Intrinsic motivation, self efficacy, self-esteem and academic achievement among students of Islamic University in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between intrinsic motivation, self efficacy, self esteem and students’ academic achievement at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). The study employed the quantitative paradigm and a correlational, cross-sectional survey design with some interpretative aspects. The sample consisted of 158 students of year three in the Faculty of Education. Data were collected using a self administered questionnaire. Using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. In this study only one of the independent variables (IVs), that is the first IV (intrinsic motivation) was reliable. The other two IVs, namely IV2 (self efficacy) and IV3 (self esteem) were not reliable. Hence there was no point in relating IV2 and IV3 to the dependent variable (DV). Hence H2 and H3 would not be tested. Thus IV1 was related to the DV at the bivariate level using Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient and eventually the DV was regressed on to IV1 using simple linear regression. The study concluded that intrinsic motivation was insignificant in improving students’ academic achievement. However, since IV2 and IV3 were not reliable in this study, their hypotheses were not tested and therefore no conclusion was made. This study recommended that at the moment IUIU Main Campus need not put much emphasis on intrinsic motivation as a way of improving students’ academic achievement as their correlation is insignificant. Instead, there are other factors that may affect students’ academic achievement which need to be investigated such as students’ home lives (e.g., parenting styles, cultural values), extracurricular activities (e.g., sports and clubs) and university environments (e.g., relationships with lecturers and peers). Furthermore, research should be carried out on intrinsic motivation, self efficacy, self esteem and student’s academic achievement in other study contexts probably this may change the results to have a significant relationship among the variables.