Students In Tertiary Institutions Research Articles

Web 2.0-based Learning and the Challenges of Culture Shock among International Students in Cyprus

With the emergence of new communication technologies, learning has been transformed digitally through Web 2.0 tools, in which digital devices are used to blend the learning system. Some students of tertiary institutions, especially international students who migrate to study out of their community or country, have different cultures of learning, thereby lacking skills and awareness on how to use the new learning system. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the use of web 2.0-based learning facilities and culture shock among international students at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), North Cyprus. The data were collected from a purposive sample of 15 Nigerian students using a semi-structured interview as a data collection instrument. The data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The study reveals that even though some Nigerian students face difficulties in managing Web2.0-based learning facilities like student portal and Moodle, their computer literacy helped them from the initial stage. The findings also indicate that some participants suggest adequate orientation to be organized for international students on the use of learning facilities in the institution. The study suggests that there is a need for further research on digital learning culture from the African perspective.

STIs and Unplanned Pregnancies Risk Perceptions Among Female Students in Tertiary Institutions in Zimbabwe

Personal risk perception of getting pregnant, contracting STIs and HIV has been a topical issue because of its association with risky sexual behaviours. Yet little is known about the risk perception of getting pregnant, contracting STIs and HIV among female students at the University of Zimbabwe and Chinhoyi University of Technology. The study triangulated quantitative and qualitative research methods. A survey with 770 female students was used to quantify the female students’ sexual practice. Eight face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted using an in-depth interview guide, and eight face-to-face focus group discussions were conducted using a focus group discussion guide. The study revealed that the risk perception of getting pregnant was high, 94%, across universities although variations were noted, 97% at UZ and 88% at CUT. The risk of contracting STIs was also high in both universities, 88%, however it was high at UZ, 89% than 85% at CUT. The risk perception of contracting HIV infection was also high, 86%, across universities although marginal variations were noted, 87% at CUT and 85% at UZ. Qualitative results revealed that female students acknowledged the risks due to their own sexual behaviours, partner refusing to use condoms, and conducting sex parties. The study recommends that information on the dangers of reproductive health problems should be disseminated to students. There is need to encourage students to effectively and consistently use contraceptives.

Socio-economic status and tertiary academic performance in Enugu State, Nigeria

This study examined socio-economic status and tertiary academic performance in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study utilised propensity score matching model and survey data generated from 468 questionnaires distributed among student in 13 higher institutions in the state. It was found that students' academic performances would significantly decrease with low socio-economic status. Further, low socio-economic status has negative significant impact on students' academic performance. Hence, with low socio-economic status, academic performance of students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State decreases by about 62.5% but will rise by about 37.5% if the student were to be in the upper echelon of the socio-economic strata (middle and high). The study recommended among others that there is need for the government, non-governmental organisations, and other philanthropist to provide education fund concessions such as scholarships, bursary awards, and other special education interventions funds to students from poor background.

Academic Resilience, Social Intelligence, Examination Anxiety and Academic Performance among Students in Tertiary Institutions in Delta South Senatorial District

Academic Resilience, Social Intelligence, Examination Anxiety and Academic Performance among Students in Tertiary Institutions in Delta South Senatorial District

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among staff and students in a Nigerian tertiary educational institution.

Background:COVID-19 was first reported on 31 December 2019 and has so far claimed over 2,000 lives in Nigeria. Through global and national efforts, about 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was distributed and used in Nigeria from March 2021. Vaccine hesitancy could pose a serious problem for COVID-19 prevention and control.Objectives:To estimate the proportion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University community that is willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19; level of hesitancy and its associated factors.Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted using online Google form distributed to staff and students of the university via different WhatsApp groups. The outcome measures were the proportion of persons willing to be vaccinated, vaccine hesitancy rates and reasons for this hesitancy. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and Minitab version 19. Bivariate analysis was performed by the chi-square test, Odds Ratios (ORs) and statistical significance was accepted when p-value is < 0.05.Results:Only 349 of the survey responses were analyzed in the survey. Results show that 34.70 ± 5.00% of the university community were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it is offered to them. The COVID-19 hesitancy rate among staff and students was 65.04 ± 5.00%. It was discovered that marital status (OR = 2.06), age (OR = 0.802) and christian denominational affiliation (OR = 0.366) influenced respondents’ perception of COVID-19 vaccination. Gender, occupation, previous vaccination experience, awareness of COVID-19 and previous symptoms of COVID-19 did not significantly (p = 0.05) influence respondents’ willingness to be vaccinated.Conclusion:COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is high among staff and students in a Nigerian university and is significantly influenced by marital status, respondents’ age and christian denominational affiliation.

A Nigerian tertiary institution students’ knowledge and attitude to mental health and services

Background: Mental health and availability of its services are under-emphasized, misunderstood, and misplaced due to unfounded theories, mistaken beliefs, stigma, and fallacies, especially pronounced in the developing world. With these misconceptions come under-utilization of available services resulting in increased numbers of the mentally unhealthy in our society. This study aims at uncovering perceptions to the availability and effectiveness of mental health services as well as health-seeking behavior to such services. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Respondents were picked by simple random sampling until a determined sample size was achieved. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were employed in data collection. The analysis was done with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: A greater percentage of respondents showed positive attitudes to mental health/services as 94.4% (321) of the respondents expressed that one had to be mentally healthy to function effectively; 66.2% (225) would seek orthodox mental health services if need be. Interestingly, a significant number (45.6%, 155) was unaware of availability of these services in Enugu even as findings revealed negative attitude toward the mentally ill, with 67.7% (230) of the view that the mentally ill should be avoided, whereas 71.7% (245) submitted that people with mental illness should not live in hostels. Conclusion: There is a need for improved/increased awareness on mental health spreading to the general populace as pronounced information gap exists even among university students.

Etiology, Nature and Upshot of Academic Stress on Fresh Science Degree Students in Tertiary Institutions, an Extrapolation

The paper examined the etiology, nature and upshot on Fresh (year one) science students in higher institutions in Port Harcourt. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to establish the perceived sources of stress on fresh university science students. A population of 6000 students was used; out of it, a samples size of 200 was selected through a stratified random sampling for the study. The study was guided with 2 research questions and 2 hypotheses. Academic stress rating scale (ASRS) was the instrument used after it was validated and it reliability was known using the Cronbach alpha r=0.87. The data collected was analyzed using the mean(x) and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the ANOVA and t-test were used to test the hypotheses. The result showed that; the sources of stress on fresh degree student varied from, personal, facilities, financial and other social factors. The stressors experienced by fresh students was categorized on the bases of strength into low, medium and high. The major sources of stress on fresh students came from three (3) main clusters of issues which borders around (1) environmental factors (2) social and (3) financial factors. In addition to the above, the result showed a significant difference in the sources of stress among the various department. On the other hand, the severity of stress does not differ between male and female students. Based on these, some recommendations were made.

Data science skills: Building partnership for efficient school curriculum delivery in Africa

Data science is a concept to unify statistics, data analysis, machine learning and their related methods in order to analyze actual phenomena with data to provide better understanding. This article focused its investigation on acquisition of data science skills in building partnership for efficient school curriculum delivery in Africa, especially in the area of teaching statistics courses at the beginners’ level in tertiary institutions. Illustrations were made using Big data of selected 18 African countries sourced from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with special focus on some macro-economic variables that drives economic policy. Data description techniques were adopted in the analysis of the sourced open data with the aid of R analytics software for data science, as improvement on the traditional methods of data description for learning and thus open a new charter of education curriculum delivery in African schools. Though, the collaboration is not without its own challenges, its prospects in creating self-driven learning culture among students of tertiary institutions has greatly enhanced the quality of teaching, advancing students skills in machine learning, improved understanding of the role of data in global perspective and being able to critique claims based on data.

Career readiness of final year agriculture students in tertiary institutions in South West region of Nigeria

Career readiness of final year agriculture students in tertiary institutions in South West region of Nigeria

Attitude of Nigerian Students to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 has led to the need for alternate sources of learning for students in tertiary institutions. The use of online learning has been adopted by some students. There has not been any evaluation of students' attitude to online learning during this period. Thus, this study seeks to determine the attitude of higher education students in Nigeria to online learning. Data was collected using an online survey tool. The results show that Nigerian students are engaged in online learning. It was recommended that the certificates be recognized and online learning be introduced to tertiary institutions.

Influence of Social Media on Students’ Academic Performance as Perceived by Undergraduate Education Students

The use of social media among tertiary institution students has been the concern of scholars within the education realm in respect of the influence on academic performance. While some have found positive impact, others have recorded negative or neutral. However, specific attention has not been given education students who are the potential builders of up-coming generation on their views in relation to the influence on academic performance. This study therefore investigated the perceived influence of the use of social media on students’ academic performance. The study adopted a descriptive survey design by randomly selecting 297 undergraduate education students of Osun State University from 2nd, 3rd and final year students. The instrument used for data collection is a self-developed questionnaire titled ‘Influence of Social Media on Academic Performance’. One research question and two hypotheses were generated for the study. Data were analysed using simple percentage and frequency count aspect of descriptive statistics, t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the use of social media has both positive and negative influence on academic performance. The study also revealed no bias in the view of the respondents based on gender and number of years spent as students in the university. The researcher therefore recommends the need to educate students on the educational benefits of social media, guide the students on how to use social media to enhance learning coupled with the incorporation of social media as instructional strategy in the school curriculum.&#x0D; Keywords: Academic performance, perception, social media, undergraduate students

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use Among Male and Female University Students: Is Inner Meaning Fulfilment Protective?

Abstract Alcohol use among students in tertiary institutions has long been established as a major public health concern. Also, previous research has shown that individuals with depression are particularly susceptible to alcohol use. There is, however, a paucity of empirical studies focusing on whether this relation is moderated by gender or buffered by a sense of inner meaning fulfilment. We assessed the moderating roles of gender and inner meaning fulfilment in the relationship between depression and alcohol use among university students in Nigeria. A correlational survey design was utilized. Data were collected from 1,173 students (57% male) aged between 16 and 36 years selected across six Nigerian universities. Data were subjected to SPSS v.23 for statistical analysis. Our findings show that depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment significantly correlated with alcohol use. The effect of depression on alcohol was positive and significant (b=.439, se=.049, p=.000). Inner meaning fulfilment significantly moderated the relationship between depression and alcohol use (b=-.163, se=.034, p=.000). Depression was established as a significant risk factor for alcohol use, regardless of gender, and inner meaning fulfilment may buffer this association. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

Demographic Factors and Online Sexual Behaviours of Tertiary Institution Students in Osun State, Nigeria: Counselling Implications

The study examined the dimension of online sexual behavior of tertiary institution students in Osun State, Nigeria. It also investigated the predictive contribution of demographic factors on online sexual behavior of students. Descriptive correlational design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of all tertiary institution students in Osun State. A sample of 1600 students was selected to participate in the study. Online Sexual Behaviour Scale (OSBS) was the instrument designed and used to collect data for the study. Frequency counts was used to answer the research question while linear regression analysis used to test the research hypothesis. The findings showed that 34.1% of students sampled have experienced partnered-arousal with another person while 48.5% of them have experienced non- arousal. Only 17.4% of them have had experience of solitary arousal with another person. The result also showed that place of residence was the strongest predictor of online sexual behaviour among students (B = 12.164; t = 10.091; p &lt; 0.05). This study concluded that demographic factors were predictive factors of online sexual behaviour among tertiary institution students. Thus, appropriate counselling implications were made, and it was recommended that counselling psychologists and sex educators should develop a comprehensive programme that will specifically promote safe online sexual practices among students.

Demographic factors and online sexual behaviours of tertiary institution students in Osun State, nigeria: counselling implications

The study examined the dimension of online sexual behaviour of tertiary institution students in Osun State, Nigeria. It also investigated the predictive contribution of demographic factors on online sexual behaviour of students. Descriptive correlational design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of all tertiary institution students in Osun State. A sample of 1600 students was selected to participate in the study. Online Sexual Behaviour Scale (OSBS) was the instrument designed and used to collect data for the study. Frequency counts was used to answer the research question while linear regression analysis used to test the research hypothesis. The findings showed that 34.1% of students sampled have experienced partnered-arousal with another person while 48.5% of them have experienced nonarousal. Only 17.4% of them have had experience of solitary arousal with another person. The result also showed that place of residence was the strongest predictor of online sexual behaviour among students (B = 12.164; t = 10.091; p &lt; 0.05). This study concluded that demographic factors were predictive factors of online sexual behavior among tertiary institution students. Thus, appropriate counselling implications were made, and it was recommended that counselling psychologists and sex educators should develop a comprehensive programme that will specifically promote safe online sexual practices among students.

Evaluation of a Developed Intelligent Tutor System for Learning Robotic Programming Course in Tertiary Institutions South East, Nigeria

This study is on evaluation of a developed Intelligent Tutor system for learning Robotic programming course in Tertiary Institutions South East, Nigeria. 2 research questions guided the study and 1 hypothesis were formulated. This developed ITS followed Research and Development (R&D) design based on the theoretical foundation of Iterative life cycle model. The population of the study is 120 students and three schools were used. 120 students also formed the population that was used to evaluate the ITS. The total sampling techniques was used while the reliabilities of instrumensts were tested with cronbach-alpha coeffiecient. Result gotten is 0.89. mean answered the research questions and Anova tested the hypothesis that guided the study. Furthermore, the findings on hypothesis tested shows the no significance differences in the responses of second year students of tertiary institutions selected for the study on their learning experiences using the developed Intelligent Tutor System. It was recommended that the developed tutor should be adopted by teachers in computing disciplines for effective use in classroom teaching. Teachers should engage students in practical use of the developed ITS in teaching Robotics programmming courses for increased learner motivation and performance.

Supporting Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Motivation, and Information Literacy for Students in Tertiary Institutions

Academic self-efficacy, academic motivation, and information literacy are considered crucial to fostering student learning in tertiary institutions. The aim of this study was to examine the information literacy self-efficacy and academic motivation of college students and to identify the predictors of information literacy self-efficacy. The participants included students in their junior and senior years studying nursing, healthcare, and non-healthcare disciplines at a self-financing institution. Data were collected through a quota sampling method using a questionnaire. In total, 504 valid questionnaires were returned. The results indicated a moderate positive correlation between the two variables. The nursing students were found to have lower information literacy self-efficacy scores than those from the other disciplines. The results from a multiple regression analysis showed that the following factors are predictors of information literacy self-efficacy: being a nursing student, total scores for academic motivation, and owning a personal computer. Nurse educators are encouraged to strengthen the information literacy skills of nursing students, as this is an essential component in the application of evidence-based practices in the nursing profession.

Knowledge as Determinant of Healthy-Eating Among Male Postgraduate Public Health Students in a Nigerian Tertiary Institution.

Unhealthy eating, which is quite prevalent among the adult population globally, is a major risk factor for Non-Communicable Diseases. Men have the tendency to visit food vendors without recourse to body nutrients requirement, health and expectations as potential change agents. The study was thus designed to investigate the knowledge and practices of healthy eating among male public health students in a Nigerian tertiary institution. Data was collected from 161 consenting respondents. Knowledge of healthy eating was assessed on a 25-point knowledge scale; score ≥19 was rated good, <19≥12 fair and <12 poor. Practices of healthy eating were assessed using a 34-point practice scale; score ≥26 was rated good and <26 poor. Patterns of eating was determined using food frequency questionnaire; descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out at α=0.05. Respondents' age was 28.9 ± 5.5 years; they were mostly Christian (87.0%), Yoruba (69.6%) and 21.1% were married. Their body mass index was 23.1 ± 3.1kg/m2, monthly income ranged between N5000 and N300,000, 2.5% smoked tobacco/cigarette and 28.0% consumed alcohol. Good knowledge was observed among 52.2% of the respondents, 37.9% had good healthy eating practices, 49.7% did not eat breakfast everyday while only 13.7% consumed fruits and vegetables daily. The most reported factors influencing choice of food included health maintenance and food availability. Respondents' knowledge and practices relating to healthy eating was significant. Knowledge of healthy eating was average and practice was poor among the study population. Strategic health education and behaviour change communication could motivate male students for healthy eating.

Assessment of Language Laboratory and Teaching and Learning of English Language Pronunciation among Undergraduate Students in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

The study made an assessment of language laboratory and teaching and learning of English language pronunciation among undergraduate students in Nigerian tertiary institutions. In order to carry out this study, specified research objective was developed from which and used for the study. The research design for this study is an Expost Facto design. The population of this study consisted of all HND II students in Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekepene in 2019/2020 academic session. The sample size for the study is 302 respondents, representing 10% of the student population. The Multi-stage sampling was used to select the respondents. The instrument was validated by two research experts. Data from the completed questionnaires was subjected to percentage analysis. The findings showed and concluded that there is significant effect of language laboratory and teaching and learning of English language pronunciation among undergraduate students in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The study recommended that, Since lecturers quality was significantly related to students’ achievement in English Language pronunciation, lecturers should possess the requisite qualifications before being recruited to teach. Furthermore, the English language lecturers should adopt better teaching strategies during the teaching-learning process.

Socio-economic status and tertiary academic performance in Enugu State, Nigeria

This study examined socio-economic status and tertiary academic performance in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study utilised propensity score matching model and survey data generated from 468 questionnaires distributed among student in 13 higher institutions in the state. It was found that students' academic performances would significantly decrease with low socio-economic status. Further, low socio-economic status has negative significant impact on students' academic performance. Hence, with low socio-economic status, academic performance of students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State decreases by about 62.5% but will rise by about 37.5% if the student were to be in the upper echelon of the socio-economic strata (middle and high). The study recommended among others that there is need for the government, non-governmental organisations, and other philanthropist to provide education fund concessions such as scholarships, bursary awards, and other special education interventions funds to students from poor background.

Gender Imbalance in Education as Perceived by Students in Tertiary Institution in Rivers State

Gender Imbalance in Education as Perceived by Students in Tertiary Institution in Rivers State