School-based Factors Influencing Implementation of Chemistry Curriculum in Public Secondary Schools in Garissa Sub County, Kenya
Abstract
As a science subject, chemistry occupies a central locus in the contemporary
society. Its knowledge underpins almost every aspect of life. Despite this,
implementation of the subjects’ curriculum still remains below expectations. This
is exemplified in the downward performance trend of the subject as compared to
fellow science subjects, biology and physics. The purpose of this study was to
investigate the school based factors influencing the implementation of chemistry
curriculum in public secondary schools in Garissa Sub County, Kenya. The study
objectives were; to determine the influence of facilities, materials, teachers’
qualifications, assessment methods and lesson allocation on the implementation of
chemistry curriculum. The study was guided by constructivist theory which
postulates that learning is an active process during which the learner utilizes
current or past knowledge to construct new ideas or concepts of content. The
study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised of
all the eight public secondary schools in Garissa Sub County, eight principals, 27
chemistry teachers and 940 form four students. The sample size consisted of eight
principals, 27 chemistry teachers and 94 form four students selected by simple
random sampling. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and observation
checklists. Reliability of the instruments was ensured by use of test-retest method.
Collected data was analysed by use of descriptive statistics and presented in
frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Main findings of the study revealed
that all the schools had laboratories, complete with most of the necessary fittings,
furniture, instructional materials and safety equipment available and adequate by
more than 70.0%. However water supply had the lowest availability and adequacy
at 59.6% indicating that some laboratories faced a challenge of water supply. On
teacher qualifications and implementation of chemistry curriculum, the study
revealed a 94.7% consensus that teachers’ qualifications influence curriculum
implementation, in particular, teachers with higher academic qualifications and
more experience implement the subjects’ curriculum more satisfactorily.
Regarding assessment methods, it was found that all schools had an examination
policy and that 87.2% of the schools administer at least three chemistry tests per
term. Additionally, 59.1% of the teachers do not use project work at all in
assessment of chemistry learning. Concerning lesson allocation and chemistry
curriculum implementation, it was revealed that 86.4% of the teachers had
between (21-30) lessons per week. Additionally 68.2% of the teachers held
positions of responsibility in addition to chemistry teaching. Most of the students
representing 72.1% admitted to being taught during other times in addition to the
timetabled lessons indicating an inadequacy of teaching time based on lesson
allocation. The study recommended that; the content of chemistry curriculum for
secondary schools should be reduced to a manageable size to enable its coverage
by use of chemistry lessons allocated on the teaching timetable; Kenya Institute of
Curriculum Development and Kenya National Examinations Council should
integrate examinable project work content into the formal chemistry curriculum
for secondary schools; Boards of Management of public secondary schools should
consider hiring additional staff to the science departments in which the practical
based science subject teachers are holding other positions of responsibility.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5980]
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