MASTERY EXPERIENCE SELF-EFFICACY AS A CORRELATE OF STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS IN TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated mastery experience self-efficacy as a correlate of students’ academic achievement in physics in Taraba State, Nigeria. The study was guided by two research questions and a null hypothesis. A correlational survey design was adopted for the study. The population consist of 13,281 SS3 secondary school students offering physics from public senior secondary schools in Taraba State. The sample of 388 students was selected using a simple random sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) and Physics Academic Achievement Proforma (PAAP) validated by three experts. Academic Self-Efficacy Scale was pilot-tested and a reliability coefficient 0.84 was obtained using Cronbach alpha. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for answering the research questions, while hypotheses were tested using linear regression for hypothesis at α 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that the levels of mastery experience (M=3.46. The academic achievement mean score of students was 50.35. The findings of the study also showed that only mastery experience self-efficacy has no significant relationships. Therefore, it was concluded that mastery experience self-efficacy alone is not a strong predictor of academic achievement in Physics. It was recommended that teachers adopt diversified instructional strategies that integrate cognitive, motivational, and environmental factors to improve students’ performance in Physics.