Abstract:
This study investigated relationship among test- anxiety, academic achievement and interest of senior secondary school students in geometry. The research was guided by five research questions and five hypotheses.. These hypotheses were formulated based on the five research questions and were tested at 0.05apha level of significance. Correlational survey research design was adopted for the study. This study was conducted in Enugu state which consists of 17 local Government Areas (LGAs).The population consisted of all the male and female students in senior secondary school two in all the public secondary schools in Enugu State. A sample of 388 senior secondary school two students, comprising 200 male students and 188 female students were used for the study. A multi-stage Sampling technique was used to select the sample. The researcher divided the population into clusters comprising the six education zones in Enugu state. Three (3) clusters were randomly selected. The researcher used intact classes. Three instruments were used in gathering data, for the study. The instruments were; the Mathematics Test Anxiety Scale (MTAS), the Mathematics Interest Scale (MIS) and Mathematics Achievement Test ( MAT). The instruments are 4-point Likert type Scales. Kuder Richardson formula 21(K-R21) was used in to calculate the reliability index of Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT), while Cronbach’s Alpha (α) was used to calculate the reliability indices of Mathematics Test Anxiety Scale (MTAS) and Mathematics Interest Scale (MIS). The data collected were analyzed using Pearson’s Product moment Coefficient (r), mean and standard deviation. Test of significance of correlation coefficient in hypotheses was tested, using t-test. The results from the data analyzed revealed that; there was a moderate positive relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement of students in geometry, there was a high negative relationship between test anxiety and students’ interest in geometry, there was a significant relationship between test anxiety and students’ interest in geometry, there was a significant difference in the mean test anxiety of male and female students with the male students having high test anxiety, there is a significant difference in the mean academic achievement scores of male and female students in favour of male students and there was a significant difference in the mean interest scores of male and female students in favour of female students . The educational implications were pointed out and the following recommendations were made; teachers should always find ways of creating and sustaining moderate test anxiety on the students, it is worthwhile to find out the source and level of test anxiety these students have and if they are not really interested in acquiring knowledge but in passing their test, among others .
