STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING CURRICULUM IN DEVELOPING OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the validity of work integrated learning curriculum in imparting the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo State. For this purpose, the study specifically examined the extent to which work-integrated learning curriculum impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo State; the extent to which work-integrated learning curriculum impart the developing of employability skills among male and female undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo State; the extent to which work-integrated learning curriculum impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in private and public universities in Edo State; and the extent to which work-integrated learning curriculum impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo State by age. In order to meet this purpose, four research questions were raised and four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlational survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 225 registered final year undergraduates of Business Education and Business Administration programmes of two selected universities (Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, and Ambrose Alli University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State).There was no need to adopt any sampling technique, nor select any sample size for the study, because the population was of a manageable size. The research instrument was a questionnaire titled “Validity of Work Integrated Learning Curriculum in Imparting the Developing of Employability Skills among Business Education Undergraduates” (VWILCIDESBEUQ). The questionnaire was administered personally to the proposed sample of the study in the selected schools after necessary permission had been obtained from the school authority. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics of mean and percentage, while the hypotheses were tested using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The results obtained from the investigation indicated that, Work-integrated learning curriculum significantly impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo state. Work-integrated learning curriculum significantly impart the developing of employability skills among male and female undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo state. Work-integrated learning curriculum significantly impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in private and public universities in Edo state. Work-integrated learning curriculum significantly impart the developing of employability skills among undergraduates of Business Education programme in Edo state by age. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Curriculum of business education needs an in-depth review particularly with respect to its ability to successfully teach employability competencies among undergraduates using work integrated learning. This would enable the graduates respond to social goals, economic realities and future life challenges. This should be done by selecting contents that are consistent with emergent and anticipated needs of the different age levels of the students.