Faculty perceptions on institutional and personal factors relating to internet use patterns

Abstract

Studies on scholarly use of the Internet are inconclusive. This mixed methods study investigates faculty perceptions on institutional and personal factors relating to Internet use patterns in Nigerian public universities. The objectives of the study are: (1) to examine the Internet Use Patterns (IUP); (2) to determine whether a significant relationship exists between Perceived Availability of University Libraries Services and IUP; (3) to determine whether a significant relationship exists between Perceived Availability of ICT department support and IUP; (4) to determine whether a significant relationship exists between self-efficacy and IUP; (5) to determine whether a significant relationship exists between demographical factors (DFs) and IUP; and (6) to propose a framework to enhance scholarly use of the Internet resources. For the quantitative part of this study, a self-designed questionnaire was used to elicit data. 300 questionnaires were administered and analyzed. Quantitative data were coded and entered into IBM SPSS version 21. The data were subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The results of the EFA show that two factors emerged for Internet resources used by faculty members: (1) web 1.0 (email; www and search engines) and (2) web 2.0 (Online Discussion Groups, Google Documents and Research Gateway). Two factors also emerged for perceived self-efficacy; perceived self-efficacy information and communication (PSEIC) and perceived self-efficacy information sharing (PSEIS). One factor each emerged for University Library Services and ICT department support. A descriptive analysis was presented using simple frequencies, percentage tables and bar charts. Non-parametric statistic techniques which include Chi square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman’s rho were used to test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Among others, the findings show that (1) faculty members use web 1.0 resources for scholarly works more frequently than web 2.0, (2) there was partial influence of perceived availability of university libraries’ services and regular use of Internet for some scholarly works, (3) there was partial association between perceived availability of ICT department supports and regular use of Internet for scholarly works, (4) significant correlation was found between PSIS and use of the Internet resources for scholarly works and (5) partial correlations were found between demographical factors and IUP. For the qualitative part of this analysis, semi-structures, structures and Critical Incidence Questions were used as a guide for the interviews with 19 faculty members. Four university libraries and three ICT departmental staff were interviewed. All interview sessions were recorded and later transcribed verbatim. The necessary information was distilled through content and thematic analyses. Most importantly, the results of the qualitative analysis corroborate the findings of the quantitative study. Overall, the study shows that perceived Self-Efficacy is partially related to Internet use patterns. Both practical and theoretical implications of the study were discussed. Recommendations were made based on the findings and a framework for effective use of the Internet for scholarly works was presented. Further studies using longitudinal approach or focus group were suggested.