CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The new National Policy on Education (2013) is designed to be functional, practical and qualitative. This is expected to reduce the mere paper work system associated with the former system of education and which led to the mass unemployment. This new policy on education emphasizes vocational and was formulated by many Nigerians to direct the nation towards technological and economic development and cultural renewal. The subject areas recommended for study and compulsory for every child in the post primary school system include science, vocational and social studies. Under the vocational area is accounting subject. Accounting is an indispensable field of study in education. It is a subject that is very essential for business. It helps both profit and non-profit making organizations. This is because it helps these organizations to make policies which helps for expansion.
It also accesses the efficiency of management to make decisions relating to further investment. It is an information and measurement system that identifies, records and communicates relevant, reliable and comparable financial data about an organization’s business activities (Wild, 2003). It helps us make better decision, including assessing opportunities, products, investments and social and community responsibilities, Accounting activities embraces all the line functions performed in accounting process and which include general financial accounting, accounting systems and design, cost accounting, budgeting, taxation, auditing and data processing.
The poor performance of students in accounting now has raised concern and efforts have been made to find out the reasons behind it. For poor performance of students in schools, many factors such as lack of motivation, lack of facilities in school, poor academic engagement, lack of teachers, indiscipline unfavourable home environment, low intelligence, anxiety and students’ need to achieve have been found as being the causes (Cantu, 1975; Maundu, 1980; and Ndirangu, 2007).However, Active engagement in school is critical to student educational success (Finn & Rock, 1997; Wang & Holcombe, 2010). Youth must be actively engaged with their school education in order to acquire the knowledge and skills required for a successful transition intoPost secondary programs and careers (Wang & Eccles, 2012, 2012). School engagement is also a malleable state that can be shaped by school context, therefore holding tremendous potential as a locus for interventions (Appleton, Christenson, Kim, & Reschly, 2006; Jimmerson, Campos, & Grief, 2003).
Currently, and particularly at the secondary level, increasing student engagement is an explicit goal of many school reform efforts aimed at addressing problems of student boredom and alienation, low achievement, and high dropout rate (Marks, 2000). In order to promote school engagement, we must first better understand the school factors that influence student engagement. Self-determination theorists suggest that individuals seek experiences that fulfill their fundamental needs and identities through their interaction with the environment. According to this view, student engagement in school is influenced by the degree to which they perceive that the school context meets their psychological needs (Connell &Wellborn, 1991; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Krapp, 2005).
Stage-environment fit and expectancy-value theorists (Eccles, 1993; Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff,1998) further argue that the failure of schools to meet the psychological needs of adolescents often leads to declines in academic motivation and interest, which in turn contributes to decreased school engagement and poor academic performance as adolescents transition to middle school. Most of the extant research, however, has failed to capture the dynamic and interactive nature of engagement. Specifically, few empirical studies have focused on how school characteristics interact with and influence various forms of school engagement simultaneously.
Moreover, research has not yet fully explained the actual process that accounts for the effect of the school environment on student engagement. It is unclear whether various aspects of the school environment influence the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement differentially and whether the associations between the school environment and engagement are mediated by more fundamental motivational beliefs within the student. Therefore, there is a critical need for research that takes an integrative motivational approach to investigate the contextual and psychological factors that predict school engagement (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Such research could contribute to the knowledgebase that informs effective school practices and to the efforts of researchers and educators who do the important work of identifying the optimal developmental correlates of school engagement. The study of school engagement as a multidimensional construct, and as an interaction between the individual and the school environment, will aid in identifying the particular school characteristics that foster student engagement and increase our understanding of the mechanisms through which they operate.
One of the most important factors that lead one to their goals is the drive. This drive is known as motivation. It is a zest and determination with a kind of excitement that leads one to persevere to reach greater heights, in no matter what avenue of their life be it – personal or professional. The drive may come from an internal or external source. The individual determines this. The factors that motivate an individual keep changing as one climbs the ladder of age and maturity. And also, achievement of one goal sets the ball rolling for another one to be achieved. Thus, to be motivated is a constant need. There are times when one faces a period of de-motivation and everything seems bleak. It is then that they need to find what would motivate them back into action. For every individual there is a variable driving force. In fact, it is not just a single factor, but a combination of factors that lead people to achieve their goals. The fact is that with routine monotony steps in and then everything seems like stagnant waters. It feels like there is nothing new. Breaking this cycle of monotony has helped many bounce back with enthusiasm. There are people who redefine their goals and ambitions from time to time in order to fill them with newer levels of enthusiasm to achieve greater feats. One needs to take stalk every now and then and find the motivator required to carry them through. The word motivation is thus coined from the Latin word “movere”, which means to move. Achievement motivation is defined as an internal drive that activates behavior and gives it direction. The term achievement motivation theory is concerned with the processes that describe why and how human behavior is activated and directed. It is regarded as one of the most important areas of study in the field of organizational behavior. Therefore this research work will focus on how achievement motivation and academic engagement will determine student academic performance in senior secondary school financial accounting.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Achievement Motivation is a way of providing student with an incentive to do something; to encourage such student to put in more effort in his/her academic career in financial accounting, while this may on the other hand affect or determine the student academic engagement of such student. This is why student who spend more time, energy and effort bon their educational career usually perform better in their academic career.
However, this research study is designed to examine if achievement motivation and academic engagement could determine student academic performance in financial accounting as a subject in secondary school.
1.3 Research Question
1) Will students’ achievement motivation increase the academic performance of student in financial accounting?
2) Does students’ academic engagement in school have any implication on students academic performance in financial accounting?
3) Does any relationship exist between students’ academic engagement, achievement motivation and academic performance of student in financial accounting?
1.4 Research Hypotheses
H01 There is no significant relationship between students’ achievement motivation and academic performance in financial Accounting
H02 There is no significant relationship between students’ academic engagement and students’ academic performance in financial accounting
H03 There is no significant joint contribution of achievement motivation, academic engagement on academic performance of students’ in financial accounting.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The academic performance of student in financial accounting has been attributed to many factors part of which are achievement motivation of student and academic engagement of students. Thus, this research will assist teachers in secondary schools to know the importance of motivation in student academic performance. It will also assist the parents on the need for them to encourage their students to engage more academically, while policy maker will also be able to encourage teachers through seminars and workshop, all this and more shall be the major purpose of this study.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study is delimited to Ogun State senior secondary school students while it focuses on students in Ijebu North Local Government as sample for this research work.
1.7 Operational Definition of Terms
Achievement: This means to succeed in academic performance or to accomplish a task successfully.
Motivation: This refers to providing students with an incentive to do something or encourage student to perform better academically.
Academic Engagement: This refers to how student pay attention, put effort and the time he/she spend on his/her educational career in accounting.
Academic Performance: This refers to how student achieve in his/her educational career in financial accounting.
Financial Accounting: This is one of the vocational subjects in senior secondary schools.