| dc.description.abstract | The SMASSE Project was launched in Kenya in 1998 and was aimed at the improvement of Mathematics and Science Education through In-service Education and Training (INSET) for teachers. The main objective of training was to make teachers change the classroom atmosphere in teaching and learning by which the learning was aimed at being more student centred, more practical oriented and encouraged use of locally available materials to conduct small scale experiments.
The project focuses on lesson improvement as its key concept and has established a training system using the cascade approach at the National and District levels, which facilitate the diffusion of training effects to all participants including those who are at the lowest level of the cascade. This study was to establish the effect of SMASSE project implementation on the performance of Science and Mathematics subjects.
To achieve the objective of the study, a case study research design was adopted. The study was conducted in the 65 public secondary schools in Imenti South District. The population of this study included the Principals, Mathematics and Science Teachers as well as Form 3 and Form 4 students. From these, a sample size of 143 was selected using stratified random sampling. Both primary and secondary data were utilized for the purposes of study. Primary data was collected through questionnaires which were administered using drop and pick later method. Secondary data was gathered through a review of published literature on SMASSE.
Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Data is presented in form of tables and figures with narrative explanations. The SMASSE initiatives were to change the methodology of teaching from teacher centred to student centred through the development of Activities which are Student Centred and mostly by use of Experiments and Improvisation using locally available materials (ASEI). To achieve this paradigm shift the teachers were to Plan for activities, Do the activities with students, Asses the learning outcome and Improve (PDSI) on the subsequent lessons. The results of analysis shows that this objective has been achieved since teachers have adapted the concept of improvisation through making of models for use in teaching and learning of science and mathematics which is component of ASEI. The use of models, charts and real specimen are considered to be appropriate for the teaching. | en_US |
