Perceived Influence of Large Class Size and Psychological Classroom Environment on Students’ Academic Performance in Senior High Schools in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

This study investigated how large class size and the psychological class environment influenced students’ academic performance. Survey design was employed. Three hundred and twenty students were purposively selected from ten senior high schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents with a reliability coefficient of 0.7. The study revealed that large class size influenced students’ academic performance and also limits their learning opportunities. It also came up that psychological class environment have a great influence on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, the study showed that students perform well in smaller class size and good psychological classroom environment. The study, therefore, recommends that small class size and good psychological class environment are better for good performance. Teachers and head teachers should make sure they conform to the required teacher to student ratio of 1:40 recommended by the Ghana Education Service. Teachers should create an enabling environment for students to participate in classroom activities. Government should, therefore, employ more teachers and build more classrooms to solve the problem of large class size in the senior high schools in Ghana.