E-Learning Platforms' Characteristics and Computer Education Students' Academic Engagement in Federal Universities in South – South, Nigeria

This study examined the extent to which e-learning platforms’ characteristics influence the academic engagement of Computer Education students in Federal Universities in South–South Nigeria. Seven specific objectives, seven research questions, and seven hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprised 1,100 (400-level) Computer Education students in selected Federal Universities in the South–South region of Nigeria. A sample size of 286 respondents was drawn using Taro Yamane’s formula, while a simple random sampling technique was employed to select the participants. A 70-item instrument titled “E-learning Platforms’ Characteristics Influence on Academic Engagement Questionnaire (EPCIAE-Q)” was developed by the researcher for data collection. The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts: one expert from Educational Technology Department University of Uyo, Uyo Akwa Ibom State, one expert from Measurement and Evaluation Department, University of Uyo, Uyo Akwa Ibom State and another one expert from Computer and Robotic Education Department University of Uyo, Uyo Akwa Ibom State. To determine the characteristics of the instrument, the validated questionnaire was administered to 30 Computer Education students from Federal Universities in the South–South region who were not part of the study sample. Cronbach’s Alpha statistics was used to establish the reliability coefficient of the instrument. The administration of the questionnaire was carried out by the researcher with the assistance of research assistants across the three Federal Universities in the region that offer Computer Education as a discipline. Linear regression analysis was used to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance.