Correlates of Academic Achievement : PMR

• Main Author: Noor Aziah, Ahmad
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1996
• Subjects: LB1050.9-1091 Educational psychology
• Online Access: https://etd.uum.edu.my/1493/1/Noor_Aziah_bt._Ahmad_%281996%29.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/1493/

This study investigated the correlates of academic achievement or Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations and identified the significant predictors of PMR achievement. The study was prompted in response to the national call for more research on the dwindling interest and poor performance in science among upper secondary students. There was also a felt need to reinstate English oral and written competencies among the younger generation of Malaysians to prepare them for advancement in information technology by the year 2020. Four factors were investigated: UPSR performance, personal characteristics, home factors and school factors. The sample consisted of 1216 Form Four students randomly chosen from all the eighteen secondary schools in Perlis. These students sat for the PMR examinations in 1995. A 74-item self constructed questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire was pilot tested. The result yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.95. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that PMR achievement is positively and significantly related with UPSR performance, personal characteristics, home factors and school factors. Jointly, these factors explain 71% of the variance in PMR achievement. UPSR overall performance emerged as the best predictor of PMR achievement. It explains 55% of the total 71% variance explanation in PMR achievement. Socio-economic status was a significant predictor for English and mathematics performance in the PMR examinations. School type emerged as significant predictor for overall PMR performance, as well as, performance in English, science and mathematics in the PMR examinations. PMR performance also differed significantly between and among students according to UPSR performance, personal characteristics, home factors and school factors.