School library and students’ understanding of public administration

Abstract

Student difficulty in public administration has witnessed some writings within the African context. Although these studies are emerging, there seems to be minimal research on the influence of school libraries on students’ understanding of public administration. This gap in the public administration literature precludes educational managers from determining whether or not the variable influences students understanding of the course/programme. Not establishing this places educational managers in a situation that inhibits them from placing measures to enhance the understanding of the course from the lenses of school libraries. This study responds to the gap in the public administration literature by employing a mixed-method approach to investigate the influence of the variable in the study of public administration by Ghanaian and Nigerian university students using a sample of N = 650. Anchored on the Culturo-Techno- Contextual Approach, the study results suggest significant differences in corruption, governance, and defining public administration ( p < .001) when there are poor school libraries. Both theoretical and practical implications have been proferred for the use of school libraries to enhance students’ understanding of difficult concepts in the study of public administration in Ghanaian and Nigerian universities.