Impact of the availability of education inputs on effectiveness in teaching of science subjects in public secondary schools in Nyandarua district, Kenya
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Date
2004-10Author
Mutitu, Mwangi I
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Secondary schools in Nyandarua District perform poorly in national
examinations and especially the sciences and mathematics. While many
factors may account for this scenario; this study focused on the availability of
education inputs and their effect on effectiveness of schools in the teaching of
science subjects. The ultimate goal of the study was to assess the impact of
the availability of education inputs on school effectiveness in the teaching of
science subjects in public secondary schools in Nyandarua District. To realize
this ultimate goal, the study had the following objectives: -
• The availability of the education inputs in the secondary schools, in the
realms of the physical, human and material.
• The effect of the physical education inputs on school effectiveness in the
teaching of science subjects.
• The effect of the human education inputs on school effectiveness in the
teaching of science subjects and
• The effect of the material inputs on the school effectiveness III the
teaching of science subjects.
Literature review was organized under the sub themes: - An overview of
science education, methods of science teaching, empirical research on
education inputs and school effectiveness.
The study used a questionnaire to gather the data needed to answer the
objectives. An observation schedule for the physical facilities was also
completed to complement data on the questionnaire. The study was an expost
facto in design. The subjects of the analysis were 32 heads of science
departments in the public secondary schools in Nyandarua District. The
respondents were from all categories of secondary schools in the district viz:
- The boarding boys only, boarding girls only, mixed boarding and day
schools for boys and girls and the mixed day schools for boys and girls. The
pilot study was conducted in five secondary schools of the various categories
drawn randomly from Ndaragwa division, which had all the categories of
schools in the district. The pilot study guided the modifications and revision
of the research instruments.
The data collected was coded and tabulated and then analyzed by the use of
descriptive statistics such as averages and percentages. The data was
analyzed in terms of the research questions and discussions made on results
of the analyzed data.. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to
determine the nature of relationship between a given set of inputs and school
effectiveness in the teaching of science subjects.
The study established that the availability of education inputs namely: the
physical, human and material were not uniformly distributed among schools.
The study also found out that availability of education inputs impacts on
school effectiveness in the teaching of science subjects. The variables in the
physical schooling inputs that were found to be of great consequence on
school effectiveness were the boarding facility and the laboratories. The
study further established that school effectiveness in the teaching of science
subjects increases with increasing availability of the physical schooling
inputs.
The human characteristics that were found to impact on effectiveness were
the cumulative teachers experience and the workload of teachers in lessons
taught per week. The study found that in general the availability of the human
inputs does impact on school effectiveness.
The general finding of the study was effectiveness of a school in the teaching
of science subjects increases with increasing intensity of the available
resources. The study. also found that majority of the schools were not
effective in the teaching of science subjects was shown by the average
number of candidates attaining a pass in the science subjects and
mathematics. The study also found that most schools were not adequately
prepared in the teaching of science subjects. The study concluded that, school
effectiveness increases with increasing availability of education inputs,
however no single set of the education inputs could be delineated to causing
greater effectiveness than the others but all work in an interwoven network of
interaction.
Recommendations emanating from the study were that: -
• There is need for the ministry of education to develop and adopt a policy
on the provision of education inputs to secondary schools to ensure that
schools are at an equal footing not only on the availability but also on
quality of the education inputs.
• The various stakeholders in the education sector should be sensitized on
the need to provide the schools with the facilities that help increase the
effectiveness of schools in the teaching of science subjects.
• The Kenya National examination council should liaise with the secondary
schools management boards on the procurement of the equipments that
are central to the secondary schools science practical examinations.
The following suggestions have been made for further research: -
• Research be carried out on school environment factors that lead to school
effectiveness in the teaching of science subjects.
• A research be conducted on the impact of the availability of education
inputs on the effective teaching of science subjects in the day public
secondary schools.
• A research be conducted on the impact of the availability of education
inputs on students attainment in the social sciences.
• A research be conducted on school effectiveness III the teaching of
science subject on either the girl child or the-boy child.
• A research be carried out on school effectiveness in the teaching of
science subjects using a larger sample.
Citation
Masters thesis, University of Nairobi (2004)Publisher
University of Nairobi Department of of Education
Description
A research project report submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of master of education in educational administration and planning university of Nairobi