CHALLENGES OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR ENHANCING SKILLS ACQUISITION IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

Abstract

The study focused on the challenges of experiential learning for enhancing skills acquisition in business education. It examines two research questions relating to experiential learning techniques utilized by business education students for enhancing skills in business education and challenges of experiential learning for enhancing skills acquisition in business education. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. The population of the study consists of 102 full time business education students in Nnamdi Azikiwe University. The total number of registered students was 123 which consists of 53 students in 300 level and 70 students in 400 level of academic instructions respectively. The choice of these levels were informed because these students has experienced experiential learning at the different levels. A structured questionnaire of 35 items on gender and individual level of academic instruction and questions relating to the research questions was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts in business education and the internal consistency determined using Cronbach’s alpha reliability technique which yielded a coefficient of 0.88. The questionnaire was administered through online platforms. A total of 102 business education students corresponding to83% rate of return responded to all the questions and were used for data analysis. The data obtained were presented and analysed with the help of frequency tables, mean and standard deviations. T-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). The decision rule for the research questions was that any item with a mean rating of 2.5 would be regarded as agreed while any mean below 2.5 would be regarded as disagreed. The hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance were accepted where p>0.05 and rejected wherep<0.05. The findings revealed that experiential techniques adopted by business education students includes industrial training, discussion, role play, case study, simulation, brainstorming, group work for experiential learning and low participation of higher rank academics, low access to computer and internet at the laboratories and workshops among others are the challenges of experiential learning.