TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page…………………………………………………
Approval
Page……………………………………………
Certification………………………………………………
Dedication………………………………………………...
Acknowledgements………………………..………………
Table of
contents…………………………………………..
Abstract…………………………………………………...
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
Background of
the study…………………………………
Statement of the
Problem……….……………………….
Purpose of the
Study…………………………………….
Significance of
the Study………………………………..
Limitation of
the Study………………………………….
Research
Questions …………………………………….
Research
Hypotheses……………………………………
Assumption
…………………………………………….
CHAPTER TWO: Review of Literature
Fundamental
Approaches to Class Size ………………..
Concept of Class
Size and Academic Performance in Business
Studies
Impact of Class
Size on Students’ Academic Performance…….
The Effect of
Class Size on Students and Teacher Behavior …...
Large Class Size
and Classroom Interaction ……………………
CHAPTER THREE:
Methodology
Research Design…………………………………………………
Area of the Study ……………………………………………….
Population of the Study …………………………………...........
Sample and Sampling Technique.……………………………...
Research Instrument ………….…………….…………………..
Validity of the Instrument…….………………………………...
Reliability of Instrument ………………………………………
Administration of the Instrument
……………………………..
Data Analysis Technique .. …….……………………………....
CHAPTER FOUR:
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Results ……………..………………………………………….
Testing of Hypothesis …………………………………………
CHAPTER FIVE:
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
Summary ……………………………………………………..
Conclusion ….………..…………………………..…………..
Recommendations ……………………………………………
REFERENCES
………………………………….………….
APPENDIX………………………………………………….
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ABSTRACT
This study focused on the impact of class size on
academic performance in Business Studies in junior secondary schools in Oye
Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Four research questions were raised for
the purpose of effectively carrying out the study, questionnaires were
structures to elicit information from respondents. One hundred students were
randomly selected from five different schools in the focus area and frequency
table, percentage and chi-square techniques were used to analyse the data
collected. It was discovered from the study that large class –size is a great
challenge in achieving effective learning and teaching of Business Studies, as
teachers could hardly prove their efficacy in classes thereby resulting to poor
academic performance outcome from students. It was recommended by the
researcher that it is necessary to involve student in meaningful and purposeful
learning activities based on investigation, examination and observation of
their own immediate environment in the teaching of Business Studies. All
efforts should be made by everybody in the society to ensure the effective
teaching of Business Studies regardless of class size.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of study
Qualitative
education remains the fulcrum for global development and freedom. Therefore all
hands must be on deal worldwide to formulate polices that will enhance qualitative
education right from primary school to tertiary institution and continuous,
effective monitoring must be well establish to check all factors that may
frustrate this global pursuit. Hence, most societies require children to attend
school for a specified number of years or until they reach certain age. Many of
the benefits of schooling occur in part because students learn some new
knowledge or skills that enhance their ability to communicate, solve problems,
and make decisions.
Academic
achievement of students especially at the secondary level is not a pointer to
the effectiveness or otherwise of schools but a major determinant of the future
of youths in particular and the nation in general. The medium through which the
attainment of individuals and the nation’s educational goals can be achieved is
learning. Learning outcomes have become phenomenon of interest to all and these
account for the reason scholars have been working hard to unravel factors that
militate against good academic performance (Aremu and Sokan, 2002). This
phenomenon has been variedly referred to in literature as academic achievement,
or scholastic functioning. Academic achievement of learners has attracted
attention of scholars, parents, policy makers and planners.
In an
attempt to put sound education on ground worldwide, many factors have been
involved as being responsible as for falling standard of education where it is
perceived and established. Among such factors is the issue of “class size’’.
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 Haffman, (2000)
described it as the number of students per teacher in a class. Kidney (2009)
described it as a tool that can be used to measure performance of the education
system. All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS)
recommended a maximum of forty students per class for efficient and effective
teaching. Dior, (2001), class size has become a phenomenon often mentioned in
the educational literature as an influence on pupil’s feelings and achievement,
on administration, quality and school budgets. In his words he noted, that
class size is almost an administrative decision over which teachers have little
or no control. Bray, (2000), observed that they have few teachers with small
pools of talent, offer limited range of subject and characteristically finding
it hard to justify costly investment on libraries, the pupils lack competition
and interest with relatively few peers as they get stocked with same teacher
for an entire school career. According to Jordan, (2003), in his analysis of inter-relationship
of intelligence, achievement and socio-economic status of high schools concluded
that school location among other variables was directly related to mean achievement
level of students in all the sampled subjects. The observation which agrees
with the findings of Sitkel, (2005) and Walber, (2006) that a significant and
consistent relationship exist in the achievement of students in small classes
of about 1-20 pupils that obtained higher scores in science tests than their
counterparts in large classes are necessary for students achievement.
Expressing a divergent view, Silver as cited by Bolton, (2008) found that there
was no significant difference in the post test achievement scores between large
classes and small classes control groups; he concluded that larger is sometimes
better. Earlier Keeves, (2002) acceded that type of school did not make a
contribution to academic achievement, however, Carpenter and Western, (2001)
found that schools type makes a difference in students’ academic achievement.
According to a study conducted in United States, Campbell, (2000) remarked that
students from large schools were exposed to larger number of school activities
and the best of them achieved standards that were unequaled by students in
small schools. Iheanacho, (2002), the classroom is the center of learning
activities. It is business center of heavy traffic flow of learners and teacher
constituting the key participants. The classroom consist of the physical and
social environment. Thus, this study seeks to examine the impact of class size
on academic performance in Business Studies in Junior Secondary School in Oye
Local Government Area Ekiti state.
Statement of the Problem
In most
of Nigeria secondary schools today, the teacher – student ratio has gone far
beyond the stipulation in the national policy on education. There are where
Students stay more than fifty in each of the classes. The seating arrangements
are altered, thereby making teaching and learning difficult and also affect the
performance of students. Ozochie, (2009) an education planner, attributed the
over - bloated class - size to the explosion of the students’ of school age.
Business
Studies, like all other subjects is an activity based subject. The learner is
exposed mainly to the practical learning process under the guide and
supervision of a teacher. Ozochie,
(2009) opines that the result of an effective classroom management is achieved
when the teacher and students achieve the purpose of which they are together in
a class. Under an overcrowded classroom environment, like what is obtains in
most of the schools today, it becomes pertinent to ask, how effective is
teaching and learning particularly in subject like Business Studies which
requires close monitoring of the learner by the teacher. Therefore, this
research study is to look into the impact of class size academic performance in
Business Studies in Junior Secondary Schools.
Purpose of the Study
The
following research purpose have been designed for the study
1. To
find out ways by which class size affects the performance of students of
Business Studies.
2. To
examine the effectiveness of the policy guiding teacher-student ratio in junior
secondary schools.
3. To
examine how effectiveness of the use of instructional materials in an
overcrowded classroom environment.
Significance
of the Study
Considering the fact that
teaching of Business Studies in large classes is a great problem and a real
national issue which is worrying Business Studies teachers of all levels in
general and secondary in particular, this study aims to investigate the impact
of class size on academic performance in Business Studies with a view to some
useful strategies to cope in such atmosphere.
The study is hoped to therefore:
1.
Assist teachers of Business Studies in
adopting suitable teaching methods in teaching over-populated classes.
2.
Provide education planners and
curriculum planners with ways of combating problems of teaching Business
Studies in over-populated classes.
3.
Assist teachers of Business Studies in
adopting suitable method in achieving proper classroom management.
4.
Serve as a measure for government to
know their weaknesses and thus make provisions for infrastructural and human
resources.
Limitation of the Study
This research work is on the impact
of class-Size on academic performance in Business Studies in selected Junior
Secondary Schools in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State and the figures
provided therein are based on the responses of the teachers and students of the
selected schools, which are believed to cover the entire Local Government Area.
This research is limited to this area as a result of some constraints e.g.
financial challenges and time factor.
Research
Questions
This study is designed to provide
answer to the following questions
i.
To what extent will size of the class
affect the academic performance of the students?
ii.
To What extent will the gender of the
students affect the academic performance of the students?
iii.
To what extent will the location of the
school affect the academic performance of students?
iv.
To what extent will the instructional
materials used affect the academic performance of the students?
Research
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses
were raised:
1.
There is no significant relationship between the
classroom size and the students’ performances in Business Studies.
2.
There is no significant relationship between
the gender of the students and academic performance of students offering
Business Studies.
3.
There is no significant relationship between
the location of the school and academic performance.
4.
There is no significant relationship between
the instructional materials used and the academic performance of the students.
Assumption
The following assumptions are made, since large
class-size is one of the major factors affecting the performance of students in
secondary schools, the researcher has therefore assumed the following;
i.
Students between the age of 15 and 18 years old
are potential participants for the research.
ii.
Small class-size should range from 1 to 30
students’ in a classroom for effective transmission of teaching and
learning.
iii.
Large class size, school environment are
regarded as problems or factors militating against the performance in the
respondents answers.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter reviews the related literature
for the study. The purpose of this chapter is to review pertinent literature
and what previous theorist and scholars have done in relation to the study.
This chapter represents the review of related literature under the following
sub-headings.
-
Fundamental Approaches to Class-size
-
The Concept of Class-size and Academic
Performance in Business Studies
-
Impact of Class Size on Students’ Academic
Performance
-
The Effect of Class-size on Student and
Teacher Behaviour
-
Effect of Class-size on Teaching and
Classroom Engagement
-
Class-size and Teacher – Pupils Ratio
-
Benefits of Small Classes
-
Large Class-size and Classroom Interaction
-
The Role of Economic Theory on the
influence of Class on Students’ Achievement.
