Influence of class size on the Geography Teachers’ use of fieldwork method of teaching Geography in Kenyan Schools

Abstract

Class size is one of the many factors in education that have been thought to influence student learning and academic achievement. It is no exception therefore that the mode of instruction used by teachers is based on the number of students a teacher has to attend to. Geography lessons can be taught both theoretically and practically providing exposure to the students beyond the closure of classroom work. Latest findings by World Bank (2015) have shown that pupil-teacher ratio in Kenyan secondary education had increased from 29.4 students per teacher in 2001 to 41.1 students per teacher in 2012; portraying an average annual growth rate of 4.16 %. This poses a challenge to teachers of Geography and impacts learning of the students. This paper is an assessment of the influence of class size on the Geography teachers’ use of Field Work Method in teaching Geography in secondary schools in Kenya. The study focused on selected secondary schools and teachers of geography in Kakamega County. Data was collected from a total population of eighty-seven teachers of Geography from secondary schools in three divisions namely: Lurambi, Ikolomani and Shinyalu. Data collection techniques employed included questionnaire built on a Likert scale, interview schedule and observation checklist of fieldwork study records maintained by the geography teachers. The study concluded that the number of students in the geography class had clear influence on the geography teacher’s decision to use the fieldwork method. The study recommends that for effective use of the fieldwork method of teaching geography, the classes should not have many students.