Chapter 8: Discussion of Research Question Two and Research Question Three
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Introduction
2.14 Socio-Demographics Characteristics and Academic Performance
Socio-demographic characteristics have been examined by scholars as indicators for academic achievement. According to Russell (2006), if certain student attributes really affect academic
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accomplishment in distance learning situations then these indicators could be utilised when directing students whether to attempt or enlist for programmes in the distance learning environment. Some studies uncovered that there was significant relationship between learner’s characteristics and academic achievement (Bowa, 2011; Oladejo, 2010). The researchers Casanova, García-Linares, de la Torre and de la Villa Carpi (2005), Ray (2010) and O’Sullivan (2009) identified socio-demographic factors used to explain academic performance of students. In this research, the socio-demographics characteristics that will be examined as indicators of academic performance are age, marital status and gender.
2.14.1 Age and Academic Performance
Age played a significant role in respect to education, such as entry age of students to a school, and age could be regarded as an indicator of student achievement (Abubakar & Oguguo, 2011). Russell (2006) reported that age as an academic performance indicator has been investigated in healthcare education. Wang and Newlin (2002) found that age was a not strong predictor of distance learners’
academic performance in the USA. Alhajraf and Alasfour (2014) revealed in their study carried out in Kuwait that students’ age was significantly related to business students’ academic performance. This may suggest that their academic performance has to do with maturity or ability to handle independent learning. The above was done in country with an educational system similar to that of Nigeria but the current study is being conducted on students running distance learning programming.
Guney (2009) found that there was a positive relationship between age of students and their GPA at the University of Hull. Amuda et al. (2016) reported that age was not a significant predictor of academic performance of students. One of the objectives of the study was to determine as significant predictor of academic performance in the North-Eastern States, Nigeria. They concluded that whether students were young or old did not seem to tell on their academic performance. In contrast, Amro et al. (2015) found that age was a predictor of academic performance of students under traditional methods in algebra courses at a college in south Texas but in online courses age was not a predictor of students’ academic performance. This could be a result of a difference in space or educational background of the countries where the studies conducted. For the online, this could also be that age does not play a significant role in academic performance but self-determination does. Alstete and Beutell (2004) found a significant positive
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relationship between students’ ages and grades received in online courses offered in a Master’s in Business Administration programme in the USA. One possible reason that may be advanced for this is that MBA programmes are undertaken by mature students or professionals who are determined to succeed. The findings from the above studies on the relationship between socio- demographic characteristics, age and academic performance were inconclusive. Despite the fact that the above studies were carried out in Kuwait and the USA, the researcher has built on the above study in order to add to the current literature.
Is age a powerful predictor of academic of distance e-learners in Nigeria? This was one focus of this study in order to fill the research gap. This study is also interested to determine if age influences academic performance of distance e-learners as constructed in hypothesis H2. The results of the finding will reveal what the outcome was in a Nigerian setting (Chapter 6).
2.14.2 Marital Status and Academic Performance
Oladejo et al. (2010) found in their research conducted in Nigeria that marital status was a predictor of academic performance. Al-Mutairi (2010) reported that married students at the Arab Open University outperformed their unmarried counterparts, and concluded that marital status plays a significant role in determining students’ performance. In the United Arab Emirates, Thomas, Raynor and Al-Marzooqi (2012) reported that marital status predicted undergraduate academic achievement. When age was controlled, married students were found to be older than their unmarried counterparts and age or maturity could be an important determinant of students’
success. One of the reasons could be that marriage is attached to a lot responsibilities and burdens that could hinder academic performance. It could also be that the drop-out rate is higher among married students. In contrast to the above studies, Wang and Newlin (2002) and Ergul (2004) reported a negative correlation between marital status of distance learners and their academic performance in the USA and Turkey. This could be because the study was performed in a virtual classroom, a synchronous online learning environment with online meetings, chat, forums, whiteboards, desktop sharing, document sharing and other online features and the ability to work on these determines their academic performance. This may also suggest that one’s commitment, belief, confidence and self-efficacy may tend to predict one’s academic performance. The present study is similar to the above study but it will concentrate on Nigerian context. As indicated by Owino (2013), marital status contributed significantly to distance learners’ academic performance.
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He revealed that marital status was a major determinant on one’s choice of method of study as it was found that married people, who naturally had a family to attend to other than school activities, generally constituted the individuals who chose the e-learning method of study.
Thomas, Raynor and Al-Marzooqi (2012) reported married undergraduates performed better than their unmarried classmates. They reported that marital status and gender are predictors of undergraduate academic performance. Thomas et al. (2012) study was conducted in Arab countries, specifically in the Gulf region, but the present study was carried out in the South West region of Nigeria. Bowa (2011) reported there was no significant relationship between marital status and academic performance of the distance learners in university of Nairobi. Is marital status a good predictor of academic performance of distance e-learners in a Nigerian university?
It is worth noting that the above studies that were conducted on distance learners and contrasting findings were reported, despite the fact they were conducted in both developed and developing countries. It is on this ground that the researcher concluded that the above reviewed literature has not shown clearly whether marital status predicts academic performance of distance e-learners and the researcher also observed that there are no studies on this in the Nigerian context. This study addressed this research gap.
This study was also keen to determine if marital status is a key factor of academic performance of distance e-learners as postulated in hypothesis H4. The results of the findings will reveal what the outcome was in a Nigerian setting (Chapter 6).
2.14.3 Gender and Academic Performance
Gender has been viewed as a determinant of academic achievement in the distance learning environment. The relationship between gender and the academic achievement of students has been discussed for a considerable length of time (Eitle, 2005). A gap between the achievement of males and females has been found, with females having superior performance over males in certain instances (Chambers & Schreiber, 2004). Wang and Newlin (2002) and Ergul (2004) found that gender was not powerful predictor of web students’ academic performance in the United of America. This study tested the predictive level of gender of distance e-learners in terms of academic performance.
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These studies done in Iran, the USA, Spain and Turkey (Habibollah et al., 2009; Lim & Morris, 2009; Martínez‐Caro, 2011; Tello, 2007; Yukselturk & Bulut, 2007) indicated that gender has no significant effect on students’ online learning performance. This may suggest that the success of students depend on their ability to adjust faster and comfortably in an online learning environment.
Interestingly, these studies were done in those countries that had online learning systems in place for a long period and where students are believed to be comfortable with an online learning environment. However, the current study will be done in Nigeria where online learning was introduced recently.
However, there exist contrasting findings in this respect, which the researcher will discuss below.
Alstete and Beutell (2004) conducted a study on gender in relationship to academic achievement in distance undergraduate and graduate business management courses in the USA. They found that gender was not significantly related to academic performance of undergraduate and graduate distance learners. They additionally found that gender was significantly related to overall course performance, since females outperformed their male partners in the distance learning courses studied. As opposed to Alstete and Beutell’s study, the present study was not restricted to undergraduate and postgraduate students of business management courses but it cut across all courses offering at both undergraduate and graduates at NOUN.
In the USA, Barakzai and Fraser (2005) investigated the relationship between gender and academic performance in 290 students enrolled in advanced healthcare practitioner courses at three universities. The researchers found that the female group scored higher than the male group, and also found no significant difference between men and women in terms of academic performance.
Hedjazi and Omidi (2008) found that among undergraduate agricultural students at the University of Tehran in Iran, female students significantly outperformed their male counterparts. Harb and El-Shaarawi (2007) found that female students studying in the college of business and economics at UAE University performed significantly better than their male counterparts. Agu and Hamad (2000) and Smith (2004) contended that the academic performance of females who have many commitments at home is normally very low while those with very little home commitment normally excel.
In the USA, Fairfield-Sonn, et al. (2009) examined the academic performance of MBA students as measured by their GPA at graduation. They investigated the relationship between academic
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performance and gender, and between academic performance in the MBA program and undergraduate GPA. They established that gender and undergraduate GPA have a significant impact on the academic performance measured by the GPA of the MBA graduates. By examining a variety of traditional attributes and the potential influence of GMAT Waivers on graduation GPA because there was some thought that students who waived this test might have lower graduation GPAs than those who took the examination.
In the France, González-Gómez et al. (2012) found that female students have a tendency to make the most of their Internet learning experience more than their male counterparts and report higher perceived achievement with the online learning programs.
Does gender predict academic performance of distance e-learners as reported above? This was one interest of the present study. Despite the numerous studies on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on academic performance of learners, little is known about published studies on the academic performance of distance e-learners in developing countries like a Nigeria. This study intended to determine if socio-demographic characteristics influenced academic performance of distance e-learners in Nigeria.
As can be seen from above, there is an extensive literature on impact of gender on academic performance of students in an online learning environment in the developed world but none from Africa, especially Nigeria. This is related to the fact that online learning has been existence in developed countries for a long time due to their advancement in technology usage. However, these scholars did not to agree that gender influences academic achievement of students in an online learning environment. This has led the researcher to hypothesise that gender will influence academic performance of distance e-learners in an e-learning environment. The results of the of the study will show what the outcome was in a Nigerian setting (Chapter 6).