Factors Affecting a Student’s studying

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Factors Affecting a Student’s studying

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Factors Affecting a Student’s studying

Having education is one of the objectives that many people across the divide would wish to achieve. Studying is the main procedure of attaining academic excellence in education but it is greatly affected by numerous factors (Butlin, 1999). A student can be affected by factors such as the socio economic factors, teacher/student ratio, ethnicity, parent involvement, neighborhood or community factors and size of the school.

Academic achievement by a student at school may not be associated to the school factors only but the socio economic atmosphere within which the student is raised also impact heavily on the study of the student (Caldas & Bankston, 2004). From research findings over the past years, socio economic status of a student’s family determines the level of concentration of the student towards academic excellence. Some studies have also shown that the level of academic success of a student’s studies is shaped by the social environmental characteristics and the socio economic features of the student’s family (Caldas & Bankston, 2004). The families that have low socio economic status often deny their students the necessary study environment that can propel these students’ academic performance at school.

It has been established that the cause of dismal performance by the learners from low socio economic backgrounds is the reduced academic cultural foundation and absence of contacts from upper class people who can motivate them (Caldas & Bankston, 2004). These causes can be looked at in two ways; institutional and personal causes which are broken into the influence of the family and parents, relationships between the teacher and the learner, living conditions, the learner’s talents, knowledge and intelligence. The outcomes of the students from low socio economic environments contrast that of the counterparts from advanced socio economic status families having vast opportunities that outperform them in most of the examinations and are able to further their education.

The teacher student ratio is equally of importance to determining the participation of a student in learning activities. This is more pronounced in the class where the teacher is required to identify the student talents and weaknesses in order to cater for the individual differences among the students. A few teachers against a large number of students are detrimental to a student’s study because in most cases the teacher may not be able to provide for individual support that a particular student needs. The consequence is low performance in academics that ultimately discourage the student from continuing with the studies. Presence of adequate number of teachers encourages academic involvement by the students and the student can get convinced to continue pursuing the studies to achieve some desirable objectives in education (Butlin, 1999).

The ethnicities in a school can affect the studies by a student. There is a significant role that ethnicity play on the study of a student. Performance of students has been seen to improve when the students assigned a teacher of their own race (Carter & Wilson, 1997). Students exhibit more respect and trust to people who they have in common some striking features that can make to study with more ease. For example, the student’s level of confidence and interest for studying can be enhanced by getting a teacher of identical race who can be a role model. According to Braswell et al. (2001) differences exist at the various levels of learning between Latinos and Whites and also between the Blacks and the Whites. The rate of completion at high school level is established at 82% for the Whites, 77% for the African Americans and 57% for the Latinos. The information can be tabulated as below.

High school completion rate in the United States of America

Race	Whites	African Americans	Latinos
Completion rate	82%	77%	57%

Role of the parent in the student’s learning is unique. It is very important for a parent to acquire and know the progress of their children in school for better performance. They can do this through involvement in the child’s learning by ensuring that homework is done, shortening time for television viewing, visiting school frequently so as to discuss their children’s performance with their teachers and helping their children in setting the goals (Ichado, 1998). Some parents also boost their children’s performance through participation in the school activities. When parents ask their children questions that relate to school, they make them know that school activities are both important to their parents and themselves too. Conducive environment is needed to encourage learning both at school and at home. A student who benefits from such environment is likely to study satisfactorily and further the education.

Most boards of learning institutions have concluded that success in learning not only depend on mathematics and science but also in the activities carried out at home (Ichado, 1998). Students feel motivated and perform better in school when their parents involve them in the discussion about the school matters. Parents need to begin the involvement so early so as to produce many positive effects such as reduction in the absenteeism, positive change in student’s behavior and better performance. This results to parents having confidence in the schooling of their children. From the factors discussed, it can be seen that a student’s learning can be impacted on either positively or negatively; therefore right choice is needed to encourage learning.

References

Braswell, S., Lutkus, D., Grigg, S., Santapau, L., Tay-Lim, H, & Johnson, S. (2001). The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 2000.U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Butlin, G. (1999). Determinants of post-secondary participation. Education Quarterly Review, 5 (3), 9-35.

Caldas, S., & Bankston, C. (2004). Effect of school population socioeconomic status on individual academic achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 90(5), 269-277.

Carter, D., & Wilson, R., (1997). Minorities in Higher Education: 1996-1997 Fifteenth Annual Status Report. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, Office of Minority Concerns.