Survey: Examining how digital tools influence Learning and access to University services for first-year Humanities students at University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College. 

Dear Prospective participant,

You are invited to participate in a research project titled “Examining how digital tools influence Learning and access to University services for first-year Humanities students at University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College.” This project was initiated by a postgraduate student in Bachelor of Art Honours, Sociology.The project will be carried out at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College . The aim of this research project is to examine how first-year students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Howard College use digital tools for studying and accessing university services. Specifically, the study seeks to examine how digital tools influence students  engagement, collaboration and access to educational resources. 

This study has obtained ethical clearance from the University of KwaZulu-Natal Human Research Ethics Committee. Protocol number: HSSREC/0000724/2024.

You have been invited to participate in this research as you are a registered first-year Humanity student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College and you are considered a key stakeholder and actor within the university who could relate to the project topic at hand. Therefore, as part of this project, if you agree to participate in this study, we would like to invite you to take part in completing an online questionnaire. This questionnaire will take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Completing and submitting the online questionnaire is considered consent to participate. In addition, as part of this project, should you wish to further discuss your challenges and share your experience with us, kindly contact the researcher using the emails provided should you be interested in sharing your insights on the topic.

There is no apparent risk involved in this study. The survey is designed to be anonymous, meaning that the information not foresee that you will experience any negative consequences by completing the survey. The researcher undertake to keep any information provided herein confidential, not to let it out of our possession, and to report on the findings from the perspective of the participating group and not from the perspective of an individual. The records will be kept for five years for audit purposes, after which they will be permanently destroyed. Hard copies will be and electronic versions will be permanently deleted from the hard drive of the computer. You will not be reimbursed or receive any incentives for your participation in the survey.

Thanking you in advance for your participation.

Kind regards

Luyanda Mnyayi 

Email: 220037768@stu.ukzn.ac.za 

Supervisor : Mr Kwandakwethu Zulu

Email: Zulu2@ukzn.ac.za

University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College, Durban, South Africa.