Learning Styles and Attitude as Correlates of Academic Achievement Among Public Secondary School Students in Benin City, Edo State Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between learning styles, students’ attitude and the academic achievement of public secondary school students in Benin City. The study was guided by two hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. A survey research design using correlation approach was employed. The sample of the study was 741 students drawn from six public senior secondary schools using the multi-stage sample technique. The instruments for data collection were the Adolescent Personal Learning Styles Inventory (APLSI) and Students’ Attitude of Learning Scale (SALS), which were validated by three experts in the Department of Educational Evaluation and Counselling Psychology, University of Benin. The reliability coefficients of 0.82 and 0.72 were obtained for the instruments, respectively. Also, students second term results in English language for the 2023/2024 academic session were used to determine their academic achievement. Hypothesis 1 was tested with Analysis of Variance ANOVA Statistics while hypothesis 2 was tested with Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics.  Findings of the study revealed that learning styles are a predictor of students’ academic achievement in Benin City. Student attitude significantly correlated with academic achievement. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that counsellors and teachers should lay emphasis on learning styles that will best help students in their academic journey. Students are to be encouraged to develop a positive attitude towards learning of any subject. This will help them learn better and achieve academically.