Students’ Academic Performance: An Inquiry into Limited First Class (Honours) Division within the University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

Globally, academic performance is a key indicator of measuring the quality of an academic institution. This study assesses the factors that influence academic performance of students in public universities in Ghana. Specifically, it was restricted to the University for Development Studies (UDS), Wa Campus. The study adopted the case study design involving 17 respondents with the view to review, process and offer interpretation to data gathered from both secondary and primary sources with the objective to establishing critical factors which have given rise to the limited First Class (Honours) Division among students. The findings reveal that the limited First Class (Honour) Division among students is a reflection of students’ performance which is linked to critical input factors such as; poor lesson preparation and delivery, overcrowded lecture halls and poor lecturing schedule time among others. This paper therefore recommends that the Ministry of Education (MOE) should provide UDS with teaching and learning resources. Additionally, UDS administration should provide all necessary infrastructure and equipment for effective practical training for the students. Besides, UDS Management should organise regular workshops and in-service training to introduce all lecturers periodically to more effective teaching strategies. Heads of Department should also monitor and appraise lecturers input by students’ performance in respective courses. The University Management should ensure that lecturers teach their respective specialist subjects so that their students will understand what they are taught. This may improve on the number of First Class degree holders produced yearly by UDS. Keywords: Degree Classifications Examination Challenges, Academic Performance, First Cass Students DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-11-05 Publication date: April 30th 201