RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEST ANXIETY AND EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE AMONG PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IMO STATE

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between test anxiety and examination malpractice among public secondary school students in Imo State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Relevant literature were reviewed is under conceptual review, theoretical framework and review of empirical studies. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population of the study consisted of 22,331 SSII students in the 456 public secondary schools in Imo State. The sample comprised 600 students. Stratified random sampling techniques was used to draw the sample. The instruments for data collection were two adapted questionnaires, titled Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ), and Examination Malpractice Questionnaire (EMQ). The instruments were subjected to face validation. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments. The result gave co-efficient value of 0.85 for Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ), and 0.83 for Examination Malpractice Questionnaire (EMQ). Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to answer the research questions while test of significance of Pearson was used to test the hypotheses at 0 .05 level of significance. The study revealed, that there was a low positive relationship between test anxiety and examination malpractice. The study also indicated a low positive relationship between male and female students’ test anxiety and examination malpractice. Finally, the study revealed a low positive relationship between test anxiety and examination malpractice among urban and rural based students in public secondary schools in Imo State. The study recommended among other that the services of a Guidance Counsellor should be engaged in secondary schools in Imo state to ensure that students’ receive regular guidance and counseling with regard to their reading habits and tests/examinations behavious to avoid falling victims of anxiety during test/examinations.