Title:
Enhancing Students’ Performances by Integrating Social Media in Undergraduate Learning
Author:
Thanuja Chandani Sandanayake
Published:
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational research (IJLTER), Volume 20, Number 4 (2021)
Abstract:
Use of social media among youth is growing rapidly around the world. This is more common among the young undergraduates. As a consequence of high usage of social media, ability to support learners via social constructed learning has increased. This study focuses on enhancing undergraduate’s academic performance via social media intervention. This was an action research and used mix methods inquiry employed quantitative and qualitative studies. Open face to face interviews, semi structured and structured questionnaires were conducted among 94 (n=94) undergraduates at the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Findings of the study will incorporate the new insights of learner on social media adaption in academic work in meaningful ways. The results of open-ended face to face interviews, semi structured and structured questionnaire demonstrate multiple contextual relationships exist in adaption of social media in formal academic setup. Furthermore, perceptions of undergraduates on social media intervention illustrate the prominent relationship between peer groups, instructors, and learning content. Results of the study indicate that the learners are reluctant to adapt to the traditional learning setups and communication modes, but they appreciate the use of state of art social media connections in learning. Findings will further offer better and important information for both learners and academics to uplift communication, collaboration, and development of conducive learning environments.