Relationship Among Availability, Adequacy and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology Facilities for Teaching and Academic Achievements of Mathematics Undergraduate Students in Universities in Gombe State, Nigeria

Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 23 Relationship Among Availability, Adequacy and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology Facilities for Teaching and Academic Achievements of Mathematics Undergraduate Students in Universities in Gombe State, Nigeria BY Ahmad, Abubakar DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17793107 Abstract The study examined the relationship among availability, adequacy, and utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) facilities and the academic achievement of mathematics undergraduates in universities in Gombe State, Nigeria. A correlational research design was adopted with a sample of 92 lecturers and 192 students. Data were collected using validated questionnaires and analysed using mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis at the 0.05 significance level. Results revealed significant positive relationships among availability, adequacy, and utilization of ICT facilities and students’ academic achievement, but no significant relationship was found between gender and ICT utilization. The study recommends that universities enhance ICT provision and training for effective integration in teaching and learning. Keywords: Availability, Adequacy, Utilization of ICT facilities, Academic achievements, Undergraduates INTRODUCTION: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to the diverse set of technological tools and resources used to create, store, process, transmit, and share information in various forms such as text, images, audio, and video. In higher education, ICT encompasses computers, projectors, interactive whiteboards, internet facilities, educational software, and other digital devices that enhance teaching and learning processes. The integration of ICT into university education, particularly in mathematics, plays a significant role in transforming traditional teaching methods into more interactive and student-centered approaches. Through ICT, lecturers can access vast online resources, simulations, and mathematical applications that make abstract concepts easier to understand and apply, thereby enriching students’ learning experiences and improving engagement and motivation. In the context of mathematics education in universities in Gombe State, the availability, adequacy, and utilisation of ICT facilities are crucial factors influencing students’ academic achievement. However, despite national and institutional efforts to integrate ICT into university teaching, many mathematics departments still experience challenges such as limited ICT infrastructure, insufficient training of lecturers, and underutilisation of available resources. A review of existing literature shows that while several studies have examined ICT and students’ performance in other disciplines across Nigeria, there is a noticeable lack of research focusing specifically on the availability, adequacy, and utilisation of ICT facilities for teaching mathematics and their relationship with students’ academic achievement in universities within Gombe State. This gap necessitates an empirical investigation to provide evidence-based understanding in this context. Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 24 Therefore, the present study aims to examine the relationship among the availability, adequacy, and utilisation of ICT facilities for teaching and the academic achievement of undergraduate mathematics students in universities in Gombe State. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to educational policy and practice by highlighting the extent to which ICT resources support mathematics learning outcomes and by identifying areas that require improvement in ICT provision and usage. The study is delimited to universities in Gombe State that offer undergraduate programmes in mathematics education, focusing on lecturers and students as respondents to ensure a comprehensive understanding of ICT integration in mathematics instruction. Ajayi (2018) posited that ICT is an indispensable part of educational administration as its application makes institutions more efficient and productive, thereby engendering a variety of tools to enhance and facilitate teachers’ pedagogical activities. For instance, e-learning is becoming one of the most common means of using ICT to provide education to students both on and off campus by means of teaching online offered via web-based systems. Although ICT resources have been looked upon as tools for uplifting the standard of education in any nation, the level of compliance in implementing the ICT resources in the instructional development process leaves much to be desired in Nigerian higher education system. Higher education is approaching the point at which information and communication Technology (ICT), plays a part in nearly all phases of the educational process. Every institutions of higher learning uses computers in their educational programmed. Today such issues like Global Mobile System of Communication (GSM), digitalization of information such as texts, numbers and sound are commonly used. They have inevitably become part of the information society and have encouraged easy access to data, records and information and above all made transmission of information among individuals millions of miles always possible and less cumbersome. ICT has greatly influenced the educational sector especially on teaching, learning and research. The application of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is not only emphasized in corporative business and the industrial sector, but it is an essential part of education at all levels (Allen, 2011). ICT is generally believed to foster cooperative learning, provide more information and through simulation, make complex learning experiences easier to understand. Therefore, the use of ICT cannot be ignored either by teachers or by students. ICT tools for teaching and learning include Computer, Internet, PowerPoint, Television, Overhead Projectors, Camera, Radio Cassette, Video Tape, Audio Cassette, Audio CD, World Wide Web (WWW), Telephone, etc. Gannon (2014). The role of teacher cannot be underrated for proper and effective use of ICT in the teaching and learning process, in as much as the teacher is the actual implementer of any curriculum. So the ability, skill, knowledge, resourcefulness and competence of the teacher is of great importance. In effect, Ajeyalemi (2012), stated that for any teacher at any level to be able to contribute to national development in this global world, he/she must be empowered to provide ICT based training for the students. Thus, his/her education must include opportunities to acquire skills in the selection, application and use of ICT tools and materials for instructional exercise. Availability of ICTs in education is the presence of required facilities in the classroom for instructional delivery which enables the teacher to elaborate and explain to his students in an understandable way. ICT facilities in this study are instructional equipment and services which make teaching and learning processes to be done electronically and provide access to a wide range of innovative, informative and educational materials on the internet in order to bring the world into the classroom. ICT is used for gathering, processing, storing, sharing and distributing information, knowledge and ideas (ESCAP in Ugwoke, 2011). Availability of ICT facilities and service can be measured by the number of ICT facilities available in academic libraries for students to use in sourcing for information. Lack of such access affects the ability Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 25 of users to improve their learning with educational software, acquire valuable technology skill. Availability not only means that the “thing” is provided but it also entails accessibility, but availability is meaningless if those who want to make use of the substance cannot have access to it. Above all, it must be accessible that utilization is possible. Adequacy of information and communication technology facilities for teaching is the sufficiency level of the required facilities which is available to lecturers for instructional service delivery which will enable them to deliver what is intends to in a simple and understandable ways, adequacy of information and communication technology facilities may be different from one school to another depending on their population and demand. With the development of learning technologies in the late 20th century, education system has changed rapidly. This is due to the capability of technology to provide a proactive, easy access and comprehensive teaching and learning environment. Nowadays, Ministry of education in all over the world has provide a lot of facilities and training in order to enhance the use of advanced technologies in the countries’ teaching and learning process. A high budget has been placed in order to provide the equipment needed by teachers to improve the education system. Despite all the efforts, most of the countries are facing similar problem whereby the teachers are not maximizing the usage of the technology provided (Albirini, 2016). Effective utilization of ICT facility for instructional process reinforces the teacher’s ability to cater for individual differences and fosters learners’ involvement, participation and understanding, which help them in grounding their thoughts and feelings and in turns contribute to good academic performance in schools. In this current era, ICTs are recognized as means of quality assurance in curriculum management. For instance, the use of ICT to instruct students will help them learn better as they do not always forget what they are taught when used alongside the traditional method of teaching (Cushman & Klecun, 2013; Hussain, Iqbal, & Akhtar, 2010). The Federal Ministry of Education (2011a) opined that quality learning outcome depends on the quality of teaching and learning inputs and the qualitative processing of the inputs, which among others include the use of ICT facilities for teaching and learning. ICT facilities are enablers (equipment or technology-based services) which are provided to ease the performance of certain tasks, operations, events or processes. Adomi, (2010) identified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as an essential teaching and learning facility, which has become a natural part of man’s daily life. Thus, ICT use in education by staff (academic and non-academic) and students has become a necessity. The essence of ICT utilization is to ensure that individuals participate fully in contemporary life and educational process to effectively accomplish their daily tasks. There is widespread belief that ICTs can and will empower teachers and learners, transforming teaching and learning processes from being highly teacher-dominated to student-centred, and that this transformation will result in increased learning gains for students, creating and allowing for opportunities for learners to develop their creativity, problem-solving abilities, informational reasoning skills, communication skills, and other higher-order thinking skills. However, there are currently very limited, unequivocally compelling data to support this belief, ICTs are very rarely seen as central to the overall learning process even in the most advanced schools in the country ICTs are generally not considered central to the teaching and learning process. Gender issue has become the talk of today’s forum. Although the literacy rate is more among the males than females, it is quite interesting to observe that girls are securing better ranks than boys in almost all competitive examinations (Goni, Yagana, Ali, Bularafa, 2015). Pillow, (2018) examined the gender differences among student on their academic performance has reveal that in individuals background characteristic affect his/her cognitive and noncognitive is one of the most significant and influential characteristics in academic performance. Academic achievement of students is of utmost importance to parents, educators, concerned Nigerians and the government. Thus, of course, is because of the huge impact education has on Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 26 the national and economic development of the country. Education is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve rapid scientific, social, political, technological, cultural and economic development in the country. Regrettably, however, the consensus of opinion all over the country is that academic achievement of students in Nigeria is poor (Adebule, 2017). School, colleges and universities have no worth without student. Students are most essential asset for any educational institute. The social and economic development of the country is directly linked with student academic performance. The students’ performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great leader and manpower for the country thus responsible for the country’s economic and social development (Ali et.al, 2019). Student academic performance measurement has received considerable attention in previous research, it is challenging aspects of academic literature, and science student performance are affected due to social, psychological, economic, environmental and personal factors. These factors strongly influence on the student performance, but these factors vary from person to person and country to country. In view of the above, ICT today offers new tools for easy content delivery. However, this depends on the availability and utilization of ICT tools, but most of the Universities don’t have the required ICTs for instructional delivery and are not utilizing the available ones, on the other hand, those schools with less or no ICTs to perform low on academic achievements. The rationale of this study is to investigate the relationships among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICTs for teaching and mathematics undergraduate student’s academic achievements in the universities in Gombe State. This is because literature has revealed that there is no research that has been done concerning this problem specifically in Gombe. Research Questions The following research questions will be answered in the course of this study: 1. What is the level of relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state? 2. What is the level of relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students? 3. What is the level of relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students in the universities in Gombe state? Hypotheses The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance for this study Ho1: There is no significant relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Ho2: There is no significant relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Ho3: There is no significant relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Ho4: There is no significant relationship between gender in utilization of ICT for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Ho5: There is no significant relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Methodology The population of the study is 398 200Level students of mathematics department from the universities in Gombe State which comprises the Federal University of Kashere and Gombe State University while the sample size of the study 191 students out of the total population of part two students which is 398 from mathematics department of the universities by applying Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 27 the Taro Yamane formula. Also simple random sampling technique will be used so that each member of the population has chance of being selected. The instruments used for data collection of this study were two which include a checklist and a past examination. Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) will be used for testing the hypotheses one to three, multiple regression analysis will be used for testing hypotheses four. The decision rule on testing the null hypotheses would be rejected when P<0.05 and also would not be rejected when P>0.05. Presentation of Results: Three research questions were raised and answered using descriptive statistics, while the formulated hypotheses were tested using PPMCC and regression tested at 0.05 level of significance. Research Question 1. What is the level of availability of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state? Table 1. Descriptive statistics of availability of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state. Mean SD Decisio n Computer Hardware 3.28 1.61 MA Computer Software 3.25 0.80 MA Integrated Services Digital Network 3.07 1.44 MA Fiber Optics Connection 3.01 1.56 MA Smart Board 4.02 1.04 HA Learning Management System 4.39 0.94 HA Digital Camera 3.88 1.18 HA Data Projector 3.00 1.54 MA TV/Radio 2.91 1.70 MA Scanning Machine 4.68 0.78 HA Electronic Smart Board 2.66 1.43 MA Grand Mean 3.46 1.27 MA The descriptive statistics in Table 1 indicated 92 lecturers responded to the questionnaire items on the checklist indicating level of availability of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state. The grand mean of 3.46 with standard deviation of 1.27 show the level of availability of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state is moderate. Research Question 2. What is the level of adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state? Table 2. Descriptive statistics of adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state. Mean SD Decisio n Computer Hardware 4.64 0.54 HA Computer Software 3.89 1.16 HA Integrated Services Digital Network 4.39 0.94 HA Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 28 Fiber Optics Connection 3.85 1.17 HA Smart Board 2.84 1.51 MA Learning Management System 2.91 1.70 MA Digital Camera 4.68 0.78 HA Data Projector 2.66 1.43 MA TV/Radio 4.64 0.54 MA Scanning Machine 3.89 1.16 HA Electronic Smart Board 4.39 0.94 HA Grand Mean 3.88 1.07 HA The descriptive statistics in Table 2 indicated 92 lecturers responded to the questionnaire items on the checklist indicating level of adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state. The grand mean of 3.88 with standard deviation of 1.07 show the level of adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state is moderate. Research Question 3. What is the level of utilization of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe State? Table 3. Descriptive statistics of utilization of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state Mea n SD Decision Computer Hardware 3.85 1.17 HU Computer Software 2.89 1.52 MU Integrated Services Digital Network 4.64 0.54 HU Fiber Optics Connection 3.76 1.24 HU Smart Board 3.29 1.50 MU Learning Management System 3.79 1.20 HU Digital Camera 2.89 1.01 MU Data Projector 4.39 0.94 HU TV/Radio 3.76 1.24 HU Scanning Machine 4.04 1.18 HU Electronic Smart Board 4.04 0.90 HU Grand Mean 3.75 1.13 HU The descriptive statistics in Table 3 indicated 92 lecturers responded to the questionnaire items on the checklist indicating level of utilization of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state. The grand mean of 3.75 with standard deviation of 1.13 show the level of utilization of ICT facilities for teaching in the universities in Gombe state is high. 4.3 Testing Hypotheses The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significant in this study: Ho1: There is no significant relationship among availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students? Table 4. PPMC of relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Variable n Mean SD R Sig Availability 92 45.76 5.54 0.62 0.00 Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 29 Students’ Achievement 192 3.25 1.18 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The result of the analysis in Table 4 indicated that the computed P-value (0.00) is below 0.05 level of significance. Since the computed P-value is less than the level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is rejected. The r-value (0.62) indicated that, the relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is high and positive. Ho2: There is no significant relationship among adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students? Table 5. PPMC of relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Variable n Mean SD R Sig Adequacy 92 43.13 8.95 0.78 0.00 Students’ Achievement 192 3.25 1.18 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The result of the analysis in Table 5 indicated that the computed P-value (0.00) is below 0.05 level of significance. Since the computed P-value is less than the level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is rejected. The r-value (0.78) indicated that, the relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is high and positive. Ho3: There is no significant relationship among utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students? Table 6. PPMC of relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 30 Variable n Mean SD R Sig Utilization 92 44.18 7.61 0.85 0.00 Students’ Achievement 192 3.25 1.18 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The result of the analysis in Table 6 indicated that the computed P-value (0.00) is below 0.05 level of significance. Since the computed P-value is less than the level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is rejected. The r-value (0.87) indicated that, the relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is high and positive. Ho4: There is no significant relationship among gender in utilization of ICT for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students Table 7. PPMC of relationship between gender in utilization of ICT for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Variable n Mean SD R Sig Gender 192 44.18 7.61 0.01 0.95 Students’ Achievement 192 3.25 1.18 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The result of the analysis in Table 7 indicated that the computed P-value (0.95) is above 0.05 level of significance. Since the computed P-value is greater than the level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between gender in utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is upheld. The r-value (0.01) indicated that, the relationship between gender in utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students is very low. Ho5: There is no significant relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students Table 8a: Regression of relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Journal of Education, Communication, and Digital Humanities-Vol.2, No.2, Sept. 2025 pg. 31 Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 3575.364 3 1191.788 86.15 .000b Residual 1217.289 88 13.833 Total 4792.652 91 a. Dependent Variable: STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT b. Predictors: (Constant), Utilization, Availability , Adequacy Table 8b: Model summary of relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 0.86a 0.74 0.73 3.71 a. Predictors: (Constant), Utilization, Availability , Adequacy Table 8c: Coefficient of relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients T Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 1.882 3.296 .571 .570 Availability .259 .097 .198 2.668 .009 Adequacy .001 .158 .001 .007 .994 Utilization .700 .205 .734 3.412 .001 a. Dependent Variable: STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT The linear regression tables in Table 8a, 8b and 8c show significant differences between the various R values, F = 86.15 (df 3, 91), P < 0.05. Since the computed p-value (0.00) is less than 0.05 level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and concluded that, there is significant relationship among availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students. Furthermore, the adjusted R-square value (0.74) indicates that, 74% of undergraduate students’ academic achievements mathematics in this study is accounted for by availability, adequacy and utilization of ICT facilities for teaching. Findings of the Study 1. There is significant and positive relationship between availability of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students with r-value of (0.62). 2. There is significant and positive relationship between adequacy of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students with r-value of (0.78). 3. There is significant and positive relationship between utilization of ICT facilities for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students with r-value of (0.87). 4. There is no significant relationship between gender in utilization of ICT for teaching and academic achievements of mathematics undergraduate students with r-value (0.01).