Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 340 p. Includes bibliographical references.

The main purpose of the study was to analyze and compare higher educational systems and the major variables affecting them in Sri-Lanka and Kenya. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and literature reviewed. The conceptual framework of the study is in accordance with a model for a cross-cultural national study of comparative education systems developed by Dr. Herbert B. Wilson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona. The findings of the study indicated that a comparative education system is significantly intertwined and affected by a number of important variables including (1) certain national characteristics such as culture, traditions, religion, politics, patriotism, international contact, life cycles, geography, economy, climate, demographic trends, and social organization; (2) socializing agents including family, tribe, clan, caste, social institutions, religion, military, media, literature, communication, schools, research stations, museums, publications, and public libraries; (3) the history and philosophy of education in public, private, religious, and proprietary sectors; (4) curriculum and instruction including scope, level, sequence, methodology, and mission; (5) enabling activities including administration, authority, control, financing, and political climate; (6) providing activities including availability and preparation of faculty, students, and administrators, and (7) certain current problems and issues affecting education. The major conclusions indicate that the building of a strong system of higher education is an accretive process involving not only the availability of resources but the arising national aspirations and attitudes as well as the development within the population of an awareness of the personal, regional, and national returns from education, particularly higher education. Such public and private awareness is the catalyst for the development and effectiveness of a productive higher education system.

The thesis examines the "Tom Mboya Airlifts", a scholarship program which took place in 1959, 1960 and 1961 and sent Kenyans to study in North American universities. The "Airlifts" serve as a case study, and are used to illustrate particular aspects of the relationship between "pre-modern" social structures--known as the "economy of affection"--and the particular form of capitalism that developed in Kenya after independence.

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An unprecedented 65.6 million persons are forcibly displaced (e.g., refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs). Half are youth. Hope is often the feeling that sustains youth through intolerable conditions. Basic education in protracted areas is seen as a protective factor that nurtures hope and psychosocial wellbeing in the lives of children and youth. This research sought to extend this concept to the higher education in protracted refugee context, where refugees (ages 18-35) were able to co-create spaces of hope that recognized their own agency and their ability to question the status quo while developing critical thinking skills. Based on a theoretical framework of the philosophy of hope, psychology of hope, pedagogy of hope, and critical hope, I explored with refugees their perceptions of hope before, during, and after their participation of my psychosocial peace-building education course over a period of six months. Using a pragmatic mixed-methods community-based action approach, I collected: 31 Hope Index of Staats surveys (pre, post, and a follow-up six months later), eight semi-structured interviews (two interviews and then a follow up six months later for each participant), student reflection journals, and researcher field notes. A thematic analysis revealed four themes: Reflecting on critical hope and critical despair; reconciling identities; resurfacing narratives and creating new narratives of hope; and restoring hope and agency in higher education. By nurturing hopeful views and co-creating opportunities for critical thinking skills, refugees seem to be able to continue to play a pivotal role in rebuilding a stronger, just, and peaceful civil society.

Information literacy skills among university students have become a necessity rather than the norm. With the increase of information resources, the need for information skills among university students is important for their continued access to, and retrieval of, information. The purpose of this research was to investigate information literacy skills and competencies among incoming first-year undergraduate students in institutions of higher learning in Kenya, with special reference to the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. The objectives of the study were; to identify the types and formats of resources that incoming undergraduate students are aware of, to determine whether the incoming undergraduates are aware of search strategies for both print and electronic/online resources, to determine whether incoming undergraduate students possess basic information technology skills, to find out whether incoming undergraduate students know information retrieval tools and their use, and to determine whether incoming students are aware of intellectual property and copyrighted materials and their ethical use. The study adopted a quantitative approach and used the case study research method. The study targeted first year incoming undergraduate students at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa for the academic year 2013/2014. 137 incoming undergraduate students participated in the study. Data was collected by using self-administered questionnaires. Quantitative data was coded and analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Qualitative data generated form open-ended questions was presented in narrative form under respective subheadings. The finding of the study observed that: (a) Incoming first-year students have limited knowledge of strategies used to search for information. (b) The incoming first-year undergraduate students at the Catholic university of Eastern Africa do possess computer skills in applications such as the use of the internet and its applications (e.g. social networking sites and the World Wide Web) as well as the word-processing applications such as (Microsoft Office and Microsoft Word) and statistical applications such as SPSS. (c) Majority of incoming undergraduate university students are not familiar with the various retrieval tools and their applications. (d) The incoming first-year undergraduate students are familiar with both electronic and printed information resources. (e) A significant number of students were not aware what constitutes primary resources and secondary sources. (f) Incoming first-year undergraduate students exhibited little knowledge of issues relating to intellectual property rights and copyright. Several recommendations have been made based on the findings of the study. One of the recommendations is that the university library mandated with offering information literacy instruction to incoming students should adopt several incentives aimed at encouraging the students to attend library orientation. Another recommendation is to integrate the information literacy training with the normal university curriculum to become a credit-earning course for all incoming students. The university library should also carry out a needs assessment on information literacy training to help determine the existing gaps in the current information literacy programme. The programme should also be tailored to help in emerging issues such electronic plagiarism of information resources. The study further recommends a longitudinal study to determine whether students joining the university are able to gain information literacy skills over a period of time. / Information Science

This study focuses on the history of higher education in Kenya since 1975, with an emphasis on curriculum development. The main purposes of the study were (1) to describe the historical events of higher education in Kenya since 1975, and (2) to analyze the present system of higher education in the country. The study attempted to answer questions related to higher education in Kenya. The questions investigated were (1) how had the characteristics of higher education curriculum changed since 1975?; (2) in what ways had the purposes of higher education in Kenya changed since 1975?; (3) to what extent have these purposes been achieved? why or why not?; and (4) which events since 1975 had a major impact on higher education in Kenya? The major analysis of the study is historical and gives an explanation of the history of the development of higher education in the colonial days in Kenya, briefly discussing the period 1963-75. The analysis of Kenyan institutions of higher education covers the development of Kenyan higher education since 1975. The discussion consists of basic facts of Kenyan higher education. Data from primary and secondary sources were analyzed and studied. Documents were chronologically and topically reviewed. Chapter I of the study is the introduction. The history of higher education is in Chapter II. Chapter III discusses the impact of Western education in Kenya. Chapter IV deals with development, politics, and Kenyan higher education. Chapter V contains the summary, a discussion, and conclusions based on the facts presented in Chapters I through IV. Since 1975, higher education in Kenya has emphasized vocational and technical education, African culture, natural sciences, and rural development.

This study aimed at identifying the models that best explain the student-related factors that contribute to the academic performance of students in the university. Students' final high school grade, English Language proficiency, self-regulatory learning strategies and extrinsic goal orientation are observed to generally have direct effects on the academic performance of the students in the university, while attitudes, intrinsic goal orientations, personality traits and age have indirect effects. Student mentors need to understand the factors that contribute to the academic performance of undergraduate students. Further research is also deemed necessary in other universities in Kenya in order to establish whether similar results would be obtained. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This study explored language practices of trilingual undergraduate students of mathematics as they made sense of an algebraic task. Specifically, the study set out to explore whether, how and why trilingual undergraduate students used language(s) to make sense of mathematics. In this study a trilingual speaker is viewed as an individual proficient in three languages and whose proficiency in the languages is not necessarily equal. The speaker uses the three languages either separately or by switching between any two in ways that are determined by his/her communication needs. Exploring language practices helped me to understand how students position themselves as they engage with a mathematics task using mathematical Discourses (capital D) in relation to their trilingual language facility. This facility involves the use of either the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) (English) or the switching between two or three of the languages they know. These languages were home languages, including Kiswahili of the students. In tertiary institutions, English is the LoLT while the home languages are neither taught nor used in the classroom. The study used a qualitative inquiry process, specifically a case study approach. It was conducted at a public university in Kenya with a focus on first-year engineering students with mathematics in their programme. Data were collected using a students‟ questionnaire, and clinical and reflective interviews. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the baseline data, which was used for the selection of 15 interview participants. The clinical interviews provided information on language use as the students engaged with the task, explaining each step of the process, while the aim of the reflective interviews was to identify, ascertain and confirm various actions and different languages and language practices that were not apparent during the clinical interview. The interviews were transcribed and 11 paired transcripts were selected for analysis. The data were analysed using the methods of Discourse analysis (Gee, 2005). This analysis explored how students used language in tandem with non-language “stuff” in a single language or when switching between any two languages and how and why each was used. The focus was on the activities and identities they enacted through their interpretation of the given task and in part of the solution process. The findings revealed that when students engaged with mathematics, they drew on the LoLT only, or switched between the LoLT and their home languages or between the LoLT, home languages and Kiswahili. Those who switched did so when they were faced with interpretation challenges, when there was need to emphasise a point and due to habitual practices of switching. They commonly switched silently and communicated verbally in the LoLT. The purpose for code switching was to gain understanding of the task. On the other hand, a trilingual student is likely to remain in the LoLT because content has been taught and tasks presented in the LoLT. The key contribution of this study is its focus on the trilingual language context of undergraduate students of mathematics, an area that has not been researched up to now. Furthermore, this study has added to scholarly work in this discipline by establishing that code switching is not the preserve of students who are learning the LoLT; rather, it is a reality for trilingual students who are competent in the LoLT when they engage with mathematics. / Mathematics Education / D. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

This study aimed at identifying the models that best explain the student-related factors that contribute to the academic performance of students in the university. Students' final high school grade, English Language proficiency, self-regulatory learning strategies and extrinsic goal orientation are observed to generally have direct effects on the academic performance of the students in the university, while attitudes, intrinsic goal orientations, personality traits and age have indirect effects. Student mentors need to understand the factors that contribute to the academic performance of undergraduate students. Further research is also deemed necessary in other universities in Kenya in order to establish whether similar results would be obtained. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)