RELATIONSHIP AMONG TEST ANXIETY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GEOMETRY IN ENUGU STATE

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ABSTRACT

This study investigated relationship among  test- anxiety, academic achievement and interest of senior secondary school students in geometry. The research was guided by five research questions and five hypotheses.. These hypotheses were formulated based on the five research questions and were tested at 0.05apha level of significance. Correlational survey research design was adopted for the study. This study was conducted in Enugu state which consists of 17 local Government Areas (LGAs).The population consisted of all  the  male  and  female students in  senior  secondary school  two  in  all  the  public secondary schools in Enugu State. A sample of 388 senior secondary school two students, comprising 200 male students and 188 female students were used for the study. A multi- stage Sampling technique was used to select the sample. The researcher divided the population into clusters comprising the six education zones in Enugu state. Three (3) clusters were randomly selected. The researcher used intact classes. Three instruments were used in gathering data, for the study. The instruments were; the Mathematics Test Anxiety Scale (MTAS), the Mathematics Interest Scale (MIS) and Mathematics Achievement Test ( MAT). The instruments are 4-point Likert type Scales. Kuder Richardson formula 21(K-R21)   was used in   to calculate the reliability index of Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT), while Cronbach’s Alpha (α) was used to calculate the reliability indices of   Mathematics Test Anxiety Scale (MTAS) and Mathematics Interest  Scale  (MIS).      The  data  collected  were  analyzed  using  Pearson’s  Product moment Coefficient (r), mean and standard deviation. Test of significance of correlation coefficient in hypotheses was tested, using t-test.   The results from the data analyzed revealed that;  there  was  a  moderate  positive relationship between test  anxiety and academic achievement of students in geometry, there was a high negative relationship between test anxiety and students’ interest in geometry, there was a significant relationship between test anxiety and students’ interest in geometry, there was a significant difference in the mean test anxiety of male and female students with the male students having high test anxiety, there is a significant difference in the mean academic achievement scores of male and female students in favour of  male students and there was a significant difference in the mean interest scores of male and female students in favour of female students .   The educational implications were pointed out and the following recommendations were made; teachers should always find ways of creating and sustaining moderate test anxiety on the students, it is worthwhile to find out the source and level of test anxiety these students have and if they are not really interested in acquiring knowledge but in passing their test, among others .

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In our world today mathematics has grown beyond ordinary counting. According to Prakash (2013), mathematics is much more than arithmetic and algebra. It has metamorphosed into statistics, calculus, geometry, e.t.c. Geometry as one of the branches of mathematics is the study of shapes and spaces. Geometry ( a Greek word, where geo- means “Earth” and metria means “Measurement’’) is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of  shapes, size, relative position of figures and the properties of space. According to Steven in Prakash (2013), early civilization of Babylonians and Egyptians used  geometric  concepts  in  their  everyday  lives  to  do  many  things  like;  building structures such as the pyramids, plot square corners of fields e.t.c.

Owing to the aforementioned, it is obvious that the importance of geometry in everyday life cannot be over emphasized. It is because of this importance that geometry is included as one of the core topics in secondary school mathematics. For instance topics on geometry cover more than four weeks in every term and it runs across the three terms for all the senior secondary school classes. The topics under geometry ; for SS1 include, plane geometry, menstruation and Trigonometry I, for SSII, plane geometry II, Trigonometry II, in SSIII, Menstruation, Multiple dimensional objects, Trigonometry III and  coordinate  geometry( Nigerian  Educational Research  and  Development Council NERDC, 2007) .

Due to the significance of geometry in our everyday life as earlier mentioned, teaching and learning of it is of great importance, but difficulties abound. For instance Kurumeh, 2004; and Obodo 2002 pointed out that students have serious problems when symbols as in geometric representation and models are used to express nature. According to Burns as cited by Adewale (2011), many students (Young and Adults) have fear and loathsome experiences about mathematics especially when it involves geometry. Geometry as a topic in mathematics is more challenging for some students than others. Xin  (1999)  pointed  out  that  a  student  with  problems  in  a  subject,  for  instance mathematics, of which geometry is a core part, finds ways to continue to do poorly. This is because this problem will give rise to bad study habits, and these  bad study habits will likely generate anxiety and   thus translate   into low confidence should there be any mathematics test . According   to Xin , poor self-esteem which   is a product of low confidence inhibit academic potential and can snowball into a lifelong phobia for a subject like mathematics and this has the innate capacity to spread to other areas of life. In other words the phobia for mathematics will likely and naturally aggravate anxiety any time a test on mathematics is mentioned.

Anxiety according to Hurlock in Olatunde (2009) is a painful uneasiness of mind concerning impending or anticipated ills. It is marked by, uneasiness and apprehension from which the individual cannot escape. It is accompanied by feeling of helplessness because the anxious person feels blocked, unable to find a solution to his problem. Anxiety causes an individual to borrow from future problems and therefore, suffers the

present fear. Anxiety is a general feeling of apprehension or dread accomplished by predictable physiological changes (Gerow, 1992). Anxiety is an aspect of emotions in which there is fear and uncertainty about the future. For those who suffer from mathematics anxiety, psychological symptoms such as sweaty palms, nausea, muscle contractions, difficult breathing, tiredness in the throat, headaches, heart palpitations, restless behaviours, forgetfulness and a temporary boost in one’s heart rate are familiar (Adewale,2011). When anxiety is associated with questions structured to elicit behavior, it becomes test anxiety (Ogbonnaya, 1986).

Test anxiety is the anxiety aroused in evaluative situations, especially by the variety of tests administered in most educational institutions (Ogbonnaya, 1986). It is the feelings of fear, anxiety and nervousness associated with bodily symptoms that interfere with solving mathematical problems in classes, courses, examination, tests and also in daily activities that may involve geometric calculation. From all indication test anxiety appears to be a force confronting students.

Ashcraft as cited by Adewale (2011) noted that students with   anxiety attempted to manage the devastating effects of their anxiety by playing truancy in school. This led to a few number of graduates in mathematics and ultimate few career choices in disciplines that are mathematically oriented. In addition Mc-donald (2001) , pointed out that more than two thirds of secondary school students appeared to experience uncomfortable levels of test anxiety.

Indeed, according to his findings, many students, in their final examinations at the end of secondary school education have the most anxiety-inducing experiences in their programmes of study (Zeidner, 1991). He added that this in no doubt is because throughout their secondary education they  managed their  test anxiety by playing truancy and in their  final examinations  truancy is not possible, thus their phobia for this final test saluted them with anxiety.

Hembree (1988) suggested that test anxiety in mathematics is directly connected with mathematics avoidance.   Thus he explained that an anxious child is one who is unduly concerned about neither understanding what his teacher is saying nor what his teacher expects of him, who normally experience tension when called upon to answer questions and who suffers acute distress before and during school examination.

Tobias (1993) defines test  anxiety in  mathematics as  feelings of  tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations and can cause one to forget and loose one’s self-confidence in a test condition. Test anxiety is a learned behaviour, which can be unlearned.

Factors that can create test anxiety are: parents, friends or teachers that may pass their biased ideas to the students to make them believe that there is a connection between grade and self-worth (Tobias, 1993). The fear of alienation by parents, family or friends

due to poor grades induces, anxiety on the students making them feel that they are not in control.

The cognitive theory of test anxiety (Umoinyang, 1999) has three common components that are very important to consider in a study like this. The first is that high level of test anxiety is believed to adversely influence students’ self-appraisals of evaluative  situation.  Secondly,  test-anxious  students  are  prone  to  engage  in  more negative thoughts (negative internal dialogue) during evaluative tasks. Thirdly, students’ performance attributions are believed to be influenced by high levels of test anxiety.

Just like Umoinyang (1999), Hembree (1988) conducted a thorough meta-analysis of several studies concerning anxiety in mathematics in general of which geometry is core part and reported that anxiety is related to achievement. To authenticate his claim, De  Rosa  and  Patalano,(1991) asserted  that  test-anxious children  are  more  likely  to receive poorer scores, repeat classes, and perform more poorly on tasks requiring new learning and on those administered in a highly evaluative manner .Achievement in its true sense  according to oxford advanced learners dictionary (2001) is a thing that one has done  successfully,  especially  using  one’s  own  effort  and  skill.  From  the  New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of English language (2003), achievement is the act of accomplishment or attainment of educational goal. It is performance through a standardized test for measuring an individual’s progress in the mastery of a subject to be learned. Performance itself is the act of execution, completion and exhibition of feat.

However, Cassady, & Johnson, (2002) stated that much of the research on test anxiety has focused on the differential impact of emotionality and worry factors as it affect achievement in academics. According to them emotionality refers to the physiological reactions such as arousal, trembling, sweating that are experienced in an evaluative  situation.  Since  anxiety  is  emotionally  based  trait  capable  of  arousal, trembling, sweating experienced especially in an evaluative situation, a counter trait like interest may likely reverse the default outcome.

Interest according to Boekaerts and Boscolo (2002) is an effect that relates one’s self to the activities that provide the type of novelty, challenge, or aesthetic appeal that one desires. Hidi and Harackiewicz (2000) describe interest as an interactive relation between an individual and certain aspects of his or her environment (e.g. objects, events, ideas). It can be viewed both as a state and as an outlook of a person, and it has a cognitive as well as an affective component. Hidi (2006) considered interest to be a unique motivational variable, as well as a psychological condition that occurs during interactions between persons and their objects of interest, and is characterized by increased attention and concentration.

Ubulom (1997) , stated that interest is a feeling of likes and dislikes towards an activity.   According  to   Harbor-   Peters   (2001),   interest   is   subjective   feeling  of concentration or curiosity over something. Interest is regarded as learning responses which provide set of readiness for behaviour (Nwachukwu 1999). Interest involves a

combination of what we would like to achieve and how confident we are about achieving it, making the competence component of a child’s self- esteem.

A major determinant of children’s academic interest is of course, the academic performance. Del Favero (2007)also  stated that many studies(e.g. Hidi, 1990 Schiefele

1991) have found that the energising function of  interest  include fostering remembering and  understanding material, and stimulating  students’ positive attitude towards a topic. This view is supported by Hidi and Anderson’s (1999) work who argue that interest has a profound effect on students’ recollection and retrieval processes, their acquisition of knowledge, and their effort expenditure. In addition, an interested individual is more likely to develop high competency and to receive positive feedback from others (Hidi,

2006). Being interested may also serve as protection against the negative effects of failure (Hidi & Renninger, 2006).

Ubulom, (1997) opined that children who do well in school are likely to develop high opinion of their competence, as children of low performances are likely to develop low opinions. This simply put means that, when a student’s confidence is low, test-taking anxiety is the mind’s natural response. This is in line with Xin (1999) who stated that, poor self-esteem is a product of low confidence and  this  inhibit academic potential and can snowball into a lifelong phobia for a subject like mathematics and this has the innate capacity to spread to other areas of life.

Another factor considered to be influencing achievement in mathematics is gender (sex). Sex is the psychosocial aspect of maleness and femaleness (Edebor, 2002). As a factor in mathematics achievement, sex has remained  inconclusive because Reyes and stanic cited by Jahun and Mommoh (2001), reported that male students achieved at higher level in mathematics than female students, that is gender differences in favour of boys. Another study by Jahun in Jahun and Mommoh as cited above, girls  performed better than boys in a mathematics achievement tests, that is gender differences in favour of girls.

Ugwu in Etukudo (2002), investigated the extent which boys and girls respond to test anxiety. He reported that there were no gender differences in mathematics achievement in relation to test anxiety. It is possible that if these students are highly motivated despite their gender differences and their test anxiety, they can record high level of academic achievement in mathematics.

In  other  words  the  phobia  for  geometric  concepts  may  likely  and  naturally increase anxiety any time test on mathematics is mentioned hence test anxiety.  While building of interest of students in mathematics may likely help develop high opinion of competence, which is believed to translate into quality academic achievement. In addition to the above, Covington and Omelich as cited by Tuncay (2011), found that individuals with a strong motive to achieve generally see themselves as highly capable individuals, therefore feel more   optimistic with respect to their chances of academic success than individuals low  in  achievement motivation. This  is  also  known  to  be  an  important

predictor for academic performance (Pintrich, & Schunk, 1996). Indeed, Onwuegbuzie, Slate, & Schwartz, (2001) reported that students’ expectation of their overall achievement was the best predictor for overall academic success.

It is therefore in a bid to authenticate the  above beliefs and support existing findings by aforementioned researchers that this present study is geared towards establishing relationship among test anxiety, academic achievement and interest of students in geometry.

Statement of the Problem

There is generally poor performance by students in mathematics and its branch geometry in particular and this has been a thing of great concern to mathematics educators, parents and government. This is in line with the observation of   Mathematical Association of Nigeria  (premiumtimesng.corm/news MAN 2013). The association expressed concern over the continual poor performance of candidates in Mathematics Senior Secondary School Examinations. The examinations are those conducted by West African Examinations Council, National Examination Council, National Business and Technical Examination Board, and Joint Admission Matriculation Board. The association’s position is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its 50th Annual Conference in Asaba on Friday, signed by the President of the association, Professor U.N.V. Agwagah. Mathematics educators have put in efforts aimed at identifying the major problems associated with secondary school mathematics.

Despite all these noble efforts, the academic achievement of students in geometry is still poor. This assertion is backed up by the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) which was the largest study of educational achievement ever undertaken. The study, in 1994, involved forty-eight countries and one million students. It revealed that there had been a slight decline in students’ performance, especially in geometry.

The second problems are, that students lack interest in geometry and as well show great sign of anxiety whenever  test  in the area of  geometry in particular  is given to them. These second problems are still in line with  another  result of the third study by (TIMSS)  released in 1996. The result indicated that geometry was still a problem area and that there is a positive correlation between liking Mathematics

(that is, having  interest on Mathematics) and achievement in Mathematics. Supporting the existence of problems in geometry in a number of countries, the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (1995), stated that ‘students do not    seem   to perform as well as expected in tasks involving the solutions of geometry problems. The problem of  this  study therefore    can  be  summarized in  this    question; what is  the relationship among test- anxiety, academic achievement and interest of senior secondary school students in geometry in Enugu State?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine, ‘the relationship among test anxiety, academic achievement and interest of students in geometry in senior secondary school in Enugu state’. Specifically, the researcher seeks to determine:

1.  The relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

2.  The relationship between test anxiety and interest of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

3.  The mean test anxiety scores of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

4.  The mean academic achievement scores of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

5.  The  mean interest scores of  male and  female students in  geometry in  senior secondary school mathematics.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be of immense benefit to the following groups; teachers, students, counselors, parents, examination bodies and government. The specific ways this study is considered significant are presented below. The result of the study will be beneficial to the secondary school teachers because their awareness of the relationship between  test  anxiety  and  academic  achievement  will  not  only  make  them  identify children with anxiety problems in class but also get them concerned about possible ways of reducing it in different ways, first by devising a way to get the students interested in the study of geometry and secondly eschewing every negative variable in schools that will necessitate test anxiety.

For the secondary school students, it will make learning of mathematics more interesting. This is because instead of managing their test anxiety by playing truancy and thus  face their final examinations and fail because truancy is not possible. The study will reveal the sources of their problems, thus proffer important solution which is getting interested in the study of geometry instead of truancy, for the improvement of their performance in  mathematics generally.  The  study  will  also  help  the  learner  by  his confidence that knowledge is supposed to create. Above all, it will create in the students, learners self concept and self-esteem.

Guidance and counselors for instance will employ part of the finding from this study  in  understanding students’ problems in  mathematics and  also  in  giving them necessary assistance.

Parents will also benefit from this study because when they see their children performing well in mathematics, they will be happy and see more reasons why they should continue giving the children support.

It  is  expected  that  public  examination  bodies  such  as  WAEC,  NECO  and NABTEB will find this study useful. On one hand, low performance of students in SSCE mathematics in the past few years is enough to trigger worry on the board to begin to seek for solutions. In other words pointing out the major areas of mathematics that students perform poorly at the end of external examinations.

Finally, the result will be useful to alert the state Government, the state Education board and also the principal of schools, mathematics teachers, parents, guardians and the community on the need to provide convenient and necessary conditions, good environment and also good teachers’ attitude to the students both in schools and at home that can help to motivate, stimulate and sustain the interest of students in their desire to learn mathematics.

Scope of the Study

The study is delimited to the relationship among test anxiety, academic achievement and interest of students in geometry in senior secondary schools in Enugu state.It will also include the students’ gender (Sex), students’ school location and geometry (Plane geometry, Menstruation, Trigonometry) as a branch of mathematics.

Research Questions

In this study the following research questions were investigated:

1.  What is the relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics?

2.    What is the relationship between test anxiety and interest of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics?

3.  What is the mean test anxiety score of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics?

4.  What is the mean academic achievement score of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics?

5.    What is the mean interest score of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses are formulated and will be tested to guide the study at

0.05 alpha levels.

H1: There is no significant relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

H2: There is no significant relationship between test anxiety and interest of students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics

H3: There is no significant difference in the mean test anxiety scores of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics

H4: There is no significant difference in the mean academic achievement scores  of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.

H5: There is no significant difference in the mean interest scores   of male and female students in geometry in senior secondary school mathematics.



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