ABSTRACT
In
educational situation, success is measured by academic performance or how well
a student meets standards set out by the institution attended. Nevertheless,
reviews of students, teachers, and parents perceptions reveal that homework and
assignments help
students achieve better grades. This study shows students who gather
information from the internet can be self-directed and independent. In addition, some recent
studies have uncovered a more positive relationship between homework and
students performance. This research shows the effect of Study habits on
students of the selected senior secondary schools within the Mainland Local
Government area of Lagos State. This can be viewed interms of note taking and
time management especially on Geography as a subject.
In
this research work the use of questionnaires were used to obtain data from the
5 selected senior secondary schools within the Mainland Local Government. In
which a total number of 200 questionnaires were administered randomly.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Statement
of Problem 2
1.2 Significance
of the Study 3
1.4 Research
Questions 4
1.5 Limitation
of the Study 5
1.6 Scope
of the Study 5
CHAPTER
TWO
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Habits
Formation and Significance 7
2.3 Concept
of Study Habits 9
2.4 Study
Habits of Students and Their Significance 12
2.5 Factors
Influencing Study Habits of High School Students 14
2.6 Study
Habits and Academic Performance of High School Students 14
2.7 Thorndike’s
Theory of Reinforcement 30
CHAPTER
THREE
3.0 Introduction 37
3.1 Research
Design 37
3.2 Population
of the Study 38
3.3 The
Sample and Sampling Technique 38
3.4 Research
Instrument 38
3.5 Validity
of the Research Instrument 38
3.6 Research
Instrument 38
3.7 Method
of Data Analysis 39
CHAPTER
FOUR
4.1 Presentation
of Demographic Data 40
4.2 Analysis of Research Question 42
4.3 Discussion
of Findings 48
CHAPTER
FIVE
5.0 Summary 50
5.1 Conclusion
51
5.2 Recommendations 51
References 52
Appendix
55
Chapter one
Introduction
1.0 Background of the Study
Education is the process of developing the capacities and potentials of the
individual so as to prepare that individual to be successful in a specific
society or culture. From this perspective, education is serving primarily as an
individual developmental function. Education begins at birth and continues
throughout life. It is constant and ongoing. Schooling generally begins
somewhere between the ages of four and six when children are gathered together
for the purpose of specific guidance related skills and competencies that
society deems important. In the past decades, once the formal primary and secondary
schooling was completed the process was finished. However, in today’s
information age, adults are quite often learning in informal settings
throughout their working lives and even into retirement.
Education, in its broadest sense, may be defined as a process designed to
inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals
to cope effectively with their environment (Abdulkareem, 2000). Its primary
purpose is to foster and promote the fullest individual self-realization for all
people. Achieving this goal requires understanding of commitment to the
proposition that education is a primary instrument for social and economic
advancement of human welfare (Verma, 2000). The world is becoming more and more
competitive and quality of performance has become the key factor for personal
progress. Parents desire that their children climb the ladder of academic
performance to as high a level as possible. This desire for a high level of
performance puts a lot of pressure on students, teachers, and schools and in
general, the education system itself. It appears as if the whole system of
education revolves round the academic performance of students, though various
other outcomes are also expected from the system. Thus, a lot of time and effort
of the schools are used in helping students to achieve better in their
scholastic endeavours. The importance of scholastic and academic performance
has raised important questions for educational researchers (Ramaswamy, 2000).
Jimoh (2000), also described education as the totality of the experiences
made available to individuals in formal or informal situations, to make them
develop a rounded personality and to be useful to themselves and the society at
large. From the knowledge so far, it can be concluded that education,
inculcates the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals
to cope effectively with their environment. Considering the numerous advantages
that are derived from education, no amount of resources expended on it can be described
as too much. For that matter, a person’s education is closely linked to life
chances, income level and well-being (Battle & Lewis, 2002). Therefore, it
is important to have a clear understanding of what benefits or hinders one’s
educational attainment. Parents and
guardians send their children to school to acquire relevant educational skills,
knowledge and good morals so as to be useful to themselves and the society.
1.1 Statement of
the Problem
This research problem emanated as a result of the increasing nature of poor
academic performance among senior secondary school students in Geography, especially
in external examinations like JAMB and SSCE. Many educationists tend to shift
the blame on the teaching methodology adopted by teachers and lack of funds
from the government to provide quality textbooks. And these might not be the
main reasons why students perform poorly in examinations. However, reports on
the high rate of poor academic performance in senior secondary schools in the
subject of Geography are of great concern to many Nigerians. Observations and
interactions with students indicate that most senior secondary school students
studying Geography have poor study habits which might lead to poor academic
performance.
1.2 Purpose of
the Study
This study is to investigate the influence of study habits on the academic
performance of Geography students in mainland local government area of Lagos
State.
1.3 Significance of the Study
This research is intended to add to the
existing information on the influence of study habits on academic performance
of senior secondary school students. The results of this study could be of
significance to students, teachers, parents, school counsellors, policy makers
and the government in assisting and encouraging students to realize the
importance of study habits on their academic performance. Students will benefit
more from the findings of this study as they will be offered the necessary
assistance as and how to develop good study habits which will help to improve
upon their academic performance. Students will also
be given information on how study habits affect their academic performances and
the results of this study will make them aware of the common study habits among
other co-students.
Also this could serve as a guide to teachers and school counsellors who
always have the desire to see their students perform well by giving them the
right techniques of developing study habits. It will again help teachers in understanding better the diversity of learning
in students and as such, develop more effective methodologies in teaching their
subject matter for better understanding of students.
Furthermore, parents on the other hand will be accorded the opportunity to
play their roles in providing motivation and rewards to their children to
encourage the formation and maintenance of good study habits at the family
level. Also, the study will help the government to provide the needed learning
materials and facilities to motivate students to enhance the development of
good study habits.
Finally, the study will serve as a guide and resource document to policy
makers and stakeholders in developing curriculum materials and text books,
taking into consideration students’ needs and aspirations as they study to pass
their examinations both at the secondary and tertiary levels.
1.4 Research
Questions
The following research questions were raised and answered in the course of
this study:
i.
Will poor
attendance have any significant effect on academic performance of geography students in selected secondary
schools in Mainland Local Government
Area of Lagos state?
ii.
Will poor
note taking skills have any significant effect on academic performance of geography students in
selected secondary schools in Mainland Local
Government Area of Lagos state?
iii.
Will poor
time management skills have any significant effect on academic performance of geography students in selected
secondary schools in Mainland Local
Government Area of Lagos state?
iv.
Will failure
to read instructions have any significant effect on academic performance of geography students in
selected secondary schools in Mainland Local
Government Area of Lagos state?
v.
Will over
reliance on other students have any significant effect on academic performance of geography students in
selected secondary schools in Mainland Local
Government Area of Lagos state?
1.5 Limitation of the Study
The researcher encountered problems during the course of carrying out this
research; such problems were as a result of selected respondents who refused to
accept and participate and also encountered difficulty in acquiring relevant
materials and items. The attitude of selected subjects to fill the
questionnaire to time so as not to delay the result of the research also posed
a problem. However, the researcher appealed to the participants through
persuasive means.
1.6 Scope/Delimitation of the Study
this study was
delimited to the following:
- Survey Research Design
- Use of questionnaire, simple frequency counts of percentage was used in
the presentation of demographic data while the inferential statistics of
Chi-Square (x2) was used in testing the stated hypotheses at
0.05 level of significance.
- 200 out of 32,899 senior secondary school students served as sample for
this study
- 5 out of 43 senior secondary schools in Mainland Local Government area
of Lagos state provided sample for this study
Operational
Definition of Terms
Academic Performance: It is the
outcome of education the extent to
which a student has achieved his/her educational goals.
Class
Attendance: refers to the students or number of students
that are present
Note taking Skill: refers to the process or art of recording
information that has originated from a source for the purposes of disseminating
that information at a later time. Usually, note taking will occur during
discussions where a teacher or lecturer is dictating notes for a particular
topic or during a presentation where the the audience will note down
information being presented.
Study habit: An action or pattern of learning that is repeated so often that it becomes
typical of somebody
Time
Management Skill: refers to the act or process of planning and
exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.
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