INFLUENCE OF INSECURITY ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS EXAMINATION TAKING BEHAVIOUR IN THE UNIVERSITIES OF SOUTH-EAST GEOPOLITICAL ZONE

Abstract

The study investigates the influence of insecurity on undergraduate students' examination taking-behaviour in the Universities of South-East Geopolitical Zone, Nigeria. Today, testing has become an inherent part of the society, and many important decisions are based on test results. However, insecurity during test has become a prominent problem in schools. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. The population of the study comprised all the government owned Universities in the South-East Geopolitical Zone, giving a total of 13693 students. The sample comprised 240 respondents from psychology departments of the chosen Universities. A purposive sampling technique was adopted for the choosing. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled Insecurity and Undergraduates’ Examination Taking Behaviour Questionnaire (IUETBQ).The IUETBQ was validated by experts in psychology and measurement and evaluation all from Imo State University. To test the reliability of the instrument, test re- test method of an interval of two weeks was used on chosen students from two Universities that were not involved in the real study. Using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Statistics, a reliability index of 0.88 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using mean statistics.  Findings revealed the respondents agreed that insecurity influence students’ examination taking behaviour. These included: examination malpractice, copying from others, and use of machineries. The finding also revealed that insecurity influence students’ anxiety behaviour in examination taking. It was also the finding of the study that insecurity influences the emotional behaviour of students in examination taking. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that: students should be assisted to develop good study habits so as to study hard before tests and examinations, Governments at all levels and managements of tertiary institutions should try as much as possible to improve security conditions in all tertiary environments.