TEST ANXIETY, AGE AND GENDER AS PREDICTORS OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICES AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS’BIOLOGY STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth,evolution, distribution, identification and taxonomy. Modern biology is a vast and eclectic field, composed of many branches and sub-disciplines. However, despite the broad scope of biology, there are certain general and unifying concepts within it that govern all study and research, consolidating it into single, coherent field. In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life,genes as the basic unit of heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species. It is also understood today that all the organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment to maintain a stable and vital condition known as homeostasis, (Richards, 2002). Sub-disciplines of biology are defined by the scale at which organisms are studied, the kinds of organisms studied, and the methods used to study them for example biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life;molecular biology studies the complex interactions among biological molecules;botany studies the biology of plants;cell biology examines the basic building-block of all life, the cell;physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of tissues,organs, and organ systems of an organism;evolutionary biology examines the processes that produced the diversity of life; and ecology examines how organisms interact in their environment, (Richards, 2002). One of the objectives of education in Nigeria is to prepare the youth to become self sufficient in order to meet the nation’s manpower requirements. Schools need to conduct examinations purposely to assess the cognitive ability of the student. It follows then that examination is very paramount in the placement of students.

Examination, according to Maruka, (1993) “can be seen as a way to ascertain how much of a subject matter in a particular field of study the candidate has mastered.” In other words, it is a process through which studies are evaluated or tested to find out the quality of knowledge students have acquired within a specific period. Examinations could be oral, written or both. However, examination malpractice is any wrong doing before, during or aer any examination Olisama (2003). To Sooze (2004), examination malpractice is an illegal means that students use to pass examinations. Olisama, (2003) is of the opinion that when a student receives or acquires foreign aid in an attempt to pass examination, it is called examination malpractice. The various dimensions of examination malpractice includes bringing of foreign materials into the examination hall, colliding with supervisors to cheat, receiving help from other candidates, impersonation, insult or assault on examination officials, electronically assisted malpractices, mass cheating, and changing of scores by examiners for candidates. Studies on the causes of examination malpractice reveals that low morality, poor school facilities, inadequacy of trained teachers and corrupt nature of WAEC and NECO officials and desire to succeed at all cost by the students are the common reasons why students engage in examination malpractices (Idahosa, 2005).

According to Oredein (2008), the variables of age, sex and test anxiety of students largely influence their behaviour especially during examinations. Some scholars have argued that these variables correlate to certain degree and cannot be separated from examination malpractices. To many researchers, age of the learner determines the variation in the speed at which he learns and at the rate at which he engages in examination malpractices. Others have attached sex of the learner as factor for examination malpractices. For instance, in tracing the mode of examination malpractice between the sexes, Oredein, (2008) argued empirically that girls find it easy to inscribe information on any part of their body like thighs, baby pampers, purses and palms than their male counterpart. Apart from this, other scholars have identified test anxiety as the main cause of examination malpractices. According to Ibrahim, (2004) academic success usually depend upon students’ ability to adapt to academic situation.

He argued that students who feel competent will not be much threatened by stressful academic demands but to one’s surprise, students are generally anxious over examination, which invariably leads some of them to engage in examination malpractice. Sex, according to Cambridge Dictionary is the state of being a male or female. Dierent views exist as to which sex involves more in examination malpractices. Lobel and Levanon (2008) argue that more males engage in examination malpractices than the females while Leming (2000) believes that there are more female involvement in examination malpractice than male. The absence of significance difference between the anxiety levels of males and female most especially prior to examination could be attributed to many factors. Both students must have familiarized themselves with the academic environment and the females, thinking that they can always find themselves through by any means, write on parts of their body with the aim of engaging in examination malpractice. Boys have been found to partake in examination malpractices especially when they have fear of failing in difficult subjects. Based on this finding, sex as a variable will receive serious attention as predictor of examination malpractices.