Peer Acceptance And Academic Performance Among Undergraduate Students Education Essay

Peer acceptance and relationships are important to student social and emotional development. Peer acceptance and friendship provide a wide range of learning and development opportunities for student undergraduate. These include companionship, recreation, building social skills, participating in group problem solving, and managing competition and conflict and performance academic. Peer acceptance is the degree to which a child or adolescent is socially accepted by peers. It includes the level of peer popularity and the ease with which a child or adolescent can initiate and maintain satisfactory peer relationships.

Student with education is one of substance that should be considered, because student is a translator of the dynamics of knowledge, and perform the duties of the depth of knowledge (Harahap, 2006). A student in general is a subject that has the potential to develop a pattern of life, and at once became the object of all forms of activity and creative. So that it can show its power quality (Baharuddin & makin, 2004).

Academic performance is the change in the efficiency of behaviour, or ability to grow for some time and not because of the growth process, but the learning situation. Materialization

Of the results of the learning process can be split in oral and written, and solving problems can be directly measured or assessed, and problem solving skills can be measured directly or assessed using a standardized test (Sobur, 2006). Academic performance is a term to indicate a success rate of achieving a goal, because an attempt has been made by someone learning an optimal (Setiawan,2006). Students are now much focused academic achievement as a result good measuring stick to a student’s future career (Amina Noor, 1999).

Peer receiver generally refers to the extent of a peer group can influence a student’s academic. Peer acceptance is difficult for this area is defined as the subjective (Michalos, 1991). Peer acceptance is very important to establish an academic result in their studies. Achievement each that will prove effective extent of peer acceptance or not. Conclusion, the increase and decrease in academic achievement are actually very closely related to the acceptance of peer learning place. Of conference, concluded that peer acceptance has the power associated with the academic performance of students in UPM studies to determine the increase and decrease a student’s academic decisions. In the context of the students in UPM students will have the freedom of their peer acceptance either good or bad influence. Therefore, two aspects are likely to affect a student’s academic attainment is good or not when demand in the UPM.

Statement of Problems

This study aims to determine the relationship between peer acceptance and academic performance among undergraduate students in UPM. Specifically, this study will identify family background characteristics, i.e. personal characteristics (age, gender, and self-esteem) and family characteristics (education level, level of income, family structure, and number of siblings) that are related to peer acceptance and academic performance. In addition, the relationship between family background characteristics with peer acceptance and academic performance will be determined. In summary, there are four research questions to be addressed in this present study:

What is the level of academic performance?

What is the level of peer acceptance as perceived by undergraduate students?

What family characteristics are significantly related to peer acceptance and academic performance?

Is peer acceptance significantly related to academic performance of undergraduate students?

What factors are predictive of peer acceptance and academic performance?

Personal Characteristics

Age

Gender

Self-esteem

Academic performance

Peer acceptance

Family Characteristics

Parents’ education level

Family income

Family structures

Number of siblings

Significance of study

This study will be a significant endeavor in promoting good study environment in the university and motivations of its students. By understanding the needs of the students and benefits of quality education, students be assured of a competitive advantage. Moreover, this research will provide recommendations on how to evaluate the performance of the students in regards of the peer acceptance among undergraduates students.

Objectives

Main Objective: This study aims to determine relationship between peer acceptance and academic performance among undergraduate students in UPM

Specific objectives:

To describe personal characteristics (age, gender, self-esteem) of the undergraduate students in UPM

To describe family characteristics (parents’ education level, family income, family structure, number of siblings) of the undergraduate students in UPM

To describe the students’ peer acceptance level

To describe the academic performance of the undergraduate students

To determine the relationship between students’ age and peer acceptance

To determine the relationship between students’ gender and peer acceptance

To determine the relationship between students’ self-esteem and peer acceptance

To determine the relationship between students’ parents’ level of education and their peer acceptance

To determine the relationship between students’ parents’ level of income and their peer acceptance

To compare differences of peer acceptance across undergraduate students’ family structure

To determine the relationship between students’ number of siblings and their peer acceptance

To determine the relationship between students’ age and academic performance

To determine the relationship between students’ gender and academic performance

To determine the relationship between students’ self-esteem and academic performance

To determine the relationship between students’ parents’ level of education and their academic performance

To determine the relationship between students’ parents’ level of income and their academic performance

To compare differences of academic performance across students’ family structures

To determine the relationship between students’ number of siblings and their academic performance

To determine what factors uniquely predict peer acceptance

To determine what factors uniquely predict academic performance

Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between students’ age and peer acceptance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ gender and peer acceptance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ self-esteem and peer acceptance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ parents’ level of education and their peer acceptance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ parents’ level of income and their peer acceptance.

There are no significant differences of peer acceptance across undergraduate students’ family structure.

There is no significant relationship between students’ number of siblings and their peer acceptance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ age and academic performance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ gender and academic performance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ self-esteem and academic performance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ parents’ level of education and their academic performance.

There is no significant relationship between students’ parents’ level of income and their academic performance.

There are no significant differences of academic performance across students’ family structures.

There is no significant relationship between students’ number of siblings and their academic performance.

Definition of Terminology

Peer

Conceptual definition

Relating to education, especially at college or university level.

Operational definition

Peer in this study is a family of student from University Putra Malaysia

Academic

Conceptual definition

Relating to education, especially at college or university level.

Operational definition

In this study, academic achievement is the result of CGPA for each student from all semester in the University Putra Malaysia.

Peer Acceptance

Conceptual definition

Peer relating to education, especially at college or university level and acceptance is a person’s agreement to experience a situation, to follow a process or condition often a negative or uncomfortable situation without attempting to change it, protest, or exit.

Operational definition

To measure the relationship between peer acceptance using the peer relations questionnaire (PRO) instrument.

Academic performance

Conceptual definition

Academic is relating to education, especially at college or university level and performance is the act of performing of doing something successfully using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it.

Operational definition

Respondent’s score are measured through the assessment scale

Limitation of Study

Constraints or limitations of the study was a barrier in their research either before, during or after the study was conducted. This includes aspects of the respondents, sample size, location of study and sampling technique used. Limitations or a constraint that would arise in making this study is the number of respondents to be studied. This is because researchers are not proficient on the areas to be studied is the area around the University Putra Malaysia. This fear of the researchers failed to obtain the required number of respondents. In addition it is in terms of time in which researchers may have time constraints to study in depth. This is because research studies like this will take a long time. In fact, the financial question should also be well thought out. In this regard, this research will require large expenditures for information. In other words, they also were given a fair on the information they will provide to researchers. In addition, the study area is concentrated in one place is about UPM. In addition, the constraints in terms of samples of them to gather as much information on a total of 500 respondents were students and 500 peer mentors is difficult because the number of people. In addition, the cooperation of the respondents, especially students who are asked to provide a questionnaire survey of their peer to peer. Such things as the student who answered the questionnaire survey of peer mentors may also occur resulting in the inaccuracy of the study. Other limitations are the expectations of respondents failed to fully cooperate with the researchers in providing accurate information to contribute to the unfavorable findings. This will cause the researchers failed to produce successful research, and can be used by the public and other individuals in the future. Finally, it is about the limitations of safety. This is because researchers and respondents are not fully secured the safety of exercise during the study.