PREDICTIVE POWER OF STUDY HABITS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND COUNSELLING IMPLICATIONS FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN TEACHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The study determined the predictive power of study habits on secondary school students’ 
academic achievement in Biology with counselling implications for skill development in 
teacher education. The study adopted a correlation research design. The research work 
was conducted in Nnewi Education Zone of Anambra State, Nigeria. The research was 
guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The population of the study 
comprised 2,927 senior secondary two (SS 2) Biology students from all the 49 public 
secondary schools in the zone. The sample size comprised 400 SS2 Biology students. The 
multi-stage sampling technique was employed to draw 16 public schools from the zone. 
Data were collected with the Study Habits Questionnaire (SHQ). The SS 2 students’ first 
term results in Biology for 2023/2024 session was used to assess their achievement scores 
in Biology. The SHQ was validated by three experts from Science Education Department 
and Educational Measurement and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Educational 
Foundations, both from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. 
The reliability of the SHQ was determined using Cronbach alpha, with coefficient of 0.81 
indicating satisfactory internal consistency. The collected data were analyzed using the 
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Simple and multiple regression 
analyses were employed for analyses of data collected. Findings of the study revealed, 
among others, that study habits significantly predicted secondary school students' 
academic achievement in Biology. However, study habits only significantly predicted the 
academic achievement of female students, but did not significantly predict the 
achievement of male students in Biology. The study concluded that study habits affect 
students’ achievement in Biology. Based on the findings, it was recommended among 
others that group guidance should be organized in schools by professional counsellors in 
order to create awareness on how students can develop effective study habits which can 
lead to skill development in teacher education and good academic achievement in 
Biology.