ABSTRACT
This study investigated how large class size and the
psychological classroom environment influenced students‟ academic performance.
Again, the researcher sought to determine the extent to which large class size
and psychological classroom environment influenced the manner in which teaching
and learning was mediated in public senior high schools. To achieve this, the
survey design was employed. 320 students were purposively selected from ten
(10) public senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis. Questionnaire with a
reliability coefficient of 0.791 was used to obtain data from the respondents.
The study revealed that large class size influenced students‟ academic
performance and also limits their learning opportunities of students. It was
again unravelled that psychological classroom environment had a great influence
on the students‟ academic performance. It has been recommended that since small
class size and good psychological classroom environment enhance performance
therefore, teachers and head teachers should make sure they conform to the
required teacher to student ratio of 1:40 by the Ghana Education Service.
Teachers should create an enabling environment for students to participate in
classroom activities. Furthermore, the study showed that students performed
well in smaller class size and good psychological classroom environment.
Therefore, the Government should employ more teachers and build more classrooms
to solve the problem of large class size in the senior high schools in Ghana.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Quality education remains the pivot of educational
development of every nation. The quality of education depends on, among other
factors, the number of students in class and the psychological classroom
conditions under which students learn. Large class size and poor psychological
classroom environment have been the major concern due to the increase in
enrolment figures in our schools since the inception of the school feeding
program and all the other social intervention programmes. With this, many
educational policies have been put in place to reduce the number of large
classes in Senior High Schools (SHSs) but students results remained the same.
The widely held aim of education is to equip students with knowledge, skills,
attitudes and competencies that will enable them to render useful services to
themselves and to the society at large. As school population increases, class
size also increases and this affects the psychological classroom environment
and the academic performance of students (Osei-Mensah, 2012).
The priority of all countries, especially the developing
ones, is to improve the quality of schools and the achievement of students (De
Grauwe, 2001) since learning outcomes depend largely on the quality of
education being offered (Barro, 2006). Barro further notes that higher quality
education fosters economic growth and development. But quality education partly
depends on how well teachers are trained and the number of students they supervise in class since they are the key inputs to education
delivery (Lockheed & Verspoor, 1991). The need to access high quality
education has been the concern of many stakeholders in the country. But an
aspect of education that has generated less attention is the proliferation of
large class size and the quality of psychological classroom environment of
students in Public Senior High Schools (PSHSs).
The need for better education and educational activities to
build students and make them efficient in production and other endeavours of
life is largely dependent on their class size, psychological classroom
environment and how teachers are able to supervise students in class. Delong
and Winter (1998) add that class size management strategies have a strong
potential to positively influence students‟ achievement and learning. They are
paramount concern for many teachers, especially novices and teachers who are
contemplating new instructional approaches for the first time.
The medium through which the attainment of individuals and
the nation‟s education can be achieved is learning outcomes. Learning outcomes
have become a phenomenon of interest to all and these accounts for the reason
why scholars have been working hard to unravel factors that militate against
academic performance (Aremu & Sokan, 2003). This phenomenon has been
variedly referred to in literature as academic achievements, or scholastic
functioning. Academic achievements of learners have attracted the attention of
scholars, parents, policy makers and planners.
In an attempt to provide good education worldwide, many
factors have been identified as being responsible for the falling standard of
education. Among such factors are the issues of large class size and poor
psychological classroom environments of students. Adeyemi (2008) defined
class size as an educational tool that can be described as an average number of
students per class in a school, while Kedney (1989) described it as a tool that
can be used to measure performance of the educational system. Similarly,
Hoffman (1980) described it as the number of students per a teacher in a class.
A psychological environment is created based on the
interaction of key players in the classroom, namely students and teachers.
Research in this area has varied greatly and proliferated during the early
twenty-first century. Studies have been particularly concentrated on student
class participation rates, teacher support, and communication of learning
goals.
The notion of feeling supported as students have also been
extensively examined in the classroom environment literature. Patrick, Ryan,
and Kaplan (2007) found that there is a strong, positive relationship between
students' level of motivation and engagement and their perceptions of the
classroom environment as being socially supportive. The perception of a climate
of mutual respect is required in order for students to increase their use of
effective study strategies and increase feelings of confidence about their
ability to successfully complete assignments. Furthermore, when students
perceive that they receive emotional support and encouragement from their
teachers and academic support from their peers they are more likely to be
on-task in the classroom and use self-regulated strategies.
The national population growth of about 3.7% per annum puts a
lot of pressure on the existing deteriorating PSHSs educational facilities in
the country. The situation is most prevalent in PSHSs in the Ashanti Region.
This problem can be attributed to the fact that Ashanti Region, being the
fortress of education and sport competition in Ghana has some of the good
PSHSs that are good academically and in sporting events in the country. For
instance, the in 2014 academic year the average number of students in the
General science and General Arts classes at Kumasi Girls School was 60
respectively. In Kumasi High School, the average number of students in a
Science or General Arts class was 57. At Prempeh College, a similar report
indicated 62 students in the Business, Visual Arts and Science classes. At
Armed Forces Senior High and University Practice Senior High School almost all
the classes have more than 55 students in all classes. The researcher wants to
check if the overcrowded students in classes and their psychological classroom
environment have a link with their academic performances.
Statement of the Problem
For decades now, the traditional approach to teaching and learning
has dominated Ghanaian schools. This traditional approach was mostly based on
the behavioural principles and laws of learning (Seda, 2008). Students are
often viewed as the recipient of knowledge and teachers have control over
students‟ subject matter. The behavioural model requires strong management
techniques on the part of the teacher (Garrett, 2005). This explanation shows
that teachers are the classroom supervisors and have the responsibility of all
on going issues in the classroom on how to maintain discipline in large class
size and the psychological well-being of the student.
In view of the behavioural model approach, the Ghana
Education Service (GES) instituted a teacher to students‟ ratio of 1:40, with
the aim of enhancing effective teaching and learning procedure effectively in
class. Adeyemi (2008) in his findings on the influence of class size on the
quality of output in senior high schools revealed that schools having an
average class size of 35 and below obtained better results in the secondary
school certificate examination (SSCE) than schools having more than 35 students
per class. Oguntoye (2011) as cited in (Muraina, & Muraina, 2014) found
that class-size had negative coefficient with students‟ academic performances
in examination. Earthman (2002) revealed that comfortable classroom temperature
and smaller classes enhanced teachers‟ effectiveness and provided opportunities
for students to receive individual attention, ask more questions, participate
fully in discussion, reduce indiscipline problems and perform better than
students in schools with larger class size. Fafunwa (2010) as cited in Ayeni
(2012), postulates that there is a gap in the quality of students in crowded
classrooms, using inadequate and obsolete equipment, disillusioned teachers and
psychological classroom environment on students. These combined deficiencies
perhaps affected the students‟ academic performances.
But it is obvious to find 60 to 70 students in PSHSs in the
Kumasi Metropolis and that leads to high incident of large class size and
influences the psychological classroom environment of students as well. From
the annual general meeting of Headmasters‟ conference held in July, 2015 at the
University of Ghana, the speakers lamented on the increasing number of students
to the inadequate facilities, teachers and other dwindling resources in
schools. The increasing demand for PSHSs in the Kumasi Metropolis and
subsequent increase in the number of students is a great concern to most
teachers in the metropolis in recent times. At a staff meeting at Opoku Ware
Senior High School (OWASHS) at Kumasi during the end of the 2014 academic year,
teachers complained bitterly of the increasing number of students in a class. Psychologically or emotionally students
cannot concentrate when they are in such classes, a phenomenon that has been
evolving in recent times. The same classroom that was given to 40-45 students
some years back is now being occupied by 60-70 students hence causing
discomfort to students in the class.
From my personal observation and checks from five (5) PSHSs
in Kumasi Metropolis that I visited showed that, there was no school that has
less than 40 students in a class. Table 1 gives the picture of the yearly
percentage increase in enrolment in the Kumasi Metropolis.
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