Relationship between Achievement Goal Orientation and Academic Achievement among Form Three Students in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

In the last five years (2013 to 2017), poor academic achievement has been experienced in Kiambu County, despite government interventions. Most researchers attribute this to socio-cultural factors with little done to explain personal factors which may contribute towards students’ academic achievement. The study was designed to determine the relationship among students’ achievement goal orientation, and academic achievement in Kiambu County. The study was guided by the goal orientation theory. The research adopted mixed methods sequential explanatory design. The targeted population was all year 2017 Form Three students in Kiambu County. Purposive sampling was used to select Gatundu South Sub-county. Using stratified random sampling 12 schools were selected. Through proportionate stratified sampling, one girl’s only and one boys’ only boarding, one co-educational boarding and nine co-educational day schools were selected. Simple random sampling was used to select 665 participants. Achievement goal orientation scales were adopted and used to measure achievement goal orientation. Purposively, 40 respondents were selected from those who filled the questionnaires for an interview to cross check the quantitative data. Academic achievement was inferred from students’ examination grades obtained from school records. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPPS version 21. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. A pilot study on 40 students was conducted in a school within the County. Data collected was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Hypotheses was tested at a =.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that all the domains of achievement goal orientation significantly correlated to academic achievement (r (630) =.310, p<.05).The highest relationship was observed between performance avoidance (r (630) =.355, p<.05). Based on the findings, teachers, parents and all concerned stake holders should work together in creating conducive environment for fostering development of domains of achievement goal orientation found to have a positive predictive value on academic achievement.