CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Socio psychological factors like attitude, self-efficacy and social interaction of students plays a great role in student’s academic performance and are essential for the delivery of high quality teaching and learning process. They remain the key determinant of student academic performance (Fishbein, 1967; Bandura, 1986 & Brophy, 2001). There is also general belief that human behavior and actions are influenced by attitudes whereby attitudes are seen as the cause and behavior as the effect (Chepchieng, 2004). This could be attributed to the fact that lecturers contact with a students in or out of the classroom is very crucial in student’s motivation and involvement in all facets of life. Whereas negative socio psychological factors distort teaching and learning techniques, positive socio psychological factors facilitate academic performance positively and outright expression of both lecturer and student intelligence because Universities or Colleges have no any value without students or lecturers as they are the greatest paramount quality for any educational institution. The development of any society is directly connected with students’ academic performance (Mushtaq et al., 2012). Student academic performance plays a crucial role in bringing qualitative graduates who will move a country to the right path in the near future (Ali et al., 2009). And poor student academic performance is not only frustrating the students and parents, its effects are equally grave on the society in terms of dearth of manpower in all spheres of the economy and politics (Aremu & Sokan 2003). Previous studies on the subject on students’ academic performance indicated that there exist several factors that influence students’ academic performance, but students’ and lecturers’ attitudes, students’ academic self-efficacy and students-lecturers’ interaction remained the key determinant of academic performance (Maina, 2012; Li, 2012; Tenaw, 2013; Adeyemo, 2007; Fan, 2012 and Swan 2002). According to Adunola (2011) and Ganyaupfu (2013), lecturing is a collaborative process that involve interaction between students’ and the lecturers that at the end brings about change in the students behavior. But, socio psychological factors in teaching and learning process is a multidimensional concept that measures various interrelated aspect of learning in educational system which include students’ attitudes towards lecturer, students’ academic self-efficacy and student-lecturer interaction. Therefore, consistent evaluation of the aforementioned socio psychological factors is very crucial most especially among students’ of College of education in Nigeria which are potential teachers of primary and junior secondary schools since in practice, the factors are directly linked with students’ academic performance (Maina, 2012; Tenaw, 2013 and Fan 2012).
1.2. Statement of the general problem
A lot of socio psychological constructs influence students’ academic performance. It is therefore not surprising for Mushtaq et al, (2012) to stated that, academic performance is affected either by social, psychological, economic, environmental and personal factors in which the factors have a powerful influence on academic achievement of students’ as either positive or negative, but they vary from one society to another. Hence, the present study examined the factors on one of the College of education in order to bridge the gap in the existing literature particularly in Nigerian context and world at large considering the fact that the factors vary from one institution to another.
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
The main aim of the study is to examine the influence of socio psychological factors on academic performance of junior secondary students. Other specific objectives of the research are;
1. To examine the level of effectiveness of teachers in teaching in junior secondary schools in Jos.
2. To determine the socio psychological causes of poor performance of students in in Jos local government area.
3. To evaluate the influence of socio psychological factors on the academic performance of junior secondary students.
4. To examine the influence of teachers in the academic performance of students in junior secondary schools in Jos.
5. To recommend ways of improving students academic performance in Nigeria.
1.3. Research Questions
1. What is the level of effectiveness of teachers in teaching in junior secondary schools in Jos?
2. What are the socio psychological causes of poor performance of students in in Jos local government area?
3. What is the influence of socio psychological factors on the academic performance of junior secondary students?
4. What is the influence of teachers in the academic performance of students in junior secondary schools in Jos?
5. What are the ways of improving students academic performance in Nigeria?
1.4. Research Hypotheses
H0: Socio psychological factors do not influence students academic performance of students
H1: Socio psychological factors do not influence students academic performance of students
1.5. Significance of the study
The study would be immense importance to the development of basic science in the educational curriculum of junior secondary schools as it would proffer solutions to the poor academic performance of students in public examinations in Jos local government area. The study would also be of importance to researchers, scholars and students who are interested in making further studies on the subject matter.
1.6. Scope of the study
This work is restricted to the psychometric study of junior secondary students’ academic performance in basic science teacher made test and basic education certificate examination using Jos local government area of Plateau state as a case study
1.7. Limitation of the study
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
1.8. Definition of term
PSYCHOLOGY:the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context.
SCIENCE:the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
TEST:a critical examination, observation, or evaluation
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