THE IMPACT OF LARGE CLASS SIZE IN TEACHING PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRACTICAL CLASS: THE CASE OF DARGE PRIMARY SCHOOL GRADE 7 and 8 STUDENT

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of large class size in teaching physical education practical class in Darge primary school in Gurage zone Abeshghe Woreda. The study employed a school – based descriptive survey and cross – sectional research designs were employed along with both quantitative and qualitative approach. The study used purposive and simple random sampling techniques to select grade levels and teachers, to set the number of students, and to select participant students respectively. 145 was the total sample size, of which 140 were grade 7 and 8 students and 5 physical education teachers. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. The primary data was collected using semi – structured questionnaires, while secondary data was used from different reports from the school and the woreda. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the collected primary data using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The findings of the study revealed large class size affected highly both students learning during physical education practical class and physical education teachers’ strategies while teaching practical classes. Therefore there is a need for designing effective teaching learning in large class size in Darge primary .Besides, better to improve the existing teaching learning strategies for practical class by designing relevant strategies in teaching learning sport science in large class size in Darge primary school to enhance students’ academic performance.