The effect of student diligence, diligence support systems, self-efficacy, and locus of control on academic achievement
Abstract
Research indicates that students are not diligent in accomplishing their schoolwork (Hinds et al., 1999). Diligence is effort expended by students to achieve (Bernard & Thayer, 1993). There is a rich body of research on student diligence and its effect on student academic achievement (Okpala et al., 2000; Bernard, 1991; Hunter & Barker, 1987). This study examined the influence of diligence, diligence support systems, self-efficacy, and locus of control on student academic achievement. The sample consisted of 315 high school students, 215 parents (whose surveys were matched to their child's survey), and 46 teachers. Instruments used to measure diligence and diligence support were Bernard's (1991) Diligence Inventory High School (DI-HS), Diligence Inventory Parent/Guardian (DI-PG), and Diligence Inventory Educator Form (DI-EF). Levenson’s (1981) Multidimensional Locus of Control (LLC) scale was used to measure locus of control and the Morgan-Jinks Student Self-efficacy (Morgan-Jinks, 1999) scale was used to measure self-efficacy. Bivariate correlations revealed there were statistically significant relationships between student diligence and academic achievement (r = .393, p < .001), self-efficacy and academic achievement (r = .472, p < .001), and locus of control and academic achievement (r = .256, p < .001). These findings indicate that, together, student diligence, self-efficacy, and locus of control can explain 44.3% of the variance in academic achievement. The relationship between family SES and academic achievement was examined. The relationship was statistically significant (r = .239, p < .001). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the most significant predictors of academic achievement were self-efficacy, family income level, and student motivation. Of these, self-efficacy was, by far, the most significant predictor of academic achievement (R2 Change = .314). A second multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the most significant predictors of self-efficacy were student motivation and locus of control, with the more significant being student motivation (R 2 Change = .273). Data for this study were collected from high school students in the rural South. Results from analyses in this study were very much like the results in other studies using students from very different backgrounds.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Jerry W Honea,
"The effect of student diligence, diligence support systems, self-efficacy, and locus of control on academic achievement"
(2007).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3243901.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3243901