EFFICACY OF STUDY HABITS COUNSELLING ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN THE SAGNARIGU MUNICIPALITY IN THE NORTHERN REGION

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy of study habits counselling on the academic performance of students in the Sagnarigu Municipality, Northern Region of Ghana. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest, control, and experimental groups. The study population consisted of 2,990 second-year students from Tamale Islamic Senior High and Kalpohini Senior High School. The study employed multistage sampling technique that involved purposive and simple random sampling method to select participants for the study. 320 respondents being the accessible population in the three programmes were administered the questionnaire and 100 met the inclusion criteria. Ultimately, a final sample of 40 participants were selected through simple random sampling. Data was collected using the Study Habit Inventory. The hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Data was analyzed inferentially, correlation analysis, one-way ANCOVA and independent t tests. This findings indicates that the treatment group improved significantly in their study habits compared with the control group. It was also discovered that there was a strong positive correlation between various study habits of students and their academic performance. This means students with good study habits excel in their academic performance while students with poor study habits have lower academic performance. In contrast, the results indicated that gender did not have a significant influence on students study habits. The ANOVA results reveals that students who received study habits counselling performed significantly better academically than those in the control group while socio-economic factors did not account for academic performance. The study concluded that study habits counselling is essential for enhancing academic performance and recommended its inclusion in the school curriculum from an early stage.