Test anxiety and academic motivation among Usmanu Danfodiyo University Students, Sokoto State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between test anxiety and academic motivation among Usmanu Danfodiyo University students Sokoto State, Nigeria. The study adopted a correlational research design. The target population of the study were six thousand five hundred and four (6504) undergraduate students. The sample of the study were 346 participants drawn from 300 level students. Data was collected using Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and Academic Motivation Inventory (AMI) face and content were validated and had reliability for test anxiety 0.802 also motivation has a reliability of 0.819 respectively after pilot testing. The data collected was processed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson Product Moment Correlation) was used to test the hypotheses. All tests were done at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The finding shows that significant relationship exists between test anxiety and intrinsic motivation (r= 0.724, p=0.00). The finding also revealed significant relationship exists between test anxiety and extrinsic motivation (r= 0.709, p=0.00). From the results, it was recommended that test anxiety should be controlled and managed with the help of professional school counsellors as this have inverse relationship on students’ academic motivation.