RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCUS OF CONTROL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between locus of control and academic achievement of students in Mathematics in Delta State, Nigeria. Three research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted correlational and expo-facto research designs. The population of the study comprised four thousand two hundred and seventy-five (4275) senior secondary schools (SSS2) students in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. A simple random sampling technique was used to select an arm of SS2 from each school sampled to give a sample size of one hundred and eighty-seven (187) students. The research instruments used to collect data were school terminal results and a structured questionnaire titled “Locus of Control Questionnaire (LCQ)”. The reliability coefficient of the LCQ was 0.698 using Cronbach alpha statistic. The data were analyzed using mean, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and independent t-test statistics. The major findings of the study are as follows: The mean achievement level of internal and external locus of control students in Mathematics is high. There is a strong positive and significant relationship between locus of control and academic achievement of students in Mathematics. There is a significant difference between internal and external locus of control students on their academic achievements in Mathematics in favour of internal locus of control students. It is concluded that there is a relationship between locus of control and academic achievement of students in Mathematics. It is recommended that schools should establish and promote counselling services to enable students to be conscious of the internal and external dimensions of locus of control that could affect their academic achievement.