Enhancing Graduate Employability through the Introduction of Artificial Intelligence in Building Technology Education in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The study was carried out to ascertain how to enhance graduate employability through the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in building technology education in Nigerian Universities. The study adopted a case study survey design. The study was carried out in three public Universities in South-East Nigeria: University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. The population for this study is 62 subjects, consisting of 24 building technology lecturers and 38 building technology technical instructors in the three public institutions. No sampling was used for this study since the total population of 62 subjects is of manageable size. The instrument for data collection was a structured 34 item questionnaire titled: Questionnaire on Enhancing Graduate Employability through the Introduction of Artificial Intelligence (QEGEIAI). The questionnaire was designed on the 5 point likert scale as follows: Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). Three experts validated the research instrument. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach alpha and a reliability coefficient (α) of 0.862 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using Mean and t-tests of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The mean was used to answer the research questions. Any item of the questionnaire with mean of 3.50 and above was considered to be agreed while any item of the questionnaire with mean value below 3.50 was considered to be disagreed. The null hypothesis was accepted when the p-value (t-calculated) is greater than 0.05 level (t-critical) but the null hypotheses was rejected when the p-value (t-calculated) is less than 0.05 level value of the t-critic. Based on the findings of the study, graduate employability can be enhanced by exposing students to AI-platforms that aids in project planning & project management. The major challenges hindering the introduction of artificial intelligence in building technology education of Nigerian Universities is that there is still no policy that empowers the incorporation of AI in the curriculum of building technology in Nigerian Universities. The study recommended that there should be a robust collaboration among AI startups, researchers, educational policy makers, building technology education stakeholders, so as to come up with a policy which empowers Nigerian Universities to train students in AI technologies in building technology education.