Extent Of Awareness And Utilization Of Information And Communication Technology Tools For Academic Research By Lecturers Of Enugu State Univeristy Of Science And Technology, Enugu, Nigeria
Udabah Cordelia Udemgbo Ph.D
General Studies Division, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu
Nneji Samuel Onyinyechi Ph.D
Department of Mathematics and Computer Education Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu
Keywords: Utilization of Information, Communication Technology, Academic Research By Lecturers
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the extent of awareness and utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools for academic research by lecturers of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu, Nigeria. The design adopted in this study was descriptive survey design. This design was preferred because it enabled the researchers to collect original data from a representative of the population and use the result of data analyses to describe the situation as it was found. Area of the study was Enugu State which hosts the two campuses (Enugu and Agbani) of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) as at the time of the study. Population for the study consisted all the full time lecturers of ESUT numbering 834 as at the time of the study. The population was made up of 536 females and 298 males. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to draw a sample 626 (402 female and 224 male) lecturers from the population. This sample represented 75% of the population. A structured questionnaire titled Questionnaire on Extent of Awareness and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools for Academic Research by lecturers of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (QUALESUT) was used for data collection. The questionnaire was made up of 96 items scored on a four-point scale. The instrument had two sections, A and B. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of .88 obtained using Cronbach’s Alpha method. Mean and standard were used to answer the research questions while z-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses. Major findings of the study revealed that ESUT lecturers had satisfactory awareness of ICT tools for academic research but they only utilized data sourcing and data analyses tools well. It was recommended among other things that ESUT lecturers should be sponsored through special funds to improve their utilization of ICT-powered journals for publication of academic research works