Character Education at Universities

Abstract

Character education is a movement geared towards improving positive character traits in students. It takes place in all levels of formal educational institutions including universities. This article is part of a research which was both quantitative and qualitative, conducted at two state universities involving 45 academics and 260 university students from four types of faculties: Education, Arts and Sciences, Economics and Administrative Sciences, Engineering. Their responses were written by themselves as a reply to an open-ended question at the end of a questionnaire and analyzed through content analysis. The results included findings such as the lateness of starting character education at tertiary level, the significance of academics’ being role models in giving direction to students’ character development, the importance of students’ peers on their character, the possible benefits of character education courses, the influence of extra-curricular activities on students’ character and the family factor in shaping character.