SOCIAL GOAL ORIENTATION AS PREDICTOR OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

Students’ social goal orientation is a strong indicator and facilitator of effective learning. The study aimed to explore the students’ social goal orientation as a predictor of academic achievement in mathematics in Anambra State Nigeria. Four research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated for the study. The study adopted a predictive correlational design. The population comprised 21,204 SS II students from which a sample of 1500 was drawn using the multi-stage procedure to select the sample. A standardized research instrument such as; Social Goal Orientation Questionnaire (SGOQ) was used for data collection. Students’ mathematics achievement scores from the state-wide promotion examination were used to represent mathematics achievement. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the items in the instruments. Reliability indices were .82, for social affiliation, .79, for social approval, .68, for social concern, .87, for social responsibility, and .69 for social status. Standard multiple regression was used to analyze the collected data. Research question 1 was answered using multiple regression. Research question 2 was answered using unstandardized β. Research question 3 was answered using adjusted R2. Research question 4 was answered using standardized β. The null hypothesis 1 was tested using F-test for the regression model. The null hypothesis 2 was tested using a t-test for adjusted R2. The null hypothesis 3 was tested using a t-test for β at a .05 level of significance. Findings from the study indicated that social status goal orientation is the most predictor of students’ academic achievement when compared with the other dimensions of social goal orientation. Also, the analysis of variance indicated that the regression equation was statistically significant F(5, 1492) = 2.279, p < .05. This implies that at least one of the independent variables significantly predicted academic achievement in mathematics. Based on these findings, it was recommended that, despite the advances in social goal orientation research, further research is still needed to clarify the significance of this adaptive motivational construct in human development and also map out its’ nomological network that could lead to acceptable academic outcomes among the Nigerian students.