Influence Of Hawking Time And Study Habits On Junior Secondary School Students` Academic Performance In Social Studies

This study is entitled: “Influence of Hawking Time and Study Habit on academic performance in social studies in Nasarawa state. The purpose of the study was to identify the study habit and the influence of hawking time on academic performance of students. The study was guided by six research questions and six hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 significance level. Descriptive research design of survey type was adopted in this study. The target population of the study were all the JSS three students who involved in street hawking in Nasarawa North Senatorial District. The total population is 965 students of both sexes. A sample of 284 students was drawn from the population through purposive sampling technique. 

The sample size was determined by applying Yamane`s (1967) formula of determining sample size. Two instruments: questionnaire and test items were used to obtained data for the study. Data collected from the study were analysed using frequency, simple percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA. The study found among others that:Junior secondary school Social Studies students had average study habit base on their gender and age; Junior secondary school Social Studies students who hawk in the morning before school hours and those who hawk in the afternoon after school hours had average study habit while those who hawk on weekends/Holidays have good study habitFrom this study, three null hypotheses (H0: 1, 2 and 4) were retained while three null hypotheses (H0: 4, 5 and 6) were rejected. 

Arising from the findings of the study the following conclusion was made among others: junior secondary school Social Studies students who involved in street hawking on weekends/Holidays had better study habits than their counterparts who involve in street hawking every day in Social Studies in Nasarawa State; and junior secondary school students who involved in street hawking on weekends/Holidays had better academic performance in Social Studies than their counterparts who involve in street hawking every day in Nasarawa State.

The study recommends among others that: street hawking by students should be restricted to weekends/holidays and parents should ensure that the students have some hours to rest and study and during the last week of holidays the students should be free from hawking to revise their notes in preparation for resumption; and students who involved in street hawking should be treated as those with special needs. During teaching and learning, teachers should give them special attention by: encouraging them to participate; help them develop positive academic self-concept and self-esteem; and make the classroom conducive for learning.