Impact of selected Instructional Methods on Students’ academic achievement in Biology in secondary schools in Nandi South Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

With the introduction of computer into the educational system, it has been discovered that teaching could be done in a more flexible way through Computer-Assisted Instruction in order to make it more responsive to student’s learning. It has been observed that poor performance in the sciences is caused by the poor quality of science teachers, poor pedagogical techniques and lack of suitable and adequate science equipment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of computer-assisted instruction and conventional instruction on academic achievement of secondary school students in Biology in national examinations in Nandi south sub-County. The study sought to achieve the following objectives: to establish teachers’ and students’ attitude towards Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) and conventional Instruction (CI) in secondary schools in Nandi South sub-County.; to find out the influence of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) on academic achievement of students in Biology in secondary schools in Nandi South sub-County; to find out the influence of Conventional Instruction (CI) on academic achievement of students in Biology in secondary schools in Nandi South sub-County; and, to establish the impact of a combined use of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) and Conventional Instruction (CI) on academic achievement of students in Biology in secondary schools in Nandi South sub-County. The study was based on Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning which states that active learning occurs when a learner engages in three cognitive processes: selection, organization, and integration. The study adopted a descriptive research design approach. The target population for this study comprised all head teachers, students and teachers of Biology in all secondary schools in Nandi South sub-County. Eleven secondary schools were selected using simple random sampling technique while 11 head teachers and 24 teachers of Biology were selected using purposive sampling. Kathuri and Pals’ formula was used to compute a sample of 368 students. The students were selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire and interview schedule were the main data collection tools. Responses from all questionnaire items and interview schedule items were cross-checked to facilitate coding and processing for analysis. Responses from interview schedules were analysed descriptively. Chi-square correlation analysis was computed to investigate the relationship between attitude of teachers and students towards CAI and CI and academic achievement in Biology. Findings of the study were presented in form of cumulative frequency tables, percentages, charts and graphs. The study established that: majority of students preferred that Biology be taught entirely through CAI as opposed to CI; majority of teachers preferred CI over CAI claiming that CAI wastes time and is more complicated; and, a combined use of CAI and CI was found to be more effective than singly using CAI or CI. The study recommends that: in order to promote the use of CAI in teaching Biology, training should be given to both pre-service and in-service teachers for developing instructional materials for CAI; development of CAI material should be made part of teaching subjects and the student teachers should develop computer assisted instructional material for at least one unit of a particular class; and, the teacher educators should motivate the pre-service as well as the in-service teachers to develop positive attitude towards the application of CAI in the teaching-learning process.