Abstract

• The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence on students’ academic achievement in learning biology. Specifically, this study aimed at investigating school based factors and student factors that influence on students’ academic achievement in learning biology. Quantitative research methodology was mainly used to gather required data. The design adopted in this study was a descriptive research design. Sixteen high schools were selected from Yangon Region. A sample of (50) biology teachers and (640) Grade Ten science students was used. The school based factors considered in this study include: teaching methods, teaching and learning resources, and principal’s instructional supervisory role. The student factors considered in this study include: teacher- student relationship, students’ attitudes towards biology, students’ motivation towards biology, students’ study habits and parental involvement. A pilot study was conducted to test the reliability of the measuring instruments. Three sets of instruments were used to collect data. These included the students’ questionnaire, the teachers’ questionnaire and an achievement test. Descriptive Statistics such as mean, standard deviation and Pearson product – moment correlation coefficient were used to analyze data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Programme (SPSS) version 25. The finding indicated that the correlation between school based factors and students’ biology achievement was r = .819, p < .01 and the correlation between student factors and students’ biology achievement was r = .889, p < .01. The results of this study revealed that school based factors and student factors were positively correlated with students’ biology achievement.