Handheld Mobile Devices, Artificial Intelligence, and Study Habits Among Secondary School Biology Students in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated handheld mobile devices and artificial intelligence as predictors of study habits among secondary school Biology students in Abia State, Nigeria. There were two research questions and two hypotheses. The population for the study was 13,947 Senior Secondary Three (SS III) students in public schools in Abia State, Nigeria in 2025/2026 academic session. A sample of 386 SS III students was drawn through the use of simple random sampling technique. Three instruments were used for the study. They included Handheld Mobile Devices Questionnaire (HHMDQ), Artificial Intelligence Questionnaire (AIQ), and Students’ Study Habits Questionnaire (SSHQ). The instruments were validated by three experts. The instruments were subjected to reliability tests using Cronbach’s Alpha formula. Reliability indices of 0.83, 0.70, and 0.89 were obtained for Handheld Mobile Devices Questionnaire (HHMDQ), Artificial Intelligence Questionnaire (AIQ), and Students’ Study Habits Questionnaire (SSHQ) respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to answer the research questions, while Simple Regression was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that Secondary School Students’ use of handheld mobile devices significantly and positively predicts their study habits in Biology to a high extent. It was also found that Secondary School Biology Students’ use of Artificial Intelligence significantly and positively predicts their study habits in Biology to a high extent. Based on the findings, it was recommended that government and school administrators should give guidelines on the use of handheld mobile devices and artificial intelligence among secondary school students in order to bring about good study habits.