Samson Obafemi’s interest in the student centred learning environment with the help of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has landed him an Information Technology Master of Technology (MTech) degree with cum laude and a Deans Merit award for academic Excellence.

The 38-year-old Nigerian native, who was supervised by Professor Seraphin Desire Eyono Obono, Associate Professor in the Information Technology Department at DUT, had not expected to achieve such great academic results considering that his dissertation had to be marked by different experts in the field.

Obafemi’s research problem was motivated by his vision to assist in finding solutions to poor academic performances’ at schools in developing countries. His (Obafemi) research recommends that educators with student centred beliefs should champion e-learning projects in schools to help the problems of students’ poor performance.

“I knew that for me to add value to the current e-learning programs and ICT problems in schools, I would have to identify areas of need and find solutions to them. In order to achieve this, I will acquire the right skills and associate with the right people and organisations,” said Obafemi.

Obafemi currently lecturers End-user Computing 1, Computer Usage 1, Pastel Accounting and Business Information at DUT. He has also served as the Information Technology Head at the Ames Global Computers, Sagamu, Ogun State, in Nigeria.

Although Obafemi faced challenges with funding for his research, he did not give up. Instead, he joined the tutors’ team in his department in order to be exposed to practical experience of teaching and learning with ICTs which he believes assisted him with much of his understanding of his dissertation.

“Since one of my questions was to find out whether educators were creating a student centred environment in the classroom, I thought why not use my classes as my laboratory. By doing this, I had first-hand experience of what a learning environment should be; guiding students in the construction of their own knowledge and this contributed so much to the success of my research,” he said.

Obafemi plans to continue with his studies for his PhD and develop a career in academics.

Pictured: Samson Obafemi