Doyne Kageni MugammbiChrispus Koinange WawireIsoe, Jasper2023-08-042023-08-042023http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26559A Research Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Psychology) In the School Of Education and Life Long Learning of Kenyatta University June, 2023Most secondary schools in Kiambu County are grappling with low achievement motivation for learning chemistry as evidenced by below average performance in the subject among students. There is limited research evidence on the predictors of achievement motivation for learning chemistry in Kiambu County that may be used to address this problem. This research was conducted to examine executive functioning and academic scaffolding as predictors of achievement motivation for learning chemistry among form three students in Kiambu County. Specifically, the researcher sought to investigate the relationship between executive functioning and achievement motivation for learning chemistry, the relationship between academic scaffolding and achievement motivation for learning chemistry, the extent to which the student’s gender moderates the relationship between executive functioning, academic scaffolding and achievement motivation for learning chemistry and to develop a prediction equation for achievement motivation for learning chemistry from executive functioning and academic scaffolding. The study was anchored on scaffolding theory developed by Bruner, information processing theory by Siegler, and achievement motivation theory by McClelland. The researcher used convergent parallel mixed research design to examine the relationship between the study variables. The target population was 28400 form three students taking chemistry in 285 public secondary schools in Kiambu County in the year 2020. Purposive sampling was used to select Kiambu County and form three students taking chemistry. Stratified sampling was used to select the schools while simple random sampling was used to select students to participate in the study. The study was conducted in 17 secondary schools using a sample of 440 students. A pilot study was done in one school involving 40 students to establish the validity and reliability of the research instruments. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedules and then analyzed using, descriptive, inferential statistics and thematic analysis. The results indicated that there was a moderate significant positive correlation between executive functioning and achievement motivation for learning chemistry, r (336) = .39, p < .05. There was a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between academic scaffolding and achievement motivation for learning chemistry, r (336) = .50, p < .05. The interaction between executive functioning skills and gender accounted for 2% variance in achievement motivation for learning chemistry. However, ΔR2 was not statistically significant, ΔF (1, 334) = 0.01, P > .05. The interaction between academic scaffolding and gender explained 10% variance in achievement motivation for learning chemistry but ΔR2 was not statistically significant, ΔF (1, 334) = 3.03, p >.08. Academic scaffolding and executive functioning significantly predict achievement motivation for learning chemistry, F (2, 335) = 81.34, P < .05. Qualitative results also showed that executive functioning and academic scaffolding were positively associated with student’s achievement motivation for learning chemistry. The study recommends that school counsellors and chemistry teachers should guide and support chemistry students (scaffolding) to enhance their executive functioning skills in order to boost the student’s achievement motivation for learning chemistry for better learning outcomes in the subject.enExecutive FunctioningAcademic ScaffoldingPredictorsAchievement MotivationLearning ChemistryForm Three StudentsKiambu CountyKenyaThesis