Academic performance of university students in Uganda: a case study of Makerere University

Abstract

The study was conducted in Makerere University. The objective of the study was to analyze the factors that influence academic performance among university students in Uganda. The research methodology for the study was a cross sectional research design. The sample size was 174 respondents and the cluster sampling technique was used in selecting respondents included in the sample. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data and data was analyzed using SPSS version25 at the univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels. The research findings indicated that the students’ attendance of lectures significantly influenced their academic performance, since the P-value 0.04 was less than the critical value 0.05 (0.04<0.05). The study also indicated that sex of the student had no association with their academic performance, since the p value (0.889>0.05). From the study, one’s residence also had no association with their academic performance since the p value (0.123>0.05). The study indicated that online research was significantly associated to CGPA, with a P value 0.013<0.05. And sponsorship was found to be positively associated to academic performance in terms of CGPA, with a p value, 0.003<0.05 On the basis of conclusion, students who attended lectures daily, those who carried out online research more often and those that were registered under government sponsorship had better academic performance results, in terms of their CGPA. On the other hand, factors like sex, residence and library research had no association with academic performance of students. Basing on the researcher’s recommendations, the study recommended that the government should sponsor more of the university students, in order to have their academic results risen, that students should attend lectures most often, so as to grab content directly from their instructors and online resources should be improved and their access made easy, for students who carry out online research to boost their academic performance.