Running Head: PERCEPTION OF 12TH GRADE STUDENTS REGARDING EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Perception of 12th grade students regarding examination malpractice in Nigerian secondary schools
Table of Contents
Perception of 12th grade students regarding examination malpractice in Nigerian Secondary schools 3
Introduction 3
Type and classification of research 4
Population 4
Sample 5
Instrumentation 5
Questionnaire Construction 6
Validity and Reliability 6
Data collection Procedure 7
Method of Data Analysis 7
Hypothesis 7
References 9
Perception of 12th grade students regarding examination malpractice in Nigerian Secondary schools
Introduction
Examinations in Nigeria date back to the 1800s, the exams are either internal or public. Internal exams are done by the school itself while public exams are done by many schools in the country and managed by examination bodies; they are used as an instrument for national development (Fasasi Y.A. 2006). With the importance that examinations hold, there have been instances of malpractices which include impersonation, cheating, stealing of work, alteration of work, entering exams with written materials, misuse of resources, fabricating results and disregard to rules and regulations (Cromwell, 2000; Owuamanam, 2005). The malpractices regarding the examinations in the Nigerian secondary schools have been a common problem for several years and occur in both private and public schools (Jimoh, Olatunbosun Basil, 2009). The number of cases has been quite high in almost all the educational levels in the educational sector in Nigeria. This has led to the drop in credibility in the certified exams (Adewale, 2010). Some scholars among them Fagbemi, states that, such cases of malpractices can be blamed on the society as a whole; the government branches, schooling departments, invigilators, examiners, parents and students for not playing their role effectively (Olujuwon T., 2006; Agina V., 2011). Questions have similarly arisen over the places such examinations are kept in watch of the examination bodies and bank officials. They being suspected of playing a role in the malpractices reported.
The question of examination malpractice is even more complicated when parents are reported to buying the papers from the examination bodies and the bank staff. Moreover, cases amongst the students of double registration have been strife, while similarly cases of female students inserting their pictures in the examination papers with notes addressed to the markers (Ogidefa I. 2008; ARAB S., 2010). Syndicates have taken this as an advantage to do the exam for the candidates with the assistance of examination officials and school staff.
The purpose of the research is aimed at investigating Christian school students’ perception about the examination malpractice in comparison to the non-Christian private schools in Nigeria with an aim to determine the role the Christian program help in the removal of the issue of malpractice in the institutions (Olushola A., 2006; oppapers, 2011).
Type and classification of research
The research design that is applied is called a descriptive research of the survey type that is aimed at providing an insight into the education malpractice problem in Nigeria. The research involves the collection of data and its analysis that is gotten from questionnaires, tests, and checklists among other formal documents (Alutu Azuka N.G. and Aluede Oyaziwo, 2006).
Population
The participants for this research were targeted at the 12th grade level students (Certified Classes). The students were taken from 470 secondary schools; 240 Christian private schools and 230 Non-Christian private schools, while 200 in urban and 270 in rural schools. The methods applied in selection were in accordance to multi-stage and sampling methods. The purpose of the random stratified sampling, in reference to Gay & Airasian (2003), is to ensure that there is complete representation of the affected subgroups in the sample (Oppapers, 2011). The size of the participants is about 4328 12th graders. Out of the 5760 teachers from the 470 schools, only 570 teachers were selected; 310 from the Non-Christian private schools and 260 from the Christian private schools to participate in the study.
Sample
The sampling is taken from the two private schools; Christian and non-Christian, with participation from 300 out of the 470 in both groups. The sampling could be smaller or even bigger; the sampling number is determined by the percentage of the 12th graders in both schools. The selection of the students for the research is based on a random sampling basis.
Instrumentation
Examinations are themselves used aspect as the most objective instruments for issuing standards for determining the outcome of the quality of the educational curriculum that is provided in the secondary schools (Olujuwon, 2006). According to Nkechi (2001) the economic advancement of any society is dependent on the human power available; it is hard to coordinate the human labour in relation to the economic advancement with no valid instrument to determine the educational outcomes.
The instrument for collecting data in this research was a questionnaire titled; “Perception of 12th grade students regarding examination malpractice in Nigerian secondary schools”. It composed of two parts, the first part, is a dependent variable based on the form of ownership of the school while the second part was an independent variable based on the perception on the malpractices in the examinations (Adeyemi, April 2010). In the second part, the independent variable based on the perception of the examination malpractice, was divided into five sections: the first section wanted to know the perceived cause of the malpractices in examinations. The second part wanted to know the devices used in the examination malpractices in the secondary schools. The third section sought to know the contrast that exists between the Christian private secondary schools and the non-Christian private secondary school from the 12th Grade students. The fourth section wanted to know the steps being taken to alleviate this problem. The fifth section sought to acquire from the students of other available measure that could be applied to solve this problem.
The quality of the teacher is meant to mean the person who is able to attain a high level of achievement from their students when compared to other teachers. Thus, in the determination of the quality of the teachers, the scores attained by the students in varied tests, past and present, were selected and used to assess their quality.
Questionnaire Construction
The questionnaire was composed of two questions:
1. What is the difference in perception of examination malpractices both in the Christian and non-Christian?
2. How does the quality of teachers influence the perception of the 12th grade students?
Validity and Reliability
The model from the Nigerian University Students’ Attitude to Examination Malpractice questionnaire has been examined by professional experts so as to verify the validity of its face and content. The experts applied the test and measurement methods to correlate the research questions so as to acquire what it was supposed to. The validity of the research on the perceptions held concerning the malpractices in the Nigerian secondary schools had two parts; an internal and external (Jimoh, 2009). The internal validity was based on maintaining the legitimacy of the whole process; the groups that participated in the process were purely on voluntary basis. External validity otherwise known as “generalizability” tries to find out whether the results may be employed to other parts of the country as well. The study performed has external validity in the sense that it is applicable to other sectors of the country. The validity of the process involved proper research format and employed a rigid protocol.
For a research to employ validity there has to be reliability (Olatoye). The results obtained from one school should not have drastic contrast to another school, thus would put the reliability of the process in jeopardy. So as to ensure the reliability of the process, the process was not performed over a long period of timeas this would put the process in doubt. Additionally, the individuals that were involved in undertaking the process were not changed with time as well as reducing the level of subjectivity of the assessment.
Data collection Procedure
In managing the instrument, several research assistants were involved in the process. The research assistants were spread in all of the schools to carry out the process (Adeyemi, April 2010). From the number involved in the procedure, 560 of the questionnaires from the respondents were spoilt and discarded while the others, 3768, were duly completed.
Method of Data Analysis
The data that is collected from the research is analyzed with the application of frequency counts that is converted to percentages based on the dimension that the cheating behaviour occurred (Omole, n.d.). The regression analysis will be applied to find the effect of some variables like the schools, teachers and the perceptions held; it is used to approximate the conditional expectation of the dependent variable while in having the independent variable. That is the mean of the dependent variable with the independent variable held constant. This method of analysis is used to analyze the relationship that exists between the independent variable and the dependent variable in the Christian and non-Christian secondary schools.
Hypothesis
The research presented a massive difference in the perceptions held by the 12th graders from both the private schools; Christian and non-Christian secondary schools, in the malpractices in the examinations. The students held the perception that the examination malpractices in the non-Christian private schools were more prevalent that their Christian secondary schools counterpart (Alutu Azuka N.G. and Aluede Oyaziwo, 2006). A higher percentage was obtained for the non-Christian private schools in comparison to the Christian secondary schools. In relation to the perception of the teachers and the examination officials influence on the 12th graders showed low percentage in both non-Christian private and Christian private secondary schools, least of all in the non-Christian secondary schools.
According to the findings of the perception held on the examination malpractices by the 12th graders, the non-Christian private schools are at a higher risk of examination malpractices when compared to their Christian private secondary school counterparts.
Based on the higher percentages collected from the 12th graders, causes for the malpractices were noted to be the negligence of the teachers and the examination officials. The methods suggested to alleviate this problem was the extensive training of the teachers on the various ways the teachers could detect and alleviate the problems
References
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Jimoh, B. O. (2009). EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA: WHAT SUSTAINS IT? European Journal of Educational Studies 1(3), pp. 101-106.
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