50 Pages, Chapter 1-5
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the Study
The feelings of agitation and distress can be labeled as “anticipatory anxiety”. If you feel distress while studying and when thinking about what might happen when you take a test is regarded as test anxiety. Anxiety can be labeled as situational anxiety if it occurs while taking a test. Same anxiety is natural and helps to keep you mentally and physically distress, emotional upset and concentration difficulties. Anxiety occurs in wave so it will increase from time to time when you recognize it, come to a peak and naturally subside.
According to Olatoye and Afuwape (2003), test anxiety is the psychological state of mind of a candidate about a test as expressed by the level of worry, fear, uncertainty, concern and helplessness expressed before, during after a test
Anxiety is emotional component of human being that manifests itself in life Endeavour’s in form of worry and restlessness. When this kind of emotional component manifests with regard to a test or assessment condition, then it is regarded as test anxiety. Test anxiety is an experience which express itself in candidates mind and behavior in form of fear of failure, negative self-evaluation in relation to ones previously established standard, self-blame for perceived shortcomings, social evaluation in relation to ones estimate of how others are doing negative predictions of what will be the outcome of a test.
Taylor and Francis (2007) investigate ethnic and gender difference in test anxiety and achievement performance. They reported negative correlation between test anxiety and achievement test performance for the ethnic and gender groups of the students. Zolla and Ben-Chiam (2007) reported that student anxiety correlates significantly with type of examination when the preferred type of examination is administered, test anxiety is lower and grades obtained are higher. It seems that test anxiety does not allow student to obtained high scores in school subjects. Female students exhibit higher anxiety that their male encounter parts. Tomljenove and Milkovie (2005) found test anxiety to significantly influence student achievement in elementary school. Pupils have different levels of test anxiety and there is negative correlation between test anxiety and students academic achievement. The causes of anxiety could be either internal or external stimuli comprises of thought on feeling of concern about events and development around is while external stimuli are environmental situations, which gives us some concern of fear. Such situations are not specified but covers general events about daily living.
It can also be said that anxiety in inseparable from daily living as there many situations and thought which can have human consideration concern.
National institute of Mental health (2008) gathered that when anxiety becomes overwhelming and distressing to the sufferer, it may fall under the psychiatric diagnosis of anxiety disorder.
The physical effects of anxiety may include heart palpitations, tachycardia, muscle weakness and tension, fatigue nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, stomachaches or tension headaches (Iacovou, Susan 2001)
Behavioural reactions may include inability to act, make decision to express yourself, or to deal with everyday situation. As a result, you might have difficulty in reading and understanding question, organizing thought or retrieving key words and concepts you might also experience mental blocking which means going blank on questions and possible remembering the correct answer as soon as the exam is over. Psychological reaction may include feelings of apprehension, uneasiness, upset, and self-doubt.
Emotional well-being is very important the individual who is emotionally stable will team and perform better than the one in an unstable emotional state. The recognition of emotion spared the government to formulate national policy in education which emphasizes attention on all the domain and emotional wellbeing of students.
In behaviour modification, it is a generally accepted theory among psychologists that students with low academic self-concept and examination tension tends to exhibit poor study habit compared to those with high self-concept and low tension. Against this background, therefore, the focus of the study is to investigate the relationship between test anxiety and motivation for examination and academic achievement of learners in secondary school.
However, test anxiety is natural. Test and motivation are sinequanon in the process of determining academic achievement. Unfortunately sometimes, the child acquires the knowledge demanded in examination but excessive fears before and during the examination.
More so, anxiety can serve as an important source of motivation for example, a student who fears getting poor grades in examination may because of this fear be motivated to study. Conversely, the athlete who is too calm and relaxed in unlikely to be sufficiently aroused to excel.
Motivation is the act of influencing a person to do something or behave in a particular way by providing and incentives with which he could satisfy his desire or need. To motivate is to provide an incentives, an urge or a drive to impel and incite a person so that he can direct his behavior towards a valued goals, want or need.
This research will find out the role played by test anxiety and motivation for examination at it affects student academic achievement; a cause study of some selected secondary school in Ijebu-North local government area of Ogun State.
1.1 Statements of the Problem
Student within the school system are traceable to examination tension and low academic motivation and these may lead to poor academic achievement.
However, it is the focus of this study to look into how test anxiety affect students in senior secondary schools, the causes of test anxiety and the effect of test anxiety on student academic achievement, it will also look into what exactly motivates students towards high academic performance and how motivation could reduce test anxiety of students.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of this study is to look into the relationship between test anxiety, motivation for examination and students academic performance/achievement in some selected secondary school in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
However, in a bid to do this, there are other implicit objectives of the study. They include: to determine the relative impact of test anxiety and motivation on students academic achievement.
1.3 Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses will be subjected to verification in this study.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The finding of this study will be of great importance to all the stakeholders of education in the following ways:
First and foremost, the finding of the story will provide the would-be reader and further research with adequate and solid knowledge to further research topic.
Secondly, it is hoped that the finding may be of particular interest to teachers, counselors, schools administrators and parents who may wish to know more about the extent to which test anxiety and motivation for examination affect the academic achievement of students.
In addition, this finding will enable the students to acknowledge the fact that emotional feeling and personal attributes such as self-efficacy, self-ego etc constitute major determinant in their examination success and academic achievement.
Finally, this finding will sensitize the entire public to know the relative contribution of test anxiety and motivation for examination to students academic achievement.
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study is researching into the relationship between test anxiety, motivation for examination and students academic achievement in some selected secondary schools in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
This study however is limited to fact and information collected from the target respondents (Public Secondary School Students) within the jurisdiction of Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.0 Background of the Study
1.1 Statements of the Problem
1.2 Purpose of the Study
1.3 Research Hypotheses
1.4 Significance of the Study
1.5 Scope of the Study
1.6 Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
2.1 Theoretical Review
2.1.1 Concept of Test Anxiety
2.1.2 Concept of Motivation
2.1.3 Concept of Academic Achievement
2.1.4 Theories of Test Anxiety
2.1.5 Cause and Effect of Test Anxiety
2.1.6 Types of Anxiety
2.17 Measurement of Test Anxiety
2.1.8 Test and Student Academic Achievement
2.1.9 Theories of Motivation
2.1.10 Strategic Ways of Identifying a Highly Motivated Learner/Student
2.1.11 Motivation and Student Academic Achievement
2.2 Summary of Literature Review
Chapter Three
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Target Population
3.3 Sample and Sampling Procedure
3.4 Instruments
3.5 Validity of Instruments
3.6 Reliability of Instrument
3.7 Procedure for Data Collection
3.8 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation
TABLE 4.1 : JOINT AND RELATIVE EFFECT OF MOTIVATION AND TEST
ANXIETY ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
TABLE 4.2: COMPARISONS IN THE TEST ANXIETY MOTIVATION AND
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF MALE & FEMALE STUDENTS
TABLE 4.3: COMPARISONS IN THE TEST ANXIETY, MOTIVATION
AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT BASED ON CLASS
4.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1 Discussion of Findings
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies
REFERENCES
APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE
