Influence of utilisation and design of curriculum digital content on biology instructional process among secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya
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Date
2016-11
Authors
Nyaga, Jesse Samuel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The quality of curriculum and curriculum support materials used by the teachers and
learners affects the quality of education that is delivered during an instructional process.
For many years, educational materials have mostly been static text with pictures printed
in books. These kinds of materials do not have strong potential to provide appropriate
learning environment for learners who are technologically savvy and who expect
interactive engaging learning experiences. In recent years, there has been rapid
expansion in digital content development and access in schools. There have been many
initiatives geared towards development and provision of digital content to schools in
Kenya. However, little has been done to ensure that learners and teachers actually utilize
the digital content in the instructional process. This study therefore investigated the
influence of utilisation and design of curriculum digital content on Biology instructional
process among secondary schools in Nairobi county, Kenya. It also sought to provide a
model for development of effective digital content for Biology instruction. It was guided
by five specific objectives. These include to; establish secondary school learners’ and
teachers’ utilisation of curriculum digital content in the Biology instructional process,
determine whether utilisation of secondary school curriculum digital content influences
the Biology instructional process, analyse the nature, and influence of curriculum digital
content multimedia elements on the secondary school Biology instructional process,
examine the formulation, and influence of curriculum digital content user interface on
the secondary school Biology instructional process and derive a model that can guide
the design and development of an effective digital content for secondary school Biology
curriculum. A mixed methods design was used for the study which involved fifteen
ESP-ICT phase 1 secondary schools and two digital content development institutions in
Nairobi county. Six instruments were used for data collection which include; Biology
teacher questionnaire, learners’ focus group discussion guide, Biology teaching and
learning resources inventory, digital content analysis sheet, documents analysis sheet
and digital content developers’ interview schedule. The collected data was analysed
using both descriptive and inferential statistics and presented in form of notes, numerals,
tables, and graphics. This study found out that utilisation of curriculum digital content
influenced assessment and achievement of learners in Biology positively. However, the
study found no significant difference in syllabus coverage between the groups that
utilised Biology digital content and the ones that did not. There were also issues in
Biology digital content access, multimedia elements and user interface which affected
content utilisation and consequently its influence on the instruction process. Packaging
and dissemination of digital content in both online and offline formats was
recommended to improve the level of access and utilisation of digital content. To
address the design issues of the content, the study recommended that developers do
proper needs analysis, proper combination of multimedia elements and design
appropriate user interfaces. The study also derived a model that can guide and improve
the process of developing more effective curriculum digital content.
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education, Kenyatta University. November, 2016