This study looks into the experiences of preservice teachers of Engineering Graphics and Design at their exit level, who volunteered to teach first years on an orthographic drawing concept. These students averred that the lecturer was rarely seen on the board demonstrating how drawings or sketches of a third angle and first angle orthographic projection were done. They argued that First angle and Third angle orthographic drawings (sketching) can be confusing for students and thus need a lecturer to firstly teach it (teacher centred approach) on the drawing board and project the drawing on document camera for all to see. They further argued that the lecturer’s way of attending students (student-centred) in their working tables had a potential to make students uncomfortable and subsequently lack confidence in drawing in front of him. They also believed that standing in front of students to explain drawings was key into correct conception of the subject than attending to students one-by-one. So, they asked the lecturer to teach the students of Group A which are Diploma Adult and Community Education and Training (ACET) students using their method and the lecturer to continue to teach in his way to the Bachelor of Education students (Group B). At the end they will compare the success rate of these two groups of students.

This study used two exit level students (lecturer assistant) with forty Diploma ACET students for group A and for group B, a lecturer with thirty-one (31) Bachelor of Education students. They all taught the same concepts to these students for one week. This is because the subject is given five hours of in a week and the comparative assessment was carried on the week that followed. The results revealed that the Bachelor of Education students achieved a high pass rate and average score than those of Diploma ACET students. Interestingly, these students still believed that their method worked as they were dealing with more students compared to the lecturer and one of the assistants said that it was because of the lecture’s teaching experience that they got less average. However, it was concluded that Engineering Graphics and Design is a practical subject in nature and does not necessarily strive in a teacher centred method but a learner centred method. Interestingly, the lecturer admitted that most students were not comfortable in drawing in front of him, so he spent minimal time with each student, and so students only wanted to submit the end product which was ultimately used for this experiment.

Keywords: Engineering Graphics and Design, Orthographic, Teaching drawing, Preservice teachers.