Factors affecting low academic performance of visual art students in selected senior high schools in the Ejisu municipality, Ashanti region, Ghana
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Date
2021-06-22
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Abstract
Low academic performance in both internal and external examinations in relation to
elective visual arts subjects has plagued students for decades. In view of this and the
seeming lack of empirical investigations into the subject, the study sought to
ascertain the factors that result in low academic performance of visual art students in
selected Senior High Schools within the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The study adopted a mixed method and case study approach. The study population
included students and staff of four selected schools. Questionnaires and interview
guides were used to collect Secondary data for analysis. Purposive sampling was
adopted to select 221 visual arts students. The study found that poverty, poor health,
poor teaching methods, indiscipline, lack of proper teaching materials, poor
evaluation methods / instruments, inadequately trained teachers, broken homes,
changing of teachers incessantly, hyperactivity in students, truancy and poor
approach to learning were the main causes of low academic performance amongst
visual arts students of the Ejisu municipality in the Ashanti region. Also, the study
showed that the unstandardized coefficient, b3, for low level of thinking on the part of the
student is equal to 600. This means that for every 1-unit improvement in level of thinking
on the part of the student, there is an increase in level of academic performance of 600.
Hence, the higher the quality of thought visual arts students’ exhibit, the higher they
perform academically. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the Ghana
Education Service, Headmasters and other relevant stakeholders see to it that the
Visual Arts Programme in each school are provided with all necessary teaching and
learning materials and adequate infrastructure to aid practical lessons. The study also
recommends that the Ghana Education Service, through the district and regional
directors of education, organize lectures and seminars for teachers to re-orient their
perceptions on the Visual Arts Programme and also re-train teachers on new ways of
teaching technically gifted students in the Visual Arts field.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Innovations in Science and
Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of
Master of Philosophy in Art Education
Keywords
Factors affecting low academic performance, Visual art students, Ejisu municipality, Ashanti region, Ghana