INFLUENCE OF SELF–ESTEEM AND TEST ANXIETY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS IN TARABA STATE

Abstract

Self -esteem and test anxiety is aspect of life that accompanies academic activities in most institution of learning. This research found out the influence of self–esteem and test anxiety on academic performance of pre-service science teachers in Taraba State. A survey design was used for the study. The population was 497 pre-service science teachers out of which  150 students were sampled out  for the study. Four objectives, four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. Data was collected using Self-esteem and Test anxiety questionnaire (SETAQ) whose reliability co-efficient was found to be 0.77 using Spearman Brown correlation. Mean and Standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the analysis showed among others that self-esteem and test anxiety significantly predicts pre-service science teachers academic performance in Taraba State University. In order to improve self-esteem, the paper recommends mentoring, modeling, behavior modification among others.