Department of Social Studies

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Browsing Department of Social Studies by Author "Funso, Samuel Popoola"

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    PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF UNIVERSITY MATRICULATION EXAMINATION AND POST UNIVERSITY MATRICULATION EXAMINATION SCORES FOR STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN NIGERIA
    (DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFF1, 2012-09-12) Funso, Samuel Popoola
    There was a general belief in the recent past that the University Matriculation Examination (UME) results are not reliable and valid, that at times, candidates have scores in the subject(s) they did not sit for, and such fictitious results are used for admission Omirin (2006). The Post-UME screening exercise was introduced following public outcry against the credibility of the examination conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, and the universities’ persistent demand for greater participation in the process of admission. However, different reactions both for and against have trailed the introduction of the Post- UME in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to find the predictive validity of UME and Post-UME scores for students’ first-year academic performance in Federal universities of Northern Nigeria. The study also sought to determine which of the two examinations could serve as a better predictor of performance for the selection of qualified candidates seeking admission into Nigerian Universities. The target population of this study consisted of 100-level students of federal universities in Northern Nigeria who participated in UME, Post-UME and first-year university examinations in 2006 and 2007. The estimated population size was 2500. Employing stratified random sampling technique, a sample of 468 100-level students was selected from three Northern Federal Universities, namely; University of Jos from the North-Central zone of the Federation, Federal University of Technology, Yola, from the North-East, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from the North-West. An existing proforma (used by Omole (1997) and JAMB (2007)) was adapted and used for data collection. As a pilot test, the instrument was used to collect data from University of Lagos. Cronbach Alpha was used to analyse the data and determine reliability coefficient which approximated to 0.6. Data was collected from the university records by personal visit to the institutions. Regression analysis was used to determine the strength of the relationship. The findings of the study showed that significant relationship exists between UME and First-Year Cumulative Grade Point Average (FCGPA) in UNIJOS, ABU, Zaria and FUT Yola. No significant relationship exists between Post-UME and FCGPA scores in UNIJOS, ABU Zaria, and FUT Yola. No significant relationship exists between UME and Post-UME scores in UNIJOS, ABU Zaria, and FUT Yola. Combining UME and Post-UME showed a better relationship. UME scores had a better beta weight than the post UME scores. UME had a beta weight of 0.436 while Post-UME had only 0.078. Furthermore, some moderator variables were used to lend credence to the findings such as gender, discipline and location of the institution. The results revealed that the predictive power of UME is gender biased, in the sense that male students had higher regression coefficient than female students; Science predicted performance better than Social Science and Art disciplines, and Federal University of Technology, Yola had the best predictive power, followed by University of Jos and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Consequently, the researcher recommends that the Federal Government should throw more weight behind the UME, so as to make it more reliable and error-free. Further studies can be conducted on the predictive validity of the recently introduced UTME.