Influence of laboratory utilization on students’ academic achievement in chemistry among public secondary schools in Kisumu County, Kenya
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Date
2023-11
Authors
Ochieng’, Molly Atieno
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta university
Abstract
Laboratories play a vital role in science practicals. Chemistry laboratory stores chemicals, reagents and practical apparatus. The utilization of the laboratory enables the students to acquire practical chemistry skills and improve their performance in chemistry. Consequently, the utilization of laboratory resources is the basic part of chemistry. Even though laboratory facilities are available in schools in Nyakach Sub County, students have always registered meagre performance in Chemistry. The investigation purposed to unveil the influence of utilization of chemistry laboratory on students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools in chemistry in Nyakach sub county, Kisumu County. These objectives directed the study; to establish the influence of frequency of laboratory experiments and academic achievement among students in chemistry in public secondary schools in Nyakach sub county, to establish the influence of proportion of chemistry syllabus covered and academic achievement among students in chemistry in public secondary schools in Nyakach sub county, to establish the influence of laboratory technicians’ roles towards academic achievement among students in chemistry in public secondary schools in Nyakach sub county, Kisumu County. The systems resource theory guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The target population included 48 public secondary schools in Nyakach with 48 principals, 48 chemistry teachers, 48 laboratory technicians and 2240 students. The 16 schools were sampled through stratified sampling. Purposive sampling sampled 16 principals, 16 teachers of chemistry and 16 laboratory technicians. To select 112 form three chemistry students simple random sampling was useful. Two schools were randomly chosen and used for piloting the research tools hence not counted in actual data collection. The expertise of the supervisors, lecturers and other researchers in economics of education was used for content validity whereas test-retest technique was embraced for the reliability of the instruments. Observation schedules, interview schedules in addition to questionnaires were embraced in gathering of research data. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26 was used to organize the data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean and percentages. The data was presented in frequency distribution tables, bar charts and pie charts. Qualitative data was organized and pigeonholed into different themes and concepts from which deductions and generalizations were drawn and presented in narrations. The research revealed that inadequate laboratory apparatus, lack of laboratory reagents, irregular laboratory practicals and absence of trained laboratory technicians hindered utilization of laboratories that in turn affected academic achievements of the students in chemistry in secondary schools in Nyakach Sub County. The study recommends that secondary schools should employ qualified laboratory technicians, to help teachers maximize laboratory utilization and improve academic achievement. The government needs to make available laboratory apparatus for all the schools, for the learners to be armed with the required expertise to carry out laboratory practicals
Description
A research project submitted in partial fullfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of master of education (Economics of Education) in the school of education and lifelong learning of Kenyatta University, November 2022
Keywords
laboratory utilization, students’ academic achievement, chemistry, public secondary schools, Kisumu County, Kenya