CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

As the world population continues to increase, the class sizes are also affected. Class size is often

mentioned by experts in the educational literature as having effect on student‘s feelings and

performance, quality of school budgets and on administration as well (Owoeye and Yara, 2011).

It is considered as one of the important determinants of academic performance over which

teachers in schools have little or no control. Class size may be defined as the number of students

per teacher in a given class or the population of a class (Ajayi et al., 2017). Mokobia and Okoye

(2011) explained that educators universally have identified class size as important and desirable

attribute of effective educational system. Consequently, debate has continued in the educational

literature stakeholders such as academics, policy makers and parents over the educational

consequences of class size. Some researchers have maintained that class size is a tool which can

be adopted in measuring performance of educational system (Kedney,2013). According to Imoke

(2006) optimum class size implies rational coordination of educational infrastructures, subject to

available number of students in order to attain high level of productivity.

According to Doyle (2014), in modern day education, the focus is on the needs, interest and

comfort of the students. Thus, managing class size allows students to learn effectively without

disturbing one another (Garret, 2008). While a number of studies have found support for the

importance of class size on student achievement, others strongly disprove this claim concluding

that class size has little or no impact on objective student outcomes. Copious studies have

investigated the influence of class size on student attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes. The
devastating issue is that limited number of these studies has focused on elementary school effects

of class size on student achievement (Altinok and Kingdon, 2012). The orthodox wisdom among

parents, teachers, school administrators, and policy makers is that, smaller class size translates to

improvements in student learning and outcomes. This orthodox wisdom, however, has not been

universally supported by realistic evidence (Aturupane et al., 2013). It has been argued that

increasing the intake of senior secondary school students in a large class has numerous benefits

for the schools and the country as a whole. It helps to reduce the cost of building additional

classrooms of which few schools as well as the country have the resources to fund additional

classrooms and teachers. Also there is usually high energy, fun and excitement in large class size

in public senior secondary schools. In addition, students learn to work well in groups since group

work is a necessity in large class size (Azigwe et al., 2016; Owolabiet al., 2012).In Nigeria

however, the class size is becoming increasingly unmanageable, putting teachers in an

impossible position of giving individual student required attention. In Nigeria public schools, the

teachers' eye contact with the students in class has become so reduced that some of the poorly

motivated students can form number of committees at the back of the class while teaching is

going on to engage in non-school discussion. Regular assignments and home works are dreaded

by teachers considering the staggering number of books to mark and to record. A research by

Bosworth (2014) revealed that, the correlation between class size and student achievement is

complex with many disagreeing results. The study concluded that class size has tiny impact on

student achievement. The findings were inconsistent with the results of Rubin (2012) in that the

later indicated that as the class size increases, student achievement declines. Contributing to

exiting studies, conclusion from a study by Allen et al. (2013) was that 62 students per teacher

was a threshold number and once class size went beyond 62, learning effectively stopped. Thus,
as the number of students in a class was more than 62, teachers find it difficult to teach

effectively and efficiently leading to students not being able to also learn effectively since low

participation of class activities were possible. Despite this finding, Allen et al.(2013) indicated

that large class sizes do have moderate adverse effect on teaching and learning. The finding

however contradictsthe earlier studies and conclusions by Bosworth (2014).

In a related study, Evans and Popova.(2015) established that there is a negative non-linear

relationship between class size and student evaluations stronger than the relationship to student

achievement, and with less concavity. This supports findings including an analysis of studies

which revealed a similar negative relationship between class size and student evaluation,

particularly in regards to instructor interactions with students as demonstrated by Altinok and

Kingdon (2012). Besides, the literature has argued that pedagogies specifically designed for

teaching smaller classes sometimes overlap with pedagogies employed when teaching larger

classes but have distinct characteristics that differentiate them from those employed when

teaching larger class (Aturupane et al., 2013; Azigwe et al.,2016). Small class pedagogies can

include project work where students are individually monitored and provided with continuous

feedback on investigative tasks designed to develop higher order thinking skills (Altinok and

Kingdon, 2012; Bosworth, 2014). Additionally, these studies suggested that advantage should be

taken of having fewer students in a class to provide learning experiences that facilitate increased

collaboration and communication among students, provide helpful learning opportunities and

foster student metacognitive skills through the development of information discovering and help-

seeking behaviours.
According to Amadahe (2016), one of the most essential parts of the teaching and learning

process is assessment and evaluation of students. Large classes call for large volumes of marking

to be done and feedback given to students. This is a major challenge, especially in Nigeria public

senior secondary schools. In the face of large classes, instructors are upset with the workload and

resort to traditional teaching and assessment methods. Teachers are unable to finish marking

assignments, exercises and examinations on time, and this delays the feedback given to students.

From the social perspective, studies on large class size exist in developing countries but the

results are often questionable.

Accounting is a subject that is offered in Nigeria Secondary Schools, Polytechnics and

Universities. Accounting subjects comprises Management accounting, Financial accounting,

Cost accounting, Public sector accounting, Taxation and Auditing. The bedrock of accounting is

an understanding of the underlying principles and an appreciation of the techniques and skills

necessary for their application. Accounting is logical reasoning in the form of a set of broad

principles that are capable of providing a frame of reference by which accounting practice can be

evaluated, and realization of these objectives can only be attested through the qualification of the

teacher and his experience or by way of impacting knowledge skill, it must train the student to be

adopted, it must extend the horizon of his interest and must also develop his personality of which

some of the aims designed to be achieved.

Aturupane et al. (2013) reviewed 96 studies that tried to link various educational inputs to

student performance in developing countries and found out that nearly a third (31) of the

reviewed studies specifically considered the effect of pupil-teacher ratio. Out of the

investigation, only eight found reduction in class size to significantly explain improved academic

achievement. This study is consistent with Stephens et al. (2014) study on learning competencies
in five francophone sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d‘Ivoire,

Maliand Senegal) which demonstrated that an inverse relationship existed between class sizes

and learning outcomes. That is, student learning decreased as class sizes increased. This means

that the higher the total number of students in a class, the lower the level of concentration which

leads to poor performance of the students.

Azigwe et al. (2016) revealed that students’ engagement, behaviour, and retention are affected in

so many ways by the size of the class. This conclusion was drawn when reviewing studies on the

link between student engagement and class size conceptualized student engagement in two

forms, namely, social engagement (how a student interacts socially with other students and

teachers in either pro-social or anti-social ways) and academic engagement (students’ attitude

towards schooling and the learning process). The study indicated that when students are placed

in smaller classes, they become more engaged, both academically and socially, and argue that

with strong social academic engagement, academic achievement improves. In spite of all these

benefits, large class size may generate a lot of controversy due to the difficulty of teachers to

work with large class size. These controversies may serve as thorns that crumble the

performance of students in accounting at the senior secondary school level. Some of these

problems may be; teachers may find it difficult to use varied teaching methodology in teaching,

students may find it difficult to concentrate in the class, teachers may find it difficult to control

the students in class and there may be insufficient teaching and learning resources. Hence the

quality of teaching, assessment of students and quality of learning may be affected. Basically,

earlier one of the subjects in the Nigerian public senior secondary schools which requires

demonstrations and much student attention is accounting. Therefore, the present study seeks to

use accounting as baseline to revisit the issue of class size implications on quality of teaching
and learning. However, this study sought to investigate the of class size in effective teaching and

learning of accounting in senior secondary schools in Shomolu Local Government Area Of

Lagos State

Statement of the Problem

For decades now, class size have been a determinant of accounting student academic

performance as class with small size create an enabling atmosphere for distraction created by

fellow learners among themselves, limit classroom teaching facilities. Several authors asserted

that public school are mostly pretentious towards this learning challenges. And in most cases

those distraction might not been known to the teacher, Thus, this distraction are psychological;

emotional and even a physically. Classroom size determine the level of noise making in a class.

However, the main factor that causes high class size are: insufficient building for classroom

extension, uncontrolled admission, student interest in accounting related field such as becoming

a banker, accountant etc. In view of this problems the study sought to examine the effect of

classroom size on accounting student academic performance in senior secondary school and

proffering solutions to the problem.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of classroom size on accounting student

academic performance in junior secondary school. Specifically, this study sought to:

1. Examine the effect of instructional impact of class size on students’ performance;

2. Access the psychological impact of class size on students’ performance and

 3. Examine social impact of class size on students’ performance in accounting at public

senior secondary schools in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

4. Examine teachers attitudes towards the teaching of large number student in Shomolu

Local Government

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study;

1. What are the effect of instructional impact of class size on students’ performance;

2. What are the psychological impact of class size on students’ performance and

3. What are social impact of class size on students’ performance in accounting at public

senior secondary schools in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

4. What are teachers attitudes towards the teaching of large number student in Shomolu

Local Government

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study will cover emphasize on the effect of class size in effective teaching and learning of

accounting in senior secondary schools. The study will be limited to some selected senior

secondary schools in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State in Nigeria due to

Financial Constraint, Corporation of school management in order to allow their student to be

used as respondent, Time Frame and finally in order to attain a reasonable result .

Significance of the Study

This research work will be of immense benefit to student, accounting educators such as teachers

in secondary schools, lecturers in higher institute of learning, management of schools,

curriculum planner, ministry of education and other bodies. For student and teachers; it will

imbue them on the knowledge of settings of class, educate them on the advantages of high class

size and low class size, bring to the student point of view, the psychological social and

instructional impact class sizes. It will serves as a useful material/guide on how to improve

student academic performance. It will also promote conveniences and flexibility of students

through self paced and time, as well as increased access to instructors of best quality through

share of knowledge across borders. This research will be a contribution to the body of literature

in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby

constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

This research will also help the curriculum planner in the designing of lesson objectives. The

Ministry of Education, policy makers, parent -teachers association, old boys/students association

and other non-governmental organizations, corporate bodies and religious organizations will

have a reason to contribute respectively to renovate dilapidated classrooms, build more

classrooms to contain the growing enrolments in the schools and provide schools with the

facilities they need to make teaching and learning easier and effective.

Operational Definition of Terms

Academic Performance: It is the measurement of academic achievement and progress of

individual students. Data provided for a percentage of students passing all tests as well as the

aggregate by percentages passing.

Financial Accounting: It is concerned with the recording, classifying, creating, summarizing

and communicating of financial information to interested parties and interpreting to help in

making specific business decisions.

Effect: The result that something has on a situation, process, or person. Synonymously, it could

also be referred to as outcome, consequence and causes of something or about something .

Performance: The execution of an action, something accomplished: deed, feat. The fulfillment

of a claim, promise, or request: implementation, the action of representing a character in a play.

Teaching and Learning: It refers to the process in which the teaching and learning activity take

place plus the situation and circumstance in which learning.

.
 CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES

This chapter will examine relevant literatures under the following sub-headings;

 Conceptual Framework

 Concept of Class Size

 Concept of teaching and learning

 Impact of learning environment on student academic performance

 Impact of class sizes on students academic performance

 Factors affecting student academic performance

 Theoretical framework

 Summary of Reviewed Literature

 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

This chapter will give detail information on the sub-headings below;

 Research Design

 Population of Study

 Sample and Sampling Technique

 Research Instrument

 Validity of the Instruments

 Reliability of the Instruments

 Methods of Data Collection

 Method of Data Analysis

Research Design

The Descriptive Survey research design will be used in this study. Descriptive Survey research is

a process of collecting and analyzing data from a population in order to determine their current

status in that population with respect to one or more variables (Onanbolu, 2009). It was adopted

in order to examine the effect of class size on the effective teaching and learning of

accounting in senior secondary schools in shomolu local government area of lagos state

Population of the Study

The target population of the study will comprise of commercial students in SSII only and Financial

Accounting Teachers in some selected Senior Secondary schools in Shomolu Local Government

area, Lagos State. There are ninety-eight (98) Senior Secondary Schools; Eighty-two (82) public and

sixteen (16) private schools in Shomolu Local Government area of Lagos State. A total of ten (10)

Senior Secondary schools representing 10% of the total population of the study will be used for the

study. The schools will include;

Public Schools Private Schools

Name of Schools Population of Name of Schools Population of
SSII SSII
Morocco Secondary 55 Yaba College of 24
School, Yaba Technology Staff
Secondary School, Yaba
Gbagada Senior 63 Federal College of 27
Grammar School, Education (Technical),
Gbagada Staff Secondary School,
Akoka
Evans Adelaja 41 International School, 29
Grammar, School, University Of Lagos
Bariga
Angus Memorial 52 Baptist High School, 12
Senior High School, Obanikoro
Shomolu
Lanre Awolokun High 48 CMS Boys Grammar 38
School, Gbagada School , Bariga

Samples and Sampling Procedure

The sample size for this study will be 100 commercial students in Shomolu Local Government Area

of Lagos State. Simple random sampling technique will be used in selecting the 100 student from

the total population of the study.

Research Instrument
The research work will adopt the use of questionnaire as a principal instrument for the study. The

research instrument will be adopted to examine the opinion of respondents on the phenomenon

under study with their identity and responses made confidential. The questionnaire will comprise

of two sections (A, & B). Section A will contain information on the bio-data of the respondents

while Section B will contain structured item statement for the respondents on impact of

accounting teachers motivation on the academic performance of students. Each item will be rated

using Four rating Scale i.e Strongly Agree (SA) Agree (A), Disagree (D), Strongly Disagree

(SD).

Validity of the Instrument

The instrument will be subjected to face validation by three experts from the Department of Business

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka. These experts will be requested to look

at the adequacy of the items in line with the purpose of research as well as the rating scale.

Corrections will be effected in some of the items and on the response options by the project

supervisor.

Reliability of the Instrument

The reliability of the questionnaire will be determined using the re-test techniques. A sample of

the questionnaire will be served to workers outside the research population before serving the

actual sample. The sample questionnaire will be served to workers in Federal College of

Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos. The scores obtained by individual respondents’ on the two

occasions will be compared to determine its reliability.

Method of Data Collection

The instrument for data collection in this study will be questionnaires. The items in the

questionnaire will be structured (i.e. closed ended). The structured questions will measure the

subjective responses to clarify the objective responses and at the same time, enhance formulation

of recommendations of the study. The researcher will use trained research assistants to collect

data. The questionnaire will be collected back from the respondents immediately. This will allow

the respondents to duly react to the questionnaire.

Method of Data Analysis

Data obtained from the questionnaire collected will be analyzed using simple percentage and mean.

The bio-data will be calculated in percentage while the item statement response will be analyzed

using mean.

Thus, this study will adopts 4 rating scale i.e

Strongly Agree (SA) 4 point

Agree (A) 3 point

Disagree (D) 2 point

Strong Disagree (SD) 1 point

4+ 3+2+1 10
= =2.5
4 4

This implies→ that any mean score below 2.5 will be rejected and any mean score that is 2.5

and above will be duly accepted.