planners and administrators should fashion out ways of encouraging VTE female students in technology education in order to enhance their level of literacy in technology.