Understanding the Perspective of Faculty Members Regarding the Influence of Social Media on University Students’ Overall Academic Achievements

Abstract

This descriptive and exploratory research intended to understand the faculty members' perspective regarding the influence of social media on university students' overall academic achievements. The study's main goal was to investigate the impact of social media usage on academic achievements of university students. The primary research question was, "What is the faculty's perception of the impact of social media on the academic performance of university students?" The secondary research question was, "What are the various purposes for which university students use social media?" Ninety faculty members of public and private sector universities in Sindh province participated in this research. Survey questionnaire was used as major data collection tool. This questionnaire has twenty statements regarding social media usage and two open ended questions related to problems and remedial measures associated with use of social media. Collected data was analyzed using demographic statistics, descriptive statistics, and central tendency statistics. Frequency counts and word clouds were used to analyze open-ended questions. From the analysis of data, it was found that use of social networking sites have positive as well negative impacts on the academic performance, study habits and social interactions of the students. The study recommends that since internet and social media are inevitable, responsible internet usage needs to be inculcated at a very early age through specialized curriculum embedded with unwritten curriculum of the educational institutes. It is also recommended that a policy framework to be developed by the state for restricting social networking sites and other online sites during certain time for the students. To conclude, the findings of this research provide insights into the correlation between social media usage and academic performance among university students. It is also recommended that this correlation may be further studied on a large scale.