Academic Anxiety of the X Class Students in Government and Private Schools in Relation to Their Achievement in Science

 

Jitender Dhull

V.P.O. Bhagwatipur, Distt. Rohtak

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Tests and examinations at all stages of education, especially at higher education level have been considered an important and powerful tool for decision making in our competitive society, with people of all ages being evaluated with respect to their achievement, skills and abilities. The desire to achieve high puts a lot of pressure on students which becomes tension and anxiety. Anxiety in a way, is the most intimate experience to man. It enters into man's life with the first breath and ends with the last. It is the main cause of all mental disorders. The word 'anxiety' came from the Latin word 'anxietus' which means 'experience of varying blends of uncertainty, agitation and threat'. The credit to introduce the word in psychology goes to Freud (1926). He has expressed that anxiety results due to suppression of romantic sexual tensions.

 

Anxiety is one of the most studied phenomenon in psychology. It is a normal human response to stress. The concept of anxiety is differentiated from fear as it is defined as a response to an unidentifiable threat as anticipated danger. Furthermore anxiety responses are often more intense and frequent than is warranted by perceived threat; the fear response is proportionate to the objective danger. The word ‘anxiety’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Anxietas’ which commonly connotes on experience of varying blends of the uncertainty, agitation and dread.

 

 

Anxiety is a prolonged state of fear. It is an emotion that is difficult to define and even more difficult to reliably detect in performance. “Nervousness” is often used to synonymously with anxiety. Anxiety plays an important role in the acquiring of motor skill as well as in athletic performance. Anxiety can either enhance or inhibit performance. Whether its effect is positive or negative depends on how an individual athlete perceives the situation. People with low and high levels of anxiety have been known to perform poor and there is also a positive relationship between high and low level of anxiety. But moderate level of anxiety seems best for the acquisition and performance of motor skills.

 

Academic Anxiety:

The word academic anxiety comes from Latin word ‘Anxients’ which means experience of varying blends of uncertainly, agitation and threat. The desire to achieve high puts a lot of pressure on students which causes tension and examination anxiety. Academic anxiety in a way, is the most intimate experience to man. It enters into man’s life with the first breath and ends with the last. It is the main cause of all mental disorders (Tomb and Hunter, 2004).

 

On scanning Vedic literature it was found that the concept of examination anxiety as such did not exist in that period. The word ‘Chinta’ which according to some dictionaries stands for examination anxiety, has not been used in the same sense as in modern usage. Some invariably use “Chinta” for “Vichara” (Thought) which is also one of the accepted meaning of “Chinta”.

 

Objective academic anxiety which was synonymous with fear was evoked by real dangers in external world. The intensity of objective examination anxiety was proportional to the actual danger. Neurotic Examination anxiety was evoked by unaccepted sexual and aggressive impulses that had been severely and consistently punished in childhood. 

 

Anxiety is not a bad thing. It is true that a high level of anxiety interferes with concentration and memory, which are critical for academic success. Without any anxiety, however, most of us would lack the motivation to study for exams, write papers, or do daily homework (especially in classes we find boring). A moderate amount of anxiety actually helps academic performance by creating motivation. The graph below illustrates the relationship between anxiety and performance.

 

Academic Anxiety as a Motivator:  

There are many positive aspects of academic anxiety, but usually the negative aspects are highlighted. A little academic anxiety from time to time can be beneficial to task performance. This is illustrated by the Yerker-Dodson law (1908) which postulates that the relationship between examination anxiety and learning is curvilinear. Neither lower nor higher level of academic anxiety improves performance. Optional positive effect is obtained in the middle range. There is research evidence which supports it and indicates a curvilinear relationship between test academic anxiety and performance. Application of Yerker-Dodson Law to human learning seems eminently sensible.

 

With India becoming one of the leading developing nations there is an increase in awareness among people for the need of higher education. Rising aspirations of the youth in India for better job opportunities has created a lot of stress and anxiety among Indian students aspiring to pursue medical and engineering courses. To meet the aspirations of the students a significant number of private colleges have been established across the country. Hence it has become necessary to find out the negative and positive predictors of students’ academic achievements so that they can be trained to cope efficiently with academic stressors. Even the faculty members need to be trained to understand these factors and help the students in better academic performance (Singh and Jha, 2013).

 

Achievement in Science

Science and technology play an important role in the modern world. Science education is believed to serve as the foundation of technological development and a key factor in economic growth. Given the United States’ goal of being the most scientifically advanced country in the world, the lag behind other countries in student science achievement scores is alarming (Beaton et al, 1996). The outcome of education determines the level of life, progress and status of the people living anywhere in the world and it is the vital force for the development of human life and society at large. In India, with the march of democracy and the proposals for the compulsory free education at the elementary level as/and a different view of the scope and responsibility of educators has emerged. This goal is envisaged in maximizing the achievement of all children. Early research on the prediction of academic performance focused primarily on intelligence and ability factors as predictors.

 

The development of human resources and maximum utilization of the resources are necessary for the growth and prosperity of any society. More so for a developing nation like ours. The institutions of learning especially the schools are the principal means of socialization to develop children into useful citizens so that they fit into adult roles and also different occupational roles. It is only children who are high in their scholastic achievement who can be molded to occupy strategic position in society and thereby determine the destiny of society. Hence scholastic achievement occupies a very important place in education as well as in the learning process. High achievement in school creates self-esteem and self-confidence in the child.

 

Review of literature

Eysenck (2001) found that test-anxiety creates irrelevant thoughts, preoccupation, and decreased attention and concentration thus, leads to academic difficulties. When attention and concentration are impaired, this will disrupt memory and as a consequence will lead to low academic achievement.

 

Oludipe (2009) conducted a study to explore how test anxiety affects students’ performance levels in the sciences, especially in Physics, and concluded that “low test- anxious students performed better than high test-anxious students on both numerical and non-numerical tasks in Physics”.

 

Singh, Y.G. (2009) conducted a study, “Level of Academic Anxiety: Self Confidence and the in Relation with Academic Achievement in Secondary Students. The findings of the study shows that (i) Significant co-relation was found between Academic Anxiety and Academic Achievement; (ii) Significant Co-relation was found between Self-Confidence and Academic Achievement; (iii) Significant difference was found between Academic Anxiety Level in Male and Female; and (iv) No significant difference was found between self confidence levels in Male and female   

 

Rana and Nasir (2012) conducted a study “The Relationship between Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement”. Results showed that a cognitive factor (worry) contributes more in test anxiety than affective factors (emotional). Therefore, it is concluded that test anxiety is one of the factors which are responsible for students’ underachievement and low performance but it can be managed by appropriate training of students in dealing with factors causing test anxiety.

 

Therefore, the objective of the study was to find out the impact of academic anxiety of Xth class students in relation to their achievement in science. 

 

Statement of the problem

Academic Anxiety of the X Class Students in Government and Private Schools in Relation to Their Achievement in Science

 

objectives

1.     To compare the academic anxiety of the students of Xth class in Government and Private Schools.

2.     To compare the achievement in Science of the students of Xth class in Government and Private Schools.

3.     To find the relationship between academic anxiety and achievement in Science of the Xth class students.

 

hypotheses

1.     There is no significant difference in academic anxiety of the students of Xth class in Government and Private Schools.

2.     There is no significant difference in achievement in Science of the students of Xth class in Government and Private Schools.

3.     There is no significant relationship between academic anxiety and academic achievement in Science of the Xth Class students.

 

Methodology

Normative Survey Method has been used for the collection of the data of the present study.

 

The Population and Sample

In this study, the population comprised of Xth Grade students of Rohtak and Sonepat districts, out of which 200 students from Government Schools and 200 students from private schools were selected on the basis of random sampling method.

 

Tools Used In The Present Study

1.     Academic Anxiety Test by Dr. A.K.P. Sinha and Dr. I. N. K. Sinha

2.     Achievement Test in Science Constructed by the Researcher himself

 

Statistical Techniques Used

Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘t’ Test were used to analyse the data.

 

Findings

The results of the study are given in table 1 to table 3

 

Table 1. Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘t’ value of Academic Anxiety of the students of Xth class in Government and

Private Schools

Variable	No. of Students	Mean	S.D.	C.R.
Students of Govt. Schools	200	11.22	1.97	8.308**
Students Private Schools	200	13.00	2.28

Significant at 0.01 level of significance

 

Table 4.1 reveals that t-value (8.308) for the mean scores of academic anxiety between government and private secondary school students which is highly significant at 0.01 level of significance as the tabulated values of ‘t’ is 1.96 at 0.05 and 2.58 at 0.01 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis that “There is no significant difference between Academic Anxiety of the students of Xth class in Government and Private Schools” is rejected. So it was found that the mean score of academic anxiety of government school students (11.22) is less than private school students (13.00). It may therefore be concluded that government school students have less academic anxiety in comparison to private school students.  

 

Table 2. Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘t’ value of academic achievement in science of Government and Private Schools Xth class students

Types of Schools	No. of Students	Mean	S.D.	C.R.
Students of Govt. Schools	200	32.11	11.35	4.382**
Students of Private Schools	200	36.72	9.61

**Significant at 0.01 level of significance

 

Table 2 reveals that t-value (4.382) for the mean scores of academic achievement in science between government and private Xth class secondary school students which is significant at 0.01 level of significance as the tabulated values of ‘t’ is 1.96 at 0.05 and 2.58 at 0.01 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis that “There is no significant difference in academic achievement in Science of government and private Xth class school students” is rejected. The mean score of academic achievement in science of government school students (32.11) is less than private school students (36.72). So it was found that that private school students having much academic achievement in science in comparison to government school students.

 

Table 3. Co-efficient of correlation between Academic Anxiety and Academic Achievement in Science Scores of the X Class students

Variables	Coefficient of correlation	Level of Significance
Academic Anxiety	0.446**	0.01
Academic Achievement in Science

N-400

**Significant at 0.01 level

 

The table 3 depicts that co-efficient of correlation between Academic Anxiety and Academic Achievement in Science of Secondary School students is 0.446 which is significant at 0.01 level of significance. So the null hypothesis “There is no significant relationship between Academic Anxiety and Academic Achievement in Science of the X Class students” is rejected. Hence, there exists correlation. It indicates that academic anxiety and Academic Achievement in Science of secondary school students are positively correlated with each other.

 

findings:

1.     It was found that there is a significant difference in academic anxiety of government and private Xth class students. Private school students were found to have more academic anxiety as compared to government school students.

2.     It was found that there is a significant difference in achievement in science of government and private Xth class students. Academic achievements in science of Private school students were more as compared to government school students.

3.     It was found that there was a significant relationship between academic anxiety and achievement in science of Xth class students.

 

References:

1.       Eysenck (2009). The effect of anxiety on academic achievement of students. Retrived data on 15-07-2012 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/ 090623090713.htm.

2.       Freud, S. (1926). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety, standard edition, New York, 20: 77-174.

3.       Katyal, S. and Bindra, H. (1995). Academic achievement : some determinants. Indian Psy.  Rev., 44(9-10): 25-20.

4.       Oludipe, B. (2009). Influence of test anxiety on performance levels on numerical tasks of secondary school physics students: Academic Leadership: Online Journal, 7 (4).

5.       Rana, Rizwan Akram  and MahmoodNasir  (2012). The Relationship between Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement, Bulletin of Education and Research December, Vol. 32, No. 2 pp. 63- 74.

6.       Singh, Indoo and Jha Ajeya  (2013). Anxiety, Optimism and Academic Achievement among Students of Private Medical and Engineering Colleges: A Comparative Study, Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology; Vol. 3, No. 1: 222-233.

7.       Singh, Y.G. (2009). Level of Academic Anxiety: Self Confidence and the in Relation with Academic Achievement in Secondary Students, International Research Journal,  Vol. I,  Issue-7.

8.       Sud, A. and Prabha, C. (2003). Academic performance in relation to perfectionism, test procrastination and test anxiety of high school children. Psy. Stu., 48(3): 77-81.

9.       Sud, A. and Sujata (2006). Academic performance in relation to self-handicapping, test anxiety and study habits of high school children. Psy. Stu., 51(4): 304-309.

10.     Tomb, M., and  Hunter, L. (2004). Prevention of anxiety in children and adolescents in a school setting: The role of school based practitioners. Children & Schools, 26, 87-102.