ABSTRACT
This study
investigated self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem as predictors of
academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school students in
Edo state. The relationship and predictiveness of self-concept, self-efficacy
and self-esteem to academic performance was determined. The study sample consisted
of 3,639 students who were randomly sampled from the population of 36,615
students in junior public secondary schools in Edo state. Adapted Piers-Harris
Children’s Self-Concept Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale and the
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used to collect data. To guide the study, four
research questions and four hypotheses were raised. Data collected were
analyzed using correlations and multiple regression statistical techniques. The
findings revealed that self-concept and self-efficacy were positively and
significantly related to academic performance in mathematics while self-esteem
showed a low significant correlation to academic performance in mathematics.
The three independent variables combined however showed a significant
relationship to academic performance in mathematics. Based on these findings,it
is recommended, among others, that students should be guided to develop
positive self-construct. Teachers, school managements, guidance and counselling
psychologists should use appropriate psychological interventions to enhance the
self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem of junior secondary school
students.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTIONBackground to the Study
In any educational system, the learners are
the focal point. The behaviour, and in fact, the entire personality of the
individual learner plays a major role in the whole system. It is very
important, therefore, to understand the learners’ needs, share their visions,
their hopes and aspirations, and their fears so as to help them in their
journey of building a worthy and an enduring life (Zahra, 2010). The targeted
goal of all educational programmes is to ensure that the learners (students)
achieve a desired outcome. Emphasis is always placed on performance and of
sound scholarship. The main duty of the school system therefore is to work
towards achieving academic excellence by the students. One major variable that
measures an individual’s success or failure in school activities is academic
performance (Dramanu & Balarabe, 2011).
Academic
performance is the outcome of a course of study to show that learning has taken
place. Academic performance is the chief variable that measures an individual’s
success or failure in school activities or in academic processes. Academic
performance according to Cambridge University, Reporter (2003) is frequently
defined in terms of examination performance. It tells how well a student is
doing in the subjects or skills being learned. The descriptive assessment
information will usually be translated through grading system such as Grade
Point Average (GPA). Academic performance is measured by the test or
examination results and is one of the main features in a school system.
Academic performance
refers to how well or how badly a student is doing in the various subjects when
his ability or knowledge in his course of study is tested. Academic
performance ought to reveal how much a learner knows from the teacher or
instructor. Nowadays however, academic performance is not what it should be as
it has over the years taken downward turn which has resulted to
falling/dwindling standard of academic performance in Nigeria. The problem of
poor academic performance stems from the fact that many students have no
self-confidence as well as self-beliefs. For example, the fear of mathematics
is a learned behaviour of self-defeat. The poor performance in mathematics
reveals the way that students react to it in their minds. Mathematics as a
subject sends out such a negative feelings, which induces fear that no other
subject does. Usually, this begins in early childhood due to negative or
unpleasant experiences in the subject or it’s teacher.
The level
of students’ academic performance in mathematics in Edo State would be regarded
as low. From observation, the level of participation in academic exercise, the
passion that was suppose to be the hallmark of students’ academic pursuit seem
to have lost it’s heat. One of the reasons for this is the students’ lack of
the knowledge of self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem. A learner has to
be involved with keen interest mind, body and soul for knowledge to take place.
Hence, an individual can only perform well academically when his mind, his
“self”- is wholly involved. Well meaning educationists have expressed great
concern on the falling or dwindling standard of education in Nigeria. This
means academic performance, which should be the centre of educational process,
is no longer what it should be. Among the numbers of reasons for the poor
academic performance is lack of interest on the part of the students ( Aluede,
Okhiku & Udele, 2009).
Every
educational process or program is expected to ensure that the students achieve
a satisfactory outcome (Onyeizugbo 2010). Various variables (such as
self-awareness, self-concept, self-efficacy, locus of control, self-esteem) are
known to influence academic performance (Kaunda, 2010; Zahra, 2010; Redmond,
2013). These variables are therefore of great importance to educational
researchers and other related disciplines.
Currently, the focus of some educational researchers is on the student’s
sense of self as a major component as well as a major determinant of academic
performance.
Many
of the successes and/or failures that people experience in many areas of life
are closely related to the ways that they have learned to view themselves and
their relationships with others. For example, an individual performs better in
any field if he believes in himself (self-concept), if he believes in his
ability to perform a specific task (self-efficacy), and believes he is worthy
of such task (self-esteem). This can possibly apply to school setting as
well. It is likely that a student who
has a high self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem will perform better in
academics than his counterpart with low self-concept, low self-efficacy and low
self-esteem. Since these three psychological variables have been known to
influence performance, how much can academic performance depend on them?
Although there are obviously other factors that can, and do affect the
performance of students academically, many psychologists and educationists
believe that these psychological constructs under study, if properly harnessed,
will help to turn things around for students.
Some
theorists (for example Erikson, Bandura) have posited that identity development
is a lifelong process that involves the interaction of psychological,
interpersonal, and socio-cultural factors (Bandura, 1999; Miller. 2002). Given
that self-perceptions tend to be more amenable to change in children and
adolescents, it may be beneficial to examine these beliefs in primary and
junior secondary school students in order to amend inaccurate and potentially
harmful perceptions (Bandura 1999). It is difficult to find ways of helping
students to do better in school without also exploring ways of helping them
feel better about themselves as learners. At the same time it is almost
impossible to help students improve their self-concept as well as their
internal locus of control without assisting them in finding ways to improve
their school performance (Hamachek, 1995; Zahra, 2010)
In Nigeria, the policy that
established the junior secondary school came into being in May 2004 as part of
the Universal Basic Education in the 6-3-3-4 system. At present, in Nigeria,
junior secondary school education is free and compulsory for all children, from
the primary school level to the junior secondary school three (JSS111).
A child goes through the secondary
school in his or her formative years of life. From experience, this is the most
important and appropriate time to inculcate discipline and the importance of
hard work in the children. The axiom of “you can do it, if you put more efforts”
(reinforcement) encourages them a lot. Considering the fact that the
educational sector is set up for the student for the sake of his future and the
future of the nation, attention has to be drawn to his all round personality
development especially his “SELF” and his control. His self- concept, self-
awareness, self- assessment, self- esteem, self- determination, self- efficacy,
locus of control and so on have to be explored by him with the help of the
parents, teachers, psychologists and guidance counselors. The student’s
perceptions and beliefs about himself help a great deal in seeing himself as
one capable of thinking and not just a receptor to environmental force.
Self-confidence naturally leads to self-realisation, good performance and
successful achievement. The importance of self-concept, self-efficacy and
self-esteem have to do with a special kind of mental attitude that helps the
individual to believe in himself and release an inner power. According to Shinn
(1995), Napoleon Hill (1977) made a famous philosophical statement that ‘what
the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve’. It is like developing a
creative faith in oneself –a faith that works, that is justified.
Self-concept is refered to as the
image or perceptions that students hold about themselves; which include
feelings, attitudes and knowledge about their abilities, skills and acceptance.
The perception that every student has of himself between his self-concept and
academic demands is important for learning outcomes. Self-concept refers to the
set of perceptions or reference points that the subject has about himself. This
connotes the set of characteristics, attributes, qualities and deficiencies,
capacities and limits, values and relationships that the subject knows to be
descriptive of himself and which he perceives as data concerning his identity.
It is a set of knowledge and attitude that we have about ourselves, the
perception that the individual assigns to himself and characteristics or
attributes that we use to describe ourselves. It is understood to be
fundamentally a descriptive assessment (Sanchez & Roda, 2007).
Self-concept
is also a set of beliefs about the self and the relationships between these
beliefs that may mediate behaviour in certain situations. It is regarded as a
key factor in the integration of personality in motivating behaviour and
achieving academic performance. If a student develops a strong academic
self-concept, such student looks inwards and then performs excellently in any
academic challenge. Self-concept, however, may be affected directly or
indirectly by variables such as gender, age and academic level or class of
study.
Self-efficacy is another construct
which roughly corresponds with a person’s belief in his own competence. It
refers to the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to
attain a certain set of goals. In academic setting, self-efficacy refers to a
student’s belief that he can successfully enter into and complete a course of
study. It is an individual’s confidence in his ability to organize, execute,
and regulate performance in order to solve a problem or accomplish a task at a
designated level of skill and ability. It deals with the belief system of the
student; that he is capable of entering into an academic task and accomplish
the course outcome (Redmond, 2013). It therefore refers to a person’s
conviction that he can successfully achieve at a designated level in a specific
academic subject area. The student believes that he has the competence needed
in any academic exercise like completing assignments, reading hard and passing
the course examinations and even meeting the requirements for going or moving
to higher levels.
Self-esteem is an opinion of what
value or worth an individual places on himself (Beck, 2008). The importance of
self-esteem lies in the fact that it concerns us ourselves; the way we are, the
way we feel and the sense of our personal value or personal worth. A student
with a high self-esteem views himself worthy enough to tackle any academic
challenge while the one with low self-esteem is likely to have a self-defeating
attitude thereby refraining from academic challenges.
Thus, self-perception seems to have a
lot of influence on every activity of an individual including academic
performance in mathematics. The study and understanding of these
self-constructs (that is, self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem) under discussion bring this out in
its clear terms. The way we view ourselves and feel about ourselves have a
profound effect on what we do and how we live our lives. Self-concept,
self-efficacy and self-esteem are of vital importance in directing an
individual’s life towards a more productive and happy one. The premise of this
study is that student’s self-perception and beliefs in his self-concept,
self-efficacy and self-esteem regarding academic competency could have
important implication for improving students’ performance (Aldridge &
Fresser, 2008). It is therefore important to investigate the relationship
between self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem and academic performance in
mathematics in order to rescue those students who may have fallen victims of
their own negative self-beliefs.
Students’
academic behaviours are believed to be a function of the beliefs that they hold
about themselves and their academic potentialities. Students with low
self-beliefs seem to experience great adjustment problems in school. Increasing
occurrences of low academic performance seem to point to lack of
self-confidence, fear and inferiority complex. Students’ difficulties,
therefore, in basic academic skills are most often directly related to their
beliefs – that they cannot read, write, handle numbers, solve Mathematics
problems or think well, that they cannot learn – even when such things are not
objectively true. This explains why many students have difficulties in school
not because they are incapable of performing successfully in their academics
but because they believe that they cannot perform successfully. These problems
become a serious concern for students who may have learned to see themselves as
incapable of learning or of handling academic work, as well as their teachers,
parents, educational institutions and even the government.
Statement
of the Problem
A critical review of the state of
education in Nigeria today reveals the need for serious and urgent reforms
especially in the area of academic performance in mathematics. We live in a society where a
student has to struggle between his interests in relation to parents and
parental background, parental pressure and expectations as well as peers and
societal expectations. This could bring about fear, anxiety, psychological
trauma, physical and mental breakdown. Therefore, the child either finds a way
of cheating or drops out of school completely. In a bid to provide solution to
these crimes, the study of self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem are
considered to be of great importance. Psychologists have proven that negative
thoughts destroy morale, creativity and zest for living as well as limit one’s
potentials for development. For no one but you can make you to believe in
yourself. Belief in one’s self is the very basic of a successful academic life.
In Nigeria,
some principles have been put in place in the educational sector to enhance
performance of students. For example, some subjects have recently been
introduced and made compulsory (Civics, Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), and Marketing) to help students know their rights and improve
in their studies. But the students’ self-beliefs, appears to be largely
ignored. If solutions to poor academic performance are to be found, the student
as a person, with his self-regulating system has to be taken very seriously.
Students’ self-perceptions of their capabilities form an important part of
their adjustment and performance in school. Self-concept, self-efficacy and
self-esteem play a very significant role in directing students’ efforts toward
their academic work (Kauder, 2009).
Since
performance in examination determines how well students capture the essence of
their educational pursuit, they are always worried about its outcome. Factors
such as fear of failure, unpleasant experiences, laziness, bad company coupled
with lack of good learning environment, shortage of qualified and dedicated
teachers, poor infrastructure and poverty, cause this worry on the students
since these lead to failure. Consequently, poor academic performance could lead
to social vices such as cultism, vandalism, drug abuse, child trafficking and
others, which are prevalent among Nigerian youths. This will make parents,
teachers and friends to often criticize them. The individual student always
demonstrates no satisfaction, unhappiness, easily displeased and full of
self-pity. These negative and self-defeating beliefs, if not exposed, dealt
with and conquered at the junior secondary school level can always lead to
failure. The only remedy for the student is to develop positive academic
self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem.
These
self-constructs refer to specific beliefs, attitudes, feelings and perceptions
about the students’ intellectual and/or academic abilities. Students’ academic
behaviours are believed to be a function of the beliefs that they have learnt
to hold about themselves and their academic potentialities. Once these beliefs
are formed, they affect the students’ academic performance through their
influence on students’ choice of activities, the amount of efforts applied, the
level of persistence, and the kind of meta-cognitive learning strategies
involved (Williams & Williams, 2010).
Guay,
Ratelle, Soy and Litalien (2010) in a study indicated that students who
perceived themselves as academically competent obtained higher grades because
their academic self-concept led them to be more autonomously motivated at
school. In contrast, students with negative perceptions about their academic
capabilities, according to Williams and Williams (2010), shy away from academic
tasks because (a) they view academic tasks as personal threats, (b) have low
aspirations and weak commitments to task-related goals and (c) dwell on their
personal deficiencies and adverse outcomes. It therefore appeared that there is
a positive and significant relationship between self-construct and academic
performance in
mathematics and that change in one seemed to be associated with change
in the other.
However, some other studies
(Afuwape, 2011, Trusty, Watts and House, 1996), found negative or low
relationship between these self-beliefs and academic performance. Therefore, it
appears that the situation regarding the relationship between self-concept,
self-efficacy and self-esteem and academic performance in mathematics is not
quite clear. There is need for further investigation. This gap needs to be
filled.
Most of the
studies known to the researcher on the relationship among self-concept,
self-efficacy, self-esteem and academic performance that were reviewed were
carried out in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Few studies on these variables
have been reported in Nigeria. This again is another important gap, which this
study intends to fill. The study, therefore, examines the relationship between
self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem and academic performance in mathematics among
junior secondary school students in Edo State, Nigeria.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose
of this study was to examine the relationship among self-concept,
self-efficacy, self-esteem and academic performance in mathematics.
Specifically,
the objectives are:
1.
to determine the relationship between self-concept and
academic performance in
mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state;
2.
to determine the relationship between self-efficacy
and academic performance in
mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state;
3.
to determine the relationship between self-esteem and
academic performance in
mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state;
4.
to determine
the predictiveness of self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem to academic
performance in
mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state.
Research Questions
To guide this study, five research questions were
raised.
1. Is there any
relationship between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics of
students in junior secondary school students in Edo State?
2. Is there any
relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance in mathematics of
students in junior secondary school in Edo State?
3. Is there any
relationship between self-esteem and academic performance in mathematics of
students in junior secondary school in Edo State?
4. Do
self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem predict academic performance in mathematics among
students in junior secondary schools in Edo State?
Hypotheses
1. There is no significant difference
between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school
students in Edo State?
2. There is no significant difference between
self-efficacy and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school
students in Edo State?
- There is no significant difference between
self-esteem and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school
students in Edo State?
- Self-concept, self-efficacy, and
self-esteem do not significantly predict academic performance in mathematics among
junior secondary school students in Edo State?
Significance of the Study
This study sought to find out from
our own setting, the relationship between these self-regulating constructs
(self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem) and academic performance in mathematics especially
among junior secondary school students in Edo State. Therefore, the results may
generate useful information, knowledge and understanding of self-concept,
self-efficacy and self-esteem as well as their relationships with academic
performance in
mathematics. The findings will be beneficial to students, psychologists,
counsellors, educators/teachers, parents and even the society at large.
This study will help secondary school
students develop self-consciousness to look inward for performance and
excellence that could make teaching/learning situation effective, interesting
and result oriented. It will help them develop independent thinking ability and
to look inwards for solutions to academic problems. If they discover that they
can tap from their innate potentials and that they can pass examinations
without stress, study to them will be fun. Understanding of this study will
make students admit psychological problems, if need be, and be able to ask for
help.
Since this
study was based on scientific research, it will give helpful information to
psychologists and counselling consultants as well as educational planners and
developers. These specialists could consider self-beliefs while planning
essential skills, such as problem solving so as to help students boost their
self-confidence and belief; thereby helping them to succeed in their studies,
jobs and future relationships. With the help of this study, educators can also
help students to enhance their self-beliefs by the use of peer model, planning
relevant and affordable challenging tasks and teaching specific learning
strategies.
The study
will be of great benefit by providing useful information to parents who are
always anxious about their children’s examination outcome and academic
progress. Apart from school fees, enrolment fees and others, it perhaps falls
on some of them to also pay for examination malpractices. The result of this study
is likely to help parents to lead and direct their children on a better way of
academic performance by helping to enhance self confidence (self-efficacy) in
them at home.
The
teachers will also benefit from the findings of this study since their task of
teaching will be made easier and better. If students will pay undivided
attention to instructions they can change their world. Teachers will enjoy
seeing their students performing well and achieving academic success through
self-learning. The results of the study are likely to increase the awareness of
educators and counselors on ways of improving student’s academic performance in mathematics.
The
society at large will benefit from this study because if students can change
their thoughts, they will change their ways of life, which will invariably lead
to an orderly society. People with high self-beliefs are more mutually
independent and are likely to function more successfully in the society.
Improved self-image can help students’ adjustment to do well in many diverse
situations. The idea can equally be extended to other areas of life outside
academics. It will encourage a positive change of attitude for better
performance.
Finally it
will contribute to existing body of literature in this area of study. The
result of this study is likely to be helpful for future study to extend to new
scheme and find other factors that may be related to students’ self-constructs
and academic performance. The outcome is likely to contribute to understanding
the importance of self-concept, self-efficacy and self-esteem among students in
their school work.
Scope of the Study
The study was carried out among all students of junior public secondary
schools in Edo State. Class three of the Junior Secondary School was used to
represent them. JSS III was purposely sampled. The age range of these students
varied from eleven to sixteen (11-16) years. Nevertheless, some of the students
may have been slightly older or younger than this age range, but were included
in the study because they were enlisted and enrolled into J.S.S. III that year
and therefore met the inclusion criteria.
Specifically, it
concentrated on three self-constructs - self-concept, self-efficacy, and
self-esteem. Self-concept covers many areas of human functioning. Although, one
can posses a general view about oneself, self-conceptions differ across
differing domain of functionings. This study covered areas such as
intellectual, or educational aspect that is referred to as academic
self-concept. In this study, areas like social self-concept, physical
self-concept and emotional self-concept are not covered. The reasons being that
these other areas are not directly related to academic performance in mathematics.
Self-efficacy covers many areas of
human functioning too. The study concentrated on academic self-efficacy, which
centers on students’ thinking and beliefs; whether they are optimistic or
pessimistic in their ability (I can do it) to learn and solve problems. Areas like physical self-efficacy, social
self-efficacy and emotional self-efficacy are not covered. These areas are not
also directly related to academic performance in mathematics.
In this study, self-esteem covered the students’ judgment of their
self-worth, especially educationally and intellectually (academic
self-esteem). Measurement of students’
academic performance was limited to performance in Mathematics.
Limitations
of the Study
The focus of this
study is on self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem as correlates of
academic performance. The limitations of the study included: First, only public
junior secondary schools in Edo State were used in the study while private
secondary schools were excluded. This posed an obvious limitation, as the
result of the study may not be generalized to include private school students.
Secondly, the exclusion of all other classes was a serious limitation, as only
JSS3 students were used in the study. Therefore, although the sample size of
this study was relatively large, it still did not by any means represent the
entire students in the state. JSS 1 and JSS 11 as well as the senior secondary
school classes were omitted. The result will not likely be the same if all
categories of secondary school students were used. Thirdly, the use of only one
subject – Mathematics – and the exclusion of all other subjects, as the
measurement of students’ academic performance was another limitation. A note of
caution is therefore, needed to be exercised when generalizing the findings of
the study. The results of the study may not be generalized to include JSS1,
JSS11 and students of senior secondary schools as well as students’
performances in subjects other than Mathematics.
Operational Definition of Terms
1.
Self-concept: an individual’s self-image. What an
individual imagines himself to be as a Mathematics student. The perception an
individual has of himself/herself and what such individual thinks of himself to
be as a learner or as a student of Mathematics
2.
Self-efficacy: this refers to an individual learner’s
belief of the individual’s ability to perform that which he believes he can do.
Here, it refers to a student’s belief of his or her ability to perform
academically and intellectually especially in Mathematics.
3.
Self-esteem: student’s disposition, which represents
his/her judgements of his/her own worthiness in performing academic and
Mathematical tasks in educational setting.
4.
Academic performance: a sub-set of overall academic
achievement; how well a student does in his/her studies or learning activities
from the instructions received from teachers or instructors. Actual academic
performance which refers to numerical grades score on report card issued at the
end of a period of instruction in various academic subjects, based on a grading
scale of 100 points.
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