Predictive Effect of Learners Psycho-Social Attributes on Academic Performance of Distance Learners of University of Lagos

Abstract

The study investigated the predictive effect of Emotional intelligence (EI), ICT competence, Financial Stability and Gender on academic performance of distance learners. Descriptive survey design was employed for this study. Purposive stratified sampling technique was used to select 350 participants among third year to sixth year learners. Three research instruments were used for data collection; Emotional Intelligence scale by Shuttle et. al (1998), Financial Stability Scale by CFPB (2016), ICT Competency Scale: Tzafilkou, Perifanou and Economides. Instrument reliability ranged from .68 to .86. Students’ GCPA was used to measure academic performance. Data collected was analysed using Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The result revealed a significant relationship among the independent variables and the dependent variable, it further showed that emotional intelligence is a potent contributor to academic performance prediction while gender was the least predictor. The study recommended that the learner support unit should be well equipped with counselors who are saddled solely with the responsibility of training learners and other stakes holders on emotional intelligence since emotional intelligence is a life skill which is teachable.