THE CORRELATION BETWEEN TEST ANXIETY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

Izunna Shedrack Nwuba, Maxwell Chukwunazo Obikezie, Joy Chidinma Chinwe, Loveth Chinaza Agbo, Chioma Stephanie Mbaegbu, Chisom Precious Anyigor

Abstract


The growing need to improve students’ performance in Biology in external examinations has driven science educators on the quest for personal and environmental factors that could be influenced to this effect. Triggered by such a request, the study investigates the relationship between secondary school students’ test anxiety and their academic achievement in Biology. Two research questions and three null hypotheses, tested at 0.05 alpha levels, guided the study. A correlational survey research design was adopted. The population comprised the 20,703 Senior Secondary Year one (SS1) students, in the 262 government-owned secondary schools, in Anambra State. Taro Yamane’s formula was employed to obtain the sample size of 392 SS1 students while proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to draw the students used in the study randomly. Two instruments were used for data collection: The Biology Test Anxiety Scale (BTAS) and the Biology Students' Score Proforma (BSSP). Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment coefficient (r) to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha levels using simple linear regression. It is found that the students test anxiety negatively correlates with their academic achievement in Biology, irrespective of gender. This by implication simply means that as students’ test anxiety increases, their academic achievement decreases. The study recommended among others that teachers should allocate adequate time, adopt innovative strategies and organize practical classes during Biology classes as these will encourage active participation, boost students’ morale and, in the long run, reduce their test anxiety in Biology.


Keywords


academic achievement; Biology; gender; test anxiety

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ije.v17i2.61017

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