Study Habit and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
Abstract:
The research investigated Study Habit and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools. A survey research design was used to conduct the study. The sample sizes of 144 SSII Biology students drawn from four secondary schools in the study area were used for the study. Students Study Habit Questionnaire (SSHQ) and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were used to collect data for the study. The data were analyzed using independent t-test. Findings of the study revealed that study habit significantly influenced students’ academic performance. It was recommended that school heads and teachers should organize orientation for students on the needs to develop good study habit.
Study Habit and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
It has realized that students who posses adequate mental abilities sometimes do not perform well in their academic work either because they do not know how to study effectively or they do not use the most effective method of study (Alutu, 2012). However, studies of school achievement indicate that most student are under achievers (Adams, 2011), a major reason for students under developed potentialities may be lack of learning.
Equally too, though rather regrettably, it is also commonly observed that majority of students in secondary schools now a days are faced with several problems in their effort to attain certain acceptable levels of proficiency in their studying, learning and academic performance. These problems include among others poor personal study time-table, and poor use of library study habit, unpreparedness towards tests and examinations just to mention but a few.
Onyejiaku (1987) opined that one of the major causes of academic failures or poor grade in post primary and tertiary institution is poor study habits. According to him, when-ever a student’s adopts effective study technique, his learning skills, his understanding of the learning materials as well as his memory processing strategies improve appreciably. Therefore, study habit will invariably influence students’ performance in test and examination.
Asagwara (1994) cited in peters (1997), described study habits as strategies which a learner applies for acquiring knowledge, skills, ideas and competence. He further observed that some students who have good study habits do not spend a lot of time studying before they can achieve success. He observed further that student’s who study very hard without utilizing good habits make little or no progress in their academics.
Equally skills, Ceilar, Robinson and Baier (2011) also observed that majority of students who find it difficult to concentrate and ignore distraction while studying lack self-discipline, intrinsic motivation/goal orientation study habit. It is pertinent to note that time management is to be recognized as the control idea of the concepts of study habits.
It is therefore against the background that this present study has deemed it necessary to investigate the effect of study habit and academic performance of students in Biology. Although studies abound on the causative and predictive nature of factors of study habit on students academic achievements all factors of the variable tend to focus on poor study habit while the effects to be fully assessed on the present study.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Due to the increasing nature of poor academic performance of secondary school students in Biology especially in external examination like WAEC and NECO. Many educationists tend to lay the blame on the teaching methodology adopted by the Biology teachers and lack of fund from the government to provide quality textbook.
However, these might not be the only reason why students perform poorly in Biology examination. It is true that many factors contributed to poor academic performance by students, but this study sought to find out to what extent do study habit like personal study time-table, and use of library study habit affect the academic performance of Biology students in secondary schools.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of study habit on student’s academic performance in Biology. Specifically, the objectives of this study are:
(i) To determine the difference in personal study time-table and students’ academic performance in Biology.
(ii) To ascertain the difference in use of library for study habit and students’ academic performance.
Study Habit and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will be useful in the following ways:
(i) The study is designed toward helping secondary school students’ to improve in their study habit in Biology subject.
(ii) To the parent, it is believe that this study will help them provide a conducive study environment for their words
(iii) To the counselors it will yield a good basis students’ counseling on self-discipline and the right attitude toward academic work.
(iv) To the policy maker and planners of education, it will furnish them with a sound basis for effective supervision which will take cognizant of the effect of exam mal-practice and motivate academic performance of the students.
(v) As a data bank, it is envisaged that this research will served as repository of information for future researcher who may wish to research further into the same topic or even closely related issues.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
In attempt to investigate the problem of the study, the following null hypotheses were stated for this study:
(i) There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students with personal study time-table and those without.
(ii) There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students who used library for their studies most often and those who do not.
1.6 Delimitation of the Study
The scope of this study was delimitation to the investigation of study habits and students academic performance in biology on public secondary schools in Uyo Local Government Area. It was delimited to variable in the study habits which are personal study time-table self-motivation and uses of library study habits were investigated.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Study Habit: Strategies adopted by a learner to acquire knowledge skills, ideas and competence. According to Mac-Millan English dictionary has defined study as the process of learning about a subject by reading and by going to school, college etc. it further defined habit as something that we do often or regularly often without thinking about it. Study habit therefore refer to learning which lead to the achievement of a learners goal, through a prescribed pattern of behaviour.
Attitude: This refers to an individual’s disposition which an aspect of the affective dimensions which individual react to or behaves in a particular way toward something. It is a display of likes or dislikes, satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards cheating.
Academic Performance: Is the grade/score a student obtains in an achievement test or examination. It is also the outcome of education the extent to which a student’s teacher achieved.
Library: A library is a collection of information resource and services organized for use and maintained by a public body, institution or private individual.
