SELF-REGULATION STRATEGIES AS PREDICTORS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE

Abstract

The study examined self-regulation strategies as a predictor of senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Biology in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State, Nigeria. The research was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The study adopted a predictive correlation research design. The population of the study comprised 3890 senior secondary two (SS 2) students from all the public secondary schools in the zone offering Biology. Multi-stage sampling procedures was used to draw a sample of 389 from the population. The instruments for data collection are Biology Self-Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (BSRSQ), while 2024/2025 Promotion results in Biology was used as students’ achievement scores. The instrument, BSRSQ, was validated by three experts, from Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach's alpha, with coefficient of 0.86. Data were collected through the direct administration of questionnaires to the respondents by the researcher, assisted by five research assistants. The data collected were analysed with simple and multiple linear regression analyses. The findings of the study revealed that self-regulation strategies have a weak positive predictive value on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Biology. Furthermore, the study found that Individual dimensions of self-regulation strategies have a strong positive and significant predictive value on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Biology. The study also showed that Self-regulation strategies have a weak positive predictive value on academic achievement in Biology for both male and female senior secondary school students, with a stronger predictive value for females. Based on the findings, the study concluded that self-regulation strategies play a meaningful, though varying, and role in enhancing students’ academic achievement in Biology, with notable gender differences favouring females. The study recommended amongst others that teachers should incorporate explicit self-regulation strategy training such as goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation into Biology instruction to enhance students’ academic achievement. Gender-sensitive interventions should be developed to support both male and female students in optimizing their use of self-regulation strategies for improved academic performance in Biology.