Relationship among teacher-student interaction, Students’ motivation and academic performance in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship among teacherstudent interaction, motivation and academic performance, of JHS students in the Bibiani – Anhwiaso – Bekwai District in the Western Region of Ghana. The design used in this study was the correlational design. The simple random sampling procedure was used to select 155 teachers and 281 students for the study. Four research questions guided the study. A 48-item teacher and students’ questionnaires respectively were used for teachers and students’ data collection. The statistical tools used for the analysis of data included frequency distributions, means and percentages. Inferential statistics, notably, the Pearson moment correlation coefficient and the independent sample t-test were also used for the data analysis. The results of the study showed that, there was a statistically significant relationship between teacher-student interaction and students’ motivation. It was also found that teacher-student interaction correlated with students’ academic performance. Teachers helped students with academic difficulties. Again, it was found out that there was a statistically significant relationship between students’ motivation and academic performance. However, the study showed no statistically significant difference between male and female students in terms of motivation and academic performance. It is therefore, recommended that the Ghana Education service (GES) and Ministry of Education should make it mandatory for counsellors to organize motivational talks for students on regular basis from the Basic School to Senior High Schools. Additionally, School counsellors and teachers should be motivated and supported by the government in order to have a healthy relationship with students.