Identification of Factors Affecting Educational Performance of Nigerian Adult Learners: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The study identified the variables that tend to affect educational performance among adult learners. The population for the study consisted of students of Lagos State University, Ojo (Ilesa Study Centre). A sample of 1035 students was purposively selected from Modules IV and V students. Three research instruments were used for the study namely, a questionnaire and two inventories. Data collected was analysed using multivariate statistical programme (factor analysis). The total variance explained by the initial eigenvalues using principal component analysis revealed eight factors (with eigenvalues greater than one) that accounted for almost 60 percent of the total scale variance. Seven factors were identified to affect educational performance. These were: Circumstances, Parental Authority, Socio- Economic Label, Self Concept, Training Environment, Health Characteristic and Socio-Economic Characteristic.These identified constructs shall be the basis for our further determination of the links among the various constructs, and also useful for gaining insight into the structure of our multivariate data.

Keywords: Adult Learners, Correlation, Principal Components Extraction,
Eigen-values