IDENTIFYING OF ICT TOOLS TO IMPROVE PROJECT RESEARCH BY GRADUATING UNDERGRADUATES OF A NIGERIAN PREMIER UNIVERSITY

Abstract

ICT tools have become commonplace entities in every imaginable facet of life. They are increasingly being used to enhance productivity in academic endeavours, but there is limited empirical evidence on how final year students of universities are leveraging these tools in their project writing. This study aimed at identifying ICT tools available in the Ahmadu Bello University, access points to the tools, areas of project research the use of ICT tools improves, and the challenges faced by graduating students in using ICT tools to improve their project research. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 12, 314 graduating undergraduate students. A reliable and validated questionnaire was administered to a sample size of 291 (set 2019) project students who were randomly selected across the faculties. The descriptive statistics in the form of mean and standard deviation was used as the basis for the data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that ICT tools and access points to the tools are available (m=303, m=302) in the sampled university, and they are being used (m=2.95) to improve different areas of project research. However, several challenges still impede the effective use of ICT tools for utmost outcomes in project research. It is therefore concluded that ICT tools afford the students tremendous opportunities for improving their project works, and maintaining the accrual of these benefits to students require sustainability in the provision and access to ICT tools in the universities.