INFLUENCE
OF GENDER AND SCHOOL LOCATION ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL
MATHEMATICS IN OGBIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
BY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Personality is something everybody knows that it
exists, but nobody knows that what it is (Schneewind and Ruppert, 1998). It is certainly
true that it is difficult to put human personality which Goethe (1970) called
the greatest happiness for children of this earth into scientific
terms.Personality determines a set of important characteristics and that how
people interact with others. Human personality is the combination of a number
of traits.
Personality can be measured as a set of items
usually questions about behaviour and feelings to which the subjects have to
respond by agreeing or disagreeing with that question or statements. (Kline,
1993).In 1930 personality psychology became an identifiable discipline in
social sciences. During that time many separate lines of inquiry came together
for the field generated by Allport (1937), Murry(1938) and Lewin(1935).Mary
Laurence F. Fortu (n.d) described the following as the components of
personality which are habits, attitudes, interests, values, principles and mental
capacity or intelligence.
Academic performance is a major issue among
students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and the community at large.
Attempts have been made by researchers to unravel the complexities surrounding
academic performance. Psychologists have put forward a lot of reasons why these
disparities in performance exist. A lot of attention had been paid to external
factors such as type of school, teaching methods, school location,
instructional materials, teachers experience, and so on (WAEC, 2005). Many
spend lots of money in order to secure good schools either for their children
or themselves and those who can afford it even invest on education abroad as
they believe this will enhance performance, and which in turn gives an added
advantage in terms of securing gainful employment. Opinions vary as to why some
students excel academically while others appear to be underachievers. Many
psychologists have consistently attempted to identify the major predictors of
individual academic performance. Factors such as intelligence, self concept,
gender, study habit, maturation, home background, amongst others, just to mention
a few, have been extensively explored as being responsible for academic performance.
Other factors that have been researched into in the past include: child rearing
patterns, peer group influence, socio-economic background and learning
environment. Another major factor that is believed to be responsible for
academic performance in students is their gender and school location on student
achievement in secondary school mathematics. Traits Theorists have tried to
identify the major traits that characterize personality. Notable among these
are Sigmund Freud in the early 1900''s, Gordon All port (1961), Cattell (1967),
Hans Eysenck (1985) Feldman (1994), McCrae and Costa (1987) and a host of
others. Personality has been defined in many ways by many psychologists who
wrote on the concept. According to Feldman (1994) in Daminabo (2008),
Personality is the sum total of the characteristics that differentiates people,
or the stability of a person''s behavior across different situations. In other
words it means those qualities the individual is noted for. Traits on the other
hand are "enduring dimensions of personality characteristics which
differentiates people from one another" (Colman, 2003). Traits are
therefore the sum total of stable characteristics in a person across different
times and situations, which make him or her unique or distinct from others.
This agrees with the definition by Mischel 1981, (in Agbakwuru, 2000) which
refer to gender and school location on student achievement in secondary school
mathematics as consistent differences between the behaviors characteristic of
two or more people. It is also defined as "any distinguishable, relatively
enduring way in which one individual varies from another" (Guliford, 1959
in Agbakwuru 2000).However, there has been an increasing interest in the big
five gender and school location on student achievement in secondary school
mathematics and the role they play as regards academic performance of students.
Of particular interest is the role that these traits play in the academic performance
of students. These traits, popularly known as the ''Big Five’ include
conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion and
locus of control. The acronym CAOEL is used to describe them. These gender and
school location on student achievement in secondary school mathematics affect
academic performance in students, either positively or negatively. And so
parents, educationists, psychologists, counselors, are all worried at the rate
of decline of academic standard. Big Five otherwise known as CAOEL has
therefore been explored in order to find possible solutions to the problem of
underachievement amongst school students. The acronym CAOEL denotes the traits:
conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion and locus of control
to experience. McCrae and Costa (1980) researched extensively on these traits.
A high score on Conscientiousness shows a student who is self disciplined,
careful, thorough, organized and determined. Low scores on this trait portray indiscipline,
carelessness, disorganization and indifference. That student who scores highly
on this trait is expected to perform excellently well, academically and vice
versa.
Agreeableness describes one who is sympathetic,
trusting and cooperative. Students with high scores on agreeableness are
selfless, flexible and pleasant. Such students work with others easily with
little or no friction. Those scoring low on this trait however find it
difficult to get along with others. McCrae and Costa 1988 in Daminabo, (2008)
noted this to be psychotics, which refers to a person who is skeptical,
unsympathetic, uncooperative and rude. Low scores are expected to affect
academic performance negatively.
The researcher is therefore out to examine what
influence these gender and school location on student achievement in secondary
school mathematics have on the academic performance of students.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problem of underachievement has assumed a
worrisome dimension in the Nigerian educational system. Desperate to make it
anyhow, students have devised various illegal means to succeed in examinations,
even when they are not academically competent. And unfortunately, the system
has buckled under the pressure. Examination malpractice has risen steadily to
become a seemingly untamable monster. It is increasingly becoming difficult to
equate competence of people with supposed academic performance as represented
in their certificates. Many candidates are unable to defend the result they
supposedly acquired honorably. And of course this has consistently led to
inability to compete effectively in the job market which has become a serious
issue. Several factors have been researched into in the past as to the cause of
this social malaise, but there seem to be indications that some hidden factors
may be responsible that needs unraveling. This desire to see this problem
curbed gave rise to this study and the researchers’ aim is to see if there is a
way in which the big five gender and school location on student achievement in
secondary school mathematics can help, especially from the perspective of the
analytical and scientific approach of measurement and evaluation.
The researcher has consequently chosen to explore
this problem among the students. This study is therefore aimed at an
examination of the influence of gender and school location on student
achievement in secondary school mathematics on academic performance of the
students.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are therefore to:
1. Find
out there is any significant relationship between influence of gender and
school location on student achievement in secondary school mathematics in
Ogbia local government area.
2. Determine
the different types of personality trait that can influence students academic
performance in secondary school mathematics in Ogbia local government area.
3. To
examine the factors influencing students academic performance in secondary
school mathematics in Ogbia local
government area.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Is
there any significant relationship between influence of gender and school
location on student achievement in secondary school mathematics in Ogbia local government area?
2. What
are the different types of personality trait that can influence student’s
academic performance in secondary school mathematics in Ogbia local government area.?
3. What
are the factors influencing students academic performance in secondary school
mathematics in Ogbia local government
area.?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO: Thereis no significant relationship
between influence of gender and school location on student achievement in
secondary school mathematics in Ogbia
local government area
HA: Thereis significant relationship
between influence of gender and school location on student achievement in
secondary school mathematics in Ogbia
local government area
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will educate the stakeholders in the
education sector on how the individual influence of gender and school location
on student achievement in secondary school mathematics in Ogbia local government area. This study will also
enlighten them on different types of influence of gender and school location on
student achievement in secondary school mathematics in Ogbia local government area.
This research will be a contribution to the body
of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s
academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future
research in the subject area.