Comparison of Class VII and VIII Students’ Academic Self-Concept: Insights from Sindh Province of Pakistan

Abstract

With the realization that students’ self-concept has a major influence on their academic achievement, the development of students’ positive self-concept has been receiving an increasing attention. This study was conducted to explore the self-concept of students of two different classes (Class 7 and 8) in three different subjects in Sindh context of Pakistan. The instrument used was a rating scale developed to measure the self-concept of students under three domains (science, mathematics and other subjects). The collected data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to explore the normality of score. Then, through descriptive analysis, the mean scores of each class in each subject were computed followed by independent t-test and Mann-Whitney test. The results showed that, on average, class 8 students hold higher self-concept, the significance being high in mathematics and science. The difference in their self-concept across three different domains are presented and discussed with their future implications.