Abstract:
The ability to search for and get e-resources information by a student does not only improve
their academic performance, but it also fosters life-long learning. For a university student
to achieve academic success, they have to be equipped with technical know-how,
especially on utilization of e-resources. Despite this mechanism and preparation done by
university libraries, there is dismal performance in semester examinations among students.
This study aimed at investigating the relationship between utilization of online electronic
resources and academic performance of undergraduate Information Technology students
of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology- Eldoret Campus. The
purpose of the study was to measure the influence of e-books, e-resources, online past
examination papers and institutional repository on academic performance. Expectation
Confirmation Theory was adopted to guide our investigation. Descriptive survey research
design was used in the study. Respondents were the undergraduate students in the
department of Information Technology, and librarians in Jomo Kenyata University of
Agriculture and Technology-Eldoret Campus. A sample of 105 students and 2 librarians
were considered. Data was collected using closed-ended questionnaires from students
while interview guide was used on librarians. Students were sampled using stratified
sampling while, Head of library and library staff in charge of e-resources in Eldoret campus
were purposively included in the study. To ensure validity and reliability, pre-testing of
research instruments was done on 20 undergraduate Information Technology students of
Mount Kenya university-Eldoret campus. SPSS was used in analysing data using
descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequencies and standard deviation.
Univariate and multiple regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis and overall
model respectively. After undergraduate students were trained on e-resources the variance
within groups was smaller than the variance between groups, hence, there was a higher
likelihood that the difference observed in academic performance was higher in second
semester as compared to the first semester. Further, the study established that there is a
positive and significant relationship between e-books, e-journals, online past examination
papers and academic performance. The study also indicated a negative relationship
between online institutional repository and academic performance. It was concluded that
there was a relationship between utilization of online electronic resources and academic
performance of undergraduate Information Technology students of Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology- Eldoret Campus. The overall model in multiple
regression analysis indicated that when electronic resources were combined, online past
examinations
papers significantly affected academic performance. The study
recommended that more policies should be developed to able students to access diverse
online past examinations papers, not only from JKUAT library, but also government
examination bodies such as Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC). Further, the
study recommended that JKUAT provides more e-journal articles and e-books for the
students to access since they significantly determine their academic performance.
Additionally, JKUAT should ensure that students are able to easily access the e-resources
through the library website whenever they wish.
