PEDAGOGICAL COMPETENCIES AND ECONOMICS EDUCATION LECTURERS’ INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IN UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between pedagogical competencies and Economics Education lecturers’ instructional effectiveness in universities in South-East Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the extent to which classroom management skills and feedback mechanism relate to lecturers’ instructional effectiveness. A correlational survey design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 61 Economics Education lecturers in public universities in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States, and the entire population was used through the census sampling technique. Two researcher-developed instruments, namely the Pedagogical Competencies Questionnaire (PCQ) and the Economics Educators’ Instructional Effectiveness Questionnaire (EEIEQ), were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by experts in Economics Education, Curriculum and Instruction, and Measurement and Evaluation, while their reliability coefficients obtained through Cronbach Alpha were 0.79 for Classroom Management Skills, 0.81 for Feedback Mechanism, and 0.96 for Instructional Effectiveness. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) to answer the research questions and Linear Regression Analysis to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that classroom management skills significantly relate to Economics Education lecturers’ instructional effectiveness and that feedback mechanism also significantly relate to lecturers’ instructional effectiveness in universities in South-East Nigeria. The study concluded that effective classroom management and constructive feedback practices are essential pedagogical competencies for improving instructional effectiveness among Economics Education lecturers. It was therefore recommended that university management should strengthen pedagogical training programmes with emphasis on classroom management and effective feedback practices in order to enhance the quality of instructional delivery in Economics Education.