Academic use of WhatsApp in groups of engineering and architecture students from a private university

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine the use of the WhatsApp application in groups of students from the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the Peruvian Union University (Universidad Peruana Union, UPeU), in the district of Lurigancho-Chosica, Lima, 2018. The research is of a basic type with a focus quantitative, non-experimental and descriptive design applied to a sample of 304 university students. For this study, a standardized questionnaire for “WhatsApp in the regulation of group work” was applied, with four dimensions and 59 items, which were adapted and validated by experts judgment to evaluate clarity, construction domain, congruence and context. The results of the analysis show that 68.8% of the students have a high level of use of the WhatsApp application in academic groups. Also, regarding the dimensions of use of WhatsApp for group work, 67.6% of the students showed a high level: 79.8% as a communication system, 71.4% high for interpersonal relationships, and 42, 2% state that the use of WhatsApp for academic works presents limitations. In conclusion, the students of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the Universidad Peruana Unión of the year 2018 have a high level of use of the WhatsApp application for group work, which represents a potential tool to improve and take advantage of the process of communication for academic purposes.