| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate factors influencing student’s performance in
Chemistry in Makindu Division in the Kenya certificate of secondary education (KCSE).
A sample of 216 form three students from 4 secondary schools were randomly selected
using both simple and stratified random sampling to participate in the descriptive study.
The students were provided with questionnaires while their chemistry teacher and the
District Quality Assurance and Standards Offices [DQASO] were orally interviewed.
Descriptive, explanative and explorative statistics using ordinal scales based on
measurements such as frequencies and percentages were used. These measurements were
generated manually using coding of responses as derived from questionnaires. Results
showed that student background characteristics; attitude related factors particularly
Chemistry teacher’s negative perception of their learners abilities; in adequate use of
resource in the teaching and learning process and negative socio-cultural factors as well
as inappropriate learning environment were the major causes of the students’ persistent
poor performance in Chemistry. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education
through its various agents should, among other things, enhance supervision of curriculum
implementation in schools. The study also recommends that the school managements, in
conjunction with other stakeholders, should enhance teacher motivation and provide
more and better teaching and learning facilities to enable a more conducive environment
for learning. Finally, Chemistry teachers must enhance their teaching approaches by
adopting a more practical approach to the teaching and learning practices that would
motivate the students to perform better in the subject. | en_US |
