ABSTRACT: The main purpose of the study was to investigate Students’ Attitude To Learning And Their Academic Performance. To achieve the purpose of the study, null hypotheses were formulated to give direction to the study. Literature was reviewed according to the hypothesis directing the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The essence of the design was to allow researcher to make inference and generalization of the population. A total sample of two hundred (200) respondents were randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the simple random sampling technique, this was to give every member of the population area equal and independent opportunity of being selected for the study. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection, it was design by the researcher under the supervisor’s guide that gave its face and content validity. To test the hypotheses and to ascertain whether to reject or retain the hypotheses, Pearson product moment correlation analysis and Independent t-test were considered appropriate because of the nature of variables involved. The 0.05 level of significance was used for the statistical testing of each hypotheses. Based on the conclusion of the study, recommendation and suggestions for further studies were made.
Students’ Attitude To Learning And Their Academic Performance
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The construct attitude toward school was first defined by Lewy (2001) as being the subject’s behaviours, their feelings expression regarding to affection and judgments, favourable or unfavourable, for the school and school experiences. The affective characteristics of it may be an important explanatory element of quality-education and investment of individual actors in the different dimensions that make up the school. Santiago (2003). This construct is intrinsically related to other constructs, such as students’ perceptions and interest about learning, their competence (perceived and as result of academic achievement) and motivation.
According to Alkport (2000), an attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual responses to all objects and situation with which it is related. Attitudes are learned behaviour and they thrive under favourable conditions. Students with favourable attitude towards school usually work to their capacities and make good adjustments in schools. Those with unfavourbal attitudes in time begin to think of themselves as less able than they actually are (Hurlock 1999). Recent social sciences curricular have focused not only on more effective cognitive strategies to enhance the development of positive attitude toward social science.
Osigale (2000) once remarked: the lack of interest among students towards the study of social science disciplines such as Economics, Government, and Geography is a reflection of the time and values of the parents. For many years now the general performance in Government in West African School Certificate Examination has been very poor. There may be some cogent reasons behind if as Erdson (1993) wrote condition within the institution of social science itself, its practices, values or procedures which establish limits or restriction on social science behaviours are often included.
The research for the determination of academic performance on social science has taken many directions, has consumed much time and effort and continues to generate public concern. The result of this research had indicated that academic achievement is the outcome of relations of various level of analysis. Some people blame the teachers for this poor performance while some people blame students.
On students, Sugorman (2004) said commitment is mostly measured by such criteria as drinking, smoking, going out with girls, wearing teenage fashions. The attitudes of school students affect their academic performance negatively. They do not perform well, Gordon (2000) supported Sugorman’s statement by saying that the students sub-culture for boys and girls centered upon predominantly non-academic issues. Good grades and academic achievement had relatively low status in all the schools.
Performance is a notable action, it enables one to excel when the action is well carried out. It could also lead to failure, when on achievement is not reached. Poor academic performance is not meeting with the expectation of parents, school, and society in the field of academics. There is a great deal of disagreement today about who is to blame on why students perform badly in schools. This is simple because failure is a negative force and nobody wants to be associated with it. This term gives the reason of poor performance causes being linked with one person or the other.
Students may not realize that bad behaviours are factors that interfere with learning, thereby causing poor performance in schools. But teacher and all other concerned in an attempt to maintain good order and discipline realize that bad behaviours such as lack of interest in school work, truancy are problems which greatly hinder academic progress. According to Johnson (2002) certain kinds of students lack interest in school interfere with their learning as well as the learning of others.
Students’ Attitude To Learning And Their Academic Performance
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Education is the heart of any nation and a nation without education is like a land without vegetation. Education holds the key to all advancement and development, citizens are expected to benefit from it. Education is used as the deliberates instrument of technological and social changes. The involvement of education in public life is more obvious than anytime before. Therefore any modern study of education must actually be sensible to the development aspect of its activities and problems today.
Students attitude towards studies seem to be non-chalant. Because of this misconception they do not spend much time studying it before going for examination or test and thus the massive failure of students in the subject. This study is designed to find out the relationship between students attitude towards learning and their academic performance.
Originally posted on October 19, 2021 @ 3:35 pm
