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Browsing Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences by Author "Adeniyi, Aderibigbe Nurudeen"

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    Cyberethical behaviour of undergraduate students of the University of Zululand, South Africa, and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
    (University of Zululand, 2019) Adeniyi, Aderibigbe Nurudeen
    This study examined the cyberethical behaviour of undergraduate students of the University of Zululand, South Africa, and the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria. Cyberethical behaviour is the study and understanding of users’ attitudes towards the use of cybertechnology and their interaction with other aspects of the Internet and its environment. The specific objectives of the study were to: explore the relationships between students’ demographic characteristics and their cyberethical behaviour; determine their level of awareness of cyberethical behaviour; explore the types of cyberethical behaviour exhibited by undergraduate students; determine the influence of the Theory of Planned Behaviour on cyberethical behaviour; find out the challenges faced by students in order to act ethically in cyberspace; and establish the impact of cyberethics policy in strengthening or promoting cyberethics in the two universities. The study adopted the pragmatic research paradigm that combines both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The sample for the study was drawn from undergraduate students in two purposively selected universities in South Africa and Nigeria. The respondents were drawn from all faculties and colleges in the two universities. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used in the data analysis. Data collected using the quantitative instrument were coded and the analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. Data from the interview schedule were analysed using thematic analysis. Overall, 450 undergraduate students were invited to participate in the survey, but 380 respondents completed and returned the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 84.4%. From the expected 16 members of staff of both Information Technology Section (ITS) and Information & Communication Technology Resources Centre (ICTREC), 14 were interviewed, giving a response rate of 88%. The findings of the study indicated a demographic dominance of female respondents from South Africa and male respondents from Nigeria. The majority of the undergraduate students in the studied universities are in the 21-25 age brackets, which is not unique. The study also showed moderate influences of demographic characteristics on cyberethical behaviour. Most of the respondents from the sampled universities reported that they were aware of cyberethical behaviour. A high percentage of participants, 98 (52.1%), revealed that they had never received ethical orientation in the university. vi Top on the list of types of cyberethical violations is cyber piracy, with the highest mean scores of ( ̅ = 3.6 and SD = 1.5) and ( ̅ = 3.6, SD = 1.3) among students in Nigeria and South Africa respectively. The three variables - attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) - were individually statistically significant in influencing students’ cyberethical behaviour. Furthermore, the study revealed a significant number of challenges that were associated with appropriate cyberethical behaviour. Despite the importance of cyber technology to the university community, the universities provided access, but with some restrictions. While UNIZULU provides round the clock internet access, FUNAAB has limited and regulated access for users on their network. The study recommends that universities should sustain orientation programmes on cyberethics and cyber security awareness at the start of each academic year, especially for fresh students, so that they can act responsibly when in the university cyberspace. It is also suggested that universities establish strong policies and corresponding penalties for cyberethical violations or misuse behaviour. Universities should revisit or review existing computer laboratory ethical conduct and policies to attune to the demands of present reality. The findings of this study may spark further investigation into the impact of cyber technology on the ethical conduct of undergraduate and graduate students in academic institutions in the studied countries, and perhaps elsewhere. The study also contributes to extant literature on the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The originality and value of this study can be viewed from the application of a socio- psychology theory to determine cyberethical behaviour, which provides further evidence that the TPB can be applied to cyberethics research. The study also contributes to literature by conceptualising the phenomenon of cyberethics in the context of South Africa and Nigeria, which can generate debates for further discussions on cyberethics among African scholars. In addition, the findings will help university executives to consider developing policy and standards that will encourage ethical behaviour by all the cyber technology users in their cyberspaces. The empirical findings from this study can help to create awareness about cyberethics and motivate academics and institutions in these African countries to accept the challenge of establishing, monitoring, evaluating and strengthening their environments so that academic integrity will be valued and carefully protected. The principal theoretical implication of this study is that, while it is not enough to declare that unethical cyber behaviour is against an institution’s code of conduct and acceptable use, university managements need to initiate forums to bridge the gap between students’ knowledge and their actual behaviour.
University of Zululand