Article Review

Title
This paper is a review of an article written by Adedeji Tella (2007) titled: The Impact
of Motivation on Students Academic Achievement and Learning Outcomes in
Mathematics among Secondary School Students in Nigeria. The title of the article is
not effectively reflected the focus of the study. The researcher undertook only the
research study to examine the results of academic achievement in Mathematics based
on the degree of the students motivation. However, the learning outcomes do not
examine in this research study. According to Yusuf (2002), learning outcome delivers
for measurement of specific activities designed to accomplish just about future behavior.
Yet, learning outcome has been more of curriculum content than measurement.
Learning outcome can be evaluated by academic achievement and accountability (Steve,
2000). Bruce and Neville (1979) stated that educational achievement is measured by
standardized achievement test developed for school subjects. What this implies is that
academic achievement is evaluated in relation to what is gained at the conclusion of a
course, since it is the achievement of medium or long term objective of training.
Therefore, learning outcome dwells on the academic achievement of the students. Thus,
it is clear that learning outcome is a comprehensive plan for evaluating academic
achievement. In fact, the researcher should revise the title by eliminating the learning
outcomes from the title since learning outcome is not being tested in this study, and it
is also obviously can see from the hypotheses presented where learning outcome is not
being tested. Apparently, it would have only one dependent variable: academic
achievement; and one independent variable: impact of motivation. The study took place
among all secondary schools in Nigeria. This study covers all senior secondary 2 (SS2)
students in the Ibadan North-West and Ibadan South West Local Government areas of
Oyo State of Nigeria.

Background to the study

In this article, a good background description of what the problem is (issues of
motivation of students and the impact on academic achievement) are given by the

researcher with supporting citation. Motivation and academic achievement are

sufficiently discussed in the introduction and background of the article. However,
learning outcomes are not being sufficiently discussed. The background information
does not effectively provide a lead-in to the focus of the research, due to learning
outcomes not sufficiently discussed by the researcher. Numerous factors for low
academic achievement in mathematics among students were addressed by the
researcher, the researcher found that the motivation of the students may affect the
effectiveness of learning. After the review of quite a number of the past research articles
which were related to the issues of motivation of students and the impact on academic
achievement, the researcher took the opportunity of the study to see the impact of
motivation on the students academic achievement in mathematics. The research focus
is not clearly explained and ambiguous. In fact, the researcher should revise the purpose
of the study and the suggestion is eliminating the word of learning outcomes and
replaced it by academic achievement. Throughout the purpose of the study written by
the researcher, it is found that the researcher may agree with the sense that learning
outcomes dwell on the academic achievement of the students.

Hypotheses
The researcher sets out to interpret the impact of motivation on the students academic
achievement among secondary school students in Nigeria. Definitely, the research is
determining the impact of motivation on the academic performance of male and female
students in mathematics; and the academic performance of highly motivated and lowly
motivated students in mathematics achievement test. The hypotheses are well presented.
Still, the learning outcomes are excluded in the two hypotheses given. Overall, the two
hypotheses are in line with the research focus. The hypotheses are appropriately framed
to provide clear guidance for measuring the variables investigated. Gender differences
have been investigated to see whether there is any significant difference in the impact
of motivation on academic performance. Besides, the differences between the academic
performance of highly motivate and lowly motivated students are also being
investigated to see whether there is any significance difference in mathematics
achievement test.

Literature Review
The literature is cited appropriately and the reviews are relevant to the research agenda.
There are some reviews included older studies to demonstrate important changes in
knowledge over time. Nonetheless, most reviews include articles published more than
10 years, and thus causing some references to seem outdated. Perhaps, the majority of
studies included should be of recent origin and preferably less than five years old.
However, there may be exceptions to this, for example, in areas where there is a lack
of research or all-important piece of work that is still relevant to current practice. It is
important also that the review should include some historical as well as contemporary
material in order to put the subject being studied in context. Besides, the researcher has
cited current literatures to support the study, but the citation of the current literatures
still considered lesser. Perhaps the researcher should do more review of current articles
instead of referring to those articles which are outdated. The researcher did try to review
those past research which is using the same research method: quantitative research
methodology. The only weakness here is the researcher not really reviewing the articles
critically. The researcher has missed out an acknowledgment in the reference list, which
is (Camara, 1986). This would make readers and other researchers inconvenient if they
want to know more about the primary source of Camara.
The researcher has only come out a few critical analyses of relevant theory. The
past research mentioned that achievement motivation is often correlated with actual
behavior (Camara, 1986). The researcher analyses that the motivation to achieve,
however, may evidence itself only in behavior that children value. For example, a child
may be highly motivated to achieve, and this may exhibit in athletics but not in
schoolwork. The past research also shows that the game based strategy has been
observed to bring about motivation of learners to learn mathematics (Aremu, 1998).
The researcher did suggest various kinds of activities that would also help to motivate
learners toward learning. The suggestions made by the researcher are very beneficial in
order to prompt learners to learn mathematics. Perhaps, instructors should be creative
in planning their lesson plan, this is to make learners plant their interest in learning
mathematics. If students feel bored when studying mathematics, sooner they will give
up with the subject. Students who like mathematics, their intrinsic motivation will
increase learning mathematics and vice-versa. Therefore, persistent attention should be
focused towards creating, developing and reinforcing a positive attitude towards
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mathematics. Overall, the literature review is comprehensive and relevant to the

hypotheses. Furthermore, the researcher did show Figure 1 cited from (Aremu, 1998),
but there is no elaboration towards the figure. Same thing happens to the Figure 2, no
further explanation for the figure. Perhaps, the researcher should explain the purpose of
why he wants to put on the figures.

Research Design
The research design of this research appears to be adequate for the purpose of the
research. The ex-post facto research design is appropriate in addressing the research
objectives and research hypotheses. Ex-post facto design is a category of research
design in which the investigation starts after the fact has occurred without interference
from the researcher. This research design does not include any form of manipulation or
measurement before the facts occur. The ex-post facto design is used to explore possible
causal relationship between variables (impact of motivation) that cannot control by the
researcher. The researcher should elaborate more in detail about the method used.

Population and Sample

The researcher did mention the target population consist of all senior secondary 2 (SS2)
students in the Ibadan North-West and Ibadan South West Local Government areas of
Oyo State of Nigeria. Still, the total number of schools is not stated. This will easily
confuse readers, where the total number of schools is 10 or 12. The researcher did
mention a sample of 450 secondary school students drawn from 10 schools (population)
in two local Governments areas in Ibadan, but in the reliability test (in instrumentation)
is administered to 50 respondents from other 2 secondary schools which were not part
of the study sample. So, the size of the target population is ambiguous. The sample
selected is based on their age ranged from 15 22 years with a mean of 18.6 years and
a standard deviation of 3.6. This study includes male and female students. However,
the number of male and female students is not stated in here. According to the Sample
Size Table, the sample size is adequate for the study. The confidence interval level was
set at 95%. Once again, the researcher did not state clearly of the sampling technique
employed to select the sample. The researcher should explain more on how the sample
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was selected. In fact, the stratified sampling method was used by the researcher in this
study.

Instrumentation
The researcher uses a modified instrument tagged Motivation for Academic
Performance Questionnaire to gather data for the study. The instrument was separated
into two parts, the first part required information on the respondents demographic data
like sex, age, class, name of school, and so on; while the second part contained 30 items
using a 5 scales Likert Type format with the response from strongly disagree 1 to
strongly agree 5. Validity is determined as the ability of the instrument to assess what
it supposed to measure (Wood et al., 2006). The instrument was corroborated by 2
researchers, Bakare (1977) and Osiki (2001), the instrument was modified from
Motivation for Occupational Preference Scale (MOPS) by Bakare (1977) and
Motivation for Academic Study Scale by Osiki (2001). Thus, the instrument used is
considered as valid to the content of the study. The reliability of the instrument also
being discussed by the researcher, where the researcher uses the test-retest reliability
test method after modified the instrument. This instrument was directed to 50
respondents who were secondary school students selected from another two schools,
which were not part of the study sample. The reliability of the scales was reported at
0.85 and 0.82 respectively in two week interval through Cronbachs alpha. This means
that all the items in the instrument were truly relevant to the content of the study.
Possibly, the researcher should also mention the Cronbachs alpha used in this section.
LoBiondo-Wood et al. (2013) states that the reliability of instruments denotes to the
level that the instrument gives the same results on continual measures and can be
established through methods to assure stability, internal consistency, and equivalence.

Research Procedures

There is a clear discussion of the research procedure. The researcher collects data at
one point in time, so this is seen as a cross-sectional survey design. The design enables
the researcher administering the survey and collecting the information in a short amount
of time. In this study, the researcher chooses to apply the modified questionnaire as a
data gathering instrument. The mathematics teachers in the participating schools help
to administer the instruments. This made the data collection was done smoothly and
successfully. There are 450 out of 480 questionnaires valid for the analysis in the study.
The researcher has not given readers much insight as to how he measures the key
variables, although students know it is in survey form. As long as the survey is well
written and gives participants a chance to fully describe their feelings. Therefore, the
data collection procedure is appropriate for the research design used. Perhaps, if the
researcher wanted to achieve a richer description, a better method of data collection
could be the interviews. The data collection methods mentioned, described in detail the
development of the survey, response rate, how students were selected to receive the
survey, the review of the survey and so on. These methods used were well thought out
and will give high quality data that is more reliable and valid.

Data Analysis & Results

Data analysis in quantitative research studies is frequently perceived as a daunting
procedure. In the study, the researcher clearly identifies what statistics were undertaken
and what were the results. However, the researcher does not provide justification for
the use of specific analysis techniques. The data analysis techniques are appropriate for
the research design. There is no unintended for extraneous variables to interfere with
study because of the precise survey questions, since the only data being assessed are on
the survey. Data collected in the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics, which
include mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics, which includes student
t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data analyses did provide answers to the
two hypotheses presented by the researcher in the study. But, there is no statistical
report on the demographic data collected.
Tables, charts and graphs may use to present the results and should be accurate,
clearly identified and enrich the presentation of results (Russell, 2005). There are 3
tables presented by the researcher in the study. The outcome in the Table 1 effectively
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reflected that the finding rejected the first hypothesis, that is, there is a significant
difference in the academic achievement of male and female students in mathematics to
a significance level at 0.05 margin of error. The Table 2 reveals the academic
achievement measured alongside extent of motivation. The outcome shows that there
is a significant difference in the academic achievement of highly motivated and lowly
motivated students in mathematics to a significance level at 0.05 margin of error. The
researcher does not elaborate the outcome found in the Table 3. Possibly, the researcher
should explain what is the purpose of finding f-ratio and compare the results between
the Table 1 and Table 3. To enhance readability researchers frequently presents their
findings and data analysis section under the headings of the research questions (Russell,
2005). In fact, this can help readers determine if the results that are presented clearly
answer the two hypotheses presented by the researcher. The results are presented
correctly. However, the researcher should give more detailed interpretations of the
results given.

Findings & Discussion

According to Russell (2002), the discussion of the findings should flow logically from
the data and should be linked back to the literature review thus placing the work in
context. The discussion is in line with the findings. In this section, all of the findings
from the study are discussed and carefully connected to the hypotheses and the past
research. The researcher is able to use past research to validate the findings and helps
corroborates the hypotheses. The researcher found that the finding in the first
hypothesis contradicts to the past research. The researcher argued that the variation of
the results may connected to the issue of environment. In fact, different environment
may cause different results, especially the cultural backgrounds of students may
influence the academic achievement. Perhaps, the researcher should interpret more
detailed in order to defend the finding or may try to find the other past research to
support the finding. The researcher manages to relate the finding of the second
hypothesis with a few of past research. It is found that the second finding is actually
backed up by the past research. The discussion is substantiated with relevant literature.
After dealing with the significance of findings, the researcher now covers the
implications What do these findings mean in real life, outside of the study? How can
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the findings from this study help people not just other researchers? The implications
of the research results are interpreted in relation to the hypotheses. In fact, these findings
can serve as resource materials to those who are concerned with the academic progress
of the students. The researcher suggests ways to motivate students in learning
mathematics. Though, these recommendations must be transformed into actual practice
within the framework of the school curriculum.
The researcher does not suggest any possible avenue for future research on the
topic. The limitations of the study are not adequately discussed by the researcher.

Conclusion
Throughout the whole articles, the researcher is encouraged to revise the title of the
article. The citation of the past research must be careful and well cited, there are 2
citations here (Aremu, 1998) and (Ayotola, 1998) came from the same author. There is
a missing reference from the reference list, that is (Camara, 1986). In fact, this paper is
presented well in overall.

REFERENCES
Aremu, A. (1998). Motivating Learners for more effective achievement in
mathematics. Nigerian Journal of Applied Psychology, 4(1), 27-34.

Bakare, C. (1977). Motivation for Occupational Preference Scale. PsychoEducational Research Publications.
Bruce, H.C. & Neville, P. (1979). Evaluation in education. Oxford: Penganon Press.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., Haber, J., Cameron C., & Singh, M. (2013). Nursing research
in Canada: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (3rd
ed.). Toronto: Mosby Elsevier.
Osiki, J. (2001). Motivation for academic study scale. Ibadan: Stirling-Horden
Publisher.
Russell, C. (2005). Evaluating quantitative research reports. Nephrol Nurs J, 32(1):
61-4.
Sample Size Table. (2006). Retrieved September 30, 2015, from The Research
Advisors: http://www.research-advisors.com/tools/SampleSize.htm
Steve, U. (2000). Maesuring academic programme performance and accountability.
Florida: Macmillan.
Tella, A. (2007). The impact of motivation on student's Academic Achievement and
learning outcomes in Mathematics among secondary school students in
Nigeria. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.
3(2), 149-156.
Wood MJ, Ross-Kerr JC, Brink PJ. (2006). Basic Steps in Planning Nursing
Research: From Question to Proposal 6th edn. Jones and Bartlett: Sudbury.
Yusuf, A. (2002). Interrelationship among academic performance, academic
achievement and learning outcomes. Journal of curriculum and Instruction, 1,
87-96.