THE INFLUENCE OF BIG FIVE FACTORS ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS CIVIC EDUCATION IN ONDO STATE

THE INFLUENCE OF BIG FIVE FACTORS ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS CIVIC EDUCATION IN ONDO STATE

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
According to O’Connor & Paunonen (2007), the area of learning and education can gain from increased knowledge about what factors that enable academic achievement. An individual spend a lot of time as a student, and a great part of countries economics are spent on educational activities, thus it is valuable to understand academic achievement in different ways (Poropat, 2009).
Academic achievement is a major issue among students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and the community at large. Attempts have been made by researchers to unravel the complexities surrounding academic achievement. Psychologists have put forward a lot of reasons why these disparities in achievement exist. A lot of attention had been paid to external factors such as type of school, teaching methods, school location, instructional materials, teachers experience, and so on (WAEC, 2005). Many spend lots of money in order to secure good schools either for their children or themselves and those who can afford it even invest on education abroad as they believe this will enhance achievement, and which in turn gives an added advantage in terms of securing gainful employment.
Furthermore, in a more broad sense it is suggested that academic achievement plays a necessary role in keeping cultural and scientific innovation up to date (Hirsh &Inzlicht, 2010). A number of variables are said to have an effect on, and predict academic achievement. For example, it has been suggested that intelligence (IQ; the ability to learn, understand and think in a logical way about things, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, 2014) explains the variance in academic achievement to a larger extent than the variance in personality trait disposition such as the Big Five personality factors (Di Fabio & Busoni, 2007). The Big Five (also called Five Factor Model; FFM) is a hierarchical model of personality said to describe the general traits of human universal personality in five factors; extraversion, neuroticism (negative affectivity), conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness (DeYoung, 2010). Besides that, there are several suggestions that personality, gender and IQ (consisting of verbal and numerical ability tests generating a measure of general intellectual ability) all have a role to play in predicting academic achievement (Leeson, Chiarrochi & Heaven, 2008), particularly that personality traits predicts academic achievement to a higher extent when IQ is controlled for (Rosander, 2013; Noftle & Robins, 2007).
John, Naumann & Soto (2008), posits that, accumulated research show that conscientiousness, the ability to persist in task and goal oriented behaviour, in order to reach non-immediate rewards, is the factor most strongly associated with academic achievement. Openness, manifesting the tendency to explore, detect and enjoy abstract and sensory information (John, 2008) occasionally has positive relationships to academic achievement. While extraversion, being sensitive to reward and positive affect (John, 2008), occasionally is negatively related to the same criterion (O’Connor & Paunonen, 2007; Noftle& Robins, 2007; DeYoung, 2010; Rosander, 2013).
In addition, the definition of conscientiousness also includes following norms, planning subsequent tasks and putting them in order of importance, captured in the facets order and self-discipline John, Naumann & Soto (2008). All the Big Five factors encompass lower level traits called facets, John, Naumann & Soto (2008), and the ones belonging to conscientiousness show stronger associations to academic achievement than the conscientiousness itself (O’Connor & Paunonen, 2008). Furthermore, all the above mentioned behaviours belonging to conscientiousness are important in order to go through educational programs successfully (Veroude et al., 2013).
Agreeableness describes one who is sympathetic, trusting and cooperative. Students with high scores on agreeableness are selfless, flexible and pleasant. Such students work with others easily with little or no friction. Those scoring low on this trait however find it difficult to get along with others. McCrae and Costa 1988 in Daminabo, (2008) noted this to be psychotics, which refers to a person who is skeptical, unsympathetic, uncooperative and rude. Low scores are expected to affect academic achievement negatively.
Meanwhile, the main aim of this study is to investigate the influence of big five factors on academic achievement of senior secondary school civic education in Ondo State.

Statement of the problem
Underachievement has assumed a worrisome dimension in the Nigerian educational system. Desperate to make it anyhow, students have devised various illegal means to succeed in examinations, even when they are not academically competent. Unfortunately, the system has buckled under the pressure. Examination malpractice has risen steadily to become a seemingly untamable monster. It is increasingly becoming difficult to equate competence of people with supposed academic performance as represented in their certificates.
Many candidates are unable to defend the result they supposedly acquired honorably, of course this has consistently led to inability to compete effectively in the job market which has become a serious issue. Several factors have been researched into in the past as to the cause of this social malaise, but there seem to be indications that some hidden factors may be responsible that needs unraveling. The desire to know these factors gave rise to this study and the researchers’ aim is to see if there is a way in which the big five factors (personality traits) can help, especially from the perspective of the analytical and scientific approach of measurement and evaluation.
The researcher has consequently chosen to explore this problem among the senior secondary school civic education. This study is therefore aimed at an examination of the influence of big five factors on academic achievement of senior secondary school civic education in Ondo State.

Purpose of the study
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of big five factors on academic achievement of senior secondary school civic education in Ondo State. The specific purposes of the study are to;
1. Findout whether there is any significant relationship between extraversion and students’ academic achievement.
2. Find out whether there is any significant relationship between neuroticism and students’ academic achievement.
3. Find out whether there is any significant relationship between conscientiousness and students’ academic achievement.
4. Find out whether there is any significant relationship between agreeableness and students’ academic achievement.
5. Find out whether there is any significant relationship between openness and students’ academic achievement.

Research Questions
1. What is the relationship between extraversion and students’ academic achievement.
2. What is the relationship between neuroticism and students’ academic achievement.
3. What is the relationship between conscientiousness and students’ academic achievement.
4. What is the relationship between agreeableness and students’ academic achievement.
5. What is the relationship between openness and students’ academic achievement.

Significance of the study
The significance of this study cannot be over emphasized. This study would be significant to students, teachers, school administrators, educational stakeholders, and curriculum developers. It is hoped that this work would form a major catalyst to stimulate the initiation of a proper knowledge of the big five factor and its influence on students’ academic achievement within secondary schools in Nigeria. The effective knowledge of big five factors would be of immense benefit to other schools.
The research work would be useful for academic purpose in the sense that it is an improvement on past academic work of other researchers on the subject of big five factors vis-a-vis academic achievement. It would also serve as a reference point for subsequent researchers.

Scope/Delimitation of the study
This study coveredinfluence of big five factors on academic achievement of senior secondary school civic education in Ondo State

Operational Definition of Terms
Influence: This means the positive or negative effects the big five factor has on the academic achievement of students in civic education.
Big Five Factor: These are the five broad domains or dimension of personality that are used to describe human personality.
Extraversion: extraversion is being sensitive to reward and positive affect (John, 2008)
Neuroticism: this is when someone is sensitive to punishment and negative affect (Deyoung, 2010)
Conscientiousness: This is the ability to persist in task and goal oriented behaviour, in order to reach non-immediate rewards. (John, Naumann& Soto 2008)
Agreeableness: this describes one who is sympathetic, trusting and cooperative. Students with high scores on agreeableness are selfless, flexible and pleasant. (Daminabo 2013).
Openness: Thisismanifesting the tendency to explore, detect and enjoy abstract and sensory information (John, 2008)
Academic Achievement: This is the level of academic performance of students in school.
Students: These are the senior secondary school two students in fifteen selected schools in Ondo states.
Senior Secondary school: These are the fifteen selected schools across Ondo states.
Civic Education: This is the education given to the citizen of the country to be functional and developed citizens of the society.

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