CLASSROOM INTERACTION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BASIC SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ONDO STATE

Abstract

The study investigated classroom interaction and academic performance of students
in Basic Science in junior secondary school in Ondo State. The study adopted the
descriptive survey research design. The population for the study comprised all junior
secondary schools students in Ondo State. The sample size consisted of 18 teachers
and 361 junior secondary school two (JSII) students selected from their intact
classes using multistage sampling procedure. Two instruments titled “Basic Science
Classroom Interaction Rating Scale” (BSCIRS) and “Basic Science Performance
Test” (BSPT) were used for the study. The results showed that 38.89% of the schools
in the area had low classroom interaction; 55.5% of the schools had moderate
classroom interaction and 5.56% of the schools had high classroom interaction. The
result also showed that there was a positive correlation between the classroom
interaction and students' academic performance in Basic Science, which was
statistically significant (r = 0.133, n=361, p < 0.05). The study concluded that
classroom interaction in Basic Science classrooms in junior secondary schools in
Ondo State was average and that there was relationship between classroom
interaction and students' academic performance in Basic Science in Ondo State. It is
recommended that teachers should take the time to build positive relationships in the
classrooms among the students so that students will be able to develop the desire for
success.