ABSTRACT
Examination malpractice
is a common form of deviant behavior among secondary school students. It is
rated as one of the greatest problems that undermine the foundations of
educational development in Nigeria. The prime objective of this paper therefore
is to examine the relationship between secondary school students study habits
and their attitudes toward examination malpractice. The study was conducted
ex-post factor under a descriptive survey research design. Stratified random
sampling technique was employed to select 300 students from secondary schools
in the district II in Lagos State Nigeria. Collected data on students attitude
toward examination malpractice and study habits were obtained using two
research instruments designed by the researcher. The instruments are Students’
Study Habit Questionnaires (SSHQ) and Students’ Attitudes toward Examination
Malpractices Questionnaires (SATEMQ). They have reliability coefficients of
0.68 and 72 respectively. The three hypothesis formulated for the study were
tested using Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and t-test
statistics at .05 alpha level. Findings revealed that there was no significant
relationship between students study habit and their attitudes towards
examination malpractice. Male and Female students were significantly different
in their attitude towards examination malpractice while the two groups were not
significantly different in their habits. It was recommended that school
counselors should utilize guidance services and counseling techniques in
promoting effective study habits and in reducing cases of examination
malpractices in secondary schools.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgment iv
Abstract v
Table
of Content vi
List
of Tables ix
CHAPTER
ONE
Introduction 1
Background
to the Study 1
Statement
of Problem 9
Purpose
of Study 10
Significance
of the Study 10
Objectives
of the Study 11
Research
Question 11
Research
Hypotheses 12
Limitation
of the Study 12
Definition
of Terms 13
CHAPTER
TWO
Review
of Related Literature
Empirical
Review of Literature 14
Concept
of Examination Malpractice 14
Concept
of Study Habits 16
The
Formation of Study habits 18
The
Concept of Attitude 19
Formation
and Manifestation of Attitude 21
Theoretical
review of Literature 22
Theories
of Attitude changes 22
Theories
of Examination Malpractice 24
Summary
of Literature 49
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology 54
Research
Design 54
Population
of the Study 54
Samples 55
Sampling
technique 55
Instrument
of the Data Analysis 55
Method
of Data Analysis 56
Procedure
of Data Collection 56
Validity
of Instrument 58
Reliability
of Instrument 58
CHAPTER
FOUR
Data
Analysis and Interpretation of Results 60-74
CHAPTER
FIVE
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
Summary 75
Discussion 76
Implication s 79
Conclusions 80
Recommendations 80
Suggestions
for further research 82
References 84
Appendix
LIST OF TABLES
Table
I: Description of Sample’s Sex
Table
II: Age Distribution of Respondents.
Table
III: Educational Qualification of the
Parents..
Table
IV: Mother’s Qualification.
Table
V: Are you living with your Parents?
Table
VI: Religion of Respondents.
Table
VII: Secondary School Students’ Study
Habits”
Table
VIII: Secondary School Students’
Attitudes Towards Examination Malpractice.
Table
IX: Relationship Between Students’
Study Habit and Attitudes Towards Examination.
Table
X: Difference in Male and Female
Study Habits.
Table
XI: Difference in Male and Female
Students’ Attitudes Towards Examination Malpractices.
Table
XII: Relationship Between Students’
Study Habits and Examination Malpractice.
Table
XIII: Difference between Male and Female
Student’s Study Habits.
Table
XIV: Difference between Male and Female
Students; Towards Examination Malpractice.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The two possible outcome of an examination are success
and failure. Failure is a very touchy issue which sometimes produces conflicts
between teachers and students, parents and children, and sometimes between
parents and teachers. This is so because failure is usually accompanied by
unpleasant consequences, hence students try to avoid it by all means. In an
attempt to avoid failure, students are known to exhibit some forms of behaviour
ranging from fake complaints of illness to various forms of cheating which are
commonly referred to as “examination malpractice”.
One of the major problems confronting secondary schools
in Nigeria is examination malpractice. It is a cankerworm that has eaten deep
into the fabric of the society, and it has become so rampant among students in
Nigeria that many of them regard it as a normal process of passing examination.
Examination malpractices have been described as any act
of dishonesty that occurs before, during and after an examination or assessment
which is intended to obtain or offer an unfair advantage to a candidate or
candidates in that examination or assessment.
Incidence of cheating or malpractices in examinations has
reached epidemic proportion at all levels of our education system. These
unwholesome practices are considered to be inimical to healthy academic
development of our youth and there is an urgent need to reduce them to the
bearest minimum if they cannot be totally eradicated.
At a symposium organized by the West African Examination
Council (WAEC) in 1992 to mark its 40th anniversary, it was observed that one
of the major problems facing the council is cheating during the public
examinations which it conducts.
The penalists called for the intensification of efforts
to raise the level of public awareness of the havoc done to the image of member
countries, the loss of respect for honest academic work as well as the drain on
natural resources caused by such dishonest.
The purpose of examination malpractice especially at the
secondary level of education is to excel and gain access through dubious means,
into tertiary institutions.
The student, the home and even the school have a measure
of contribution. This cankerworm has wrecked our academic pride, proliferated
grades in tests and removed originality of knowledge, the issue of examination
malpractice therefore deserves a measure of academic discourse.
The first reported case of examination malpractice in
Nigeria occurred in 1914, when the Senior Cambridge Local Syndicate Examination
questions leaked. That was about 38 years before the establishment of the West
African Examination Council (WAEC). Subsequent reported cases were the leakage
of WAEC questions.
The issue of examination malpractice among students in
our secondary schools calls for serious concern and its negative effect on the
society cannot be over-emphasized. It has been rated as one of the greatest
aspects of indiscipline that undermines the foundation of educational practice
in Nigeria today. The magnitude of this social malaise has become a major
source of concern not only to the government, but also to teachers, parents and
educationalists of all educational problems in Nigeria, none poses a greater
threat than the problem of examination fraud. It has remained the most
worrisome feature of our educational system. It is regrettable rather than
abating, it has assumed an epidemic dimension. The tragic consequences of this
social aberration are beginning to manifest.
The governments, examination bodies, school authorities
and concerned individuals in the Nigeria society have consistently condemned
the occurrence of examination malpractices in Nigeria.
Since 1977, the trend of examination malpractice has been
on a steady increase. All examination bodies in Nigeria, such as National
Examination Council, West African Examination Council, the Interim Joint
Matriculation Board, (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) and all
teacher made tests at all levels of examination have faced one form of
examination have faced one form of examination malpractice or the other. In spite
of different forms of punishment introduced to curb such malpractices, it has
defied such punishments.
The examination bodies such as the West African
Examination Council (WAEC) and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB
(UTME) have also been adopting various punitive measures against candidates who
engage in examination malpractices in their examinations.
Some of these measures include, cancelling of results,
blacklisting of schools and candidates, e.t.c.
However, these punitive measures seem to have had little
impact in deterring candidates from engaging in examination malpractices.
Examination malpractice is not a recent occurrence in
Nigeria. It is as old as examination itself and it cuts across geographical
boundaries.
Cases of examination malpractice in West African School
Certificate Examination were reported in 1963, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1981, 1987 and
1991.
The 1967 and 1977 cases drew public outcry because of the
large scale involvement of students in the malpractice. As a result of people’s
reactions, judicial tribunals were set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria
to investigate the causes of examination malpractices and proffer remedies.
Due to rampant cases of indiscipline in Nigeria, the
Federal Military Government promulgated a decree covering miscellaneous
offences, including examination malpractice, with stiff penalties. For
instance, a punishment of twenty-one years of imprisonment was attached to
examination malpractice.
This act could be convert or overt, employed by an
individual in order to pass an examination.
This may not only be the fault of the student alone
because the act may be a reflection of the corruption in the adult society. It
may further be a reflection of laziness, lack of self-reliance and dishonesty
on the part of the student involved. The West African Examination Council
(WAEC) (1992) grouped examination malpractice into seven. These are possession
of foreign or unauthorized materials in examination halls, irregular activities
inside or outside the examination hall, collusion, impersonation, insult or
assault on supervisors or invigilators, mass cheating and other special cases.
A special article published by the West African Examination Council (2005)
where questions and answers on examination were discussed. The twelfth question
is: WHAT IS EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE? Apart from other references made to the
West African Examination Council Syllabus, types of examination malpractices
are listed as follows:
Candidates bringing books or cribs into the examination
hall; insulting or assaulting any supervisor or invigilator; replacing their
answer scripts with another one during or after the examination; swooping of
scripts in an examination hall; impersonation.
Taking part in mass or organized cheating in the
examination hall or around its environ. The ANCOPSS journal volume 5, (1998)
further contribute that one of the oldest and commonest method as listed above
is the entry into the examination hall with cribs (microchips), having answers
written on a piece of paper squeezed and thrown to a colleague, writing on
handkerchief/tights, there is also the strengthen of the neck like the giraffe
to look at the neighbours work knowingly or unknowingly to the neighbours,
influencing the grades with the assistance of a friendly lecturer, copying
answers from another student’s papers, sitting arrangement where the bright
students is sitted in the centre flanked by other members of the groups, having
access to live-questions before examination time, and in the Eastern part of
Nigeria, the use of hooligans, gaining entry into examination halls by force as
examinations are in progress to remove question paper, then escape from the
hall and later on throw in answered-pieces (of papers) to their candidates for
them to copy.
Despite this effort, the level of students’ involvement
in examination malpractices has continued to increase. For example, the
percentage of those involved in examination malpractices in West African School
Certificate Examination grew from less than 1% in 1985 to about 14% of total
number of candidates in 1994. Shonekan (1996) observed that between 1992 and
1995, out of 2,818,679 candidates who sat for May June and November/December
School Certificate Examinations conduced by WAEC, 350,902 were involved in
examination malpractice.
In 2003, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
(JAMB) Registrar caught many JAMB
candidates in examination malpractice in Lagos. In the same year out of
the 1,099,241 candidates who sat for JAMB examinations, the results of 116,990 (11.5%)
were withheld due to one malpractice or the other (Oriola, 2003).
Students, teachers and other stakeholders are also
involved in examination malpractice. Tar (1995) reported that 13 teaching staff
of Akwa Ibom State Teaching Service Commission were retired for their
involvement in examination malpractice. Hassan (1987) noted that some
supervisors and invigilators who are supposed to monitor the activities of
students also aid students in examination malpractice after being “settled”.
Denga (1998) reported that secondary school candidates employ their colleagues
in higher institutions to assist them in their examinations. It is also noted
that some remedial/tutorial educational centres (popularly known as special
centres) purchase live questions in General Certificate Examination (GCE) or
JAMB examinations for their candidates in order to maximize their profits. It
is also known that mercenaries besiege examination centres to assist candidates
in their examinations.
It is therefore imperative for researchers in education
to examine factors that could contribute to proactive actions against
examination malpractice other than the present punitive measures. The present
research has taken up this challenge. It investigated study habit as a
predictor of student’s examination behaviour with a view to establishing a
foundation for proactive actions against examination malpractices in Lagos
State Secondary Schools. It focused on the relationship between study habit and
examination behaviour.
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
The derogative falling of our educational standard is
becoming uncontrollable; the pollution of our education by both stakeholders
and students is now pointing towards the wrong direction. Our depending on
external technology results from our inability to purge out this menace.
Nigerian’s known with our emphasis on certificate orientation (i.e.
presentation of certificate for job or employment) is gradually killing our
technology development. The certificate qualification orientation unknowingly embedded
in us (Our Nation), leads to many acquiring “same” (certificate) by all means
positively or negatively. All forms of misconduct and malpractices had and are
still been introduced to achieve this eccentric menace (certificate). Our mind,
which is part of that, that control our thought, and action are channel toward
the easiest way out of achieving this eccentric ‘goods’. The development of our
intellectual capacity are derail due to the fact that stakeholders are
primarily focusing on the end result of our education (certificate).
The growing menace of examination malpractice in our
secondary school is becoming worrisome and disturbing phenomenon day after day.
The problem is not peculiar to a particular level of education rather pervaded
all educational facets in Nigerian primary, secondary, tertiary or professional
institutions of learning. Of all educational problems in Nigeria, none posses a
great threat than the issue of examination malpractice in schools. Thus this
study was designed to investigate the relationship between study habits and
attitudes of secondary school students toward examination malpractice in Lagos
State and to make recommendations that would assist counsellors so that the
learning institutions and the public at large may not be saddle with the
problem of half or ill-baked educated graduates both at the post-secondary and
tertiary institutions of learning.
PURPOSE
OF STUDY
The purpose of this study is to investigate the problem
of how to effect improvement in the students performance through effective
study habits and reduce cases of examination malpractices in secondary schools
so that the learning institutions and the public at large will not be saddle
with the problem of half or ill-baked educated graduates.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is important at this 21st century
period of our educational development where many have become concerned with the
quality and standard of education.
Significant to parents, school proprietors and government
as the result will educate them on the need to help students who are very
successful in their desire career to have good study habits.
The student’s attitudes towards malpractice in
examination is not hereditary but learnt, not only from colleagues (peer) but
also from significant adults like parents and teachers. Because attitudes are
learnt, they can be changed through persuasive talks and attitude changing
devices mounted by counsellors and other adults.
The results of the study should be highly informative and
significant to school. Psychologists, guidance counsellors, teachers, parents
and all those concerned with what can be done to improve students studying
pattern especially their attitude toward cheating during examination.
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study therefore is to examine
the relationship between students study habits and their attitudes towards
examination malpractice. The study is expected to enrich the available
literature on the variables being studied as well as provide useful guides on effective
study habits and ways of curbing examination malpractice in Secondary Schools
in Lagos State.
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The following five main research questions would be
raised for the purpose of the study.
1. What are
the study habits of secondary school students in Lagos State?
2. What is the
attitude of secondary school students towards examination malpractice?
3. I there any
relationship between students study habit and their attitudes toward
examination malpractice?
4. Do male and
female students differ in their study habits?
5. Do male and
female students differ in their attitude towards examination malpractice?
RESEARCH
HYPOTHESES
1. There is no
significant relationship between students’ study habit and their attitudes
toward examination malpractice.
2. There is no
significant difference between male and female students study habits.
3. There is no
significant difference between male and female students’ attitudes towards
examination malpractice.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
One of the limitations of this research study was the few
samples which was used to represent the population of the students in the study
area. This would make the generalizations of the findings to be too narrow.
Another limitations of this finding was that, the
respondents were not easily accessible
and not cooperative. This took a long time before the questionnaires were
collected and collated for the study. Also, the study was limited due to
financial, time and logistic constraints.
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
For clarity of understanding, the following terms need to
be defined.
CANKERWORM: Refers to an evil influence that
spreads quickly among people and is difficult to destroy.
CONVERT/OVERT: Actions done publicly, without trying to hide anything.
IMPERSONATION: To pretend to be someone else by copying their
appearance, voice and behaviour, especially in order to deceive people.
MALPRACTICE: Illegal action by which a person seeks a benefit for
himself while in a position of trust.
MENACE: A threatening quality,
feeling or way of behaving.
MISCONDUCT: Formal bad or dishonest behaviour
by someone in a position of authority or trust.
STUDY HABITS: Refers to the ways of studying on a
particular subject.
SWOOPING: A sudden surprise attack on a place in order to get
something or take people away.
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