NAME: NURMALA BINTI JAMALUDIN

MATRIC NO: MPPB 151021

Test 2 [10 marks]
Instruction: Answer the following question in 500-700 words. Submit your answer to the elearning before 25 December 2016.
1. During the adolescent period of development, serious emphasis is placed on the kind of
education that students receive and the kind of educational and vocational advice they
are given in order to prepare them for the world of work.
a) What value decisions would you make on environmental factors that provide advantages
for academic performance? [Note: Think about environmental factors that could give
advantages or disadvantages on educational and academic opportunity to students]
Learner Beliefs
Learners always take interest in the things related to their religious ideas and environmental
believes. The things which are against the beliefs of the learner are not taken seriously by him
and do not take interest to learn them.
Advantages: When the student itself view academic is important to their life and future
development, they will improve their academic performance. They are also trying harder in
achieving their goals. This student always has mission, vision and goal in their life. In order to
fulfill it, they will work hard to obtain it.
Disadvantages: Learner belief can also effect academic performance if they view themselves as
incompetent, education seem not important to them as well as they regard studying is a waste of
time. This learner will not upgrading their selves, always feeling down, they not take things
seriously, no mission, no vision as well no goal in life. Their academic performance also will be
decrease.
Social Expectation
Social expectation is an internalized social norm for individuals and organizations, thus for
society as a whole, about what people should do. The term social expectations refers to the
general standards of behavior that individuals who live within a society are expected to uphold.
Advantages: Students who have received high social expectation from their teacher and parent
have a great impact on their academic performance. Through this secure relationship, students
learn about socially appropriate behaviors as well as academic expectations and how to achieve
these expectations.
1

Disadvantages: Students who not received social expectation may have impact on their
academic performances. To them, nobody cares about their achievement or failure. So, they feel
there is nothing wrong for not achieving good grades.
Cultural Demands
Our cultural values, which often include particular religious beliefs, shape our way of living and
they have also changed over time as circumstances demand. Cultural environment influences
aspiration because culturally based explanations of behavior tend to focus on the moral codes
that operate within particular families, communities or groups. As culture has to do with beliefs
values, norms and socializations, research evidence have shown that the environment whether
urban or rural industrial also contributes to what a child learns and how it is being learned. Some
communities have a tradition of formal education and modern education influences.
Advantages: Some of the student well equipped with gadget such as laptop, hand phone, tablet,
adequate technological facilities such as textbooks, clients, computer, visual and audio-visual
aids, photographs and posters. This will influence the student learning process in which they
easily to find resources to support their understanding better on the subject teach in school, great
access to general knowledge, upgrading their knowledge and so on that can increase their
academic performance.
Disadvantages: Some of the students are not so well equipped. The gadgets, resources, facilities
in both types of community will influence the learning processes of the child. Student's cannot
single handedly achieve all their goals. They will face difficulty to make reference to what they
learned at school, to upgrade their knowledge, to obtain additional information or resources in
order to become more understanding in a given subject and so on. Therefore, class without
learning material can lead to student's poor academic performance.
Family Background
Learner inherits many things from his family. Mother is the first institute for a person so family
background effects on the learning of a person. A student belong to a literate family has different
learning trend as compared to the students who do not know to read and write. A child's first
educational experiences are centered in the homes; his ideas, attitude and general pattern of
behavior are as a result of his childhood rearing. Family size, socio-economic status and family
stability affect student academic performance

Advantages: Student with smaller family size has more amounts on physical attention they get
from their parent that effect the level of intellectual quantity that the student brings into the
classroom. Student from higher socio-economic to classes are expected to perform better in
schools. These student backgrounds affect the school success. Student from higher socio
economic status have well-equipped equipment and resources they can use for their study.
Family stability also plays great influence on student academic achievement.
Disadvantages: Student with large family size tend to have less amount of physical attention that
effect the level of intellectual quantity that the student brings into the classroom. Student from
low social economic status are expected to perform less in the class because their family are less
stable in terms of financial resources. The student might have difficulty to coming to school,
buying resourceful material or textbook to be used in the classroom and there are chances to be
dropout from the school. Family instability such as divorce, separation and single parenthood
affect the children academic performance in which it create depression among the student.
Durojaiye (1975) in his investigation among four thousand (4000) primary and secondary
children from Ibadan in Nigeria found that 88% of children from extended family situation were
influenced by grandparents, aunts and uncles in discipline at home, 92% complained of lack of
clear standard to follow, 91% complained of being unable to study at home because of their
being sent on errands by relatives. The study also found out that 78% justified the need to lie as a
means of escaping blames and punishments from all sides and 75% admitted regular stealing.
The extended family system, the said appeared to be the less favorable than unclear family for
the emotional and academic wellbeing of the child. Fraser (1978) she looks at socio-economic
class as one of the major causes of unnatural inequalities in education. Egwuche (1981) noted
that family size to a large extend determines the relative amount of physical attention and time
which each child gets from his parents. Some polygamous homes burden children with domestic
duties that they had little time left for rest or study. In some cases the children from polygamous
home were left to care for their younger ones, which prompted their inability to attend school.
Achievement
Advantages: Student who have achieved highly before are more likely to achieve highly again.
Achievement may enhance performance as it and psychologically facilitates adherence to
expectation of others.

Disadvantages: Student who receive low grades before not trying to compete to achieve high
grade later. They tend to feel no confident and less take seriously on what they learned.
Physical Condition
Physical conditions needed for learning is under environmental factor. One of the factors that
affect the efficiency of learning is the condition in which learning takes place. This includes the
classrooms, textbooks, equipment, school supplies, and other instructional materials. It cannot be
denied that the type and quality of instructional materials and equipment play an important part
in the instructional efficiency of the school. Good and pleasant conditions always produce better
results for learners. Teachers should provide a healthy and creative environment in the class
room and in the institute so that learning may become better. Below are the types of physical
condition:
a) school location or site of the school
School location plays important role in student academic achievement. Onukwo (2004) in his
note says that a conducive environment enhances a child's growth and development.
Advantages: Student feels happy in a peaceful and friendly environment. When they are in more
convenient place free from distraction like noise they are more easily to absorb knowledge and
pay attention when the teacher is teaching. When there is noise from the area that outside the
classroom, the student eager to discover that noise rather paying attention to that teaching.
Disadvantages: Schools sited in noisy urban streets are associated with deficits in mental
concentration leading to students poor performance. Noise is anything that interferes with
teaching or learning process. Noise produces influence on children's information processing
strategies, feelings of personal control as well as their level of arousal.
b) Visual environment affects a learner's ability to perceive visual stimuli and affects his or her
mental attitude and thus, performance such as the color of the classroom and lighting. There is
direct relationship between good lighting and students performance. Color choice and lighting
can impact the teaching-learning process.
Lighting:
Advantages: Good lighting make the student feel comfort and lead to good academic
achievement. They can easily programming the information that been teaching by the teacher.
Dunn (1985) insisted that the lighting of a school should be considered on active element of the
total educational environment. He found that good lighting contributes significantly to the
4

aesthetics and psychological character of the teaching space; students perform well than in a dark
classroom.
Disadvantages: Students cannot study unless lighting is adequate. The effectiveness of
information collection is reduce in bad light seeing in bad light can lead to the development of
ineffective programming of the information collection process which may become habitual. Bad
light leads to discomfort and poor academic performance.
Color choice:
Advantages: color affects a student's attention spent and affects a student and teacher's sense and
time. Paints color in schools especially carefully planned color schemes positively affects
academic achievement of students. Paradotas (1993)in his findings suggests that the proper use
of color in schools can convert an atmosphere that is depressing and monotonous into one that is
pleasing, exciting and stimulating. Change in color schemes in schools reduces absenteeism and
promotes positive feeling about schools. Color also affects blood pressure in students. Therefore,
lighting and color choice lay a significant role in the achievement of student's academic
performance.
Disadvantages: Improper color choice can affect student academic performance in which the
student will feel depressing, monotonous, absenteeism and promote negative feeling about
school.
References:
Dunn, R. (1985). Light up their lives. A research on the effect of lighting on children's
achievement and behaviour. The reading teacher, 38(19). 863-869. Fraser, E. (1985). School
and home. London: University of London press.
Onukwo, G. Class note on educational psychology, post graduate diploma in education
2004/2005.
Paradotas, S.P. (1993), Color then motivated color's psychological effects on students national.
Philips, P. W. (1997). Educational facility age and the academic achievement of upper
elementary school students, unpublished doctorial dissertation. University of Georgia.