SELF-EFFICACY AND DIGITAL COLLABORATION: A STUDY OF PERCEPTIONS AMONG APPLIED SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES STUDENTS IN SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Digital tools integration in higher education at university level has revolutionized the learning process in applied sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) and social sciences (English, Public Administration, Information Technology) but there is scanty research on how this affects the perception of students in such a developing environment as Pakistan. The study was quantitative that focused on the perception of 84 undergraduate applied sciences and social sciences students in Punjab towards the role of digital tools in learning, self-efficacy, performance, and personal development, socioeconomic and academic outcomes. A questionnaire was prepared based on self-developed items to include 10 Likert-scale questions, which were used to collect data through simple random sampling. Analytics was done on descriptive statistics in SPSS showing a large percentage of positive perceptions. The mean scores ranged between 4.21 and 4.63 with the highest in the area of institutional instruction of digital tools (M = 4.63) and the need to learn (M = 4.57). More than 95 percent of the participants indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed that digital tools increased self-efficacy (M = 4.43), solved learning challenges (M = 4.43) and improved performance (M = 4.33). The perceptions of personal growth (M = 4.23), mental exposure, problem-solving and future economic benefits (all M = 4.21) also were highly positive but there was slight deterrence with the neutral level (0 0 -7.1%). Results have shown that students of applied sciences and social sciences see the digital tools as a necessity and require institutionalized use instead of informal learning. The research indicates a significant disparity between the expectations of students and the existing pedagogical approaches in universities in Punjab but demonstrates a considerably high level of congruence, which testifies to the urgency of changes in the curriculum and development. Suggestions are the use of compulsory digital literacy programs, educator training. Equal access programs to turn positive perceptions into increased self-efficacy and employability at university level in applied sciences and social sciences programme will be good for administrative reforms to achieve educational sustainability and quality of education in Pakistan.