Assessment of Students' Data Literacy Skills in Southern Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The data literacy skills of students in Southern Nigeria institutions of higher learning were evaluated in this study using descriptive survey method. A total of five (5) universities were selected for this study. These comprised of 150,055 students of which 2550 constituted sample for the study. Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed. The instrument used for data collection for the study was Data Literacy Questionnaire (DLQ). The reliability of DLQ was established using Cronbach-alpha method and it yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.901. The data collected was statistical analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while t-test and Analysis of variance were used to analyze the hypotheses. Findings revealed that the students possessed moderate level of data literacy skills. The students had their lowest rating in data analysis skills. The findings also revealed that Ph.D. students had better data literacy skills compared to M.Sc. and B.Sc. students, while M.Sc students' had better data skills compared to B.Sc. students. The study recommends that programs and workshops should be designed to help improve data skills for teachers and students in order to meet global standards.