Perceived Influence of Locus of Control on Secondary School Students’academic Achievement in Owerri Education Zone I of Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated perceived influence of Locus of control on Secondary school students’ academic achievement in Imo State. It adopted correlation research design. One research question and one hypothesis guided the study. The population is made up of 5,396 students from the 71 public secondary schools in Owerri Education Zone I of Imo state. The sample size is 360 students from the twelve chosen secondary schools. The sampling was done through simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection for this study was Researchers-made questionnaire titled “Locus of Control Questionnaire” (LOCQ) with 14 items having 4 point rating scale. Students’ school Performances were used to determine their Academic Achievement. Pearson r Correlation Coefficient method was used to determine the correlation of the result from the administration. A reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained. The data obtained were analyzed using chi-square test. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. Contingency Coefficient C was used to interpret correlation coefficient between the variables. Result revealed that there is a positive moderate relationship between Students’ Locus of control and their Academic Achievement. From the finding, it was recommended among others that School counselors should educate students on the importance of having internal locus of control so as to be achievement oriented.