SELF-EFFICACY AS PREDICTOR OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY

Abstract

The study examined self-efficacy SE as predictor of secondary school students’ achievement in Chemistry in Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study while two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level.  The correlation survey design was adopted.  The population of the study comprised 16,590 senior secondary two students offering Chemistry in all the public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample size of this study consists of 964 senior secondary school two Chemistry students drawn from 113 co-education secondary schools out of the 263 public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample was drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) adapted from Abdul Gafoor and Mohammed academic self-efficacy scale (2006) and average termly Chemistry scores from teachers’ grade book for 2024/2025 academic session from the sampled schools were used as instruments for data collection. The instruments were validated by two lecturers from the Department of Science Education and one lecturer in Measurement and Evaluation, Department of Educational Foundations all from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instruments were established using Cronbach alpha method. The reliability coefficient of ASES was found to be 0.88. The data was collected using ASES and average termly Chemistry scores from teachers’ grade book. Coefficient r and R² were used to answer research question while linear regression was used to test the hypotheses. The findings from the results revealed that there is low positive predictive value of SE on secondary school students’ achievement in Chemistry which is significant. The moderating influence of gender on secondary school students SE in prediction their achievement in Chemistry is low, positive and significant. From the findings it was concluded that SE modestly and positively predict secondary students’ achievement in Chemistry and gender acting as a moderating factor that also enhances these relationships. From the conclusion recommended was made.