Influence of Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary School Student

Education

Achievement motivation is one of the criterions in a contemporary society as it plays central role in learning and career success. This mixed methods, explanatory sequential study explores the achievement motivation of 600 higher secondary students (ages 16 -17) residing in Thrissur district in Kerala using the Deo-Mohan achievement motivation questionnaire. The second phase of the study which is of qualitative in nature, consist of two focus group discussion of teachers and interview of parents. Chi- square test, t- test and levene‟s test were used to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data. Quantitative data analysis indicated that the achievement motivation of adolescents is below-average level. Many themes emerged from the qualitative analysis such as deficit of a long-term goal in life, budding romantic relations, access to IT, demand for more freedom, peer pressure, alcohol and drug abuse, stressful family environment, stream preference, difficulty in coping new syllabus, were the reasons for the low motivation in adolescents. A significant difference was found between the achievement motivation of girls and boys and between students from the urban and rural areas. No significant difference was noticed between the students from government and aided schools.

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