Influence of Class Size on the Performance of Junior Secondary School Students in Home Economics in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria

The study investigated the influence of class size on Home Economics students’ performance in Junior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design which involved the non-randomized pretest, posttest control group design. The population for this study comprised 80,680 JS 2 students across 161 public Junior Secondary Schools in the six area councils of FCT. The sample of the study consisted of 120 JS2 (55 male and 65 female). A 40-item multiple choice test of achievement tagged Home Economics Achievement Test (HEAT) was developed for the purpose of this study. The instrument (HEAT) was validated by experts and a validity index of 0.77 was obtained. A 0.83 reliability index was obtained using Kuder-Recharson 20 formula (KR-20) method of reliability. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions and ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from this study revealed that there was a significant difference between mean achievement scores of students taught Home Economics in small class size and students taught in large class size: there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught Home Economics in small class size and large class size. Likewise, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students taught Home Economics in small class size and large class size based on ability levels. The study concluded that the use of small class size in teaching and learning of Home Economics is more effective than large class instruction in junior secondary schools in AMAC and Kuje Area Councils in FCT; the use of small class size in teaching Home Economics was more effective as mean achievement score of male and female students were significantly higher than mean achievement scores of male and female students in large class size. Also, in terms of ability level, the mean achievement scores of students in small class size were higher compared to their counterparts in large class size. The students taught in small class size had excellent achievement scores compared to students taught in large class size. It was therefore recommended that federal capital territory (FCT) Abuja should teach Home Economics in small class size for high/excellent students’ performance.