INFLUENCE OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE ON STUDENTS ATTITUDE TO LEARNING IN FACULTY OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF UYO
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
According to Nenty (1998), the introduction of formal examination has assumed a monstrous dimension in the evaluation of the learners’ behavior. The result of the above situation is that student’s who may be able to depend on their recall system resort to other means of passing a given test or examination. This is the basis for acts of examination malpractice which threatens the educational system.
Examination malpractice involves acting in an in appropriate way in order to gain advantage (s) in educational evaluation process. Ukpong (2003) stated that examination malpractice is a social menace but some people to day see it as an acceptable and recognizable means of passing examination. The phenomenon has become so rampant in the 21th century to the extent that it is becoming a common practice at all levels of education.
A number of names have been given to examination malpractice which is also described as cheating in examination. According to Galadima (1999), one of the remote causes of examination malpractice is over-emphasis on paper qualification, which pushes students to cut corner to excel in examination. Inyang (2005) stated some forms of examination malpractice including leakage of examination questions, grafting, exchange of question papers and answer scripts, super-print, body writing, relocation impersonation etc. whatever manner a student uses in cheating, examination malpractice has negative effect on the quality of the students in the school. Johnson (2003), maintained that due to examination malpractice, a number of students carry results that do not reflect their ability.
In response, a number of policies have been introduced in Nigeria to control the incidence of examination malpractice. For instance, Decree Number 20 of 1984 section 3 (1) made examination malpractice punishable by twenty-one years (21) imprisonment (Ijeoma, 1994). This is reaffirmed by Act 33 of 1999 Amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which gives 3 or 4 years imprisonment or fine of N 50, 000 or N 100, 000 to offenders (Bassey, 2003). Examination malpractice policy is put in place to measure the programme in education outline strategies, spell out punishment to offenders which could help to curb minimize or eradicate cheating in examination. This is why this study was carried out to find out the influence of examination malpractice on students attitude in the faculty of Education University of Uyo.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Unfortunately, examination malpractice has continuously increase despite the policies designed to eliminate this social evil (Ijeoma, 1994).
There are many implications of examination malpractice on students’ attitude in the faculty of Education University of uyo. Among these problems are that students have refused to take their studies seriously because of the hope of external assistance through cheating.
During the screening test conducted for perspective students for 2013/2014 academics session in university of uyo. Faculties of Education, Several Candidates, involve in malpractice or were caught. Some were caught bringing in prohibited materials in to the exam hall, while some others were apprehended for imprisonment.
If one may ask: what other way can a country produce half-baked graduate other than this? Most undergraduate do not study effectively, but rely on cheating and bribing of lectures. They may eventually graduate with certificate bearing good grades gotten from malpractice which they cannot define in the labour market. This is a major cause of unemployment in Nigeria, as employers do not only look for first class certificate they are also interested in what the graduate has to offer.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The major aim of this study was to examine the influence of examination malpractice on student’s attitude in the faculty of Education University of uyo.
To achieve this aim the following specific purpose were developed.
- To examine the influence of examination malpractice on students’ attitude in preparing for examination.
- To assess the influence of examination malpractice on students’ study habits.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were asked to guide this study.
a Does indulgence in examination malpractice influence the students’ attitude in preparing for examination?
b Does examination malpractice influence the students’ study habits?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
In an attempt to answer the above research question, the following null hypotheses are formulated to guide the study.
- There is no significant influence of examination malpractice on student’s attitude in the faculty of Education University Uyo.
- There is no significant influence of examination malpractice on students’ study habits in preparing for examination.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be of benefit to a number of people it will help to re-direct the school authority and examining bodies to go back to their drawing board to make a workable examination malpractice policy that will enhance quality tertiary education. It will also help them to put in place machineries to ensure effective implementation of the policy for the good of our educational system. It will also serve as a means of evaluating the success or facture of existing policies on examination malpractice in the country. This finding of the study will also help employer s of labour to de-emphasize paper qualification and give priority to those skills which the individual can practically demonstrate.
1.7 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study concentrated on the influence of examination malpractice on the attitude of students in the faculty of Education University of uyo. The variables to be investigated include examination malpractice policy and its effect on the students’ attitude and how it affect student’s study habit. The study was also restricted to selected department in the faculty of Education University of uyo.
1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The major problem which faced this study was that students were not very willing to respond to the questionnaires. Most of them did so only after their class representative intervene. The researcher did not also have enough money to administer the questionnaire on all the department in the study areas. Only a few of the available department were sampled.
1.9 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY
The following assumptions are made that:
- The attitude of student is measurable and variable.
- The students in the study vary in preparing for examination.
- The instrument used in this study is valid and reliable to elicit response on students examination malpractice and its effect on attitude.
- The sample of students used in this study are the portion of the total population in a few department in the faculty of Education University of uyo, during the 2014/2015 academic session.
1.10 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Examination:- This is the process of evaluating the learner to determine if the aims of teaching a given subject has been achieved.
Examination Malpractice:- This is any illegal act during and after an examination intended to make a student earn a grade he or she does not deserve.
Policy:- This is referred to as a course of action put in place to take care of an existing or future problems. In this study, the policy under consideration is an examination malpractice.
Study Habits:- This is the pattern of behaviour adopted by students in the pursuit of their studies that serums as the vehicle of learning
Truancy:- Habitual absence from school and class without permission.
