Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
Summer 2-12-2019
Abstract
ABSTRACT: The study investigated the perceived impact of internet services on Computer Science undergraduate research in universities in Benue State, Nigeria. The study looked at the extent of availability of internet services, e-mails, World Wide Web, File Transfer Protocol and challenges that affect effective utilization of internet services. Five (5) objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study while three hypotheses were formulated. The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study was 401 final year undergraduate students of Computer Science Department from three (3) universities in Benue State. The sample size for the study was 200 Computer Science undergraduate who were composed using proportionate stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The instrument of data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Internet Services and Computer Science Undergraduate Research Questionnaire” (ISCSUSRQ) which was validated by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach Alpha method and a reliability coefficient of 0.89 was obtained. Data was collected and analyzed using Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions and Chi-Square statistics to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that, Internet services such as World Wide Web, E-mails, File Transfer Protocol, Internet Chatting, Search Engines, List Servs/Discussion Groups and Telnet /Usenet are to a high extent, available for research by Computer Science undergraduate students in universities in Benue State. E-mail, World Wide Web and File Transfer Protocol has significant perceived impact on Computer Science undergraduate research in universities in Benue State. The finding also revealed that the challenges affecting effective utilization of internet services for research by Computer Science undergraduate in universities in Benue State include slow internet access speed, longer time to view/download web pages, difficulty in finding relevant information, offline internet connectivity, electricity failure, high cost of accessing the internet, lack of computers, Low internet bandwidth and lack of internet search skills for effective search among others. The study concluded that, internet services such as E-mails, World Wide Web, File Transfer Protocol used by Computer Science undergraduate students in universities in Benue State have significant perceived positive impact on their research activities. Recommendations were made that, there should be inclusion of internet services literacy course into the general studies programme of the University to enhance students knowledge of online information for their learning and research, universities should improve on the internet wireless service connectivity as this will enhance students’ access without time limit or restrictions and internet laboratories which offer FTP services on campus should be scheduled and made accessible to students among others.