ACADEMIC MOTIVATION, INTEREST AND GENDER AS DETERMINANT OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

ACADEMIC MOTIVATION, INTEREST AND GENDER AS DETERMINANT OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

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ACADEMIC MOTIVATION, INTEREST AND GENDER AS DETERMINANT OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING


80 Pages, Chapter 1-5
Ms Word

08062235854

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the study

Education is the process by which a child develops the abilities, attitude and other forms of behaviour which are of positive value to the society in which he lives, that is, it is a process of disseminating knowledge either to engine society control or to guarantee rational direction of the society or both, Fafunwa (1979). Financial Accounting according to Udoh (2003) is required to attain the goal of integrating an individual into a sound and effective citizenship and also to achieve other stated objectives for moulding of the individual for the society. Financial accounting as defined by Osuala (1989) is a specialized area of instruction that deals directly with business skills and techniques, business knowledge and facts, business understanding, economic understanding, business attitudes and appreciations necessary to understand and adjust to these economic and social institution called “Business”.

There are a lot of students’ variable which, to a large extent, determine the achievement level of students in a particular subject or course of study, especially financial accounting. These variables include gender, attitude, interest, motivation, abilities and peer group among others. Interest in activities is said to increase the chance that individuals develop goals relating to those activities and invest time and efforts to accomplish them (Udoh, 2003). Students’ variables such as intelligence, cognitive style, and personality play important roles in learning and instruction as well as the context of learning. Ajayi (2008) concluded that individual students’ variables such as motivational orientation; self-esteem and learning approaches are important factors influencing academic achievements. Of all the personal and psychological variables that have attracted researchers in this area of educational achievement, motivation seems to have gained more popularity and leading other variables.

There are evidences of a growing gender gap in educational achievement in a number of developed countries over the last decade. The current world trend and research emphasizes on gender issues following the millennium declaration of September 2000 (United Nations, 2000) which has as the goal among others; the promotion of gender equity, the empowerment of women and the elimination of gender inequality in basic and secondary education by the year 2005 and at all levels by 2015. Olaniyi (2006) notes males and females enter the educational system with different sets of behaviours, attitudes and values. Reid (2003) observes that gender inequality has remained a perennial problem of global scope. Gender is an issue with important theoretical and pedagogical implications in second language learning and has received some attention in language learning research. Gender had a significant impact on student academic achievement. (Okoye, 2008).

Studies of the relationship between gender and student achievement demonstrate that girls tend to have a higher reading achievement than boys (Adefuiye, 2004). Girls and boys develop neither at the same biological rate nor at the same cognitive rate (Halpern, 2006). (Halpern, 2006) observes that since girls generally mature earlier than boys, researchers often attribute their superior reading skills in part to this biological factor. The ability to learn and use language has a female advantage from as early as during the first two years of life.

Okoye (1985) opines that motivation holds the key to the understanding of human behaviour. According to him, motivation explains why one individual dodges work, another works normally satisfactory enough to reach the height, while yet others resort to illegal and unconventional means such as stealing, cheating, bribery, to achieve social, academic, economic, and political recognition. Human beings are said to be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation is the tendency to engage in tasks because one finds them interesting, challenging, involving a satisfying delight and satisfaction in doing such tasks. Extrinsic motivation is the tendency to engage in tasks because of task- unrelated factors such as promise of rewards and punishment, dictates from superiors, surveillance and competition with peers (Mathew and Mulkeem, 2002). Intrinsic motivation is seen as internal reward such as joy, or self-fulfillment. It is said to be derived internally in the job itself while extrinsic motivation is the incentive or reward and punishment that a person may attract after the job has been completed.

The idea of motivating learners is an important aspect of effective learning. In fact, some psychologists believe that motivation is a necessary ingredient for learning (Biehler and Snol986). It is believed that satisfactory school learning is unlikely to take place in the absence of sufficient motivation to learn (Fontana, 1981). Students’ motivation has to do with stimulating someone with the aim of making him to participate in a particular cause of action. Lumsden (1994) views students’ motivation as the reason for their involvement or non-involvement in academic activities. Although students may be equally motivated to perform a task, the sources of their motivation could differ.

Relating motivation to success, Bank and Finlapson (1950) observed that successful students were found to have significantly higher motivation for achievement than unsuccessful students. Furthermore, Johnson (1996); Sandra (2002); Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2004); Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2006); Broussard and Garrison (2004), revealed that there is significant relationship between academic performance and motivation. It is pertinent to stress that the issues of motivation of students in education and the impact on academic performance are considered as an important aspect of effective learning. However, a learner’s reaction to education determines the extent to which he or she will go in education. It is obviously evident that students who possess high intrinsic and extrinsic motivation tend to attain higher cognitive achievement than those with low intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their course of study.

However, the interests of the present study are to study the effect of the student’s interest, gender and academic motivation on student’s performance on Senior Secondary Financial Accounting.

1.2       Statement of Problem

In view of the foregoing, it became imperative to find out the extent to which academic motivation, interest and gender are determinant of achievement in Senior Secondary school Financial Accounting.

1.3       Research Questions

  1. What relationship exists between academic motivation and student achievement in Senior Secondary school Financial Accounting?
  2. Is there any relationship between interest and student achievement in Senior Secondary school Financial Accounting?
  3. Is there significant differences between male and female student achievement in Senior Secondary school Financial Accounting
  • Significance of the Study

This research work to a large extent has been set to reveal the relationship between academic motivation, interest, and gender and students achievement in Senior Secondary Financial Accounting. Result of the study will contribute to bridge the knowledge gap between past work of notable scholars and authors who have written on the impact of some variable like academic motivation, interest, and gender as determinants of achievement in school subjects. This work serves as a reference point to other researcher who will carry out a research relating the present topic.

1.5       Scope of the Study

This research study will be center on academic motivation, interest, and gender as a determinant of achievement in five (5) selected Senior Secondary schools in Ijebu-North Local Government Area, Ogun-State.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the study

1.2       Statement of Problem

1.3       Research Questions

  • Significance of the Study

1.5       Scope of the Study

1.6       Definition of Terms

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

  • Introduction
  • Theoretical Literature Review

2.2       Relationship between Gender and Students Academic Achievement

2.3       Empirical Review

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

  • Introduction
  • Research Design

3.2       Population of Study

  • Sample and Sampling Techniques

3.4          Data Collection

3.5         Method of Data Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

4.1       Introduction

4.2       Analysis of Respondents Demographic Information

4.3       Result of Research Question

Table 4.3: Relationship between academic motivation and student achievement in Financial Accounting

Table 4.4: Relationship between Interest and Student Achievement in Financial Accounting

Table 4.5: Gender Difference in students’ achievement in Financial Accounting

4.4       Summary of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1       Discussion of Findings

5.2       Conclusion

5.3       Recommendations

5.4    Suggestions for further studies

REFERENCES

Appendix: Questionnaire

Amenities

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