Quantitative and Verbal Aptitudes as Predictors of Senior Secondary School Students’ Performance in Economics

• Main Author: Innocent Uche Anazia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The International Academic Forum 2019-06-01
• Series: IAFOR Journal of Education
• Subjects: quantitative aptitude; verbal aptitude; predictor; economics performance
• Online Access: https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-7-issue-1/article-1/

This study examined the predictive power of quantitative and verbal aptitudes on the performance of senior secondary school students in Economics. The study arose from the poor performance of students in the Senior School Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education Economics. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting a total of three hundred and thirty senior secondary two Economics students from ten schools comprising of five private and five public schools. Data were gathered with three test instruments, namely the Economics Achievement Test, the Quantitative Aptitude Test and the Verbal Aptitude Test. The reliability coefficient was established using Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient and was found to be 0.86 for the first test, 0.81 for the second and 0.93 for the last. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and multiple regression of the SPSS. The findings revealed that quantitative and verbal aptitudes have predictive power on the performance of senior secondary school students in Economics. However, quantitative aptitude has more predictive power (B = 0.339) than verbal aptitude (B = 0.206). Based on the findings, it is recommended that school authorities should provide learning materials that will promote the acquisition of quantitative and verbal skills; teachers should use appropriate teaching methods and promote high-order thinking and logical reasoning in the students; and government should recruit adequate and qualified teachers to teach Economics, quantitative and verbal related subjects.