SELF-CONCEPTS AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE AS CORRELATES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE LEARNING

Abstract

This study examined the self-concept and students’ attitude as correlates of their performance in elementary science learning in Ikere Ekiti, Nigeria. The design was correlational research type. The population size for the study was all public 2,440 elementary school students from Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti, Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 244 elementary school students from the entire population. Five hypotheses were raised to guide the study. The instruments used to elicit the relevant data were: A twenty item instrument questionnaire called Elementary Science Attitudinal  Scale (ESAS) and a twenty item instrument questionnaire called Self- Concept towards Elementary Science (SCES)” designed by the researcher and the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd  terms examination scores of students were obtained as the students’ academic performance. The reliability coefficients of 0.80 and 0.83 for ESAS and SCES respectively were obtained.  The data collected were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that: there is significant relationship between students’ attitude, self-concept and their academic performance.  A significant difference between male and female students’ attitude, self-concept and their academic performance in elementary science was also found in favour of female. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded among others that female students had higher self-concept and a better attitude than male students, and that there is a strong correlation between students' attitudes and self-concept and how well they performed academically in science classes.