Students’ understanding and skills on voltage and current measurements using hands-on laboratory and simulation software

Skills competency is important especially in vocational and technical education. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop the student conceptual knowledge and skills in electrical measuring device to equip the students the necessary skills to become competent and skilful Technologist/Technician. A mixed method data analysis was employed on the data for thirteen Diploma in Telecommunication and Systems Engineering students who participated in this study. Quantitative instruments such as pre-test and post-test were used to check students’ conceptual knowledge on electrical measurement after the exposure of the hands-on or simulation laboratories. Video recordings were used to capture students’ processes on conducting the electrical measurement for both interventions. Observation form and laboratory rubric were used to analyse the skills of the students. The observer comments were then classified according to thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the students demonstrated an improvement in their conceptual understanding and their skills competency in measuring current and voltage in electrical circuits.