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Change of self-concept among Primary Six pupils after leaving the Primary School Leaving Examination
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Type
Thesis
Author
Tan, Tuan Kiong
Supervisor
Soh, Kay Cheng
Ko, Peng Sim
Abstract
The theory of effectance motivation states that as human beings interact with their environment they learn to adapt psychologically to deal with the experience of success and failures. This implies that pupils will change their self-concept after going through important examination.
The present study examined the short-term effect of academic achievement on the self-concept of primary six pupils who have just taken a very important school leaving examination. This study also aimed to investigate the causal relationship between academic achievement and self-concept of the pupils.
The study was conducted in a real-life situation and, unlike past studies which have reported the cumulative effect of academic achievement on self-concept, it attempted to shed some light on the immediate and short-term effect of academic achievement on self-concept.
It was predicted that there would be changes in the self-concept of these pupils after they had received their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results. In Singapore, the outcome of this examination determines whether a pupil is to be channelled to the 4-year or 5-year course in the secondary school.
A pre-tested 58-item Self-Concept Questionnaire developed by the writer was used to measure self-concept. The six dependent variables covered in the self-concept measure were Academic Attitude, Academic Ability, Self, School, Peers, and Parents. Primary School Leaving Examination results were taken as the independent variable.
The quasi-experimental design of this study called for three repeated collection of data from 376 primary six pupils. All pupils were ethnic Chinese. These pupils came from lower or lower-middle income families. They completed the Self-Concept Questionnaire before the school's preliminary examination, after the preliminary examination results were known and again after the results of the Primary School Leaving Examination were made known to them. Changes of self-concept of pupils who had initial high or low self-concept and those who were successful or unsuccessful in both these examinations were studied.
The data were examined through the use of a one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures and cross-lagged panel analysis of correlations. The results of the study are as follows:
(1) The pupils in different groups showed variable degree of changes in their self-concept after receiving their PSLE results.
(2) When the results of two examinations (the preliminary examination and the PSLE) were considered, it was found that pupils who were successful in both the examinations have maintained their high self-concept in Academic Ability, Self, and School but they showed a decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Peers and Parents. Those who were unsuccessful in both examinations maintained their low self-concept in Academic Ability, School and Peers but showed a significant decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Self, and Parents.
(3) Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed no significant pattern of causal predominance between the self-concept variables and the PSLE results. The tentative conclusion that can be drawn from the present study is that causal relationship between self-concept and academic achievement is probably reciprocal rather than unidirectional.
This study provides further evidence in support of past research on the relationship between self-concept and academic achievement, though the causal direction has not been clearly established.
The present study examined the short-term effect of academic achievement on the self-concept of primary six pupils who have just taken a very important school leaving examination. This study also aimed to investigate the causal relationship between academic achievement and self-concept of the pupils.
The study was conducted in a real-life situation and, unlike past studies which have reported the cumulative effect of academic achievement on self-concept, it attempted to shed some light on the immediate and short-term effect of academic achievement on self-concept.
It was predicted that there would be changes in the self-concept of these pupils after they had received their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results. In Singapore, the outcome of this examination determines whether a pupil is to be channelled to the 4-year or 5-year course in the secondary school.
A pre-tested 58-item Self-Concept Questionnaire developed by the writer was used to measure self-concept. The six dependent variables covered in the self-concept measure were Academic Attitude, Academic Ability, Self, School, Peers, and Parents. Primary School Leaving Examination results were taken as the independent variable.
The quasi-experimental design of this study called for three repeated collection of data from 376 primary six pupils. All pupils were ethnic Chinese. These pupils came from lower or lower-middle income families. They completed the Self-Concept Questionnaire before the school's preliminary examination, after the preliminary examination results were known and again after the results of the Primary School Leaving Examination were made known to them. Changes of self-concept of pupils who had initial high or low self-concept and those who were successful or unsuccessful in both these examinations were studied.
The data were examined through the use of a one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures and cross-lagged panel analysis of correlations. The results of the study are as follows:
(1) The pupils in different groups showed variable degree of changes in their self-concept after receiving their PSLE results.
(2) When the results of two examinations (the preliminary examination and the PSLE) were considered, it was found that pupils who were successful in both the examinations have maintained their high self-concept in Academic Ability, Self, and School but they showed a decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Peers and Parents. Those who were unsuccessful in both examinations maintained their low self-concept in Academic Ability, School and Peers but showed a significant decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Self, and Parents.
(3) Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed no significant pattern of causal predominance between the self-concept variables and the PSLE results. The tentative conclusion that can be drawn from the present study is that causal relationship between self-concept and academic achievement is probably reciprocal rather than unidirectional.
This study provides further evidence in support of past research on the relationship between self-concept and academic achievement, though the causal direction has not been clearly established.
Date Issued
1985
Call Number
BF723.S28 Tan
Date Submitted
1985