DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND STEM EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTIONS IN ENUGU STATE
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating digital transformation and stem education in university institutions in Enugu State. Survey research design was adopted in this study. The population of the study consisted of 80 respondents selected randomly from UNN and ESUT. The study used questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used to analyzed the data. T-test was conducted to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there is significant difference in the mean and standard deviation of male and female teachers’ opinions on the contributions of digital transformation to the growth of STEM education in Universities in Enugu State. The study concluded that integration of digital transformation is important in the promoting STEM education in University institutions. Despite of the importance of digital transformation in STEM education, insufficient infrastructure, poor funding, lack of technical experts, inadequate access to data and high cost of digital transformation technologies e.g AI hindered its effective integration into STEM education in Universities in Nigeria and Enugu state in particular. Hence, this study recommended that government should increase fund allocation for procurement of digital transformation infrastructures to effective implementation of STEM education. Also, government should prioritize the recruitment of digital transformation technologies experts to train STEM educators, empowering them to harness AI in their teaching practices. Transforming teachers into tech-savvy facilitators will maximize AI’s potential to create engaging, individualized learning experiences, enhancing STEM education.
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