Psycho-sociological factors as correlates of academic achievement of Nigerian students; a case study of students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Erelu, Oyo, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between psychosocial factors (self-concept, study habit, motivation, home and school environment and socio-economic status) and academic achievement of students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used in this study. The participants consisted of 250 randomly selected students from five schools of the college, different departments in each group and levels in each department. They are made up of 146 male and 104 female students with mean age of 20.52 years (SD = 14.36). The instrument used was Lasisi’ (2004) Academic Achievement Prediction Inventory (r = 0.78) and Achievement test on Classroom Control and Management (r = 0.65) and Citizenship Education (r = 0.69) for parts two and three respectively. Two research questions were asked and answered. The data generated were subjected to Multiple Regression Analysis. The results showed that the independent variables (psychosocial factors) made significant joint contribution to the prediction of dependent variable (academic achievement) (F _(5,244) = 150.58, P < 0.05). It was also observed that each of the independent variables made a significant relative contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable. It was recommended that government at various levels should step up finance on education so that the institutions in the country will be better equipped to face their challenges and this will bring about improvement in the quality and quantity of learning. The recommendation also touched the factors that are resident in the school authorities, teachers, parents and the students themselves.