INFLUENCE OF CLASS SIZE ON STUDENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ MOTIVATION DURING INSTRUCTION

This descriptive research investigated influence of class size on the students’ and teachers’ motivation during the instruction. The study objectives focused the effects of class size on the students’ initiation in completing instructional tasks, stimulating them in expressing the ideas freely and in provision of positive feedback to them during the instruction. Three null hypotheses were formulated to observe the significance differences between observed and expected proportion about target objectives. For this purpose, the data were collected from 4th grade students and teachers of 51 government primary schools through observation sheets and questionnaire respectively. Collected data were analysed through mean and chi-square. The major findings indicated that small class size assisted teachers as well as students to exhibit higher level of the motivation and interest during instruction. However, no significant differences noted between the observed and expected proportion about level of initiation, completion of task, rate of stimulation and provision of feedback among students belonging to different level of class size.

The Implementation and Challenges of using Role-Play to Improve Chinese University Students’ English Communicative Competence

English is taught as a compulsory course in Chinese universities and it is necessary to find feasible ways to improve students’ English ability to communicate. Role-play is believed as an effective way to enhance second language learners’ communicative competence and it is also supposed to be able to be effective in Chinese universities EFL classes. The real effect, however, relies on the actual implementation in classes. If the teachers inappropriately adopt role-play, it is hard to be useful. Due to the lack of research paying attention to this issue, it is not clear how Chinese university English teachers use role-play and whether it is effective. For this reason, a case study was conducted, with a Chinese university EFL teacher taking part in the interviews. The results show that participants attempt to maximise the effectiveness of role-play to improve students’ English communicative competence by practising comprehensive language skills, linguistic knowledge, and workplace topics. Nonetheless, some issues, namely script preparation, students’ proficiency difference and class size are identified. These may challenge the actual effectiveness of role-play. Possible solutions, including selecting role-play according to students’ ability, considering individuals’ condition, mixed-ability grouping and small class size, are suggested thereafter.

University Jordanian Learners of English: Difficulties and Solutions

Referencing related literature and drawing upon our experience, observation and talks with specialists, we have realized that the problem of difficulty encountered by Arab learners of English in general and by Jordanian university English students in particular is sporadically addressed by researchers. They mention it along with their focus on errors committed by those EFL learners. At the university, English majors study English language, linguistics, and literature courses over a period of four years. While enrolling in the English program, they encounter difficulties or problems like teaching methods, cultural and language problems and teaching settings which negatively affect their language proficiency and, thus, graduate committing gross errors in various language skills, pointing to their weakness, low proficiency and unsatisfactory achievement which do not meet teachers’ and society’s expectations. The present paper is meant to diagnose the problems that confront university Jordanian English majors and to propose some solutions including strict requirements on transfer students, a TOEFL score of 500, and a small class size intended to play a role in reforming the present status quo of English departments, thus upgrading their outputs, and helping students improve their level linguistically and extra linguistically.

Class Size and Students’ Anxiety in Oral Recitation

Anxiety is one of the greatest challenges that faced by the students nowadays. Anxiety can affect the student’s productivity, performance and academic achievement in many ways. Class size plays an important role on learning of the students. Students who belong to the large or small class size can surpass this problem, it may give their co-classmate a confidence and courage in facing the anxiety they felt. This study intends to determine the association between the class size and student’s anxiety in oral recitation of Jagobiao National High School. This research work uses a descriptive design with likert’s scale questionnaire as being used for gathering data. After the data were being gathered, the data were then analyzed using weighted mean and chi-square in determining the relationship between the class size and anxiety in oral recitation. 300 randomly selected students from Jagobiao National High School- Junior High School Cebu City, Philippines were asked to participate. The result of the study indicates that the class size in Jagobiao National High School has a range of forty-six to fifty students, the result revealed that the students have anxiety in oral recitation and the students’ level of anxiety is slight to extremely anxious and it is also revealed that there is no association between class size and students’ anxiety in oral recitation

EFFECTS OF INTEGRATING INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS WITH LECTURE METHOD ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS OF SMALL CLASS-SIZE IN ZARIA EDUCATIONAL ZONE KADUNA STATE

This study investigated the effects of integrating instructional models with lecture method on academic performance of students of small class-size in some Biology concepts among Senior Secondary School Students in Zaria Education Zone. Fifty students randomly selected from two Senior Secondary Schools constitute the sample for the study. The schools were grouped into two. one as experimental with 25 students and the other as control with 25 students from the total population of 4,450 S.S.S 3 students in the zone. The study adopted a pretest, posttest quasi-experimental and control group. The subjects in the experimental groups were taught by Integrating Instructional Models with Lecture while the control groups were exposed to the lecture method. A Biology Achievement Test (BAT) with Reliability Coefficient o f 0.75 was used to measure the students’ achievement after the treatment. The data collected was analysed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Results indicated that there is a significant difference in the mean academic performance of students taught Biology concepts using Integrating Instructional models with lecture method compared to those taught using lecture method of instruction in small class size. Based on the findings it was recommended that Integrating Instructional models with lecture method should be used by Biology teachers to teach in Senior Secondary School. Biology teachers should be trained on the effective use of instructional models in Senior Secondary Schools among others.

Students’ Learning and Satisfaction In An Alternative Learning Centre In Malta

This paper is a small-scale research study done by the author. It seeks to find the perceptions of students attending an alternative learning centre,with an emphasis on vocational education, with regards to their learning. This study is situated on the island of Malta and the five students interviewed currently attend this school, which opened in 2014, and is the only one of its kind on the island. The main results obtained are that, on the whole, the students are happy to attend this school. They drew comparisons between their school life in the previous four years of secondary education in the mainstream college and in the alternative learning centre. They enjoyed the lessons because they were learning the subjects that they wanted to learn, they enjoyed the small class size,and the individual attention. They felt part of a big family and appreciated the fact that the teachers genuinely cared for them. They also mentioned things that should be improved, like more resources for the classrooms and a major renovation of the school building. The conclusion drawn here is that while the students are happy, care must be taken so that the concerns raised are addressed.

Influence of class size on students’ classroom discipline, engagement and communication: A study of senior secondary schools in Ekiti state, Nigeria

In this study, the influence of class size on students’ classroom discipline, engagement and communication school teachers from 16 purposely selected secondary schools out of a population of 4529 senior secondary teachers from Ekiti State, Nigeria was used for the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The instrument used for data collection was Influence of Class Size on Classroom Discipline, Engagement and Communication Questionnaire (ICSCDECQ) with the 21). Four research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using Mean rating and Standard Deviation scores and the hypotheses were tested using Chi-square. The study revealed that class size has significant influence on senior secondary classroom discipline, engagement and communic influence on senior secondary classroom discipline, engagement and communic among others that, senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria should adopt a maximum of 40:1 student teacher ratio (small class size) for effective classroom discipline, engagement and communication. ation. It was recommended among others that, senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria should adopt a maximum of 40:1 student teacher ratio (small class size) for effective classroom discipline, engagement and communication. among others that, senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria should adopt a maximum of 40:1 students-teacher ratio (small class size) for effective classroom discipline, engagement and communication.

Decreased class size, increased active learning? Intended and enacted teaching strategies in smaller classes

Small class size is often used as an indicator of quality in higher education, and some research suggests that instructors in smaller classes more often use activities that are learner-centered and that involve physical and mental activity on the part of learners, such as group work, simulations, and case studies. However, we have little information on how instructors change their pedagogical practice when they teach in large- versus small-class settings. In this study, we examine alignment between intended and enacted teaching strategies, or initial plans and specific ways in which instructors reported altering their teaching in the context of a university policy shift to smaller classes. Furthermore, we examine instructional challenges in this shift to call attention to professional development needs of small-class teaching and to best leverage the benefits of such activities for student performance and retention.