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How TVET lecturers prepare electrical infrastructure construction students for industry
Author(s)
Mdletshe, Sibusiso
Date Issued
2024
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Abstract
The shortage of skilled lecturers in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET)
sector has been pointed out in several studies. This shortage has been a particular challenge
in the training of Electrical Infrastructure Construction (EIC) students for the field of practice.
This is the “real world” problem that prompted this study. The issue to be addressed is the
extent to which TVET lecturers’ qualifications and skills, both in the engineering field and in
education, as well as the extent to which they have attained the practical knowledge and workbased
experience necessary, are suitable to teach and prepare EIC students for the
employability in the field. The need for qualified and effective lecturers in NCV programmes
underpins this study’s specific focus and this study therefore addressed the main research
question: “How do NCV EIC lecturers prepare students for industry?”
Drawing on the literature and Legitimation Code Theory’s (LCT) Semantics dimension,
curricula and pedagogies were assessed in terms of their relative strengths of semantic gravity
and semantic density. Ideally, engineering curricula would introduce basic scientific
knowledge, then engineering knowledge, procedural knowledge, and implementation
knowledge. Pedagogy would, ideally, take the form of a ‘semantic wave’ in which lecturers
move down the wave from conceptual, to applied, to procedures and implementation, and then
back up the wave. The activities of conceptualising, applying, proceduralizing and
implementing support the students’ acquisition of the different knowledge forms. Semantics
explains that it is not sufficient to travel only down the wave from theory to implementation;
cumulative learning happens through forms of reflection on practice (e.g., reporting, debriefing
and reflection on theory). Thus it is necessary to travel both down and up the semantic wave.
The study focused on the subject, Electrical Workmanship 4, as it is a key component of the
EIC curriculum. Fourteen lecturers who teach the subject (or parts of the subject) across three
TVET sites were interviewed. The study found that, while Electrical Workmanship included
both theoretical and practical knowledge, these knowledge forms were disconnected, resulting
in gaps in supporting students’ cumulative knowledge building towards competent technical
engineering practice in the field of EIC. The emphasis on safety and typical electrical
installations was evident, but further development in areas such as procedural knowledge and
reflection would enhance the curriculum's effectiveness in preparing students for real-world
electrical installation work, as would clear linkages between the different knowledge forms.
The lecturer interviews highlighted the importance of practical experience. They expressed
their concerns about curriculum-industry alignment and made many constructive suggestions
for curriculum revision, collaborative teaching approaches, the role of the basic and
engineering sciences, and the need for increased practical training to prepare students for EIC
work.
Analysis of the curriculum and lecturers’ inputs through the lens of Semantics made visible the
underpinning principles of the curriculum and pedagogy, showing how semantic gravity could
be strengthened to better align a vocational engineering subject with industry practice. LCT’s
Semantics also revealed how the relationship between theory and practice within and across
subjects might be strengthened – and pointed to the need for TVET colleges to collaborate
with industry partners to better align the semantic profiles of practical work activities with those
of industry standards. Finally, the study developed LCT tools to assist engineering lecturers in
developing a pedagogy of practice that would enable them, beyond the EIC programme, to
teach vocational engineering subjects in ways that would better support students’ transition
into the world of engineering work.
sector has been pointed out in several studies. This shortage has been a particular challenge
in the training of Electrical Infrastructure Construction (EIC) students for the field of practice.
This is the “real world” problem that prompted this study. The issue to be addressed is the
extent to which TVET lecturers’ qualifications and skills, both in the engineering field and in
education, as well as the extent to which they have attained the practical knowledge and workbased
experience necessary, are suitable to teach and prepare EIC students for the
employability in the field. The need for qualified and effective lecturers in NCV programmes
underpins this study’s specific focus and this study therefore addressed the main research
question: “How do NCV EIC lecturers prepare students for industry?”
Drawing on the literature and Legitimation Code Theory’s (LCT) Semantics dimension,
curricula and pedagogies were assessed in terms of their relative strengths of semantic gravity
and semantic density. Ideally, engineering curricula would introduce basic scientific
knowledge, then engineering knowledge, procedural knowledge, and implementation
knowledge. Pedagogy would, ideally, take the form of a ‘semantic wave’ in which lecturers
move down the wave from conceptual, to applied, to procedures and implementation, and then
back up the wave. The activities of conceptualising, applying, proceduralizing and
implementing support the students’ acquisition of the different knowledge forms. Semantics
explains that it is not sufficient to travel only down the wave from theory to implementation;
cumulative learning happens through forms of reflection on practice (e.g., reporting, debriefing
and reflection on theory). Thus it is necessary to travel both down and up the semantic wave.
The study focused on the subject, Electrical Workmanship 4, as it is a key component of the
EIC curriculum. Fourteen lecturers who teach the subject (or parts of the subject) across three
TVET sites were interviewed. The study found that, while Electrical Workmanship included
both theoretical and practical knowledge, these knowledge forms were disconnected, resulting
in gaps in supporting students’ cumulative knowledge building towards competent technical
engineering practice in the field of EIC. The emphasis on safety and typical electrical
installations was evident, but further development in areas such as procedural knowledge and
reflection would enhance the curriculum's effectiveness in preparing students for real-world
electrical installation work, as would clear linkages between the different knowledge forms.
The lecturer interviews highlighted the importance of practical experience. They expressed
their concerns about curriculum-industry alignment and made many constructive suggestions
for curriculum revision, collaborative teaching approaches, the role of the basic and
engineering sciences, and the need for increased practical training to prepare students for EIC
work.
Analysis of the curriculum and lecturers’ inputs through the lens of Semantics made visible the
underpinning principles of the curriculum and pedagogy, showing how semantic gravity could
be strengthened to better align a vocational engineering subject with industry practice. LCT’s
Semantics also revealed how the relationship between theory and practice within and across
subjects might be strengthened – and pointed to the need for TVET colleges to collaborate
with industry partners to better align the semantic profiles of practical work activities with those
of industry standards. Finally, the study developed LCT tools to assist engineering lecturers in
developing a pedagogy of practice that would enable them, beyond the EIC programme, to
teach vocational engineering subjects in ways that would better support students’ transition
into the world of engineering work.
Additional information
Thesis (MEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2024
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