Psychological Factors and Secondary School’s Students Academic Performance in Mathematics

This study was designed to predict students’ academic performance in mathematics at the thinking level from students’ psychological factors(Self-concept, test anxiety, interest in schooling, attitude towards mathematics, motivation and locus of control) and performance at the lower cognitive levels(knowledge and understanding). The survey made use of simple random sampling in selecting three hundred (300) Senior Secondary Two (S.S.2) students from six secondary schools in Calabar Metropolis of Cross River State, Nigeria. The students responded to two valid instruments: Students’ psychological variables rating scale; and Mathematics achievement test. The students’ psychological variables rating scale comprised of 40 questions which measured six variables. While the mathematics tests consisted of 60 questions which measured students’ performance at three cognitive levels. Data analysis involved the use of multiple regression analysis. Results showed that students’ psychological factors and students’ achievement at knowledge and understanding levels are significant joint predictors of senior secondary students’ performance in mathematics at the thinking level, and that such prediction could be done using the equation: Students’ performance in mathematics(thinking)= 1.859 + 0.01(interest) + 0.021(attitude) – 0.041(Motivation) – 0.044(Self-concept) + 0.072(Test anxiety) – 0.041(Locus of control) +0.186( Knowledge) + 0.296 Understanding. It was observed that students’ performance at the understanding level is the strongest predictor of their performance at the thinking level followed by performance at the knowledge level. It is concluded that certain factors are responsible for students’ performance in mathematics. It is therefore recommended that teachers should provide enabling environment for sustaining lower cognitive abilities, which are capable of improving mathematics teaching and learning in our secondary schools. I. Background to the study The problem of underachievement in mathematics among students, despite the fact that it is one of the core subjects recommended in the National Policy on Education has been a growing cause of concern amongst parents, teachers, researchers and the entire society (Umoinyang, 1999). From investigations, most secondary schools record the same pattern of poor mathematics performances year in, year out. The prediction of success or failure in mathematics is quite often based on cognitive variables usually assessed on Wechsler’s (1996) intelligence scale. In an attempt to improve such predictions, there has been an upsurge of interest within the past few years on non-cognitive variables such as self-efficacy, self-concept, emotion, locus of control, interest, anxiety, selfesteem, self-identity but to mention a few. Researches have shown that the behavior of students especially in relation to the sciences, generally and mathematics in particular is greatly influenced by certain psychological or non-cognitive factors. For example, Afemike (1985) found out that self-concept, attitude towards mathematics, sex-stereotyping, confidence, motivation and problem solving habit are all related to students’ achievement. Other psychological factors which influence the performance of secondary school students in mathematics include self concept, locus of control, study habit, career plan / aspiration, test anxiety, attitude towards mathematics, motivation, interest in schooling (Umoinyang, 1999). Olantunde (2010) showed in a research conducted on students’ selfconcept and Mathematics achievement that, students who have positive self-concept of themselves performed well in mathematics. The child who views himself and his abilities positively is the one who can maximally benefit and achieve good results in school learning experiences. Several investigations have also revealed that the attitude of the student to any particular subject may determine his/her performance in that subject. For instance, in a comparative study of factors influencing Mathematics achievement, Burstein (1992) found that there is a direct link between students’ attitude towards Mathematics and their outcomes. Hence, students who have a poor attitude towards mathematics will show a high degree of inconsistency in overt action. Previous researches have also revealed that test anxiety has a debilitating effect on academic achievement of students (Julkunen, 1992; Ford, 1995; Schonwetter, 1995; Zanakis and Valenzi, 1997). Some of these studies have associated high test anxiety with low achievement. Psychological Factors And Secondary School’s Students Academic Performance In Mathematics DOI: 10.9790/7388-0702010613 www.iosrjournals. org 7 | Page Albero, Brown, Eliason and Wind (1997) found that children with high test anxiety had significantly lower scores. Similarly, Schonwetter (1995) found that test anxiety yielded differences in student learning outcomes and that high testanxious students were unable to benefit directly from organized instruction though organized instruction did increase students’ motivation to attend future classes. Achievement motivation is another important factor in prediction of students’ performances. Boggiano (1992) revealed that achievement motivation positively influenced academic performance. Highly motivated students performed better academically than lowly motivated students (Tella 2007) and females are highly motivated compared to their male counterparts (Sikwari 2014). The influence of achievement goals may also be moderated by the extent to which students attribute success or failure to internal or external factors, i.e., factors under or not under their control. This attribution, called locus of control, has been extensively investigated using Rotter’s (1966) scale that identifies respondents as either “internals” or “externals. ” Internals believe that events primarily result from their own behavior. For example, success on an examination is attributable by internals to their effort. Externals believe that events primarily are the result of chance or someone else’s actions. In an academic context, an external would likely consider failure on an examination to be the result of an unfair test (teacher’s fault, for example). By itself, locus of control can have important implications. Gifford et al. (2006), for instance, find that college freshmen who were identified as internals obtained significantly higher GPAs and Carden et al. (2004) found that internals showed significantly lower academic procrastination, debilitating test anxiety, and reported higher academic achievement than externals. These and many other reasons emphasized the need to bring into focus the present study which is designed to consider each of the following psychological factors and examine their relationship with academic achievement in mathematics: Self-concept, test anxiety, interest in schooling, attitude towards mathematics, motivation and locus of control since a better understanding of the influences of psychological variables on mathematics achievement would be of considerable help in developing and enhancing a more effective method for teaching mathematics at various levels. This in turn will enhance achievement in the subject, which is our ultimate goal. Interest in Schooling and academic achievement: The past years have witnessed the evolution of research pertaining to interest. Several studies concerned with the effect of interest factors on academic achievement in secondary schools have yielded positive result. Adeyemo (2005) posits that the importance of interest in whatever a person does cannot be underestimated. He asserts that when it comes to making choice, interest is of considerable importance. Previous studies of Benton and Associates (1995) found out that a significant interaction existed between interest and academic achievement. Rolflus and Ackerman's (1996) study findings also posited that there is a positive correlation between mathematics knowledge and interest. Koller et al. (2001) argued that the role of interest is particularly relevant in mathematics because it is perceived as a very difficult subject in which motivational factors are very important for enhancing academic achievement. Findings on empirical relations between interest, learning and achievement have also indicated that interest-based motivation has favourable effects on both the process and the outcome of learning (Schiefele, 1991, 1996; Hidi and Reninger, 1992; Krap, 1998). Similarly, Tella (2003) and Adeyemo (2005) report on significant prediction of academic achievement by interest in schooling. Odinko and Adeyemo (1999) found that interest in schooling together with other socio-psychological factors are good predictors of students’ learning outcome and attitude to English language. Attitude to mathematics and academic achievement: Literature refers to attitude as a learned predisposition or tendency of an individual to respond positively or negatively to some object, situation, concept or another person. This positive or negative feeling is of moderate intensity and reasonable stability; sometimes it is especially resistant to change. In the variety of definitions of attitudes towards Mathematics (ATM) proposed in research studies, two main categories can be identified. Using a simple definition, ATM is just a positive or negative emotional disposition towards Mathematics (Mc Leod, 1994). Using a multidimensional definition, ATM comprises three components: an emotional response to Mathematics, positive or negative, a conception about Mathematics, and a behavioral tendency with regard to Mathematics (Hart, 1989). Current efforts in Mathematics education reform are driven by the belief that all students can learn. Motivation needs have led researchers to study the relationship between ATM and achievement. To assess the magnitude of this relationship, Ma and Kishor (1997) conducted a meta-analysis on 113 primary studies. They