VALIDATION OF VOCATIONAL APTITUDE TEST (VAT) USING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE- R-SOFTWARE

Abstract

The study aimed at the validation of Vocational Aptitude Test (VAT) using innovative techniques (R software). The study employed an instrumentation and descriptive survey research design. The Vocational aptitude test (VAT) instrument was made up of nine components, which was used for generation of 150 items. Survey method was used to collect data from 350 junior secondary school three (JSS3) students for trial testing. Simple random sampling was used to select public and private secondary schools in Rivers State. Three objectives and three research questions guided the study. Item analyses on the 150-item multiple choice test was ascertained using the R software and items with difficulty and discrimination indices of 0.40≤p≤0.70 and ≤ 0.25 respectively were considered good items and selected. The reliability of the test was established through Kuder Richardson 20, Split-half and Cronbach Alpha, statistics using R, which produced reliability coefficients of 0.81 for both Kuder Richardson 20 and Cronbach alpha and 0.85 for Slit-half reliability. The result revealed that 66 items were considered good and selected while, 84 items were considered bad and discarded. The findings show that the Vocational aptitude test (VAT) is both valid and reliable. Since the Vocational aptitude test (VAT) was highly valid and reliable, it was recommended that it should always be used as an assessment tool for determining the aptitude of junior secondary school students in vocational area or subjects and also for career guidance tools for choice of vocation by students.