CHALLENGES OF RESEARCH WRITING AMONG STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY IN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ENUGU CAMPUS

ABSTRACT Academic writing skills are often critical key indicators of successful experience in undergraduate programmes. Students are required to select, evaluate, report, summarize, paraphrase, conclude, argue, select words and grammatical patterns, and avoid plagiarism. Nevertheless, students struggle to produce the required level of writing and to demonstrate critical thinking skills. The study assessed the challenges of research writing among students of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. The objectives of the study were to: determine the student-related challenges, institution-related challenges as well as supervisor-related challenges faced by the students. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted for the study and convenience sampling technique was used to select two hundred and ninety-seven (297) 500 level students in 4 departments the faculty, namely, Nursing, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Rehabilitation and Medical Radiography. A well-designed questionnaire was adopted and utilized. Data was collected after oral consent from the respondents was granted and it was analysed with SPSS/IBM version 26. Findings indicated that handling stress associated with research writing (2.8±0.9); finding and evaluating credible sources (2.8±0.7); avoiding plagiarism (2.7±1.0); data analysis and interpretation (2.7±0.9) and developing a research question/topic (2.7±0.9) were the most reported student-related challenges. Availability of research writing workshops or courses (3.1±0.6); adequacy of library facilities for research (3.0±0.6); research funding opportunities (2.8±1.0); availability of research mentorship programs (2.7±1.1) and access to statistical software and support (2.7±1.0) were identified as the most reported institution-related challenges faced by students. Supervisor's assistance in overcoming research obstacles (2.4±1.0); supervisor's responsiveness to queries (2.4±0.8); frequency of supervisor meetings (2.4±0.8); clarity of expectations from supervisors (2.3±1.1) and support in developing research skills (2.3±0.9) were identified as the most reported supervisor-related challenges faced by students. There was significant relationship between the age (χ2 = 27.120, p < 0.05) and gender (χ2 = 20.881, p < 0.05) of the respondents and their experience of the student-related challenges. There was significant relationship between the age of the respondents (χ2 = 39.814, p < 0.05) as well as those who had conducted research before (χ2 = 32.121, p < 0.05) and the experience of the supervisor-related challenges. UNEC should establish awards, recognition programs, and promotions to acknowledge supervisors who demonstrate exceptional mentorship and research guidance. This will motivate supervisors to continue providing high-quality guidance and support.