Background Variables and Cheating Tendencies Among Students in Federal Colleges of Education in The North-West, Nigeria (Published)
This research is interested in establishing the incidence and magnitude of the relationship that exist among background variables of gender, course of study, marital status and cheating tendencies among students in Colleges of Education in the Northwest of Nigeria. The design employed for the study is correlational survey. The population of the study consisted of 12,060 registered NCE III for the 2023/2024 academic session in the Federal Colleges of Education in the North-west, Nigeria. Using multistage random sampling procedure which consisted of stratified random sampling, proportionate sampling and simple random sampling techniques, the study made use of one thousand two hundred (1200) students. The instruments used for the study were researchers’ developed questionnaire on Academic Cheating Behaviour and a thirty (30) item multiple choice objective test on Introduction to Guidance and Counseling. The instruments were validated by two experts from Guidance and Counselling and Psychology Departments of the Federal College of Education, Zaria. The instruments were pilot tested twice within a two-week interval in a state College of Education. The results of the two scores were subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis which yielded 0.876 correlation coefficient. The instruments were administered to the respondents through trained research assistants. Frequency count and percentage were used in answering the research questions while Logistic Regression Analysis was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found no significant relationship between gender and cheating tendency, it however found a significant relationship among course of study, marital status and cheating tendencies. Based on the findings, recommendations were made.
Keywords: Federal Colleges of Education., Nigeria, North-West, Students, background variables, cheating tendencies
Influence of Irrational Belief on Academic Performance among Students in Some Federal Colleges of Education in the North-West Zone, Nigeria (Published)
The paper focused on the influence of irrational beliefs on academic performance of students in Federal Colleges of Education in the North-West Zone, Nigeria. The design employed for the study was descriptive survey. The sample made up of one thousand two hundred (1200) NCE III students. The sample was randomly selected using multistage random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-designed questionnaire which was validated by an expert each from Guidance and Counselling and Psychology Departments of Federal College of Education, Zaria. The instrument was pilot tested, using split half method the results of the two scores were subjected to PPMC analysis which yielded 0.73 as correlation coefficient. The data were analyzed using Frequency count and Mean Statistics to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested using ANOVA and t test statistics. The findings of the study revealed that there is overall prevalence of irrational beliefs among the respondents, that irrational beliefs influence their academic performance and that different types of irrational beliefs held by students. The study further revealed that there were significant differences in the prevalence of irrational beliefs among students based on age, gender and marital status. The paper recommended that interventions to reduce the prevalence of irrational beliefs among students’ population should be developed by teachers, counsellors, mental health professionals and that there should be adequate counselling and orientation periodically by counsellors and other stakeholders to educate on the impacts of irrational beliefs on their academic performance among others.
Keywords: : Academic Performance, Federal Colleges of Education., irrational beliefs