Study Habit And Student Performance In Political Science

Study Habit And Student Performance In Political Science
Abstract
This study was carried out to examine the effect of study habit on student academic performance in political science using Imo State University, Owerri as a case study. The study was specifically set to ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science, determine whether study habit has a significant influence on student academic performance in political science, and ascertain the factors affecting political science students study habit. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of political science student of Imo State University, Owerri. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 200 respondents and 150 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and mean scores. While the hypotheses were tested using Pearson Correlation statistical tool, SPSS v23. The result of the findings reveals that there is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science. Furthermore the study also revealed that the factors affecting political science students study habit includes: poor attendance to classes, poor note taking skills, poor time management skills, and failure to read instructions. Therefore the study recommends that the students should be reoriented to improve study habits in relation to time allocation, concentration, and homework/ assignment since these are crucial aspects of schooling. In line with this, the Colleges of Education and the universities in charge of teacher education should incorporate contents related to students’ study habits into their curricula so that graduates are well grounded to assist students in their study habits for improved academic performance To mention but a few.
Table of Content
- Title Page
- Certification
- Dedication
- Acknowledgement
- Table of Content
- List of Tables
- Abstract
Chapter One:
Introduction
- 1.1 Background of the Study
- 1.2 Statement of the Problem
- 1.3 Objective of the Study
- 1.4 Research Questions
- 1.5 Research Hypothesis
- 1.6 Significance of the Study
- 1.7 Scope of the Study
- 1.8 Limitation of the Study
- 1.9 Definition of Terms
- 1.10 Organisations of the Study
Chapter Two:
Review of Literature
- 2.1 Conceptual Framework
- 2.2 Theoretical Framework
- 2.3 Empirical Review
Chapter Three:
Research Methodology
- 3.1 Research Design
- 3.2 Population of the Study
- 3.3 Sample Size Determination
- 3.4 Sample Size Selection Technique and Procedure
- 3.5 Research Instrument and Administration
- 3.6 Method of Data Collection
- 3.7 Method of Data Analysis
- 3.8 Validity of the Study
- 3.9 Reliability of the Study
- 3.10 Ethical Consideration
Chapter Four:
Data Presentation and Analysis
- 4.1 Data Presentation
- 4.2 Analysis of Data
- 4.3 Answering Research Questions
- 4.4 Test of Hypotheses
Chapter Five:
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
- 5.1 Summary
- 5.2 Conclusion
- 5.3 Recommendation
- References
- APPENDIX
- QUESTIONNAIRE
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Education is the process of developing the capacities and potentials of the individual so as to prepare that individual to be successful in a specific society or culture. From this perspective, education is serving primarily as an individual developmental function. Education begins at birth and continues throughout life. It is constant and ongoing. Schooling generally begins somewhere between the ages of four and six when children are gathered together for the purpose of specific guidance related skills and competencies that society deems important. In the past decades, once the formal primary and secondary schooling was completed the process was finished. However, in today’s information age, adults are quite often learning in informal settings throughout their working lives and even into retirement.
Education, in its broadest sense, may be defined as a process designed to inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment (Abdulkareem, 2000). Its primary purpose is to foster and promote the fullest individual self-realization for all people. Achieving this goal requires understanding of commitment to the proposition that education is a primary instrument for social and economic advancement of human welfare (Verma, 2000). The world is becoming more and more competitive and quality of performance has become the key factor for personal progress. Parents desire that their children climb the ladder of academic performance to as high a level as possible. This desire for a high level of performance puts a lot of pressure on students, teachers, and schools and in general, the education system itself. It appears as if the whole system of education revolves round the academic performance of students, though various other outcomes are also expected from the system. Thus, a lot of time and effort of the schools are used in helping students to achieve better in their scholastic endeavours. The importance of scholastic and academic performance has raised important questions for educational researchers (Ramaswamy, 2000).
Jimoh (2000), also described education as the totality of the experiences made available to individuals in formal or informal situations, to make them develop a rounded personality and to be useful to themselves and the society at large. From the knowledge so far, it can be concluded that education, inculcates the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment. Considering the numerous advantages that are derived from education, no amount of resources expended on it can be described as too much. For that matter, a person’s education is closely linked to life chances, income level and well-being (Battle & Lewis, 2002). Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of what benefits or hinders one’s educational attainment. Parents and guardians send their children to school to acquire relevant educational skills, knowledge and good morals so as to be useful to themselves and the society.
According to Aristotle, habit is what we repeatedly do. Habits generate other habits. Inspiration is what gets us started, motivation is what keeps us on track, and habit is what makes us automatic. Anything we practice long enough becomes ingrained into our system and becomes a habit. Students are basically having their own individual differences. It all depends upon their ability and capacity. We do observe that some students have the habit of studying daily lessons regularly. Academic performance is defined as excellence in all academic discipline rather than fatalistically accepting it and competing against some standard of excellence (Chamundeswari 2014).
Study habits are defined as those techniques, such as summarizing, note taking, outlining or locating material which learners employ to assist themselves in the efficient learning of the material at hand. The term “Study Habit” implies a sort of more or less permanent method of studying. According to Good’s dictionary of education, “Study habit is the tendency of pupil to study when the opportunities are given, the pupil’s way of studying whether systematic or unsystematic, efficient or inefficient. “Study-habits are the essence of a dynamic personality. A proper study habits enables an individual to reap a good harvest in future.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The problems associated with study habits might have a major effect on student’s academic performance in political science, it is believed that everyone has a different study habit and it is important to find out the best way to study. The problem most students have that contributes to their poor performance in tests and examinations is lack of proper study habits which shoots out test anxiety. For an excellent performance, there is the need for the student to form good reading and study habits. At present, due to the influence of the mass media, students do not show much interest in reading books; magazines and journals, among others. Many parents and teachers complain about students of recent days who have not developed reading habits among themselves. The net result reflects the poor performance of many students in final examinations. One of the many issues confronting students nowadays is perhaps, not their inability to read but their lack of interest which leads to poor study attitudes, poor reading methods and study skills. Moreso, test anxiety is caused by not taking precautionary measures into cognizance which are inappropriate way of doing their assignment, not taking notes in class, time management in test/examination preparation and writing in examination halls within a given time constraint. In order to ameliorate the deteriorating effect in students’ performance.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study to examine the effect of study habit on student academic performance in political science. The study will specifically focus on the aims listed below;
- Ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science department.
- Determine whether study habit has a significant influence on student academic performance in political science department.
- Ascertain the factors affecting political science students study habit.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions guided this study:
- Is there any significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science.?
- Does study habit has a significant influence on student academic performance in political science?
- What are the factors affecting political science students study habit?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
- Ho: There is no significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science.
- Ha: There is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This research is intended to add to the existing information on the influence of study habits on academic performance of political science students. The results of this study could be of significance to students, teachers, lecturers, parents, school counsellors, policy makers and the government in assisting and encouraging students to realize the importance of study habits on their academic performance. Students will benefit more from the findings of this study as they will be offered the necessary assistance as and how to develop good study habits which will help to improve upon their academic performance. Students will also be given information on how study habits affect their academic performances and the results of this study will make them aware of the common study habits among other co-students.
Also this could serve as a guide to teachers and school counsellors who always have the desire to see their students perform well by giving them the right techniques of developing study habits. It will again help teachers in understanding better the diversity of learning in students and as such, develop more effective methodologies in teaching their subject matter for better understanding of students.
Furthermore, parents on the other hand will be accorded the opportunity to play their roles in providing motivation and rewards to their children to encourage the formation and maintenance of good study habits at the family level.
Also, the study will help the government to provide the needed learning materials and facilities to motivate students to enhance the development of good study habits.
Finally, the study will serve as a guide and resource document to policy makers and stakeholders in developing curriculum materials and text books, taking into consideration students’ needs and aspirations as they study to pass their examinations both at the secondary and tertiary levels.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The focus of this study is to examine the effect of study habit on student academic performance in political science. However, the study will be delimited to political science student of Imo State University, Owerri.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing to the nature of the discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. More so, the choice of the sample size was limited as few respondent were selected to answer the research instrument hence cannot be generalize to other secondary schools. However, despite the constraint encountered during the research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Study Habit:
An action or pattern of learning that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody
Academic Performance:
It is the outcome of education the extent to which a student has achieved his/her educational goals.
1.10 Organization of the Study
The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions and hypothesis, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three which is the research methodology, specifically covers the research design, population of the study, sample size determination, sample size, abnd selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.
Chapter Five
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Introduction
This chapter summarizes the findings on the effect of study habit on student academic performance in political science using Imo State University, Owerri as a case study. The chapter consists of summary of the study, conclusions, and recommendations.
5.2 Summary of the Study
In this study, our focus was to examine the effect of study habit on student academic performance in political science using Imo State University, Owerri as a case study. The study was specifically set to ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science department, determine whether study habit has a significant influence on student academic performance in political science department, and ascertain the factors affecting political science students study habit.
The study adopted the survey research design and randomly enrolled participants in the study. A total of 150 responses were validated from the enrolled participants where all respondent are political science student of Imo State University, Owerri.
5.3 Conclusions
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher made the following conclusion.
- There is a significant relationship between study habit and student academic performance in political science department.
- Study habit has a significant influence on student academic performance in political science department.
- The factors affecting political science students study habit includes: poor attendance to classes, poor note taking skills, poor time management skills, and failure to read instructions.
5.4 Recommendation
Based on the responses obtained, the researcher proffers the following recommendations:
- It is recommended that the Ministry of Education should organize in-service training for head teachers, teachers, and parents to help them identify the preferred study habits of the students and guide them accordingly.
- That government educators should focus more attention in terms of necessary facilities and pedagogy on the schools located in rural areas for them to have the same opportunity like their counterpart in the urban school location areas, and to enhance student‟s academic achievement in Science subjects irrespective of the geographical school location.
- It is recommended that lecturers should adopt measures to strengthen students’ reading and note-taking and time management skills to boost academic performance.
- The students should be reoriented to improve study habits in relation to time allocation, concentration, and homework/ assignment since these are crucial aspects of schooling. In line with this, the Colleges of Education and the universities in charge of teacher education should incorporate contents related to students’ study habits into their curricula so that graduates are well grounded to assist students in their study habits for improved academic performance.
- The students should be properly screened on their level of academic performance and study habit by the teachers/lecturers through the use of standardized study habit inventory, pretest, quiz etc. This will help them to identify students with problem of study habit so as to institute compulsory remedies and academic advising for underachievers in order to improve their study habit and academic performance.
- The teachers/lecturers should encourage the students to make use of the library and other facilities in school that will help them develop good study habit and better academic performance. This should be done during orientation/welcoming ceremony of new students and from time to time.

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