Pedagogical Skills and Perceived Learning Performance of Office Technology and Management Students in Public Polytechnics, Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Pedagogical talent is advantageous and characterized by a mix of theoretical and practical 
understanding of teaching methods with increasing professional experience. Despite the efforts 
put in by the faculty, in the teaching learning process, a preliminary investigation revealed that 
there seems to be a decrease in the level of learning performance of Office technology and 
management students in public polytechnic in South West. Why there are many factors that 
influence student learning performance, this study investigated the influence of pedagogical skills 
on perceived learning performance of OTM students in public polytechnics in South West, 
Nigeria. The study also investigated if there is any moderating influence of student interest on 
their learning performance. A descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The 
target population was 650 OTM students and total enumeration as sample for six public 
polytechnics in South west, Nigeria offering ND and HND programmes.  A structured likert type 
questionnaire was used to gather data to answer three research questions using descriptive 
statistics and inferential statistics to test four hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results 
reveal that the level of perceived learning performance was high (overall m=2.99); Institutional 
support for the students was also high (overall m=2.98) and pedagogical skills experienced by 
OTM students at their lectures was equally high (overall m=3.05). The results for H01 and H02 
both revealed that Institutional Support and pedagogical skills individually influence positively 
perceived learning performance of students in public polytechnics in South West, Nigeria. The 
result of the analyses were )R=0.338, Adj. R2=0.122, F(2.603)= 39.009, P=0.05), and (R=0.528, 
Adj. R2= 0.275, F(3.602) = 77.386, P?0.05) respectively. The study concluded that conducive 
learning environment, lecturers teaching methods and competence were important in enhancing 
perceived learning performance of OTM students.  The study recommended that polytechnic 
authorities should prioritize the provision of modern learning facilities and resources, as well as 
training and development of lecturers’ pedagogical skills to improve the learning outcomes of 
OTM students.