International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research EFFECT OF CLASS SIZE ON TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS AND STUDENTS IN SECOND...
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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

EFFECT OF CLASS SIZE ON TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS AND STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SIRONKO DISTRICT, UGANDA Ogunlade Joseph Olurotimi (Ph.D) Department of Educational Psychology Islamic University In Uganda.

Mr Ndagi Abubakar &

Department of Educational Psychology Islamic University In Uganda.

[email protected]

Abstract This study investigated the effect of class size on teaching learning process of students in secondary schools in Sironko District Uganda. To establish the effect of class size on teacher-students interaction in secondary schools in Sironko District, the researcher used a cross-sectional survey design. The total population of this study was 5233 comprising 3 Head Teacher, 5121 students and 112 teachers out of which 3 Head Teachers, 86 Teachers and 357 students were selected as a sample size of the study. Also the researcher had adopted the use of cross checking by experts to confirm the validity of the instrument. The researcher also used a test re-test method to ensure the reliability of the instrument, a reliability coefficient of 0.8 was obtained. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency, percentages and Pearson Moment Correlation method. The finding show that students participate in the classroom irrespective of the number of students in the class. This may be due to teachers’ competency and the use of effective instructional material to engage all the students during teaching-learning process. While students’ participation in the classroom is reduced due to large number of students in the class. Findings of the descriptive analysis revealed that there was teacher-student interaction in the classroom irrespective of the number of students in the class. This may be due to teachers’ competency and human relation during teaching- learning process. However, findings from the inferential statistics revealed that teacher-student interaction was minimal due to large number of students in the class. This suggested that class size has a negative effect on the level of interaction between teachers and students. Finally the descriptive analysis revealed that classroom management was ineffective due to students’ disruptive behavior as a result of high number of students. This can negatively affect teacher’s teaching methods and students’ learning process. Findings from the inferential analysis also revealed that classroom management was a great challenge faced by many teachers. The researcher recommended that Schools should follow the enrollment policy of the Ministry of Education and Sports, in order to enable engagement and participation. The optimal number of students in each class should be 45 or at most 50, in order to enhance class room management. Due to increased birth rate and decreased mortality rate, the government should provide more schools that will accommodate the rising number of children who wants to be educated. And In situations where construction of more schools is not possible, the school should provide adequate instructional materials and recruit competent teachers.

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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

Introduction. World over, governments are striving hard to increase access of their citizens to formal education (World Bank, 2005). According to United Nation Development Program UNDP report, 2007, Uganda is equally striving toward having one hundred percent increased access to primary and post primary levels of education through Universal Primary Education (UPE). Sironko seems not left out in the bid to achieve this. Enrolment in schools represents the largest component of the investment in human capital in most society (Schultz, 2002). The human resources of a nation are considered to be the engine of growth of the country. These must however be adequately developed and efficiently utilized. Education bestowed on the recipients is a disposition for life-long acquisition of knowledge, values, attitudes, competence and skills (Aliyu, 2001). Hence, rapid socio-economic- development of a nation has been observed to depend on the type of calibre of human capital in that country which is a product of an educational system, therefore education is thus central to the development process. The changing concepts of learning, achievements and curriculum have resulted in expanded notions of what constitutes real education reform. Education reformers have increasingly relied on assessment to attain their objectives, to substantiate their contentions, or to promote implementations of their innovations. Class size is not only the problem of Pakistan but it has now become universal problem. Phillips (2011), submitted a report conducted by the teachers union which showed that the number of class size classes in New York was the largest, in the last ten years. As a result of attrition, budget cuts and increased enrollment in some areas of the city, nearly 7,000 classes were over their contractual limits. The union found that about 256,000 students, roughly a quarter of total enrollment spent at least part of the school day in overcrowded classes. The case of Uganda seems not to be an exception. Since the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997 in Uganda, enrolment in primary education tripled from about 2.7 million in 1996 to 8.2 million in 2009 (UBOS, 2010). The enrolment in many classrooms in Kamwenge are still above the recommended Government pupil classroom ratio of 55:1 and teachers who are the key to delivering the education Millennium Development Goals seems not thriving within a favorable environment to give a critical input to the education system in order to achieve the MDGs by 2015 (UBOS, 2010). Seemingly, the condition of Government schools all over the country, specifically Sironko District is that the quality of education is deteriorating day by day. Government and the concerned Education Department have no check and balance over quality of education. Government schools are overcrowded because of increased population, probably due to limitation of the economic resources and budget

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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

constraints (UBOS, 2010). Due to these reasons, it raises the problem of class size in teaching learning process. There is a big increase in student enrolment in all the schools of Uganda. The high number of students is expected to correspond with increased numbers of teaching staff and infrastructure like classrooms, libraries, toilets and laboratories. The average teacher-student ratio in Uganda secondary schools is 1:150 relatively, which is high according to the Ministry of Education and Sports standards that recommend the teacher student ratio of 1:40 (Gidudu, 2014). It creates many problems for both, teachers and students in teaching-learning process. A number of researches have been done in Uganda in order to know the effect of class size on students’ achievement and it shows that little attention has been given to the identified problems faced by teachers in classroom. However a report from District Education Authority of Sironko Town Council in Sironko District shows that there is 26.7% increase of students’ enrolment annually in secondary schools yet the school infrastructure, number of teachers and instructional material remain almost the same. There is either decrease or increase significantly by 5% to 10% which is not the corresponding increase in enrolment, (DEAR, 2013). The local education authority indicates that many students failed to perform to the expected level because of many factors among which is ineffective teaching and learning process resulting from class size school with less manpower. This is seen in most public or private secondary schools. The school structures, facilities and instructional materials are not enough to cater for the demand of the enrolled students in most Sironko Schools (DEAR, 2013). It was observed that class size could have a direct impact on students’ learning. They not only affect students’ performance but the teachers have to face different problems such as indiscipline, behavioral problems, poor health and poor performance of students, put stress on teachers and increase in drop-out rate of students. Also quality learning may not be possible when large number of students is packed into small classrooms. Ijaiya, (1999), found weak positive correlation between the opinion of teachers and students. His findings showed that class size diminished the quality and quantity of teaching-learning process with serious implications for attainment of educational goals. Although the increase of enrolment is seen as a success in the UPE programme but it is observed that Uganda still faces the problem of addressing the short falls in access and equity in quality. The UN Millennium Project report, (2005), supports the need to significantly accelerate the enrolment of children and improve the ability to keep them at school, and the children must achieve major improvements in learning outcomes and educational attainments at a level required to have an economic and social impact. The full achievement of UPE requires not just that children schooling but that they move through the whole system and graduate after primary seven and this requires improved retention and quality.

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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

This makes Ezeali (2000), definition of the concept of students’ enrolment simply as that population which does not fall into profitable use and which includes the students who are not taken care of by the student/teacher ratio demand or the user-infrastructure ratio level necessary for this study. Cole (2009), posited that over population of students in Ugandan schools have contributed to the falling standard of education in the country. What so ever the case might be, the situation might have accounted for lack of motivation from teachers to explore all their experiences while teaching, which in turn affect students’ performance. The unsatisfactory circumstances highlighted above call for urgent attention on stake holders in areas of education sector to search for strategies for reversing this ugly trend of students’ class size in secondary schools.This study seeks to examine the effect of class size on the teachinglearning process of student in secondary schools in Sironko District. There is a general consensus that education is a fundamental instrument for total development of the individual, social group and the nation at large. This has compelled government as well as private individuals to develop on establishing schools where sound and qualitative education will be imparted on the people. It is against this background that this research is conducted to establish the effect of class size on teaching-learning process in secondary schools in Sironko District.

Statement of the Problem The number of students’ enrolment in the school system has increased tremendously and this has led to over population in many schools today. The problem of over populated classes implies that the teacher is excessively over loaded and challenged with the task of having too many tests, home works, and examination scripts to mark than what he/she can reasonably and effectively handle within an acceptable time limit. However a report from District Education Authority of Sironko Town Council in Sironko District shows that there is 26.7% increase of students’ enrolment annually in secondary schools yet the school infrastructure, number of teachers and instructional material remain almost the same (DEAR, 2013). The local education authority indicates that many students failed to perform to the expected level because of many factors among which is ineffective teaching and learning process which seems to result from class size and school with less manpower. This is seen in most public or private secondary schools in Sironko.

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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

The school structures, facilities and teaching and instructional materials appear not enough to cater for the demand of the enrolled students in most Sironko Schools (DEAR, 2013). In the light of these problems mentioned, the main aim of this research was to find out the effective solutions of class size in facilitating effective teaching-learning process of secondary schools in Sironko District.

Research questions The following research questions were raised for the objectives of the study. 1. To what extent does class size affect students’ participation in secondary schools in Sironko district? 2. To what extent does class size affect teacher student interaction in secondary schools in Sironko District? 3. To what extent does class size affect classroom management in secondary schools in Sironko District? Methodology The researcher used a cross-sectional survey design. A cross-sectional survey design was used because it involves obtaining information from a wide section of respondents at once without need to follow up the respondents for further information. Data were collected about preferences, attitude, practices and concern of people from the sample of a population at a particular time. The results are therefore extrapolated to represents the entire population. The study has a population of 5236 comprised of 3 Head teachers, 112 Teachers and 5121 Students. Three secondary schools were selected for this study. Census inquiry, Simple random sampling and stratified sampling technique were used to select administrative heads, teachers and students respectively. The researcher employed the use of questionnaires on the effect of class size on teaching learning process among students and teachers to collect data. This instrument consisted two sections A and B. Section A contains information on the respondents’ personal data. Section B asked for information on the research problem. Items were formulated on section B and likertscale type response system was used to get response from the respondent. . Also the researcher had adopted the use of cross checking by experts to confirm the validity of the instrument while test re-test reliability was done and a reliability coefficient of 0.8 was obtained. The instrument was adjudged to be reliable.Descriptive data analysis such as frequency counts and percentages were used. The researcher also use inferential data analysis like correlation to test research questions.

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International Journal for Research in Social Science and Humanities Research

Result and Discussion Research Question 1: To what extent does class size affect students’ participation in teaching-learning process in secondary schools in Sironko district? Table 1 Frequency and percentage distribution of extent of class size effect on student’s participation in the following long process. Item

Agree F % Student shows active participation during teaching and learning 348 97.4 Student are emotionally detached during teaching and learning 323 90.5 Students are Actively involved during Teaching and learning 317 88.8 Student Highly engaged in during Teaching and Learning 320 89.7 Student looses attention during teaching and learning 301 84.3

Disagree F % 9 2.5 34 59.5 40 9.5 357 8.7 56 12.0

Total F 348 357 357 357 357

% 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

The table 1 above revealed that majority of the respondents (97.4%) have agreed that Students show active participation during teaching and learning and the remaining of the respondents (2.5%) disagreed on the statement. This suggests that majority of the respondents (90.5%) have agreed that Students are emotionally detached during teaching and learning and the remaining of the respondents (9.5%) disagreed on the statement. This suggests that majority of the respondents (88.8%) have agreed that Students are actively involved during teaching and learning and the remaining of the respondents (11.2%) disagreed on the statement this suggest that majority of the respondents (89.7%) have agreed that Students highly engaged during teaching and learning and the remaining of the respondents (10.4%) disagreed on the statement. This suggests that majority of the respondents (84.3%) have agreed that Students loose attention during teaching and learning and learning and the remaining of the respondents (13.6%) disagreed on the statement. This therefore suggested that class size has no effect on students’ participation in teaching- learning process in secondary schools in Sironko district

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Table 2 Correlation between class size and student participation Student Participation Class Size Student Participation Pearson Correlation

1

Sig. (2-tailed) Class Size

N Pearson Correlation

-.187** .000

439

439

-.187**

1

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

N

439

440

** Significant at 0.05 level Source: field data Table 2 revealed that there was a negligible negative correlation (r=-0.187) between class size and student participation. This magnitude of the correlation coefficient indicated that when class size is large, students’ participation is reduced. On the other hand, when class size is small, students’ participation is enhanced. Considering the p-value (p

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