RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS

IN UNIVERSITIES IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

 

M.Ed. INTERIM REPORT

BY

YAHYA, Saheed Olalekan 05/67QW024

 

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN,

ILORIN, NIGERIA

 

SUPERVISOR: DR. S. A. ONASANYA

 

BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

The need for very effective and efficient ways of handling modern communication is very important, as communication remains the major sustenance of world existence. Invariably, without good communication, the world would be a difficult place to live in (Raji & AbdulKareem 2009).

Networking is referred to as the connection of two or more computers to

communicate with one another, that is when millions of computers in different locations around the world are connected together to allow users send and receive message to one another (Olawepo & Oyedepo 2008).

Cecconi (2007) described Social Networking as all activities carried out within specific online services that provide free space and software tools which allow the creation of networks of people.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Syed & Naqvi2 (2006), carried out a research to explore factors affecting college

students’ performance, the focus of the research is that student performance in intermediate examination is associated with students’ profile consisted of his attitude towards attendance in classes, time allocation for studies, parents’ level of income, mother’s age and mother’s education.

Flad (2010) researched on the Influence of Social Networking Participation on Student Academic Performance across gender lines. Findings of the study revealed that the relationship between students who are actively involved in social networking and their academic performance is inconclusive. Females were more likely than males to participate in social networking, but were also more likely to have higher grades and take more rigorous classes.

Wang, Chen, and Liang (2011) worked on the Effects of Social Media on College Students, in the research it was indicated that most college students would prefer to use social media and spend many hours checking social media sites, Social networking is definitely affecting students’ efficiencies as well as their grades, hence, educators need to be concerned about these problems and try to find better ways to solve these problems.

The researcher became interested in focusing on social networking sites after discovering that communication is now instant, as students own cell phones that enable them to access social networking sites throughout the day. With these facilities, students would miss class, staying home from school, or avoiding schoolwork in order to participate on social networking websites, some while in the class access their social networking sites. In the end, the researcher thinks all of these things would negatively hamper the students’ overall academic achievement.

The researcher also wanted to understand how gender influences this study, since male and female students may have different reasons for participating in social networking, and may have different academic achievements. Hence, it is apparently important to bring into renewed focus, the influence of emerging social communication platforms could portend on learners.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM CONTD.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDYSpecifically, the research investigated the following:

The number of social networking sites students subscribe to

The number of social networking sites students use

The number of hours students spends daily on social networking sites

The relationship between frequency of use of social networking sites and the students’ academic achievement

The relationship between gender and the students’ use of social networking sites

To find out if relationship of students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement vary from university to university.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Which social networking sites do students subscribe to?

2. Which social networking sites do students use?

3. What number of hours do students spend daily on social networking

sites?

4. Does the use of social networking sites have a relationship with

students’ academic achievement?

5. Is there any relationship between gender and the students’ use of social

networking sites?

6. Is there any relationship between students’ use of social networking

sites and their academic achievement from university to university?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESESThe following null hypotheses were tested:

HO1: there is no significant relationship between the academic

achievement of students who spend more time on social networking

sites and those who spend less time.

HO2: there is no significant

relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their

academic achievement based on gender.

Ho3 there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social

networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are

compared.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study was limited to undergraduates of

universities in Kwara State. Three Universities were

sampled, these are:University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State

University Malete and Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin. Landmark

University, Omun - Aran was not considered as part of the

sampled school because none of their students is in their

final year of study. Respondents were proportionally

selected from 400 levels of each school viz University of

Ilorin, Ilorin (200), Kwara State University (100), Al-Hikmah

University, Ilorin (100) to make a total of four hundred

students (400) that was used for the study.

Clarification of Major Terms and VariablesThe terms and variables that were operationally used in the

course of this study were defined as used in the study for the purpose of clarity

Relationship;

Online social networking ;

Social networking sites;

Academic achievement ;

University students .

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results and findings of this study would be useful

to: teachers, learners, parents, curriculum

developer, teacher education, educational

policy maker, government, professional bodies,

university administrators, educational

researcher and it is expected to provide an

empirical basis and stimulant for further researches

on the influence and use of social networking on

students’ academic achievement.

CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW

The literature reviewed for this study is presented under the following headings:

1. Concept and Historical development of Social networking. 2. Technologies that support Social networking Access. 3. Historical background of Universities in Kwara State. 4. Positive and Negative effects of social networking.

5. Related studies on social networking and Students’ academic achievement.

6. Related studies on Computer and Internet use in Education.

7. Gender Differences and Internet use in education.

8. Some social networking sites registered users and date lunched.

9. Appraisal of the Reviewed Literature.

CHAPTER THREERESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Type

This study was a correlation research of the survey type as the researcher seeks and obtained information on the relationship between online social networking and students’ academic achievement using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to draw inference about the general response of the entire population under investigation.

Sample and Sampling Techniques

The population for the study comprised of all university undergraduates

in Kwara State, while the target population consisted of three (3)

selected universities in Kwara state.

• The proportional stratified sampling technique was adopted to select the

respondents according to the population of the sampled universities, vis

two hundred (200) respondents from university of Ilorin, one hundred

(100) respondents each from Kwara State University, Malete, and Al-

Hikmah University, Ilorin making a total of four hundred (400)

respondents all at 400 levels of each of the three universities.

Research Instrument

The research instrument used to gather the relevant data for this study was a

researcher – designed questionnaire with two sections. Section A deals with

respondents’ personal information such as name of institution, department,

academic level and gender; while section B composed of 12 questions which

was formatted with “yes” or “no” questions, multiple choice questions and open

ended questions where respondents expressed themselves on the question(s)

asked. Respondents ticked ( ) as appropriate for their response, and filled in

blank spaces to supply answer where applicable.

the researcher obtained academic records (the good standing results) of the

students on who the questionnaires were administered and correlated their level

of social networking usage with their current GPA to see its relationship with their

academic achievement as a result of their exposure to social networking

technologies.

Reliability of the Instrument• The research instrument was given to the researcher’s supervisor, a professor in

the Department of Science Education, University of Ilorin, the researcher’s

colleagues, a lecturer from school of science, Kwara State College of Education,

Ilorin for validation and their comments were used for the modification of the

questionnaire for the final draft that was administered.

• The reliability of the instrument was determined using 50 selected students from

Kwara State polytechnic, Ilorin and the questionnaire was administered to them,

after two weeks the same set of students were given the same questionnaire.

The Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient was employed to test for

correlation between the two set of data collected and the correlation coefficient

of r = 0.81 indicated that there is a high relationship between the two set of data,

hence confirming the reliability of the questionnaire.

Procedure for Data Collection

The copies of the research questionnaire were administered

to the universities’ students through personal contact by the

researcher to ensure the questionnaire items were properly

filled without delay, the completed questionnaires were

collected by the researcher and data gathered from the

questionnaire was used to find out the relationship between

online social networking and academic achievement of

university students in the selected schools.

Data Analysis Techniques

Data gathered from the sampled universities’ students was used to find out the relationship between online social networking and the academic achievement of the students.

Frequency counts and percentage and t-test were used to analyze the research questions.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the stated hypotheses.

CHAPTER FOURDATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Research questions 1 and 2:Which social networking sites do students subscribe to?Which social networking sites do students use?Table 3: Showing the social networking sites students subscribe to and use.

Table 3 shows that 350 (34.9%) of the respondents subscribe to Facebook, 222 (22.1%) subscribe to 2go, 126 (12.7%) subscribe to Twitter, 220 (22.0%) subscribe to WhatsApp, 46 (4.6%) subscribe to Skype and 38 (3.7%) subscribe to Youtube. It was also indicated in the table that 300 (36.4%) of the respondents uses Facebook, 200 (24.3%) uses 2go, 98(12.7%) uses Twitter, 150 (18.23%)WhatsApp, 40 (4.6%) uses Skype and 32 (3.8%) uses Youtube.

Social networking sites Subscribe to Use Freq. Perc. Freq. Perc.

Facebook 350 34.9 300 36.42go 222 22.1 200 24.3Twitter 126 12.7 98 12.7WhatsApp 220 22.0 50 18.2Skype 46 4.6 40 4.6Youtube 38 3.7 32 3.8Total 1002 100.0 820 100.0

Research question 3:What number of hours do students spend daily on social

networking sites?Table 4: Showing the number of time students spend daily on social networking sites.

Table 4 shows that 6 (1.5%) of the respondents chooses no time, 162 (40.5%) spends 30 minutes, 112 (28.0%) spends 1 hour, 51 (12.8%) spends 1 hour 30 minutes and 69 (17.2%) spends 2 hours daily on social networking sites.

Time Frequency Percentage0 6 1.530mins 162 40.51hr 112 28.01hr30mins 51 12.82hrs 69 17.2Total 400 100.0

Research question 4:Does the use of social networking sites have a relationship with

students’ academic achievement? Table 5: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on academic achievement of students and students’ use of social networking sites.

**= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed)Table 5 presents data on the relationship on the students’ use of

social networking sites and their academic achievement. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.731 and a critical r-value of .195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-value is greater than the critical r-value, it shows that there is significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement.

Variables No Mean Standard

Deviation

Df Calculated

r-value

Critical

r-value

Sig.

network 400 5.78 3.563 398 0.731* 0.195 0.05

g.p. 400 3.27 1.312 398

Research question 5: Is there any relationship between gender and the students’ use of social networking sites? Table 6: Means, Standard Deviation and t-value of Respondents’ relationship between gender and social networking use.

*= Significant, p< 0.05 alpha level.Table 6 presents data on the mean, standard deviation and t- value of

respondents’ relationship between gender and social networking use. The table shows that the calculated t-value of -1.682 is less than the critical t- value of 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. On this basis, the use of social networking sites does not have a significant relationship across gender.

Gender No Mean Standard Deviation

Df Calculated t-value

Critical t-value

Male 223 5.51 3.767

Female 177 6.11 3.268 398 1.682 1.96

Research question 6: Is there any relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement from university to university?

Table 7: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on sampled universities

**= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed)

Variables No Mean Standard

Deviation

Df Calculated

r-value

Critical

r-value

Sig.

Network 400 6.35 3.370 398 0.044 0.195 0.05

g.p 400 3.19 1.349 398

Table 7 presents data on the relationship between students’ use

of social networking sites and their academic achievement from

university to university. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.044 and

a critical r-value of .195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of

significance. Since the calculated r-value is less than the critical r-value,

this indicated that there is no significant relationship between students’

use of social

networking sites and their academic achievement from university to

university.

HYPOTHESES TESTING Hypothesis 1:

there is no significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time. Table 8: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing Relationship on academic achievement of students and time spent on social networking sites

**= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed)

Variables No Mean Standard

Deviation

Df Calculated

r-value

Critical

r-value

Sig.

g.p 400 5.88 3.476 398 0.195 0.05

30mins 374 3.03 1.433 372 0.074

1hr 238 3.50 1.262 236 0.082

1hr30mins 125 3.36 1.221 123 0.109

2hrs 149 3.02 1.302 145 0.787**

Table 8 presents data on the relationship on academic

Achievement of students and time spent on social networking

sites. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.787 and critical

r-value of .195 with 145 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of

significance at 2 hours. Since the calculated r-value is greater

than the critical r-value 2 hours, the null hypothesis 1 was not

accepted and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. Thus,

there is a significant relationship between the academic

achievement of students who spend more time on social

networking sites and those who spend less time.

Hypothesis 2:There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social

networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender.Table 9: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender

**= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed)

Variables No Mean Standard

Deviation

Df Calculated

r-

value

Critical

r-value

Sig.

g.p. 400 3.36 1.334 398 0.195 0.05

Gender223 5.51 3.767 221 0.031

Male

Female 177 6.11 3.268 175 0.057

Table 9 presents data on the relationship between students’ use

of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on

gender. The table shows calculated r-values of 0.031 and 0.057 and a

critical r-value of .195 with 221 and 175 degree of freedom respectively

at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-values are less than

the critical r-value, the null hypothesis was accepted. Thus, there is no

significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites

and their academic achievement based on gender.

Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared. Table 10: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on sampled universities.

**= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed)

Variables No Mean Standard

Deviation

Df Calculated

r-

value

Critical

r-value

Sig.

Network 400 6.35 3.370 398 0.044 0.195 0.05

g.p. 400 3.19 1.349 398

Table 10 presents data on the relationship between students’ use of

social

networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are

compared. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.044 and a critical r-

value of .195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance.

Since the calculated r-value is less than the critical r-value, the null

hypothesis was accepted. Thus, there is no significant relationship

between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic

achievement when universities are compared.

 

SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGSThe findings of this study revealed that ;Facebook has the highest

number of subscribers and users with 350 (34.9%) and 300 (36.4%)

respectively, followed by 2go with 222 (22.1%) subscriber and 200 (24.3%)

users, then WhtasApp with 220 (22.0%) subscribers and 150 (18.23%)

users, Twitter with126 (12.7%) subscribers and 98(12.7%) users, Skype

with 46 (4.6%) subscribers and 40 (4.6%) users and lastly Youtube with 38

(3.7%) subscribers and 32 (3.8%) users. The result of the data gathered

also indicated that 6 (1.5%) of the respondents chooses no time, 162

(40.5%) spends 30 minutes, 112 (28.0%) spends 1 hour, 51 (12.8%) spends

1 hour 30 minutes and 69 (17.2%) spends 2 hours daily on social

networking sites.

SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS CONTD.

The summary is hereby presented as:

1.there is a significant relationship between the academic achievement of

students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who

spend less time.

2.there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social

networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender.

3. there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social

networking sites and their academic achievement when universities

are compared.

CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONSDiscussionThe findings indicated that:There is a significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time.

There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender.

There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universitiesare compared.

CONCLUSION

It was gathered from the study that social networking sites have

attracted millions of users, many of whom who have integrated these sites

into their daily lives. Students have especially embraced this new way of

communicating with classmates and keeping in touch with friends. Though

there may be benefits to keeping connected with others by use of these

sites, there is also the danger that they may negatively affect students’

academic achievement. This study has shown that although many students

find their SNS memberships to be important in their lives, they are also

aware of its negative implication on their academic achievement. Though

some admit to spending a lot of time on these sites and this significantly

affect their academic achievement.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:1.Students should give priority to their academic studies than

social networking.

2. School administrators should build upon the positive attributes that these sites have, such as the ability for students to join student groups or meet others from school.

3.School counselors should also communicate with parents about their children and Internet use in the home; also they should hold meetings to educate parents on the interactions that occur online, such as cyber-bullying, and how to monitor their child’s Internet use.

4. Parents also need to be aware that there are times when their children’s social networking participation do interfere with homework and studying, hence they should adequately guide against such.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIESThe following suggestions were made for further studies:

1.Similar study may be conducted to investigate students of colleges of education, Monotechnics and Polytechnics.

2. This study can be replicated by carrying out a study to investigate relationship across gender only.

3. Further research needs to be done on the influence of social networking participation and students’ attitude towards their study.

4. Further study can be done to find out how these social media affect students in their teens and their relationship with peer groups.

5. Further research in this area could involve other tertiary institutions in other part Nigeria.

Thanks for listening,

God bless you.