Assessing The Influence of Digital Instructional Materials on Students’ Understanding of Electrical Machines in Universities in Rivers State.

The study focused on the influence of digital instructional materials on students’ understanding of electrical machines in universities in Rivers State. The design of the study was a descriptive survey research design. Three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was validated by three experts and the reliability of the instrument was established using test re-test process, using Pearson Product Moment Correlation to obtain a reliability coefficient of .82. The area of the study was technical education department of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt and Ignatius Ajuru university of Education, Port Harcourt. The study population included 25 respondents: 22 lecturers in electrical technology, and 3 electrical technologists. The entire population were selected for the study. Responses were scored using the mean and standard deviation to respond to the research questions, t-test was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The result of the analyses showed that digital instructional materials such as simulation software, virtual laboratory and digital textbooks can significantly enhance the academic understanding of electrical machines among students in Rivers State universities. In line with the findings, the following recommendations were made; Digital instructional materials such as simulation software, Virtual laboratories and digital textbooks should be made available in the various universities in River’s state and by extension the entire country; ICT infrastructure should be made adequate in the universities; Training of lecturers in the use of educational technologies should be done regularly.