IMPACT OF PERSONALITY TYPE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

                                      INTRODUCTION

There is an international concern on academic performance of students (Romerhausen, 2013). Globally and Nigeria in particular, improving the quality of education and investment on educational and human resources are regarded as effective factors paving the way for a country’s pervasive development. Improvement of students’ academic performance is also among the basic goals of educational planning. And it’s through academic performance that students can fully actualize their talents and capabilities in line with educational goals. Notably, academic performance is considered as one important criteria of educational quality. Therefore, without doubt academic performance presently is a major issue among students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and the community at large. Researchers have made several attempts to unravel the complexities surrounding academic performance (Ikpi, Enya & Johnny, 2014). For example, psychology researchers have put forward a lot of reasons why disparities in achievement among young people exist (Ikpi, Enya & Johnny, 2014). As noted by these researchers, a lot of attention had been paid to external factors such as type of school, teaching methods, school location, instructional materials, quality of lecturers and their experience.

Academic performance is considered an intellectual competence indicator. Opinions vary as to why some students excel academically while others appear to be underachievers. As a result, many psychologists have consistently attempted to identify the major predictors of individual academic performance.Academic performance on examinations is the result of interactions among multiple variables such as learning. Learning occupies a significant role in the life of students (Mangal & Mangal 2009).It means modification of behaviour (Dutt, 2007) that is measured using the yardstick of academic performance. People have different learning styles that are reflected in different academic strengths, weaknesses, skills, and interests. It has often been asserted that academic performance can be explained largely by factors such as individual initiative, effort, and merit (Timothy, & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2007)

Although education is not the only road to success in the working world, much effort is made to identify, evaluate, track and encourage the progress of students in schools (Bell, 2017). Parents care about their child’s academic performance because they believe good academic results will provide more career choices and job security (Bell, 2017). Similarly, schools invested in fostering good academic habits for the same reason. For example they often influence concerns about school’s reputation and the possibility of monetary aid from government institutions, which shows the overall academic performance of the school.

In the past, academic performance of secondary school students was not measured using the present form of using numerical method. 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 invention. Grading systems came into existence in the United States in the late Victorian period and were initially criticized due to high subjectivity. However, performance results 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 every grade.

Academic performance for some researchers is defined by students’ reporting of past semester CGPA/GPA and their expected GPA for the current semester. The grade point average or GPA is now used by most of the tertiary institutions as a convenient summary measure of the academic performance of their students. The GPA is a better measurement because it provides a greater insight into the relative level of performance of individuals and different group of students.

Academic performance is the extent to which a student has achieved their short or long-term educational goals (Ward, Stoker, & Murray-Ward 1996). Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School and bachelor’s degrees represent academic performance.

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