Academic Use of Internet among Undergraduate Students: A Preliminary Case Study in a Malaysian University

Abstract

The year 1995 was considered the beginning of the Internet age in Malaysia. The growth in the number of Internet hosts in Malaysia began around 1996. Since then, the use of Internet has grown tremendously and, the use of Internet by students at universities now is common in Malaysia. Students use the Internet for social, entertainment, and educational purposes. This paper presents the findings from a preliminary study on how undergraduate students at a local university in Malaysia use the Internet for academic purposes. The research questions answered in this paper are: (i) what is the level of Internet usage skill? (ii) How is the Internet used for academic purposes? (iii) To what extent are Internet facilities used for academic purposes? (iv) What are the pathways and search engines used to find information? and (v) What is the perception of students toward the quality of learning by using the Internet for academic purposes? The answers to these questions are obtained through the use of a questionnaire completed by 92 undergraduate students at a local university. The data collected were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The results obtained provide some information about the extent of Internet use for academic purposes by graduate students.