Students' Perception of Class Interrelationships and its Relation to Students' Sex, School Satisfaction, School Absenteeism and School Achievement

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to explore how upper secondary school students’ perceive group dynamic aspects of the interrelationships in their class and how these perceptions are related to Sex, School Satisfaction, Absenteeism and Achievement. Theory: Group Dynamic Theory Method: Quantitative (means, standard deviations, factor analysis, bivariate correlations and multiple linear regressions) Results: Students' perception of the group dynamic aspects of their class interrelationships showed no significant sex differences. However, all these student perceptions were significantly, positively and moderately related to School Satisfaction. The group dynamic dimensions that were most strongly correlated to School Satisfaction were: Communication and Relatedness. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that students' perception of the group dynamic dimensions of class interrelationship accounted for 54.4 % (p < .01) of the variance in the students' perceived School Satisfaction, 0.2 % (p = .380) of the variance in the students' Absenteeism and 7.6 % (p < .01) of the variance in the students' Achievement. The students' perception of the group dynamic dimensions of their class interrelationships: Communication and Relatedness were significantly, positively and slightly associated with Achievement. The regression analyses results for the variable, Sex, was not significant. The variables, School Satisfaction, Absenteeism and Achievement were significantly, positively and slightly related. It is assumed that they measure different concepts and do not imply problems with multicollinearity, which is favourable for scale validity. However, scale validity was not optimal and requires substantial improvement. Yet, the results of the present study contributes to previous research within classroom environment with its group dynamic perspective on students' perception of their class interrelationships in relation to School Satisfaction, Absenteeism, Achievement and Sex. It provides a foundation of correlations between students' perception of group dynamic aspects in their class interrelationship and students' School Satisfaction to a larger extent and Achievement to a minor extent. For future research, longitudinal explanatory studies, including causal modelling, are recommended, that investigate students' perception of the group dynamic aspects in the present study and its relation to School Satisfaction, Absenteeism, Achievement and Sex.