RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF CLASSROOM PSYCHO-SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT IN GEOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to investigate the
relationship between students’ perception of classroom psycho-social environment and their achievement in
secondary school geography. To carry
out this study, five research questions and five hypotheses were
formulated, all derived from the literature review. Two instruments,
geography classroom eenvironment
scale questionnaire and cumulative
score of SS2 geography students were
used to collect relevant data from a sample of 100 students
randomly selected from 5senior secondary schools in Ikere Local Government
Area of Ekiti
State. The schools were selected by stratified random sampling technique. Mean and standard deviation were used
to answer the research questions 1 and 2 while Pearson correlation was used to answer research question 3. Stepwise analysis
were used to answer research
question four, five and also used to test the null hypothesis. The study among other things revealed that
psycho-social classroom environmental factors correlated negatively with students’ achievement in senior
secondary geography and that
location of school whether urban or rural has little or no effect on students’ achievement due to psycho-social
factors of the classroom. Hence, there was no significant difference in the achievement between urban and rural
students in geography in Ikere Local Government Area. The
study was limited to one local government area in Ekiti State, it is suggested
that same study be extended to cover the entire local government area in Ekiti
State. it is recommend that further
should be carried out to include other classroom environment, like the
sociological, the physical and the psychological
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page
Certification
Approval
page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
List of Tables
Chapter one: Introduction
Background of the study
Statement of problem
Purpose of the study
Research questions
Research hypothesis
Significance of the study
Scope of the study
Chapter two: Review of related literature
The nature of Geography
WAEC and its Statutory Functions
The nature of classroom learning environment
The dimension of classroom learning environment
Theoretical Framework
Jean Piaget cognitive learning theory
Implication of Piagets theory for teaching and
learning geography
The students’ perception of classroom environment and
their achievement
Students’ achievement in relation to location of
school
Students’ perception of location and their achievement
Summary of literature Review
Chapter Three: Research Methods
Design of the study
The Study Area
Population of study
Sample and sampling technique
Instrument for data collection
Validation of the instrument
Reliability of the instrument
Collection procedures
Method of data analysis
Chapter Four
Data presentation of data
analysis and discussion of result
Chapter Five – summary, Conclusion and
Recommendation
Summary of the study
Conclusion
Implications of the Study
Recommendations
Limitation of the Study
Suggestions for Further Studies
References
Questionnaire
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables Page
3.1 The selected schools and the
respondent
4.1: Geography students’
perception of classroom psycho-social
environment
4.2: Urban and rural Students’ perception of
their geography classroom
psycho-social environment
4.3: Student perception of their classroom
psycho-social environment and their achievement in senior secondary
geography
4.4: Students perception of
classroom psycho-social environment and their achievement
in geography in urban schools
4.5: Students perception of classroom psycho-social environment and
their achievement in geography
in rural schools
4.6: Students achievement and their perception of their classroom
psychosocial environment factors
4.7: Students in urban classes’ perception of their geography
psycho-social environment and
their achievement
4.8: Students in rural classes’ perception of their geography
psycho-social environment and
their achievement
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the Study
Geography is a branch of
environmental sciences. According to Adekanjo (2002), Geography plays a vital
role in providing knowledge of relevant concepts, environmental and natural
phenomena like why we have day and night, the reason for rainfall, the ozone
layers, avoidance of over exploitation of the natural environment and most
importantly, protecting our environment for the future generation. It helps to
develop environmental process skills like; classification, description,
observation, inference and measurement (David, 2000). All these importance of
geography notwithstanding, students perform poorly in Geography (Dakun, 2001).
The West African Examination Council Chief Examiner’s reports (2006) indicate
that many students lack the expected geographical knowledge and this has
contributed to their poor achievement.
Some of the causes identified according to Grossman and Adam (2000) are
poor background, inadequate teaching and learning materials, poor method of
teaching, inadequate experienced and qualified teachers, insufficient supply of
laboratory equipment.
In addition to these factors listed
above as responsible for poor achievement of students, it is suspected that
student’s classroom-learning environment may contribute immensely to poor
achievement especially in geography. Researchers like False (1990) and Talton
and Simpson (2007) point to some environmental factors such as; home and the
school environments as some of the major factors that influence students
outcome in the subject. Learning has been influenced by the type of environment
in which an individual learns. There are different types of learning
environment such as school environment, home and classroom environment. School
environment is the external condition and influence in the school that can
influence the academic achievement of students irrespective of their
intelligent quotient.
The classroom is a basic structural
unit of our educational system (Talton and Simpson, 2007). Classroom
environment is therefore the type of environment created as a result of
subsequent interactions that occur in the classroom during teaching and
learning processes (Hawkros and Panick,2003).The classroom environment of a
school is an embodiment of the physical, sociological, psychological and
psychosocial conditions. The sociological classroom environment refers to the
feelings which the teachers and the learners are able to generate in making the
classroom morale high or low (Akubue, 2001). The psychological classroom
environment refers to the level of the speed of teaching, cohesiveness,
distractions, interests, motivations, anxieties, confusion and difficulties of
the classroom learning activities (Haertel and Walbeg, 2004). The psycho-social
classroom environment is a type of classroom that has to do with interactions
in the classroom. These interactions involve: teachers and students’
interactions, students and students interactions, students and instructional
material interaction, and students, instructional materials and teacher
interaction (Anyafulude, 2006). It also refers to the extents the students
perceive their classroom environment and how they want it to look like.
(Hong,2003). According to (Fagbamiye,
2004), successful psycho-social environment is more likely to be a calm place
rather than chaotic, to be task oriented and have an orderly climate in
Geography class. Fagbamiye continued by saying that in a geography classroom
psycho-social environment, teacher/students interaction is very important.
According to Idowu (2006),
teacher/students interaction deals with interaction between the students and
their teachers. The relationship may be positive or negative. This relationship
depends on how effective both the teachers as well as the students are able to
perform their roles in the relationship. According to the same source, it also
deals with teachers’ perception of their students and students’ perception of
their teachers.
Another form of interaction in the
classroom according to Mgboro and Omebe (2005) is the students/students
interactions. This form of interaction involves the peer group. The peer group
is a group of individuals who are of approximately equal size, age and status
with whom the child finds himself in the same class. When his/her peers accept
him/ her, there is likely going to be a better achievement in Geography than
when the student is rejected by his/her peers.
Teachers/students/instructional
materials is another form of interaction in Geography psychosocial classroom
environment. It is a means by which students/teachers interact with their
instructional materials. In geography, instructional materials are very
important as they bring realities to what the teacher is teaching in geography
lesson. (Fakuade, 2008)
Ajala (2008) held another view when
he says that the knowledge of geography can be learnt from any environment
being rural or urban. He continued by saying that geography topics like natural
vegetation, running water, landforms are better learnt in the rural areas
because some of their natural features are still there. Unlike the urban areas
where some of them have been destroyed for constructional purposes like
building of houses, bridges and dams. This study intends to find out if
location has any relationship with student’s achievement in geography. A
conducive psycho-social classroom learning environment does not only serve the
child’s emotional developmental needs but also encourages intellectual
development by giving the child opportunity for experimentation, exploration
and self-knowledge.
Statement
of the Problem
Geography as a branch of
environmental science is a subject that the society cannot do without. This is
because it deals with the environment and man cannot neglect his environment.
Despite these importance mentioned above, students have not developed positive
attitude and interest towards their geography classroom environment (Darmar,
2006). This according to some researchers could be due to the nature of their
psychosocial classroom environment which arises as a result of some classroom
environmental factors like the physical environment, teachers’ behaviour, teaching
method and interaction in the classroom.. Psycho-social classroom environment
is one of the conditions in the school which affects a child. Students’
achievement in geography may not be improved unless there is provision for
ideal psycho-social classroom environment in which geography will be best
taught at secondary schools. It is also not certain whether geography students
in rural and urban schools perceive their classroom psychosocial environment in
a similar manner, and if the differences in their perception relates to their
achievements.
Purpose
of the Study
This study aim at investigating the
relationship between students’ perception of classroom psychosocial environment
and the achievement in senior secondary school geography. Specifically, this
study intends to:
i.
find out the students’
perception of their geography classroom psychosocial environment.
ii.
examine how urban and
rural students perceive their geography classroom psychosocial environment.
iii.
examine the
relationship between students perception of classroom psychosocial environment
and their achievement in senior secondary school geography
iv.
investigate the relationship between students’
achievement in geography and the
perception of their classroom psychosocial environment in urban schools.
v.
investigate the relationship between students’
achievement in geography and the
perception of their classroom psychosocial environment in rural schools.
Research
Questions
To guide this study, the following
research questions were stated
i.
What is the students’
perception of the psycho-social environment of their geography classroom?
ii.
How do urban and rural
students perceive the psycho-social environment of their geography classroom?
iii.
What is the relationship between students’
perception of their classroom psychosocial environment and their achievement in
senior secondary school geography?
iv.
What is the
relationship between the perception of students in urban schools of their
geography classroom and students in rural schools perception of their geography
classroom?
v.
What is the
relationship between urban student’s perception of their classroom and their
achievement in geography and rural student’s perception of their classroom and
their achievement in geography?
Hypotheses
Five null hypotheses were formulated
to guide the study. They will be tested at 0.05 level of significance. The
hypotheses are:
i.
There is no significant
relationship between the students’ mean perception scores of classroom
psycho-social environment and their mean achievement in geography.
ii.
There is no significant
relationship in the students’ mean achievement score in geography and their
perception score of classroom psycho-social environment in urban schools.
iii.
There is no significant
relationship in the students’ mean achievement score in geography and their
mean perception score of classroom psycho-social environment in rural schools.
iv.
There is no significant
relationship between the urban student perception of their geography classroom
and rural student perception of their geography classroom.
v.
There is no significant
relationship in the student achievement score in geography and their mean
perception score of classroom psycho social environment in urban schools.
Significance
of the Study
The findings of this study will help
the curriculum planners and developers on the information regarding the quality
of psycho-social classroom environment in which geography will be best taught
in secondary schools with a view to guiding them in recommending the ideal
psychosocial environment for geography, thereby incorporating it in the
curriculum to enhance students’ achievement.
Again, the findings of this study
will provide information to the geography teachers and educators on the
students’ perception of classroom psychosocial environment and their
achievement in geography.
The result will provide information
to the government on the level of students’ perception and achievement in
geography in rural and urban schools, knowing this will help improve the
psycho-social environment in geography by improving and increasing educational
conditions of such schools that will enhance geography achievement in Nigeria.
In
addition, it will provide the frame work for other researchers to build on.
Findings of this study will help to increase the knowledge base of what is
known already about psychosocial classroom environment and also guide the
teachers in providing conducive learning atmosphere by arranging and organizing
the classroom in a way that the students will like.
Scope
of the Study
The study is limited to SSII
geography students in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State. This is
because, the researcher does not want to use people in external examination
classes because they are preparing for their examination or beginners because
they might not have gotten enough knowledge of geography as the teaching of
geography starts from SS 1. As such, the researcher considers it more
appropriate to use SS 2 and the content scope is the psycho-social geography
classroom environment of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
