Choose Your Project Department

COMPLETE PROJECT DEPARTMENTS

CHOOSE YOUR CURRENCY

[aelia_currency_selector_widget widget_type="dropdown"]

Amount: ₦5,000.00 |

Format: Ms Word |

1-5 chapters |



Abstract

This study was carried  out to examine undergraduate  students’ use of Internet resources for research project in Universities in North-Central Nigeria. The study was guided by six research questions. The researcher employed   a   survey   research   design.   The   population   of   the   study comprised  of  six thousand  one hundred  and  fifteen  (6,115)  final  year undergraduate students in Benue State University, Makurdi; Kogi State University,  Anyigba;  University  of  Agriculture,  Makurdi;  Nassarawa State University, Keffi and University of Mkar, Mkar. A sample of 1,223 final  year  undergraduate  students  was  used  for  the  study  using  a systematic random sampling technique. Questionnaire titled “Undergraduate   Students’  Use  of  Internet  Resources  for  Research Project in Universities in North Central-Nigeria” was used as instrument for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected, while t-test was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study showed that the Internet resources in university libraries and information centresare available but not adequate and not highly used for research project. It was also found that the  majority  of the respondents  students do not possess  basic Internet skills for use of Internet resources. It was recommended  that libraries should organize Internet user education programs, more educational databases should be subscribed to, the university administrations should inject more funds to university libraries and information centers for the provision of more Internet resources such as electronic journals, electronic books, and online data analysis software.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Libraries, irrespective of the type are meant to meet the information needs of their users. In University libraries,there are numerous library users including undergraduate students who need information for project writing. The students need information for their studies and research, while lecturers need information for their teaching and research. However, the collection of any library including university libraries  cannot  hold  everything  the  users  need.  As  such,  Internet connectivity was introduced into the university libraries to augment the printed resources for undergraduate students’ use for learning and research project, (Ani,

2005).

Researchers  carry  out  various  studies  using  information  sources  of libraries. In the present dispensation, information is needed even faster than ever. Since there are many other sources from which information  is acquired other than libraries, it becomes necessary that the library should do everything possible to ensure that its relevance is felt among its clients who value its usefulness on the basis of available information sources found in it (Atsugh&Gwaza, 2012).

Irrespective  of the quantity of the  library’s  collections,  it  cannot  hold everything the users need within its building, then Internet readily comes in to complement  in  its  efforts  to  assemble  information  not  found  in  the  library building. Therefore, the use of Internet has greatly improved information dissemination.

Internet service provision has become a critical factor for undergraduate student’s research activities especially in developing countries including Nigeria where the problem of limited access to current and reliable information resources has not been adequately addressed. According to the World Almanac and Book of  Facts  (2004),  there  is no  aspect  of the  contemporary  world  that  is  more

influenced by the Internet than the educational system. Supporting this, Selcher (2005) observed that the Internet is a veritable tool for academic research work especially at higher education level.

Internet is a network of linked computers, which are located at different points all over the world that provide easy communication between persons and organizations no matter where they are located. The Internet is used mostly in obtaining  information.  Internet  has  many  benefits  in  academic  cycle  as  it provides access to global sources of information. It also gives researchers the ability to discuss and share experience with colleagues, (Ojedekun, 2001 as cited in Audu, 2006).

The Internet has a role to play in libraries, which is the hub of research activities in universities.  Internet resources have significant  impact on library services. It can be consulted and used like any other reference tool, it is more dynamic and far reaching than any other resource used in a library setting. It provides a medium of communication that has extended the potential of undergraduate   students’   Interaction   beyond   the  physical   library  to   users. Adegboji and Toyo (2006) observed that Internet contributed significantly to the ease of research through downloading materials. It is believed that researchers and students are having the challenges of inadequate and out of date materials. The only way to resolve these challenges is through the use of Internet resources that are comprehensive and current information, (Kamba, 2008).

Lubans (2000) stated that Internet has effects on undergraduate students’ academic work. He observed that internet had positive influence on the number of found and quality of students’ written work. He further noted that with the indiscriminate use of internet, students are lured by easy access and often do not question the value or quality of material found on the web. The internet is a chaotic library because it displays no discernible orderly classification or categorization.   It  therefore  poses  a  challenge  on  the  students’  ability  to

distinguish  between  information  from  refereed  scholarly  journals  available digitally and the digital equivalent of vanity press publications.

Basically, the Internet is the world’s computer network in which the computers  are  connected  to  share  information.  Preeti  (2002)  stated  that  the Internet has a number of resources such as World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail (e-mail),  File Transfer Protocols (FTP), Chat, Archives,  Gopher,  Telnet, Statistical Packages, Virtual Library, Search Engines, Directories and others. All these resources facilitate effective and efficient research work.

Nworuh (2001) asserted that the Internet is a series of electronic connections, a network of individual computers holding vast quantities of data that can be accessed directly from a personal computer that is purposely programmed to share services, transfer, receive and distribute information among people  of  similar  interests  and  needs.  Thus,  it  has  proven  to  be  the  most important vehicle for accelerating the flow of information. Adeoti (2000) enumerated the benefits of using the Internet as it revolves round the provision of current information  services.  It is also used to search  libraries for interesting latest discoveries; find the latest information about education, sports, medicine, engineering, airspace, agriculture, software development, latest books on politics, military,  navy,  and the air force or the latest  in the  cyber  space technology. Therefore,  it is important for undergraduate students to become aware of the importance of the Internet, have the knowledge  and  the skills for the use of Internet, and sufficiently make use of Internet resources found in the universities for their studies and research.

Research is defined by Reitz (2004) as a systematic, painstaking investigation  of a topic, or in a field of study, often employed  techniques of hypothesis and experimentation, undertaking by a person intent on revealing new facts, theories, or principles, or determining the current state of the knowledge of

the  subject.  Research  provides  the undergraduate  students with  a unique and enriching activity.

Adebiji (2001) noted that students who possessed basic Internet skills

such as evaluating what one found, unzipping of files, copying files, printing, starting existing programs, editing text, and so will enable them get the best out of the Internet. Users need to know how to perform decompression (Unzipping)  of  files  (Usually  large)  sent  over  the  Internet  in  a  compressed (zipped) state for quicker transmission.

Ampka(2000)  opined  that  undergraduate  students  visit  to  university libraries and information  centers for research  is frustrating due to inadequate Internet resources and lack of basic Internet skills to exploit Internet resources. Similarly,  Ani  (2005)  identified  a  range  of  problems  facing  undergraduate students’ use of Internet resources as access to the Internet infrastructure  and connectivity and non-sustainable Internet services in some Nigerian Universities. There exist a poor level of use of electronic journals and online databases which are essential for learning and research.

Ugbah (2010) identified some of the problems of undergraduate students’ use of internet resources as slow Internet speed, Internet facilities are not up and running at all times to meet the varied time students prefer to browse the Internet. However, Jegede (1994) noted that university libraries and information centers have  the  power  to  make  positive  impact  on  undergraduate  students’  use  of Internet resources but in most cases, the needed impact is lacking.

Eze and Obiozor (2005) stressed that the Internet helps researchers in their research work by enabling them to communicate freely with colleagues scattered all over the world. They can exchange knowledge and even the research findings from different locations in the world. They further explained that the presence of the file transfer protocol and the World Wide Web makes it possible to exchange visual information in readable and useable formats. For instance, charts, figures,

tables, images, databases, documents and even software codes are transferred from the Internet to any remote computer to read and use. These features have made research easier around the world. It is expected that with the use of Internet resources,  the quality of researchers’  project work will be good.  In addition, Usun (2003) observed that the Internet can be used as a supplement to traditional instructional materials.

For universities in North-Central Nigeria, one is worried whether Internet resources are adequately available for undergraduate students’ use for research projects.Another worry wasthe extent of utilization of Internet resources by undergraduate students for research projects and whether students possess basic Internet skills for utilization of the Internet resources for research projects. The identified challenges hindering students’ use of the Internet resources are to be investigated with the hope of finding strategies for enhancement of the Internet resources  usage  for  the  undergraduate  students’  research  projects  in  North- Central Nigeria.

Undergraduate  students’ research  came into being when  the US Army report and analysis proposed that students were losing interest in their subjects because of the lack of engagement in genuine research and that would be more likely to continue to postgraduate level and beyond if they were not engaged in real front-line research, rather than conventional course work (Russell, Hancoch, McCullough&Heiser, 2008). The objective of the research programme is to bring teaching and  research  closer  together,  since they often  co-exist.  It also helps them  to  identify  future  career  path.  After  getting  familiar  with  details  and literature  they knew,  they may want  to  learn  more  about  it.  Similarly,  New Mexico State University Library (2002) stated that undergraduate students’ research  is  important  as  students  learn  the  conventions  of  research  through practice and acquire valuable presentation skills. For them, research becomes an

essential part of the internal transformation  as they begin to understand what means to be a scholar and a research.

In order to encourage  learning and research  in universities  in Nigeria, National   Universities   Commission   (2007),   in   their   benchmark   minimum academic    standards   for   undergraduate    students’   programs   in   Nigerian universities and standard objectives, stated that there must be adequate library facilities to cater for the interest of all the programmes in the faculties. These include current journals, handbooks, textbooks, manuals, codes of practice, standards and specifications to mention but a few, in sufficient numbers as well as exposing undergraduate students of Nigerian universities to the rudiments of Information  and Communication  Technology (ICT) for computer  literacy and ability to live usefully in this ICT age.

Based on these objectives, The National Universities Commission (NUC) in February,  2008,  subscribed  to databases  such  as National Virtual  Library, which  has  more  than  25,  000  digitalized  electronic  local  journals  and  an additional 10,000 foreign books, articles and journals, and EBSCO Host database services with over 75,000 electronic (digitalized) journals with over 25,000 of its collection in full text for free use for the universities community in the country for a stipulated time of 3 years. The aim is to ease the problem of inadequate books  and  journal  materials  for  both  students  and  teachers  in the university system. The implication is that the databases subscribed to are very rich with Internet resources for academic use.

Use of Internet has opened  new possibilities  for students carrying  out research  work.  It embraces  active study skills,  it also serves as a support to researchers that cannot purchase extensive collection of books and also serves as a learning zone where facts and information can be obtained in a wide variety of contexts. Traditionally, research project is a must for every university student in final  year  in  the  university.  The  reason  for  this  is  because  it  marks  the

culminating  point  in  students’  completion  of  a  degree  programme  in  the university (Akogu, 2000).

Before the advent of the Internet, university students carried out research project using library printed and audio visual materials (Aina, 2004). But with the invention of the Internet, much more research is carried out using Internet resources by students and researchers (Adebiji, 2001). This is because there are useful academic resources available on the Internet, including hundreds of online journals and sites set up by universities and scholarly scientific organizations.

Through the Internet, one can access Internet resources such as bibliographic and full text databases, library catalogue on Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), electronic mail, scholarly publications, newspapers, magazines, constitutions of various countries and electronic comments.Undergraduate students’ use of Internet resources depends partly on how  universities  are  meeting  their  information  needs  by  making  Internet resources such as virtual library, e-books, e-journals and so on available and adequate, provision of basic Internet skills of surfing the web as well as creating awareness of the Internet resources.

Despite the numerous benefits Internet resources provide, it can be seen that most of the students experience difficulty of exploration,  innovation  and creativity when conducting research. The students express these difficulties through their inability to choose topics, write the background of their research topics, review literature of their research work and analyse their data (Nichols

&Mellinger,  2007).  Suresh  (2010)  observed  that  students  who  perceived

problem identification, instrument development, advancing frontiers of knowledge for research work, literature review and statistical tool for hypotheses testing as being irrelevant Internet resources will not achieve a quality research project. One wonders if the students are making sufficient use

of the Internet resources available in university libraries and Information Centers in North-Central Nigeria.

Statement of the Problem

Libraries, irrespective of the type are meant to meet the information needs of their users. In University libraries, there are numerous library users including undergraduate students who need information for project writing. The students need information for their studies and research, while lecturers need information for their teaching and research. However, the collection of any library including university libraries  cannot  hold  everything  the  users  need.  As  such,  Internet connectivity was introduced into the university libraries to augment the printed resources for undergraduate students’ use for learning and project writing.

In this regard, Internet service provision has become a critical factor in the service of university libraries for undergraduate students’ research activities especially in developing  countries  including  Nigeria.  The  university libraries specifically,  acquire  and  organize  both  printed  and  electronic  information sources   for   accessibility   and   use   by   undergraduate   students.   However, researchers  attest  that undergraduate  students  visit  to university libraries  and information  centers  for  research  is  frustrating  due  to  inadequate  Internet resources and lack of basic Internet skills to exploit the resources. Essentially, there exist a poor level of use of electronic journals and online databases which are essential for learning and research. Moreover, researchers confirm that even the Internet speed is slow and Internet facilities are not up and running at all times to meet undergraduate students’ time to browse the Internet.

The inability of undergraduate students to use the available Internet resources and the difficulties undergraduate students in universities in the North- Central Nigeria go through when writing research project as affirmed by researchers is worrisome and if not checked, the consequences in the future may

be  inconceivable.  Therefore,  the  study  investigated  whether  undergraduate students use Internet resources as required for their research project writing.

Purpose of the Study

The  purpose  of  this  study  was  to  investigate  the  use  undergraduate students make of the Internet resources  for research project in universities in North-Central Nigeria. Specifically the study:

1.        found  the  available  Internet  resources  in universities  in  the  North- Central Nigeria;

2.        determined the extent of use of Internet resources by undergraduate students for research projects;

3.        ascertained basic Internet skills possessed by undergraduate students for utilization of Internet resources for research projects;

4.        found out how undergraduate students perceive Internet resources use on research project;

5.        found out challenges hindering undergraduate students from using the

Internet resources in research projects and

6.        found  out  the  strategies  needed  for  the  enhancement  of  Internet resources usage for undergraduate students’ research projects.

Research Questions

The following questions were asked to guide the study:

1.   What are the available Internet resources in the universities in the North- Central Nigeria?

2.  What is the extent of use of Internet resources by undergraduate students for research projects in the North-Central Nigeria?

3.  What are the basic Internet skills possessed by the undergraduate students for use of Internet resources for research projects?

4.  How do the undergraduate  students perceive  Internet  resources use on research project?

5.  What are the challenges of using Internet resources for research project by the undergraduate students?

6.  What are the strategies needed to promoteuse of Internet resources for research  projects  by  undergraduate  students  in  universities  in  North- Central Nigeria?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses formulated for this study are tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1      There  is  no  significant  difference   in  availability  of  Internet resources for research projects between undergraduate students in the Faculty of Science and those in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

HO2   There is no significant difference in the extent of use of Internet resources for research projects between undergraduate students in the Faculty of Science and those in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Significance of the Study

This  study  is  expected  to  be  of  benefit  to  undergraduate  students, librarians, researchers and the university management in the following ways.

The  study will  make  the  undergraduate  students  aware  of  the  use  of Internet resources for their assignments, term papers and research projects by effective user education that the study has recommended. They will use Internet resources for educating themselves for even other things as well as exploring deeper into their study areas. Knowledge acquired through such exploration will enable them to be more innovative and creative. With the knowledge of Internet resources,  the  students  will  be  able  to  access  and  use  adequate  and  current literature that will enhance quality project writing.

Consequently, the study will benefit the librarians by helping them to see the need of encouraging the university management of the mother institutions of their libraries to provide and preserve Internet resources for information dissemination to all library users. Therefore, the librarians will identify the necessary Internet resources need and make requisition for their provision. The librarians will now be better equipped with knowledge capacities to serve their community better  as they will  endeavor to have  sufficient  Internet  resources available for undergraduate students research projects.

In addition, the study will benefit the university management by making the  management  aware  of  the  necessary  Internet  resources  that  they  could provide  funds  for  its  provision.  With  the  provision  of  adequate  Internet resources,  it  will  enhance  the  quality  of  research  projects  of  undergraduate students and their general academic performance.

Scope of the Study

This study covered Benue, Kogi, and Nassarawa States of North-Central Geo-Political  Zone  of  Nigeria.  It  examined  undergraduate  students’  use  of Internet resources for research projects in universities. The dimensions of the topic  covered  availability   of Internet  resources  in universities  in  the North- Central Nigeria, the extent of use of Internet resources by undergraduate students for research projects, basic Internet skills possessed by undergraduate students for utilization of Internet resources for research projects, undergraduate students’ perception  of Internet  resources  use  on  research  project,  problems  hindering undergraduate students from using the Internet resources in research projects and the strategies needed for the enhancement of   Internet resources use for undergraduate students research projects.


This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research



UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS USE OF INTERNET RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH PROJECT IN UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH – CENTRAL NIGERIA

NOT THE TOPIC YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?



PROJECTS TOPICS Support Team Are Always (24/7) Online To Help You With Your Project

Chat Us on WhatsApp » 09069999843

DO YOU NEED CLARIFICATION? CALL OUR HELP DESK:

  09069999843 (Country Code: +234)
 
YOU CAN REACH OUR SUPPORT TEAM VIA MAIL: projectstopics1@gmail.com


Related Project Topics :

LIST OF PROJECTS DEPARTMENTS