THE IMPACT OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY
ABSTRACT
The study’s goal was to look into the effect of the learning environment on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area. Three research questions and hypotheses were developed for the study in an attempt to achieve the study’s goal. The study used a survey research design with a population that included all students who teach chemistry in secondary schools located within the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos state, of which 200 were sampled for the study.
During school hours, a structured questionnaire validated by the project supervisor was used to elicit information from the respondents. The demographic data in section A were analyzed using simple percentages, while the entire variables in section B were analyzed using mean and standard deviation.
The t-test analysis was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance in order to accept or reject the null hypothesis for the study. The study discovered that there is a significant gender difference in the impact of learning environment on the chemistry achievement of senior secondary school students.
The findings revealed that more male students than female students agreed that the learning environment has an impact on academic performance in chemistry. Students’ attitudes toward chemistry learning have long piqued the interest of researchers, and the effects of class size on student learning vary by grade level, pupil characteristics, subject areas, teaching methods, and other learning interventions.
As a result, the study recommended that Chemistry Teachers receive in-service training on strategies for improving students’ learning environments through improvisation for difficult-to-find and expensive materials and equipment that are critical for learning chemistry in the school setting.
Additionally, chemistry teachers should be encouraged to use instructional materials by displaying them in the laboratory, chemistry classroom, and school environment so that students can learn effectively on their own.
THE FIRST CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
1.1The Study’s Background
The learning environment, which includes classrooms, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, the quality of teachers, school management, teaching methods, peers, and so on, are all factors that influence students’ academic achievement (Ajayi,2001and Oluchukwu, 2000).
As a result, the learning environment remains an important area that should be studied and well managed in order to improve students’ chemistry achievement. The student is frequently seen at home or within the school grounds, which constitute a learning environment in which they acquire some basic knowledge of chemistry around them, living with people in society, and contributing their own quota to the development of the location in which they (the students) find themselves.
The learning environments in which a student frequently participates have some level of relationship with academic performance. The importance of the home learning environment cannot be overstated. There are numerous home-related factors that have both negative and positive effects on students’ academic performance and chemistry ability.
Educators and psychologists believe that the home provides the fundamental ingredients that propel the student toward healthy development.
According to Hamilton – Ekeke (2013), when students reach school age, their home environment continues to play an important role in their academic achievement. This is due to the fact that materials, kitchen wares, home equipment, home accessories, and so on, which are commonly used as improvisation at school in the laboratory for practicals, can easily be used to enhance students’ learning at home.
Students perceive home as a source of difficulty due to parental attitudes such as restriction, overprotection, harassment, physical abuse, not providing enough money for the students’ practical work at school, irrelevance of things at home to chemistry contents taught at school, and all of which contribute to emotional distress among students and adolescents, resulting in individual behavioral attitudes toward school work or activities as well as study habits at home.
The learning environment at school has a significant impact on a student’s academic performance. The school learning environment has also been identified as a factor that influences students’ academic achievement, according to Akpan (2001), particularly when a school is located incorrectly.
According to the Lagos State Ministry of Education, a school should not be located near bus stops, markets, motor parks, highways, or other noisy areas. When these factors are not observed, poor performance can occur. Furthermore, it is expected that the chemistry learning environment will have adequate learning resources, particularly the laboratory where practical classes are frequently held.
For example, Stern (1994) discovered that when comparing urban and rural school children, rural school children have lower educational aspirations, place less value on academics, and have lower academic motivation (Hu, 2003; Kannapel&DeYoung, 1999).
These differences also imply that rural and urban schoolchildren may approach their homework differently (i.e., homework completion behaviors and homework management strategies), as students’ perceptions of the utility of current academic tasks in achieving future goals influence their use of self-regulation strategies, deep-processing study strategies, effort, and persistence (Miller & Brickman, 2004; Schutz, 1997), and thus improve their academic performance.
1.2Statement of the Issue
Teachers and school administrators are more concerned about students’ poor academic performance in chemistry. According to the researcher, most chemistry teachers would have effectively taught the students using various techniques and methods, but academic performance is still poor and discouraging. It may appear that the reasons for the foregoing are as follows:
various disturbances and distractions from the surrounding environment of the geographical location of the school to which they belong. Some of these disruptions and distractions are frequently caused by markets, car parks, movie theaters, stadiums, industrial estates, shopping malls, restaurants, and game centers, as well as a lack of instructional materials that should be displayed in both the classroom and laboratory.
All of these have a significant impact on the nature of the learning environment made available for students’ chemistry and academic performance. Some students even find it difficult to cope with assimilation and concentrate on what the teacher is teaching in chemistry, and developing a personal study habit becomes difficult, resulting in poor performance.
As a result, the study seeks to investigate the impact of learning environment on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area.
1.3The Study’s Purpose
The goal of this research is to investigate the impact of the learning environment on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools in the LagosMainland Local Government Area.
1.4 The study’s objectives
The study specifically looked at the following goals:
1. The current level of academic performance of secondary students in chemistry.
2. The effect of the learning environment on secondary school students’ academic achievement in chemistry.
3. Learning environment strategies for improving students’ academic achievement in chemistry.
1.5 Research Concerns
This study raises the following research questions:
1. What is the nature of the secondary school learning environment?
2. What is the current level of academic performance of chemistry students in secondary schools?
3. Does the learning environment have an effect on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools?
4. What are the strategies for improving students’ chemistry academic achievement through the learning environment?
1.6 Hypothesis of Research
To guide this study, the following research hypotheses were developed:
H01: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female students in secondary schools regarding the nature of the learning environment.
H02: There is no statistically significant difference in academic achievement between male and female chemistry students.
H03: The learning environment has no significant impact on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools.
H04: There is no statistically significant difference between male and female students’ mean responses to strategies for improving students’ academic achievement in chemistry through the learning environment.
1.7 Importance of the research
This study will be extremely beneficial to the following individuals: teachers, students, school administrators, and, finally, the researcher. The following are some examples:
Chemistry teachers will benefit from this study’s findings because they will be aware of the various environmental factors that influence learning and, as a result, students’ academic achievement in chemistry. Furthermore, this research will provide teachers with knowledge of the various strategies that can be used to improve chemistry learning through the use of instructional materials, learning resources, and practical materials, allowing students to learn at their best.
Administrators of schools: The study’s findings will enlighten them on how to practically examine the school environment and negative influencing environmental factors that can be strategically solved in order to improve learning in the subject.
Students: This study will teach students how to use the environment to improve their chemistry learning by providing adequate instructional materials and laboratory resources in the classroom, laboratory, and school environment, as well as improvising similar resources at home to improve learning and thus their performance in the subject.
Researchers: When working on related issues, this study will serve as a source of information and data. Furthermore, the research will add to the existing body of knowledge on the subject.
1.8 The Study’s Scope
The scope of this study includes all students who take chemistry in secondary schools in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State.
This study will only look at the impact of the learning environment on students’ academic achievement in chemistry.
1.9 Terms with Operational Definitions
Learning is the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or instruction.
Environment: pertaining to a specific area or location, or to its geography. Concerning the environment in which learning takes place, such as the classroom, laboratory, library, and so on.
A learning environment is a combination of social and physical characteristics that contribute to the classroom experience. It encompasses classroom management procedures as well as how the space is organized, furnished, and maintained.
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