INTEGRATING INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEMS INTO BUSINESS EDUCATION PROGRAMME: AN EXAMINATION OF BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES IN DELTA STATE PUBLIC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The study examined the benefits and problems of integrating Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) into business education programme  in Delta State public tertiary institutions. The study explored two research questions and tested two hypotheses, using a 0.05 significance level. The study used a descriptive survey design to gather and analyze data from a population comprising 139 business educators in the five public tertiary institutions in Delta State that run business education programme. The entire population was studied with no sampling due to its manageable size. Data for the study were gathered using a structured questionnaire designed by the researcher which was reviewed by three renowned experts to confirm its validity. The reliability conducted through a pilot study yielded an overall co-efficient of 0.82. The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using mean scores, standard deviation and independent-sampes t-test. The study found that integrating intelligent tutoring system into business education programme in public tertiary institutions in Delta State can improve students’ engagement in learning activities, facilitate better curriculum design by analyzing patterns in student learning behaviours, enhance personalized learning by adapting teaching methods to meet individual students' needs and reduce the workload of lecturers by automating tasks like grading among others. It was also found that the problems inhibiting the integration of intelligent tutoring systems into business education at public tertiary institutions in Delta State included limited funding for technological innovations, decrease in face-to-face interactions between students and lecturers which could impede the development of critical communication skills among others. One of the recommendations of the research is that federal and states governments, in collaboration with management of tertiary institutions as well as technology companies should set up an endowment fund to provide infrastructural facilities, funding, and expertise for the integration of intelligent tutoring systems into business education programme in public tertiary institutions.

Keywords: Benefits, Problems, Integration, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Business Education