Impact of Academic Stress On Academic Pe PDF
Impact of Academic Stress On Academic Pe PDF
Impact of Academic Stress On Academic Pe PDF
BY
OGBOGU CHIBUZO EZEKIEL
Email: [email protected]
Mobile n0: +2347033689971, +2348095017958
Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu Nigeria.
Conclusively, students in high ratios report that they are being faced with
Academic related stress (Shafer, 1996). About (33%) of student world over indicate
being stressed throughout the academic year (Shafer, 1996). This has a very bad and
negative effect on their performance due to the symptoms and problems associated
with academic stress such as: difficulty concentrating, low performance, increased
absenteeism, alcoholism, drug abuse, hypertension and host of cardiovascular
problems.
A cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study. The study covers
academic stress and students’ academic performance with a view of determining the
causes, symptoms, effects and elimination of academic stress in Nigerian
institutions. It is limited to undergraduate students of ESUT. The population of
ESUT students as at the time of this study is estimated to be Nineteen thousand, six
hundred and fifty-five (19,655). The sample of this study is 288(two hundred and
eighty-eight) respondents. The sample was drawn from the Nine faculties of ESUT
and this will evenly represent the population of the study. A researcher designed
closed-ended structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from the
respondents. Data was collected and analyzed with the aid of software (SPSS:
statistical package for social sciences).
Chi square was employed to test the significant level of the hypotheses.
VI. ANALYSIS
From table 4, It is seen that majority of the students (58.3%) lose confidence when they are
subjected to any form of academic stress. Therefore, students who experience academic
stress are more likely to lack confidence than students who are not.
TEST OF HYPOTHESES
Table 11: How old are you * Which of the following happened as a result of the
stress
Cross tabulation
Chi-square test: Cal Value = 84.800, Tab Value = 12.592 DF= 6 and Level of Sign
= .05, P = .000
The computed value of chi-square (X2) is 84.800 while the table value of chi-square
(X2) at 0.05 level of significance with a degree of freedom (df) of 6 is 12.592. Since the
computed chi-square (X2) value is greater than the critical value, the researcher
therefore accepted the alternative hypothesis (H1). Thus, there is a significant
relationship between age and Outcome of Academic stress experienced among ESUT
students.
VII. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to discover the relationship between academic
stress and students’ academic performance. The study found that all the respondents
have experienced one form of Academic Stress or the other. This is shows that
academic stress is a common phenomenon among university students and we
observe that it affects students’ academic performance.
In the second findings, the study found that headache, tiredness and loss of
confidence were the prevalent symptoms of academic stress amongst students in
Esut Nigeria.
More so, this study examined the relationship between academic stress and
academic performance. It found that overwhelming majority of the students affirmed
that academic stress affected their academic performance. The findings are in
agreement with Linn and Zeppa (1984) who claimed that academic Stress can inhibit
and suppress learning.
Finally, the findings found that by having enough time for rest and exercise,
starting tasks from simple to complex and doing course works as at when due can
help reduce academic stress thereby enhancing students’ academic performance.
This finding is also in agreement line with Kaplan and Sadock (2000) who claimed
that academic stress can be positive thereby enhancing learning.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Further findings from the study indicated that students believe academic stress
has a big effect on their performance. Stress reduces students work rate, reduces
ability to learn in class, and causes lack of concentration in class. This in turn leads
to producing poor quality work and reduces academic performance. Therefore,
academic stress has a negative relationship with students’ performance. The more
the stress, the less the student will perform at school.
In addition to that, the study indicated that by fixing time daily for exercise,
starting academic tasks from simple to complex and by avoiding reading only when
exams come close academic stress can be properly managed to enhance students’
academic performance.
IX. RECOMMENDATIONS
Having concluded that academic stress has a negative effect on students’ academic
performance; it is also pertinent to make certain recommendations and suggestions
to help reduce academic stress on students. Based on the results of the study, the
following recommendations have been made:
Lecturers and educators should focus on intrinsic motivation which will have
greater impact on students in achieving high academic performance amidst academic
stress.
Finally, Sports competition like football, volleyball, tennis and other social
activities like picnics, talent shows etc. should be organized for students in order to
release them from distress and enhance their academic performance.
This study had few limitations; generalization of this study is a bit questionable. The
sample of the study was too small; only 288 students were sampled for the study
hence the study didn’t look deep into the different departments and their activities
as related to academic stress. This research was also limited by time finance; had the
researcher had enough finance, he would have sampled more respondents and also
studied more universities in Nigeria to compare the degrees of academic stress.
XI. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
The following suggestions are made for further study: Researchers should research
more on inter disciplines in order to find out how different programs are perceived
by students in terms of their stress levels, future research should use larger sample
size from other institutions to validate these findings.
Finally, more studies can be carried out using longitudinal method to find the
role culture and social class play in academic stress.
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