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Section 3. Pedagogical Psychology
Okoro C. Cornelius, University of Uyo, PhD in Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education E-mail: cornokoron@yahoo.com Effiong C. Saviour, University of Uyo, M.Ed. in Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education
Academic Self-Concept and Cheating Behaviour of Students in Akwa Ibom State
Abstract: The ex-post facto survey investigated the influence of academic self-concept on cheating behaviour of students in Akwa Ibom State College of Education. From the population of3,070 students, a sample of307 was drawn using stratified random sampling technique. Two standardized instruments titled Academic Self-concept Questionnaire (ASQ) and Academic Cheating Behaviour Scale (ACBS), whose high validity and reliability had been ascertained by their respective authors, were adopted and used to collect data for the study. The collected and analyzed showed that variables of academic self-concept exert significant influence on academic cheating behaviour of students. Main effect of academic self-concept, simple effect of academic level and interaction effect between academic self-concept variables were observed to indicate significant influence on academic cheating behavior. The need for coordinated efforts by management and stakeholders of education to enforce codes that would diminish academic dishonesty and instill academic integrity among students was recommended, inter alia.
Keywords: Academic self-concept, self-confidence, cheating behavior, academic integrity.
Introduction Academic cheating behaviour appears to be ram-
Academic cheating behaviour tends to be a com- pant in the academic environment in Nigeria, due to the
mon phenomenon in the education system of both the following predispositions: students' lack of self-con-
developed and developing countries of the world [1]. fidence, desperate efforts of students to pass exams or
Researches have well documented the history and in- tests in order to earn a high grade point average (GPA),
cidence of academic cheating behaviours of students and students' poor academic self-concept among others.
among different institutions of higher learning [2; 3]. These may usually motivate students to cheat, whereas
This situation has eroded the academic integrity of stu- academic cheating behaviour is unacceptable regarding
dents, and hampers their chances of jobs selection after the high academic standard as enunciated in the general
leaving school. Hence, Rangkuti [4] defined academic philosophy of higher education policy in Nigeria. Aca-
cheating to be a behaviour that reflects the dishonesty, demic cheating behaviour is rather a socially undesirable
in order to obtain academic achievement. However, behaviour in academic domains that is also against the
academic cheating behaviour represents a severe threat learning outcome and practical philosophy of higher
to an institution's integrity by contradicting the princi- education in Nigeria. In addition to the foregone, other
ples and values students should obtain, as well as their factors have been found to influence students' involve-
strength while in school [5]. ment in academic crime. Rangkuti [4] enumerated lack
of adequate supervision during exams or test, and lack of control of teachers and educational institutions as contributing factors in students' academic cheating behaviour.
In the light of these, it seems that students, whose self-concept is low, may possess the tendency to participate in academic cheating. Students' academic self-concept has been found to be significantly correlated with their learning outcome and future goals [7-10]. Wilson [6] established that students who have low academic self-concept may chose academic and career paths that are less rigorous, challenging or fulfilling, which creates a potential reduction of skills and advancement for both the individual and society. This situation in an academic environment does not predispose students to being studious in their academics, but rather could redirect their concentration on how to obtain high grade scores by all means including indulging in cheating.
Udoh [11] identified academic cheating behaviour in Nigeria to include whether the individuals 1) copied materials and turned it in as their own work, 2) used unfair methods to learn what was on a test before it was given, 3) copied assignment or homework from others and allowed other students to copy from them, 4) collaborated on an assignment when the instructor asked for individual work and used a textbook on a test without the instructor's permission 5) pretentiously falsified assignment or test submission and 6) exhibited criminal academic behaviours such as dishonesty, plagiarism, fabrication, deception, impersonation, among many others. Other researchers have variously examined cheating behaviour in other parts of the world [1; 4, 12-13]. Conspicuously missing in the battle of empirical studies is the assessment of the contributions of self-concept variables as students' academic confidence and students' academic efforts to students' academic cheating behaviour, especially among post-secondary adolescent students.
Objective of the Study
The main obj ective of this study is to examine the influence of academic self-concept on academic cheating behaviour of students of Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit. Specifically, it seeks to:
1) Examine the influence of students' academic confidence on academic cheating behaviour.
2) Examine the influence of students' academic efforts on academic cheating behaviour.
3) Investigate the combined effects of academic self-concept variables and academic cheating behaviour of students.
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested in this study:
1) Academic self-confidence does not significantly influence academic cheating behaviour among College of Education students of Akwa Ibom State.
2) College of Education students' academic efforts do not significantly influence the academic cheating behaviour.
3) There is no significant combined effect of academic self-concept variables on academic cheating behaviour among College of Education students in Akwa Ibom State.
Research method
Research Design: The ex-post facto survey research design was adopted for this study. It was considered suitable as it allowed the researchers to investigate current research variables in the population using a representative sample.
Population: The population for this study comprised all the 3,070 final year students of Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit, Akwa Ibom State. The study was carried out during the 2013/2014 academic session.
Sampling: The sample for this study was 307 students, representing 10 percent of the total population of final year students in the Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit. The sampling technique used was the Stratified Random Sampling technique.
Instruments for Data Collection: Two standardized instruments were used for data collection. These instruments were the Academic Self-concept Questionnaire (ASQ) adopted from Yorke's version [13]; and the Academic Cheating Behaviour Scale (ACBS) adopted from McCabe and Trevino [14].
Result of data analysis
Hypothesis 1: Academic self-confidence does not significantly influence academic cheating behaviour of College of Education students in Akwa Ibom State. The result is presented in Table 1.
Hypothesis 3: There is significant combined effect of academic self-concept variables on academic cheating behaviour among College of Education students in Akwa Ibom State.
The combined effects were main effect, simple effect, interaction effect as well as post hoc test for multiple comparisons of the different levels of students' exposure to treatment of academic cheating behaviour. Data in Tables 3, 4, 5 and Figure 1 all showed significant influence of academic self-concept variables on academic cheating behaviour of students.
Table 1. - The Independent t — test of academic confidence on Academic cheating behaviour
Academic Confidence N Mean (X) SD
Academic Cheating Behaviour Low Confidence 154 16.18 2.80
High Confidence 154 24.99 3.26
* Significant at <.05, df = 306; t = 25.43.
Hypothesis 2: College of Education students' academic efforts do significantly influence the academic cheating behaviour. The result of the analysis is presented in Table 2.
Table 2. - The Independent t — test of Academic efforts on Academic cheating behaviour
Academic efforts N Mean (X) SD
Academic Cheating Behaviour Low Efforts 154 15.94 2.31
High Efforts 154 24.64 2.92
* Significant at <.05, df = 306; t = 28.95. Table 3. - The two way Factorial ANOVA of Between-Subjects Effects on academic cheating behaviour
Source Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Corrected Model 16777.049a 3 5592.350 116.493 0.000
Intercept 208099.954 1 208099.954 4334.883 0.000
Academic self-concept 2005.507 1 2005.507 41.776 0.000
Academic Level 14028.078 1 14028.078 292.216 0.000
Academic self-concept*Academic Level 602.967 1 602.967 12.560 0.000
Error 14593.792 304 48.006
Total 239215.000 308
Corrected Total 31370.841 307
a. R Squared = 535 (Adjusted R Squared =530) * Significant at <.05, F (1,304)., df = 1.960
Table 4. - The two-way factorial ANOVA estimated marginal means of significance and the 'F' test of effect of students' academic self-concept.
Academic Self-concept Mean (X) Sum of Square Mean Square F Sig.
Self-confidence 23.44 2005.507 2005.507 41.77 0.000
Efforts 28.55 14593.792 48.006
* Significant atp<.05, df = 1,304.
Table 5. - The two-way factorial ANOVA estimated marginal means of significance and the 'F' test of effect of students' academic level
Academic Self-concept Mean (X) Sum of Square Mean Square F Sig.
Students' High 19.25 14028.08 14028.08 292.22 0.000
Students' Low 32.75 14593.79 48.01
* Significant atp<.05, df = 1,304.
Table 6. - The two-way factorial ANOVA of academic self-concept and students' academic level interaction effects on academic cheating behaviour
Academic self-concept Academic Level Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound Upper Bound
Academic Confidence Students High 15.295 0.785 13.751 16.839
Students Low 31.592 0.795 30.028 33.156
Academic Efforts Students High 23.197 0.795 21.633 24.761
Students Low 33.897 0.785 32.354 35.441
Discussion of Findings
Hypotheses 1 of this study indicated statistical significant influence of academic self-confidence on academic cheating behaviour of students in the study area. The means of the two independent groups (high academic confidence versus low academic confidence) were compared in order to understand how they tend to influence students' academic cheating behaviour in school. As presented in Table 1, the results of Independent t — tests showed significant influence against the hypothesis. Hence, hypothesis 1 was rejected.
Hypothesis 2 was rejected as the statistical test showed that students' academic efforts do significantly influence their academic cheating behaviour. The results showed that when students' academic effort is low, there is that tendency for students to cheat in order to generate high grade point average in school.
The result of hypothesis 3 as presented in Tables 3, 4, 5, and 6 showed significant main effect, and interaction effects of academic self-concept variables to influence academic cheating behaviour of students in the study area. The hypothesis that there are no significant combined effects of academic self-concept on academic cheating behaviour is rejected. Sequel to the significant interaction effects observed in this study, Scheffe multiple comparisons Post Hoc test was conducted as given in Table 5 and the result indicates that there is significant academic self-concept and students academic level interaction is due to low students academic efforts of high score (Mean = 33.897) and academic confidence high of self-concept showed low score (Mean = 15.295) even with all their significant differences on academic cheating behaviour of students in the study area. However, the hypothesis that there is no significant combined effect of academic self-concept variables on academic cheating behaviour among College of Education students in Akwa Ibom State is completely rejected
Generally, this study is in agreement with the study of Valentine, DuBois and Cooper [15] who proposed that students with positive views of academic abilities are likely to engage in more achievement-related behaviours and beneficial activities, which may include completing homework, intensifying efforts to study for tests, as well as participating in class activities. It is observed in this study that academic confidence and academic efforts of students in the study area have significant influence on their academic cheating behaviours. This implies that academic confidence and academic efforts as sub-constructs of academic self-concepts are manipulable factors in this study. These factors could be manipulated such that it
tends to mitigate academic integrity level of students. However, students with academic integrity tend to work harder in academic process than their counterparts without academic integrity. It is further observed clearly in this study that academic efforts is the foundation to configure academic confidence which may reduce the level of academic cheating behaviour in school.
This study is antagonized with Rangkuti [4] who observed that lack of adequate supervision during examination or test and controls from teachers as well as educational institution make students to cheat. Rangkuti claimed to have unraveled some of the hidden barricade of lecturers' characteristics that hinder academic integrity of students which lead to cheating behaviour. The results of interaction effects between academic self-confidence and academic efforts of Hypothesis 3 as presented in Table 4 revealed that academic efforts of students could strengthens self-confidence. When students enter examination hall with confident such students will perform well. When also there is confidence among students during examination, there is no need for lecturers and institution to implement strict supervision policy because students are matured. This study maintains that academic efforts of students are a potent factor that tends to build self-confidence in them which may engender successes and inhibit excess academic cheating behaviour.
This study reveals that students with high level of academic confidence always enter examinations with boldness, not panicking, and with successes in their hands. Thus, those students attain to academic issues with ease. This is most likely because, they have made concerted efforts that help to hold back certain level of anxiety that would have generated phobia, fear, or lack of self-confidence. Hence, they may not also exercise cheating behaviour as a way of satisfying their impulse towards being desperate in getting high grades in school.
The results of this study partially support the view of Valentine, Dubois and Cooper [16], which highlighted academic efforts as one of those factors of academic integrity, as well like completing homework, studying for tests and participating in class activities. These factors are somewhat the features of academic efforts of students towards reducing students' academic cheating behaviour in school. This assertion entails that students that are effortless or low in academic efforts may tend to meet failures in their academic pursuit that would instigate them to cheat in order to produce better GPA.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that students' academic confidence and academic efforts are
significant factors influencing academic cheating behavior and that the strength of students' academic efforts tend to determine the level of confidence they should exert that would produce good academic mannerism in the study area.
Hence, it is recommended among others that management of the college, academic sponsors, lecturers, and government of Akwa Ibom State should come together in building academic integrity by strengthening and enforcing codes that would inculcate fears in students to rescind from committed offense of academic cheating. Again, student offenders should be punished severely devoid of parental socio-economic and societal class status, as well as political connotations in order to checkmate various aspects of academic dishonesty among prospective academia. This entails that the
manipulation of the sub-construct of academic self-concept (students' academic efforts and academic self-confidence) would tend to generate either positive or negative effects on the dependent variables (academic cheating behaviours) in this study.
Above all, this measure would bring discipline, sanity and good etiquette in the academic community that would tend to upgrade the status of academic integrity in the society. This will also help to promote the academic philosophy as enshrined and enunciated in the National Policy on Education of Nigeria. It will further help Akwa Ibom State schools and schools in Nigeria at large to produce highly productive academics and citizens in all the sectors of the national economy.
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Public and private secondary schools from a comparative perspective: a case study of Ikot Ekpene local government area
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Udofia Nsikak-Abasi, University of Uyo, Ph. D. in Educational Measurement and Evaluation
Faculty of Education E-mail: n_udofia@yahoo.com Umoh Abigail Christopher, Department of Educational Foundations, Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education
Public and private secondary schools from a comparative perspective: a case study of Ikot Ekpene local government area
Abstract: This survey examines public and private secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State from a comparative perspective. A sample of 240 students (120 from 3 private schools and 120 from 3 public schools) was drawn using a stratified random sampling technique. The findings revealed that private schools and public schools significantly differ in the academic performance of students, provision of school facilities, curriculum implementation, level of discipline and staff quality and quantity. It was recommended inter alia that both public and private sector should urgently participate in the planning, implementation, supervision, monitoring and funding of educational facilities within the study area to enhance equal opportunity to learning.
Keywords: Public schools, private schools, standard of education, public school funding.
Introduction from poor homes and inculcated in them a balanced perIt would not be wrong to assert that the standard of spective to life. Those of the poor would also sit tight to education of any country is largely dependent on the study, believing that if they do so, they would be as rich standard of public schools in that country. Simply put, as their friends' parents and would not go through their public schools are the yardsticks by which a country's present difficulties. There were even cases where some educational growth and development is measured. In rich parents would take up the training of the friends of the '70s, '80s and early '90s in Nigeria, public schools their children when their parents were unable to con-were more popular because they had discipline, good tinue their education.
teachers and good facilities. They were attended by stu- In the 1970s, '80s and early '90s in Nigeria, public
dents irrespective of their social class and socio-econom- schools were more popular because they had discipline,
ic background in the society. One of the advantages of good teachers and good facilities. They were attended
early exposure of students to others from different so- by students irrespective of their social class and socio-
cio-economic background is that it teaches them how economic background. But today as observed by Aduke
to get along with people. Those days, children ofparents [1], public schools are a shadow of what they used to
from different economic strata would attend same pub- be. The research and education community is divided
lic schools, play and learn together. This early exposure on the debate whether private schools have evolved to
helped the children of the rich to be acquainted with best public schools in terms of quality of teaching and
some of the hardship experienced by those who were learning, school discipline and infrastructure. The wider
