Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
It is a survey that investigated the correlation between student librarians’ empathic behaviour and their academic achievement. The study employed correlation design with area of study covering ten universities’ library schools in Nigeria. The sampled population for this study was 200 student librarians with each library school providing 20 male and female students who were randomly selected. The data for the study were collected through the administration of two instructions empathy assessment which are Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) develop by Davis in 1980 and Empathy Assessment Instrument by Eisenberg and Lennon (1983) as well as Academic Test Reports of the student librarians from the selected library schools. The reliability of the instrument was conducted using a test-retest method. The test scores were compared using Cronbach Alpha and a reliability coefficient 0.86 was realized. The data collected for the study were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The outcome of the study shows that there is significant correlation between student librarians’ empathic behaviour and their academic achievement. In the area of gender, it was established that there is no statistical significant correlation between male empathy scores with that of their female counterparts. It is based on the findings that recommendations were made which include that student librarians should be equipped with useful knowledge and skills that would enhance their empathic behaviours with a view to promoting interpersonal relationship among them and that collaborative instructional approaches should be applied in the teaching of the students.