Academic Stress and Students’ Achievement in Chemistry: A Predictive Study

Abstract

The study examined the prediction of secondary school students’ achievement in Chemistry by academic stress in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study also investigated the moderating influence of gender on the prediction between the study variables. Using a correlation research design, 320 SSII students were randomly chosen to make up the study's sample size. The Chemistry Achievement Scores (CAS) proforma and Chemistry Students' Academic Stress (CSAS) survey served as the study's guiding instruments. While linear regression and the Hayes Macro Process were utilized to assess the hypotheses at the 0.05 significance level, the research problems were addressed using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) and coefficient of determination (r²). The study's findings showed that academic stress is not a significant predictor of secondary school students’ achievement in chemistry. Moreover, an insignificantly low positive predictive power exists between academic stress and secondary school students’ achievement in Chemistry as moderated by gender. Based on the results, it was suggested, among other things, that government agencies and school administrators offer tools to help students manage their academic stress and that chemistry teachers employ teaching strategies that have been shown to reduce students' academic stress.