Chapter ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the
study
Education is
an instrument that not only fills the missing links and gaps created due to a
fast paced life, but also creates general awareness about changing scenario.
Education is the axis around which revolves the fullness of human being and
education forms an effective means to improve the status of character of living
patterns of the pupil, helps in intellectual, social and emotional development
and enables them to meet their basic needs. Thus education is an indispensable
instrument for stability and progress of individual as well as society. In
education, effective learning not only depends upon good teaching but also on
satisfactory learning procedure i.e. good reading habits.
Over the
years, the issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been
of much concern to all stakeholders involved. The problem is so much that it
has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in Nigeria at
large. Employers of labour no longer believe in the capacity of various
educational institutions to provide graduates who are worth their salt or
termed “employable”. Various issues have been pointed out as causative factors
for this and one germane factor out of all is the issue of study habit.
According to
Aristotle, habit is what we repeatedly do. Habits generate other habits.
Inspiration is what gets us started, motivation is what keeps us on track, and
habit is what makes us automatic. Anything we practice long enough becomes
ingrained into our system and becomes a habit. Students are basically having
their own individual differences. It all depends upon their ability and
capacity. We do observe that some students have the habit of studying daily
lessons regularly. Academic performance is defined as excellence in all
academic discipline rather than fatalistically accepting it and competing
against some standard of excellence (Chamundeswari 2014).
Reading
habits are defined as those techniques, such as summarizing, note taking,
outlining or locating material which learners employ to assist themselves in
the efficient learning of the material at hand. The term “Study Habit” implies
a sort of more or less permanent method of studying. According to Good’s
dictionary of education, “Study habit is the tendency of pupil to study when
the opportunities are given, the pupil’s way of studying whether systematic or
unsystematic, efficient or inefficient.”Study-habits are the essence of a
dynamic personality. A proper reading habits enables an individual to reap a
good harvest in future.
Study habit is a process from
which an individual gets proper input to feed his hunger and to quench his
thrust for knowledge. The reading habits thus are of great assistance to
actualize the potentialities of the individual (suresh 2013).
Reading
habits and skills are particularly important for undergraduate students, whose
needs include time management, note taking, Internet skill, the elimination of
distractions, and assigning a high priority to study. Fielden (2004) states
that good reading habits help the student in critical reflection in skills
outcomes such as selecting, analyzing, critiquing, and synthesizing. Nneji
(2002) states that reading habits are learning tendencies that enable students work
privately. Azikiwe (1998) describes reading habits as the way and manner a
student plans his or her private reading outside lecture hours in order to
master a particular subject or topic. Reading habits help students master their
areas of specialization.
Bakare
(1977) in his study habit inventory pointed out eight key sources of poor
academic achievement. Study habit problems associated with student’s response
to home work and assignments; reading and note taking and study period
procedure; student’s concentration; towards examination and teachers’
consultation. The inability to utilize effectively and positively these sources
of study problems may stand in the way of effective study and good performance
among the students.
The
relationship between study habit and students’ academic performance has for
long has received attention from scholars and educational agencies. Nuthane
& Yenage (2009) has examined the causes of poor academic performance among
university undergraduates. Some of these factors identified are intellectual
ability, poor reading habits, achievement motivation, lack of vocational goals,
self concept, low socio- economic status of the family, poor family structure
and so on.
The concept
of study habit comprises the concept of study attitude, study method and study
skill. Attitude towards study has great contribution in academic achievement
and good study pattern. Successful students adopt positive attitude towards
study and do not waste time or energy. However, there are still myriads of
cases of failure recorded, and then the question is what are the successful
students doing differently from those who fail? Owing to this, there is the
need to study the effect of reading habits on academic performance.
1.2 Statement of the
problem
A great deal of research provides evidence
that reading habits and study attitudes are both significant variables, which
determine the academic performance of students. Yet, in spite of the perceived
importance of reading habits and study attitudes to academic achievement, it
seems that education institution still pay little attention to understanding
these factors (Baquiran, 2011).Classroom observations show that under the same
conditions, namely same professor, same subject, same teaching system, same
administration, same enrollment criteria, same time of the day for an specific
course and same education level, some students perform well while others do
not. The question arises as to what are the aspects that influence this
difference in performance, and what is the best way to arrange the study
process of multicultural groups of college students, so that all learn and perform
accordingly with schools’ expectations. Conditions, namely same lecturers, same
course, same teaching system, same administration, same enrollment criteria,
same time of the day for an specific course and same education level, some
students perform well while others do not. The question arises as to what are
the aspects that influence this difference in performance, and what is the best
way to arrange the study process of university undergraduates, so that all
learn and perform accordingly with schools’ expectations.
Hence, it is
considered important to know what habits university undergraduates have and, in
case of low-performing students, which of those habits need to be changed in
order to improve performance. The importance of improving habits lays in their
relationship with attitudes, which are deemed important for achieving high
academic performance.
1.3 Objectives of the
study
The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of reading
habits on the academic performance. However, this study certifies the following
objectives;
1. Investigate the relationship
between study habit and student’s academic performance.
2. To assess the reading habits
of University undergraduates;
3. Compare the academic
performance of undergraduates who have developed a study habit and those who do
not have study habit;
4. Assess factors influencing
students study habit;
1.4 Research questions
1. Is there any relationship
between study habit and academic performance of university undergraduates?
2. How does the study habit of
male and female university undergraduates affect their performance?
1.5 Research hypotheses
H01– There is no significant relationship between
study habit and academic performance of university undergraduates.
H02-There is no significant
difference between the study habit of male and female university undergraduates
andtheir academic performance.
1.6 Significance of the
study
This study
will be useful to many people who may want to know the factors that could make
or mar student’s academic performance.
It attempts
to combine study skills with study habit and how they both affect academic
performance of students. Study skills such as note taking skills, reading
skills, writing skills etc. are all significant when we talk of academic
performance as a student who is deficient in any of these would not have
perform well academically.
It will
provide valuable information about the effects of poor study habit on the
academic performance of students. The study will attempt to give various
effects of poor reading habits on academic performance such as academic failure
etc.
Education
institutions as well as students and society may benefit from the results of
this investigation. Institutions may benefit with data that may allow them to
evaluate their current admission policies and counseling programs, teachers may
find this research useful to design more suitable classroom practices and
students may have a clearer idea of the challenges they may face based on their
current reading habits and hence prepare better to perform well during the
whole study period, and finally, society may benefit by receiving young
professionals that are better prepared for the day-to-day challenges on global
working environments.
It will
serve as resource materials for others who want to carry out research in
related field
1.7 Scope of the study
The scope of this study focus on all
Olabisi Onabanjo University Undergraduates, which comprise all the students
from all the faculties.
1.8 Operational
definition of terms
Reading habits: These are mainly external
factors that facilitate the study process such as sound study routines that
include how often a student engage in studying sessions, review the material,
self-evaluate, rehears explaining the material, and studying in a conducive environment.
Academic performance: This refers to the performance
that falls within specified standard. The specified standard is usually called
pass mark and the pass mark is score above average which students are
considered having passed and below which students are considered having failed.
Undergraduates: These are students at a
university who have not yet received a degree.