STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL OF SELECTED NON-COGNITIVE VARIABLES AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN ECONOMICS IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA
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Date
2020-01
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UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
Abstract
Economics occupies an integral part of secondary school curriculum in Nigeria. Of significant to note is that over the years, students’ performance in Economics had been very discouraging because 50% of the Economics students hardly pass Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) at credit level. This problem needs urgent attention because knowledge of Economics is needed in solving economic problems and making of rational decisions concerning the society. The study, therefore, examined Structural Equation Model of Selected Non-cognitive Variables and Secondary School Students’ Performance in Economics in South-west, Nigeria. The objectives of this study were to: (i) examine the extent to which data on academic mindset, academic motivation, academic perseverance, academic engagement and performance in Economics fit into the hypothesized structural equation model; (ii) examine the more parsimonious causal model for providing explanation of students’ performance in Economics; (iii) identify directions and the strengths of causation of performance in Economics; (iv) assess proportions of the total effects that are direct and indirect; (v) determine causal relationship of academic mindset, academic motivation, academic perseverance, academic engagement with students’ performance in Economics; and (vi) determine the relative contribution of the causal variables to performance in Economics.
The study adopted ex-post facto research design. A sample of 1,125 senior secondary school II Economics students was drawn out of a population of 362,834 from public and private schools in South-west, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select three states (Ogun, Oyo and Ekiti), and the respondents involved in the study. Standardized instruments were used for data collection with reliability indices of 0.78, 0.79, 0.76, 0.75, and 0.75 for academic mindset, academic motivation, academic perseverance, academic engagement, and performance in Economics respectively. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and path analysis at 0.05 level of significance.
The findings of the study were that:
i. the data on academic mindset, academic motivation, academic perseverance, academic engagement and performance in Economics fitted the hypothesized model (
= 126.27; df = 43;
= 2.94; p ≤ 0.05);
ii. the parsimonious causal model confirmed three direct and four indirect paths whose path weights were meaningful and significant
127.73;
45;
= 2.84; p ≤ 0.05);
iii. the four directions of causation of performance in Economics were positive but three were not strong (0.06 to 0.46);
iv. the percentage of the total effects that were direct was 85.5% and indirect was 14.5%;
v. there was significant causal relationship among academic mindset, academic motivation, academic perseverance, academic engagement and students’ performance in Economics
(R = 0.55; p ≤ 0.05); and
vi. the relative contribution of academic mindset and academic perseverance were significant (R = 0.55; β = 0.41; 0.15; p ≤ 0.05).
The study concluded that academic mindset and academic perseverance were strong predictors of secondary school students’ performance in Economics in South-west, Nigeria. The implication is that students who had positive academic mindset and could persevere might have high academic performance in Economics. The study recommended that education stakeholders should do their best to ensure that they cultivate positive academic mindset and academic perseverance in students of Economics.
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Keywords
STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL, SELECTED NON-COGNITIVE VARIABLES, SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE, ECONOMICS, SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA