DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC BRAKING SYSTEMS TROUBLESHOOTING AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL FOR AUTOMOBILE CRAFTSMEN IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study developed electronic braking systems troubleshooting and maintenance manual for automobile craftsmen in Nigeria. Seven research questions were raised and answered as well as five null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significant. Sequential Exploratory Research Design was adopted for this study. The study was conducted in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos and Plateau States, Nigeria. The targeted population for the study was 174 consisting of 56 teaching and 43 non-teaching Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and 75 automobile craftsmen (48 males and 27 females). The study utilized the whole population of the study. The instruments used for data collection includes: Electronic Braking System Troubleshooting and Maintenance Objectives Interview Protocol (EBSTMOIP), Electronic Braking Systems Troubleshooting and Maintenance Questionnaire (EBSTMQ), Electronic Braking Systems Troubleshooting and Maintenance Skill Performance Test (EBSTMSPT), Manual Content Validity Index (MCVI) and Expert Revision Form (ERF). The instruments were subjected to face and content validation by three experts. The reliability of EBSTMQ was established using Cronbach’s Alpha statistics and yielded overall reliability coefficient of 0.84 and the reliability of EBSTMSPT was established using Kendall’s tau coefficient of concordance and yielded coefficient values of 0.84 and 0.86. Data were collected by administering copies of the instruments through hand delivery. The data collected were analyzed using mean, z-test and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings of the study revealed that: ten items (84%) were found to be troubleshooting objectives, nine items (82%) were found to be maintenance objectives, 122 items (¯X=4.56) were found to be troubleshooting contents, 178 items (¯X=4.61) were found to be maintenance contents, 11 items (¯X=4.59) were found to be troubleshooting facilities and 66 items (¯X=4.60) were found to be maintenance facilities for the electronic braking systems manual. The study revealed that there was no significant difference (significant value ≥0.05) between the mean responses of teaching and non-teaching SMEs on the contents and facilities for electronic braking systems troubleshooting and maintenances manual. Findings from the study also revealed that, electronic braking systems troubleshooting and maintenance manual is valid (0.92), reliable (0.81) and had positive effect (¯X=42.15) on the skill performance of automobile craftsmen in troubleshooting and maintenance of ABS, ATC and ESC. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that: The National Board for Technical Education should include the identified objectives on troubleshooting and maintenance of electronic braking systems for the manual into the curriculum used for training automobile craftsmen in order to equip them with the competencies in troubleshooting and maintenance of electronic braking systems.