Influence of Study Habits on Academic Performance of Junior High School Students in the

Gomoa West District of Ghana

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCation, winneba

INFLUENCE OF STUDY HABITS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE GOMOA WEST DISTRICT

FELICITY AKPENE AKAGAH

2011

university of education, winneba

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION

INFLUENCE OF STUDY HABITS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE GOMOA WEST DISTRICT

By

FELICITY AKPENE AKAGAH

B.Ed. (BASIC EDUCATION)

A Thesis in the Department of PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION, Faculty of

EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, Submitted to the School of Research and Graduate Studies of the
University of Education, Winneba, in partial fulfilment for the award of the Degree of MASTER
OF PHILOSOPHY IN GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

OCTOBER, 2011

Declaration

STUDENT’S DECLARATION

I, FELICITY AKPENE AKAGAH, declare that this thesis, with the exception of quotations and
references contained in published works which have all been identified and acknowledged, is
entirely my own original work, and it has not been submitted, either in part or whole for another
degree elsewhere.
Candidate’s Signature…………………....... Date…………………………

SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION

I, hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this thesis was supervised in accordance
with the guidelines and supervision of thesis laid down by the University of Education, Winneba.

Supervisor’s Name: Dr. S. Asare-Amoah

Signature……………………………… Date…………………………..

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My special thanks go to God almighty, the giver of life for His love and mercy upon my life. I
want to appreciate Dr. Pauline B. Eddet and Professor J.K. Talabi, who took their time to
supervise and guide me throughout the initial stage of this research. God richly bless you. I wish
to thank the Head of Department (Professor J.K. Abooagye) and staff of the Department of
Psychology and Education for imparting into me a great knowledge. I say thank you for your
support and encouragement.

I also extend a special thanks to other supervisors, for their immense assistance and
encouragement, Dr. S. Asare-Amoah, Dr. Antwi Danso. Dr. Agu Ngozi. I say thanks for your
support. Special thanks go to Dr. Richard Ofori for his continuous guidance and support. I am
grateful for your immense assistance and spending valuable time and energy in reorganizing and
reshaping my ideas to this far. God bless you all.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to God Almighty for how far He has brought me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

contents page

Declaration … … … … … … … … … ii

Acknowledgement … … … … … … … … iii

Dedication … … … … … … … … … iv

Table of Contents … … … … … … … … v
List of Tables … … … … … … … … … ix

Abstract … … … … … … … … … x

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction… … … … … … … … … 1

1.2 Background to the Study… … … … … … … 1

1.3 Statement of the Problem… … … … … … … 9

1.4 Purpose of the Study… … … … … … … … 10

1.5 Objectives of the Study … … … … … … … 10

1.6 Research Hypotheses… … … … … … … … 10

1.7 Significance of the Study… … … … … … … 11

1.8 Delimitation of the Study … … … … … … … 12

1.9 Organization of the Study… … … … … … … 12

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction… … … … … … … … … 13

2.2 Habits Formation and Significance… … … … … … 13

2.2.1 Characteristics of Habits … … … … … … … 15

2.2.2 Importance of Habits … … … … … … … … 15

2.3 Concept of Study Habits… … … … … … … 16

2. 4 Study Habits of Students and Their Significance… … … … 19

2.4.1 Developing Good Study Habits … … … … … … 20

2.5 Factors Influencing Study Habits of Junior High School Students… … 21

2.5.1 Other Factors that Influence Study Habits of Junior High School Students… 22

2.5.1.1 Gender and Study Habits of Students… … … … … 22

2.5.1.2 Study Habits and Socio-economic Status of Parents … … … 22

2.6 Concept of Academic Performance… … … … … … 24

2.7 Factors Influencing Academic Performance of Junior High School Students… 25

2.7.1 Parent’s Level of Education and Academic Performance of Students… 27

2.7.2 Parental Income or Occupation and Academic Performance of Students… 28

2.7.3 Type of Size of Family and Academic Performance of Students... ... 30

2.7.4 Ordinal Position and Academic Performance of Students… … … 32

2.7.5 Gender and Academic Performance of Students … … … … 33

2.7.6 Age and Academic Performance of Students… … … … 36

2.8 Study Habits and Academic Performance of Junior High School Students… 37

2.9 Other Dimensions of Study Habits… … … … … … 39

2.9.1 Homework/Assignments and Academic Performance… … … 39

2.9.2 Time Allocation and Academic Performance… … … … 43

2.9.3 Reading Note-Taking and Academic Performance… … … … 45

2.9.4 Mental Concentration and Academic Performance… … … … 47

2.10 Theoretical Framework of the Study… … … … … … 48

2.10.1 Thorndike’s Theory of Reinforcement… … … … … 48

2.10.1.1 How Thorndike’s Law of Learning Relates to Students’ Study Habits… 52

2.10.2 Hull’s Theory… … … … … … … … 54

2.11 Summary… … … … … … … … … 56
CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY… … … … … … … … 57

3.1 Introduction… … … … … … … … … 57

3.2 Research Design… … … … … … … … 57

3.3 Population of the Study … … … … … … … 58

3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedures… … … … … … 58

3.5 Area of Study… … … … … … … … … 59

3.6 Instrumentation… … … … … … … … … 60

3.6.1 Validity… … … … … … … … … 61

3.6.2 Reliability… … … … … … … … … 63

3.7 Mode of Data Collection … … … … … … … 63

3.8 Data Analysis Procedure … … … … … … … 64

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS… … … … ... 65

4.1 Introduction… … … … … … … … … 65

4.2 Biographical Characteristics of Respondents… … … … … 65

4.3 Analysis of Hypotheses... … … … … ... ... 69

Hypothesis One… … … … … … … … … 69

Hypothesis Two… … … … … … … … … 70

Hypothesis Three… … … … … … … … … 72

Hypothesis Four… … … … … … … … … 73

4.4 Discussion of Results … … … … … ... ... ... 74

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS … … 79

5.1 Introduction… … … … … … … … … 79

5.2 Summary… … … … … … … … … 79

5.3 Main Findings… … … … … … … … … 81

5.4 Conclusions… … … … … … … … … 81

5.5 Implication for Counselling… … … … … … … 82

5.6 Recommendations… … … … … … … … 82

5.7 Suggestions for Further Studies… … … … … … 84

REFERENCES… … … … … … … … … 85

APPENDICES… … … … … … … … … 100

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Distribution of student population by circuit and sample … … 58

Table 3.2: Item listings, factor loadings and communalities for the

three-factor PC solution… … … … … … ...

Table 4.1: Age range of students … … … … … … … 62

Table 4.2: Sex of students… … … … … … … … 66 Table 4.3: Parents’ level of education… …

… … … … 67

Table 4.4: Father’s sector of occupation … … … … … … 68

Table 4.5: Mother’s sector of occupation … … … … … … 68

Table 4.6: Multiple Regression on study habits of students…. … … 69

Table 4.7: Independent Samples (t-test) of sex differences in students’ study

habits… … … … … … … … … 71
Table 4.8: Independent Samples (t-test) of age differences in students’ study

habits… … … … … … … … … 72

Table 4.9: Independent Samples (t-test) of quality of study in students’ academic performance …
… … … … … … .... 74

ABSTRACT

The main objective of this study was to find out the influence of study habits on academic
performance of junior high school students. In all, 420 respondents comprising junior high
school form two (JSH 2) students were involved in the study. The purposive and simple random
sampling techniques were used to select students for the study. A questionnaire, Study Habits
Inventory (SHI) was the main instrument used for data collection. Data from the questionnaire
were coded, categorized and analysed using multiple regression and independent samples t-test.
The main findings revealed that despite other dimensions of study habits thus; examination,
homework and assignment, reading and note-taking, concentration, only time management
explains the bulk of the variables that predicts students’ study habits. Therefore, for an excellent
performance, there is the need for students to form good study habits in respect of the other
dimensions. Also, male students use time management related study habits more than their
female counterparts. Based upon the findings, it was recommended that all stake holders in
education i.e. parents, teachers and government should encourage students in their respective
areas of responsibilities, such as providing study materials, conducive place of study,
recognizing excellence, appreciating students hardwork as soon as possible among others. These
will help to motivate the students positively towards their study. More so, it is important for
female students whose studies are negatively influenced by femininity to be encouraged to work
hard as academic is not only reserved for men.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Education is the process of developing the capacities and potentials of the individual so as to
prepare that individual to be successful in a specific society or culture. From this perspective,
education is serving primarily as an individual developmental function. Education begins at birth
and continues throughout life. It is constant and ongoing. Schooling generally begins somewhere
between the ages of four and six when children are gathered together for the purpose of specific
guidance related skills and competencies that society deems important. In the past, once the
formal primary and secondary schooling was completed the process was finished. However, in
today’s information age, adults are quite often learning in informal setting throughout their
working lives and even into retirement.

Education, in its broadest sense, may be defined as a process designed to inculcate the
knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their
environment (Abdulkareem, 1990). Its primary purpose is to foster and promote the fullest
individual self-realization for all people. Achieving this goal requires understanding of
commitment to the proposition that education is a primary instrument for social and economic
advancement of human welfare (Verma, 1990). The world is becoming more and more
competitive and quality of performance has become the key factor for personal progress. Parents
desire that their children climb the ladder of academic performance to as high a level as possible.
This desire for a high level of performance puts a lot of pressure on students, teachers, and
schools and in general, the education system itself. It appears as if the whole system of education
revolves round the academic performance of students, though various other outcomes are also
expected from the system. Thus, a lot of time and effort of the schools are used in helping
students to achieve better in their scholastic endeavours. The importance of scholastic and
academic performance has raised important questions for educational researchers (Ramaswamy,
1990).

Jimoh (2000) also described education as the totality of the experiences made available to
individuals in formal or informal situations, to make them develop a rounded personality and to
be useful to themselves and the society at large. From what has been said, it can be concluded
that education, inculcates the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to
cope effectively with their environment. Considering the numerous advantages that are derived
from education, no amount of resources expended on it can be described as too much. For that
matter, a person’s education is closely linked to life chances, income level and well-being (Battle
& Lewis, 2002). Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of what benefits or
hinders one’s educational attainment. Parents and guardians send their children to school to
acquire relevant educational skills, knowledge and good morals so as to be useful to themselves
and the society. However, reports on the high rate of poor academic performance in junior high
schools are of great concern to many Ghanaians.

Although education is not the only road to success in the working world, much is made to
identify, evaluate, track and encourage the progress of students in schools. Parents care about
their children’s academic performance because they believe good academic results will provide
more career choices and job security. Schools invest in fostering good academic performance for
the same reason, and are also often influenced by concerns about the school’s reputation and
possibility of monetary aid from government institutions which can hinge on the overall
academic performance of the schools. Good academic performance usually brings satisfaction
and happiness to the individual and to the family as a whole. Research has established that
students’ academic performance is the product of an inter-play of factors like good and effective
study habits and skills, good teachers, and congenial school and home environment (Onocha &
Okpala, 1985; Soyibo, 1986; Odebumni, 1988; Ajayi, 1988). Thus, students’ poor performance
in an examination could be attributed to teacher non-performance, poor study habits, and
uncongenial learning environment.

When good performance is not attained, the individual and other family members experience
feelings of anxiety concerning the individual’s academic world. It is expedient to state here that
the need to improve academic performance is one of the basic objectives of educating the
students. In every school setting, academic performance is what each student strives to achieve,
and the attainment of good performance can only be enhanced through good study habits.
Several studies (Akinboye, 1980; Adetola 1988; Pinda, 2000) have established that students’
academic performance is highly influenced by their study habits. Specifically, Bakare (1977)
stressed that the study habits of students cannot be ignored from their academic performance
because success in academic endeavours depends largely on reading in the search of knowledge
and facts. Anameze (2001) noted that since education is regarded as an agent of national
development, factors that promote academic performance such as effective study habits among
students should be encouraged. According to Anameze, the promotion of effective study habits
among students should be of profound interest to all stakeholders in the field of education.
Akinboye (1980) however, opined that academic performance manifest itself in the type of study
habits the junior high school student adapts. In spite of attempts made by teachers and the
government of Ghana by committing a third of the nation’s budget to education, students’ study
habits have negatively impacted on students’ performance in examinations. Writing on the topic
‘‘Poor Academic Performance among Students in the Ashanti Region’’ in the Friday April 29,
2011 issue of the Ghana News Agency, Agyemang-Mensah (2011, April 29) complained about
poor academic performance of public basic schools in the region. According to Agyemang-
Mensah, poor academic performance is as a result of students’ inability to develop good study
habit procedures.

Elsewhere, in Nigeria, research findings and practical experiences suggest that many secondary
school students have defective study habits. For instance, Nwani (1985) noted that poor
academic performance is widespread among students in Nigerian schools. According to Nwani,
poor academic performance is among those factors that are responsible for students’ maladaptive
behaviours especially in schools. This is not different from Ghanaian junior high school in the
sense that poor academic performance of students has been of much concern to all and sundry.
The problem is so much that it has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in the
Gomoa West District at large. For example, students’ academic performance in both internal and
external examinations had been used to determine excellence in the output of work by teachers
and methods used in teaching (Ajao, 2001).

Many studies have been carried out which make it available today of an important catalogue on
study habits (Ogunmakin, 2001; Kumar, 2002; Gbore, 2006). It is argued that study habits have
strong relationship with academic performance of students while other researchers (Owolabi,
1996; Whihite & D’ Onofrio, 1993) suggest that it is the combination of the study habits and
other factors that could explain students’ academic performance in any course of study. It is
believed that when students in the school setting study hard their grades would improve.
Consequently, effective study habits are said to promote academic performance among students
(Robbins, 2002). It is recognized that the study behaviour adopted by students ultimately bring
about the desired performance such as grades in school. Appraising this, Azikiwe (1998, p. 106)
describes study habits as “the adopted way and manner a student plans his private readings, after
classroom learning so as to attain mastery of the subject.” According to Azikiwe, “good study
habits are good assets to learners because they (habits) assist students to attain mastery in areas
of specialization and consequent excellent performance, while the opposite constitute constraints
to learning and performance leading to failure” (p. 106). Good (1998) on the other hand, defines
study habits as the student’s way of study whether systematic, efficient or inefficient. Good,
further explains that good study habits produce positive academic performance while inefficient
study habits lead to academic failure.

Many students perform poorly academically, due to factors other than low intellectual capacity.
One such factor is poor study habits, which often result in poor academic performance even
among the naturally bright students. So, study habits serve as the vehicle of learning which may
be seen as both means and ends of learning and they play a very important role in the life of
students. Success or failure of each student depends upon his or her own study habits. Some
students study more but they fail to achieve more while others study less but achieve more.
Success of each student definitely depends upon ability, intelligence and effort. Study habits are
intended to elicit and guide one’s cognitive processes during learning. Study habits are
influenced by attitudes, personality traits, and levels of aspirations, teaching methods adopted
and material they are to learn. For this matter, it is the effort of teachers to develop good study
habits among junior high school students.

In contemporary Ghanaian society, there are many factors considered to be influencing the
ability of students to cultivate effective and efficient study habits. For instance, Etsey; Amedahe
and Edjah (2004) in their study of some private and public schools in Ghana revealed that
academic performance is better in private schools due to more effective supervision of work.
Thus, effective supervision improves the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom
(Neagley & Evans, 1970). Eamon (2005) sees the importance of environmental influence as a
major factor in the development of students’ study habits. Jeynes (2002) submits that the
environment of most students is not conducive for studying. Trawick (1999) posits that problems
related to students’ study habits are associated with student’s response to homework and
assignments, reading and note-taking, time allocation, study period procedures, students’
concentration towards examination and consultation with teachers. The inability to utilize
effectively and positively these sources of study problems may stand in the way of effective
study and good performance among junior high school students.

In addition to the above Bakare (1977) explained further that there are many factors affecting
study orientation expressive of study habits and attitudes of students. Individual differences,
effective usage of time, note-taking, study habits training, teacher, family, proper study
environment, homework, using library, reading, listening and writing are outstanding common
factors. However, interest and will are very important determinant factors of study habits and
attitudes. It is revealed that students who have inner control do not need to be controlled too
often when they undertake an assignment but students who are controlled with outer factors such
as teacher or parents’ encouragement need guidance and encouragement too often to perform
academically (Bacanli, 2002).

Gender has been identified as one of the variables that are related to differences found in
academic performance of students. Different researches have demonstrated the existence of
different attribution patterns in boys and girls, such that while girls tend to give more emphasis
to effort when explaining their performance (Lightbody, 1996; Georgiou, 1999; Powers &
Wagner, 1984), boys appeal more to ability and luck as causes of their academic performance
(Burgner & Hewston, 1993). Although the literacy rate is more among boys than girls; it is quite
interesting to observe that girls are securing better ranks than boys in almost all competitive
examinations. Earlier, some research findings reported that intelligence was the only factor that
causes gender variations among high achievers (Robinson, 1970). Later, some attributed familiar
factors like parental aspiration, beliefs and their socioeconomic status as the main factors that
cause age and gender differences among high achievers (Malathi, 1987).There is increasing
evidence that females are outperforming males in secondary education across a range of subjects
(Malathi, 1987). Several studies have been undertaken examining the impact of gender on
undergraduate engineering performance, ranging from early year performance to that of later
years, with conflicting results (Robinson, 1970). Some of the literature suggests that gender
differences are dependent on the type of assessment utilized, reporting that females tend to
perform better than males in coursework. For many years, educators have been concerned with
differences in the enrollments and performances of gender in engineering.

Academic performance is affected by many factors such as motivation, student ability, the
quality of secondary education received. Grades depend not only on how much students know
but also on conformity to institutional demands, such as whether students follow the teacher's
directions and turn in assignments on time (Bacanli, 2002). Family background is a key factor to
a student’s life outside of school and it is one of the most important influences on students’
learning and includes factors such as socio-economic status, two-parents versus single-parents
households, divorce, parenting practices and aspirations, maternal characteristics, family size and
neighbourhood (Majoribanks, 1996). The environment at home is a primary socialization agent
and influences a student’s interest in school and aspirations for the future. The socio-economic
status of a student is most commonly determined by combining parents’ educational level,
occupational status and income level (Jeynes, 2002).

Intelligence, attitudes, aptitudes and interests are patterned by socio-economic background of the
individual. Regarding this phenomenon, Jeynes (2002) noted that socio-economic status includes
both the social and economic status of the individual in the group. The variations in performance
are also due to the differences in socio-economic status of students, differential treatment given
by parents, parent’s educational level, and influence of the surroundings among others. This view
point perfectly supports the argument of Telford and Sawrey (1964) who emphasized that
students belonging to higher socio-economic status are not only brilliant but also are provided
better opportunities for developing intellectually, physically and emotionally. The type of
intellectual environment in the home will definitely have an impact on the student’s academic
performance.

The enhancement of academic success can be achieved through effective study habits. Lack of
effective study habits among students result in poor academic performance. It is believed that
better academic performance requires hard work, a sense of commitment, dedication, sacrifice
and above all effective study habits. Therefore, serious planning and a positive attitude towards
one’s study should be encouraged among students to ensure good academic performance.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Due to the increasing nature of poor academic performance among junior high school students
especially in external examinations like the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE),
many educationists tend to shift the blame on the teaching methodology adopted by teachers and
lack of funds from the government to provide quality textbooks. However, these might not be the
main reasons why students perform poorly in examinations. Some factors pointed out by
researchers as having impact on students’ study habits and academic performance are lack of
good and effective study skills and well equipped libraries. Observations and interactions with
students indicate that most junior high school students have poor study habits which might lead
to poor academic performance. It is against this background that the study was conducted to
determine if study habits significantly have any influence on the academic performance of junior
high school students in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region on Ghana.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence the study habits on academic
performance of junior high school students in the Gomoa West district.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The primary aim of this study is to examine the influence of study habits on students’ academic
performance. This general aim is expressed in the following specific objectives which are to:

1. Assess the study habits of junior high school students in the Gomoa West district.

2. Examine the relationship between sex differences in study habits of students.

3. Compare the age differences in study habits of students.

4. Assess the relationship between the quality of study habits and academic performance of
students.

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated and tested:

1. There will be a significant effect of students’ study habits on their academic performance.

2. There will be a significant relationship between sex differences in study habits of students.

3. There will be a significant age difference in study habits of students.

4. There will be a significant relationship between quality of study habits and academic
performance of students.

1.6 Significance of the Study

* The findings of this research are intended to add to the existing information on the influence of
study habits on academic performance of junior high school students.

* It will be significant to students, teachers, parents, school counsellors, policy makers and the
government in assisting and encouraging students to realize the importance of study habits on
their academic performance. Students will benefit more from the findings of this study as they
will be offered the necessary assistance as and how to develop good study habits which will help
to improve upon their academic performance. Students will also be given information on how
study habits affect their academic performances and the results of this study will make them
aware of the common study habits among other co-students.

* The study will guide teachers and school counsellors who always have the desire to see their
students perform well by giving them the right techniques of developing study habits. It will
again help teachers in understanding better the diversity of learning in students and as such,
develop more effective methodologies in teaching their subject matter for better understanding of
students.

* Parents on the other hand will be accorded the opportunity to play their roles in providing
motivation and rewards to students to encourage the formation and maintenance of good study
habits among students at the family level.

* Also, the study will help the government to provide the needed learning materials and facilities
to motivate students to enhance the development of good study habits.

* More so, the study will serve as a guide and resource document to policy makers and
stakeholders in developing curriculum materials and text books, taking into consideration
students’ needs and aspirations as they study to pass their examinations both at the secondary
and tertiary levels.

1.7 Delimitations of the Study

Even though the study involved all junior high schools in the Gomoa West District, it was
limited to only junior high school form two (JHS 2) students. The sample size consisted of 420
students from selected schools within the district.

1.8 Organization of the Study

The study was presented in five chapters. The first chapter constituted the introduction, and
comprised the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research
hypotheses, significance of the study, as well as delimitation of the study. The second chapter
constituted a review of related literature on concept of study habits, factors influencing study
habits of students, concept of academic performance, factors influencing academic performance
of students, other dimensions of study habits as well as theoretical framework and summary of
the literature reviewed. In chapter three, the methodology for the study was explained. This
comprised the research design, population, sample and sampling procedure, instrumentation,
validity, reliability and mode of collecting data and its analysis. Chapter four dealt with data
presentation and analysis, and finally, the fifth chapter discussed summary of findings,
conclusions, recommendations, and suggestions for further research.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the review of related literature and contains information gathered from
books and other periodicals, on-line sources and varied unpublished materials that provided the
researcher with the necessary background knowledge to follow the study. It was organized under
the following sub-themes:

* Habit Formation and Significance

* Concept of Study Habits

* Study Habits of Students and their Significance

* Factors Influencing Study Habits of Junior High School Students

* Other Factors that Influence Study Habits of Junior High School Students

* Concept of Academic Performance

* Factors Influencing Academic Performance of Junior High School Students

* Study Habits and Academic Performance of Junior High School Students

* Other Dimensions of Study Habits

* Theoretical Framework of the Study

* Summary
2.2 Habits Formation and Significance

Habit refers to a practice or usual behaviour that cannot be easily given up. A researcher such as
Onyejiaku (1987) equates habit formation to learning. Despite the disparity in meaning and
conceptualization, one central issue is that habits are practices or usual behaviours that cannot be
easily given up. Bernard (1990) defined habit as an act or patterns of behaviour that have
outcome so easy, through practice, that they occur spontaneously or automatically in a given
situation without conscious thought or concentration.

Habits save time and make for economy of action, devotion of time and thoughts in order to
obtain knowledge and have a close examination of a subject especially from books (Denga,
1998). It is argued that behaviour that is reinforced tends to become habitual. Reinforcement
increases the probability that any given response will be repeated (Iheanacho, 2002). Given the
above position, habit formation can best be appreciated and understood when one considers that
a motivated behaviour needs to be sustained for a considerable period of time before one can
rightly say that it is a habit. Forming and maintaining good study habits, therefore, demands a
greater degree of competence and an exact knowledge of what to do when students read.
Regarding this phenomenon, Hornby (1998) noted that “study” is a special type of reading that
requires devotion of time and especially, attention to acquiring knowledge from books.

Students’ attributions to failure are also important influences on habit formation. When students
have a history of failure in school, it however, encourages them to sustain the motivation to keep
trying. Students who believe that their poor performance is caused by factors out of their control
are unlikely to see any reason to hope for an improvement in study habit formation. In contrast,
if students attribute their poor performance to a lack of important skills or to poor study habits
formation, they are more likely to persist in the future. Teachers can communicate a range of
attitudes about whether ability is fixed or modifiable and their expectations for individual
students through their instructional practices (Graham, 1990). This would enable students to
develop good attitude towards study habit formation which in turn influence their academic
performance.

2.2.1 Characteristics of Habits

* Habits are not innate or inherited.

* They are performed every time in the same way.

* Habitual actions are performed with great ease and facility.

* Habit brings accuracy in the action.

* Habitual acts are performed with least attention or no attention.

* Nervous system is the principle factor in the formation of habits.

2.2.2 Importance of Habits

Through habit formation it is impossible to do more than one thing at a time. It is therefore
essential that, proper care should be taken to develop desirable habits of work, thought and
feeling in children from the very beginning. In the field of education too, habits exercise a strong
impact. The student who is habitual in concentration in studies for hours in school as well as at
home is not easily overcome by fatigue. Habits of thinking regularity, proper reasoning and
punctuality help the students in their proper adjustment and in learning and in achieving all the
essential knowledge and skills in a short time with great facility. The habit of reading journals,
newspapers, listening to radio, making analysis and also reading of classics, fictions among
others, must be cultivated in the student at school and carried through in the college and later in
life.

2.3 Concept of Study Habits

Study habits elicit and guide one's cognitive processes during learning and it plays a very crucial
role in the academic performance of students. In view of this, some researchers (Bernard, 1990;
Kendler, 1995; Onotsa & Okpala, 1985) have shown that students’ academic performance is the
product of an inter-play of factors like good and effective study habits and skills, teachers’
relationship with students and conducive school and home environment. Available literature on
study habits however, indicates that successful studying and understanding what is taught in
schools are paramount to obtaining good academic performance and participating fully in
society.

Asaqwara (1994) opined that a good study habit means overcoming all the competing attractions
with the study environment both internal and external such as watching movies while studying,
noise, reading other books, discussions and the state of mind of the learner. Mazuar (2000),
Asaqwara (1994) and Iheanacho (2002) further stressed the effect of bad study habits and
postulated that bad study habits make studies rigorous and painful. Amongst other drawbacks in
the system of education, the study habits of students play a vital role in reflecting the standard of
education and the student’s individual performance. Sorenson (1991) while outlining the good
basic study habits stated that one must study with the primary intention of understanding. This
requires one not to hurry in getting through, instead sustained concentration is necessary. Crow
and Crow (1992) opined that effective habits of study include plan/place, a definite time table
and taking brief of well-organized notes. According to Patel (1976), study habits include:
* Home environment and planning of work

* Reading and note-taking habits

* Planning of subjects

* Habits of concentration

* Preparation for examination

* General habits and attitudes

* School environment

Effective study habits result in positive learning outcomes while defective study habits result in
poor learning outcomes (Ezewu, 1987). Making a similar point, Kemjika (1998) said for study
habit to be considered effective, the following fundamental components and more should be
evidently present; drawing up and abiding to daily study schedule, full involvement in teaching
and learning processes, inculcating good reading habits, promptly doing and turning in class
work and assignment, jotting down points while the teacher is teaching and during private
studies. Good study habits are essential ingredients for excellent academic performances for
every student. This observation is in line with Onyejiaku (1987) who suggested that ineffective
study techniques are among the major factors responsible for poor grades or academic failures.

Azikiwe (1998, p. 106) on the other hand, sees study habits as “the adopted way and manner a
student plans his private readings, after classroom learning so as to master the subject. According
to Azikiwe, good study habits are “good asset to learners because they (habits) assist students to
attain mastery in areas of specialization and consequent excellent performance, while the
opposite constitute constraints to learning and performance leading to failure.” The main purpose
of instruction is to enable students to learn, whereas the teacher’s task is to facilitate the learning
process and help students develop study habits and right attitude towards learning.

Another point reasonably expressed is by Bojuwoye (1993) who asserted that one major area in
which students need preparation in order to improve their performance is in learning how to
study and that lack of effective study habits is a common educational problem among junior high
school students. Jacobson (1980) contended that students who allotted greater amount of time to
study exhibit greater performance gains. Although Svensson (1997) agreed that the relationship
between study habits and academic performance of students is paramount. Svensson criticized
earlier research efforts based on the fact that the variables used were theoretically imposed on the
phenomena.
For study to be effective, Freeman and Morss (1993) have observed that it should be regular,
intense and should cover long periods. The habits of studying must be a sustainable one, for that
matter students must see the need to develop good study habits. It is believed that good study
habits and positive attitude towards learning proven in many studies enhance the processes of
learning particular skills, including reasoning skills. Good study habits lead to enhancement in
learning, as “ability improves and sharpens through mastery of principles and by means of
training, exercise and constancy of application” (Ortinero, 2000, p. 56). Weiner’s (1972) study
postulates that ability, as well as effort given by students to their studies, affects the acquisition
of thinking skills and academic performance.

Study habits are important as they influence the academic performance of students so parents and
teachers must help in improving the study habits of students. Some investigators have sought to
determine what study habits are characteristically used by students when left to work by
themselves with little or no direction hence, teachers in schools should be facilitators of learning.
The finite treasure within every learner should be discovered and nurtured for the purpose of
improving effective study skills. Learning improves with planning of where, when and how
much to study.

2.4 Study Habits of Students and their Significance

The student’s approach to learning is highly individualistic with a wide variation of techniques.
One student may prefer the quiet library, another student the lounge, one may underline a text,
another takes note, one may study intensively for several hours, another may take several breaks
Onyejiaku (1987). The variations are endless and the education felt that the study process could
be more productive if learners were taught specific skills and techniques which would formalize
the study process and thereby make it more efficient. In the process of learning, habitual ways of
exercising and practicing their abilities of learning are considered as study habits of learners. The
pattern of behaviour adopted by students in the pursuit of their studies is considered under the
caption of their study habits (Jacobson, 1980)).

The efficient acquisition of knowledge depends upon the methods of acquiring study habits. It is
important and desirable that a probe into the pattern of study habits of students be made. Kholi
(1997) researched into the difference between Indian and Euro- American students in their study
habits and indicated that Indian student needs to be spoon-fed, but the Euro-American student
prefers independent study under the supervision of his or her teacher or master.

2.4.1 Developing Good Study Habits

Students in their childhood have more interest and self-discipline in everything and if parents and
teachers inculcate in them good habits, it will be useful in their future studies. According to
Kemjika (1998), these are some points to be used in developing good study habits among
students:

* Prepare a plan of action and budget the time properly for a day and a week as well.

* Give more time for studying difficult subjects in the time schedule and follow it as sincerely.

* Favourable environment gives good concentration.

* While studying, hold the book at an angle and about 25cm distance.

* Break the whole material into small paragraphs, practice summarizing each paragraph quickly
in the mind.

* Develop the attitude of questioning yourself and others about the point that you have read.

* Prepare brief notes of what you read, besides noting down the name of the book and page
numbers in it, if using other books.

* For rechecking, it is better you underline the important points, topics and questions.

* Memorize the formula, principles, symbols and rules that are needed again and again.

2.5 Factors Influencing Study Habits of Junior High School Students

Etsey (2004) suggest that the important factors that influence study habits of students are:

* Home is the first school for every child and the mother is the first teacher. If the home
environment is good, automatically the child’s nature in school will be good as well. Hence, the
relationship with family members such as parents, brothers and sisters influence the child’s
performance.

* After the home, the child spends more time in school and for that matter the school
environment should be good. The teachers and the peer group also play an important role in the
child’s study habits. Parents should keep an eye on the friends of their children because with
good friends, the child learns good habits.

* Curriculum is also one of the factors for developing good study habits. Curriculum should be
constructed on the standards of the child.
* Besides the above, personality of the student is a very important factor in developing good
study habits. If the student gets easily adjusted with the environment, that student develops good
study habits.

* If personality factors are good, the intelligence factors are also good. Intelligence also plays a
pivotal role in developing good study habits of the student. It is general observation that
intelligent students stand in top positions.

* Community is another important factor for developing good study habits. Community has to
arrange the community centres such as library facilities, community resource centres, and
information centres among others. A good community provides necessary facilities for the
development of good study habits.

* Apart from all the above factors, sex, caste, physical and social environment of the students
also influence their study habits.

2.5.1 Other Factors that Influence Study Habits of Junior High School Students

2.5.1.1 Gender and Study Habits of Students

The study habits of males and females in junior high schools have been widely studied, in part
because schools try to improve student’s success and retention rates. A recent study done in Iowa
by a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in higher education (Noel-Levitz, 2007)
indicated that first-year females bring stronger study habits to college, whereas first-year males
bring more confidence to their math and science classes. Wrenn and Humber (1991) in their
study on low and high scholarship found that women are poorer than men in study skills.
Vedavalli (1994) found that male college students had better study habits than female college
students. Florence and Ronald (1994) on the other hand, observed that the SSHA scores of
elementary boys differed from that of the girls and study habits are more popular in girls than
boys. Patel (1981) however, suggested that girls of both rural and urban areas were far better in
study habits than boys of those areas. To sum the literature up, some studies reveal that sex has
an independent effect on study habits.

2.5.1.2 Study Habits and Socio-economic Status of Parents

Socio-economic status refers to the position that an individual and family occupies with
reference to prevailing average standards, cultural possession and participation in group activity
of community. According to Caudhari (1998), socio-economic status includes both the social and
economic status of the individual in the group. The variations in performance of students are also
due to the differences in socio-economic status of students, differential treatment given by
parents, parent’s educational level, and influence of the surroundings and so on. Vijayalaxmi and
Natesan (1992) studied factors influencing academic performance of students from Coimbatore,
100 students studying in XI standard were selected for the study of which 50 were boys and 50
were girls. To assess the socio-economic status of the subjects, the socio-economic status scale
developed by Vendal (1981) was used. To assess the academic performance of the students, the
total marks obtained by the students in the quarterly and half yearly examination was taken.
Findings showed that girls had a higher mean academic performance compared to boys.

The type of intellectual environment in the home will definitely have an impact on the
performance of the student and this intellectual environment in turn is determined by intellectual
level of parents, parent’s education, occupation, income, size of the family. Adolescents are
highly influenced by society, socio-economic status, self-concept, study habits, emotional
maturity, which may enhance their academic performance or may disturb their academic
performance during high school period. Manchala (1996) reported in a study that there was no
significant influence of mother’s occupation on study habits of students, but father’s occupation
had significant influence on the study habits of students. Rao (1998) also in a research found that
there existed no difference either between students of employed and non-employed mothers in
their study habits.

2.6 Concept of Academic Performance

In educational situation, success is measured by academic performance or how well a student

meets standards set out by the local government and the institution itself. As career competition
grows ever fiercer in the working world, the importance of students doing well has caught the
attention of parents, legislators, and government departments alike. In the past, academic
performance was often measured more by ear than today. Teachers’ observations made up the
bulk of the assessment, and today’s summation, or numerical, method of determining how well a
student is performing is a fairly recent intervention. The tracking of academic performance
fulfills a number of purposes. Areas of achievement and failure in a student's academic
performance need to be evaluated in order to foster improvement and make full use of the
learning process. Results provide a framework for talking about how students fare in school, and
a constant standard to which all students are held. Academic performance also allow students to
be ranked and sorted on a scale that is numerically obvious, minimizing complaints by holding
teachers and schools accountable for the components of each and every grade
(http://www.ehow.com/about_4740750define-academic-performance.html#ixzz1F1aSG waE).

In Ghana, high cost of living and the rate of unemployment in the country contributed to the
decline in education which affects the performance of students’ results. In the late eighties, the
PNDC’s implementation policy on Structural Adjustment Programme led to retrenchment and
deployment of many Ghanaians. The policy brought many untold hardships, to parents especially
those who were under privileged. This made some parents poor and unable to afford good quality
of education for their ward.

Aniagyei (2004, p.6) posits that, “many parents and guardians tend to exploit their children in
income generating activities to the extent that instead of sending them to school, they send them
to farm to convey cocoa during harvest seasons.” Such treatments are the major contributory
factors leading to low performance in schools. Aniagyei further points out that these children
when they reached school are unable to put in their best due to tiredness, because they get dull
before they reach school in the morning. Tamakloe (2001, p. 88) puts it that “though the grade
for junior high school is 30, those who are able to make an average grade of 20, find it very
difficult to enter senior high school.” This is an indication that students must have time for their
books to learn in order to gain better grades in their school exams. Tamakloe urges teachers to
put in more efforts to teach effectively to lift their images and position as professional teachers.
In the Gomoa West District, most of the students are unable to enter senior high schools due to
poor academic performance and this could be attributed to number of factors like emotional
stress and strain, unhappy homes, gender issues, parents’ attitude and frustrations which students
pass through which discourage them to perform well.

2.7 Factors Influencing Academic Performance of Junior High School Students

Several factors have been identified as hampering academic work and students’ performance in
junior high schools. For instance, Etsey; Amedahe; & Edzah (2005) in their study of some
private and public schools in Ghana revealed that academic performance is better in private
schools due to more effective supervision of work. Thus, effective supervision improves the
quality of teaching and learning in the classroom (Neagley & Evans, 1970). Also, the attitude of
some public school teachers and authorities to their duties does not engender good learning
process for the students. Some teachers leave the classroom at will without attending to their
students because there is insufficient supervision by circuit supervisors. This lack of supervision
gives the teachers ample room to do as they please. Another factor is lack of motivation and
professional commitment to work by teachers (Young, 1989). This produces poor attendance and
unprofessional attitudes towards students by the teachers, which in turn affect the performance of
the students academically (Lockheed & Verspoor, 1991). Apart from all the aforementioned,
most public schools lack adequate infrastructure and educational facilities. For instance, reading
and learning materials are mostly hardly available, especially in rural areas. Also the size of each
class forms a critical determinant of students’ academic performance (Cochran-Smith, 2006). For
example, Kraft (1994) in his study of the ideal class size found that class sizes above 40 students
have negative effects on students’ academic performance. This is because of the possible
differences in interests and abilities of students, particularly in commanding attention in class
(Asiedu-Akrofi, 1978).

Parents and role models also form a very important aspect of a child‘s training, especially in their
formative years of life (Weiss & Schwarz, 1996). Some pundits have argued that a student’s
performance at school is indicative on the sort of parents or role models they have (Ausubel,
1973; Bucher, 1997; Loh, 2009; Weiss & Schwarz, 1996). The usefulness of modeling to a child
is that it bridges the gap between theory and practice, as abstract ideas become realities before
the very eyes of students (Ausubel, 1973). Bucher (1997), for example, revealed from a study
among some Austrian and German students (N = 1150) that those personalities of social nearness
to students (for example, parents) have greater model effect compared with religious models and
media personalities such as movie and television stars and sports figures (Bucher, 1997). It is
evident from this review that finding effective solution to improving academic performance of
students in Ghana is imperative (Okyerefo, 2005).

2.7.1 Parent’s Level of Education and Academic Performance of Students

Even though majority of the literature on parents’ education pertains to the direct, positive
influence on performance (Jimerson, Egeland, & Teo, 1999; Kohn, 1963; Luster, Rhoades, &
Haas, 1989), the literature also suggests that it influences the beliefs and behaviours of the
parent, leading to positive outcomes for children and youth (Eccles, 1993). For example,
Alexander, Entwisle and Bedinger (1994) found that parents of moderate to high income and
educational background held beliefs and expectations that were closer than those of low-income
families to the actual performance of their children, Low-income families instead had high
expectations and performance beliefs that did not correlate well with their children’s actual
school performance. Alexander et al. suggested that the parents’ abilities to form accurate beliefs
and expectations regarding their children’s performance are essential in structuring the home and
educational environment so that they can excel in post schooling endeavors.

Similarly, Halle, Kurtz-Costes and Mahoney (1997) using a sample of low-income minority
families, also found that mothers with higher education had higher expectations for their
children’s academic performance and that these expectations were related to their children’s
subsequent performance in mathematics and reading. Halle et al., found that these more positive
beliefs and expectations predicted higher amounts of performance-related behaviour by mothers
in the home as well as more positive perceptions of performance by the children.

Research on parenting also has shown that parent education is related to a warm, social climate
in the home. Smith and Klebanov (1997) found that both mothers’ education and family income
were important predictors of the physical environment and learning experiences in the home but
that mothers’ education alone was predictive of parental warmth. Smith and Klebanov (1997)
again found that the association of family income and parents’ education with children’s
academic performance was mediated by the home environment. The mediation effect was
stronger for maternal education than for family income. Thus, these authors posited that
education might be linked to specific performance behaviours in the home (for instance, reading,
playing). In the same way, Corwyn and Bradley (2002) also found that maternal education had
the most consistent direct influence on children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes with some
indirect influence through a cognitively stimulating home environment. Corwyn and Bradley,
however, examined only two quite broad aspects of family mediators: learning stimulation and
parental responsibility. Mediation might have emerged if other parent behaviours and attitudes
were examined.

2.7.2 Parental Income or Occupation and Academic Performance of Students

Sundararajan and Lilly (1991) analyzed the study habits of 9th standard 480 (210 females and
270 males) students who were selected by using cluster sample technique from two urban and
two rural schools in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Study Habit Inventory of Mukopadhyaya
and Sansanwal (1983) were used in this study. The test of significance revealed that girls had
significantly better study habits than boys. But no significant difference was found between rural
and urban students with respect to their study habits. Mallika and Katyal (1993) found in another
study that daughters of working mothers exhibited more frustration as compared to the daughters
of non-working mothers. The first possible reason for such findings could be that the mother who
is working loses of lot of valuable time due to employment, which otherwise would have devoted
to her girl child.

Muller (1995) examined how parental involvement intervenes in the relationship between
maternal employment status and mathematics achievement in terms of educational adjustment of
8th grade students. Data on 13,831 students and their parents from the National Educational
Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS, 1988), base year and 1st year followed up were analyzed.
The findings showed that part time employed mothers generally had the highest levels of
involvement. Children performed better on base year tests when mothers were employed part
time or not employed.

Singh (1996) studied personality characteristics of school adolescents in relation to their

mother’s employment and sampled 200 students from schools of Agra (Bihar) of age 18 – 21
years and found that 100 students were of working mother’s group and 100 of housewives. Hindi
adaptation of 16 PF questionnaires was used. The results revealed that subjects of working
groups of mothers generally seemed to be out going, open minded, emotionally more stable,
bold, venture some, adaptive to change, independent in decision making and active, while
students of non-working group mothers were found more reserved, less out going, emotional,
shy, conservative, withdrawing, traditional oriented and depending. Budhdev (1999) also
conducted a study, which was designed to compare academic performance among students of
working and non-working mothers studying in secondary schools of Saurashtra region. Sample
included 307 girls of non-working mothers. Academic performance of the students of working
mothers was greater than the students of non-working mothers.

2.7.3 Type or Size of Family and Academic Performance of Students

There are different types of family structures and the size of the family has been found to play an
important role in the child’s academic performance. The structures are based on whether both
parents are involved in children's training or whether only one of the parents is involved in the
training of the children.

In the light of the above assumption, the following family structure types have been identified
(Colernan, 1988):

* Single parent families in which either of the father or mother is engaged in the training of the
children. This situation could arise as a result of death of either of the parents, divorce or as a
result of pregnancy arising from irresponsible sex or sex before marriages.

* Both-parent families: Here, the fathers and the mothers are involved, in the training of the
children. However the type of relationships that exist between the fathers and the mothers go a
long way in determining the performance of the children in school. Amato (1987) is of the view
that both parents may be living together but not intact in their engagements or commitments
towards child general training of children.

* Step-parent families: - This situation could arise from instances where either of the parents dies
and the remaining partner remarried so that the children are being taken care of by the new
partner. This is common where the mother dies and the father re-marries. The new wife now acts
as the mother to the children of the first wife. It is the same when a father dies and the wife re-
marries. The new husband now acts as the father to the children of the first husband.

As a result, the size of the family has been found to play an important role in the student’s
academic performance. Raj and Krishnan (1980) carried out a study to determine the relationship
between academic performances with family size. The sample consisted of 300 pupils (149 boys
and 151 girls) studying in standard IX of 8 secondary schools in Trivendrum city. The results
revealed that the correlation between academic performance and family size was negative and
significant. Similarly, Cherian (1990) in a study revealed a negative relationship between family
size of students and their academic performance. The sample consisted of 369 boys 652 girls in
the age range of 13 to 17 years who represented total 7 standard external examination conducted
by the Department of Education of the Government of Transkei was taken.

Many studies have revealed that children who grow up in single-parent families are less likely to
complete high school or even attend college than the children who grow up with both parents
(Amato, 1987). Bumpass (1984) posited that this relationship has aroused considerable concern
among policymakers and scholars. Especially in light of recent projections that half of all
children born in the last decade will spend some time living in a single-parent family before
reaching age 18. Education is a key factor which determines long-time economic success and the
association between family disruption and lower educational attainment raises the question of the
sharp increase in a family instability during the past two decades will have lasting negative
consequences on educational attainment of next generation (Chase-Landale, Lindsey &
Hetherington, 1988).

Garfinkel and Melanahan (1986) asserted that one reason why children from single-parent
families are less likely to finish high school is the precarious economic position of their families.
Mother-only families are more likely than other families to be poor, and their poverty is more
extreme than that of other groups (Beane & David, 1983).

Bumpass (1984) posited that even among single-parent families living above the poverty line,
income insecurity is a common place. Previous research into the intergenerational effects of
family disruption indicates that income account for between 30 and 50 percent of the difference
in high school among children from intact and non-intact families. Sociologists have to ask how
child rearing practices and parent-child relationship are affected by family position and single
parenthood and how these affect the longtime well-being of children. Children growing up in a
non-intact family are more likely to drop out of school (high school). This disengagement from
school is associated with the low education aspirations, since high aspirations are a critical factor
predicting education achievement (Sewell & Shah, 1968). A good measure of behavioural
disengagement is the student's attendance record; attitude towards working hard in school and
going to college are good indicators of the effective aspect of disengagement.

2.7.4 Ordinal Position and Academic Performance of Students

Ordinal position is another variable which affects the academic performance of junior school
students. The first born child occupies a unique position in the family structure. For at least a
year and probably more, he or she is the only child and receives all the attention that would
normally be disturbing among the children in the family. Due to increased contact with adults
and expected responsibility, one might expect the first born to have a high performance (Miner,
1968).

Miner (1968) conducted a study to find the relationship between birth order and the academic
performance of the students. The results revealed that first born children and children in small
families achieved a higher level than later born children in large families. Another study was
conducted by Munroe and Munroe (1984) on birth order and intellectual performance in three
east African societies. The sample consisted of 147 secondary school girls in the Gursii, Kipsigis
and Logli tribal areas in East Africa. The results indicated that overall school grades and
performance were negatively related to birth order in all the 3 societies indicating that birth order
was negatively related to academic performance of students.

Sputa (1995) also conducted a study on birth order and family size and its influence on
adolescent and related parenting behaviours. The samples were 195 IX grade boys and girls and
their parents from urban, sub-urban and rural communities in south east and Midwest Asia.
Questionnaires of adolescents and parent’s perception of parenting style and parental
involvement were used. Results showed that birth order and family size influence adolescent
academic performance.

2.7.5 Gender and Academic Performance of Students

Sex differences are given a “right” from creation (Denga, 1988). The influence of expected sex
difference in any society is felt right from the moment of birth (Pringle, 1974). Pringle
emphasizes this by saying that “one of the first questions asked at the birth of a baby is whether
the child is a boy or girl” and from then onwards parental attitude and expectations become
different according to the answer given and the way the child will be treated. Clothes, toys,
subtle punishments, and parental example surround the child with a world which clearly
distinguished behaviour expected from boys and girls.

In the larger society, different problems of abilities are seen as gender appropriate in any culture
and these relate to the expectations and stereotypes that the culture holds about gender roles.
Children learn to behave in the way their own society expects their gender to behave. Even the
home setting gives a lot of support to gender role differentiation. As noted above, parents behave
differently to children of different sexes with Siann and Ugwegbu (1980) observing that even
parents have been more responsive to boys than to girls. Also, in African traditional beliefs, the
girls are expected to be mothers and as such, restricted while the boys are given more freedom to
explore.
Regarding students’ attitude and behaviour toward study, gender role differentiation and gender
stereotyping have been found to be of significance. Bower (1979) contends that in this matter,
the female sex tends to be the most obvious victim. According to Bower, this is so because
society sees women primarily as wives and mothers while men are seen as husbands and fathers.
As a result, growing girls and boys make many critical decisions during their developmental
periods that would make them unsuitable. Further, Kagan and Moss (1992) maintained that the
issue of sex differentiation affects academic competitiveness. They conclude that matters
pertaining to academic exercise are viewed as unfeminine and therefore seen to decline
somewhat in girls from teenage to adulthood.

In addition, Brower (1979) maintains that sex, roles influence on changes in relative academic
performance and study is even more striking as it is noted that even when girls usually
outperform the boys at the age of nine or ten, such performance declines significantly behind by
late adolescence arguing that even school activities and subjects are also categorized to reflect
gender differences. Hence differences in students’ gender tend to influence students’ behaviour
toward study and attitude to learning. Researchers such as Onyejiaku (1982) have studied the
influence of sex difference on learning and particularly on the study habits of students. In the
study Onyejiaku conducted a study to determine the effect of students’ existing cognitive
structure on initial learning and retention of mathematics tasks, and found out that there was a
significant relationship between cognitive style and performance. In the study however, there
was the influence of sex difference in the pattern of performance in problem solving tasks like
mathematics.

Explaining such differences, Onyejiaku noted that early socialization process whereby girls in
their early development interact more with their mothers and spend most of their life in the
kitchen or home affect their spatial and verbal abilities tend to be encouraged whereas, boys who
are permitted to go out and mix freely tend to develop a higher spatial ability. Secondly,
Onyejiaku attributed the difference in performance to motivation which differentiates between
boys and girls in their mathematics task ability.

Also, Benz (1981) assessed the effect of the variables of students’ sex, grade level and
performance on teachers’ sex-role expectations. Two hundred (200) responses from 70
classroom teachers on the teacher sex-role perception inventory (an adaptation of the Ben sex
role inventory) were analyzed. Of the four variables considered, student performance alone was a
highly significant predictor. High-achieving students were classified androgynous and
masculine. Low achieving students were classified as permissive and undifferentiated. Ben
concluded that this negative relationship between the feminine sex-role and high performances
may be a factor in decline in female performance over grade level and study activities.
In addition, Bower (1979) contended that role can be changed and can only be changed with
some difficulties and an individual can change his study behaviour and thereby changes both the
way other people perceive him or her and his social role through modification, motivations and
reinforcement. The performance of every individual is not equal. There is a lot of variability and
dispersion. The variability cannot be attributed to a single factor, but it is the outcome of number
of factors as intelligence, study habits, self-concept, creativity, aptitude interests, socio-economic
factors, area among others.

Along with these gender of the child is also an influencing factor on Academic achievement of
the child. Singh (1984) made a survey on the study habits of high, middle and low achieving
adolescents in relation to their sex, intelligence and socio-economic status and found that study
habits of boys and girls differed significantly at different levels of academic performance.
However, Kaur and Gill (1993) revealed that performance in English and total performance of
students was independent of sex, but boys scored higher than girls in Mathematics and Science.

students. They found that study skill inventories and constructs are largely independent of both
high school grades and scores on standardized admissions tests but moderately related to various
personality constructs; these results were inconsistent with previous theories. Study motivation
and study skills exhibit the strongest relationships with both grade point average and grades in
individual classes. They also said that Academic specific anxiety was found to be an important
negative predictor of performance. In addition, significant variation in the validity of specific
inventories is shown. Scores on traditional study habit and attitude inventories are the most
predictive of performance, whereas scores on inventories based on the popular depth-of-
processing perspective are shown to be least predictive of the examined criteria. Overall, study
habit and skill measures improve prediction of academic performance more than any other
noncognitive individual difference variable examined to date and should be regarded as the third
pillar of academic success.

According to the how-to-study.com (2009), students who are very successful in their desired
career have good study habits. It is stated in the website that students apply these habits to all of
their classes. The website also recommends some tips in improving study habits. The website
also suggests that the student should try not to study all the subjects in just a period. The website
also added that if you try to do too much studying at one time, you will tire and your studying
will not be very effective. Space the work you have to do over shorter periods of time. Taking
short breaks will restore your mental energy.

A study conducted by University of Kentucky was to determine if the college success can be
improved with the Student Attitude Inventory (SAI). The inventory was developed in Britain and
contains 47 items which attempt to identify students in higher education on the basis of: (1)
motivation, (2) study methods, (3) examination technique, and (4) lack of distractions toward
academic work. Students in six Kentucky community colleges were asked to express their
attitudes toward study habits on the Student Attitude Inventory. There were 996 students in the
sample population (413 males and 583 females). A measure of ability (composite American
College Test score) and academic performance (cumula grade-point average) were obtained for
each student sampled. The Student Attitude Inventory did contribute a statistically significant
amount of variance beyond an ability measure for males and females. ( Mark E. Thompson,
2005)

According to Mark Crilly (2000), Successful students are able to balance social activities with
good study habits. A diversion from studies will alleviate stress and help prevent from becoming
fatigued. He said that a student should make sure that he must take a break for an hour after
studies to meet with friends, to play some cards, work out at the gym, or to gab with a new
acquaintance. For this way, that student will find concentration when he do study, if he plans a
social activity afterwards. He said, “To develop a healthy social life, develop routine study
habits. After supper, lug your books and homework to the library, find a comfortable and quiet
niche, and study for two or three hours, taking intermittent 10 minute breaks every 45 minutes or
so.” Making friends with whom you share similar study habits, and share a

table or a study space with them would be a best way in developing study

habits as what Mark said

2.7.6 Age and Academic Performance of Students

When referring to age in academic performance, it is relation between students at one age and
students at another age. Previous research has produced missed results between age and
performance (Ng & Feldman, 2008). According to Ng and Feldman, there are three most cited
quantitative review of this literature: one researcher found a moderate positive relationship
between age and performance (Waldman, 1986). McEyoy and Cascio (1989) on the other hand,
found that age was largely unrelated to performance while Sturman (2003) found that the age
and performance relationship took an inverted U-shape. In another study, Fodor and Carver
(2000) examined undergraduate students of both sexes in engineering and science from Clarkson
University, a predominantly technological university. Students completed the Thematic
Appreciation Test (TAT), which was scored for achievement motivation and creativity and
CGPA was used for educational evaluation. The statistical data analysis shows that there is no
difference in the overall creativity scores between boys and girls.
2.8 Study Habits and Academic Performance of Junior High School Students

Individual study habits play a pivotal role in determining a student’s academic performance. A
student’s progress or failure in the classroom depends upon several factors namely; interest in the
subject, study facilities, own study habits and so on. In Wrenn’s (1933) first study habits
inventory, the items were based on the responses of the high achieving and the low achieving
students who were matched with regard to their intelligence and major fields of study. Cuff
(1937) used a questionnaire to survey the study habits of grades IV to XII students. Half of the
total students (samples) were defective in their performance due to lack of study habits. Wrenn
and Humber (1941) showed that the study habits are associated with scholastic performance.
Statistically significant differences were reported between the study habits of the most successful
and the least successful students between the bright and the dull students. Carter (1950) in
another study conducted two study method tests on 800 Educational Psychology students. He
compared the study habit scores with the composite measures of performance. The correlation
ranged from 0.46 to 0.51. Burnette (1951) reported that the students taking how to study course
increased their cumulative grade point averages.

Christian (1983) in a study studied the academic performance and study habits of students in
relation to sex, socio economic status, age and school type using Patel (1976) Study Habits
Inventory and TAT test of Mehta on a sample of 79 girls and 68 boys. The analysis of variance
revealed that girls and boys had equally good study habits. The study suggested that study habits
are one of the important factors, which is helpful to achieve more in the promising field. Agarwal
(1983) also made a study on reading ability in relation to certain cognitive and non-cognitive
factors of students on a sample of 200 males and 200 female students of XI grade selected from
high schools in Bihar, India. The students completed a battery of reading ability tests, study
habits inventory, general intelligence and non-verbal intelligence tests anxiety. The results
indicated that males had a greater predisposition to better study habits, neuroticism, extroversion,
favorable parental attitude and a better ideal self than females. However, females showed a
higher reading ability and academic performance than males. There were significant and positive
correlations in both males and females between reading ability and their study habits.

Survey of study habits and attitudes by Brown and Holtzman (1994) was used to measure study
habits and academic performance of students. The study reported a positive and significant
correlation between study habits and academic performance. To determine study habits of
students, Wrenn’s (1991) Study Habits Inventory was used and total marks obtained in annual
examination was used to know the relationship between the independent and dependent variables
and it revealed significant and positive correlation between study habits and academic
performance. In another study, Tymms and Libbon (1992) examined the relationship between
times spent on homework and examination grades among approximately 3000 students from
schools and colleges in Northeast England. The average time spent was 5 hrs per week and girls
reported spending approximately 30 minutes per week more than boys. The study revealed that
students who worked for long hours gained slightly better grades than those who worked for
modest periods.

Panda (1992) investigated study habits of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged adolescents in

relation to sex and academic performance of 50 disadvantaged boys and 50 non-disadvantaged
girls of 9th and 10th classes in Orissa, India. The subjects were selected randomly and matched
with age, sex, area of living and birth order. Patel’s (1976) Study Habit Inventory was used in the
study and it was revealed that boys had significantly better study habits than girls. Again, Aluede
and Onolemhemhen (2001) studied the effect of study habit counseling on the academic
performance of secondary school students in English language. The 108 senior secondary school
form one and two students of Lumen Christ secondary school, Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria using
(Bakare, 1977) study habits inventory and the findings of the study revealed that, counselling
students on good study habits can bring about improvement in the students’ academic
performance.

Significant to this study is Suneetha and Mayuri (2001) who opined that age and gender
differences and factors affecting study habits and high academic performance of school children
showed that boys and girls differ significantly in drilling, interaction, sets and language
dimensions of study habit inventory. General habits and attitudes, planning of subjects, reading
and note-taking habits, habits of concentration were also found to be significant.

2.9 Other Dimensions of Study Habits

2.9.1 Homework/Assignments and Academic Performance

The link between homework and student performance is far from clear. There is no conclusive
evidence that homework increases students’ performance in schools but some studies show
positive effects on homework under certain conditions and for certain students, some show no
effects, and some suggest negative effects. Nevertheless, reviews of students, teachers, and
parents perceptions reveal that homework and assignments help students achieve better grades.
In addition, some recent studies have uncovered a more positive relationship between homework
and students performance. For example, increased time for doing homework resulted in higher
grades for high school seniors of all ability levels. Moreover, through increased study, lower
ability students achieve grades commensurate with those of brighter peers. Students spending
more than two hours a night on homework frequently showed higher performance levels than
students that made little use of homework.
Homework and assignments are integral part of instructional programs and life-long learning
experience. For a new skill to become automatic or for a new knowledge to become long-lasting,
sustained and distributed, practice is necessary. Homework provides reinforcement, practice,
application, transference, and enrichment of what is taught in class and requires students to
integrate skills included in curricula. It also prepares students for meaningful class participation
and fosters a closer home or school connection and ongoing parental involvement in the
student’s education.

As students complete their assignments, they become more interested in and responsible for their
learning. Homework places demands on students and helps in their developmental skills such as
concentrating, following directions, organizing material, solving problems and working
independently. It offers a way for students to develop a sense of competency and independency.
The most helpful homework and assignments are carefully planned by teachers and have direct
meaning to students.

Bempechat (2004) however, indicates varying effects of homework for different age levels. The
benefit of homework at the secondary level is to assist students in developing time organization,
independent problem solving and information processing skills. Homework helps students
develop benefits about good performance and study habits, including the value of effort and the
ability to cope with mistakes and difficulty. Relative to other instructional techniques, homework
can produce a substantial, positive effect on an adolescent’s performance in school (Bempechat,
2004). Relative to this is Marzano (2001) who opined that homework can raise a student’s Grade
Point Average by one-half point for 30 minutes of homework per night.

In support of this, Bempechat (2004) has shown how parent’s positive attitude can be a major
factor on how students view homework. Parents who model and provide guidelines to help
students do homework or help their students manage homework time or break down long-term
projects contribute to their children’s adaptive motivational skills which foster confidence,
persistence, goal setting, planning and delayed gratification skills (coping with difficulties and
setback). Activities such as explaining what is seen or read in class, comparing, relating and
experimenting with ideas, and analyzing principles are examples of assignments that are more
interesting and thought provoking to students. They also teach students to be independent
learners. The homework and assignments is useful diagnostic tool for teachers in that they
provide information on the level of students’ understanding and are means of monitoring
students’ progress.

The same could be said by Cooper (2007) who suggested that assignment variations are
sometimes hard to interpret. In support of this assertion, two studies conducted in the 1980
suggested that longer assignments in one instance twice as long, in the other, three times as long
were no more effective than shorter assignments. A more recent study also favoured shorter
assignments, but the difference was not statistically significant. All three of these studies
involved mathematics homework (http://www.nctm.org/news/content). A review of research by
Walberg (1999) found two studies that looked at commenting as feedback and three that looked
at grading. These studies suggested that homework is much more effective when feedback is
used. Importantly, little difference was observed in the relative effects of comments and grades.

The more homework students complete, especially from grades six to twelve, the better they do
in school. The research also demonstrated that parental attitudes toward homework play an
important role in their students’ education. Although the benefits of studying at home for young
students may not be immediately evident, teachers support assigning homework to younger
elementary school students due to the potential long-term developmental impact, for it helps
elementary school students develop proper study skills, which, in turn, influence grades (Cooper,
2007). However, it is advisable that teachers should attempt to ensure that outside assignments
are of a proper length for the developmental level of their students, since too much homework
can lead to fatigue and academic disinterest. Too much homework may diminish its
effectiveness. While research on the optimum amount of time students should spend on
homework is limited, there are indications that for high school students, 1½ to 2 ½ hours per
night is the optimum. Middle school students appear to benefit from smaller amounts (less than 1
hour per night). When students spend more time than this on homework, the positive relationship
with students’ performance diminishes (Cooper, 2007).

The amount of homework completed by students seems to be more positively associated with
students’ performance than the amount of homework assigned by teachers. Nonetheless, Kohn
(2006) pointed out that student who spends more time on homework scores higher on measures
of performance and attitude than students who spend little or no time at all. Studies that have
delved more deeply into this topic suggest, however, that the amount of homework assigned by
teachers is unrelated to students’ performance while the amount of homework actually completed
by students is associated with higher performance (Cooper, 2007).

2.9.2 Time Allocation and Academic Performance

Time allocation for what to study enables the student to plan carefully so as to cover the
academic task ahead and also help to organize one’s time for academic work. Before students
begin to think about the process of studying, a schedule must be developed. Atkinson (2003)
conducted a survey on meta-analysis, and found out how “mixed findings are about the degree to
which time influences student learning” (p. 78). These findings suggest that it is not the extra
time itself that makes a difference, it’s how that extra time is used by students:

* Allocated time – the total number of days and hours students are required to attend school,
including both instructional time and non-instructional time (example: time spent at recess,
lunch, making transitions, attending assemblies and other non-classroom activities).

* Engaged time – the time when students are actually “engaged” in learning activities, which is
much harder to quantify and document.

* Academic learning time – the “precise period when an instructional activity is perfectly aligned
with a student’s readiness and learning occurs.”

The analyses show that:

* There is little or no relationship between allocated time and student academic performance.

* There is some relationship between engaged time and academic performance.

* There is a larger relationship between academic learning time and academic performance.

At Boston’s Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, students attend classes for eight hours each
day and have double the instructional time for mathematics and language arts (Farbman &
Kaplan, 2005). As a result, the percentage of students passing the state’s standardized test
`increased dramatically. Only 70 percent of the students in the class of 2020 (who did not have
double mathematics class until the eighth grade year) passed the eighth grade, yet 100 percent of
those in the class (who had three years of double mathematics) passed (Farbman & Kaplan,
2005). Farbman and Kaplan noted that teachers in the target schools were able to divide the class
into groups, with each group working on different activities based on its specific needs. Although
teachers work between six and 18 extra hours per week, not all the additional time is spent in the
classroom; generally teachers spend much of the extra time tutoring students, supervising
enrichment activities, participating in professional development, and planning their own classes.

2.9.3 Reading, Note-Taking and Academic Performance

Note-taking is an important dimension of study habits. Students who use proper study habits
containing note-taking and studying that notes, preserve knowledge for longer time (Wolfe,
2001). Students are helped through educational guidance, to know how to take notes by using
methods or techniques as themes (Taylor & Buku, 2006). Note-taking is a complex activity
involving active listening, sorting out, organizing and recording information which is received
through listening and reading. The message to be recorded could be received from teachers in the
classroom (Odoom, 2007). Ferret (2000) cited in Odoom (2007), identifies some models of
notetaking. These are:

* Format outline

* Creative outline

* Mind Map Template

* Cornell Method

Students are to take time to write or copy notes written on the chalkboard so as not to make
mistakes. Notes copied mistakenly would deviate from the important meaning attached to it. This
would affect what the note is meant to be. Magsu (1980) carried out the experiments to find out
the effects of note-taking of students which he termed immediate and long-term recall. In the
experiment he found out that, the effects for note-taking had facilitative effects on both
immediate and long-term recall. As students grow and come to take more responsibility for their
own learning so good study habits become increasingly important. The amount of reading
required of students in developing good study habits is very important. The act of reading is
designed to increase students’ knowledge and open up new ways of thinking. It helps students to
achieve new levels of understanding and get them thinking more broadly about the world. If
students develop good reading strategies, it increases their horizon in understanding retention of
things read to enhance good academic performance. It is however significant for teachers to see
the need for academic performance in students as a goal which students need to pursue thereby
guiding them in the teaching and learning of skills and techniques which will help in developing
study habits.

Robinson (1970) developed a five-step techniques he called SQ3R method of studying. The “S”
stands for survey; he says before diving into actual reading, there is the need to glance over the
topic headings in the chapter and try to get a general overview of the material. The “Q” means
Question. This involves asking questions about what is to be read and turning the various
headings. Robinson says asking these questions gets one actively involved in the study about to
be done. Reading must be done with an eye toward answering the question just formulated. This
is the first “R” in the method, read it and read it, if necessary until you can answer that question.
The next “R” is Recite. Recite the answer aloud in your own words. It is important to use one’s
own words because that requires understanding rather than simple memorization of the text. The
third “R” and the fifth stage of the method is Review.
After reading, test and refresh memory by going back over the key points. Repeat questions and
try to answer them without consulting the book or note. The review signifies memory of the
main idea and helps indicate over all relations to another. The SQ3R technique actively gets one
involved when studying. It is said to have a proven track in that what makes it successful is the
breaking of reading assignments down into manageable segments, and requires understanding of
one stage before one moves on to the next stage. Further experiments on study habits have
showed that the SQ3R method has the main features of effective studies particularly when the
purpose is thoroughly understanding of content (Robinson, 1970).

2.9.4 Mental Concentration and Academic Performance

Concentration ability has developmental components and experiential learning factors that are
considered instrumental to the development of attention, especially those factors associated with
interactions between the students and adults in the environment. The ability to concentrate in
learning situations is a construct that is commonly used in educational research. The term
concentration stresses the positive aspects of attention. It includes, among other things, the
concept of sustained attention, which refers to the ability to concentrate on stimuli over a period
of time. In structured settings such as the classroom, the ability to sustain attention is necessary
for learning to occur.

Students, often find concentration difficult because of noise, outside interruptions or an

uncomfortable environment. Knowing where to find a quiet, comfortable, and distraction-free
place to study is one of the simplest and most effective means of facilitating concentration. The
library is an old favourite, and sometimes the study room in the hall or an empty lounge,
classroom, or meeting room can work well too. Irregular sleep, exercise, and eating patterns can
be the unsuspected cause of concentration difficulties. Many students do not realize the strong
connection between physical health and intellectual functioning. Time management strategies
such as planning study periods around the body’s energy will ensure the physical ability to
concentrate at its best. “Self-Talk” can be motivating, praising accomplishments, helping to sort
out what to do next, monitoring progress and performance. Comparing abilities to that of other
students and having unrealistic expectations about how long or well to concentrate can contribute
to negative self-talk. Many factors such as depression can affect academic performance.

To elaborate this process, information processing theory (Atkinson, 1968) is employed to explain
the effect of depression on concentration. According to this theory, when concentration and
attention are impaired, short term memory could not transfer information to long term memory.
As mentioned above, depression prevents the transferring of information from short-term
memory to long-term memory. In other words, for transformation of information from short-term
memory to long-term memory; students must focus attention and concentrate.

2.10 Theoretical Framework for the Study

It can be seen from the literature that study habits of students have significant influence on their
academic performance. In this study two theories are used as the background of the study. They
include:

i. Thorndike’s theory of reinforcement.

ii. Hull’s theory.

2.10.1 Thorndike’s Theory of Reinforcement

This theory was propounded by an American psychologist, Edward Lee Thorndike in 1913. He
carried out experiments to study how non-reflexive behaviour can be modified from experiences.
He was considered by Anderson (1990) as one of the foremost educational psychologists the
world has ever produced in the field of learning, genetic psychology, testing and social
psychology, as well as psychology of learning and arithmetic.

Thorndike in his study considered the strengthening of connection between stimulus and
response as being responsible for the formulation of habits. Such habits are broken when
connections or bonds are weakened. In the light of this, Thorndike formulated some basic
principles of learning which are:

i. The law of effect,

ii. The law of exercise,

iii. The law of readiness.

For the purpose of this study the first two principles are considered. Thorndike, in his principle
of effect observed that learning consists of forming association, bonds or relationship between
stimulus and response and further asserted that such “association” or “habits” become
strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of stimulus response pairing. Thorndike
stressed environmental stimulus as one of the tools for modifying behaviour and increasing task
performance.

This theory states that responses which were unpleasant or brought little or no satisfaction would
not recur. In effect, this is the rationale behind rewards and punishment. When a student
performs well in school he or she is rewarded hence, the satisfaction for learning hard, so as to
obtain the reward in future. The principle of effect is based on the emotional reaction of the
student. It has a direct relationship to motivation. This explains that learning is strengthened
when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling, and that learning is weakened when
associated with an unpleasant feeling. The student will strive to continue doing what provides a
pleasant effect to continue learning. Positive reinforcement is more apt to lead to success and
motivate the learner, so the instructor should recognize and commend improvement. Whatever
the learning situation, it should contain elements that affect the students positively and give them
a feeling of satisfaction. Therefore, instructors should be cautious about using punishment in the
classroom.

One of the important obligations of the instructor is to set up the learning situation in such a
manner that each trainee will be able to see evidence of progress and achieve some degree of
success. Experiences that produce feelings of defeat, frustration, anger, confusion, or futility are
unpleasant for the student. If, for example, an instructor attempts to teach advanced concepts on
the initial engagement, the student is likely to feel inferior and be frustrated. Impressing upon
students the difficulty of a task to be learned can make the teaching task difficult. Usually, it is
better to tell students that a problem or task, although difficult, is within their capability to
understand or perform. Every learning experience does not have to be entirely successful, nor
does the student have to master each lesson completely. However, every learning experience
should contain elements that leave the student with some good feelings. A student’s chance of
success is definitely increased if the learning experience is a pleasant one.

More so, this principle of effect, states that the consequence or effect, of a response will
determine whether the tendency to respond in the same way in the future will be strengthened or
weakened. Responses closely followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be
repeated. Wood (2005) suggested that it was “unnecessary to invoke reasoning” to explain how
learning took place. Given the above position in Thorndike’s law of effect, it can be deduced that
students’ study habits can be strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of stimulus
response received from the learner’s environment, which include all those around him or her,
such as parents, peers, teacher’s relation, facilities, motivates the child positively or negatively in
his/her study. These can stimulate the learner to respond positively or negatively to his or her
study and task performance.

Similarly, Thorndike in his principle of exercise holds that repeating a habit increases its strength
since “practice makes perfect”. The law has two parts (1) use and (2) disuse. The use of
connection increases its strength, while disuse of connection weakens its strength. Thorndike
found the law inconsistent with the law of effect, and interpreted “use” as correct use that was
rewarded. Thorndike sees motivation and reinforcement as an agent of habit formation and one
of the factors that can influence a learner’s study habit and task performance. Iheanacho (2002)
supported this view and suggested that behaviour that is reinforced tend to become habitual and
reinforcement increases the probability that any given response will be repeated.

Siann and Ugwuegbu (1994) recognized that parents attitude towards a child’s school work
strengthens the way the child approaches school and studies. This is supported by Mbillni (1970)
who contended that parental attitude affects the child’s school attendance and performance at
school work. For instance, parents might arrange for extra coaching for their children if they
believe that school performance is very important. Thus, the nature and frequency of
environmental stimuli can affect positively or negatively a student’s study habits. The principle
of exercise states that those things most often repeated are best remembered. It is the basis of
drill and practice. It has been proven that students learn best and retain information longer when
they have meaningful practice and repetition. It is clear that practice leads to improvement only
when it is followed by positive feedback.

In relation to the principle of readiness, Thorndike proposed that when a response is ready to be
linked to a particular stimulus (ready in the sense of the necessary nerve structures being
connected) discomfort would be the result. Readiness implies a degree of single-mindedness and
eagerness. Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to
learn, and they do not learn well if they see no reason for learning. Getting students ready to
learn, creating interest by showing the value of the subject matter, and providing continuous
mental or physical challenge, is usually the instructor’s responsibility. If students have a strong
purpose, a clear objective, and a definite reason for learning something, they make more progress
than if they lack motivation.

Since learning is an active process, students must have adequate rest, health, and physical ability.
Basic needs of students must be satisfied before they are ready or capable of learning. Students
who are exhausted or in ill health obviously cannot learn much. If outside responsibilities,
interests, or worries weigh too heavily on students’ minds, if their schedules are overcrowded, or
if their personal problems seem insoluble, students may have little interest in learning. These
notwithstanding, Thorndike’s law of effect deduced that a student’s study habit can be
strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of stimulus response he or she receives
from his or her environment which can stimulate the student to respond positively or negatively
to his or her study and task performance.

2.10.1.1 How Thorndike’s Law of Learning Relates to Students’ Study Habits

Thorndike’s principle of exercise emphasized that practice, without perfection will be
ineffective, only rewarded practice will strengthen a bond. Many studies (Ogunmakin, 2001;
Kumar, 2002; Gbore, 2006) have suggested that learning is better acquired and mastered as soon
as the learner attends to it. On the other hand, it is easier to remember recent events and hence,
put them into practice. In application to learning process, immediate and regular study periods
and doing school requirements tend to result in a better performance than delayed and erratic
study periods do. Diverse study techniques, even for the improvement of memory stress the
importance of immediacy in remembering and learning.

The theory suggests that transfer of learning depends upon the presence of identical elements in
the original and new learning situations as transfer is always specific, never general. In later
versions of the theory, the concept of "belongingness" was introduced; connections are more
readily established if the person perceives that stimuli or responses go together. Another concept
introduced was “polarity” which specifies that connections occur more easily in the direction in
which they were originally formed than the opposite. Thorndike also introduced the “spread of
effect” idea, thus, rewards affect not only the connection that produced them but temporally
adjacent connections as well.

Thorndike’s principle of exercise further supports this kind of law asserting that, other things
being equal, the more frequent a modifiable connection between a situation and response is used,
the stronger the connection. When a modifiable connection between a situation and response is
not being used over a period of time, the strength of that connection is weakened. A behaviour
that is stimulated over regular periods will tend to be repeated leading to habit formation.

2.10.2 Hull’s Theory

This theory was also propounded by an American psychologist, Clark Leonard Hull in (1943).
Hull’s work covers such areas as hypnosis, concept formation, test and measurement, learning
and motivation. Hull was mostly known as behaviourist theorist in the field of learning and
motivation. This theory was described by Anderson (1990) as the most “elegant” of all the
theories of learning.

Hull’s theory focused mainly on habit strengthening, drive reduction, and intervening. Hull
related learning to the need of the organism. This theory of learning is called drive-reduction
theory. The organism in order to release tension is motivated to do some action and in the course
of the action, the organism encounters many stimuli and makes a continuous series of responses.
When these stimuli occur with a response, there is a chance for an association but, the
association does not take place unless the association is followed by a reward or punishment,
which is motivation (Chauham, 1992). The term motivation has been used by psychologists to
mean drives and incentives which account for behaviour and subsequently habit formation.

Hull classified reinforcement into primary and secondary levels. Primary reinforcement is the
condition of need reduction and secondary reinforcement is the involvement of a stimulus
aggregate that has been closely associated with need reduction stimulus. Generalization occurs as
other stimuli can evoke a learned response reserved for original stimulus in terms of intensive or
quality. In that case, the technique applied in learning can cause stimulus reinforcement which
can result in better responses. That is today, if appropriate study skills are applied by the learner,
there will be better task performance.

Parents and teachers can help learners develop positive study habits by injecting stimuli that can
help elicit the learner’s interest such as praises, helping the child arrange study materials,
creation of a conducive atmosphere for study, providing necessary learning materials for studies
among other things. Hull rightly observed some of the reinforcement that can stimulate the
learner to study making the classroom environment inviting, setting aside space for students to
work independently. This can be done by creating a comfortable corner equipped with books,
magazines, cassettes and other resources that can help extend learning beyond class work.
According to Hull, when a stimulus emits a certain type of response and it is accompanied by a
reinforcer, (capable of reducing the drive or drive stimuli) the association between the stimulus
and that response is strengthened. Repetition of the reinforcement then helps to progressively
strengthen the association formed.

Eventually, it brings about an organization in the nervous system known as 'habit' or a particular
response to a particular stimulus and when this happens it is said that the behaviour is learned. In
this way, Hull deduced learning to habit formation. The success of this learning behaviour is
measured through a concept termed as habit strength and symbolized as sHr. By definition Hull
considers habit strength as the strength of the association between a stimulus and a response. It
goes up with the number of trials (pairing between a stimulus and a response) provided there is
reinforcement in every trial.

Another concept in Hull's theory is stimulus generalization. This means that if there are two or
more similar stimuli, they can elicit the same or nearly the same response from the organism as
was elicited by the original stimulus. For example, a child who fears a snake also fears a rope or
any other thing which looks like a snake. Based on the characteristic of stimulus generalization,
the habit strength sHr will generalize from one stimulus to another to the extent to which the two
stimuli are similar. Hull provided the term 'generalized habit strength' symbolized to describe the
generalization of habit strength through the phenomenon of stimulus generalization. With this
type of the generalization of habit strength Hull tried to explain the phenomenon of transfer of
training (on the lines of Thorndike's identical element theory) by emphasizing that learning
performed under similar conditions would be likely transferred to the new learning situation.

2.11 Summary

The chapter reviewed available literature on concept of study habits and its influence on
academic performance of students, concept of academic performance and factors influencing it.
It also reflected on the various contributions of psychologists on study habits and academic
performance of students and other study habit procedures. Hence, students’ study habits and
academic performance is interplay of factors influencing it and therefore, effective study habits
result in good academic performance while defective study habits result in poor academic
performance.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter focuses on the general procedure for the conduct of the study. It explains the
research design, population, sample and sampling procedure, area of study, instrumentation,
mode of data collection, as well as data analysis.

3.2 Research Design

Research design as defined by Kerlinger (1995) is the plan and structure of investigation so
conceived as to obtain answer to research questions. The survey design was followed, employing
the quantitative approach in conducting this research. Ary, Jacobs and Razavieh (2002, p. 372)
define the survey as a “research technique in which data are gathered by asking questions of a
group of individuals called respondents.” Another justification for the choice of this design was
made clear by Passer, Smith, Atkinson and Muir (2003) who observed that surveys are an
efficient method for collecting large amount of information about people’s opinions and
lifestyles. This kind of research design was best suited to collect the data since it gave the
researcher a chance to collect primary data from the students. In this regard the researcher was
able to interact with the students in the schools which made it possible to understand the dynamic
factors of the research by having a firsthand experience of the problems at stake. One advantage
of the survey research design is that the researcher had a chance of experiencing the culture of
the school in practice rather than getting it from the secondary sources.
3.3 Population of the Study

The estimated population of 8,854 comprised all junior high school students in the seven circuits
of the Gomoa West district of the Central region of Ghana. The accessible population was,
however, 7,582. The number of students as well as the circuits who participated in the study is
shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Distribution of Students’ Population by Circuit and Sample

| Circuit | Sample |

1. | Apam | 60 |

2. | Ankamu | 60 |

3. | Dawurampong | 60 |

4. | Tarkwa | 60 |

5. | Odinaa-Ogua | 60 |

6. | Adaa-Ngyiresi | 60 |

7. | Eshiem | 60 |

Total | 420 |

3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedures

The sample comprised 420 junior high school form 2 students selected from the accessible
population using the purposive sampling technique These group of students were considered
appropriate because, they were preparing to enter junior high school form 3 (JHS 3) and they
were getting ready to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Their study
habits were therefore of great importance to the researcher. According to Osuala (2005),
purposive sampling is ideal when using questionnaire and other research instruments. For
purposive sampling, the researcher handpicked the cases to be included in the sample on the
basis of their judgment.

To ensure that a representative sample is selected, the simple random sampling technique was
adopted in selecting the sampled schools. 21 schools were randomly selected from each of the
seven circuits within the study area using the lucky-deep method. The purposive sampling
technique was used to select twenty (20) students from each class to engage in the study.
Nesbyry (2000) opines that the larger the sample size, the greater the probability that the research
will reflect the general population.

3.5 Area of Study

The Gomoa West District is one of the 12 districts within the Central Region of Ghana. It lies
within latitude 514 north and 535 north and longitude 0.22 west and 054 west on the eastern part
of the Central Region of Ghana. It is bounded on the north by Agona West Municipal, on the
north-east and east by Effutu Municipal, on the west and north-west by Mfantseman Municipal
and Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Districts respectively, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and
larger part of the dissected Awutu-Senya District. The Gomoa West District covers a total land
area of 514.2 square kilometres. The 2000 Population and Housing Census recorded 92,091 as
the population of the then Gomoa West district. The population of the Gomoa West district is
estimated at 109,207 using a growth rate of 2.5%. Apam is the District Capital of the Gomoa
District and is about 68km from Cape Coast and 69km from Accra the Regional and National
capitals respectively.

There are seven (7) circuits in the district. These are Apam, Ankamu, Adaa –Ngyiresi,
OdinaaOguaa, Dawurampong, Tarkwa and Eshiem. The major language spoken by the people is
“fanti”. Though, the people have different settlements, their culture bear striking similarities.
These can be seen in their way of dressing, music, drumming, dance and traditional practices.
There is also a common traditional festival celebrated by the people in their various respective
traditional areas called “Akwambo” which literally means clearing the path to the sacred forest,
which is celebrated between July and September every year.

The major occupation of the people is subsistence farming in which crops such as cassava,
plantain, pineapple, pepper, garden eggs, cocoyam, okra, and oranges are grown. There are also a
great number of indigenes who engage in fishing, especially those found along the coast. There
is a major market centre at Dawurampong where most people do their buying and selling and
which provides job for those who engage in trading. Also, there are civil servants, some
engaging in teaching, nursing and policing among others. In terms of education, there are many
nursery schools, primary schools, junior high schools both public and private in the district. The
Junior High Schools number up to 65, Senior High Schools 3, and one Vocational Institute.
There are no tertiary institutions in the district, so most people access higher education in other
parts of the country. In terms of health care, the district has only one hospital namely; St Jude’s
Catholic Hospital at Apam the district capital, which serves the health needs of the people. There
are also minor health centers in the various communities such as Dawurampong, Eshiem,
Onyadze, Adaa, Assin, Oguaa, Odinaa, and Tarkwa, which all provide good health care to the
people.

3.6 Instrumentation

The instrument adapted for data collection was Bakare’s (1977) Study Habits Inventory (SHI)
questionnaire and output of work for one term in English Language, Science, Mathematics and
Social Studies were used to compute with the responses on the questionnaire to run the analysis.
The reason for using questionnaire was that it provided a quick way of collecting data from the
respondents. The Study Habits Inventory is a self reporting inventory which enables the
individual student to describe the situations, habits and conditions which affect his use of study
time and his subsequent performance on tests and examinations (Bakare, 1977). The inventory
which consists of 34 items in form of direct questions to which the student is required to provide
answers includes sections on: (i) homework and assignments; (ii) time allocation; (iii) reading
and note taking; (iv) concentration; (v) time management. It required the respondents to indicate
their level of agreement or disagreement. Thus, Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N),
Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). The researcher assigned numerical values to the
options such that SA = 5, A = 4, N = 3, D = 2, and SD =1 since all the 34 items were positive
statements.

3.6.1 Validity

Validity according to Davidson (1995) is based on the view that a particular instrument actually
measures what it purports to measure. It has most commonly been associated with quantitative
research. Hamersley (1992) quoted in Ary, Jacobs and Razavieh (2002) has thus noted, “an
account is valid or true if it represents accurately those features of the phenomena that it is
intended to describe, explain, or theorize” (p. 452). Study Habits Inventory (SHI) developed by
Bakare (1977) was used. According to Bakare (1977), a number of investigations were
conducted to investigate the validity of the inventory using high performing students and a group
of “failing” students. A 34 item questionnaire designed to tap the constructs of study habits on
academic performance of students was factor analysed to ascertain its factor structure. Prior to
analysis, z- scores for all the variables (i.e. items in the questionnaire) were computed to examine
whether there were univariate outliers but none of the values had more than +/-3 standard
deviations from the mean of the variables, suggesting that there were no univariate outliers. Tests
of significance for skewness and kurtosis suggested that majority of the variables were normally
distributed. The items were subjected to principal component with varimax rotation using SPSS,
to ascertain the appropriateness of the hypothesized four-factor model. Factors were accepted
based on the content of the items with loadings exceeding .30. Inspection of the anti-image
correlation matrix after the initial run indicated that items 11, 13, 31, 17 and 4 had a KMO of
4.82, 4.83, 4.76, 4.69, 4.89 respectively which was below the .50 cut-off suggesting that the
construct validity of these statements are questionable. The statements were eliminated from the
questionnaire and the analysis re-run with 29 statements left. Rotation converged in this run after
17 iterations with the extraction of thirteen components with eigenvalues above 1.0. It shows that
items 23, 28 and 27 loaded highly on factor 1, items 22, 21 and 11 loaded highly on factor 2, and
items 2, 10 and 12 loaded highly on factor 3. The final 13 items are shown in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: Item listings, factor loadings and communalities for the three-factor PC solution

Factor Loading Communalities 1 2 3Factor 1- Expectancy for success (alpha=.94 ) |

23. I find that day dreaming distracts my attention .66 .56 from lessons while studying28. I can
only study when a place is completely quiet .65 .5927. I feel sleepy and drowsy whenever I want
to study .60 .4611. I complete and submit my assignments on time .38 .55Factor 2- Academic
preparedness (alpha=.79 ) |

22. I read only books prescribed by my teacher for his/her subject .70 .57

21. I pronounce words to myself as I read .63 .63

13. I read my notes only once, before the examination starts .41 .45

17. I have to re-read material several times because the words don’t have

much meaning the first time I go over them .39 .57

11. I complete and submit my assignments on time .58 .55

Factor 3-Academic worry (alpha=.87)

2. I get nervous and confused when taking a test and therefore fail

to answer the questions .56 .39

10. I put off doing written assignments until the last minute .56 .56

12. I begin my assignments as soon as the teacher gives them to me

and not allow them to pile up .53 .53

4. I am careful about spelling, punctuation and grammar .45 .59

3.6.2 Reliability

In order to establish the reliability of the research instrument, a pilot study was carried out on
thirty respondents of the JHS students in another school within the research area. A test re-test
reliability method was adopted. Here the questionnaire was administered on the respondents and
after one week the questionnaire was again administered on the same respondents and the data
obtained from it was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment correlation. Correlation
coefficient of .80 was obtained and a significant at the 0.05 level.

3.7 Mode of Data Collection

The researcher went to the various schools with an introductory letter from the Head of
Department of Psychology and Education from the University of Education, Winneba and made
personal contacts with school heads and assistants to be allowed to administer questionnaire in
their schools. The researcher visited the sampled schools and administered the questionnaire,
with the help of class teachers. Normal classroom sitting arrangements were maintained. The
researcher explained each of the statements on the questionnaire to the respondents. With this
arrangement, students started at the same time and ended at the same time. They were given
enough time to be able to complete and provide answers to the items in the questionnaire. The
researcher thereafter retrieved all questionnaires from the students.

3.8 Data Analysis Procedure

In order to determine the relationship between students’ study habits and their academic
performance, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The hypotheses stated were also
analysed using multiple regression and independent samples (t-test).

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Introduction

This part of the research focuses on the information gathered from the questionnaire. The
questionnaire was designed to find out the views on influence of study habits on academic
performance of junior high school students. The responses from the questionnaires were coded
and analyzed using the SPSS. Scores in four subjects (English Language, Mathematics, Science
and Social Studies) for one term were collected from students’ output of work and scaled to GPA
were used to correspond with the scores from the questionnaire.
The chapter four presents the findings into two sections. Section A presents the demographic
characteristics of respondents. Section B also presented the findings based on the hypotheses
posed for the study. The analysis centered on testing the three hypotheses to determine and
describe the influence of study habits on students’ academic performance.

Section A

4.2 Biographical Characteristics

The respondents are Junior High School form 2 students’ in the Gomoa West District. The
characteristics discussed under the demographic data of the respondents include, age, sex,
parents’ level of education, fathers’ sector of occupation and mothers’ sector of occupation.

Table 4.1: Age range of students |

Age range of students Frequency Percentage |

10-13 42 10.0

14-17 356 84.8

18-21 22 5.2

Total 420 100 |

Source: Author’s Computations from Survey Data April, 2011

The data in Table 4.1 revealed that, 5.2% of the respondents were within the age range of 18 – 21
years, 42, that is 10.0% were within the age range of 10 - 13 years, and 84.8% were between
1417 years. Most children in Ghana begin their education at the age of three or four. They first
enter nursery school which is then followed by two years in kindergarten. After kindergarten, the
child then continues to primary school, junior high school, senior high school and then finally
university. On average by 20 years a child should complete the SHS level. With this one could
say that majority of the respondents fall within the age range of 14-17 representing 84.8% which
is the average age to be in junior high school form two and are appropriate for the study.

Table 4.2: Sex of students

Sex of students | Frequency | Percentage |

Male | 229 | 54.5 |

Female | 191 | 45.5 |

Total | 420 | 100 |

Source: Author’s Computations from Survey Data April, 2011

Data in Table 4.2 shows that 54.5% of the students were males whereas, 45.5% were females. It
is clear that majority of the respondents were males. Earlier some researchers reported that
intelligence was the only factor that causes gender variations among high achievers. Education
aspiration in case of females was almost negligible causing very poor enrolment of female
children in schools.

Table 4.3: Parents’ level of education

Parents’ level of education Frequency Percentage |

University 57 13.6

‘O’ Level 26 6.2

SSS 80 19.0

‘A’ Level 29 6.9

Middle School 74 17.6

JSS 115 27.4

Other 39 9.3

Total 420 100 |

Data in Table 4.3 indicated that 13.6% of the respondents’ parents’ attained University degree,
6.2% attained ‘O’ level, 19.0% attained Secondary School, 6.9% attained ‘A’ level, and 17.6%
attained Middle school. The rest are 27.4% Junior Secondary School and 9.3% being other. One
can realize that a greater number of parents (115) representing 27.4% went to Junior High
School. Some research on status attainment have shown that high educational aspirations of
parents are associated with high aspirations in children, and that this association account for a
significant part of the association of father's and son's educational attainment (Sewell and Shah,
1968).

Table 4.4: Father’s sector of occupation

Father’s sector of occupation Percentage Frequency |

Government 117 27.9

Private 303 72.1

Total 420 100 |

Source: Author’s Computations from Survey Data, April 2011

Data in Table 4.4 reveals that 27.9% which forms majority of the respondents’ fathers work in
the government sector while 72.1% had their fathers working in the private sector with many of
them being farmers, fishermen, self-employed, while others were unemployed.

Table 4.5: Mother’s sector of occupation

Mother’s sector of occupation Frequency Percentage |

Government 45 10.7

Private 375 89.3

Total 420 100 |

Results from Table 4.5 shows that 10.7% of the respondents’ mothers work in the government
sector whist 89.3% of respondents’ mothers commonly found in the private sector of the
economy being traders, dressmakers, hairdressers with others being unemployed.

Section B

4.3 Analysis of Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant effect of students’ study habits on their academic
performance

Multiple regression was used to asses how students’ study habits influence their academic
performance. As shown in Table 4.6 the result of the analysis showed that there was no
significant effect of students’ study habits on their academic performance.

Table 4.6: Multiple Regression on study habits of students

Variable b Beta R R2 t Sig(t) |

Constant 39.824 10.292 .000

Examination .140 0.56 1.078 .282

Homework and Assignments -.112 -0.45 -.620 .413

Reading and Note-Taking .067 .041 .744 .457

Concentration .008 .003 .061 .952

Time Management .292 .112 2.065 .040

.141 .020 |

Regression analysis using the forced entry method was performed using SPSS to assess the
relative contribution of Examination, Homework and Assignments, Reading and Note-Taking,
Concentration and Time Management in the prediction of the extent to which study habits
influence students’ academic performance. Table 4.6 displays unstandardized (b) and
standardized (beta) regression coefficients, the multiple correlation coefficients (R), adjusted R2
and the value of t and its associated p-value for each variable that entered into the equation. As
shown in Table 4.6, Examination, Homework and Assignments, Reading and Note-Taking,
Concentration and Time Management collectively explained 2% (adjusted R2 =2%) of the
variable in Study Habits. This would suggest that the present regression model is a good
predictor of Study Habits.

Based upon the order of entry chosen for the present sample, it would appear that Time
Management explained the bulk of the 2% variance in academic performance than the others
(beta = .112, t=2.065, p = 0.04). As can be seen in Table 4.6, the contributions of Examination,
Homework and Assignment, Reading and Note-Taking, Concentration and Time Management to
the variable in Study Habits was not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. However, Time
Management (Beta = .112) was a better predictor of academic performance than the others,
although this interpretation is tentative as there appeared to be a violation of the assumption of
multicollinearity in the relationship between Study Habits and Academic Performance. In
summary, it would appear that Time Management emerged as the single best predictor of the
extent to which students’ study habits influence their academic performance though the effect is
a minimal one (very small) in the sense that the academic performance of a student depends on
the amount of time students spend in learning and managing their school activities.

Hypothesis 2: There will be a significant relationship between sex differences in study habits of
students
Independent samples (t-test) of sex differences in students’ study habits was used to examine
how study habits of students influence their academic performance. As shown in Table 4.7 the
result of the analysis showed that there was a significant difference in sex of students’ study
habits.

Table 4.7: Independent Samples (t-test) of Sex differences in Students’ Study Habits

Gender | N | F | Mean | T | Df | Sig |

Examination Male Female | 229191 | 3.979 | 21.0320.31 | 1.9781.945 | 418368.792 | .049.053 |

Homework and Male Assignment Female | 229191 | .162 | 21.0320.86 | .446.444 | 418394.099
| .656.657 |

Reading and MaleNote-Taking Female | 229191 | .112 | 33.8833.22 | 1.1881.183 | 418394.379

| .236.238 |

Concentration Male Female | 229191 | 1.135 | 19.5218.92 | 1.6691.682 | 418414.307 | .096.093 |

Time Management Male Female | 229191 | .043 | 19.4218.45 | 2.8522.851 | 418403.986

| .005.005 |

Table 4.7 presents the results of the independent samples t-test performed on the sex differences
in study habits of students. As can be seen in this table, comparison of the mean in sex would
suggest that males used Examination related study habits (mean=21.03) than females (mean=
20.31), Homework and Assignment related study habits (mean=21.03) than females
(mean=20.86), Reading and Note-Taking related study habits (mean= 33.88) than females
(mean=33.22), Concentration related study habits (mean=19.52) than females (mean=18.92) and
Time Management related study habits (mean=19.42) than females (mean=18.45) . To test
whether the difference in mean of the variables was statistically significant, independent sample
t-rest was performed. The results of this test (Table 4.7) revealed that there was a significant
difference in the mean of sex in Examination, Homework and Assignments, Reading and Note-
Taking, Concentration and Time Management (t=1.978, df=418, t=.446, df=418, t= 1.188,
df=418, t=1.669, df=418, t=2.852, df=418). Therefore, the study hypothesis that there will be a
significant difference in sex of study habits of students is accepted. It can however be seen that
the issue of sex differentiation affects academic competitiveness, hence matters pertaining to
academic exercise are viewed as challenging to both males and females.

Hypothesis 3: There will be a significant age difference in students’ study habits

Independent samples (t-test) of age differences in students’ study habits was used to compare
how students’ study habits influence their academic performance. As shown in Table 4.3.4 the
result of the analysis showed that there was a significant difference in age of students’ study
habits.

Table 4.8: Independent Samples (t-test) of Age Differences in Students’ Study Habits

Age Difference T | N | F | Mean | Df | Sig |

Examination Younger -1.300 Older -1.246 | 42378 | .126 | 20.1020.83 | 41849.555 | .194.219 |

Homework and Assigmt. Younger -.357 Older -.349 | 42378 | .640 | 20.7420.93 | 41849.990
| .721.728 |

Reading and Note-Taking Younger -1.272 Older -1.213 | 42378 | .088 | 31.7432.83 | 41849.432
| .204.231 |

Concentration Younger .641 Older .563 | 42378 | .330 | 19.8319.43 | 41847.813 | .522.576 |

Time Management Younger -.221 Older -.193 | 42378 | 1.359 | 19.0719.20 | 41847.752
| .826.848 |

Table 4.8 presents the results of the independent samples t-test performed on the age differences
in study habits of students. As can be seen in this table, comparison of the mean in age would
suggest that older students used Examination related study habits (mean=20.38) than younger
students (mean=20.10), Homework and Assignment related study habits (mean=20.93) than
younger students (mean=20.74), Reading and Note-Taking related study habits (mean=32.83)
than younger student (mean=31.74), Time Management related study habits (mean=19.20) than
younger students (mean=19.07). However, Concentration related study habits saw a reverse in
the pattern whereby younger students had a higher mark (mean=19.83) than older students
(mean=19.43). To test whether the difference in mean of the variables was statistically
significant, independent sample t-test was performed. The results of this test (Table 4.8) revealed
that there was a significant difference in the mean of age in Examination, Homework and
Assignments, Reading and Note-Taking, Concentration and Time Management (t=-1.246,
df=49.555, t=-.349, df=49.990, t=-1.213, df=49.432, t=-.193, df=47.752).Therefore, the study
hypothesis that there will be a significant difference in age of study habits of students is
accepted.

Hypothesis 4: There will be a significant relationship between quality of study habits and
academic performance of students
Independent samples (t-test) was used to ascertain the relationship between the quality of study
habit and academic performance of students. As shown in Table 4.9 the result of the analysis
showed that there was a significant difference in sex of students’ study habits.

Table 4.9: Independent samples (t-test) of Quality of Study Habits on Students’ Academic
Performance

| Quality of study habits | N | F | Mean | T | Df | Sig |

GPA | Young 59 Old 361 | .867 | 46.826348.5533 | -1.339-1.371 | 41879.629 | .181.174 |

Table 4.9 presents the results of the independent samples t-test performed on quality of study
habits on academic performance of students. As can be seen in this table, comparison of the
mean from the two independent groups would suggest that older students perform better
academically (mean=48.5533) than the younger students (mean= 46.8263). To test whether the
difference in mean performance between the two groups was statistically significant,
independent samples t-test was performed. The results of this test (Table 4.9) revealed that there
was a statistically significant difference in the mean of quality of study and the groups (t=-
1.339,df=418,p=.174), so older students perform well academically in the subjects than younger
students. Therefore, the study hypothesis that there will be a significant difference in quality of
study and academic performance of students is accepted.

4.4 Discussion of Results

In this study, discussion of the result is presented according to the hypotheses stated for the study
and are presented as follows:

There will a significant effect of students’ study habits on their academic performance

The result of this hypothesis revealed that there exist positive significant relationships between
the effects of students’ study habits on their academic performance. This is because the model
accounted for 2% of the variability in time management (Beta=.112) which indicates that the
model was statistically significant although majority of the predictors used in developing the
model thus; examination, homework and assignments, reading and note-taking and concentration
were insignificantly related to academic performance of the students. This suggests that the
amount of time a student spends in studying will determine his/her academic outcome.

To support the above findings, Atkinson (2003) observed that time allocation for what to study
enables the student to plan carefully so as to cover the academic task ahead and also help to
organize one’s time for academic work. Before students begin to think about the process of
studying, a schedule must be developed. The study also revealed that the number of hours that
students learned at home was relative to their educational level. Timing is an important indicator
for effective studies in the universities. Both period and duration of studies are of serious
considerations in the student’s ability to manage his or her time and cope with the volume of
studies expected at this level.

There will be a significant relationship between sex differences in study habits of students

In this study, the finding revealed that there was a significant positive relationship in respect of
sex differences and study habits among students. This implies that male and female respondents
differ from each other in terms of their attitudes toward developing study habits. This is
evidenced in the fact that the male has a significantly higher mean. In a related study
AsieduAkrofi (1978) observed that male adolescents get more involved in deviant behaviours
than their female counterparts. According to Denga (1988) sex difference is given the right place
from creation and that the influence of expected sex differences in any society is felt right from
the moment of birth. Pringle (1974) in supports of this assertion emphasize that one of the first
questions when a baby is born is about the sex of the baby. And from a given answer, parental
attitude and expectations become different.

Ogwuegbu (1980) observed and to the support of the finding of this study that parents have been
more responsive to males than females and this would definitely affect their study habits. Denga
(1988) maintains that the issue of sex differentiation affects academic competences. Previous
study also mentioned that males and females are different in academic performance. According
to (MehrAfza, 2004)’s study there was a significant difference between males and females.
MehrAfza’s study shows the average of academic performance in females was more than in
males. Nori (2002) also found the significant difference in academic performance of males and
females. Academic performance was more in females than in males. Given the sex differences
observed in this study, it may be suggested that females who achieve poorly in school especially
deserve even more educational attention.

Bower (1999) in his findings maintain that sex role influences academic performance and study
even though females may tend to perform better in learning sometimes in their developmental
age of nine or ten. Such performance often decline significantly behind by late adolescence
arguing that even school activities and subjects are also categorized to reflect gender differences.
Hence differences in student’s sex tend to influence the students’ behaviour towards study habits
and attitude to study and learning. Onyejiaku’s (1982) findings on sex differences and study
habits is in support of the findings of this study, that there exist a significant positive relationship
between sex differences and the students’ study habits. Also Benz (1981) found out a significant
positive relationship between sex differences and the students’ study habits. Bower (1999)
contended that roles can be changed, and that they can only be changed with some difficulties.
According to Bower, an individual can change study behaviour and thereby change both the way
other people perceive him and his/her social role through modification, motivation and
reinforcement.

There will be a significant age difference between students’ study habits

The result of the hypothesis indicates that there is a significant relationship between students’
age and their study habits. This is because there is a variation in the mean scores for both older
and younger students in the dimensions of study habits and age was found to be a significant
factor in learning. In most cases age is an index of maturity and maturity aids learning. This
explanation was supported by the work of previous researchers (Waldman, 1986; Sturman, 2003;
and Kumar, 2002) who found a significant moderate positive relationship between age and
academic performance. The factor age is proved to be important in explaining academic
performance of students and age appears as an explaining variable in the development of study
habits among students. As students get older they perform better in their studies.

There will be a significant relationship between quality of study habits and academic
performance of students

Bradley (1999) in support of this finding found out that students with the highest performance
relate positively with their school activities and also had attitudes and values like those of their
teachers, whereas those with low performance had attitudes and values that are different. This
certainly puts a lot of challenge to the younger students to learn and perform better in school.
The findings are consistent with an experimental study reported by Van Rossum and Schenk
(1984). These investigators asked college students to study a 400-line historical passage. Like
students who scored high on compulsiveness scale, about half those in the Van Rossum and
Schenk sample tried to memorize content so they could reproduce it (the authors referred to such
activity as “surface-level” processing). Others, like those who scored high on inquisitiveness
scale, tried to understand the material, develop insights, and think about how the information
might be used (i.e., “deep-level” processing). Not surprisingly, students in both groups did about
equally well on test questions of a factual nature.

But those who were “deep-level” processors, like inquisitive subjects, did better on questions
that required “insight.” It is likely the students encountered courses requiring insightful
production. Those who are deep level studiers (i.e., more inquisitive) should get better grades.
Study skills such as systematic previewing, reciting subheadings, re-reading for the purpose of
finding important details in support of main ideas, re-reading sub-headings, and re-hearsing
information, probably do facilitate the academic performance of college students. They certainly
help younger students perform better in school. Other results (and those of others) suggest,
however, that such methods should not be applied mindlessly, and, they can be easily overdone.
More importantly, they cannot substitute for a serious attempt to understand subject matter at a
deeper level. Thus, the higher a student’s educational level (as in JHS1, JHS2 or JHS3), the more
hours spent on studies at home in order to enhance academic performance. Most studies are done
during the weekdays at night and for 2-4 hours at a sitting by students. Also, the findings of this
research suggest that the better the study habits, the higher the academic performance.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

The main objective of the study was to find out the influence of study habits on academic
performance of junior high school students in the Gomoa West district of the Central Region of
Ghana. To achieve these objectives, questionnaire was used to elicit the views of respondents. In
all 420 respondents comprising junior high school form two students were involved in the study.
This chapter looks at the discussion, summary of findings, conclusions, recommendations and
suggestions for further research.

5.2 Summary

This study was designed to investigate the influence of study habits on academic performance of
junior high school students in the Gomoa West District of Central Region, Ghana. Some theories
that form the basis for the study were consulted. These theories are:

1. Thorndike’s theory of re-enforcement

2. Hull’s theory

Four research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Hence it was hypothesized that:

1. There will be a significant effect of students’ study habits on their academic performance.

2. There will be a significant relationship between sex differences in study habits of students.

3. There will be a significant age differences in students’ study habits.

4. There will be a significant relationship between quality of study on academic performance of
students.

To test these hypotheses a 34 item questionnaire developed Bakare (1977) Study Habits
Inventory (SHI) was adapted by the researcher for analyzing the data. The questionnaire was
made up of two sections: Section A and Section B. Section A had five (6) items that sought
personal information from the respondents. Section B consists of 34 items seeking information
based on the variables of the research study. The respondents were required to indicate the extent
of agreement or disagreement with the items in the questionnaire using a likert scale of
measurement. Validity of the instrument was ascertained through factor analysis and a test re-test
reliability method was employed in estimating the reliability of the research.

The instrument was then used on 30 sampled respondents selected from 3 schools in other
schools that were not involved in the study. After generating the data they were coded and scored
and were used for the analysis of all the hypotheses formulated for the study. Analyses were
done using the Regression analysis and the Independent samples t-test statistical analysis. The
purpose of this study was to identify the influence of study habits on academic performance of
junior high school students and to come out with measures that will help them to improve upon
their academic performance. In view of this, the researcher used questionnaire to elicit responses
from students. Demographic information was also presented and discussed in details.

The study reviewed literature regarding concept of study habits, factors influencing study habits
of students, concept of academic performance, factors influencing academic performance of
students, other dimensions of study habits among others. The conceptual framework used in this
study was also outlined. The study is a quantitative research and the main instrument was
questionnaire. A sample size of four-hundred and twenty respondents was selected using
purposive, simple random and convenient sampling techniques. Percentages and tables were
used to analyse the data collected.

5.3 Main Findings

From the analysis it was found out that:

* Time Management explains the bulk of the variables that predicts students’ academic
performance. Productive study habits require learners to prepare personal time-table for
themselves allocating a certain length of time for a particular subject, depending on how difficult
each subject is.
* Male students used examination, homework and assignment, reading and note-taking,
concentration and time management related study habits more than their female counterparts.

* Older students develop study habits than their younger counterparts and hence, perform better
academically than their younger students.

* Study habits were found to be insignificantly related to all socio-economic variables (such sex,
age, parent’s level of education, father’s and mother’s sector of occupation) of a student.

5.4 Conclusions

Study habits and academic performance are bed-fellows. Therefore, the formation of effective
study habits in students is an outcome of good guidance and counselling programme. Students
who are well guided and counselled are result oriented and thus perform well in tests and
examinations. The findings suggest that the better the study habits, the higher the academic
performance of students. Poor study habits will result in a poor academic performance whereas
good study habits will result in good academic performance. The formation of effective study
habits will create the awareness for regular and steady learning. In an attempt to assist students to
improve on their academic performance, it is important that counseling psychologists give
adequate research considerations to students’ study habits.

5.5 Implication for Counselling

* Counselling we say it for all and the junior high school student is one of the people who also
need counselling. Therefore, the government should train more counsellors and post them to all
junior high schools so that they would be of help to all students and teachers.

* One point to note is that, counselling psychologists should give considerable research attention
to the importance role of students' personal factors in the students' academic performance. With
particular reference to this study, school counsellors in the area of research should give
cognisance to students' study habits, in terms of homework and assignment, time allocated to
study, reading and note-taking, concentration and teacher consultation.

* Concerning the academic performance of students that were involved in this study, teachers
should involve students in a lot of extra-curricular reading activities.

5.6 Recommendations
A number of recommendations were made in this study. The following recommendations will be
necessary for the improvement of study habits and academic performance of students in the
junior high schools:

* It would be worthwhile for all stake holders in education i.e. parents, teachers and government
to encourage students in their respective areas of responsibilities, such as providing study
materials, conducive place of study, recognizing excellence, appreciating students hardwork as
soon as possible among others. These will help to motivate the students positively towards their
study.

* It is also important for female students whose studies are negatively influenced by femininity
to be encouraged to work hard as academic is not only reserved for men.

* Students should be taught study skills so that they can cultivate good and effective study skills.

* As age has been found to be a significant factor in learning and developing study habits among
students, there is the need for curriculum developers and teachers to take the age of students into
account when developing curriculum and designing instructions.

* All dimensions of study habits (such as Homework and Assignments-related, Concentration-

related, Time management-related, Reading and Note-taking related, and Examinations-related)
should be given consideration when planning any programme for junior high school students in
the country particularly in the District.

* Parents should improve the level of control and care of their children, show more interest and
concern in the academic work of their wards by way of providing conducive atmosphere for
studies, proving materials for studies and helping students in their studies.

* It is necessary for students and teachers to maintain a warm and cordial relationship as this will
enhance students’ easy approach to the teacher for the solving of academic problems. Also,
teachers should endeavour to be good models to their students.

These recommendations can be achieved by talking to parents and teachers on the issues raised
in a forum like the P.T.A i.e. Parent-Teachers’-Association. Group counselling can also be
organized for students on good study habits and gender equality. School administrators i.e. the
headteachers should forward the needs and problems affecting students study habits to
government for intervention.

5.7 Suggestions for Future Research

It is important that the findings of this research are not generalized to all junior high schools in
the country. The sample for this study though fairly large was from only one district in the
Central Region of Ghana. Further research can be conducted with larger sample size from
schools throughout the ten regions of country. Other factors that may influence the study habits
of students such as school location, parental socio-economic background, among others should
also be considered for further research in a different geographical location. Future research
works in the area of intervention strategies need to be developed to enhance self-concept and
improve study habits among students.

REFERENCES

Abdulkareem, A. Y. (1990). A guide on historical foundation of education in Nigeria. Ilorin:

Kewulere Press.

Adetola, L. O. (1988). Teaching to improve problem solving abilities. African Mathematics, 2

(1), 139-154.

Afe, J. O. (2001). Reflections on becoming a teacher and the challenges of teacher education.
Inaugural Lecture Series, 64. Benin City: University of Benin, Nigeria.

Agarwal, V. R. (1983). A study of reading ability in relation to certain cognitive and

noncognitive factors. Asian J. Psy. Edu. 11 (3): 41-44.

Agyemang-Mensah, K. (2011). Poor academic performance of public basic schools in the

Ashanti Region. Ghana News Agency, April, 29, 2011. Kumasi.

Ajao, W. (2001). Cadbury is determined to move education forward. Vanguard, December 27

2001, P. 16. Barnett CW, Mattews HW, Jackson RA 2003.

Ajayi, T. (1988). A system approach towards remediation of academic failure in Nigerian

schools. Nigerian Journal of Educational Psychology, 3 (1), 25-35.

Akinboye, J. O. (1980). How to study and pass important examinations: A psychological

approach. Ibadan: Maritime Printers.

Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Bedinger, S. D. (1994). When expectations work: Race and
socio-economic differences in school performance. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 283–299.

Aluede & Onolemhemhen, K. (2001). Effect of study habit counseling on the academic
performance of secondary schools students in English language. J. Edu. Res. Ext, 38 (3): 17-26.
Amato, P. R. (1987). Family processes in one-parent, stepparent and intact families the child's
point of view. Journal of marriage and the family, 49 (3) 27-37.

Anameze, L. M. (2001). Study habits modification programme for Nigerian adolescent students
in the new millennium. In R.U.N. Okonkwo & R. O. Okoye. (Eds). The Nigerian adolescent in
perspective. Lagos: Onwuka and Sons Publishers.

Anderson, B. (1990). Homework: What do national assessment results tell us? Princeton, NJ:
Educational Testing Service.

Aniagyei, G. (2004). The teacher and his pupils in academic performance. Tema: Polar and
Associates.

Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Razavieh, A. (2002). Introduction to research in education. (6th ed.).
United Kingdom: Wadsworth.

Asagwara, C. G. (1994). Reading in Applied Psychology in Education, 1. Calabar: Bon.

Asiedu-Akrofi, K. (1978). School of organization in modern Africa. Ghana Publishing,

Corporation, Tema.

Atkinson, R. C. (1963). The enhancement of motivation: in advances in motivation and

achievement. Greenwich, Connecticut: Academic Press.

Atkinson, J. W., & Muir, N. T. (2003). A theory of achievement motivation. Huntington, New
York: R. E Kiger.

Atkinson, R. C. (2003). Human memory. A proposed system and its controlled processes. In K.
W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.) the psychology of learning and motivation (Vol.2) New York:
Academic Press.

Ausubel, D. P. (1973). The psychology of meaningful verbal learning. Harvard University Press,
New York.

Azikiwe, U. (1998). Study approaches for university students. WCCI Region 11 Forum, 2,
106114.

Bacanli, H. (2002). Gelisim ve Ogrenme, Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık.

Baharudin, R., & Luster, T. (1998). Factors related to the quality of the home environment and
children’s achievement. Journal of Family Issues 19 (4), 375-403.
Bakare, C. G. M. (1977). Study habits inventory (SHI). Ibadan: Education Research Production
Psychology.

Battle, J., & Lewis, M. (2002). The increasing significance of class: The relative effects of race
on socioeconomic status on academic achievement. Journal of Poverty, 6 (2), 21-35.

Beane, J., & David, E. (1983). The dynamics of dependence: The routes of self-sufficient. Report
prepared for assistant secretary of Planning and Evaluation, Development of Health and Human
Services.

Bempchart, J. (2004). The motivational benefits of homework: A social-cognitive perspective,

theory into practice-volume43, number3, summer 2004, pp. 189-196. Retrieved from
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi-m0NOM/is 343/ai n6361599.

Benz, C. R., Pfeiffer, I., & Newman, I. (1981). Sex role expectation of classroom teachers:
Grades 1-12. American Educational Research Journal, 18 (3), 289-302.

Bernard, H.W. (1990). Psychology of learning and teaching. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company.

Bojuwoye, O. (1993). School guidance practice: An approach. Ilorin: University Press.

Bower, T. G. (1999). Home development. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company.

Bradley, J. D (1999). Hands-on practical chemistry for all. Pure and Appl. Chem., 71 (5):
817823.

Brown, A. L., & Holtzman, J. D. (1994). Macro rules for summarizing texts: The development of
expertise. Verbal Learning, 22, 1-14.

Bucher, A. A. (1997). The influence of models in forming moral identity. Int. J. Educ. Res., 27
(7): 619-627.

Bumpass, B. (1984). Children and marital disruption. 71-82.

Burgner, D., & Hewston, M. (1993). Young children’s causal attributions for success and failure:
“Self-enhancing boys” and “self-derogating girls.” British Journal of Development Psychology,
11, 125-129.
Chase-Laiscale, L., & Hetheringfon, E. M. (1988). The impact of divorce on life-span,
development: Short and long-span effects. Life Span Development and Behaviour, 10 (3), 142-
146.

Chauhan, S. S. (1992). Advanced educational psychology. (5th ed.). Shalhibad: Vikas Publishing
House PVT Ltd.

Cherian,V. I. (1990). Family size and academic achievement of children. J. Fam. Wel., 36 (4),
5659.

Christian, J. (1983). Study habits as a function of need achievements (n-ach). Asian J. Psy. Edu.
11 (1): 6-12.

Cochran-Smith, M. (2006). Teacher education and the need for public intellectuals. The New
Educator. 2: 181–206.

Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. America Journal of
Sociology, 94: 94-96. Contribution to women in development material. Santo Domingo.

Cooper, H. (2007). The battle over homework: An administrator’s guide to sound and effective
policies. Newbury Park, California: Corwin Press.

Corwyn, R. F., & Bradley, R. F. (2002). Family process mediators of the relation between SES
and child outcomes. Unpublished manuscript, University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Crow, A., & Crow, E. (1992). An introduction to psychology of learning. Boston: Houghton
Press.

Davidson, J. (1995). Effective schools, organizational culture and local policy initiatives. New
York: Teachers College Press.

Denga, D. I. (1988). Educational and social psychology. Calabar, Nigeria: Rapid Educational
Publishers Ltd. Dominican Republic: United Nations International Research and Training.

Eamon, M. K. (2005). Social-demographic, school, neighbourhood, and parenting influences on

academic achievement of Latino young adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34 (2),
163-175.

Eccles, J. S. (1993). School and family effects on the ontogeny of children’s interests, self-
perceptions, and activity choice. In J. Jacobs (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol.
40. Developmental perspectives on motivation, 145-208. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Etsey, Y. K. A., Amedahe, F. K., Edjah, K. (2005). Do private primary schools perform better
than public schools in Ghana? Unpublished paper. Department of Educational Foundations,
University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast.

Ezewu, E. (1987). Sociology of Education. (2nd Impression). Lagos: Longman Nigeria Limited.

Farbman, D. & Kaplan, C. (2005). Time for a change: The promise of extended-time schools for
promoting student achievement. Massachusetts.

Fodor, E. M., & Carver, R. A. (2000). Achievement and power motives, performance feedback,
and creativity. Journal of Research in Personality, 34 (4), 380-396.

Freeman, U. S., & Morss, J. (1993). Study habits and academic achievement among Asian
students. College Student Journal, 27, (3), 352-355.

Garfinkel, I., & Molanahan, S.S. (1986). Single mothers and their children. Washington, DC:
Urban in as Press. pp. 160-169.

Gbore, L. O. (2006). Cognitive entry characteristics study habits and self-concept as predictor of
academic performance of university undergraduate students in South West Nigeria. Unpublished
Ph.D. Thesis University of Ado – Ekiti, Ekiti.

Gbore, L. O. (2006). Cognitive entry characteristics study habits and self-concept as predictor of
academic performance of university undergraduate students in South West Nigeria. Unpublished
Ph.D. Thesis University of Ado – Ekiti, Ekiti.

Georgiou, S. (1999). Achievement attributions of sixth grade children and their parents.
Educational Psychology, 19, 399-412.

Good, C. (1998). The relationship of school belonging and friends’ values to academic
motivation among urban adolescent students. Journal of Experimental Education, 62 (1), 60-71.

Graham, S. (1990). Communicating low ability in the classroom: Bad things good teachers
sometimes do. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 

Halle, T., Kurtz-Costes, B., & Mahoney, J. (1997). Family influences on school achievement in
low-income, African American children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 527–537.

Hochschild, J. L. (2003). Social class in public schools. Journal of Social Issues 59 (4), 821-840.
Hornby, A. S. (1998). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English. Oxford:
University Press.

Hull, C. L. (1943). Children in need of roots. Daivs, Calif: International Dialogue Press.

Iheanacho, R. A. E. (2002). Psychology of learning. Enugu: International Publishers.

Institute for Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

Jacobson, K. R. (1980). The relationship of individual student time allocation to reading and
mathematics achievement. Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Wisconsin – Madison (1980).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 42 (1), 35A.

Jeynes, H. (2002). Examining the effects of parental absence on the academic achievement of
adolescents: the challenge of controlling for family income. Journal of Family and Economic
Issues, 23 (2).

Jimerson, S., Egeland, B., & Teo, A. (1999). A longitudinal study of achievement trajectories
factors associated with change. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 116–126.

Jimoh, S.A (2000). Quality of Nigerian graduates: What impact on future development? The text
of the Alumni lecture organized by the River State chapter of the University of Ilorin.

Kagan, J., & Moss, H.A., (1992). Birth to maturity. (5th ed.). New York: Wiley of Secondary
School Principals.

Kaur,R., & Gill, T. (1993). Sex difference in academic achievement in different subjects rural
and urban students. Indian Psychol. Rev., 40 (12): 20-24.

Keith, T.Z. (1982). Time spent on homework and high school grades: A large-sample path
analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74 (2), 248-253.

Khan, S. B. (1975). Structure of academic attitudes and study habits. Educational and
Psychological Measurements, 3, 835 – 842.

Kemjika, O. G. (1998). Relationship between Study Habits and Student achievement among
secondary school students in Rivers State. Nigerian Journal of Professional Studies.

Kendler, J. J. (1995). Basic psychology. (3rd ed.). Menlo Park, CA: W. A. Benjamin Inc.
Kerlinger, F. N. (1973). Foundations of behavioural research. (3rd ed). New York: Holt Rinehart
and Winston.

Kholi, S. (1997). Lecture in Frauenkonventen des ostfrankisch-deutschen Reiches vom 8

Jahrhundert bis zur Mitt des 13. Wurzberg: Konigshausen und Neumann.

Kohn, M. L. (1963). Social class and parent-child relationships: An interpretation. American

Journal of Sociology, 68, 471–480.

Kraft, R. J. (1994). Teaching and learning in Ghana. Boulder, Co: Mitchell Group.

Kumar, A. (2002). A study of Indian Open University distance learners’ academic self-concept,
study habits and attitudes towards distance education in relation to their academic performance.
Abstract International, No 00633.

Lightbody, P., Siann, G., Stocks, R., & Walsh, D. (1996). Motivation and attribution at
secondary school: the role of gender. Educational Studies, 22, 13-25.

Lockheed, M. E., Verspoor, A. M. (1991). Improving education. Educ. Rev., 16 (3): 303-311.

Loh, J. K. K. (2009). Teacher modeling: its impact on an extensive reading program. Reading in
a Foreign Language. 21 (2): 93–118.

Luster, T., Rhoades, K., & Haas, B. (1989). The relation between parental values and parenting
behaviour: A test of the Kohn Hypothesis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 139147.

Majoribanks, K. (1996). Family learning environments and students’ outcomes: A Review.

Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 27 (2), 373-394.

Malathi, W.P. (1987). Aspiration, motivation and achievement. Perspectives in Education, 3 (2):
102-110.

Mallika, N., & Katyal, S. (1993). A comparative study of frustration in daughters of working and
non-working mothers. Indian Psychology.

Manchala, D. (2005). Nurturing peace: Theological reflections on overcoming violence. Geneva:

WCC Publications.

Marzano. R .J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works. Alexandria: ASCD.

Mazuar, M. (2000). Learning and behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.

Mbilinyi, M.J. (1970). Traditional attitudes toward women: A major constraints on rural
development.

McEvoy, G.M., & Cascio, W.F. (1989). Cumulative evidence of the relationship between
employee age and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 11–17.

McNeal, B. (2001). Differential effects of parental involvement on cognitive and behavioural

outcomes by socioeconomic status. Journal of Socioeconomics, 30 (2), 171.

MehrAfza, M. (2004). The relationship between child-rearing practices, creativity and academic
achievement among students in high school’s city of Tabriz, Iran University of Tabriz, Tabriz.

Miner, B. (1968). Sociological background variables affecting school achievement. J. of Edu.

Res., 61 (18): 373-379.

Muller, S. K. (1995). A study of the difference in study habits and study attitudes between
college students participating in experiential learning using portfolio assessment method of
evaluation and student not participating in experiential learning. Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, School of Religious Education, Doctoral Thesis, UMI Number: 9707451.

Munroe, H. R., & Munroe, L. R. (1984). Birth order and intellectual performance in three East
African Societies. J. Soc. Psy.,123.

Neagley, R. I., Evans, N. D. (1970). Handbook for effective supervision of instruction.

Englewood Cliffs, N.Y: Prentice-Hall Inc.

Nesbyry, A. M. (2000). Transition to motherhood. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and

Neonatal Nursing, 32(4) 465-477.

Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2008). The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job
performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (2), 392-423.

Noel-Levitz, F. (2007). Exploring family origins in old Tullamore Town: County Offaly.

Nori, Z. (2002). Gender differences creativity, academic achievement (mathematics, sciences

and language of literature) among high school in City of Shiraz, Iran. University of Shiraz,
Shiraz.

Nwani, Z. O (1985). Study habits and performance. London: Evans Brothers Ltd.
Odebunmi, A. (1988). The effect of home background on student academic performance.
Nigerian Journal of Education Psychology, 3 (1), 83-91.

Odoom, H. E. (2007). Process and skills in examination writing for schools and colleges. Accra:
Yamens Press Limited.

Ogunmakin, A. O. (2001). The effects of study habits and academic achievement in

mathematics. Educational Thought, Ondo Dubeno (Nig.), 1 (2): 167-175.

Okyerefo, M. P. K. (2005). Pursuing an effective pre-university education in Ghana: theory and

praxis. Legon J. Sociology., 2 (1): 33-51.

Onocha, C., & Okpala, P. (1985). Family and environmental correlates of science achievement
of pupils in primary schools. Journal of Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, 23, 1725.

Onyejiaku, F. O. (1982). Students’ performance differential in mathematics as function of their

existing cognitive structures. The Calabar Educator: Av Journal of Educational Practitioners and
Thinkers in Africa, 2, 77-87.

Onyejiaku, F. O. (1987). Techniques of effective study. Calabar: Wusen Press Ltd.

Ortinero, A. (2000). Essential readings in educational foundations. Manila, Philippines:

Heartlifters Publishing.

Osuala, E. C. (2005). Introduction to research methodology. Onitsha, Nigeria: African First

Publishing Ltd.

Owolabi, H. O. (1996). Students’ attitude to instructional questioning, critical thinking and study
habits as determinants of learning outcomes in economics. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis University
of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Panda, B. N., (1992). Study habits of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged adolescents in

relation to sex and academic performance. Indian J. Psy Edu. (ISSN 0378-1003), 23 (2), 91-96.

Patel, B. V. (1976). Women’s studies and development: bridging the gap: an INSTRAW.

Patel, B.V. (1981). Manual for study habits inventory. Agra Psychological Research Cell, Tiwari
Kothi, Belanganj, Agra, 1-8.
Pinda, J. (2000). A comparative study of the effectiveness of client-centered and rational emotive
group counseling models on the study habits of low achieving NCE students. Unpublished Ph.D
thesis, University of Maiduguri.

Powers, S., & Wagner, M. (1984). Attributions for school achievement of middle school
students. Journal of Early Adolescence, 4, 215-222.

Pringle, M. K. (1974). The needs of student. London: Hutchinson.

Raj, S. S. H., & Krishnan, R. (1980). Intelligence, socioeconomic status and family size as
correlates of achievement.

Ramaswamy, R. (1990). Study habits and Academic Achievement.

Robbins, S. (2002). Motivational determinants and coping and academic behavior mediators of
first year college adjustment: A prospective study. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Robinson, D.F. (1970). Teachers’ guide to the Workbook for phonological analysis, X. Santa
Ana, CA: Summer Instituted of Linguistics p.266.

Sandefur, M. I., Melanahan, B. T., & Wojtkiewieza (1989). The social psychology. Chicago
University Press.

Sewell, W. H., & Shah, V.P. (1968). Social class, parental encouragement and educational
aspirations. American Journal of Sociology, 73, 559-572.

Seyfried, S. F. (1998). Academic achievement of African American preadolescents: The

influence of teacher perceptions. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26 (3), 381-402.

Siann, G., & Ugwuegu, D. (1980). Educational psychology in a changing world. London: George
Allen and L. Unwin.

Singh, R. (1984). Self-concept scale. In: Second Handbook of Psychology and Social
Instruments, (Ed.) Pestonjee, D.M., New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.

Smith, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. K. (1997). Consequences of living in poverty for
young children’s cognitive and verbal ability and early school achievement. In G.J. Duncan & J.
Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Consequences of growing up poor (pp. 132–189). New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.

Sorenson, H. P. (1991). Psychology in education. N.Y., USA.: McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc.
Soyibo, (1986). Attitude and achievements in biology. Journal of Science Teachers Association,
20 (2), 26-32.

Sputa, C. L., & Paulson, S. E. (1995). Birth order and family size: Influences on adolescents’
achievement and related parenting behaviours. Psychological Report, 76, 43–51.

Sturman, M.C. (2003). Searching for the inverted U-shaped relationship between time and
performance: Meta-analyses of the experience/performance, tenure/performance, and
age/performance relationships. Journal of Management, 90, 269–283. [37] Thompson, R.

Sundararajan, S., & Lilly, V. (1991). Study habits of ninth standard pupils in and around
Chidambaram. J. Edu. Res. Extn., Oct., 28 (2): 73-78.

Suneetha, B., & Mayuri, K. (2001). A study on age and gender differences on the factors
affecting high Academic Achievement. J. Comm. Guid. Res., 18 (2): 197-208.

Svensson, L. (1997). Learning process and strategies. The British Journal of Educational
Psychology, 47 (3), 233-243.

Tamakloe, G. (2001). Students in learning. Odakwa publications.

Taylor, A. I., & Buku, D. K. (2006). Basics in guidance and counselling (2nd ed.). Winneba:
Department of Psychology & Education.

Telford, C. W., & Sawrey, J. M. (1964). Educational psychology. (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Prentice
Hall of India (Private) Ltd.

Thorndike, E. L. (1986). Human learning. New York: The Century Company.

Trawick, L. (1999). Effects of a cognitive – behavioural intervention on the motivation volition,

and achievement of academically under-prepared college students. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. (ERIC
Documentation Reproduction Service No. 355265).

Tullamore roots book. Longford, Ireland: Longford Co.

Tymms, P. B., & Gibbon, F. C. (1992). The relationship of homework to level results. Edu. Res.,
34 (1): 3-10.

Verma, D. (1990). Administration of technical vocational education. Sterling Pvt. Ltd.

Vijayalaxmi, N., & Natesan, H. (1992). Factors influencing academic achievement. Research
Highlights, 2: 62.

Walberg, H. J. (1999). Does homework help? School community journal 1 (10), 13-15.

Waldman, D. A., & Avelio, B. J. (1986). A meta-analysis of age differences in job performance.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 33-38.

Weiner. F. (1972). Cited in Calderon, B. A study of students’ failure in the public secondary
schools of Manila. Quezon City, Philippines: U.P. College of Education.

Weiss, L.H., & Schwarz, J. C. (1996). The relationship between parenting types and older
adolescents‘ personality, academic achievement, adjustment, and substance use. Child Dev.,
67(5): 2101-2114.

Whihite, S., & Onofrio, A.D. (1993). Identifying latent variable measured by the study activity
survey. A paper presented at the Annual meeting the American Educational Researcher
Associated Atlanta, G.A.

Wolfe, N. (2001). Misconceptions. New York: Doubleday. Misri, S; Kostaras, X; Fox, D; &

Kostaras, D. (2000). The impact of partner support in the treatment of postpartum depression.
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 45 (6). Retrieved March 15, 2004, from Psychology and
Behavioral Sciences Collection.

Wood, A. G. (2005). Allen history and genealogy. La Porte Ind: Allen Press.

Wrenn, J. M., & Humber, L. (1991). Information empowerment: power to the people through
automation.

Young, B. I. (1989). Teacher job satisfaction: a study of the overall job satisfaction and work
facet of K – 8 teachers. Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI). 49: 7.

APPENDIX A

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Questionnaire on students’ study habits and performance. This questionnaire is strictly for an
academic exercise, and you are please requested to provide accurate and frank information that
will assist the researcher in obtaining the correct data for this exercise. Your responses will be
treated in strict confidence. You are please requested to tick (√) on the column that best describes
your habit. Thank you.

STUDY HABITS INVENTORY

SECTION A: Biographical Data

1. Name of school……….…………………………………………………

2. Sex:

(i) Male

(ii) Female

3. Age:

(i) 10-13

(ii) 14- 17

(iii) 18-21

(iv) Other (specify)…….....................................................................................

4. Parents’ level of education (Tick one):

(i) University

(ii) ‘A’ Level

(iii) O’ Level

(iv) Middle School

(v) SSS

(vi) JSS

(vii) Other

(Specify)……………………………………………………………….
5. Father’s occupation:

(i) Government

(ii) Private

(iii) Specify……….…………………………………………………………

6. Mother’s occupation:

(i) Government

(ii) Private

(iii) Specify……………………………………………..……………………

Instructions

The following is a list of questions concerning your habits and method of study. Read each
statement carefully and answer it as accurately as possible. Put a tick (√) or a circle under the
column that best describes your habit. Thank you.

SECTION B: Examination-related Study Habits

Statement | Strongly Agree | Agree | Uncertain | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |

1. I do poorly in tests because I find it hard to think clearly. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

2. I get nervous and confused when taking a test and therefore fail to answer the questions. | 5 | 4
|3|2|1|

3. When getting ready for a test, I arrange facts to be learned in some planned order. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
1|

4. I am careful about spelling, punctuation and grammar when answering test questions. | 5 | 4 | 3
|2|1|

5. I am able to finish tests within the time allowed. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

6. I finish my examination papers and hand them in before time during examination. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
1|

Total Score For Section B | |

SECTION C: Homework and Assignments-related Study Habits

Statement | Strongly Agree | Agree | Uncertain | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |

7. When my assigned homework is too long or hard, I either stop or study only the easier parts of
the lesson. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

8. If I am absent from class, I make up missed lessons and notes immediately. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

9. Even though an assignment is dull and boring I stick to it until it is completed. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

10. I put off doing written assignments until the last minute. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

11. I complete and submit my assignments on time. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

12. I begin my assignments as soon as the teacher gives them to me and not allow them to pile
up. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

Total Score For Section C | |

SECTION D: Reading and Note-Taking- related Study Habits

Statement | Strongly Agree | Agree | Uncertain | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |

13. I read my notes only once, before the examination starts. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

14. After reading several pages of an assignment, I find it easy to remember what I have read. | 5
|4|3|2|1|

15. I find it easy to pick out the important points of a reading assignment. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

16. When reading a long assignment I stop now and then to try to remember what I have read. | 5
|4|3|2|1|

17. I have to re-read material several times because the words don’t have much meaning the first
time I go over them. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

18. I have trouble picking out the important points in the material I read or studied. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
1|

19. I go back and recite to myself the material I have studied, rechecking any points I find
doubtful. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
20. I miss important points in class while copying down notes. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

21. I pronounce words to myself as I read. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

22. I read only books prescribed by my teacher for his/her subjects. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

Total Score For Section D | |

SECTION E: Concentration-related Study Habits

Statement | Strongly Agree | Agree | Uncertain | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |

23. I find that day dreaming distracts my attention from lessons while studying. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

24. I find it hard to keep my mind on what I am studying for any length of time. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

25. Outside interruptions disturb me while am studying. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

26. I focus entirely on my work when I am studying. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

27. I feel sleepy and drowsy whenever I want to study. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

28. I can only study when a place is completely quiet. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

Total Score For Section E | |

SECTION F: Time Management-related Study Habits

Statement | Strongly Agree | Agree | Uncertain | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |

29. I waste too much time talking, watching TV or listening to the radio instead of studying. | 5 |
4|3|2|1|

30. I find that having many other things to do cause me to get behind in my school work | 5 | 4 | 3
|2|1|

31. Problems outside the classroom, with other students or at home cause me to neglect my
school work. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

32. I study for at least three hours each day after classes. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

33. I spend too much time on some subjects and not enough on others. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
34. I spend too much time reading other books, or going out for the good of my school work. | 5 |
4|3|2|1|

Total Score For Section F | |

APPENDIX B

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Tel.: (03323) 20026 EXT. 123

Email: psychology@uew.edu,gh

31st March, 2011

Dear Sir/Madam,

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

The bearer of this letter, Felicity Akpene Akagah is a student of the Department of Psychology
and Education of the University of Education, Winneba pursuing an M Phil programme in
Guidance and Counselling.

She is undertaking a research in partial fulfilment of the award of a Master of Philosophy Degree
in Guidance and Counselling on the topic: ‘Influence of Study Habits on Academic Performance
of Junior High School Students in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region of Ghana’. She
needs to administer questionnaires to enable her gather information for the said research and she
has chosen to do so in your school.

We shall be grateful if your institution gives her the necessary assistance she may require.

Yours faithfully,

Prof. J. K. Aboagye

Head of Department

Distribution
* Apam Presby JHS

* Apam Methodist JHS

* Salvation Army JHS, Apam

* Ankamu Islamic JHS

* Ankamu D/A JHS

* Simbrofo D/A JHS

* Dawurampong Presby JHS

* Dawurampong D/A JHS

* Abasa Presby JHS

* Gomoa Tarkwa Islamic JHS

* Tarkwa D/A JHS

* Tarkwa Metist
Two types of goal orientations dis-
cussed widely are mastery (or
learning)
goal orientation and performance
goal
orientation. Mastery goal-oriented
stu-
dents are those academically
oriented
to learn and master materials and to
demonstrate their competence by
per-
forming well (Ames, 1992; Pintrich,
2000). These students define
academic
success as learning something new,
thus facilitating the development of
competence and task mastery. They
tend to believe that abilities are
changeable and tackle challenging
tasks (Dweck, 1999).