EVALUATING THE PREDICTIVE INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG FORM TWO STUDENTS IN GABORONE CITY, BOTSWANA
Abstract
Purpose of Study: The study investigated the relative predictive weight of perceived social support and student academic engagement on academic achievement among form two students in Gaborone City, Botswana.
Problem Statement: Education is considered the foundation of success, with secondary education serving as a bridge to vocational and higher learning. The administration of Botswana has invested heavily in the education sector over the years. However, despite these major investments, students’ academic achievement has remained stubbornly low, especially in public secondary schools in the South East Region. This study was founded on Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory and Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory.
Methodology: A correlational research design was employed and target population of 3713 form two students spread across the 8 secondary schools in the Gaborone City Botswana. Purposive sampling, stratified sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the study sample size of 397 respondents. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS software Version 26 where descriptive statistics, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, linear regression were used.
Result: The findings showed that perceived social support and academic engagement significantly predicted academic achievement, F(2,381) = 11.17, p < .001, explaining 11% of the variance (R² = .11). Perceived social support (β = .24, p = .001) was a stronger predictor than academic engagement (β = .15, p = .036).
Recommendation: Policymakers and school administrators should consider developing and implementing comprehensive policies and programs that address both the social-emotional and academic needs of students, providing resources for family and community engagement.
Keywords: Perceived Social Support, Academic Engagement, Academic Achievement, Form Two Students, Gaborone City, Botswana.
References
Abubakar, A. M., Abubakar, Y., & Itse, J. D. (2017). Students’ engagement in relationship to academic performance. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 8(1), 5-9.
Aila, F., & Ombok, B. (2015). Validating measures in business research: Practical implications.
Amerstorfer, C. M., & Freiin von Münster-Kistner, C. (2021). Student perceptions of academic engagement and student-teacher relationships in problem-based learning. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 4978.
Ates, A. (2021). The Relationship between parental involvement in education and academic achievement: A meta-analysis study. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 11(3), 50-66.
Bakkalbasioglu, E. (2020). How to access elites when textbook methods fail: Challenges of purposive sampling and advantages of using interviewees as “fixers.”. The Qualitative Report, 25(3), 688-699.
Baliyan, S. P., Malebalwa, K., Keregero, K. J., & Mabusa, K. (2021). Poor academic performance of students in agriculture at primary schools in Botswana: Analysis of causes and ways to improve. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 20(9), 116-135.
Bandura, A. (1969). Social-learning theory of identificatory processes. Handbook of socialization theory and research, 213, 262.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1986(23-28).
Bandura, A. (2002). Social cognitive theory in cultural context. Applied psychology, 51(2), 269-290.
Baruch, Y., Aguinis, H., & A Ballinger, G., Holtom, B. (2022). Survey response rates: Trends and a validity assessment framework. Human relations, 75(8), 1560-1584.
Berger, E., Reupert, A., Campbell, T. C., Morris, Z., Hammer, M., Diamond, Z., ... & Fathers, C. (2022). A systematic review of evidence-based wellbeing initiatives for schoolteachers and early childhood educators. Educational Psychology Review, 34(4), 2919-2969.
Blaze, P. (2019). The effects of social support and self-efficacy on academic performance (Doctoral dissertation).
Bowden, J. L. H., Tickle, L., & Naumann, K. (2021). The four pillars of tertiary student engagement and success: A holistic measurement approach. Studies in Higher Education, 46(6), 1207-1224.
Braun, H., & von Davier, M. (2017). The use of test scores from large-scale assessment surveys: Psychometric and statistical considerations. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 5, 1-16.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Ecological systems theory (1992).
Burke, H., & Mancuso, L. (2012). Social cognitive theory, metacognition, and simulation learning in nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 51(10), 543-548.
Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. Psychological review, 106(4), 676.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of research in personality, 19(2), 109-134.
Demaray, M. K., & Malecki, C. K. (2002). The relationship between perceived social support and maladjustment for students at risk. Psychology in the Schools, 39(3), 305-316.
Doménech-Betoret, F., Abellán-Roselló, L., & Gómez-Artiga, A. (2017). Self-efficacy, satisfaction, and academic achievement: The mediator role of students' expectancy-value beliefs. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1193.
Elyas, T., & Mahboob, A. (2022). Challenges to education in GCC during the 21st Century. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/19123677/
Erdem, C., & Kaya, M. (2021). Socioeconomic status and wellbeing as predictors of students’ academic achievement: Evidence from a developing country. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 1-19.
Eveland, T. J. (2020). Supporting first-generation college students: Analyzing academic and social support’s effects on academic performance. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(8), 1039-1051.
Fang, G., Chan, P. W. K., & Kalogeropoulos, P. (2020). Social support and academic achievement of Chinese low-income children: A mediation effect of academic resilience. International Journal of Psychological Research, 13(1), 19-28.
Gan, S. W., Ong, L. S., Lee, C. H., & Lin, Y. S. (2020). Perceived social support and life satisfaction of Malaysian Chinese young adults: The mediating effect of loneliness. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 181(6), 458-469.
Howarth, H., Evans, G., Kruger, P., Dilkes, E., Bell, G., & Kipps, C. (2023). The prevalence of common mental health problems and associated psychosocial issues in elite swimmers. Sports Psychiatry: Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychiatry.
Ibigbami, O., Oginni, O., Oloniniyi, I., Ugo, V., Ebuka, M., Adelola, A., ... & Aloba, O. (2022). Wellbeing and associated factors during the first wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic among adult Nigerians. Nigerian Journal of Psychiatry, 20(1).
Kim, H. J., Hong, A. J., & Song, H. D. (2019). The roles of academic engagement and digital readiness in students’ achievements in university e-learning environments. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16(1), 1-18.
Knowles, K. (2023). Family centered planning and the effects on individual education plan outcomes: The impact on diverse preschool families’ comfort and confidence (Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Sacramento).
Lee, C. S., & Goldstein, S. E. (2016). Loneliness, stress, and social support in young adulthood: Does the source of support matter? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(3), 568-580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0395-9
Lee, J., & Kim, S. (2019). Gender differences in perceived social support and academic engagement among high school students. Psychology in the Schools, 56(9), 1475-1489. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22292
Lei, H., Cui, Y., & Zhou, W. (2018). Relationships between student engagement and academic achievement: A meta-analysis: Social Behavior and Personality, Vol, 46(3), 517–528.
Mai, Y., Wu, Y. J., & Huang, Y. (2021). What type of social support is important for student resilience during COVID-19? A latent profile analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 646145.
Malecki, C. K., & Demaray, M. K. (2020). Longitudinal findings on perceived social support and academic achievement. Journal of School Psychology, 81, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.04.002
McKenzie, K. (2019). The effects of poverty on academic achievement. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 11(2), 21-26.
Mishra, S. (2020). Social networks, social capital, social support and academic success in higher education: A systematic review with a special focus on ‘underrepresented’ students. Educational Research Review, 29, 100307.
Monteiro, N. M., Balogun, S. K., & Oratile, K. N. (2014). Managing stress: the influence of gender, age and emotion regulation on coping among university students in Botswana. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 19(2), 153-173.
Nyberg, J., Jonsson, E. N., Karlsson, M. O., & Häggström, J. (2024). Properties of the full random‐effect modeling approach with missing covariate data. Statistics in Medicine.
Rahman, M. M., Tabash, M. I., Salamzadeh, A., Abduli, S., & Rahaman, M. S. (2022). Sampling techniques (probability) for quantitative social science researchers: A conceptual guideline with examples. Seeu Review, 17(1), 42-51.
Rueger, S. Y., Malecki, C. K., & Demaray, M. K. (2008). Gender differences in the relationship between perceived social support and student adjustment during early adolescence. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4), 496.
Saefudin, W., Sriwiyanti, S., & Mohamad, S. H. (2021). Role of social support toward student academic self-efficacy in online learning during pandemic. Jurnal Tatsqif, 19(2), 133–154.
Seeram, E. (2019). An overview of correlational research. Radiologic Technology, 91(2), 176-179.
Seijas-Macias, A., Oliveira, A., & Oliveira, T. A. (2023). The Skewness and kurtosis of the product of two normally distributed random variables. Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods, 52(1), 80-93.
Soenens, B. (2017, June 29). Bronfenbrenner child development theory explained. HRF. https://healthresearchfunding.org/bronfenbrenner-child-development-theory-explained/
Surum, J. (2018). Student academic engagement and the academic achievement of form one students in Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2(7), 575-582.
Suwinyattichaiporn, T., & Johnson, Z. D. (2022). The impact of family and friends social support on Latino/a first-generation college students’ perceived stress, depression, and social isolation. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 21(3), 297-314.
Täht, K., Mikkor, K., Aaviste, G., & Rozgonjuk, D. (2023). What motivates and demotivates Estonian mathematics teachers to continue teaching? The roles of self-efficacy, work satisfaction, and work experience. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 1-20.
Tayfur, C., & Ulupinar, S. (2016). The effect of perceived social support on the academic achievement of health college students. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing/Psikiyatri Hemsireleri Dernegi, 7(1).
Toyon, M. A. S. (2023). Examining the Relationships between academic adaptation and life-domain issues among working university students in Estonia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 22(4), 58-72.
Usman, Y. D., & Madudili, C. G. (2019). Evaluation of the effect of learning environment on students' academic performance in Nigeria. Online Submission.
Wachs, S. (2023). How do I test my data for normality. Accendo Realiability.
Wang, J., Mann, F., Lioyd-Evans, B., Ma, R., & Johnson, S. (2014). Measuring engagement in fourth to twelfth grade classrooms: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261441688
Wentzel, K. R. (2014). Relations of social goal pursuit to social acceptance, classroom behavior, and perceived social support. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 173.
Wentzel, K. R. (2019). Introduction to the special issue on social and emotional learning. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 127-128.
Xia, H., Han, X., Cheng, J., Liu, D., Wu, Y., & Liu, Y. (2022). Effects of negative life events on depression in middle school students: the Chain-mediating roles of rumination and perceived social support. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 781274.
Yamane, T. (1967). Research methods: determination of sample size. University of Florida, IFAS Extension.
Yasin, A. S. M., & Dzulkifli, M. A. (2021). The relationship between social support and academic achievement. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(5), 277-281.
Zhu, Q., Cheong, Y., Wang, C., & Tong, J. (2021). The impact of maternal and paternal parenting styles and parental involvement on Chinese adolescents’ academic engagement and burnout. Current Psychology, 1-14.
Zimmerman, B. J. (1990). Self-regulating academic learning and achievement: The emergence of a social cognitive perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 2, 173-201.
