Postgraduate Students’ perception Towards the Use of ICT in Research in Ghanaian Public Universities

Abstract

The use of ICT in research has become significant among postgraduate students. However, available literature shows that there is little research on the perception and adoption of this technology in developing countries. This problem has created gap in the existing literature. This, therefore, make it necessary to find out more about the perceptions of postgraduate students on th e use of ICT in research. The paper intents to discuss these. The paper adopted the survey methodology by using the stratified and convenience sampling techniques to select 346 postgraduate students from University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast to participate in the study. Incorporating the Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3), this study revealed the following: Most postgraduate students perceive the use of ICT applications in research as very important. Again, majority of them intimated that ICT f acilities that their institutions provided met their research needs. The findings further indicated that students accessed ICT applications for quick access to information, convenience of access to information, time saving, and currency of information acce ssed. This paper strongly recommends that public universities in Ghana should maintain the already existing ICT facilities. However, they should ensure that all ICT facilities are monitored and maintained.