EFFECT OF REPOSITORY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background To the study

The use of technology is changing the way things are done, including the work in tertiary institutions where the teaching and learning process required a great deal of improvement. Knowing fully that Repository is an essential tool for facilitating academic activities in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, for a number of years now, the managers of these tertiary institutions of learning have invested heavily in establishing Repository services in their schools. The services provided by Repository have had a major impact in the university context, in organisation and in teaching and learning methods. The Repository has made computers across the globe interconnected.

According to Emeka and Nyeche (2016) the Repository today is a worldwide entity whose nature cannot be easily or simply defined. To many, the Repository is a large academic resources data base linking together millions of smaller users at numerous sites in various countries belonging to thousands of business, government, research, educational and other organizations. To the Repository users, the Repository is a global community-one with a very active life. In today world, the Repository plays a vital role in the teaching, research and learning process in academic institutions. Thus, the advent of the Repository has heralded the emergence of a new form of knowledge production and distribution – the soft form.

This new form of information resources have as their greatest advantage, a virtually unlimited wealth of information resources which is widely readily available and accessible to hundreds of millions of people simultaneously in many parts of the world (Kumar & Kaur 2006). In addition, Amaoge and Igwebuike (2016) believe that the Repository has increasingly become an invariable asset in education in terms of learning, teaching and research. The use of Repository in the tertiary institutions is an exciting prospect especially when the rugged terrain is the significant impediment to obtain information for the vast majority of people.

Fasae and Aladeniyi (2012) pinpoint that for the developing countries like Nigeria to grow and attain its economic and social status; such country must be fully ready in strengthening and empowering its academic institutions, both in science and technological capacity. Hence, the students in their respective fields will need an array of reliable and interactive means of accessing and retrieving information without wasting much time. Similarly, the use of this Repository is greatly dependent on some associated factors such as purposes, students experience, locations, Repository facilities and services available, among others on academic pursue of the students in their institutions.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria employ the Repository in educational matters such as writing papers, searches for answers to questions and communicating with classmates on homework. However, time spent in activities where “surfing the net” occurs could substitute away from time allocated to reading, studying and completing homework. This may hurt academic performance in the short term. So, the study assessed the effectiveness of the use of Repository services and its effects on students’ academic performances.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The main objective of this study is to find out the use of Repository and its effects on student’s performances.

Specifically, the aims of the study are to:

1. Examine the effect of Repository use on the academic performance of the students.

2. Investigate the problems that militate against the student’s access to the Repository.

iii. Investigate the frequency of Repository use among students.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide this study:

i. What is the frequency of Repository use among the students?

ii. How useful is the Repository to students in their daily academic activities?

1. Which is the most used Repository service?

iv. Do the Repository services influence students’ academic performance?

1. What are the problems faced by students in using Repository services?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study could be beneficial for students as well as for the institution. The valuable feedback gotten from respondents should help students to realize the benefits of repository in their education. Institutes can invest more in building repository to enhance the academic performance of their student and produce better results. Note that the relevance of internet facilities is measured by how effective, sufficient and accessible it is to students and users. The research will also provide in-depth insight into the various repository facilities and how students can be able to use them to improve academic performance.

1.6 Scope/Limitation of the study

The self-report criterion is a limitation. Future research should employ more objective measures of repository. This study covers all regular undergraduate students in University of Abuja, Nigeria. These are 100 - 400 levels student including 500 levels law. The study therefore excludes centre for distance learning and continuing education (CDL and CE) students and sandwich students. Also, the study is not restricted to any gender. It includes both male and female undergraduates at all level of study.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Repository: a place or container in which large quantities of something are stored

Performance: this relates to the results and appraisal gotten from studying samples.

Undergraduates: these are students in institutions of higher education.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT): refers to computer based tools used by people to work with the information and communication processing needs of an organization, government agencies or individuals. It covers both the software and hard ware devices that are used in the information processes.

University: refers to an educational institution designed for instruction, examination or both of students in many branches of advanced learning, conferring degrees in various faculties, and often embodying colleges and similar institution