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Factors related to underachievement amongst high-ability secondary students in Singapore
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Type
Thesis
Author
Wong, Moses Chiat Chang
Supervisor
Soh, Kay Cheng
Abstract
This dissertation describes the research study attempting to identify the factors related to underachievement amongst high-ability secondary students in Singapore.
It was evident from literature that underachievement was subject specific and the high-ability underachiever often lacked academic initiative and an ability to handle success and failure. There was suggestion that this group of underachievers often displayed an external locus of control, anti-social traits and inferiority traits which marked a low self-esteem. They also had difficulty coping with emotions and was under a fair amount of sibling pressure besides parental pressure.
It was also reported that intrinsic factors like : a lack of motivation; low self factors (with reference to academic work, the home environment, the general self and towards peers) and an external locus of control contributed significantly to underachievement. Extrinsic factors like parental pressure (with reference to an excess or lack of parental interest, parental expectation and parental supervision) was also found to contribute to underachievement.
Intervention strategies which were reported suggested more cooperation between parents and teachers of the underachiever. There was also a need to refine the process of identifying the underachiever.
A sample of 194 students from the Gifted Education Programme in Singapore was involved in this study. Using the median score of their Primary School Leaving Examination T-score and the second semestral examination results for English Language, Math and Science, the students were classified into four different groups, namely underachievers, overachievers, expected achievers and low achievers. The High-Ability Underachiever Identification Checklist, Version 2 (HAUICK-2) was specially developed. It is a self-reporting instrument of 66 items (KR20 = 0.81). Data was collected during the students' first year in the secondary school.
Three factors of the self, parental influence and locus of control were identified. The subscale scores were used to study their relationship with the four different types of achievers.
The research findings can be summarized as follows : that there is evidence of a moderate correlation between Primary School Leaving Examination T-scores and individual subject scores meant that the sample in this study is a valid one. The academic achievement results also show that the sample is indeed high-ability.
There is also a significant positive correlation between the following : self factors and academic achievement ; internal locus of control and academic achievement; internal locus of control and self factors. In addition, there is a significant negative correlation between external locus of control and self factors. There is also no curvilinear relationship between parental factors and academic achievement, and no significant positive correlation between parental factors and self factors.
Generally, high-ability underachievers scored low for parental factors (ie. low parental expectations, low parental supervision, and low parental interest). They also had low scores for self factors, particularly in the area of academic self concept and generally had stronger external locus of control.
It was evident from literature that underachievement was subject specific and the high-ability underachiever often lacked academic initiative and an ability to handle success and failure. There was suggestion that this group of underachievers often displayed an external locus of control, anti-social traits and inferiority traits which marked a low self-esteem. They also had difficulty coping with emotions and was under a fair amount of sibling pressure besides parental pressure.
It was also reported that intrinsic factors like : a lack of motivation; low self factors (with reference to academic work, the home environment, the general self and towards peers) and an external locus of control contributed significantly to underachievement. Extrinsic factors like parental pressure (with reference to an excess or lack of parental interest, parental expectation and parental supervision) was also found to contribute to underachievement.
Intervention strategies which were reported suggested more cooperation between parents and teachers of the underachiever. There was also a need to refine the process of identifying the underachiever.
A sample of 194 students from the Gifted Education Programme in Singapore was involved in this study. Using the median score of their Primary School Leaving Examination T-score and the second semestral examination results for English Language, Math and Science, the students were classified into four different groups, namely underachievers, overachievers, expected achievers and low achievers. The High-Ability Underachiever Identification Checklist, Version 2 (HAUICK-2) was specially developed. It is a self-reporting instrument of 66 items (KR20 = 0.81). Data was collected during the students' first year in the secondary school.
Three factors of the self, parental influence and locus of control were identified. The subscale scores were used to study their relationship with the four different types of achievers.
The research findings can be summarized as follows : that there is evidence of a moderate correlation between Primary School Leaving Examination T-scores and individual subject scores meant that the sample in this study is a valid one. The academic achievement results also show that the sample is indeed high-ability.
There is also a significant positive correlation between the following : self factors and academic achievement ; internal locus of control and academic achievement; internal locus of control and self factors. In addition, there is a significant negative correlation between external locus of control and self factors. There is also no curvilinear relationship between parental factors and academic achievement, and no significant positive correlation between parental factors and self factors.
Generally, high-ability underachievers scored low for parental factors (ie. low parental expectations, low parental supervision, and low parental interest). They also had low scores for self factors, particularly in the area of academic self concept and generally had stronger external locus of control.
Date Issued
1992
Call Number
LC3998.S5 Won
Date Submitted
1992