Interest as Predictor of Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Physics

Abstract:

The study examined the extent to which student interest can predict their academic achievement in physics amongst secondary school students in Anambra State Nigeria. The participants were 300 (134 males and 166 females) SSII students drawn from the 254 public secondary schools across the six education zones in Anambra state. The study adopted the correlational research design which is capable of predicting the relationships between dependent and independent variables in a study. The instruments used to collect relevant data from the students were Physics Interest Scale (PIS) and terminal continuous assessment results. The instruments were subjected to validity and reliability and found to be reliable at Cronbach Alpha coefficient of .87. Hierarchical regression technique was used for data analysis. The findings showed that student interest predicts about 57% of academic achievement scores of secondary school students in physics. The study thus concludes that students with an improved interest in physics science is expected to gain higher academic achievement in physics.