DETERMINANTS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF A UNIVERSITY STUDENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
University students are potential nation builders who aspire to become engineers, doctor, managers, and scientists and materialize a nation’s dreams.
Students in every discipline in universities have many obstacles to overcome in order to achieve their endeavor of optimal academic performance. These obstacles constitutes major determinant to the academic performance of university students. The Grade Point Average (GPA) system as an indicator of academic performance is used by many universities in Nigeria and other parts of the world (James & Chilvers, 2001; Nguyen, Allen, & Fraccastoro, 2005; Svanum & Zody, 2001). Factors that could reduce hurdles for achieving and maintaining the required GPA needs to be identified and improved by university
administrators, faculty members, and students (Womble, 2003). Several determinants could act as barriers to students’ attaining and maintaining a high GPA
that reflect their academic performance during their stay at the university. These determinants may be cognitive and learning factors, social activities, job
responsibilities, caring for children, and stress (Devadoss & Foltz, 1996; Hatcher, Prus, Englehard, & Farmer, 1991). Cognitive and learning issues such as academic competence, test competence, time management, strategic studying, and test anxiety are some determinants that a student may have to consider to be a high achiever (Sansgiry, Bhosle, & Sail, 2006; Womble, 2003). Many studies have reviewed these determinants individually (McFadden & Dart, 1992), but none have evaluated them collectively and specifically in university students from Nigeria. These determinants could be targeted by the university
personnel in developing strategies to improve student learning and to improve their academic performance. According to Kleijn, Ploeg, and Topman (1994), academic competence is dependent upon how well the student manages their course load described in their curriculum. Academic competence is also indicative of the extent to which the curriculum is interesting for students to enjoy their classes. There is a
significant positive association of academic competence and academic performance (Sansgiry et al., 2006). Moreover, better academic competence has been
found to be not only pivotal in ensuring better academic performance but also in the likelihood of retaining students in educational institutions (Ishitani & Desjardins, 2002; Tinto, 1975).
