Advocacy, Conducive Environment and Students’ Patronage of Library Information Services in Tertiary Institutions in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Published)
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of advocacy and conducive environment on students’ patronage of information services in public tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was used for the study. The population of the study was all the 12739 registered undergraduate library users in public tertiary institutions in Rivers State for the 202/2022 academic session. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 790 students for the study. A researcher developed questionnaire named “Advocacy, Conducive Environment and Students’ Patronage of Information Services Questionnaire” (ACESPISQ) was used in collecting data for the study. The instrument was face validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instrument and a coefficient of .86 was obtained. Mean was used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses of the study. The findings of the study indicated that there is significant influence of advocacy and conducive environment on students’ patronage of information services in public tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that librarians need to constantly sensitize their students and staff of their institutions about the information services the library renders which can aid in satisfying their information needs.
Citation: Obi H.E. (2023) Advocacy, Conducive Environment and Students’ Patronage of Library Information Services in Tertiary Institutions in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, British Journal of Education, Vol.11, Issue 3, 55-63
Keywords: Advocacy, Rivers State, Tertiary Institutions, University of Port Harcourt, conducive environment, library information services, students’ patronage
Electronic Human Resource Management for University Administration in Rivers State (Published)
The study investigated electronic human resource management for University administration in Rivers State. Five research questions and five hypotheses were formulated to serve as guide for the study. The design adopted for the study was descriptive survey. Population of the study was 12,056 academic staff in Rivers State Universities while 749 academic staff were sampled for the study through stratified random sampling technique. Instrument used for data collection was a 25-item questionnaire titled “Electronic Human Resource Management for University Administration Questionnaire” (EHRMUAQ) and the instrument was validated by two experts in the Department of Educational Management, University of Port Harcourt. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistic with an index of 0.82.Research questions raised were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using z-test at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study revealed that public and private Universities differ in the extent of use of electronic platforms for planning, recruitment and selection, wage administration and compensation, and performance appraisal for University administration, while they do not differ in the area of training and development. It was recommended among others that sufficient electronic devices should be provided in these Universities for carrying out these administrative functions.
Keywords: Electronic, Human resource, Management, Rivers State, university administration
Adjustment Strategies of Widows to Widowhood Stress Based on Their Age: The Case of Rivers State, Nigeria (Published)
This study was aimed at investigating influence of age on adjustment strategies employed by widows in coping with widowhood stress in Rivers State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the conduct of the study at 0.05 probability level. A sample of 370 widows in Rivers State was drawn from the population via proportional stratified random sampling technique. Two instruments namely; Stress Level Scale for Widows (SLSW) and Questionnaire for Widows Adjustment Strategies (QWAS), both developed by the researcher were used for data collection. Data were analysed with mean, standard deviation and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance and the statistical package known as SPSS for widows was employed for the analyses. Results showed that; all the eight adjustment strategies (problem solving, cognitive restructuring, express emotion, social support, problem avoidance, wishful thinking, self-criticism and social withdrawal) are adopted by widows in ameliorating widowhood stress; there are slight differences among the mean values of the different age groups with regards to all the adjustment strategies of widows to widowhood stress. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were made accordingly.
Keywords: Adjustment, Age, Rivers State, Strategies., Stress, Widowhood
The Relative Contribution of the Dimensions of Emotional and Social Intelligence in Predicting the Occupational Stress of Female and Male Civil Servants in Rivers State (Published)
The study examined the relative contributions of the dimensions of emotional and social intelligence in predicting the occupational stress of female and male civil servants in Rivers State. Four hypotheses were postulated and tested. Correlational design was used to gather data from 600 civil servants drawn through proportionate stratified sampling technique. Three instruments, Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Social Intelligence Scale (SIS) and Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) which were validated and had reliability coefficients of 0.827 for EIS, 0.849 for SIS and 0.953 for OSI respectively were the data gathering devices. Multiple regression analysis served as the statistical tool. The results of the study showed that the dimensions of emotional intelligence when considered separately, significantly predicts the occupational stress of both female and male civil servants. In the same vein, the components of social intelligence (social information processing, social skills and social awareness) when considered separately, significantly predicts the occupational stress of both female and male civil servants. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that gender stereotyping should be avoided in our work places. Since gender (female and male) do not mediate the occupational stress of civil servants.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Female Civil Servants, Male Civil Servants, Rivers State, Social Intelligence, occupational Stress
Attitudes of Teachers Towards Application of Item Response Theory in Technical Colleges in Rivers State (Published)
This study investigated attitudes of teachers towards the application of item response theory (IRT) in the technical colleges in Rivers State. It is intended to ascertain the influence of these teacher-related factors on testing processes using IRT in these institutions. Five research questions were asked to guide this study and five null hypotheses were formulated and tested. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted in this study. The population of this study comprised all the 424 technical teachers in the 15 technical colleges in Rivers State. The study used stratified random sampling technique to draw the sample of size of 212 out of the population. The instrument for data collection was a self-designed Likert type (five response level) questionnaire titled,“Survey of Teacher’s Attitudes Towards Application of Item Response Theory (STATA-IRT), with a reliability coefficient of .86. Correlation analysis was used to answer the research questions and multiple regressions, R, was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. It was found from the overall result, that strong linear relationship exists between attitudes of teachers and the application of Item Response Theory in Technical colleges Rivers State. It was also found from the multiple regression results that the attitudes of teachers are predictors of effective application of item response theory in the technical colleges in Rivers state.
Keywords: Application of Item, Attitudes, Response Theory, Rivers State, Teachers, Technical Colleges