Preparedness and attitude of undergraduate students towards the use of whatsapp for biology instruction in federal university of technology, Minna.

Abstract

The study investigated preparedness and attitude of undergraduate students towards the use of WhatsApp for Biology Instruction in Federal University of Technology Minna. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population for the study was 896 science education students at Federal University of Technology Minna. Random sampling technique was used to sample the students for the study. A random sample of 103 students (37 male and 66 female) were selected in science education department (biology education option). The research was guided by four research questions and two null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The Researchers’ developed questionnaire on preparedness and attitude of students toward WhatsApp for instruction (QPASTWI). A pilot study was carried out to test reliability of the research instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.83 was obtained using Crombach Apha. Five items each on preparedness and Attitude Questionnaire towards the use of WhatsApp for Biology instruction was administered to determine the preparedness and Attitude of students towardsthe use of WhatsApp for Biology instruction. The data collected from the administration of the research instruments (QPASTWI) were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while (ANOVA) statistics was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the undergraduate students are prepared for and have positive attitudes towards WhatsApp use for learning Biology. No gender influence in both preparedness and attitudes was found. Based on the findings, the study recommends among others that WhatsApp instruction strategy shouldbe used as mode of instructional delivery of Biology at Tertiary and Secondary institutions in Nigeria.