The Relationship Among Student-Teacher Interaction and Academic Performance of Students in Congolese Higher Education: The Moderating Role of Marital Status (Published)
The purpose of this research was to develop and validate the moderating effect of marital status on the relationship between student-teacher interaction and academic performance of students at Congolese university using two main studies. The first study was designed to develop the instruments for measuring student-teacher interaction’ and their academic performance at the university and to explore the moderating effect of marital status on the relationship between student-teacher interaction and the academic performance of students. For this study, a mixed research method was used. Samples were drawn from one higher education institutions (the University of Kinshasa), using simple random sampling and stratified random sampling techniques based on students’ status and sex as strata. For this study, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Data for qualitative analysis were gathered from married and unmarried students using interviews and focus group discussion, whereas data for quantitative analysis were gathered from married and unmarried students using questionnaire. The analyses were made using mainly multiple regressions, the statistical testing of the generated hypothesis via t-test statistics and Pearson product moment correlation, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and simple slope analyses. Furthermore, the demographic variable of participants (sex of students, student status, study level, socio-economic status of the family and major) was another target of the study. 362 students (include married’ and unmarried’ students) from the university of Kinshasa, took part in the study. The study was guided by the Bandura’s social cognitive theory, that determines human behavior and describe the learning theory that analyzes and explains how feelings, thoughts, actions of others, and social experiences actively shape learning processes. The final results revealed that there is a significant correlation between student-teacher interaction and academic performance. In addition, marital status moderated the relationship between student-teacher interaction and academic performance when students are unmarried.The second study was designed to examining the difference of academic performance between married and unmarried students. Qualitative data were collected from 362 students (include married’ and unmarried’ students) using interview questionnaire. Data were analysed using constant comparative approach (the reported stories that emanated from the conversations with the research participants); the deduced meanings from the interview protocol. The study results indicated that the unmarried students’ academic performance was high than their married students’ counterpart and in significant way; and the marital status was negatively associated with academic performance of students at the university in DRC. Finally, based on the findings, some practical and theoretical implications and future research directions were forwarded.
Keywords: : Academic Performance, Democratic Republic of Congo, Marital Status, Students, student-teacher interaction
Impact of Classroom Environment on Students` Performance in English Language (Published)
The objectives of the study are to examine impact of classroom environment on the academic performance of students in English language as well as their performance difference by gender. Survey and Correlation research designs were employed. The population of the study involved 183 teachers and 2003 SS III students in the selected schools. 401 students representing 20% and 183 teachers were randomly selected. Self-developed questionnaire and profoma were used for collection of data for this study. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of Mean and Standard Deviation and Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings of the study revealed that classroom environment has strong impact on the academic performance of students in English language. On the gender basis, there was no significant difference in the performance of students. Therefore, it was recommended that school management should provide all necessary facilities in the classroom in order to create enabling environment for students overall development.
Keywords: : Academic Performance, Classroom Environment, English Language, Students
Academic Motivation and Performance of Junior High School Students in Ghana (Published)
The study examined academic motivation and academic performance of Junior High School (JHS) students in Ghana. Differences between the academic motivation of male and female students as well as between students from urban and rural schools were examined. Participants were 756 male and 714 female JHS 2 students randomly selected from 24 Junior High Schools through stratified random sampling using gender and location as criteria for stratification. Two research instruments, the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) with a Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient of 0.75 and Achievement Tests in Mathematics, English Language, Social Studies and Integrated Science were used to collect data. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and t-tests were used in analyzing the data. The results showed a positive relationship between academic motivation and academic performance of JHS students. While the results showed a statistically significant difference between the academic motivation of students in schools in urban and rural areas, there was difference between the academic motivation of male and female students. It was recommended that teachers, parents and all those concerned with the education of children should put in place psychological processes that are intended to boost the ego of students thereby making them have an inner feeling of satisfaction when they accomplish academic tasks.
Keywords: Academic Motivation, Ghana, Junior High School, Performance, Students
Developing Common Core Themes to Integrate Environment and Climate Change Education into Teaching and Learning Biology in Vietnamese Secondary Schools (Published)
This paper examined the development of common core themes to integrate environment and climate change education into teaching and learning Biology in Vietnamese Secondary Schools. In the framework of this paper, we propose a system of core topics in environment and climate change education with the following basic content: Environmental air, Environmental Water, Biological environment, Environmental Soil, Environmental Socio-economy. In conclusion it is necessary to develop the system of core themes that make connections between different subjects in order to solve the common problem arising from the real world, as “Thèmes de convergence” now being implemented in France.
Keywords: Biology, Climate Change Education, Learning, Students, Teaching