Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
A STUDY OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH STUDETNS’ INTEREST
IN HISTORY IN NIGERIA
ALICE ARINLADE JEKAYINFA
Abstract
This article is the report of a study of factors associated with interest in History.
Four hundred and ninety six final year History students in six selected secondary schools
in Kwara State were used for the study. A 30 item questionnaire, made from a variety of
previously published factor and attitude scales was used for the study.
The result
indicated that majority of respondents have interest in History because of its social
benefits. The results also showed that more boys are interested in History because of the
peer group influence.
Introduction
A lot of evidence abound that there is a drastic fall in the enrolment of secondary
school students in History.
Fadele (1991), using the WAEC analysis reported the
downward trends of enrolment in History in Nigerian Secondary Schools between 1985 –
1988. According to him, in 1985, 118, 080 students registered for History, between 1986
and 1987, 105, 926 registered while 74, 425 registered for the subject in 1988.
Similarly, Adeyinka (1983) reported a drastic reduction in the number of students
offering History in Ondo, Oyo and Ogun States at West African School Certificate level
Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
between 1961 and 1980. This issue of drastic drop in enrolment has created interest in
the study that relates to factors affecting students interest in the subject – History.
Since most of our national difficulties stem from our history, either ultimately or
proximately, Adejumobi (1976), was of the opinion that everyone, particularly those
concerned with History education, ought to reflect on factors operating among pupils
when they choose to specialize in the study of History. An understanding of factors
associated with interest in History is of educational importance not only in developing the
means for bringing History into the common consciousness but also in meeting the
demands made on the school system to provide students who would be able to think
reflectively and appreciate their cultural values.
A number of studies have been carried out on factors affecting students interest in
the science subjects (Entwistle and Duckworth, 1977, Kelly 1981 and Abdullahi 1983).
Little, if at all has been done in the area of History. The present study was therefore
designed to explore factors influencing secondary school students in their decision to
specialize in History.
This study aims at providing answer to this question.
Research Question
Can there be any significant difference in the factors affecting male students interest and
those affecting the female students interest in History?
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Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
Methodology and Research Design
An appropriate factor scale was developed by making a collection of items from a
variety of previously published factor and attitude scales. Selection of items was done by
a group of experienced History teachers. The initial questionnaire was tested on 60
respondents with similar background to those on whom the questionnaire would be used.
In the item analysis that was done on the test, item-total correlation ranged from 40 to
.68. Ten (10) items whose correlation with the total score were less than .45 were
removed from the test. In its final form, the questionnaire consisted of six-scales which
contained 30 items.
The items were placed in random order in a rating schedule, the reliability of the
instrument was calculated using the split-half technique and was found to be greater than
0.72. Each sub-scale was described by five items and the six scale represented the
following factors:
1.
Worthwhileness of History in terms of its perceived benefits.
2.
Understanding of History lessons.
3.
Inducement of high grades in History related disciplines at lower form.
4.
Influence of the peer groups.
5.
Influence of the parents
The factors were measured on a three point ordinal scale ranging from agree, neutral to
disagree.
Sample
Six secondary schools were randomly selected from Urban and Rural areas in
Kwara State of Nigeria. The sample for the study consisted of all students who were in
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Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
their final year and who registered for Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations in
History. Altogether, 540 students were involved – 296 boys and 244 girls. It was
envisaged that such a sampling of pupils would provide the necessary variety of socioeconomic and intellectual background required for this type of investigation. In rating the
statements, each student was asked to place himself or herself in one of the three
categories (agree, neutral or disagree). Out of 534 questionnaires returned, 496 (92.9%)
were fully completed. In the data analysis, only the questionnaires that were fully
completed were analysed (see Table 1).
Table 1:
The Characteristics of the Respondents who fully completed the
questionnaire that were used for the analysis
Respondents
Parent’s Educational
Type
Level
Attended
of School
Parents Occupation
by
Pupils
Literate
Illiterate
Govt.
Others
Owned
Petty
Govt.
Business
Employed
Farming
Company
Employed
Boys
99
178
169
107
98
46
106
26
Girls
85
134
158
62
57
37
107
19
Total
184
312
327
169
155
83
213
45
Analysis of Data
It was considered essential to analyse the data for boys and girls separately as the
influences operating on boys are assumed to be different from those acting on girls
because of differences in sex stereotype formations. Since the measurement of the data
constituted an ordinal scale, non-parametric techniques of statistical treatment were
employed. Only frequency counts and percentages were used.
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Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
Two main types of analysis were employed:
1.
Frequency counts and percentages of boys and girls that selected each
response option were calculated and the significance of difference between
boys and girls in the distribution of their responses were determined by using
Chi-square test.
2.
Using the contingency tables for questionnaire responses, correlations
between selected students attributes at the rating of factors of interest in
History were also determined.
Results
To answer the research question posed by this study, items were grouped under
the sub-scale or factors to which they belong and the mean value ratings of the items
under each factor were determined. (Table 2).
Table 2:
Frequency Counts & Percentages of Response Options According to
Sex Options
Factors
Agree
M
F
Neutral
M
F
Disagree
M
F
N
X2
Remark
Special Benefit of
History
247
(89.5)
192
(87.3)
11
(3.99)
17
(7.72)
18
(6.5)
11
(5)
496
3.5891
NS. .05
Understanding
History Lesson
168
(60.9)
109
(49.5)
73
(26.4)
48
(21.8)
35
(2.7)
63
(25.6)
496
19.6603
SIG.
.05
Attitudes to
Teacher of
History
155
(56.2)
156
(70.9)
58
(21)
32
(14.5)
63
(22.8)
32
(14.5)
496
11.4536
SIG.
.05
High grades at
lower form in
History related
subject
212
(76.8)
170
(77.2)
41
(14.9)
32
(14.5)
23
(8.3)
18
(8.2)
496
0.0015
NS. .05
Influence
Parents
of
97
(35.1)
66
(30)
55
(19.9)
39
(17.7)
124
(44.9)
115
(52.3)
496
2.6694
NS. .05
Influence of Peer
Group
164
(59.4)
75
(34.1)
43
(15.6)
52
(23.6)
69
(25)
93
42.3)
496
31.631
SIG.
5
.05
Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
On the six factors explored for their influences on interest in History, over 75% of
the respondents (boys and girls) agreed that (1) Social benefit of History, (2) High grades
in History related subjects are among the factors that can attract pupils to History.
However, the boys tended to agree more with these factors than the girls. But the mean
value ratings of items under the two sub-scales given by the boys did not differ
significantly from the mean value ratings given by the girls. On the other hand, the
ratings of the items on the understanding of History lessons by the boys differed
significantly from the rating by the girls.
([x = 19.7, df – 1) p. 01]).
The ratings of the other three items i.e on the attitude of students to History
teachers; understanding of History lessons and influence from peer groups by the boys
also differed significantly from the ratings by the girls. Also, the respondents rejected the
influence of parents as having any importance in the pull towards History.
Discussion
The evidence from this study on the Social benefit of History on the decision to
specialize in History has lent more credence to the writings of Adejumobi (1972) and
Adeyinka (1983) who have summarized the objectives of History as training for
citizenship and development of spirit of inquiry into values which indirectly help in the
development of divergent thinking as well as integrated value systems. As shown in this
study, a positive relationship between teachers and pupils is an influential factor in
pupils’ choice of History.
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Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
However, one should try to interpret this finding with caution because teachers
are frequently transferred in Nigerian schools and so the pupils’ choice of History is not
likely to be influenced by the attitude of the pupils towards a particular teacher.
Nevertheless, in the main, the pupils are more likely to be attracted to subjects in which
they possess favourable attitude towards the subject teachers.
The result of this study on the influence of parents in the choice of History is not
unexpected when it is remembered that majority of the parents of pupils in this study are
illiterate, knowing nothing about the implication of any subject, the parents cannot
therefore be expected to exercise much influence on their children on matters relating to
interest in History.
Conclusion
An attempt has been made in this study to find out factors influencing senior
secondary school students in their choice of History. A 30 - item questionnaire was used
on 496 students. Most of the students had interest in History because of its perceived
social benefit and high grades in social studies at the JSS level. Boys and girls differ
significantly in their views of understanding of history, attitude to teachers of history and
influence of peer groups as factors influencing their interest in history.
This study has been carried out in one out of the thirty states of Nigeria. There is
therefore, the need for this type of study to be undertaken in some other states of Nigeria
so as to shed more light on the factors associated with interest in History.
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Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1 & 2), 1994
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