Category: Academic Performance

Concept of Family and Family Background

Family is the most important primary cluster and the smallest social unit of the society. Odo (1990) defined family as a social group of people sharing the same residence and cooperating economically. He added that family institution is usually based on the marriage between one or more couples, with the expectation of having children for whom the adults of the family accept responsibility.

Alio (2005) opined that family is the most personal social organisation, because of the interaction and relationship that exists among the family members. Alio stated further that married couples without children, though bound by the strong personal ties; do not constitute a family because such ties can feasibly exist among couples who are not married. According to Alio, what constitute a family are children. It is through which that intimate and personal relationship can be established, and by which the family can perform its functions of rearing, protecting and educating the children, transmitting of social values and a special bond among all the members. The above explanations of family portray Nigerian traditional idea of family. Traditionally, African people believed that it is the children that strengthen the union of a couple and makes it a lasting and an intimate one.

Basically, family can be classified into two; nuclear and extended forms. The nuclear family is made up of the father (husband), mother (wife) and children. The children may be the biological offspring of the couple or the adopted members of the family. According to Okafor (1982), the adoption of children is not a common phenomenon in the Nigeria society compared to the British society. Okafor noted that nuclear family is more common among the urban city elites in Nigerian society. It was maintained that one of the characteristics of the nuclear family is that, it tends to break up when the children marry, when the parents die or at any point in human cycle.

Nuclear Family: In this type of family, two married adults (a man and a woman) live under one roof together, as husband and wife, with their children, if any, and share emotional, economic and social responsibilities. This type of family is usually referred to as intact family. Thus, the intact family is the smallest kinship unit that appears in many societies and which also functions as independent and self-sufficient unit. The functions of this family unit include; among others, sexual regulation, education, socialization of the children, economic cooperation, protection and order, as well as transmission of individual goals and societal values from one generation to the other.

Single-Parent Family: The house is led by one parent (a woman or a man), possibly due to divorce, death, desertion, or never having married. Therefore the individual concerned as parent plays the roles of both the father and the mother concurrently. In this case, fulfilment of all the needs of the family may at times be jeopardized, which may make life difficult for those members of the family. Furthermore children of such family often exhibit various externalizing behaviours or anti-social behaviours at adolescence stage of life (Emmanuel 2009).

Family size has to do with the total number of people in a single family which may include the father, mother, children and even the extended members – all living in one hamlet. According to Alio (2005), family size has implication for education. The size of the family determines to a great extent the relative amount of physical attention and time which each child gets from his parents. Large families are more common among the lower class of the society and children in this type of family may experience poverty, lack parental encouragement and stimulus that supposed to motivate their academic achievement (Eamon, 2006).

Family is the beginning of the process of education, as it provides physical and psychological needs of the child. This supports the view of Maduewisi and Unoaka (2007) that the environmental experiences from peer group, school location and family are determinant of child’s intellectual ability. Bright children from under-privileged family environment may turn dull due to poor family environment. This corroborates the assertion of Hebb (1958) that the innate potentials of children cannot be attained without adequate stimulating family environment. This implies that a proper stimulating family environment with appropriate teaching methods will enhance students’ intellectual capability and consequently, immensely contribute to positive academic performance of children.

Extended family comprises the father (husband), his wife (mother), their children, and the husbands and the wife’s relations. Alio (2005) pointed out that the extended family system is a scattered type of the joint family and all the members of the family are not living together in one residence. The extended members include a span of three or four generations within the total family unit. The extended family system is commonly a characteristic of most African society. Many Nigerian societies do not believe in nuclear family, however, urbanization and economic pressures are strongly discouraging extended family ties. Despite this, extended family system is the most common type of family arrangement in the Nigerian society. Anybody who refuses to practice or show interest in the extended family system might be regarded as awkward human being by the society.

Academic Performance

In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by the institution itself. Performance is very important in human life and every society has its own goals and aspiration. Students’ success or failure in the school therefore presents a relatively defined criterion of performance. Educational institutions are the areas in which all students are prepared to compete. Performance refers to the attainment of the students in the classroom activities as well as in extra curriculum activities in the school. Campell and Mande (1990) defined performance as the knowledge obtained and skills developed in the school, which is often depicted by test scores. That is, the mark earned by each student from task (test).

Performance in school is evaluated in a number of ways. For regular grading, students demonstrate their knowledge by taking written and oral tests, performing presentations, turning in homework and participating in class activities and discussions. Teachers evaluate in terms of letter or number grades and side notes, to describe how well a student has done. At the state level, students are evaluated by their performance on standardised tests geared toward specific ages and based on a set of achievements students in each age group are expected to meet. The subjectivity of academic performance evaluation has lessened in recent years, but it has not been totally eliminated. It may not be possible to fully remove subjectivity from the current evaluation methods since most evaluations are based on students’ response to traditional teaching methods. Standardised testing is best responded to by students who excel in reading, mathematics and test taking; a skill that is in itself indicative of academic worth (Hess, 1998).

Academic performance means the ability of students to study and learn certain subjects in the school whether at the primary, secondary or tertiary institution levels with the aim of performing excellently in the course of study. It could be described as notable actions or achievements by certain students in their field of study or discipline. Academic performance is measured through achievement test which is also known as paper and pencil test. Achievement test is a type of ability test designed to measure what an individual had learnt at the end of a course of instruction. In other words, it is meant to assess the level of academic attainment after a period of teaching and learning (Richardson, 1994).

Academic performance really means three things: the ability to study and remember facts, being able to study effectively and see how facts fit together and form larger patterns of knowledge and being able to think for oneself in relation to facts and thirdly being able to communicate one’s knowledge verbally (Chance, 2003). According to Gbadura (2010), students’ academic performance varies according to individual students’ scores such as high, average or low academic performance. Students who place higher premium on education are inspired to enhance the development of their intellect and this fosters academic performance.

However, in a success-oriented society, academic performance is a significant measure of success in life. The reasons for this cannot be farfetched; it provides the singular index of intellectual ability and aptitude on every individual. Gbadura (2010) opined that academic performance serve as the only clear cut measure of student success and adequacy for a life career. Similarly, Hess (1998) emphasised that high and low performance is when a learner does well or poorly in a presented task. It may be said that obtaining scores in an examination best describes what performance is all about: Who stated that examinations are the most useful yard stick in assessing students’ knowledge? She further stated that when the result is good or bad, it serves as guide for deciding who gets promoted to the next class, demoted to a lower class, or who finally gets what job after graduation. This is a pointer to the fact that the issue of performance to learners cannot be under-estimated. Ojo (1997) stated that students’ performance is a measure of how well they have mastered the learning task presented to them. It covers the way they handle controversial issues, pass relevant judgment and the level at which they pass examinations.

In the same vein, academic performance is the students’ accomplishment in terms of grades obtained in a given test. Academic performance is often determined by the individual scores in relation to a given standard, or sometimes in relation to the performance of other students in a class test or examination. Poor academic performance among students has become the trend in most examinations especially those conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO). Over the years, results of various examinations conducted by these bodies in the country have not brought cheer for parents and students due to poor performance recorded across board (WAEC Embarrassing Results, 2011).

Measuring excellent academic performance of students is challenging since students’ performance is a product of many factors including the level of development of the country (Idiong, 1991). The recent fall in academic performance of students is a great concern to parents, teachers, government, society, communities, counsellors and administrators. Excellent academic performance is seen as a powerful instrument for the enhancement of growth and development. High or low standard of education in any system can influence high or low academic performance of the recipients of the education (Linder, 2002). Some researchers have attributed this low academic performance to low students’ ability, poor attitude, lack of capacity, interest or low motivation and emotional state of students (Ipaye, 1985; Asonibare, 1985).

Bearing the above in mind, students’ academic performance in school is therefore the main focus in educational institutions. Senior Secondary school certificate examination (SSSCE) results of Nigeria students are used as measures of academic performance because it is a standardised type of summative evaluation.

Omoegun (2003) explained some problems connected with poor attitude towards schooling and poor study habits of secondary school students to include students’ refusal to carry out assignment given to them by subject teachers. This has negative impact on the continuous assessment scores and grades. Similarly, many students do not care to go over their notes until when examinations remain only one day. Also poor time management, hatred of one subject or the other, usually result to poor academic performance. These persistent problems clearly show a trend by considering the performance of students on some subjects in SSCE June/July 2005/2006 NECO results 2007 and 2008 respectively. Moreover, the findings of Aminu (2001) and Awolola (2001) showed that academic performance of Nigerian secondary school students continues to be on the decline as a result of negative attitude to schooling.

Academic performance can also be viewed to be the average score in the school examination at any particular point in time. Salaam (2002) posited that, the goal of many students is high academic success. However, this good intention may be thwarted by the defective study habits and study techniques employed by the students. In other words, when a student is deficient in his study habits techniques, it leads to poor academic performance of such student; thus, frustration occurs. This experience highly becomes a repetitive cycle of an unserious preparation for examination, resulting in failure in examinations (i.e academic failure, frustration syndrome (Ikibe, 2012).

Abstract

Friends play an important role in academic performance as they encourage and discourage academic performance. The purpose of this study aims to seek a relationship between friends and academic performance. Two research questions are raised: 1) Does relationship with friends affect academic performance, and; 2) How does it affect academic performance, why? The data from a questionnaire with 35 Sunway College respondents has been analysed and interpreted. The results show that students spend more time with friends increasing their CGPA as friends help one another in academic difficulties and always encourage and motivate one another. The study also found that the relationship between friends has a positive effect on academic performance.

Introduction

Background of study

Academic performance in young people is a key affirmation of future education and career performance. Friends play an important role in academic achievement because they support academic performance, which can be encouraged and discouraged. For some reasons, performance in academic can be an important trial mechanism for friendships. There are friendships between people with similar values, who are in close contact and who understand each other’s choices and decisions. Highly successful students are more likely to be associated with other highly successful students and vice versa.

Various studies carried out in this area have shown how friends influence academic performance. Most studies show that children tend to have better attitudes to learn when they have friends in school. A study by Jacobson (2012) found that adolescent friendships with peers are linked to academic performance. In addition, the study shows that social support has a positive relationship with academic performance.

However, there is a lack of empirical evidence for college students in this area. More in-depth studies are required to explore as the use of college students as subjects.

Statement of problem

According to Coleman (1988), access is a key determinant of educational success for friends who support academic performance. In addition, Frank et al. (2008) argue that friends are the main academic stratification characteristic of school students. More studies need to be carried out in order to understand the relationship between friends at college.

Purpose of study

This research aims to seek a relationship between friends and academic performance.

Research questions

• Does the relationship with friends affect academic performance?
• How does it affect academic performance, why?

Literature Review

Relationship with friends

According to the Oxford dictionary, friend is one’s companion that we have an affectionate bond with, whom we can comfortably share our stories and issues too. The meaning of friendship is the emotions and the behaviour of friends. Friendship is also an interpersonal relationship stronger than an association. Furthermore, different academic theories of friendship have been proposed, and yet there are excessive forms of friendship, several of which may vary from place to place or certain characteristics exist in different types of relationships. For instance, such features include kindness, virtue, sympathy, honesty, understanding and enjoyment of one another’s company, trust and the ability to be an express one’s feelings to others without fear of a friend’s judgment.

Adolescence’s friendship

Friendship is a very common relationship among students in adolescence. Friendships are more willing to share in adolescence, giving support and spontaneity. Everyone tends to look for colleagues who can provide these qualities in a simultaneous relationship. The friendship of adolescence begins to maintain a theme of shared values, loyalty and common interests rather than physical concerns and to visit things that better evaluate childhood.

More than 9,000 American teenagers were investigated in a study to determine how they engage in problematic behaviour in relation to their relationship with friends. Finding shows that teenagers were less likely to deal with problematic behaviour when their friends did well in school, participated in school activities, avoided drinking and had good mental health. The opposite was found about adolescents who had problematic behaviour depending on how much they were exposed to these friends. (Crosnoe & Needham, 2004)

Academic achievement

According to Oxford Dictionary, the academic’s meaning relates to an educational or academic institution or environment, whereas achievement refers to something done successfully with effort, skill or encouragement. Academic performance is the level at which a student, teacher or institution has achieved its short-term educational objectives. Academic achievement is usually measured by exams or continuous evaluations, but there is no general agreement on how best to assess it.

Factors influencing academic achievement

Individual academic performance differences have been linked to intellectual and personality differences. Students with higher mental skills, as demonstrated in IQ tests, tend to achieve high levels in academia. In addition, students with higher awareness, who linked to effort and motivation for achievement, also tend to achieve academic results.

Parents influence the academic achievement of students through the environment and shape the skills, behaviours and attitudes of students towards school. Magnuson, K. (2007) revealed that academic socialization can be influenced by the social and economic status of parents. Parents with a high level of education tend to have higher expectations and pay more attention towards their child learning environments. Moreover, recent research shows that the quality of relationships with parents will influence the development of academic self-efficiency in adolescents, which will affect their academic performance.

Motivation is the reasoning behind the actions of an individual. According to the research done by Gutman, L. M. and Schoon, I. (2013), it is found that students who are motivated to improve their previous or upcoming performance tend to perform better academically than less motivated students. Bad dietary habits, on the other hand, can also lead to a lack of motivation (Downes, 2015).

In addition, organized extracurricular activities have a positive relationship with high academic performance, including higher attendance rates, school participation, higher CGPA and low drop-out rates. (Darling, 2005). Moreover, positive development results in young people engaged in organized extracurricular activities have been established. Learning at secondary schools has been linked to strong academic performance, especially among urban youth.

Friendship affect academic achievement

Academic achievement in adolescence is a key to determining future success in education and work. Friends play an important role in the education process because they provide support and resources to promote and encourage academic achievement. As a result, adolescents’ preferences for friends are important. These preferences determine the group of friends because the advantages of academic students are compounded, and the concentration of academic advantages is achieved.

Friendship forms between people with similar values who spend time in similar ways and who understand the choices and decisions of each other (Newcomb, 1956). One result of these preferences is that people with similar academic achievements are more likely to become friends.

Methodology

Participants

Study data is collected by a total of 35 participants. Participants are all from the Sunway College Pre-U Program student. No stress was placed on them before they filled out the survey form.

Materials / Instrument

A quantitative survey method is used to investigate the effects of friendship on academic performance. The survey will be conducted via Google Forms. The answer to the questions in the Likert scale method from 1 to 5 was designed. The number 1 is ‘ Strongly Disagree ‘ and the number 5 is ‘ Strongly Agree. ‘ These questionnaires were posted in the social media publicly.

Procedure

A survey form is provided for each participant to test their relationship with friends and academic performance. A total of 14 questions were asked for their academic performance during the survey. The survey question was intended to determine the friendship and the behaviour of the participants ‘ friendship. Moreover, a question based on achievement has been added to investigate the academic performance of the participant.

All results were analysed by means of statistics and numbers. Since the data for answers using the Likert scale is categorical, only the data model and frequency are analysed. The correlation coefficient of Pearson has been used to determine the linear correlation between two data variables.

Finding and Discussion

The main purpose of the research of the study was to investigate the relationship with friend effects academic performance. A total of 35 responses were collected and analysed for the purpose to answer the research questions, which are:

• Does relationship with friends affect academic performance?
• How does it affect academic performance, why?

Before and after meeting their friends, the respondent was asked to compare their academic achievements. The respondent was given a Likert scale to measure how much they agreed that their academic achievement was better than before they met their friend, with 1 strongly disagreeing and 5 strongly agreeing. Based on diagram I, it was found that nearly all respondents have better academic performance than they did before meeting their friends. This is because 28.57% of the respondents agree strongly (5) that their current academic achievement is better. While 7 or 20 percent of the respondents agreed (4).

However, two respondents disagree strongly with this. All two of these respondents stated earlier that they would like to talk to their classmates while the lesson is taking place. Moreover, 14 or 40% of the respondents rated 3 as neutral. This shows that respondents are not very sure of their academic achievements before and after their friends have met them.

The respondents were also asked to rate a Likert scale based on how often they spend time with friends in classes. As shown in diagram II above, the statement received the greatest disagreement between all ratings. The statement was strongly opposed by a total of 26 respondents, the highest of all ratings. Most students therefore don’t skip classes to spend time with friends.

In past literature, friends spend time in similar ways and understand the choices and decisions of each other (Newcomb, 1956). People prefer to spend time studying and less likely to skip classes to spend time with friends.

A large number of respondents agreed that they are helping their academic friends. Twelve respondents agreed strongly with this statement, while six respondents were neutral.

There are unexpected problems and difficulties, which can lead to academic failures (Trimmer, 1992). As previously mentioned, friends play an important role in the education process because they provide support and resources to promote and prevent academic achievement. For example, group studies give students the opportunity to ask questions about a certain segment of the textbook when they are confused. Students can also learn some of their study techniques from others. Group students can develop their problem-solving skills and understand the study material better (Cooper & Mueck, 1990).

In contrast, self-studies are more productive than group studies and students learn more while studying alone, they can give their studies the right time and concentration. This is because some students may find themselves easily distracted by their friends when studying in group. Studying alone in this case enables us to minimize distractions around us. Students can concentrate on information on which more practice is needed.

Most respondents agreed that friends have assisted them to improve their grades. A total of 8 respondents rated “5” which represent strongly agree, while 17 respondents rated “4” which represent agree. 8 respondents have rated for neutral which is “3” and only two respondents are disagree. No respondents strongly disagreed on this statement.

Based on previous literature, researchers have found that students motivated by friends tend to improve their previous or future performance more academically than students with less motivation (Gutman & Schoon, 2013). Motivation is the reasoning behind the actions of an individual. This shows that students help each other improve their academic performance and encourage each other.

Friends

It has been found that a students’ frequency of spending time with friends is positively related to their CGPA (r = 0.54). This means that the longer the students spend time with friends, the higher the CGPA.

In previous studies, adolescent friendship is linked to changes in academic achievement (Flashman, 2011). CGPA is an important determinant of adolescent friends and helps to explain the influence of friendship on academic achievement. High successful students are more likely to connect with other highly successful students and vice versa. This shows that students spend more time with friends and study together. When students study in groups, they can motivate and encourage each other. In addition, students are able to learn some studying skills and habits by observing others’ study skills and they can incorporate it in their studying routine. Furthermore, some students might feel uncomfortable asking a question in class and they might feel more comfortable asking someone in a small group. Meanwhile, some of the students who study alone feel more focus than studying in group. This means that they do not rely on their friends and studying alone allows student to concentrate and minimize the disruptions that can keep them from retaining the material.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrate the importance of adolescent’s friendships with their peers and their academic achievement. To answer the research question, ‘ How does it affect academic performance, why?,’ we found that relationships with friends have a valuable impact on the CGPA. We conclude, that students who always spend time studying with friends receive a higher CGPA. We also found that friends help each other in academic difficulties and help each other to improve their qualifications. It can therefore be concluded that relationship between friends affect academic performance.

Limitations

This study has a few limitations. In the first place, the survey study uses the Likert scale for most questions. Likert scale data may be distorted because of the central tendency bias (Douven, 2017). This prevents respondents from responding to extreme ratings such as ‘ 1, ‘ which are strongly disagreeable, and ‘ 5, ‘ which are strongly agreed. Secondly, the data was collected via an online survey. This can cause several problems because respondents can sometimes give dishonest or inconspicuous answers. The respondents were also given predominantly close-ended questions and were not given the opportunity to answer them. The researcher therefore mainly reasoned the results of the answer on the basis of assumptions and previous literature.

Recommendations

We hope that future studies will consider and overcome the limitations of this study. Future studies should include interviews to assess the reasons given to justify and further understanding by the respondents. Future studies should also conduct experiments to clearly determine the relationship between friends and its impact on academia.

Significant

The research benefits are that people are aware of the relationship between friends and their impact on academic performance. In addition, this research will enable the public to know how friends influence the academic performance of an individual. In order to improve their academic performance, they can choose friends carefully.

Reference

1. Coleman, J. (1998). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. American Journal of Sociology,94, 95-120. doi:https://doi.org/10.1086/228943
2. Cooper, J.L. & Mueck, R. (1990). Student involvement in learning: Cooperative learning and college instruction. Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, 1 (1), 68-76.
3. Crosnoe, R., & Needham, B. (2004). Holism, Contextual Variability, and the Study of Friendships in Adolescent Development. Child Development, 75(1), 264-279. Retrieved February 3, 2004, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00668.x.
4. Darling, N. (2005). Participation in Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Adjustment: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Findings. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(5), 493-505. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-7266-8
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A child’s community is made up of the immediate members, relatives, friends and neighbors. The role of parents in the education of their children is very crucial. Obonyo (2018), defined Parents’ involvement as a combination of commitment and regular participation of parents in school and learning activities. In West Indies Pakistan, Perriel (2015), indicated that the presence of parents in schools contributed to pupils’ academic achievement. Mtaragwi (2012) in a study in Africa stated that many parents spend more time at work or away from their children leaving them with very little time to acquaint themselves with their children’s education progress.

Homework is the task assigned by a teacher for the pupils to perform at non-school hours which in most cases is done at home. Portier, Stagg, Tavares and Rambaran (2013), from Canada stated that homework is an important way for the school to communicate with the parents. The learning activities given as homework provide the parent with the content and skills their children learn in school. It is therefore the role of the parent to monitor and assist their children with the homework. In America, Patall, Cooper and Robinson (2008), indicated that involvement of parents in pupil’s homework positively impact on the completion and reduction of problems that pupils may have with assignments.

In South Africa, Abrahams (2013), indicated that parental non – involvement in homework is not a deliberate act but occurs due to challenges like uneducated parents, poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse. In Kenya, Chemagosi (2012), found out that parents who supervised homework realized better performance from their children as opposed to those who do not. In Kisumu County, Odawo (2013), strongly agrees with the fact that most of the parents who were keen on their children’s assignment were those having a high educational background. This is because they could comprehend what the children were learning in school. From the above studies it can be said that parent’s involvement in supervising pupils’ homework is core in their academic performance and lack of it may be detrimental.

School meetings are forums organized by the school administration to discuss pupils’ progress at school and find solutions to academic or behavioral problems. In America, Donoghue (2014), stated that parents should be engaged in their children academic activities regardless of their busy schedules. They need to set aside time to attend school meetings to receive information on how their children were performing. In China, Wong (2018), stated that communication with teachers and attending school events increased parent’s understanding of their children’s academic performance. This developed parent-child communication on school issues associated with learning.

In Namibia, Erlendsdottir (2010), found out that interaction process through school meetings have greatly enabled parents to share ideas. When parents are given opportunity to express their ideas on issues concerning the education of their children, they tend to do it whole heartedly. In Kenya, Opala (2014), stated that parents’ attendance of PTA meetings provided opportunities for them to discuss their children’s learning activities with teachers. In Kisumu, Ang’ienda (2013), concurs by stating that parent’ participation brought constant communication between the parent and the school resulting in good performance.

Parents have a deep knowledge of their children than teachers, therefore, they need to constantly follow up their children’s academic performance. In America, Perriel (2015), argued that parents should not only be called during fundraisings, or when their children get in trouble, but they need to be actively involved in the education process of their children on a day to day basis. In Ethiopia, Sukys, Dumciene and Lapeniene (2015), argued that parents who are involved in the education of their children realized better performance.

A study in Tanzania, Kimaro and Mmachumu (2015) stated that parent-teacher face-to-face contact was the most natural and desirable system of communication that improved not only children’s school outcomes, but also discipline, attitude and attendance rates. This view is supported by Ondieki (2012), who found out that parents who followed up their children’s performance in school regularly, have their children achieve better academic results than those who were less frequent in the follow ups or with no follow ups at all. Therefore, it should be a top priority for parents to form a habit of visiting the school to make follow up of the learning progress of their children without which their children’s performance will take a downward trend.

For the realization of successful learning, parents need to support their children’s education in all areas and not leave them to the teachers to handle everything. In Canada, Mare (2014) identified that parents who are involved in their children’s education expose them to interesting activities and materials, like reading books or having academic tours. This shows that they place a high value in the education of their children and expect their children to do likewise. The Kenyan constitution Basic education Act No. 14 of 2013 sec 39 addresses the responsibility of the government to provide all the necessary learning resources for all schools. Nevertheless, parents have a role to ensure that their children have proper uniform when going to school. Kinya (2016) found out that pupils without official or appropriate uniform were sent home hence missing lessons that resulted to poor performance. Pupils need writing materials and stationaries for their learning. Michubu (2013), argued that parents should be encouraged to purchase other supplementary learning materials for their children to use at home to do their homework and extra studies.

Nyakach Sub County was the target in this study. The academic performances of pupils in this Sub County when compared to other Sub Counties showed that the mean standard score at KCPE had been at the bottom in comparison to the neighboring Sub counties of Kisumu County.

The Kenya government passed a basic Education Act No. 14 of 2013 Sec 39, (d) and (e) that stipulated the role of the government as providing human resource including adequate teaching and non-teaching staff, learning and teaching equipment and appropriate financial resources. Despite all these efforts by the government to ensure that the primary school education is equipped with all the necessary learning materials, the performance in Nyakach Sub County is low in comparison to other sun counties within Kisumu county.

Most education stakeholders put their focus on the school administration, teachers and the pupils to obtain good performance. According to Habibullah and Ashraf (2013), Schools are often blamed for pupil’s poor performance in academics despite the teachers’ efforts in educating them. The education stakeholders have continued to put pressure on the teachers to improve the academic performance of the pupils, while forgetting the role of the parents. It is for this reason that the researcher intended to determine whether parents’ involvement in the education of their children also contributed to the low performance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Parents’ involvement in their children’s performance at Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in public schools in Nyakach sub-county, Kisumu County, Kenya.

The following objectives were used to guide the study:

• To examine how parents’ involvement in supervision of their children’s homework influence their performance at Kenya certificate of primary education in public schools in Nyakach sub county, Kisumu county, Kenya.
• To establish how parents’ involvement in attending school meetings influence their children’s performance at Kenya certificate of primary education in public schools.
• To determine how parents’ initiative in academic follow up of their children influence their performance at Kenya certificate of primary education
• To examine how parents’ involvement in provision of supplementary learning materials influence their children’s performance at Kenya certificate of primary education.

The study was guided by the following research questions:

• How does parents’ involvement in supervising pupils’ homework influence their children’s performance at Kenya certificate of primary education in public schools in Nyakach Sub County, Kisumu County, Kenya?
• In which ways does parents’ involvement in attending school meetings influence their children’s performance at Kenya certificate of primary education in public schools?
• How does parents’ involvement in making own initiatives in academic follow up influence their performance at Kenya certificate of primary education?
• In which ways does parents’ involvement in provision of supplementary learning materials influence their children’s performance at Kenya certificate of primary education?

The study findings might be useful to a number of people including: the school management, that is, the head teachers, Board of Management (BOM) and the teachers, who may use the findings to come up with policies and strategies guiding parents on how to get involved in the education of their children in schools. From the study, parents might be able to understand the importance of getting involved in the learning process of their children. The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved with education matters might also get to know the importance of parents’ involvement in the education of their children in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. It may also trigger more future research in the area of study.

Limitation is an aspect of research that influence the results negatively but over which the researcher has no control (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). The responses that they gave could not be controlled by the researcher. The researcher therefore requested the respondents to be as honest as possible for the research findings to be valid. The researcher also assured the respondents that their identities and information given will be used in confidence for the study purposes only

The study was confined to Nyakach Sub county in Kisumu County. The study focused primarily on the influence of parents’ involvement in education on their children’s performance. This was done by assessing parents’ supervision of their children’s homework, their attendance of school meetings, their level of initiating academic follow up and purchasing supplementary learning materials. The study was delimited to the pupils, teachers and parents from public primary schools in Nyakach Sub-County as the main respondents. The findings are limited to public primary schools in Nyakach Sub county and therefore might not generally reflect the cases of other sub counties in Kisumu because of the difference in its geographic location, climatic condition and the economic status of the community.

The study was based on assumptions that;

1. Parents’ involvement in the education of their children affects their academic performance.
2. The respondents would voluntarily give reliable information on the subject.

Academic Follow up refers to the act of parents making their own initiatives to go to school to meet the teachers of their children, in order to discuss the academic progress of their children and support the teachers in teaching the child (children).

Academic Performance refers to the average scores that a pupil obtains in the examination at the end of a term or year. Homework refers to extra work given to the pupil by the teacher in school that is expected to be done at home after school hours. The work is based on a topic that was already covered in the class.

Parent refers to the biological father or mother of a child. This also refers to the guardian responsible for the child if the biological parents are not available. Parent’s involvement refers to an active role played by the parents in the learning process of their children both at school and at home to improve the academic performance of the pupil. Supplementary learning Materials refers to are learning materials that are used by the pupil at his /her private time. Such as books, stationaries and uniform.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Technology has been an integral part of our daily lives. People all around the globe rely on gadgets for innumerable necessary reasons, such as communication, research, employment, and etc. As the world is developing, more gadgets are getting introduced, and more dependent people have become on them. Modern cell phones enable users to access a variety of electronic media at almost any time and any place. Popular activities such as playing video games, surfing the Internet, and monitoring social media sites are now all easily accomplished with most cell phones. Now-a-days, Cell phones is an integral part of our daily life as well as school life and education. Even a casual observation of today’s students will reveal mobile phones being excessively used throughout the campus, both during and after classes, in every possible campus setting, including the classroom. Tindell and Bohlander, (2012) claims that university students frequently use the cell phone during class time despite rules against doing so. As cell phone technology continues its rapid development, modern gadgets are seemingly becoming more and more as an utter disruption to the student’s education and it can lead into some serious reduction on their learning

Although some students are extensively addictive on using their mobile phones in class and in studying. Intensive cell phone use was related to school failure as well as other negative behaviors. Certain negative impacts of mobile phone are also seen on young people’s peer relationships, such as, ostracism and cyber bullying. Rosen et al. (2013) observed the study behaviors as well as study settings of a sample of middle school, high school, and university students. Participants were observed for 15 min with on task and off-task behavior recorded every minute. Results showed that participants typically became distracted by media such as Facebook and texting after less than 6 min of studying. Chen and Tzeng (2010) found that among heavy Internet user’s information seeking was associated with better academic performance, while video game playing was associated with lower levels of academic performance. In addition, several recent studies have identified a negative relationship between social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) by the use of mobile phones and academic performance (e.g., Rosen, et al., 2013; Stollak, et al., 2011)

Choliz, (2010) pointed out that excessive use of gadgets and dependency on the usage of mobile phones may be considered as an addictive disorder. Many of us disregard the excessive use of mobile phones, and we are not aware of what it may harm to our mental health and academic performance. For this research paper, the researchers have purposively focused on the outcomes of having a low academic performance due to the mobile phone addiction of the senior high school student of E. Rodriguez Jr. High School.

Statement of the Problem

This study will be conducted for the sole purpose to ascertain the impact of excessive use of cellphones on those Grade 12 senior high school students of Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. High School who has a low academic performance. For the researchers, to know and understand the causes and effects of why some students are addicted to cellphones. In identifying the problem, the following research question has been formulated:

1. Why do mobile phones affect the academic performance of a student?
2. Why do some students frequently use mobile phones during classes?
3. How will mobile phones have an undesirable effect to the students’ academic performance?
4. Is there a significance between mobile phone addiction and having a low academic performance?

Assumption

This research study is conducted to know how being a cellphone addict can harm academic performance and how they affect each other and also knowing the causes of why some students are addict using their phones.

Hypothesis

There is a significant cause and effect between cellphone addiction and having a low academic performance.

There is no significant cause and effect between cellphone addiction and having a low academic performance.

Significance of the Study

The result and findings of this study are beneficial foremost to the students, parents, teachers and school administrators of E. Rodriguez Jr. High School. It can help them to become knowledgeable and more aware of how can mobile phones addiction will affect their academic performance. This research study can be substantial to the following aspects:

1. Students- The findings in this study will give them a wider knowledge and awareness of how can excessive use of mobile phones can have a negative impact on their academic performances. This may also help them to understand what is the importance of participation and performance task in class.
2. Parents- The findings in this study may engage them to encourage their children to lessen the usage of mobile phones in their daily classes, pursue their education and develop their children’s academic performance.
3. Teachers and School Administrators- The findings in this study will be helpful to them, they will be aware of what their students are encountering and also determine how it influences their education so that, they will not have an arduous circumstance on them.

Scope and Delimitation

The scope of this study will cover the immense impacts of excessive use of mobile phones that cause some students to have low academic performance. This study focuses only on every section of Grade 12 students studying at E. Rodriguez Jr. High School. The researchers will not focus on any other level or school. This research will be conducted during the second semester of the S.Y. 2019-2020. The data will be needed for this research will be accumulated through surveys and questionnaires.

Framework

Low Academic

Performance

Cellphone Addiction

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework is composed of those two variable, how cellphone addiction can affect their academic performance. Wherein the respondents, the Grade 12 students, will be surveyed by the researchers in order to learn of how excessive use of mobile phones can affect their academic performance.

Definition of Terms

• Addiction – it is a psychological and physical inability to stop and unable to control themselves. This is when a person abuses the usage of a specified object or activity irresponsibly that can affect your mental, emotional, and physical health. Furthermore, it is a chronic mental disorder or disease involving complex interactions among the brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and life experiences
• Academic performance – it is the outcome of the learnings or knowledge of the students in their education. This is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. it is also the measurement of the student’s achievement across various academic subjects through the usage of the teacher’s records and data
• Mobile phones – it is a wireless handheld device that allows the user to make and receive messages and phone calls. It is used for a variety of purposes such as communication, conducting business, entertainment, and gathering information. Additionally, it also helps people to be connected and socialize at any time and place.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

At this moment, technology has been a part of our daily lives, and it plays a vital role in every one of us such as in the educational field. A mobile phone is one of the most rapidly growing new technologies in the world (Rebello,2010). In an early study of the phenomenon, Sánchez-Martínez and Otero (2009) used a combination of self-reported monthly cell phone expenses and frequency of use data to identify intensive cell phone users in a large sample of Spanish high school students. In the study, intensive cell phone use was related to school failure as well as other negative behaviors such as smoking and excessive alcohol use.

In recent years, more studies were carried out on smartphone use in relation to academic performance. For instance, Jacobsen and Forste (2011) in their study found a negative relationship between calling, texting, and self-reported grade point average (GPA) among university students in the United States. Similarly, Hong, Chiu, and Hong (2012) found that calling and texting were positively correlated with a self-reported measure of academic difficulty among a sample of female, Taiwanese university students.

In classroom, students engage in surfing web, social networking, checking emails and text messages and consequently pay less attention to their lessons (HISCOCK, 2004; SELWYN, 2003). Moreover, students spend more time with their smartphone that hampers their regular studies. Based on Internet Related Addictive Behavior Inventory, Brenner (1997) reported some daily-life disturbances such as less sleeping time, less time management, missing meal and other symptoms.

Technology addiction is becoming prevalent everywhere with various forms such as Internet addiction, mobile addiction and smartphone addiction. Young (1998) reported internet addiction having online dependency symptoms such as withdrawal, impatience, loss of control, disorder in academic, job, and social performance

References

1. Brenner, V. (1997). Psychology of computer use: XLVII. Parameters of Internet use, abuse and addiction: the first 90 days of the Internet Usage Survey. Psychological Reports, v. 80, n. 3, p. 879-882. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/34457225/Impact_of_Smartphone_Addiction_on_Academic_Performance_of_Business_Students_A_Case_Study
2. Hiscock, D. (2004). Cell phones in class: This, too, shall pass. Community College Week, v. 16, n. 16, p. 4-5. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/34457225/Impact_of_Smartphone_Addiction_on_Academic_Performance_of_Business_Students_A_Case_Study
3. Hong, F.Y., Chiu, S. I., Hong, D. H. (2012). A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese University. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244015573169?fbclid=IwAR1H3YfPFS9nkpihgaiu9sjlb_FhzdshiDxPbm-93saHym66UPpLSwHKX0c
4. Jacobsen, W. C., & Forste, R. (2011). The wired generation: Academic and social outcomes of electronic media use among university students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 275-280. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/29026191/THE_EFFECT_OF_MOBILE_PHONES_ON_STUDENTS_ACADEMIC_PERFORMANCE?fbclid=IwAR3wCsrFycboyunvMg-8KMCKNY0oZwOpqCLRI-U45itnTuvhGI2hE6SYemk
5. Sánchez-Martínez, M., and Otero, A., (2009). Factors associated with cell phone use in adolescents in the community of Madrid (Spain). Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 12: 131-137
6. Young, K. S. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, v. 1, n. 3, p. 237-244. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/34457225/Impact_of_Smartphone_Addiction_on_Academic_Performance_of_Business_Students_A_Case_Study

This research report seeks to know the positive and negative effects of Call of Duty to basic education junior high school department. Whether call of duty is bad for student academic performance or not, will also be determined in this study.

The experiences of students that this game while studying will be mentioned. An interview for 10 students who plays Call of Duty is conducted almost all of the answers for the questions where the same their academic performance poor but can make them relax and relieve from stress. For them Call of Duty is one of the reasons why their grades are failing.

In half an hour of playing this game, almost the whole lesson will be missed. Instead of reviewing their lessons, they spend most of their free time in playing. A single game for them won’t be enough, at least two to three games will make them satisfy. That amount of time will be enough to review a lot of subjects.

Students’ time management in this kind of situation is not followed. If the player become addicted the person will spend all of his time in playing, and forget about their responsibilities in school. This is the reason for poor academic performance of junior high school student of CLDH.EI.

In that case mobile game called Call of Duty, completes the reason of student destruction to academics due to game addiction. It proves that a lot of time are wasted in this game and even though it is a time killer, it will destroy the student’s time management. To sum up, this game has a lot of negative effects than positive.

Introduction

Internet as a source of information plays an important role in developing one’s mind and life experiences by creating productive works in schools and at home. Nowadays, this can be a person’s most strategic tool for enabling himself to take charge and keep up with the fast growing of technology.

The fact that students live in an informative lifestyle where everything is updated, Internet became one of the necessities of students regardless of age and sex in today’s society. But the influence of this useful machine on youth is undeniably questionable. In line with this development, call of duty was created to give entertainment to people.

Social media, newspaper, games, are the things that we can do using this technology. Having this kind of technology useful benefits are easy to be achieved. As for teens, games is the most relatable app to them. Call of duty can easily get attentions from people, at the interesting things that games can offer. Call of duty is made by the company Activision and released in 2003.

We researchers want to show you the negative effects of call of duty. Call of duty addiction can affect the teens physically and socially. Too much radiation coming from mobile phones can damage some of poor body parts like eyes, brain, and even bones. Just by relying on technology to remove boredom and stress, social interaction can be forgotten. It is easy to socialize on the internet than in person, that is why some of the teens today has more time on playing call of duty than hanging out with their friends in person.

Teens and even adults spend a lot of their times in mobile games. Call of Duty lets you experience soldier’s life, and the thrill that everyone wants to experience. Call of Duty can also help you improve socially, just by communicating with others, you can gain a lot of friends. Players approximately spend a half an hour just to play, but enjoyment leads them to spend a lot of time.

Teens usually play this game at school with their friends, to help them to relax from school works and makes them feel at ease. Break time is the best time to play Call of Duty but some naughty students play this game even in class hours. They secretly play while their teacher is busy discussing, and because of that kind of attitude, the whole lesson will be missed. Students who can’t resist their temptation in this game will have a hard time managing their time. Time management is important in everything we do, we need to balance our time in enjoying and studying, neither any of them will surpass each other.

When a player wins a game, that person will have a good mood, will feel happy and can share positive vibes to anyone. His/her school works will be done with full of inspiration in his mind. But what if the player loses? Will that game affect his/her day? Of course it will, disappointment is the first thing that might trouble the player. But that bad thoughts won’t last long, the player may play another game to recover from his/her loss.

Call of duty is one of the wildly used online game activities by many people. For some people it is said that playing call of duty has a number of reasons to be played, for it can be a stress reliever, challenge and competition, relaxation, enjoyment, social interaction, and even mentally escaping from the real world.

For some people, playing call of duty is one of the best past time that they acquire specially for teenagers, youngsters and students. Some people may say, students who play call of duty are just having fun.

Statement of the problem:

1. What are the pros of playing call of duty?
2. What are the cons of playing call of duty?
3. Does playing call of duty substantially improves performance in a range of: Attentional, perceptual, and Cognitive tasks?
4. Does the teamwork in call of duty affects players cooperation in terms of academic performances?
5. What inputs in academic performance of high school can call of duty affect?

Explanation

Call of duty is a game enjoyed by some students. However, it has positive and negative effects in our daily lives. There are also performances that call of duty can affect every high school student like, attentional, perceptual and cognitive tasks.

The positive effects are, you can have the ability to solve problems in your own way. You could also be a fast thinker when it comes to class recitation. And lastly, you could have hand-eye coordination where in you have the ability to react much faster because of the relationship of your sense of sight and touch.

The negative effects are, you could be addicted to this game which can result to lack of sleep. Because of this you would have lack of time management. But one of the most negative effects that you could have is violence. Academic performance is affected by addiction of call of duty. Because addiction is the main reason why students can’t focus on their studies. But besides that, call of duty could help the students improve their interpretation skills and accuracy which could help in some cognitive task

Scope and delimitation

This study explored the experiences of high school students who became the victims of call of duty. It focused on the experiences of the participants in the school during their verbal activities such as; oral presentation, reporting, recitation, and other related interactive tasks that would require them the direct use of the English Language, for them to talk to other players because this game is played around the world. The researchers first administered a survey questionnaire to the three hundred thirty- two (364) junior High school students from Central Luzon doctor’s hospital educational institution , basic education department. The said school is located at Brgy. San Pablo , Tarlac City. After finding out the results, the researchers were able to choose top twenty (20) students who had experienced the effects of playing call of duty. Then, the researchers administered the first interview questionnaire to determine the final ten (10) students who were chosen as the final participants in the study.

Furthermore, the study identified the negative effects of call of duty frequently committed by the participants through playing call of duty and an actual observation in the natural classroom set-up. Also, the reactions of the participants towards their experiences were recognized through the use of the said game which was picked by the researchers. Finally, this case study concentrated on ten (10) experiences of the victims of The effects of playing call of duty from the high school students in CLDH-EI .

Definition of Terms

These are the terms in this research report with its technical and operational definition.

• BALANCE: ability to retain one’s balance (merriam webster) – having time management in enjoying and studying, neither any of them will surpass each other
• CHALLENGE: to dispute especially as being unjust invalid or outmoded (Merriam Webster)
• COMPETITION -Face tough fight(Merriam Dictionary). Its a tournament between two teams who’s fighting for there base who ever wins will get a reward Inspiration. The quality or state of being inspired (merriam Webster). Being able to do something because you’re hyperactive.
• INFORMATIVE: imparting knowledge (merriam Webster) -students live in an educational lifestyle to be updated always
• NAUGHTY: guilty of disobedience or misbehavior (merriam Webster) -some students disrespect the teachers in front of them just to play call of duty
• Surpass: to become better greater or stronger than (merriam webster) –doing something that you’re not able to do before.
• STRATEGIC: relating to or marked by strategy (merriam webster) – This can be a person’s most tactics tool for enabling himself take charge and keep up with a fast growing technology
• STRESS RELIEVER -something that relieves pain, stress, etc. pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen. Exercise is a good stress reliever(Google dictionary)
• TEMPTATION: something tempting a cause or occasion of enticement (merriam webster) -players attempt to use any kinds of mobile apps because of influence of other people
• TECHNOLOGY: the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular are. (Merriam webster) -makes life easier to communicate and play any kind of mobile games -For some people who are gamers it’s a stress reliever because they can relax and enjoy their free time.
• RADIATION -the combined processes of emission, transmission, and absorption of radiant energy (Merriam Dictionary). -It causes brain damage to those people who are getting addicted to mobile games.

Related Literature and Studies

Related Literature

• The Effects to trust and enjoyment on intention to play online games eBy. Jiming Wu and De Liu 2007
• Video game usage and gameplay: Call of Duty 4 case study By. Samuel Almeida, Oscar Mealha, Ana Isabel Veloso 2010
• Digital Historicism: Archival footage, Digital interface, and historiographical effects in call of duty: World at war By. Jaimie Baron 2010
• Exploring ideology in gaming youth playing call of duty: modern warfare 2 By. Karem DeLiz Coronel 2010

This research is different because this seeks to portray all the effects that call of duty delivers to high school students. This research report also explains the positive and negative effects of playing call of duty. On the other hand, other researches are focused in improving the game and showing all the specs that call of duty game has. To sum it all up, our research only aims on high school students that are playing call of duty to enlighten them about the effects of playing call of duty and how it can instantly change their academic performances.

The similarities are that this research is also about call of duty. It also shows the cause of playing call of duty because of technical advancements. And how this game attracts high school students.

Related studies

• Invading your hearts and minds: Call of Duty and (re)writing of militarism in US digital games and popular culture By. Frederick Gagnon 2010
• Respond to the call of duty’ By. Austin Riddell 2019
• ‘A modern mathematical adventure in call of duty:Black ops’ By. Heidi Hulsizer 2018
• ‘answering the call of duty:the phenomenology of justice in twenty-first-century video games’ By. Craig John Newberry – Jones 20153

VARIABLES

Short Explanation

This research report is composed of two inputs, which are Call of Duty and academic performance. these inputs are also classified in two types, dependent and independent variables. In this research report, the independent variable is Call of Duty, because whatever the cause is it will never change. Even if the academic performance changes, the game itself will still remain the same. Unlike academic performance, Call of Duty can affect this matter. The academic performance will become good or poor depending on the given effect. Therefore, in this research report, the dependent variable is the student’s academic performance

Significance of Study

This study aims to guide the student through their mobile game activities. The experiences of the students who’s grades are affected due to this game will be exposed in this study.

To Basic Education Faculty this study will serve as a guide for the reasons of poor performance of the mobile game players in your class. Also, it will add some knowledge on how you can properly handle this kind of student, by teaching them the proper time management. This study will also give you a background that can help you deal with the student’s failing grades, and what appropriate advise can you give to them.

To Mobile game players the discovery of the pros and cons of this mobile game called Call of Duty will lead you to expanding your knowledge on the possibilities that this game will bring in your academic performance. This study will also give you some tips on how you can perfectly manage your time. The importance of balancing your time in games and studies will be mentioned in this study.

To Parents this research will serve as a guide on the things that is happening in your child physically, and mentally. This study will also help you decide on what you can do to prevent your child from the negative effects of Call of Duty. Also, you can also know the negative and positive effects of your child’s time killer.

To the other researchers this study will serve as a manual to the future researchers that will likewise wants to study about this mobile game, and has a good intention to inform everyone about the consequences of this game. The outcome of our study will be a foundation for the other researchers, and make their works easy in gathering some informations, thoughts and facts.

Hypothesis

Tested hypothesis

As the respondents assessed, it can be inferred that playing call of duty may result to a negative effect in the academic performances in school. Even if the respondents play call of duty still the personal interaction with others are not affected. They still do love there friends personally and are able to socialize effectively.

There is a significant relationship between the academic performances of the respondents and playing Call of Duty during weekends. Which result to having an equal grade while playing Call of Duty. Weekends are the days when respondents have their pleasure time for recreational activities.

The academic performance of the respondents change a lot because of this game. But their grades are still good enough even if they spent a lot of their time playing. To sum up all the result, the respondents have a stable academic performance despite their involvement in playing Call of Duty.

Population And Sampling

This research report seeks to show the effects of Call of Duty to academic performance of junior high school students of CLDH.EI. There are 274 respondents in the Basic Education Junior High School Department, and 94 students are playing this game. We had chosen 10 respondents to answer our questions why they play Call of Duty. Each respondents had answered almost the same thought. They agreed that Call of Duty has a lot of negative effects to student’s a academic performance. But the respondents also said that Call of Duty is a great time killer, and stress reliever.

Purposive sampling is the type of sampling we used. Purposive sampling also known as judgmental, selective or subjective sampling, is a form of non-probability sampling in which researchers rely on their own judgement when choosing respondents of the population to participate in their research report

This sampling method requires researchers to have prior knowledge about the purpose of their studies so that they can properly choose and approach eligible participants. Researchers use purposive sampling when they want to access a particular subset of people, as all participants of a study are selected because they fit a particular profile.

Data:

Playing call of duty is pervasive in the lives of junior High school students. Opportunities for gaming are everywhere, and students are playing call of duty frequently. When asked, half of all High-school students reported playing call of duty “every day.” Those who play daily typically play for an hour or more. Fully 97% of High-school students ages 12-17 play call of duty. Additionally: 30% of high school students play call of duty for fun. 17% play call of duty in school. 13% play call of duty because of stress. 31% play call of duty because they’re bored and 9% play call of duty because they want to.

The question that will be discussed is why the body needs sleep and what happens if someone is sleep deprived. The sources that were found discuss the necessary amount of sleep someone needs and why and if someone doesn’t get the necessary amount of sleep, what happens to them physically and mentally. It is also seen that Sleep Deprivation is becoming commonplace within society. This may be due to reasons such as the overuse of smartphones or other electronics, other committing to too many things such as academic success, sporting commitments, part-time work and others. This appears to be a contemporary issue as many people suffer from not getting enough sleep. There are serve physical and physiological effect if someone doesn’t get enough sleep (Division of Sleep Medicine, 2007).

Sleep is separated into two different systems; sleep/wake homeostasis and circadian biological clock. Whilst being awake for long periods of time, sleep/wake homeostasis tell us that a need for sleep is accumulating. Sleep/wake homeostasis also allows us to get an uninterrupted sleep throughout the night. This accepts that there is a line between being awake and being asleep and helps us balance those two. The circadian biological clock regulates the timing of sleeping or being awake. This circadian rhythm tends to rise and fall at different times of the day.

Positives of sleep and how it has a positive effect that it has physically and physiologically. Avoiding electronics before going to sleep helps the brain get ready to go to sleep and exercising before sleeping also helps use up energy. The reason that people need sleep is that the body and brain both need to recover from a long day. Cells build up connections in the brain that link to other previous cells from the experiences that a person had, had during the day. These connections that are connected are stronger than others and the weaker ones are removed. Sleep is being worked on currently and they have found something called Brain Plasticity. Brain Plasticity is correlated changes within the structure and organization of the brain (Division of Sleep Medicine, 2007).

REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep is a deeper sleep in which a person may struggle to be woken up. On average an adolesces will rotate through REM sleep for approximately 70 to 100 minutes per 9 hours of sleep. These 70 to 100 minutes of REM sleep have been linked back to memory consolidation that occurs whilst sleeping. The reason for REM sleep cycling in this pattern is still unknown but is currently under research at Harvard Medical School. The rapid eye movements that happen whilst someone is in REM can somewhat be related to bizarre or extreme dreams. Studies from Harvard Medical School have shown that receiving REM sleep assists into receiving a decent sleep. Even without fully understanding what sleep does for us, we know that going without sleep for too long makes us perform poorly and that getting enough sleep can make us feel ready to perform academically. Scientists are currently attempting to fully understand what benefit’s sleep has. In studies of humans and other animals, they have discovered that sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other functions that are vital.

Not getting enough sleep affects the human body. Not getting enough sleep is common within adolescents. Sleep deprivation can be found within many age ranges and can have a large array of effects on different people. These effects can be phycological and physical. Physical effects that can be seen within a person who has sleep deprivation would be stumbling, feeling dizzy, loss of concentration and people can appear as if they are under the influence of alcohol. The phycological effects of people who suffer from sleep deprivation are slurring of words, struggle to interpret and process information, loss of short term and long-term memory and a loss of instinct. These effects can be very serious especially to people who work within the emergency department of a hospital. Many workers who work in this department often work long days and get minimal hours of sleep. This can make it especially hard for them to keep a focus and make decisions that could ultimately save someone’s life. Short- and long-term memory loss can also affect someone within an emergency department of a hospital because doctors and nurses need to make quick decisions based on their memory.

Exposure to blue-light wave lengths from smartphones, television or videos games can have serve effects on the circadian biological clock. The circadian biological clock is determined by the amount of natural light the body is exposed to. When there is artificial light introduced into a human’s day, the circadian biological clock begins to be confused. Blue light wave lengths have been predominantly used to boost attention, reaction times and moods. According to a study conducted at Harvard Medical School although blue light wave lengths are helpful during the day, there can be serve consequences during the night. A survey was conducted in which 14-17-year old’s were asked how much sleep they get each night. These results show that each a student will get at least 7-5 hours of sleep per night. This allows an insight into how sleep is can affect academic success. 6 of the 13 responses stated that they believe that their lack of sleep has a direct effect on their academic success. Also, 9 responses admit to using electronics before going to sleep.

Being deprived of REM sleep heavily effects an adolescence’s memory. This can be extremely worrying as most adolescences are in school and are taking in large amounts of important information. This may have an extreme impact on an adolescent’s academic achievements. Studies have shown that being deprived of REM sleep also has links to health issues such as migraines and cardiovascular disease. These studies have also shown that a lack of REM sleep can be linked to depression. Sleep deprivation can noticeably affect people’s performance, including their ability to think, react quickly and remember memories. 33 Sleep deprivation also affects a person mood, leading to irritability; problems with relationships, especially for children and teenagers; and depression. Sleep deprivation can also increase anxiety. Sleep is important for overall health, and inadequate sleep is associated with numerous health problems.

Research has shown that not getting enough sleep, or getting interrupted sleep, increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Sleep deprivation can also be very dangerous. Sleep-deprived people who were tested using a driving simulator or performing hand-eye coordination tasks did as badly as, or worse than, people who were intoxicated. Drowsy driving causes thousands of cars crashes each year, some of them fatal. Sleep deprivation magnifies the effect of alcohol on the body. A fatigued person who drinks will be more impaired than a well-rested person.

Neuroimaging evidence has implicated the prefrontal cortex as a brain region that may be particularly susceptible to the effects of sleep loss. This is due to the prefrontal cortex control behaviors such as personality development, maturing and decision making. This can be particularly harmful to adolescents as they are continually developing and growing. This can be linked to sleep deprivation as the prefrontal cortex will continue to grow until age 25. This means that if adolescents are suffering from sleep deprivation, their prefrontal cortex misses vital growing time. Sleep fragmentation is similar to sleep deprivation but isn’t completely the same.

Sleep fragmentation is stated as “brief arousals that occur during a sleep period”. These arousals do not naturally occur and are happen due to abnormal sleeping cycles. These sleeping cycles are directly affected by insomnia. Sleep fragmentation isn’t only just unsatisfying sleep; it is also linked to serious health issues such as weight gaining, mood problems, and excessive sleepiness throughout the day. This can be especially harmful to adolescents as this can directly affect their academic success or other commitments.

A study conducted by the John Hopkins University of Medicine shows many of the individuals that had to experience forced awakenings, delayed bedtimes and fragmented sleep experienced low and negative moods after the first night of the three-day experiment. These moods were measured using a standard mood assessment questionnaire which was administrated before sleep on the second night. The mood assessment questionnaire showed that there was a reduction of 31% in positive moods. Dr. Patrick Finan also stated that all of the participants reported normal sleeping patterns before the experiment began. Dr. Patrick Finan also stated that “When your sleep is disrupted throughout the night, you don’t have the opportunity to progress through the sleep stages to get the amount of slow-wave sleep that is key to the feeling of restoration”. This supports the fact that interrupted sleep is having an effect on adolescences.

A caffeine consumption study was conducted on year 7’s, year 8’s and year 9’s in the US. The aim of this study was to determine what effect caffeine would have on sleep patterns of the selected age groups. The students were instructed to keep a two-week diary of the caffeine that was consumed within the week. 191 students participated in the study. The results showed that the average time that the students went to sleep was 10:57 pm and the average time that students would wake up each day was 7:14 am. Younger students displayed an early time to go to sleep and an early time to wake up. The caffeine consumption significantly increased on weekends, but the study coincided that the reason for the increased caffeine consumption on the weekend may be primarily social. The study concluded that caffeine consumption has an increasing effect on the sleeping patterns of the selected age groups.

In conclusion, the question that was discussed within this assignment was why the body needs sleep and what happens to our body when we do not get enough sleep. The sources that were found discussed why the body needs sleep and what happens to our body when we don’t sleep. What variables effect sleep and how sleep deprivation within adolescents were discussed in depth within this assignment. This is a contemporary issue as many people have from a young age to older ages can all struggle from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation has a serve effect on an adolescent’s academic success. Other variables such as technology, caffeine consumption, sleep fragmentation and working overnight/ late into the night also showed to have effects of sleep deprivation. Therefore, to a serve extent, sleep deprivation has an effect on an adolescent’s academic success.

Introduction

Meditation is a mental training process which yields promising health and educational benefits for both the body and mind. Each time a student participates in meditation, they can narrow their attention to focus on awareness. This creates a healthy sense of perspective which will then slow metabolism and harvest feelings of relaxation. Meditation is an effective skill that boosts confidence, strength, awareness and patience. Meditation in education is not solely a symbol of good grades. Through an analysis, the students will be able to improve their physical and emotional well-being, the students may also feel the reduction of stress, and lastly the students can enhance their knowledge retention. There is absolutely a connection between meditation and education, meditation not only aids in academic performance but also in educational development.

Explication

The purpose for James Beauchemin and associates experiment was to demonstrate how mindfulness meditation can reduce anxiety, and promote social skills for students to improve their physical and emotional well-being. Through their 5-week mindfulness meditation experiment, Beauchemin and associates clearly demonstrate the connection between meditation and the student’s well-being. The study pertained 34 students diagnosed with learning disabilities who then experienced five weeks of mindful meditation. This was designed to examine and support previous research that indicated meditation and relaxation training may be effective in reducing anxiety and promoting social skills (Beauchemin, Hutchins, and Patterson, 2001). Outcomes measured suggest that mindfulness meditation decreases anxiety and detrimental self-focus of attention, and promotes improvement on emotional and physical well-being. Vernon A, Barnes and his associates validate the contribution meditation has in reducing stress. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of meditation on resting and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate (Barnes, Davis, and Murzynowski 2004). The study consisted of 73 middle school students who were then randomly divided into two groups, the experiment (34) and the control (39). Students participated in ten minutes of meditation at school and at home every day for three months. This was intended to observe and provide evidence that meditation may reduce stress by decreasing both blood pressure and heart rate. The results demonstrate the beneficial impacts of meditation towards stress that the students might feel to not only improve academic performance but also educational development. Jared T, Ramsburg and fellows examined the effects of meditation on the knowledge retention of students. In the experiment participants were randomly chosen to either rest or use brief meditation training and then were told to listen to a class lecture. This was designed to examine the cognitive skills required for successful knowledge retention by the influence of meditation training (Ramsburg Jared T, 2015). The results indicated that participants who used brief mediation training had improved retention of the information conveyed during the lecture and therefore enhance students’ knowledge retention.

Main argument: Problems to fix a bit too long

The purpose of meditation is to minimize the detrimental effects of unwanted thoughts and to fulfill inner peace. Failure to abide in our own essence constitutes a state of ill health where people identify with their thoughts S. Ranganathan, “Yoga Sultra Book 1” (lecture, York University, Toronto, ON, September 11, 2013). Meditation does not pertain to clearing the mind of negative content, rather than clarifying and understanding the mind. Meditation helps and assists education, by not only enhancing academic performance but educational development therefore, meditation is helpful for education. Meditation does not involve any money, equipment or infrastructure, it only requires commitment. Students who participate in meditation can improve their physical and emotional well-being, the students may also feel the reduction of stress, and enhance their knowledge retention. When performed regularly, meditation not only enables students to expand their self-awareness, but change their perspective on their academic performance. Mediation improves the students’ well-being and quality of life by improving sleep which can help students relax and control thoughts that may intervene with sleep, supporting emotional health by engaging in optimism and positive thinking, and in enhances self-awareness helping students to overcome any harmful or self-defeating thoughts. Engaging in the various forms of mediation can improve depression and can control mental uncertainty for the better. For students, exercising various forms of meditation to control and manage stress can help control anxiety. Meditation not only helps reduce anxiety a student might feel before an upcoming exam or assignment but also aid in anxiety related mental health issues such as, OCD and social anxiety. Students may also participate in meditation to lengthen their attention span, and enhance knowledge retention. Several forms of meditation can construct the students’ ability to maintain their attention by increasing their mental clarity and memory capacity. There is a high correlation between meditation and education. Not only does it improve the students physical and emotional well-being, they also show a decrease in stress and enhanced knowledge retention. This will not only aid in academic performance but also in educational development.

Reasons to Objections

A misconception is stemmed by the idea that meditation may not help students who are diagnosed with various learning disabilities. A popular belief pertains to students who have ADHD cannot perform meditation based off their lack of self-control and attention. To criticize this misconception, it is actually recommended to students who suffer from learning disabilities to practice meditation. During meditation, the brain uses algorithms to dictate what the attention should be on, this can be very useful for students who struggle with self-control and the ability to focus. When a student undergoes meditation, they can control their mind to focus on things they want to attend to therefore it becomes easier to understand and acknowledge the material being taught. From the study of James Beauchemin, the participants were diagnosed with learning disabilities and had undergone mindfulness meditation for a prolong period of time. The results had shown a decrease in anxiety and participants were able to focus attention and enhance social skills for optimal academic performance and educational development. Another misconception is that there is no way to measure the processes that meditation does have on the enhancement of academic performance and educational development brain and its activity. Ron Horan examined the connection between meditation and creativity through mindfulness meditation, concentrative and combined techniques. Horan’s research can be understood from the use of EEG studies to highlight what is ignited inside the brain when in meditation. His research indicates that Sanyama, an ancient yogic technique embodies both transcendence and integration which provides neuropsychological explanation for creativity (Horan, 2009). Through many neurological examinations, it is proven that there is a connection between mediation and how it helps students with their education by aids in academic performance and educational development.

Conclusion

When one considers the students improvement of their physical and emotional well-being, the decrease in stress and the ability to enhance their knowledge retention it is clear that meditation helps education. Students are taught that academic performance is solely based upon good grades however, meditation is a practice that can contribute to academic performance but also will enhance educational development. Meditation should be taught and encouraged within the schooling system. Being able to manage their mind is just as important as learning to pack it with information.

The first factor that affects Booker T. Washington Middle’s academic performance is the incredibly high rate of student poverty. In this school, low-income students represent more than 95% of all the students enrolled. Title 1 program provides additional funding for schools with large concentrations of low-income students to support communities with the highest concentrations of homelessness for students and achieve their educational goals. The number of students of low income depends on the number of students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program. Title 1 funded student types include students with limited English skills, homeless students, disabled, or any student in need. To continue receiving support, schools must make sufficient annual gains on state testing and concentrate on best teaching practices. One important thing to note is the notice that schools must make sufficient annual points on state testing and focus on best teaching practices to continue receiving support from the government. It’s relevant to 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. This is a law requiring students to take a test each year to rank and judge their schools. Schools must meet a certain target and increase their numbers, otherwise, they may face penalties such as staff firing, closing the establishment and a reduction in school funding. Many experts have already shown the unreliability of this law. Linda Darling Hammond compared the United States academic ranking with those of several countries of Europe and Asia who do not rely on standardized testing. She mentioned that the USA ranks between the rankings of 21 and 32. The country was ranked 21st in reading, 32nd in mathematics and 23rd in science. Compared to others, more than any other country, the United States tests students on multiple-choice tests. By comparison, Singapore ranked top in all three categories, only tests their students once in elementary and high school and gives more open ending, essay questions, oral and project-based experimentation. If one analyses the rankings of Singapore with the findings of Ken Robinson, what makes this country so efficient is that the academic system takes into account the three principles on which human life can flourish. Uniqueness, curiosity, and creativity. ‘Education under ‘No Child Left Behind’ is based on not diversity but conformity. What schools are encouraged to do is to find out what kids can do across a very narrow spectrum of achievement. One of the effects of ‘No Child Left Behind’ has been to narrow the focus onto the so-called STEM disciplines”. He said that science and math are very important. But education should give equal importance to other subjects such as arts, music, etc. Children are most likely to succeed and archive best if there are exposed to a broader curriculum.

The second factor that affects Booker T. Washington Middle’s academic performance is the levels of chronic absenteeism. As mentioned earlier, the title one student represents about 95% of all the students. For the school’s neighborhood, Upton/Druid Heights has the second-highest percentage of households earning less than 25,000. A percentage of 61.7% compared to Baltimore city with 32.2%. The graph made by the Hamilton Project on students that are chronically absent used nationally representative data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey from 2012 and 2016 and sorted all students into a health limitation category. The results were that about 2% of children between the ages of 5 and 18 are chronically absent, identified as missing 15 or more days of school; this rate is significantly lower than in the CRDC data. On the net, those living in poverty have a chronic absenteeism rate of 3%, while those living in poverty were slightly less likely to be chronically absent (1.9%). So, poor students are substantially more likely to be chronically absent in almost all areas of education than non-poor students. Factors that lead to chronic absenteeism are more common for students in poverty. Poverty students are 45% more likely to have a physical impairment than their non-poor. 41% are more likely to have a serious illness, and 85% more likely to have a hearing and/or vision problem. These were the three classes with the highest levels of chronic absenteeism. In this school, the chronic absenteeism rate represents 62.20%

Finally, disadvantaged youth engage in riskier criminal behavior. “Low-income youths are more likely to engage in violent and property crimes than are youths from middle- and high-income families. In particular, low-income youths are significantly more likely to attack someone or get into a fight, join a gang, or steal something worth more than $50”. On the other hand, they are more likely to commit violent and property crimes than middle-and high-income youth. Specifically, youth with low incomes are much more likely to attack someone or fight, join a gang, or steal something worth more than $50. The standard explanation is that property crime is the most attractive alternative to crime for poor youth. If career opportunities for adolescents living in poor neighborhoods are limited, then property crime will become relatively more attractive. This is relevant to this school because as seen on the infographic, lower-income students represent 95% of the total enrollment. The next one in line is that juvenile incarceration can have very lasting impacts on a young teen’s future. It is believed that youth incarceration will have a profound impact on the future for young people as it jeopardizes the acquisition of intellectual and social capital during a critical stage of development. It is projected that juvenile detention reduces the likelihood of high school graduation by 13% and increases the likelihood of adult imprisonment by 22% People imprisoned as teenagers are 15 percentage points more likely to be incarcerated as adults for violent crimes or 14 times more likely to be incarcerated as adults for property crimes.

A school library is a library within a school where students and staff of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. School libraries store, organize, manage, and preserve information resources that would serve students and school staff. Resources in the library refer to information carriers and information materials that convey substantial and relevant information about a field of knowledge, discipline, and concepts. School libraries contain information resources such as books, films, recorded sounds, periodicals, pictorial books, real objects (realia), and digital materials. School libraries encompass a surplus collection of audiovisual and graphic materials such as pictures, photographs, realia, diagrams, etc., than other types of libraries. These items are not only for education but also for fun and entertainment of all members of the school community, and also to enhance and expand the school curriculum. Also, special events such as author visits and book clubs can take place in the school library. The school library serves as a learning space for students to do independent work, use learning equipment, and use computers for learning. Students also learn how various topics can conventionally be categorized and integrated.

School libraries are very important for students. Students can greatly benefit from the school library in various ways when effectively used. The school library equips the students with the skills necessary to succeed in a constantly changing technological, social, and economic environment. The school library encourages the love of reading by creating access to books, many school libraries also have reading groups and reading schemes for the children. The school library ensures each student has equitable access to resources, irrespective of opportunities or constraints. Students can borrow books and take them home for further study and consultation. A student can develop his literary skills by reading rare literary books. Also, academic magazines and periodicals make students aware of the latest developments around the world. Considering the fact that the environment of the school library is peaceful, students can study in the library without any disturbance, it helps them develop and sustain in themselves the habit of silent reading, reading for pleasure. The utilization of school library resources by students also enriches their intellectual, aesthetic, cultural, and economic growth. It also promotes individual and group learning. Furthermore, the proper utilization of the school library resources has enabled students to seek knowledge from books in order that in the process they may become efficient and enthusiastic readers, and also the integration of the use of new media encourages them to become adaptive to the use of audiovisual materials, thus creating room for relaxation and enjoyment. It is important to note that all the resources in school libraries are age-appropriate for the students at school, so they have books allowing them to progress in their reading levels. The utilization of the school library can make a positive difference to students’ self-esteem confidence, independence, and sense of responsibility regarding their own learning.

The utilization of school library resources can enhance students’ academic performance in diverse ways. Research studies provide compelling evidence that school libraries and library staff have a positive impact on students’ academic performance. The school library is the most essential to learning. It plays an important role as a set for cheering improvement, interest, and difficulty solving. The school library is the place for knowledge and thoughts, hence the utilization of the resources plays a fundamental part in supporting and developing the pleasure of reading and multiple illiteracies. It formulates a distinction to students’ understanding and attainment and gives help for teaching and learning throughout the school. Furthermore, a strong library program that is adequately staffed, resourced, and funded can lead to higher academic performance, also, a strong computer network connecting the library’s resources to the classroom could have an impact on students’ learning and academic performance. A collaborative relationship between teachers and school librarians has a significant impact on learning, particularly in the planning of instructional units and resource collection development that can enhance students’ performance.

Hancock (1995) presents a useful overview of the evidence that links school libraries and students’ academic performance. The author highlighted that in schools with good libraries and the services of a school librarian, students perform significantly better in reading comprehension and in their ability to express effectively ideas about their reading, more reading occurs when there is a school library, the guidance of a librarian appears to exert significant influence on students’ performance in information gathering. In schools with good libraries and full-time librarians, students perform better at higher levels in reading comprehension as well as in knowledge and use of reference materials than students in schools with minimal or no library service. Academic performance in reading, study skills, and use of newspapers was significantly greater at a seventh-grade level in schools with professional librarians than in schools without them.

Summarizing the above, I would like to point out that school libraries are extremely important for students, contributing not only to their high academic performance but also to their comprehensive harmonious development.

Studies in the 20th century have proven that the satisfaction of employees in the office workplace greatly affects their productivity. Similarly, studies in the late 1900s and early 2000s have proven that several classroom factors affect student satisfaction, which also affects their academic performance. These studies proved that factors like temperature, lighting, and air quality have significant impacts on student performance. For example, Harner (1974) found out in his analysis that reading and mathematics skills are adversely affected by temperatures above 74ºF. He also found out that the ideal temperature for learning in reading and mathematics is in the range between 68º and 74º.

To clarify, when mentioning ‘school facilities’, I am not only referring to classrooms and the whole school building in general, like other studies, but also to different kinds of facilities, namely, the classroom, the computer laboratory, the TLE workshop, the science laboratory, the library, and the gymnasium.

Numerous studies that look into the factors that affect academic performance have been conducted, for they help educational institutions determine which factors need to be changed or upgraded. However, since budget needs to be considered, they also need to determine which upgrades would be the most efficient or which upgrades would positively affect most of their students. For example, a study conducted by Earthman (2002) showed that classroom overcrowding affects minority/poverty students more than other groups. This means that institutions with poorer students should look more into this when renovating, but institutions with students of other economic groups do not have to look into this as much.

According to Penn State University, school facilities affect health, behavior, engagement, learning, and growth in achievement. Factors include temperature, aesthetics, adequacy of devices and instruments, room size, seating comfort, and lighting. These factors are present in some studies conducted by researchers. As of now, researchers of these studies have noticed that their school facilities like the science labs, computer labs, TLE workshops, and the gymnasium don’t have that many ideal attributes, and this may affect student satisfaction.

Some students are financially struggling to do their tasks especially when it comes to practical subjects like computers and TLE. Although there may be some students who can just make sure that they can do their projects at home, it should be noted that the school should provide the students’ needs for the effectiveness of learning experiences since not everyone has the luxury to do their tasks at home. Nowadays, many schools cannot provide sufficient materials and facilities that aid in learning. In the end, students resort to either learning it themselves without surely knowing if it is right because of the lack of guidance or lose the will to learn since most of the time students become uninterested when they find it a hassle to teach themselves. The same goes for facilities. There are many activities that are not meant to be done inside the classrooms. These include ‘hands-on’ activities which should let the students learn outside of discussions and experience personally themselves. Without proper facilities, hands-on activities become less, which hinders the students learning. This applies when teaching. When a student does his/her task and if there are sufficient school facilities, then the students are willing to efficiently use these facilities and enhance their creativity by searching for more possibilities in improving their work. There is clearly a big difference when a student works at home. Students cannot efficiently work at home since it’s not designed for working. In the end, students simply submit only satisfactory tasks that complete the given criteria instead of striving for better work.

Most of the studies so far focus on classroom attributes and other attributes of school buildings in general, but not much has looked into the different school facilities, e.g., libraries, computer laboratories, science laboratories, etc., and how much these facilities impact the academic performance of students. It is a given already that schools of the modern age need different facilities to cater to the needs of 21st-century learners. However, little is known about how much these facilities affect students’ academic performance and which facilities affect student performance the most and the least. I believe this area is still worth studying because at least it is a factor that schools can control to help influence the academic performance of their students.