scholarly journals Social Utility of Mobile Phone Technology by Undergraduate University Students in Nairobi, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
O. C. Wasiaya ◽  
S. K. Serede ◽  
K. H. Mberia

This study investigated social utility as a gratification factor influencing mobile phone technology use by public university undergraduate students in Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of the study was to examine the influence of social utility on undergraduate university students’ use of mobile phone technology. The study employed media technological determinism theory. Target population was 246,871 undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya. The study employed quantitative design. Self-administered questionnaires were used as data collection tools. The study utilized purposive sampling to arrive at a sample size of 573 undergraduate students. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and then processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings revealed that mobile phone technology has become essential in social utility activities among undergraduate university students. The research concluded that the more the need for social utility, the more the need for mobile phone technology use among undergraduate university students. The research recommended that software developers should develop a specific mobile phone software for university students to use for social utility and that another research could be carried among postgraduate students and among private universities to find out other gratification factors that may be influencing mobile phone technology use.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Onyango Christopher Wasiaya ◽  
Dr Sikolia Geoffrey Serede ◽  
Prof. Mberia Hellen Kinoti

Purpose: This research investigated the moderating effect of demographic factors on mobile phone technology use by undergraduate public university students in Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of the research was to establish the moderating effect of demographic characteristics on undergraduate university students’ use levels of mobile phone technology. Methodology: The research used the media technological determinism theory as a theoretical framework. The target population was 246,871 undergraduate university students in six public universities in Nairobi, Kenya. The research design used was quantitative. Self-administered questionnaires were used as data collection tools. This study utilized purposive sampling to arrive at a sample size of 573 undergraduate students. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and then processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Findings: Findings revealed that mobile phone technology use by undergraduate university students was not subject to demographic factors. The research concluded that there was no moderating effect of respondents’ demography on the relationship between undergraduate public university students and mobile phone technology use levels. Unique Contribution to Theory and Practice and Policy: Since this research focused on undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya, the researcher recommends that another research could be carried among post graduate students and also among private universities to find out if demographic factors may be affecting mobile phone technology use.  


Author(s):  
William Bart

The purpose of this study was to explore how undergraduate university students react to chess instruction. Certain patterns emerged from 10 offerings of a Freshman Seminar entitled “Beginners’ Chess and 21st Century Thinking Skills”. The course enrolled only first-year and second-year undergraduate students at a large public state university in the USA. The students tended to have little or no knowledge of chess prior to the course. The course made extensive use of chess-related websites available on the Internet such as chess.com, lichess.org, and chessgames.com. The instruction involved the projection of a chess-related website projected onto a large classroom screen with the use of an instructor’s computer connected to a projector that projected the computer-based image onto the screen. The course had 10-20 students in each annual offering of the course that lasted 15 weeks. The student evaluations of the course were very positive, indicating that the students enjoyed the course very much. The course involved instruction in chess on topics such as tactics and basic checkmates along with instruction on the cognitive psychological foundations of chess on topics such as problem solving and critical thinking. The primary task in the course was that each student had to prepare a critical evaluation of two of their own chess games that included correct usage of proper algebraic notation for the chess moves. The chess activity that the students enjoyed the most was group competition.


Author(s):  
Isabelle Lamoureux

Research Roundtable: Undergraduate university students benefit from information literacy (IL) instructions and yet they resist learning IL. This research proposes to explore the factors responsible for students’ resistance to IL in order to create a conceptual model and to improve information literacy instruction.Tables rondes: Les étudiants universitaires de premier cycle tirent avantage de séances d’enseignement de la maîtrise de l’information et malgré tout, ils font preuve de résistance. Ce processus de recherche explore les facteurs responsables de la résistances des étudiants afin de créer un modèle conceptuel et d’améliorer l’enseignement de la maîtrise de l’information.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Anna Onoyase

This research was embarked upon to find out about knowledge of HIV/AIDS, its sources and behaviour change of undergraduate university students of Ekiti State University, South west Nigeria: Implications for counselling. In order to carry out the investigation, the researcher formulated three research questions and one hypothesis to guide the investigation. The instrument used in the collection of data is “Knowledge of HIV/AIDS, its Sources and Behaviour Change Questionnaire” (KHASBCQ). The instrument that was made up of 26 items was subjected to a reliability test. The instrument was administered on 30 respondents who were not part of the main investigation. The test- retest was used to analyse the data collected from the 30 respondents. The reliability coefficient obtained was 0.87. The instrument, have language appropriateness and content validity. The investigator used 2 research assistants to administer 251 copies of the questionnaire on the respondents in the university. The research assistants retrieved 210 copies of the questionnaire from the respondents. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions and the t- test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that the undergraduate university students have knowledge of HIV/AIDs. The sources of knowledge of HIV/AIDS by the students include: television, newspaper, friends and internet. The knowledge of HIV/AIDs by the students have led to behaviour change in them. There is behaviour change in the students because they no longer indulge in anal sex, they now have sex with only one partner, they make use of condom when having sexual intercourse. One of the recommendations is that both government and private radio networks are advised to educate the students and entire members of the society about the existence of HIV/AIDS so that they can have behaviour change such as having only one sexual partner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-58
Author(s):  
Fizza Sabir ◽  
Robert Matthews ◽  
Poulomee Datta

This research examines the student perceived characteristics informing a student’s choice in deciding to approach or not to approach a teacher in a university setting. Semi-structured interviews gathered perceptions from 10 final semester undergraduate students at a Pakistani university. 12 teachers were discussed in the data clearly demarcating 7 approachable and 5 unapproachable teachers. Thematic analysis identified substantial number of previously unreported characteristics of approachability in addition to those already existing in the literature and a comparatively large number of new unapproachable characteristics. The results of this research will inform discussion of approachability by teachers at universities within Pakistan and beyond.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Barbara Ruran Abai ◽  
Amalia Madihie

This is a quantitative study that examines relationships between perceived stress and resilience among private and public undergraduates university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. In total, 160 undergraduate students had been gathered for this study's purposes. Two questionnaires were utilised in the research; the Perceived stress scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience were distributed among respondents through Google Form. The findings reported that there is a low negative relationship between perceived stress and resilience. Apart from that, the findings reported no significant relationship between perceived stress and genders. There was a significant relationship in perceived stress predicting the level of resilience among public and private undergraduates university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undergraduates students had a moderate level of perceived stress thus needing a stress intervention or stress management in facing a stressful situation. Resilience is needed to be implemented in every educational system to help to build resilience among students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satyananda Panda

Depression is a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. These problems can become acute or recurrent and lead to substantial impairments in an individual’s ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities. It is a complex disorder which can manifest under a variety of circumstances and due to a multiplicity of factors. The rate of depression increases during the adolescence period where there is a greater risk for substance abuse and other psychiatric co-morbidities. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to look into the effect of personality dimension on the level of depression amongst the undergraduate university students. For the said purpose, both independent variables (gender, personality) as well as dependent variable (depression) were undertaken. A non clinical sample of 100 undergraduate students from SRM University, Gangtok falling in the age group of 19-25 years participated. They were assessed by the following tools: the socio-demographic data sheet, the Beck Depression Inventory II and the revised NEO five factor inventory. The data collected were analyzed on the basis of Statistical Package for Social Science Version 22. The study found a significant and positive correlation of extraversion with openness and conscientiousness and significant difference between male and female undergraduate university students on extraversion, openness and conscientiousness dimension of personality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayed Omar Alami ◽  
Lisa Dulli ◽  
Leila Dal Santo ◽  
Sayed Haroon Rastagar ◽  
Sediq Seddiqi ◽  
...  

Background: Afghanistan ranks among the most disadvantaged globally for many key reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) indicators, despite important gains in the past decade. Youth (15 to 24 years) are a key audience for RMNCH information as they enter adulthood, marry and begin families; however, reaching Afghan youth with health information is challenging. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), including youth, experience additional challenges to obtaining health-related information and services. This study measured current and preferred RMNCH information channels to explore the feasibility of using mobile phone technology to provide RMNCH information to IDP youth in Afghanistan. Methods: We conducted a sub-group analysis of survey data from a mixed-methods, cross-sectional, formative assessment to understand current access to RMNCH information. The target population for this analysis includes 15-25-year-old male and female IDP youth from three Afghan Provinces. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: A total of 450 IDP youth were surveyed in the three provinces (225 male and 225 female). Access to RMNCH information outside of health facilities was limited. Mobile phone ownership was nearly universal among male participants, yet considerably lower among females; nearly all participants without personal phones reported access to phones when needed. Although few participants spontaneously mentioned mobile phones as a preferred source of RMNCH information, most male and female respondents reported they would be very or somewhat likely to use a free, mobile-phone-based system to access such information if offered. Conclusions: Given widespread access and considerable interest voiced by participants, mobile phones may be a viable way to reach IDP youth with important RMNCH health information in this fragile setting. Interventions should be designed and pilot-tested to identify the most appropriate platforms and information content and to further document feasibility and acceptability.


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