THE EFFECT OF GENDER ETHNICITY AND COGNITIVE STYLES ON ACHIEVEMENT IN GENERAL PAPER

This study aimed to determine the effects of gender ethnicity and cognitive styles on achievement of form six students in General Paper. The sample comprised of 152 upper six students (60 boys and 92 girls) from a selected school in the district of Larut Matang and Selama, Perak. They were made up of Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnic groups. The GEFT (Group Embedded Figures Test) was used to measure students’ cognitive styles, while their achievement in General Paper was ganged by the 2006 Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examination. Results of the t-test analysis revealed that girls’ achievement was significantly higher than boys (t = 3.53, p 0.05). In terms of ethnicity, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that there was a significant difference in achievement among the three ethnic groups. However, post-hoc analysis demonstrated that the differences only existed between the Malay and Chinese students. Association between cognitive styles and achievement in General Paper was examined with Pearson correlation analysis. The two variables were found to have a positive and significant relationship (r = 0.15, p 0.05). Further findings from two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that cognitive styles have no significant interactions with gender [F(1, 148) = 3.63, p 0.05, eta squared = 0.02] nor ethnicity [F(2, 146) = 0.86, p 0.05, eta squared = 0.01]. This study found that girls have better achievement than boys. The difference in achievement might be due to other factors because it was not caused by their different cognitive styles. In short, this study has significant research implications as it contributes empirical data about students’ psychology and achievement in General Paper, an area of study with limited local research. In addition, information from this study can also be used by teachers and school counselors to formulate strategies to enhance students’ achievement in General Paper, a compulsory subject at the form six level.