Abstract:
Teaching Practice (TP) is an essential and compulsory stage in teachers
training, as it gives them a worthwhile opportunity to practice what they
have learned during training. It involves real classroom teaching which
leads to most students experience anxiety which interferes with their
performance. This study was planned to examine the relationship between
university student teachers’ anxiety levels towards TP with their self determined learner’s personality and with academic performance in TP.
The study involved two Kenyan universities; University of Kabianga and
Laikipia University. Study population was 800 student teachers
undertaking their TP exercise. A random sample of 105 students were
involved. Research design was descriptive-correlational research design
while research method was cross-sectional analytical survey. Three tools
were used to correct data; The Student Teacher Anxiety Scale (STAS),
Teaching Practice Assessment Score Sheet (TPASS) and Eysenck
Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Pearson correlation coefficient, r, was
used to test the relationship between student teachers’ anxiety, personal
characteristics, and academic achievement. Results indicate that;
academic achievement in TP exercise and TP anxiety are high, there is a
weak statistically significant negative relationship between TP anxiety and
academic achievement and the negative relationship is statistically
significant in evaluation and professional preparation anxieties only.
Furthermore, there is a statistically insignificant relationship between
learner personality and academic achievement in TP.