Marital Status and Age as Predictors of Academic Performance of Students of Colleges of Education in the Nort- Eastern Nigeria

Bitrus Glawala Amuda^1, , Apagu Kidlindila Bulus² and Hamsatu Pur Joseph²

¹Kashim Ibrahim College of Education, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

²Department of Education, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria

Cite this paper:
Bitrus Glawala Amuda, Apagu Kidlindila Bulus and Hamsatu Pur Joseph. Marital Status and Age as Predictors of Academic Performance of Students of Colleges of Education in the Nort- Eastern Nigeria. American Journal of Educational Research. 2016; 4(11):896-902. doi: 10.12691/education-4-12-7

Abstract

This study investigated marital status and age as predicators of students’ academic performance in the North-eastern states of Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the levels of academic performance of NCE students, marital status as significant predictor of academic performance of NCE students in Colleges of Education and Age as significant predictor of academic performance in the North-Eastern States, Nigeria. One question and two hypotheses were answered and tested in the study. Survey design was used in the study. A sample of one thousand two hundred out of a population of 13,529 (8,422 males and 5,107 females) NCE 2 and 3 students from six Colleges of Education in the North-eastern States, Nigeria participated in the study. The sample of the study was selected through simple random and stratified sampling techniques. The research instruments used for data collection were Study Habit and Examination Taking Technique Inventory developed by Carew and Hamman- Tukur (1996) and Proforma developed by the researchers. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis. The results revealed that the level of academic performance of NCE students of Colleges of Education in the North-Eastern States, Nigeria was high because those that form the majority of distribution range from merit (C) to distinction (A), which stands at 66.7%, while fail and pass grades consisted of 33.3%. Marital status and age did not significantly predict academic performance in Colleges of Education in the North-eastern States of Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that adequate attention should be given to marital and age differences in academic performance in terms of giving assignments, group work, course placement and any other academic activities in the Colleges. To improve the academic performance, teachers and counsellors should know the different study habit patterns and how to integrate them in their teaching so that the diverse study skills will be provided to the students, which will give them the opportunity to perform maximally.

Keywords:
marital status age and academic performance

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