Impact Of Social Media Usage On Academic Performance; Mediating Role Of Attitude Towards Learning - An Empirical Study Of Private University Students In Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of social media on academic performance, the mediating role of attitude towards learning. The study was conducted on a total of 600 students selected from 6 private universities in Ghana out of which 421 responses were useable representing 70.16% response rate. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were adopted in selecting respondents and 7-point Likert questionnaire was used to collect data. Explanatory research design was used. Stata version 13 and IBM statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 were the software used in data analysis. The study used Structural Equation Model for data analysis and explored direct, indirect and total effect relationships as presented in the hypothesis. The findings indicated that social media positively and significantly impact on attitude towards learning and academic performance. The study also found attitude towards learning to positively and significantly impact on academic performance. The study found attitude towards learning to partially mediate the relationship between social media usage and academic performance of students in university students in Ghana. The study recommends that, students’ associations should put programmes in their semester activities on developing positive attitude towards academic work.