PHD-Department of Physical and Health Education

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Browsing PHD-Department of Physical and Health Education by Subject "Children with disabilities --Education"

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    Effect of a peer-tutor programme on social, psychomotor and physical fitness of youth with and without intellectual disability in Nairobi County, Kenya
    (2013-07-22) Bukhala, Peter Wisiuba
    The positive impact of peer tutoring on student learning is supported by research. However, specific methods on how peer-tutoring works have inconclusively been studied. The present study was designed to further investigate further the effectiveness of using trained peer tutors in enhancing the physical activity participation level of youth with and without intellectual disabilities in Nairobi, Kenya. The study involved 106 youths with and without intellectual disabilities in equal number to participate in the unified programme. Thirty two trained research assistants served as cross-peer tutors. Peer tutors were trained for four days in specific physical activities and motor abilities and also other aspects of teaching methodologies. These included: cueing, prompting, reinforcement, observation and writing individualized Education Programming for learners with disabilities. Data was collected through questionnaires, observation checklists and a physical fitness test protocol. Data collected using the instruments were analyzed using both t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to investigate the effects of the peer tutoring programme on participants‟ achievement levels. A significant improvement was noted in motor performance for both participants with and without disabilities. Specifically, there was a marked improvement in both the left handgrip (t(196)=-.979<0.05), right handgrip (t(196) = -2.798<0.05) kicking (t(196)=2.743<0.05) and right leg balance(t(196) =-3.067<0.05) activities. These were presented in Tables, figures, bar graphs and pie chart. No significant changes were recorded in the physical fitness measures except for the waist to hip ratio which recorded a significant mean change for all participants(t(132)=2.743<0.001) male participants (t(62)=2.139<0.036) and females (t(62)=2.139<0.036). However, linear regression analysis indicated a positive trend for most of the physical fitness parameters evaluated in this study. Both peer tutors and parents‟ views were analysed qualitatively and reported as themes. In both cases, the peer tutors and parents had positive responses about the peer-tutor programme. Peer tutors felt that they had gained experience working with persons with disabilities; they had learned new coaching methods and improved their personal lives by influencing change in other peoples‟ lives. Peer tutors also reported a change in the participants‟ skill level and social development. Parents interviewed also reported a positive change in their children. From the findings of this study, it was recommended that guidelines on the use of peer tutors should be provided to adapted PE teachers to encourage the use of such support groups in the classroom where learners with disabilities are enrolled. Further investigations to understand the extent to which peer tutoring programmes could be transferred to other settings such as playground, lunch time and after school programmes was needed