Psychosocial Correlates of Academic Performance among Distance Learners in the National Open University of Nigeria: Some Implications
Keywords:
Distance learners, psychosocial correlates, learning achievement, support services, open and distance learningAbstract
Evidence has shown that a high percentage of students enrolled in a distance learning programme tend to drop out before reaching the completion stage. Given the unique nature of distance learners, their psychosocial characteristics appear to be a major factor in predicting learning success. This study set out to explore the coordinated psychosocial correlates of academic performance of distance learners. The study employed the correlational survey design to examine the nature of the relationship between the independent variables of motivation, locus of control, cognitive style, personality trait and the dependent variable of learning achievement. The sample comprised 500 undergraduate students drawn from different academic disciplines from the Lagos Study Centre of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Data were collected using four psychological instruments as well as data gathered from the student's record of academic performance in the university registry. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested using correlation and multiple regression analysis, as well as a t-test, with the alpha level set at 0.05. Findings revealed that the psychosocial variables selected correlated significantly with students' academic success with a joint contribution of 68%. The order of importance of these variables to the prediction of academic performance is locus of control, cognitive style, motivation and personality trait, respectively. Findings further revealed a significant difference between academic achievement of internal and external locus of control groups while no significant difference was found between other group dichotomies. The implications of these findings to instructional design, counselling and support services are highlighted.
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