TEST ANXIETY, AGE AND GENDER AS PREDICTOR OF SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed test anxiety, age and gender as a predictor of science undergraduate students' attitude towards examination malpractice in Obafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe, Nigeria. These were with a view to providing information on how test anxiety, age and gender could predict science undergraduate students' attitude towards examination malpractice. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all undergraduate science students of Obafemi Awolowo University IleIfe. The sample consisted of 200 science students who were selected randomly from two faculties in the school using simple random sampling technique. From the selected faculties, four science departments were selected, which include; Science and Technology Education, Botany, Zoology and Microbiology using simple random sampling technique.
The research instruments used for data collection were Students' Attitude Questionnaire towards Examination Malpractice (SAQEM) and Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI). Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation and linear regression analysis techniques. The results showed significant relationship between science students' est anxiety and their attitudes towards examination malpractice (r = 0.677, p < 0.05). The results further showed that there was no significant relationship between science undergraduates' age and their attitude towards examination malpractice, (F = 0.655, p > 0.05). Finally, the results revealed no significant relationship between science undergraduate students gender and their attitude towards examination malpractice, (F = 0.731, p > 0.05). The study concluded that test anxiety is a significant factor which predicts
science undergraduate students' attitude towards examination malpractice while age and gender are not significant factors in predicting science undergraduate students' attitude towards examination malpractice.