Test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer pressure as predictors of students cheating tendencies in examination in Edo state, Nigeria

Ba Bassey,John Iruoje

doi:10.4314/gjss.v15i1.4

Abstract

This study investigated test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer pressure as predictors of cheating tendencies in examination among secondary school students in Edo State, Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. Using stratified random sampling technique, 1200 senior secondary two (SS 2) students were selected for the study. A 60-item, four-point Likert type questionnaire developed by the researchers was used for data collection. The data collected were analysed using multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence and peer pressure jointly significantly predict students’ cheating tendencies in examination. The result also showed that about 34.2% of the total variation in cheating tendencies is accounted for by test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence and peer pressure. It was recommended that teachers, parents and counselors should identify strategies of reducing test anxiety, develop students positive attitude to schooling, and advise students not to imitate their peers’ unwholesome ways of life, as these will help reduce cheating tendencies during examinations.

Highlights

Since the advent of western education in Nigeria, examination has been the major instrument used for the evaluation of learners’ achievement in schools
The hypothesis tested in this study stated that test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer pressure are not jointly significant predictors of students’ cheating tendencies in examination
Multiple regression analysis technique was used with cheating tendencies as dependent variable, and test anxiety, attitude to schooling, parental influence, and peer pressure as predictor variables

Summary

Introduction

Since the advent of western education in Nigeria, examination has been the major instrument used for the evaluation of learners’ achievement in schools. Examination is a means of assessing the quantity and quality of performance that an individual has accumulated at the end of a teaching learning process. The application of tests and examinations helps the teacher to adjust or change his instructional strategies in the process of teaching and learning in the school system. If the students’ performance in examination is encouraging, it indicates that the teachers’ methods of teaching are appropriate, efficient and effective. Success in examination serves as a good motivator for students, teachers, school administrators, employers of labour and all stakeholders in education. Failure to perform successfully in examination demoralizes all stakeholders in education, especially students. It is the craved to succeed and avoid frustration and/or embarrassment associated with failure that makes students engage in cheating, which has threatened the very foundation of our educational system

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion