FAMILY BACKGROUND AND PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS

1.1 Introduction

Family background refers to all the conditions and circumstances in the family which influence the child physically, intellectually and emotionally (Muola, 2010). Children coming from different family backgrounds are affected different by such family condition and that is why some children have good family background while some have poor background. Citing Eke (2009) noted that with some families, the background may vary from time to time for the same individuals. Formal education therefore remains the vehicle for human development which must start from the family. There are different categories of families. A family could also be categorized as extended or nuclear. Extended families are those in which large group of related kin in addition to parents and children live together in the same household.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Education is the best legacy a nation can give to her citizens especially the youths. This is because education is very important in the development of any nation or community. Education is the process of transmitting what is worthwhile to members of the society. According to Okafor (2014), Education embraces all those experiences of the individual through which knowledge is acquired and intellect enlightened. For Nwabachili and Egbue (2013) education is what goes on from one generation to another generation. In this context, education is the process of socializing the child to grow up as a fulfilled member of the society through informal, formal and non-formal process. Informal education is the process of acquiring knowledge about the environment and beyond through living with one another.

According to Clifford (2011) family remains the primary environment of the child. The author emphasized that family environment has more chances of increasing or decreasing the intellectual performance of the child.

Parents who are of in more lucrative job would have more or enough fund to expand on the basic needs and academic requirement of their children, particularly in the subjects that are core in secondary education, particularly mathematics. Education is likely to provide different ways for the needs of their children and inhabit different aspects of cognitive, emotional and motivational development. Individuals in the society as well as families are different in all aspect of life; determining factors of such are the educational level, occupation and income of the family.

Nwabachili and Egbue (2013) stated that, formal education is a consciously planned form of socialization in a formal setting such as school. They stressed that non-formal education involve all those systematic programmes and processes of education and training that is done outside formal education setting. All these forms of education cannot be achieved without the influence of the family. Family is the first social environment the child finds itself.

A home environment is viewed as consequential for child developmental outcomes such as cognitive ability, school readiness, academic achievement and emotional adjustment (Fantuzzo et al., 2000). Historically, examinations of the influence of home environments on developmental outcomes have focused on distal variables as the primary measures of home experience, such as the family income, parents educational level, parents occupational status, parental involvement and parenting styles of (authoritarian, demanding and permissive parenting styles).

Ayeni (2008) and Musgroove(2000) articulated that child from higher socio-economic background has advantages over the child from lesser status. In a higher class there may be a television sets, radio, picture, home teacher, home library, computer, reading and writing materials all of which help to prepare a child for learning in school. The children are given high motivations for success in school. The parents’ ability to provide books and other reading materials in order to bring about a positive attitude stimulates children to learn more. Furthermore, the upper class child eats a balance diet and belonging to a comfortable social school environment further helps home to show his best.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Family Background and Performance of Students in Mathematics.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that experience has shown that among the secondary school students, there are some differences which influence students’ academic performance in mathematics, such as some students’ being able to pay their school fees promptly, while others are often sent away for non-payment of school fees, some students have problem with the provision of school uniform but others do not. Likewise, some students were motivated by their parents through the provision of educational materials like text books and exercise books, others were not, where as some students’ come to school properly feed, others not.

One then wonders whether influence of family background had played a in these issues. In the light of this, the main problem of this search is to find out if there exist in Warri-South local government area a relationship between family background and the students’ academic performance in mathematics.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Family Background and Performance of Students in Mathematics. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the effect of family background on the educational performance of students’ in mathematics.
2. To find out if social-economic status of parents influences students’ academic performance in mathematics.
3. To find out the influence of family size on educational upbringing of mathematics student.
4. To find out whether educational attainment of parent affect students’ academic performance in mathematics.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Is there any effect of family size on the academic performance of mathematics students?
• Does socio-economic status of parents influence the academic performance of the students?
• Does educational attainment of parent affect students’ academic performance in mathematics?
• What is the effect of family background on the educational performance of students’ in mathematics?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: The socio-economic status of parents has no significant effect on the academic performance of mathematics students.
• H1: The socio-economic status of parents has significant effect on the academic performance of mathematics students.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: The educational attainment of parents does not significantly affect students’ academic performance in mathematics.
• H1: The educational attainment of parents significantly affects students’ academic performance in mathematics.

1.7 Significance of Study

The research work of this nature when completed may help the parents to be aware of the effect the family has on children and how such affect the child positively or negatively in relation to their academic performance in mathematics. From the available recommendations, they will be able to adopt measures of bringing up their children in such a way that they will perform well academically.

The study is likely to encourage parents to make their children relatively comfortable in schools. This study also could aid children of various families to be aware and bear in mind with their parents in ability to provide them with all the necessary requirements in schools, and also sympathize with them in family problems and situations.

More so, educational and curriculum planners could be guided in planning the curriculum without rigidity to suit diverse cultural environments. In addition, the teachers would be aware that a cordial teacher parent relationship may in a way improve the influence of family background on the academic performance of a child in school.

A study of this nature is likely to help the state, nation and the world at large benefit from as the adherence to the recommendations and implementation which will help produce youths who would be better leaders of tomorrow. Finally, the research when completed may add to available literature and may encourage further research on the topic.

1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Family Background and Performance of Students in Mathematics. The study is likely to be confined to senior secondary school (SSS) students in Delta Career College, Warri, Delta State.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

Family: Is a unit comprising of husband, wife and children.

Family Size: The number of people in the family.

Family System: This includes monogamy and may be nuclear or extended family.

Home Environment: This refers to parental experience and aspirations for children, objects and material conditions in the home for comfort and also specific behavioral processes conducive to learning.

Educational Upbringing: This refers to education of children and how they perform in academics when subjected to test or examination.

Educational Status: This term is used for social processes in which one achieve social competence and individual growth, carried on in a selected, controlled sitting which can be institutionalized as a school or college.

Occupational Status: Person’s trade, vocation or principal means of earning living.

Socio-Economic Status: This refers to position of recognition which one finds him in the society. Such a position may not be hereditary but acquired through personal efforts like education, wealth, occupation and social class.

Academic Performance: This refers to the students’ performance, scores within the class and his position relative to all those subjected the same test.

Effects: the result or outcome of anything be it positive or negative.

Home Situation: This refers to prevailing atmosphere in the home whether violent, resentful or in disarray.

Parental Attitude: Parents disposition to respond in a characteristics way to some stimulus in their social environment.