COVID-19 MISINFORMATION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

This study examined covid-19 misinformation and students’ academic performance in selected secondary school students in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State. If there is a lesson that COVID-19 has taught stakeholders about public health misinformation in Nigeria and probably elsewhere, it is that a sentiment-laden blend of distrust and religion, and a number of traditional beliefs could get people who are expected to know better, to jettison commonsense, temporarily or permanently, and consider or fully embrace. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and a questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The total responses of 171 were collected from the participants, which represents the unit of analysis. The finding of the study revealed that most Nigerian youths used Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram to obtain information on COVID-19. However this information most of the times are not from verified source as such there is always misinformation about the pandemic.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

The proliferation of misinformation on social media platforms is faster than the spread of Corona Virus Diseases (COVID-19) and it can generate hefty deleterious consequences on health amid a disaster like COVID-19. Drawing upon research on the stimulus-response theory (hypodermic needle theory) and the resilience theory, this study tested a conceptual framework considering general misinformation belief, conspiracy belief, and religious misinformation belief as the stimulus; and credibility evaluations as resilience strategy; and their effects on COVID-19 individual responses. Though the year “2020”, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is called “super year” for environmental sustainability Mukherjee M, Chatterjee (Et al 2020), the year is posing a massive global health threat as well as extreme socioeconomic damage. Its global impact on lives and livelihoods is beyond measure as the fight against the COVID-19 is continuing (Vallejo Jr BM, Ong RAC 2020). The public across the world has recognized the severe damaging magnitudes of COVID 19 due to the fast communication and publication. However, the world’s first social media pandemic COVID-19 (Guynn J. 2020), a massive disaster in the 21st century, is not immune to the proliferation of misinformation (Rosenberg H, Syed S, Rezaie S 2020). Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 epidemic is going through an ‘infodemic’ (shorthand for information epidemic) of misinformation. On March 28, in line with WHO, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of United Nation, tweet that “Our common enemy is COVID19, but our enemy is also an ‘infodemic’ of misinformation” on his personal Twitter account (UN 2020). Besides, researchers also noted that the medical misinformation content pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic is being proliferated at a frightening rate on social media. By referring WHO, (Shaw et al. 2020) mentioned that there will be a tsunami of information on social media. Further, (Brennen et al. 2020) orated that misinformation pertaining to the global health crisis COVID-19 pandemic generates a severe risk to public health. The internet has become the greatest source of health information worldwide due to the use of a huge number of mobile devices and easy and low-cost connectivity with the internet across the world. (Barua et al. 2020) stated that internet technologies are becoming inexpensive and easy to access. (Statista 2020) reported that the global mobile population surpasses 4 billion unique users, according to April 2019 data, and as of February 2019, there was global 48% of web page views through mobile devices, and, Asia and Africa leading the pack. (Li et al. 2020) noted that over 70% of adults use internet services for searching healthcare-related information. (Wang et al. 2020) reported that 93.5% of the general public in China used the internet as the primary health care information conduit during the initial stage of COVID-19 pandemic. (Li et al. 2020) reported that approximately 23%–26% of YouTube videos were misleading, i.e. involved in disseminating misinformation regarding COVID-19. On the other hand, another popular social networking site, Facebook, reported that during the March and April of 2020 the body placed warning labels on approximately 90 million pieces of content because they are allied to the Covid-19 misinformation like false cures, anti-vaccination propaganda and conspiracy theories. (BBC 2020) also reported that the human cost of misinformation could be huge since it undermines the public health messaging (BBC 2020). Researchers noted that it can intensify racism, fear, and stigma and produce unconstructive and threatening behavior. Because of fear, the public shows an unusual pattern of shopping behavior in purchasing personal protective equipment (Addo PC, Jiaming F Et al 2020). (Chou et al. 2020) opined that health misinformation on social media can induce people to use toxic substances. (Zandifar & Badrfam 2020) suggested that misinformation along with other players regarding COVID-19 can contribute to stress and mental morbidity. (Rajkumar 2020 and Xiao and Torok 2020) suggested that amid an infectious disease pandemic, inaccurate or misinformation or exaggerated information can generate health anxiety. In addition, the misinformation effect is also associated with buying and taking drugs without a medical consultant’s prescription (Cuan-Baltazar JY 2020). Misinformation in different media including social media, therefore, can have a death-and-life threatening effect amid a pandemic. For instance, a resident of Phoenix in the USA, hearing on the news that the chloroquine can cure COVID-19, died after consuming chloroquine which was commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tank.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As at the time of this study, 199 countries are affected by the COVID19 pandemic and nearly 3.5 billion people are in mandatory or voluntary confinement. In Nigeria, the virus has begun to spread at geometric rates. However, beyond this pandemic is an ‘infodemic’ (lack of adequate information, fake news, misinformation, disinformation and uneven distribution of news). In Nigeria we have seen this before and we know how damaging it can be. This also has had great negative impact on student academic performance as schools were shut down and learning activities imped for almost a year. It is in view of this that the study intend to examine Covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance in selected secondary schools in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study has one main objective which is sub-divided into general and specific objective; the general objective is to examine the covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance among secondary school student; the specific objectives are;

1. To examine the effect of covid-19 misinformation on student academic performance
2. To ascertain if there is any significant relationship between covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance

• To explore the role of news media in combatting covid-19 misinformation in the study area

1. To examine the impact of covid-19 misinformation on the educational sector in Nigeria
   • RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

1. Does covid-19 misinformation have any effect on student academic performance?
2. Is there any significant relationship between covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance?

• Does news media play any role in combatting covid-19 misinformation in the study area?

1. Does covid-19 misinformation has any impact on the educational sector in Nigeria?
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: There is no significant relationship between covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance

H₁: There is a significant relationship between covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance

H₀: Covid-19 misinformation does not have any effect on student academic performance

H₂: Covid-19 misinformation does have an effect on student academic performance

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to the Ogun state universal basic education board as the findings of this study will help them in organizing a proper awareness campaign to debunk the misinformation that is circulating round the social media and other online media platform about the covid-19 epidemic. The study will also be of importance to the researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the findings of this study will serve as a reference point to further study. The study will study will also be of great importance to students, teachers, academia’s, researchers, lecturers and the general public as the findings of this study will add to knowledge and also contribute to the pool of existing literature on the subject matter.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers covid-19 misinformation and student academic performance among secondary school student with emphasis on Ijebu-North LGA of Ogun state. In the course of the study, there are some factors that limit the scope of the study;

1. a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
2. b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
3. c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Covid-19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

 

Pandemic

A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people.

Student

A student is primarily a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution and who is under learning with goals of acquiring knowledge, developing professions and achieving employment at desired field.

Academic performance

Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects. Teachers and education officials typically measure achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and results from standardized tests.

1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study

₦8,000.00 – DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT Added to cart

---

---

---

---

Related Project Topics :