Revitalizing Assignment Pedagogy to enhance Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences in selected Secondary Schools in Nzaui Sub County, Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

Assignment is a teaching and Learning method that involves the teacher giving the learners a piece of work to be done outside classroom time but the work is within content learned and within learners’ ability. This study seeks to investigate how assignment method is used in Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences and ways of revitalizing it. The study was to be guided by three objectives that is; to establish the purpose of Assignment in Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences, to establish the extent of use of Assignment in Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences and to explore ways in which Assignment can be effectively used in Teaching and Learning Social Sciences. The design of this study was descriptive Survey of the selected Secondary Schools in Nzaui Sub County. The target population was all Secondary Schools in Nzaui Sub County. The sample size was arrived at through systematic sampling where every 10th school was selected from a list of all schools in the Sub County. Data for this study was collected using two research tools constructed by the researchers a checklist for document analysis and questionnaire for Social Science teachers in sampled schools. Only subject heads were given questionnaires to respond to. The Data generated was organized per Social Science subjects studied, summarized into themes and analyzed. The study findings indicated that 95% of respondents agree that assignment serve purpose in teaching and learning process, however, only 38% of teachers reported giving learners assignment and Revision assignment was the most frequently given assignment at 20%. The study concluded that there is urgent need to revitalize assignment pedagogy