Influence Of Physical Activity Participation On Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students

Statement of the Problem

Students are faced with the problem of indecision when they are about to choose a subject, as a result of differences in opinion from various angles. This problem has plagued many Nigerian secondary school students for quite sometimes. It is such a problem that must be looked into, knowing fully well that the place of secondary education cannot be over emphasized in the educational development of a nation. With good background, students still need to develop themselves on the subject areas they are keenly interested in and particularly that he has potentiality for. Lots of students have been found choosing subjects for junior school certificate examination not minding the aspect of their potentiality and the directive of the school counselor (where available). 

 Parents and teachers have not only being blamed  for creating low levels of motivation and drives to pursuing better school performance, but they have been held for sabotaging a multitude of reforms design to reverse the situation.  It had been observed by the researcher that students’ participation in Physical activity in Kwara State is quite low due to some  Some reasons for poor performance are specific to the students and not related to external factors. For example, a learning disability is student-centered and may create an obstacle to reaching certain academic standards. Motivation also can play a factor in poor performance. A student may be fully capable of earning high grades but might simply not care enough about education to exert the effort. Issues of motivation could be placed upon the parents or even the school, but sometimes a child simply does not enjoy learning.

If a student is academically performing less well than before, or less well than reasonably expected, this can be due to a number of causes. Some of these are:

• Poor eyesight; If the student cannot see the board, he or she cannot achieve to potential. This can become a problem if the student is now sitting farther from the board than previously.

• Poor hearing; the student may not be able to hear the teacher properly.

• School bullying; If the student is being bullied at school, this can affect academic performance.

• Problems at home; While not the most common problem, this can interfere with concentration.

• Excessive ambition; This can result in frustration, leading to a lack of trying; this can result from parental pressure.

• Lack of motivation; Motivation has been referred to as one of the most important psychological concepts in education. The reviewed literature on the effects of academic motivation on educational outcomes shows that it is linked to academic performance in secondary school (Petersen, Louw & Dumont, 2009).

Research Questions:

The study is to determine the influence of Physical activity participation on academic performance as well as the result outcome based on this, the following research questions will guide the the study;

1. Is there any relationship between Physical activity participation and school activity level?

2. Is there any relationship between Physical activity participation and students’ attitude?

3. Is there any relationship between Physical activity participation and parental influence?

4. Is there any relationship between Physical activity participation and students’ academic performance?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study will examine the influence of Physical activity participation on academic performance in some selected secondary schools in Kwara State. Specifically, the study is to look into the followings carefully;

1. The influence of Physical activity participation on the school activity level.

2. The influence of Physical activity participation on students’ attitude

3. The influence of Physical activity participation on parental influence

4. The influence of Physical activity participation on students’ academic performance

Research Hypothesis

Some research hypotheses were formulated;

HO1- There is no significant relationship between Physical activityparticipation andschool activity level.

HO2- There is no significant relationship between Physical activityparticipation and students’ attitude

HO3 -There is no significant relationship between Physical activityparticipation and parental influence.

HO4 -There is significant relationship between Physical activityparticipation and students’ academic performance?

Significance of the Study

The study will be of great significance because it seeks to;

1. Demonstrate the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases stroke, cancer, obesity, type II mellitus and several of these diabetes diseases.

2. It will enable the government to understand the health benefits of Physical activity and making provisions adequately of such activities e.g. equipments,   facilities, as well as conducive environment for its practicability. For instance, track and field events, standardized dimensioned football pitch, basketball court, badminton, handball court, etc.

3. It will equally assist school authorities and teachers to understand the significance of maintaining school sporting equipments to the betterments of learning, social and mental well-being.

4. Furthermore, it will help in changing the attitude of Physical activity personnel in school by making Physical activity interesting to parents, communities, organizations, and philanthropists to contribute their own quota so as to complement or supplement students’ participation in Physical activity.

Consequently, this research project will be of benefit to other research in Kwara State related to Physical activity and academics, also to investigate other areas and variables that the study may not have covered and which could be useful in development of other educational systems.

Delimitation of the Study

The study will be delimited to five selected secondary schools in Kwara State. The research work is designed to examine the influence of sport participation on academic performance in some selected secondary schools in Ilorin,  Kwara State. The respondents are teachers of some selected secondary schools in this area who supplied information on the students to the researcher and questionnaires are evenly distributed to the students.  However, the study has been so delimited in order to obtain unbiased information that will be used to make decisions concerning students’ academics and Physical activity participation in the area and beyond the conception of influence of sport participation on academic performance of some selected secondary schools in  Kwara State. The result is geared towards discovering means of improving the documented poor academic performance of athlete students’.

Hence, for easy analysis of data, reduction in costs and avoidance of complexity that may arise as a result of using large population, the researcher will purposively use samples from five selected schools in Kwara State for the study.

Operational Definition of Terms

Influence: If someone has influence, they have power to change how things develop or how people behave.

Sport: It is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or the others for entertainment.

Participation: This is the action in taking part in something; it is the act of sharing in activities of a group. 

Student: A formal learner or one who studies at school in order to learn and acquire skills that will help them grow into responsible being in the society.

Academic Performance: Relating to education especially in a school setting in order to determine how good, fair and poor a student is doing at the end of a term, semester or session after conducting a test or an examination.