AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FOR MANAGING EXAMINATION MISCONDUCT IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the availability and utilization of ICT for managing examination misconduct in public universities in South-east Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study and four hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 8,121 lecturers in ten public universities in South-east Nigeria. A sample size of 615 lecturers were drawn using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a questionnaire of 26 items developed by the researchers and titled “Availability and Utilization of ICT for Managing Examination Misconduct Questionnaire (AUICTMEMQ). It was validated by three experts who are lecturers from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Reliability indices obtained were as follows; section A, 0.78, section B, 0.89, section C, 0.79, and section D, 0.89. The overall reliability of the four sections of the instrument was 0.84. Data were analyzed using percentages for research question one and mean for research questions two, three and four. Chi-square was used to test hypothesis one while t-test was used to test hypotheses two, three and four. The findings revealed that the three listed ICT devices and services, are available in public universities in South-east Nigeria. The study found out that CBT can be used in managing aspects of examination misconduct such as: curtailing exchange of answer sheets, eliminate snatching of question papers and taking away of answer scripts from the examination halls during examination. Furthermore, CBT can be utilized to reduce manipulation of students’ scores by lectures after examination and reduce access to examination questions before the examination. The study also found out that there is a significant difference in the mean responses of lecturers in federal and state universities on the availability of ICT services in public universities in South-east Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that, to effectively utilize CBT and CCTV in managing examination misconduct, alternative power source should be made available by the government and university authorities. There is no part of the country that can boast of steady power supply, as a result, government and university authorities should provide an alternative power source to be able to provide steady power for effective utilization of these ICT devices.