Impact of ICT and Class Size On Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Science Subject in Ekiti State

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of ICT facility and class size on academic performance of secondary school students in science subjects in Ekiti. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impacts that both ICT facilities and class size have on the academic performance of secondary school students. The study adopted both descriptive research of the survey type and ex-post-facto designs. The sample included 110 science teachers and 2,444 students whose WASSCE were used. They were selected using multistage sampling procedure. The two research instruments used were ICT and class-size facilities questionnaires for teachers (ICTCSFQT) and Three Years Examination Result Template (TYERT). The face and content validity of the ICTCSFQT was done by experts in science Education and test, measurement and evaluation. Test-retest method was used to establish the reliability of ICTCSFQT and the coefficient of 0.76 was obtained. The other instrument (WASSCE Result) is a standardized result from WAEC. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation. The hypotheses raised were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there was significant relationship between availability of ICT and academic performance in schools. The study also revealed that there is significant relationship between class-size and academic performance in schools. Based on the findings, it was concluded that ICT and class-size are crucial for better performance of students in science subjects. It was therefore recommended that teachers should be trained through various workshop and seminars on the use of ICT facilities, so also the significance of moderate class size for effective classroom management and control in order to improve students’ academic performance.