Influence of Students’ Perception of Classroom Social Environment on Academic Performance of Junior High School Students in Berekum Municipality

Abstract

The study investigated students’ perception of the influence of classroom social environment on academic performance. The descriptive survey design was the used research design for the study. A sample of 341 respondents, consisting 162 males and 179 females was selected using a multistage sampling procedure. An adopted classroom social environment scale with a reliability coefficient of .81 was used for the data collection. The data was analysed using descriptive (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (independent samples t-test and regression). The study revealed that students held positive perceptions about their classroom social environment (M=2.93>2.50) as it influenced their academic performance. Again, the study revealed that statistically significant differences existed in the performance of students based on gender and school type but no statistically significant difference was identified in perceptions about classroom social environment. It was recommended that public school head teachers should frequently visit classrooms to assess participation and involvement between teachers and students so that those low public-school students could be identified and helped. Again, concerned public school teachers should give special attention to their students in order to bring them closer to their counterparts in the private schools. © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized