Students’ Psychological Predictors of Academic Achievement in Physics

Abstract

Background: Research indicate that psychosocial factors such as students’ attitude, interest, motivation, self-efficacy, locus of control, anxiety and peer group pressure may be potent predictors of academic achievement in any school subject. Thus, the study determined the extent to which motivation, self-efficacy and locus of control predict students’ academic achievement in Physics. Aims: The study sought to determine the predictive powers of motivation, self-efficacy and locus of control on students’ academic achievement in physics. Sample: A sample of three hundred and seventy five (375) SSII students drawn using multistage sampling procedure was used for the study. Methods: Correlational survey research design was adopted for the study. The study employed two researcher-developed instruments: Students’ Psychosocial Factors Questionnaire (SPFQ) and Students’ Physics Academic Achievement Proforma (SPAAP) for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: The result showed that 31%, 37% and 52% of the students’ academic achievement in physics is predicted by their motivation, self-efficacy and locus of control respectively. Conclusion: Psychological factors such as motivation, self-efficacy and locus of control are prime determinants of students’ achievement in the Physics.