Brain-Friend: An Intelligent Tutoring System for Enhancing Learning of Postgraduate Business Education Programme in Rivers State Universities

Abstract

This study examines the use of BrainFriend Intelligent Tutoring System for Enhancing Learning of Postgraduate Business Education Programme at Rivers State University (RSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE). Four specific objectives were to assess the extent Brain-Friend Intelligent Tutoring System enhances personalized learning, instructional effectiveness, research competency development and examine challenges that affect Brain-Friend adaptation in Rivers State Universities. Four research questions guided the study, while four hypotheses were formulated and tested on the observed results. A descriptive research design was adopted, targeting a population of 146 Postgraduate Business Education Students enrolled in the 2024/2025 Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy programmes at Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The entire population was studied. Data were collected using a self-designed questionnaire, validated by three experts, two from Business Education Department and one Psychometrician. The instrument’s reliability was confirmed through Cronbach’s Alpha, which yielded a coefficient of 0.83. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using t-test inferential statistics at 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed high level use of Brain-Friend for enhancing personalized learning, improving instructional effectiveness and research competency development among Postgraduate Business Education Programme in Rivers State Universities. However, infrastructural and technical challenges were discovered as a bane towards effective utilization of technology. The study concludes that BrainFriend-ITS have the potential to enhance learning delivery and recommends for its proper integration in the Business Education Programme in Rivers State Universities. There is also a need to provide adequate funding for infrastructural development, training and retraining programmes for capacity building and skill enhancement for overall effectiveness of BrainFriend-ITS utilization in Business Education.