The study investigated the Differential Effect of Prior Knowledge of Manual Technical Drawing on Academic Achievement on Colleges of Education (Technical) Students in AutoCAD. The design of the study was a quasi-experimental research design. The study was carried out in South-East, Nigeria. The population for the study was 122 NCE students of technical education. Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze in Anambra State and Enugu State College of Education (Technical) were used for the study.The population of the study was manageable; there was no sample and sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was AutoCAD achievement test (AAT). The AutoCAD achievement test has three versions: pre-test, post-test and retention test, which were the same except for the reshuffling and swapping of the questions and options of the 60 questions used for the study. The AutoCAD achievement test was subjected to face and content validation. The reliability using Kuder Richardson (K-R 20) was 0.79. The scores for the pre-test, post-test and retention test were analyzed using mean with standard deviation and ANCOVA. The major findings of the study were that prior knowledge of manual technical drawing increases the academic achievement and retention of colleges of education (technical) students in the study of AutoCAD. Based on the findings it was recommended that manual technical drawing should be a perquisite course to AutoCAD in colleges of education (technical) in Nigeria.

The major aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Distributed Cognition Learning Theories on Trainers Capacity Building in the use of Autotronic tools for Skill acquisition in Nigeria Tertiary Institutions. In the study which was experimental with pre-test and post-test control groups of 84 (having n=44 as experimental and n=40 as control) participants made up of automobile/autotronic engineering trainers in Nigeria tertiary institutions. Instruments used for data collection was: Autotronic Simulator Interest Inventory (ASII), Autotronic Demonstrator Perception Inventory (ADPI) and Auto Diagnostic Competence Test (ADCT) to determine trainers capacity building needs using Improvement Needed Index (INI). In describing the instruments used for data collection, ASII, ADPI and ADCT were designed to seek information concerning application of Distributed Cognition Learning Theories (DCLT) approaches of physical prototypes, design analysis tools and computer-aided design models. The ASII and ADPI have 24 items while ADCT has 12 items and were analysed appling mean and standard deviation. Also, the score guide sheet was based on a four-point rating scale used by ratters. The Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of the test instrument was used to determine the reliability coefficient of 0.79. The data collected was in line with the research questions and hypotheses which were analysed. In taking decisions for items on interest, perception and competence, any mean of 3.50 and above are regarded as highly important and high performance, 2.50 -3.49 mean are moderately important and moderate performance while mean of less than 1.50 are regarded as not important and very low performance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance and with the use of MATLAB for the graphical representations of the mean ratings that was used to answer the research questions. DCLT and Autotronic tools showed changes in the interest, perception and competence of Trainers was found in the process. The following recommendations are made: Review of curriculum to incorporate activities that reflect DCLT for imparting autotronic engineering with modern skill; trainers to be periodically encouraged to embark on capacity building training as the government is expected to equip the departments with the latest autotronic technology facilities.