The effect of internet usage on the academic performance of university students
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to find out the effect of internet usage on the academic
performance of university students of Makerere using third year students of school of statistics
and Planning as the case study.
Five hypotheses guided the study. To achieve this, univariate analysis, bivariate analysis and
multivariate analysis were adopted. The study focused on university students, stratified random
sampling technique was used to select a sample of 120 students. A questionnaire titled: Research
questionnaire of the effect of internet usage on the Academic performance of University students
was used to collect data from the students. Univariate analysis consisted of descriptive statistics
of frequency counts and percentages, ANOVA and linear regression were used in testing the
research hypotheses at 95% confidence interval.
The results obtained showed that, there was a significant relationship between CGPA and
Gender; significant relationship between CGPA and sponsorship; No relationship between
number of hours of usage of internet and CGPA; no significant relationship between internet
usage and CGPA; no significant relationship between reasons for access and CGPA; no
significant relationship between residence and CGPA; no significant relationship between
programme of the study and CGPA.
In conclusion, the study revealed that the final year students that used internet had a relatively
higher CGPA than those who don’t use internet. It was recommended among others that school
of statistics and planning should embark on awareness programmes that will sensitize the
students to take advantages derived from the use of the internet for academic purpose.