Perceived influence of large class size and psychological classroom environment on students academic performance

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.