Utilization of teaching and learning resources in Social Studies instruction: A case of private primary teachers’training colleges in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Instructional materials enhance the teaching and learning process by exhibiting information necessary to acquire knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study was to establish the extent to which student-teachers are exposed to the use of teaching and learning resources in teaching social studies in private teachers training colleges in Nakuru County. The study was guided by the following objectives; to identify the teaching and learning resources utilized by tutors, to establish how training in the use of teaching and learning resources influence the delivery of Social Studies, to determine the extent to which private TTCs avail student-teachers opportunities to utilize teaching learning materials during their training and to determine tutors selection and utilization of teaching learning resources in teaching Social Studies in private TTCs in Nakuru County. Systems Theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The target population for the study comprised of 168 tutors and 1198 second year student- teachers in 5 private primary teacher training colleges in Nakuru County. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select a sample size of 92 student teachers and 8 tutors respectively. This gave a sample frame of 100 respondents to provide data for the study. Three instruments namely questionnaire, interview schedule and classroom observation schedule were used to gather data for this study. The validity of the instruments was established through the help of the supervisors who assessed the relevance of the content used in the developed questionnaires. In order to establish the validity of the instruments, a pilot study was conducted in Baraton TTC. The reliability of the instruments was computed by using Test-Retest technique. A reliability coefficient of 0.861 was generated and as such, the instruments were deemed reliable. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Quantitative data was analyzed using frequency counts, means t- test and percentages while qualitative data from the open-ended questions was analyzed thematically along the objectives of the study. The results of data analysis were presented using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The study findings established that projected and or audio visual teaching and learning resources in most private teacher training colleges were either rarely used or not used at all. This could be attributed to the fact that they were inadequate in relation to the population of both the tutors and the teacher trainees. It further established that teacher trainees were exposed and trained in the use of teaching and learning resources and were prepared adequately in the use of teaching and learning resources to teach social studies. Generally, the results reveal that the attitude of majority of respondents towards selection and use of teaching learning resources in teaching social studies was positive.It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide valuable empirical data to researchers interested in this field of study. Moreover, it is expected that the study will increase the stock of already existing literature on selection and utilization of teaching and learning resources.