dc.description.abstract | This research addressed the issue of influence of ICT integration as a pedagogical tool on
performance in mathematics in public secondary schools particularly in West Pokot County.
Mathematics performance in Kenya has generally been poor and the reason attributed to this
scenario is mainly the teaching methods employed by tutors and/ or the learners’ attitude towards
the subject. ICT integration and the factors hindering its integration has been investigated by
researchers elsewhere but not in west pokot. This study sought to investigate whether ICT
integration has an influence on performance in mathematics by looking at the use of computers
as a means of instruction (CAI), a means of learning (CAL) and as a learning support resource
(CLSR). The study objective was to determine the impact of ICT integration in teaching and
learning on mathematics performance in public secondary schools in Kenya. The hypothesis
tested in the study was that there is no difference in mathematics performance between students
in classes taught by traditional methods and the ICT integrated in public secondary schools in
west Pokot County.
This research used purposive experimental research design to investigate the extent to which ICT
integration would influence mathematics performance. Five public secondary schools were
identified on the basis of availability of computer laboratory, one mixed day school, two girls’
and two boys’ schools therefore participated. Apart from the mixed day school, the other four
were large schools comprising of 5 streams per class with population of over 1000 students. A
total of 435 form three students from the 5 schools participated in this study. Two streams were
selected randomly out of the 5 in each of the 4 large schools whereas for the single stream, the
class was divided in two groups, so that one is taught the mathematical concept with the aid of
computers (experimental) and the other is taught the same concept using traditional methods. At
the end of the sub-topic which took one double lesson of 80 minutes, the two groups were
subjected to a standardized assessment test whose pass mark was 47.5%, that is, 19 out of 40.
All scripts were marked by the researcher using the same marking scheme. Results were
analyzed, a two sample paired t-test was used to measure differences in performance at a
significance tests difference of α=0.05.
The key findings were that the experimental group performed better than the control group in all
the 5 schools. These results indicated significance differences due to flexibility and focused
interest in classes where ICT was integrated. From the research, it was concluded that ICT
integration in mathematics teaching brings about better understanding of concepts and skill
transfer from abstract to concrete. Integration of ICT in teaching and learning mathematics
especially so for abstract concepts such as waves, helped to overcome such limitations, hence
impacted positively on the performance in the test scores. The study recommended technology
skills to be integrated into the total curriculum during the entire education processes through
holistic approach and that ICT should be exploited to support the complete mathematics content
and learning experience. Teachers of mathematics need frequent in-service courses on the new
innovations in-terms of instructional skills and approaches. It was recommended that MOEST to
fast track their strategies in-terms of mobilizing of resources and digitalization of curriculum and
content. | en_US |