Influence of Academic Self-efficacy on Academic Performance of Students in the Public Senior High Schools In Sekondi – Takoradi

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the influence of academic self-efficacy on students’ academic performance of the Senior High Schools within the Sekondi-Takoradi Municipality. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The descriptive research design was employed and the multistage sampling technique was used to sample 350 students. Academic Self-Efficacy questionnaire with 60 constructed objective test questions of the SHS core subjects; Mathematics, Science, English and Social Studies were used to elicit responses from the participants. The descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Pearson moment correlation and independent samples t test) were the tools used in analysing the data. The study revealed that most students have high level of academic self-efficacy. It was revealed that, a positive relationship exists between academic self-efficacy and student test achievement. Also, it was found that there was no statistical difference between the means of females and males with respect to their academic self-efficacy. It was therefore recommended among other things that, developmental personality, academic and gender educational-related programmes should be intermittently organized by the schools through the counselling coordinators in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis