Industry-Academia Partnerships for Lifelong Learning of Lecturers in Electrical Electronics Technology Programmes in Universities in Rivers State

The study determined industry-academia partnerships for lifelong learning of lecturers in electrical electronics technology programmes in Universities in Rivers State. Three objectives, research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised 58 respondents consisting of 38 Lecturers and 20 Industry Experts from universities and electrical/electronics industries in Rivers State. The study was a census because the entire population was studied. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Industry-Academia Partnerships and Lifelong Learning Questionnaire (IAPLLQ)”. The instrument consisted of five sections A–E and was structured on a five-point Likert rating scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD). Numerical values of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 were assigned respectively. The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts in Technology Education and Measurement and Evaluation. A reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistics were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that collaborative training partnerships are needed for lifelong learning of lecturers in electrical electronics technology programmes in Universities in Rivers State. The findings also revealed that industrial attachment partnerships are needed for lifelong learning of lecturers in electrical electronics technology programmes in Universities in Rivers State. Furthermore, the findings revealed that research and innovation partnerships are needed for lifelong learning of lecturers in electrical electronics technology programmes in Universities in Rivers State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that universities and industries should strengthen collaborative training programmes, industrial exposure, and research partnerships to improve lecturers’ lifelong learning and professional competence in electrical electronics technology programmes.