Source: European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol.4 No. 8 October,2015
Studies on Physical Environment and Student’s Academic Performance:
Various studies have been carried out on the nexus between students’ academic performance and the influence of physical environment in various climes.
A research conducted by Owoeye, (2011) showed that there is a significant difference between the academic achievement of students in rural and urban secondary schools as measured by senior school certificate examinations. To him, the geographical location of schools has a significant influence on the academic achievement of students. Also he pointed out that uneven distribution of resources, poor school mapping, facilities, problem of qualified teachers refusing appointment or not willing to perform well in isolated villages, lack of good road, poor communication, and nonchalant attitude of some communities to school among others are some of the factors contributed to a wide gap between rural and urban secondary schools. Schools located in rural areas lack qualified teachers. It is because, they do not want going to rural areas that lack social amenities. They prefer to stay in urban schools. It is also observed that a lot of coaching of urban students is done to prepare them for public examinations, thus promoting the spirit of competition and rivalry that may be lacking in the rural pupils, probably, owing to limitations in exposure and experience. Also, the study has proven that students in urban areas had better academic achievement than their rural counterpart. In other word, students in urban locations have a very advantage of favourable learning environment that apparently enhance their academic performance.
Arul Lawrence, Vimala, (2012) conducted a research on the school environment and academic achievement of standard six students. The data from 400 sample participants is used to determine the relationship between school environment and academic achievement. The result of this study indicated that there is no significant difference in the school environment of standard six students in term of gender, medium of instruction. But there is an important difference in the school environment of standard six students in term of locality of school. The urban students have better school environment than the rural students. The urban students are having a stressful environment in their day life very much because they are living in the mechanical and hurry burry life. So they feel school environment is not very convenient for their studies. Therefore, school environment enriched with modern facilities makes the student feel comfortable in their studies that result to high academic performance.
A research by Sunday,(2012) revealed that there is a significant relationship between physical school environment and students’ academic performance in senior secondary school physics.
To him, the physical school environment has some influences on students’ academic achievement in senior secondary school physics. The physical facilities, human resources, and the relationship among them determine the physical environment of the school. The result indicated that students with adequate laboratory facilities in physics perform better than those in school with less or without facilities, this simply because laboratory forms part of enrich the physical school environment. It was also discovered that poor facilities and inadequate space, as well as the arrangement of items including seats in the classroom, library and laboratory, would affect the organization of learning environment. Favourable school climate gives room for students to work hard and enhance their academic achievement. The result of this research agrees with the opinion of most psychologists; that weak relationship between teachers and students has a diverse effect on students’ attitude in respect of events in teaching –learning environment. Therefore, the teacher should be friendly and not mean, appear admirable but not seductive. He should attend to the need of students and be aware of the differences between them and be fair and firm in dealing with them. It is important to note that when healthy teacher-teacher relationship exist in school. It goes a long way in the promotion of learning among students. And this enables them to share knowledge and experience that will enhance the better school environment.
Orlu, (2013) conducted a research among six hundred teachers and students with the aim to find out environmental influence on the academic performance of secondary school students, in Port Harcourt local government area of river state. The result of this research indicated that the school environment has a significant influence on academic performance. The location of the school affects students’ performance. For example, when a school is sited in a noisy area like an airport or in the heart of a city where activities disrupt the teaching-learning of the student.
One will not expect such students in this area to be doing well academically. Noise in anything that interferes with teaching/learning process.
However, the physical structure of the school building and the interactions between teachers and students are also influence students’ performance. School climate can be a positive influence on the health of the learning environment or a significant barrier to learning. The school environment can affect many areas and people within schools. For example, a positive school climate has been associated with fewer behavioural and emotional problems for students. Therefore, it is believed that positive interpersonal relationship and optional learning opportunities for students in all demographic environments can increase achievement behaviour. Positive student teacher relationship brings about a positive and supportive school climate for students for smooth running of academic activities which results in good academic performance.
