Title
The title for the proposed study is The Influence Of Academic Facilities On Academic Performance. This paper will show the goals and objectives of the study and the different procedures, instruments and approaches to be used in order to achieve these goals and objectives.
Background of the Study/Literature Review
There are different studies which show the connection between academic facilities with the academic performance of students. The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Papa Owusu-Ankomah of Ghana called on the students to take advantage of the different academic facilities offered by the government in order to improve their academic performance. The government of Ghana mainly focuses on investing on the school facilities in order to help the learning process of the students. For instance, in 2007, the government invested a total of 650 for its six-classroom block via the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for Prempeh College in Kumasi (Ghana News Agency, 2007).
The study of Adedipe (2007) showed that the lack of physical resources, which include lecture halls, halls of residence, laboratories, libraries and other academic resources commonly result to poor academic performance, because it breeds over crowdedness (cited in Fabiyi and Uzoka, 2009). In addition, the study of Fabiyi and Uzoka (2009) indicated that planning and design of educational facilities for schools, colleges and universities have influence towards the outcome of learning. In addition, according to Earthman (2002) and Schneider (2002) the design of school building and components has influence over the learning process of the students, because it can create an ambiance that will permit or hinder learning procedures. The correlational study of Earthman (2002) showed a strong and positive connection between the entire condition of school building and the achievements of the students.
Aims and Objectives
The main aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of academic facilities on academic performance of the students. In line with this the following are the specific objectives of the study:
· To describe and analyze the different direct and indirect impact of academic facilities towards the learning process of the students;
· To analyze the current academic facilities problems in Ghana; and
· To assess how the students perceive about the academic facilities in their respective school and how it affects their studies.
Methodology
The research study to be used in the proposed study will be descriptive method. According to Creswell (1994) it intends to present facts about the nature and status of a situation as it exists at the time of the study. In addition, it also concerns with the relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt or trends that are developing (Best 1970). Therefore, it can be helpful in order to describe the current conditions and situations based on the impressions and perceptions of the respondents of the study (Creswell 1994). Both qualitative and quantitative data will be gathered for this study. This is to ensure that both non-statistical and statistical data will be used in order to support the findings and result of the study.
Data Collection
Surveys will be implemented in the study. Surveys are the most common form of research method for collection of primary data (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). One of its purpose is to describe, e.g., to count the frequency of some event or to assess the distribution of some variables such as proportion of the population of different age groups, sex, religion, castes and languages, knowledge, attitude and adaption of practices about particular issues, and other information of similar nature about the population (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000).
Survey interview and questionnaire will be used in this study, which will be used in order to gather primary data. On the other hand, secondary data will be gathered from different online libraries and databases which include BMJ, EMERALD, SCIENCE DIRECT, EBSCO, QUESTIA and GOOGLE BOOK.
Sampling Population
The target population is 300 students from 3 schools in Ghana of 3 levels (elementary, secondary and higher education). The students will be selected via random selection process.
Data Analysis
The data results of the study will be analyzed by determining their corresponding frequency, percentage and weighted mean. The following statistical formulas will be used:
1. Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.
n
% = ——– x 100 ; n – number of responses
N N – total number of respondents
2. Weighted Mean
f1x1 + f2x2 + f3x3 + f4x4 + f5x5
x = ———————————————;
xt
where: f – weight given to each response
x – number of responses
xt – total number of responses
References
Best, J. W. (1970). Research in Education, 2nd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Commonwealth of Learning. (2000). Manual for Educational Media Researchers: Knowing your Audience. Vancouver, Canada: Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).
Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Earthman, G. I. (2002). School facility conditions and student academic achievement. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education & Access (IDEA).
Fabiyi, A. and Uzoka, N. (2009). State of physical facilities in Nigerian Universities: implication for repositioning tertiary institutions for global competition. Retrieved on 29th November, 2010, from http://www.herp-net.org/
Ghana News Agency (2007, March 21). ‘Use facilities to improve academic performance – Minister’. GNA. Retrieved 29th November, 2010 from www.modernghana.com
Schneider, M. (2002). Do school facilities affect academic outcomes? Washington, D. C. National Clearing House for Educational Facilities.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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