EMOTIONAL SELF-AWARENESS AND INTEREST AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE

Abstract

The study examined emotional self-awareness and interest as predictors of academic achievement of secondary school students in Biology in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlation research design. The population of the study comprised 3891 senior secondary school two (SS 2) students from all the public secondary schools in the zone. 389 senior secondary school students were sampled from the population using multi-stage sampling procedures. Biology Self-Awareness Assessment Scale (BSAAS), Biology Interest Scale (BIS) and cumulative result scores in Biology for 2024/2025 academic session, were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach's alpha method, yielding a coefficient of 0.83 for BSEQ and 0.73 for BIS. Data collection involved the direct administration of the questionnaires to respondents by the researcher and five research assistants. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were employed for the analysis of the data collected. The findings of the study revealed that emotional self-awareness was found to have a weak positive and significant prediction on the academic achievement of students, also, interest demonstrated a weak positive and significant prediction on academic achievement of students. Furthermore, emotional self-awareness and interest jointly have a high positive and significant prediction on the academic achievement of secondary school students in Biology. Based on the findings, the study concluded that emotional self-awareness and interest are important psychological factors that significantly influences the academic achievement of secondary school students in Biology. It was recommended amongst others that students should be encouraged to build emotional self-awareness and interest in Biology by engaging in self-directed learning activities, setting realistic academic goals, and celebrating small academic successes to boost their confidence and motivation. Also, school administrators should organize capacity-building programs for teachers on how to integrate emotional self-awareness strategies into classroom practice, while also providing conducive learning environments that promote emotional stability and academic achievement.