PERCEPTIONS OF PRE-SERVICE BACHELOR OF EDUCATION (ARTS) STUDENTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The study used Ex post facto research design to find out Pre-Service Bachelor of Education (Arts) degree
teachers’ perceptions on the Internal and External Education Environmental Factors that influence high
school students’ academic performance. Internal factors are those within the institution that have a direct
influence on the students’ academic performance; and, the external factors are those outside the
institution but can affect the students’ academic performance, if not well managed. The research was
carried out at Kikuyu Campus, University of Nairobi. Data was collected using a self-report response
questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. The results indicated
that learning resources, effective teaching and assessment are the most important attributes in the
internal factor, while family size and home environment are the most critical attributes in the external
factor. The findings seemed to indicate that the internal factors have the highest influence on students’
academic performance as compared to external factors. The findings have implications on Pre-Service
teacher education in universities and on curriculum implementation.
Keywords: internal factors, external factors, education environment, academic performance,
assessment.