Influence of Classroom Interactions on Students’ Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study centred on Influence of Classroom Interactions on Students’ Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study was 34 public senior secondary schools with the total population of 874 (teachers) and 1,346 (students) in Port Harcourt Metropolis schools, Rivers State Nigeria. The sample size was 262 (teachers) and 404 (students) using 30% of the total population. The instrument used for this study was questionnaires titled, Class Interaction and Student Academic Performance Questionnaire (CISAPQ). (15) Items were drawn for the study. The respondents were requested to response to research questions rated on 4-points scale of: Very High Extent (VHE), High Extent (HE) Very Low Extent (VLE) and Low Extent (LE). Thus, 666 copies of questionnaires were distributed and retrieved 538 (81%) copies for the analysis of research questions using mean scores with standard deviation and Z-test for the hypotheses. The findings revealed that when the teachers create an interactive environment during teaching and learning process, it elevates students’ mindset to improve on their student academic performance. It was therefore recommended that school administrators should persuade the teachers to create an interactive environment that will improve communication with the students and discussion method should be initiated assiduously to captivate students’ interest in the subject matter of the topic.