Relationship among Academic Stress, Motivation and Academic Achievement of Diploma Students in College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies Ilorin, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship among academic stress, motivation and academic achievement of Diploma students in College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study was guided by three (3) objectives, three (3) research questions and three (3) null hypotheses. Correlational design was used in the study. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Academic Stress Scale adopted from Yumba (2008), Academic Motivation Scale adapted from Vallerand, Pelletier, Blais, Briere, Senecal, and Vallieres, (1992), were used as instruments for data collection. The study concluded that there was significant relationship exists between academic stress and intrinsic motivation among Diploma students (r=-0.763, P=0.001). Academic stress was found to have significant relationship with extrinsic motivation (r=-0.631, P=0.002) and Significant relationship was found between academic stress and academic achievement (r=-0.954, P=0.000) also, Significant relationship exists between intrinsic motivation and academic achievement (r=-0.945, P=0.011). Finally, significant relationship was found between extrinsic motivation and academic achievement among Diploma students (r=0.996, P=0.000). It was recommended among others that lecturers should employ lecturing technique that provides students with opportunities to make choices and have some degree of control over their learning; this would reduce stress and raise students’ level of motivation for greater academic achievement.