Demographic Factors and Status as Predictors of Open and Distance Learning Students Academic Performance in Computer Science

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2020, 6(2): 915-926 Authors: Okunade Oluwasogo Adekunle*, Olanrewaju Babatunde Seyi and Ajao Jumoke Falilat Received 16 October 2020/Accepted 27 December 2020 Open and Distance modes of Learning present more opportunities to have access to education, especially at higher levels. However, the challenges faced by students undertaking Open and Distance modes of Learning may be those associated with time, cost, physical contact, mentorship, and mode of study. Therefore, it is necessary to address these challenges before a smooth and useful service delivery can be achieved in the system. The present study was designed to investigate the contributions of demographic factors, status (such as employment status, computer knowledge) and gender on the academic achievements of Computer science students in the Open and Distance mode of Learning institutions. Four hundred and thirty-five questionnaires were structured to contain both open and close-ended questions and were administered to students in some Open and Distance mode of Learning Institutions. The effects of employment status, computer knowledge, and gender of these students on their academic performance were tested with three different hypotheses. Based on the findings and results of the study, we concluded that employment status and computer knowledge are factors that are likely to affect the performance of students in the Open and Distance mode of Learning Institutions and not the demographic factors. The study however showed that gender is not a factor since there was no significant difference between the performance of the male and female students