Design and Development of an Air-Conditioning System Mock-Up Trainer

Abstract

This study focuses on the design and development of an Air-Conditioning System Operation Mock-up Trainer with accompanying instructional materials to address limited practical learning opportunities in vocational education, where existing instruction often overemphasizes theory due to scarce functional trainers and incomplete instructional resources. Grounded in the Analysis, Design, Development, and Evaluation framework, the study proceeded through three phases: needs assessment, prototype design and fabrication, and expert validation. In the needs assessment, an adapted questionnaire with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.873) was administered via purposive sampling to 32 TVET respondents (8 teachers, 24 students) in Misamis Occidental. Results confirmed strong agreement on the need for a dedicated trainer (M=3.41,SD=0.50) and the scarcity of instructional materials (M=2.94,SD=0.62), with all core components rated "Very Important" (M=3.72–3.81). Content validity of the needs-assessment tool was confirmed by four Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), yielding an Item-Level CVI of 1.00 and Scale-Level CVI of 1.00 (S-CVI/Ave and S-CVI/UA), reflecting complete agreement within the panel. The prototype was fabricated using real working components mounted on a mobile rack. Validation of the physical trainer by five SMEs yielded "Very Good" to "Excellent" ratings across technical accuracy (M=4.70,SD=0.45), usability and labeling (M=4.90,SD=0.32), and safety (M=4.53,SD=0.42). A dedicated evaluation of the accompanying instructional materials produced mean ratings ranging from 4.60 to 5.00 across content, clarity, and usefulness. The findings demonstrate that the trainer and materials are technically accurate, safe, usable, and suitable for instructional adoption in technical-vocational education.