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Perceptions of parental press, academic motivation and academic achievement of a sample of primary six Chinese pupils
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Type
Thesis
Author
Ng, Tiat Seng
Supervisor
Thomas, Elwyn
Ko, Peng Sim
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between parental press as perceived by pupils, and their academic motivation and academic achievement.
The subjects were 365 Primary Six Normal Bilingual pupils from three government English-medium co-educational schools. The sample was composed of subjects taken from a 'good', an 'average' and a 'below average' school. Categorisation of schools was based on the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) results for 1981 and 1982. There were 196 boys and 169 girls. Only ethnic Chinese pupils who came from intact (two-parent) families were used in the study.
Perception of parental press was measured by two questionnaires. These were the Mother Press and the Father Press Questionnaires which attempted to measure a pupil's perception of the degree of his mother's and father's interests and supervision of his schoolwork and their expectations of his academic performance. The items in both questionnaires were analogous. The academic motivation of pupils was measured by a modified Aberdeen Academic Motivation Inventory and a measure of their academic achievement was a composite of scores obtained from PSLE held in October 1983.
The data was analysed by means of Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test and Stepwise Multiple Regression. The level of significance for accepting or rejecting the hypotheses was set at the 0.05 level.
Analyses of the data revealed that :
1. positive and significant relationships exist between parental press as perceived by the pupils and their academic motivation and academic achievement, irrespective of their socio-economic status.
2. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to have higher academic motivation than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.
3. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to do better academically than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.
4. mothers were perceived as having a greater influence on pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement, compared with the fathers.
This study may have implications for educators and parents. For educators, it could provide a basis for advising parents on how they could enrich the educational environment of the home. For parents, it could provide a framework of activities which could help to enhance pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement.
The subjects were 365 Primary Six Normal Bilingual pupils from three government English-medium co-educational schools. The sample was composed of subjects taken from a 'good', an 'average' and a 'below average' school. Categorisation of schools was based on the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) results for 1981 and 1982. There were 196 boys and 169 girls. Only ethnic Chinese pupils who came from intact (two-parent) families were used in the study.
Perception of parental press was measured by two questionnaires. These were the Mother Press and the Father Press Questionnaires which attempted to measure a pupil's perception of the degree of his mother's and father's interests and supervision of his schoolwork and their expectations of his academic performance. The items in both questionnaires were analogous. The academic motivation of pupils was measured by a modified Aberdeen Academic Motivation Inventory and a measure of their academic achievement was a composite of scores obtained from PSLE held in October 1983.
The data was analysed by means of Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test and Stepwise Multiple Regression. The level of significance for accepting or rejecting the hypotheses was set at the 0.05 level.
Analyses of the data revealed that :
1. positive and significant relationships exist between parental press as perceived by the pupils and their academic motivation and academic achievement, irrespective of their socio-economic status.
2. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to have higher academic motivation than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.
3. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to do better academically than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.
4. mothers were perceived as having a greater influence on pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement, compared with the fathers.
This study may have implications for educators and parents. For educators, it could provide a basis for advising parents on how they could enrich the educational environment of the home. For parents, it could provide a framework of activities which could help to enhance pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement.
Date Issued
1984
Call Number
LB1065 Ng
Date Submitted
1984