Abstract:
The final major examinations in Kenya (KCPE &
KCSE) have continued to heighten anxiety among students as
they are regarded by most Kenyans (both parents and
students)as the bridge to a promising future. Students can go to
any length to ensure that they score a quality grade .Many
factors have been attributed to academic under achievement, one
of them being their academic engagement. The purpose of the
study was to determine the relationship between student
academic engagement and academic achievement among form
ones students in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya. The study was
anchored on the Social Cognitive Learning by Albert Bandura.
The study adopted a correlational design in order to be able to
investigate and analyze the relationship between the two
variables. It also used simple regression to find out whether the
various variables would predict test scores. The study was
conducted in four public schools of Dadaab refugee camps in the
North-Eastern part of Kenya. The target population consisted of
students and teachers. The sampling technique was that of
convenient, purposive and systematic sampling in that order,
where thirty-five participants were selected from each school, to
sum up to one hundred and thirty-eight form one students and a
total of thirty-four teachers. Research instruments included
questionnaires for teachers and students, while interview
schedule was for teachers. The results revealed that student
academic engagement positively and significantly predicted test
scores.
