INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MAIDUGURI

ABSTRACT Biology is a branch of science that deals with the study of living organisms. It is primarily concerned with the nature of organisms and their relationship to each other and to their environment and school environment consists of all the influences that may affect the development of a learner such as the classroom, psychosocial environment, community environment and so on. The social context in which teaching and learning are done is also an important issue to be considered, therefore, this study investigated the influence of school environment on academic performance of Biology students in Senior Secondary Schools in Maiduguri. Four objectives and corresponding four research questions were adopted for the study. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study is 80 respondents which were selected from four different public schools in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State. The instrument for data collection was a close-end questionnaire tagged “Influence of School Environment on Academic Performance of Biology Students in Senior Secondary Schools (ISEAPBSSSQ) Questionnaire of 20 items. The questionnaire was also in two sections ‘A’ and “B”. Section A is the demographic variables of the respondents which Section “B” is the constructs derived from the various research questions. All questionnaire administered out to the respondents were well filled and retrieved. It was a hundred percent rate. The findings revealed that school location influence academic performance of Biology students in senior secondary school, class size influence academic performance of Biology students in senior secondary school, availability instructional materials influence academic performance of Biology students in senior secondary school and teacher’s competency influences academic performance of Biology students in senior secondary school. The study recommends among others that Schools should endeavour to create a conducive classroom environment in order to promote students’ academic performance and Government should make available adequate learning resources in order to boost teaching learning activities within the school system.