ABSTRACT
The study examined influence of attitude to schooling on the academic
achievement of pupils with
focus on Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. The
study adopted a Descriptive
survey research design. To achieve the objectives of the study, 125
teachers were sampled from 5 public primary schools in the study area using stratified
sampling technique. Based on the objectives of the research and previous
findings related to the variables incorporated in the research; primary source
of data was adopted using a well-structured questionnaire. Data extracted from
the administered questionnaires were presented on table using percentile. Based
on the objective of the research, the four hypotheses tested were rejected as
the calculated Chi-Square were greater that the tabulated Chi-Square, hence it
was concluded that; pupils’ Interest is a predictor to academic achievement; pupils’ attitudes towards modern
learning technologies relate to pupils’ academic achievement; relationship
exists between socio-economic status of parents and pupils’ academic
achievement; and classroom environment relate to pupils’ academic achievement.
It was recommended among other recommendations that teachers and school
practitioners should pay attention to the pupils’ attitude towards school as
its important predictor of academic achievement.
Key
Words: attitude, Interest, Value, Academic Achievement,
Qualification of Teachers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 6
1.3 Objectives of the Study 7
1.4 Research Questions 7
1.5 Research
Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance
of the Study 8
1.7 Scope
of the Study 9
1.8 Operational
Definition of Terms 9
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 Conceptual Framework 11
2.1.1
Concept of Attitude 11
2.1.1.1 Factor
Influencing Attitude 13
2.1.1.2 The Characteristics of Attitude 15
2.1.2 Concept
of Interest 17
2.1.3
Pupils’ Attitude and Academic
Achievement 21
2.2 Theoretical Framework 25
2.2.1 Theories of Attitude Change 25
2.2.1.1 Consistency Theories 28
2.2.1.2 Early Learning Theories 33
2.2.1.3 Social Judgment Theory 35
2.2.1.4 Functional Theories 37
2.3 Review
of Related Empirical Studies 40
2.4 Summary
of Literature Reviewed 44
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Research Design 45
3.2 Population of the Study 45
3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique 46
3.4 Instrument for Data Collection 46
3.5 Validity of the Instrument 47
3.6 Reliability of the Instrument 47
3.7 Method of
Data Collection 47
3.8 Method of Data Analysis 47
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
4.1
Introduction 49
4.2 Personal
Characteristics of the Respondent 49
4.3 Response
of Respondents to the Problem Areas. 50
4.4 Testing and Interpretation of the
Hypotheses. 60
4.5 Discussion of Findings 66
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 69
5.2
Conclusion 69
5.3 Recommendations
69
5.4
Suggestion
for Further Studies 70
References 72
Appendix:
Questionnaire 76
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
Education is widely recognized as an
indicator of development. One of the basic purposes of education is producing
trained human capital who can overcome development impediments of a given
country. Many researchers (Altinok, 2004; Linnehan, 2005; Schreiber, 2000) have
agreed that the effectiveness of this sector has been challenged by many factors.
In order to make pupils grasp the lessons successfully, it is prudent to
investigate potential factors that influence academic performance of primary
school pupils. Attitude seems to be an important factor that influences
academic performance of students.
Obviously, attitude has been a very difficult
concept to describe since it cannot be directly observed. Attitudes will affect
the choices that a learner makes and may be acquired from a variety of sources Popham,
(2005) extended the definition
to explain attitudes. These were behaviors that are associated with critical
thinking. The affective variables according to Popham were: attitude, belief, opinion,
value, behavioral intention, and behavior. The interaction of the affective
variables helped to determine the attitudes a pupil possess. Popham summarized three reasons for
continuing to study attitudes. First, attitudes are enduring and seem to remain
relatively stable over time. Second, attitudes are learned (pupils are not born
liking or disliking schooling). Third, attitudes are related to behavior, that
is, pupils’ actions reflect their feelings toward objects and issues.
Motivation is another important variable that
has received much attention from many researchers with different psychological
and philosophical perspectives in different fields of study, especially
psychology and education due to its significant effect on pupils’ learning,
persistence and academic achievement. It has been operationally defined from
the perspective of different theoretical approaches over the past decades. For
instance, Krapp, (2002) defined human motivation from both intrapersonal and environmental
perspectives as the driving force that causes people to work towards a goal and
is essentially the power of hierarchy of human needs. Altinok (2004) emphasized
that one of pupils’ features that have an important effect on learning process
is pupils’ attitude towards the lesson.
Lewis (2008) stated that values of education
can make a very important contribution to fostering strong positive
relationship with academic achievement, positive dispositions to learning,
producing a calm teaching and learning environment. Values of education nurture
in students various dimensions of intellectual depth, communicative competence,
and capacity for reflection, self-management and self-knowledge.
Attitude
denotes a positive or negative predisposition towards schooling and every
activity in the school environment, which could be cognitive, emotional, or
behavioral (Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewar& Roy, 2006). Fazio and Roskes
(2004) said Attitudes are important to education because they strongly
influence social thoughts; the way an individual thinks about and social
information. It is evident that, when so defined, attitudes cannot be directly
observed but must be inferred from overt behavior, both verbal and nonverbal.
Most children come to school ready and willing to learn; how school can best
foster and strengthen their predisposition and ensure that they leave school
with the motivation and capacity to continue learning throughout life has
remained a matter of great concern. Without development of the right attitudes,
students may not be well prepared to acquire the new knowledge and skills
necessary for successful adaptation to changing circumstances and the necessary
situation for pupils’ performance (Kuusinen & Leskinen, 2008). In school,
teachers manage much of pupils’ learning. However, learning might be enhanced
if pupils can manage it themselves; moreover, once they leave school,
individuals have to manage most of their own learning. To do this, they need to
be able to establish goals, to persevere, to monitor their learning progress,
to adjust their learning strategies as necessary and to overcome difficulties
in learning. Students who leave school with the autonomy to set their own
learning goals and with a sense that they can reach those goals tend to be
better equipped to learn throughout their lives (Candeias, Rebelo, Olivera &
Mendes, 2012).
Attitude
as a major factor affecting schooling, may be implicit, hence, has not
attracted enough attention from all stakeholders in education and therefore, it
is important to consider the fact that learners can mainly contribute to their
learning outcomes as a result of their belief and perceptions about the subject
matter e.g. whether they like it or not and whether they see any value in it.
Attitudes are seen as more or less positive and encompass emotions, beliefs,
values and behavior and hence affect individual way of thinking, acting and
behaving which has a lot of implications to teaching and learning (Mensah,
2013). They have a strong effect on behavior which helps in understanding and
predicting peoples’ behavior in a wide range of contexts. Attitudes though not
directly observable are inferred from observable responses and behaviours which
reflect a pattern of beliefs and emotions. They are elicited by certain stimuli
and gradually get established into a consistency or a tendency. A person’s
behaviour and choices when confronted with tasks are determined more by his
beliefs and personal experiences rather than by his knowledge of specific
tasks.
Beyond
pupil’s perception of how well school will prepare them for life, their overall
attitude to all the school-related activities could be important. For some
pupils, school is central to their daily life. They view schooling as essential
to their long term well-being, and this attitude is reflected in their
participation in academic and non-academic pursuits. The pupils tend to have
good relations with school staff and with other pupils when their attitude to
school is positive this will enhance their performance in the school. However,
some express negative attitude towards school as they do not tend to believe
that the school and their performance will have a strong bearing on their
future. Such negative feelings and attitudes may result in their becoming
disaffected with school (Williams, 2000). They may withdraw from school
activities, and in some cases, participate in disruptive behavior and display
negative attitudes towards teachers and other pupils. Pupils’ attitude to
schooling can be seen as a disposition towards learning, working with others
and functioning in a social institution. It is partly for this reason that the
Pearson Foundation (2014) with the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspiration
identified eight conditions for children to realize academic, social, and
personal performance; and emphasized that attitude towards school, also
referred to as the interest or sense of belonging is the first and most
crucial. It emphasizes self-worth, engaged learning and sense of purpose. Attitude
is an important condition for a pupil's performance in academic, well-being,
social engagement, and competence. Highly positive attitude towards schooling
increases intrinsic motivation, for it fosters self-confidence and investment
in the community. It is only with positive attitude towards learning that a
child can develop good sense of belonging and engagement in learning process.
The condition of belonging means that a student is a valued member of the
school community while still maintaining his or her uniqueness. It is a
relationship between two or more persons characterized by a sense of connection
and support for individual achievement of self-actualization and advancement in
pupils’ performance. Attitude towards learning can be, for some students,
indicative of Students’ performance.
Studies have revealed that there are two main
contributing factors to academic performance that are psychological and
sociological factors. Psychological factors refer to the internal elements of
individual including emotional and cognitive domains, whereas sociological
factors refer to external factors such as socio-environment and friendship.
However, both factors are inter-related and dependable. Most past studies
tended to discuss the subject in a specific context. For instance, a study of
academic achievement carried out by Ariffin (2007) focused on individual’s
learning style and how it affects his/her pupils’ performance. Although
learning style has a close link with a person’s personality and intellectual
capabilities, the selection of learning styles is also influenced by
environmental factors such as educational support provided by peers and
teachers.
Although previous studies found that there is
a positive relationship between pupil’s interest in academic subject and its
performance (Arham, Mesir& Mohammad, 2006; Zainudinet. 2007), classroom
environment and their existing knowledge on the particular subjects also play
major roles (Rhoda, 2011). According to Popham (2005), pupils’ attitudes or
interests should be enormously important to educators, because affective
dispositions are powerful predictors of pupils’ subsequent behaviour. In a
related study, Erdogan, Bayram, Deniz (2008) found that there is a positive
relationship between pupils’ attitudes towards modern learning technologies and
their academic achievement. Academic achievement increases with the use of
modern technologies positively. There is a strong association between
individuals’ attitudes towards education and their academic performance and
commitment. Children who have negative attitudes towards education activities
are found to exhibit challenging behaviour including anti-social and off-task
behaviour (Awang, Jindal-Snape& Barber, 2013). Ming, Ling and Jaafar (2011)
found that streaming in education has a close relationship with pupils’
academic performance. They also found that pupils from science classes are more
positive about academic performance compared to other pupils.
Previous research revealed that there is a
link between academic achievement and socio-economic status (Ghazali, 2008).
Living in poor and slum areas are found to contribute to the low academic
achievement among students. Most low achievers also are from poor families
(Farooq, Chaundhry & Berhanu, 2011). In the light of the aforementioned,
this study tends to investigate the influence of attitude to schooling on the
academic achievement of pupils in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos
State, Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The development of any nation is hinged on
solid educational foundation for its citizenry. This suggests that primary
education is a means of effecting changes in the society physically, mentally,
socially, emotionally and intellectually. Education is the key to creating a
society, which is dynamic and productive, offering opportunity and fairness to
all. Therefore, it is axiomatic that efforts should be geared towards
maintaining high standards in schools. The standards will be reflected in
pupils’ academic achievement. Like in all other facets of national planning and
development, education has its own share of poignant challenges. Academic
problems are frequent indicators of larger problems, often having to do with
personality and lifestyle, societal and economic factors and the family.
Problems of non-achievers are numerous but the truth is that they lack the
knowledge of their abilities and strengths, moreover, they have not developed
the necessary study skills and techniques and they also lack the interest and
motivation that are requisite for performance. Literature review on this area
reveals that there are two main contributing factors to students’ academic
achievement that are psychological and sociological factors. Psychological
factors refer to the internal elements of individual including emotional and
cognitive domains, whereas sociological factors refer to external factors such
as socio-environment and friendship. However, both factors are inter-related
and dependable.
The need to motivate pupils
to develop positive attitude towards schooling in primary school and to create
a conducive environment for studying is not disputable and cannot be
over-emphasized. The unfortunate thing is that pupils’ attitude towards
schooling is fraught with a lot of problems. There is a general belief
that whenever pupils perform poorly in their subjects the teacher has not
really taught them well. People hardly look at the problem from the point
of view of the pupil’s attitude towards the subjects.
The negative attitude and interest in subject
has created a lot of laxity and anxiety among pupils who continue to perform
dismally as they lack the interest, curiosity and patience needed for learning
and performing related tasks concerning to the subject. Pupils’ performance
have mostly pointed to the fact that student’s Interest and attitude is a major
contributor yet has received very little attention if any. There is therefore a
need to study the effect of pupils’ attitudes as is the integral part of
cognitive schooling which affects the learning outcomes (Burstein, 2002).
The negative attitudes of pupils towards
schooling are identified with lack of utilization of teaching aids and
instructional materials for effective teaching and learning, technological
anxiety, poor study skills, low motivation, inability to work independently,
among other. This lack of resources affect students’ interest, hence their
performance.
1.3 Objectives
of the Study
The general objective of this study was to
investigate the influence of attitude to schooling on the academic achievement
of pupils in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. The
specific purposes are:
i.
To
examine whether interest has impact on pupils’ academic achievement
ii.
To
ascertain if pupils’ attitudes towards modern learning technologies has impact
their academic achievement
iii.
To
investigate how socio-economic status affect pupils’ academic achievement
iv.
To
determine how classroom environment affect pupil academic performance
1.4 Research
Questions
In order to achieve the objectives of this
research and make specific recommendations the following questions were
proposed to guide the entire research work:
i.
Does
relationship exist between interest and pupils’ academic achievement?
ii.
To what
extent does pupils’ attitudes towards modern learning technologies relate to pupils’
academic achievement?
iii.
What is
the relationship between socio-economic status of parents and pupils’ academic
achievement?
iv.
Does
classroom environment relate to pupils’ academic achievement?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were tested during
the cause of this study.
Ho: Interest
do not significantly relate to pupils’ academic achievement
Ho: There
is no significant relationship between pupils’ attitudes towards modern
learning technologies and academic achievement
Ho: There
is no significant relationship between socio-economic status of parents and
pupils’ academic achievement
Ho: Classroom
environment does not significantly relate to pupil academic performance
1.6 Significance
of the Study
The findings of this study would help all the
interested parties in understanding the factors within the learners themselves
and how the learners ultimately can contribute to their own learning processes
and performance in school. The study is to help in exposing some of the
interest and attitude which learners acquire and carry into the classroom
environment and which are of paramount importance to all stakeholders in
education in attempting to improve teaching and learning in all schools. The
study therefore would provide crucial information to curriculum planners that
will guide in the designing policies and strategies towards improving academic
performance.
The teacher would understand pupils better so
as to capture their attention and change their perceptions and attitude towards
schooling. Motivation, reinforcement and relevant instructional strategies by
the teachers, might help the learners get directions on what is expected.
Through this study, learners would understand themselves and that their
performance is a consequence of their interests, attitudes and effort which
they can control for their successful learning and improvement.
The school administration would understand
what is ailing each subject and would help in putting up policies towards an
enabling learning environment and providing necessary support and be able to
put up mechanisms towards improved teaching and learning of the subjects e.g
providing time, space, materials and moral support. The study would also be
useful to other researchers in supplementing the existing literature on the
same study area and would also provide a rich ground for further research based
on the gaps left out by this study.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study concentrates on the influence of
attitude to schooling on the academic achievement of pupils with focus on
public primary schools in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State,
Nigeria.
1.8 Operational
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined operationally in the study.
Attitude: This
is an acquired disposition to respond in a certain way towards an object or
situation.
Interest:
The feeling
of wanting
to give your attention
to something or of wanting
to be involved
with and to discover
more about something
Value: The amount
of interest that can be received
for something
Academic
Achievement:
Something very good and difficult
that you have succeeded
in doing
Qualification
of teachers: teacher
who has the necessary ability experience and knowledge in the subject area
Socioeconomic Status: Socioeconomic status
is the social standing or class of pupils’ parents. It is often measured as a
combination of education, income and occupation.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment