This study investigated the Information Literacy levels of High School students in Kenya and has examined the relationship between these and the frequency of access to ICT and the internet. The level of teacher training in ICT and its impact on Information Literacy was also explored. An Instrumental case study approach was used to assess the Information Literacy levels of students in 4 High schools in the North Rift of Kenya. Teachers from each school outlined their training and the extent of their ICT use with the students. It was found that the frequency of access that students had to ICT and to the internet had a positive impact on their ability to evaluate information and its sources critically. This correlation was found to be stronger if the access was outside of school. However, students with more frequent access were not better at retrieving information efficiently or at determining the nature and extent of information needed. The 4 schools involved in the study all had at least one teacher with advanced ICT training such as a computer science degree, however the majority of teachers at these school had only received training in the use of software packages or had not received any formal ICT training. The study found that there was a strong correlation between the level of teacher training and the extent to which they allowed students to use ICT in their lessons. The need for teacher training in pedagogic techniques for ICT was highlighted, as was the need for Information Literacy to be explicitly taught within the Kenyan High School Curriculum. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

No description available.

D.Phil. (Curriculum Studies) / The study highlights the conceptual and practical challenges in providing initial teacher education that promotes, amongst other factors, coherence with the prescribed school curriculum. It investigates a History Teaching Methods (HTM) course offered by a university in Kenya to clarify how course related documents, lectures, students’ microteaching lessons, and perceptions about these three aspects obtained from interviews with a teacher-educator and students addressed what the course had to provide as possibilities for the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills that would enable students to teach effectively the secondary school History and Government (H&G) subject. Through a review of literature on curriculum coherence and theories on ethical pedagogic practice and communication combined with primary data collected in Kenya, I explain the nature of the challenges in the HTM course. The challenges, I argue, are primarily a result of overlooking the disciplinary requirements of History. The findings suggest that misconceptions about professional responsibilities of the teacher-educators are largely responsible for the descriptive approach that characterises the pedagogical practices they promoted. The absence of engagement with disciplinary requirements in lectures contributed to the nature of the devices that were used by students to teach. In order to clarify the nature of these pedagogic challenges, I adopted a generic qualitative approach to the research. The direct contact and discussion with a teacher-educator and students enabled me to explore their understanding of the requirements of teaching history at school level. Through observations of lectures I established how the teacher-educators considered these requirements as important to the teacher education they provided. Through observing students’ microteaching lessons I was able to establish their understanding of the nature of historical knowledge and how it ought to be approached when teaching. The study contributes to the general field of teacher education by having devised a conceptual orientation that can be drawn on to establish what is necessary to teach school history effectively, namely, the importance of normative critical thinking and contextual sensitivity. In this study, I indicate the pedagogic processes that need to be considered and constantly in place to teach history by drawing on relevant paradigms and conceptual orientations belonging to the discipline. I found that teacher-educators underplay the importance of these factors and view them as having to be considered by academic entities that are directly involved with history as a discipline. It is due to this oversight that the programme seemed to emphasise descriptive and procedural orientations in initial teacher education. I conclude by suggesting that a course that educates student teachers for, amongst other reasons, teaching H&G at secondary school in Kenya, has to consider firstly, what is essential to history teaching and learning as a discipline and secondly that effective history teaching has to be informed by reasoning that is not only relevant to History as a discipline but also its practicality to the objectives of school history.

The HIV and AIDS prevalence in Kenya is still high and remains a major health concern despite the Kenyan government’s initiatives to create awareness about the epidemic through inclusion of the HIV and AIDS programme in schools. This is because the provision of sexuality, HIV and AIDS education in schools is not effective. Teachers face various challenges in the effective delivery of the subject due to their discomfort related to these sensitive topics. Therefore, learners are left inadequately supported by the teachers. With an immense variety of conflicting information about sexuality availed to young people through the social media and also through their peers, young people are left at risk of exploring their sexualities with inadequate and wrong information, thus exposing them to HIV infections. Since schools have been identified as ideal sites for the effective delivery of sexuality, HIV and AIDS education, teachers are expected to teach the learners using a variety of pedagogical strategies in order to achieve efficacy in the delivery of this subject, hence the need to explore teaching styles that could provide a safe space for the effective delivery of sexuality, HIV and AIDS education. This study sought to explore teachers’ experiences of using participatory visual methods in teaching sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education programme in selected Kenyan secondary schools, in order to understand how such methods could affect the teaching of Sexuality education. This study employed a phenomenological research design, interpretivist paradigm and a participatory methodology. Memory accounts, reflective journals and focus group discussions were used for data generation with nine secondary school teachers, from three purposively selected schools in Kenya. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory underpinned the study. The findings revealed that teachers are uncomfortable teaching sexuality education because of fear of leading learners astray, fear of victimization and sexualization, and fear of misleading and hurting learners because of lack of knowledge. This resulted in teachers feeling guilty due to ineffective delivery of Sexuality education. The findings also revealed that participatory visual methods were effective for use by the teachers and the learners in the classroom to navigate issues around sexuality, HIV and AIDS. This was because they are learner-centred, thus making learners producers of knowledge while at the same time encouraging optimism in teaching and learning. This study thus recommends pre-service teacher training on participatory methods of teaching. Educational institutions should also arrange for workshops to train in-service teachers on comprehensive sexuality, HIV and AIDS education and how to tackle it in their classrooms. Moreover, curriculum developers should make sexuality, HIV and AIDS education a compulsory subject to give it equal status with other examinable subjects, for it to be taken seriously. It is only through concerted efforts from everyone that Kenya can reach its target of Zero new HIV infections.

Human security conceptions, service quality theory, critical social theory, and humanistic and social reconstructionist conceptualization of the curriculum have been used in this study to diagnose the quality of higher education (HE) in peace and security courses offered in Kenyan universities from the perspective of the student. The discourse emanates from the Kenya Government’s recognition of HE as key in solving the challenges affecting the country’s peace and security. This conceptualization is crucial in fast-tracking security reforms and dealing with the persistent peace and security challenges which the country faces. However, delivering quality HE amidst the recent explosion in demand for University education in Kenya has been a challenge and discourses on the dwindling quality of teaching and learning (QTL) delivered to University students in the country abound. The on-going dialectic contends that quality assurance in education is customer driven and the role of the student in evaluation of quality of education is categorical in determining viability of the programmes and self efficacy of the graduands. Using the positivistic-interpretivist paradigm, a total of 152 diploma and undergraduate students from five universities in Kenya participated in the study. Data were collected by use of a modified Service Performance (SERVPERF) questionnaire and interview schedules. The data were analysed both qualitatively by generating themes and categories and quantitatively by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that whereas students hold high perceptions of course relevance, their overall perceptions of the QTL in such aspects as facilities, lecturers, teaching methodology, curriculum evaluation and programme content design was low. The study recommends that the universities should mobilize resources to improve the quality of their teaching and learning resources while intensifying practical training and improving the quality of assessment to minimize overreliance on written examinations in evaluating students. Further study of the role of HE in peace and security studies in reinforcing peacebulding and security management in the East African region is equally imperative. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum and Instructional Studies)

Human security conceptions, service quality theory, critical social theory, and humanistic and social reconstructionist conceptualization of the curriculum have been used in this study to diagnose the quality of higher education (HE) in peace and security courses offered in Kenyan universities from the perspective of the student. The discourse emanates from the Kenya Government’s recognition of HE as key in solving the challenges affecting the country’s peace and security. This conceptualization is crucial in fast-tracking security reforms and dealing with the persistent peace and security challenges which the country faces. However, delivering quality HE amidst the recent explosion in demand for University education in Kenya has been a challenge and discourses on the dwindling quality of teaching and learning (QTL) delivered to University students in the country abound. The on-going dialectic contends that quality assurance in education is customer driven and the role of the student in evaluation of quality of education is categorical in determining viability of the programmes and self efficacy of the graduands. Using the positivistic-interpretivist paradigm, a total of 152 diploma and undergraduate students from five universities in Kenya participated in the study. Data were collected by use of a modified Service Performance (SERVPERF) questionnaire and interview schedules. The data were analysed both qualitatively by generating themes and categories and quantitatively by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that whereas students hold high perceptions of course relevance, their overall perceptions of the QTL in such aspects as facilities, lecturers, teaching methodology, curriculum evaluation and programme content design was low. The study recommends that the universities should mobilize resources to improve the quality of their teaching and learning resources while intensifying practical training and improving the quality of assessment to minimize overreliance on written examinations in evaluating students. Further study of the role of HE in peace and security studies in reinforcing peacebulding and security management in the East African region is equally imperative. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum and Instructional Studies)

The problem of this study was the needed administrative competencies of administrators in teacher training colleges in Kenya as perceived by administrators and faculty. A questionnaire (Inventory of Administrative Competencies) was mailed to principals, vice-principals, and four faculty members selected at random from sixteen teacher training colleges in Kenya. Ninety-six questionnaires were returned, yielding a return rate of 100 percent. Responses were analyzed using t-tests and one-way analyses of variance utilizing the F-test of the statistical test. A series of post hoc comparisons was made using Duncan's New Multiple Range Test to locate significant differences. Based on the analysis of data, it was concluded that both administrators and faculty considered the desired status of the competency very high. The administrators were performing below the desired status. Size of college was the major factor for the differences in perceptions of the respondents. Years of experience and educational background had little or no effect on the respondents' responses to the questionnaire. The following recommendations were made: A future study should investigate the perceived desired status and present performance ratings assigned to a validated set of competency statements of those levels of administrative activities not included in this study. Such a study would involve school inspectors, provincial education officers, deans of students, and heads of departments. A study should be made to investigate the current methods of evaluating administrative competence in teacher training colleges in Kenya. The results of this study should be analyzed by the Ministry of Education teacher college program developers responsible for conducting administrative workshops or in—service training in Kenya. This study could provide developers with additional information for improving the adequacy and relevance of both pre—service and in-service programs for practicing administrators.

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

The aim of this study is to investigate the level of awareness of history teachers in public secondary schools in Nairobi, Kenya, of the benefits of library use for the curriculum. The availability of school libraries in public secondary schools in Nairobi provided a context for this investigation into teacher library use. In order to establish if libraries are used effectively, or used at all, for curriculum purposes, literature on this was searched and little came from Nairobi or even Kenya. This lack of information in this area formed a justification for investigation because libraries exist in many public schools in Nairobi and they have the potential to have a positive influence. A survey of literature internationally illustrates the degree of the serious attention both history as a discipline, and library and the curriculum receive. History is given attention because of its role in both maintaining and revolutionising order in a country. In the case of resource-based learning, many countries have shifted to a child-centred approach. This requires much more use of libraries than traditional teaching methods. The evaluation of teacher and librarian views was undertaken by means of a survey. In the survey questionnaires were used. The population was that provided by the Director of Education in Nairobi and a corresponding list of schools where teachers and librarians were employed is given. The findings of the survey established the level of awareness of history teachers to resource based education that took account of library-curriculum partnership. The study established the need for greater attention towards school libraries in the allocation of budgets, building resources that are needed, and management. Staff development of both teachers and librarians was suggested in order to promote resource-based education. To achieve this, a written policy on the management of school libraries is suggested. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

This thesis presents the findings of an exploration of teacher perceptions and actions to conserve wetlands in Kenya. It reports findings of a case study survey done with 54 primary school teachers from seven of eight Kenyan provinces. The teachers were sampled from a larger group of 242 teachers who participated in an in-service course on wetlands conservation. The in-service course engaged teachers in exploring various aspects of wetlands and how they could enhance their conservation using both formal and non-formal contexts. The survey approach was used in the research and was augmented with a reflective process. Survey tools used were the questionnaires and interviews. The reflective process entailed observation, document analysis, field notes and the researcher’s diary. Research data was analysed in several stages. The study revealed that teachers were users of local wetlands just like other members of their communities. The teachers differed among themselves with respect to their perceptions of the value and threats to their local wetlands. The teachers also differed in their perceptions of community awareness of their local wetlands. The teachers’ perceptions about environmental education and wetlands were not holistic. The teachers recorded various opportunities to foster wetlands conservation in their local contexts at school and the community. These were their fellow teachers, the pupils, the subjects taught, clubs, environmental days and the community. The relative importance of these opportunities differed among the teachers. Many teachers claimed being motivated to promote wetlands conservation using both formal and non-formal contexts. Their motivation was based on diverse aspects of wetlands, education and the in-service training they attended in 1999. However, the intensity of motivation differed for each aspect. For instance, at community level in-service training was a major motivator while the curriculum aspects were not mentioned at all. Teachers reported having involved their pupils and the community in several activities to conserve the local wetlands. These activities seemed to be dominated by theoretical approaches, eco-management activities and visits to wetlands. There was little evidence to indicate the teachers being engaged in addressing the implications for sustainability of the perceived local wetland values and threats. The activities reported also failed to show engagement with local environmental problems as a deliberate proactive process involving exploration, discussion, action taking and reflection. Most of the activities were presented as one off activities rather than as a cyclic continuously improving series of interventions. The overall scenario presented by the teachers is one of inadequacy in addressing the sustainable use of wetlands. Teachers suggested various constraints that affect their realisation of environmental education for wetlands sustainability. The constraints traverse various aspects of the economic, biophysical, political, educational and social aspects of wetlands conservation. The study suggested the need for teachers to treat their contextual and personal conceptions as problematic rather than as simplistic or linear issues and to formulate ways to address them. This study suggests a potential but under-utilised opportunity to promote wetlands sustainability. The overall picture generated by the data in this study is a need to consider wetland training for teachers that integrates the holistic aspects of wetlands as well as the environmental education for sustainability perspectives grounded in local contexts.