Perspectives on Relevance of Physics Teacher Education Programmes in Relation to Pedagogic Skills of Student Teachers in Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Public Universities in Kenya are key players in the training of physics teachers through the Bachelor of Education (Science) programme. However, the training is in need of reforms due to changes in content, educational media and technology in teaching of secondary school physics. Reviews of the programme in public universities have focused on content with little attention to methodology. Further, there is lack of coordination in key areas of training among the universities yet; secondary school instruction to be conducted by the teachers is common. Enrolment and performance are low at 26.63% and 36.43% in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) physics examinations respectively. These raise questions on whether physics teacher training equips student teachers with the requisite pedagogic skills. The purpose of this study was to establish perspectives on relevance of physics teacher education programmes in relation to pedagogic skills of student teachers in public universities in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to determine the relevance of objectives of physics teacher education programmes in relation to pedagogic skills of student teachers; to determine the relevance of content in physics teacher education programmes in relation to pedagogic skills of student teachers; to establish the relevance of methods of teaching in physics teacher education programmes in relation to pedagogic skills of student teachers and to establish the relevance of assessment strategies in physics teacher education programmes in relation to pedagogic skills of student teachers. The study was anchored on Tyler‟s (1949) theory of programme evaluation and descriptive survey research design was employed in the study. The population comprised 420 physics student teachers, 277 secondary school head teachers, 277 heads of physics subject and 130 physics teacher trainers. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 351 student teachers, 225 head teachers, 225 heads of physics subject and 108 teacher trainers for the study. The research instruments included questionnaires and document analysis guide which were scrutinized by experts to establish their validity and a pilot study was carried out using test-retest method. Pearson product moment correlation (r) for the instruments values were determined where the questionnaires yielded r values above the recommended threshold of 0.70. Quantitative data was analyzed using means and percentages while qualitative data was analyzed by creating thematic categories and reported as verbatim excerpts. The findings reveal that objectives of physics teacher education programmes are relevant (MS=3.97) to acquisition of pedagogic skills but should focus more on content in secondary school, 21st century skills, formative assessment, technology in instruction and diversity in physics classrooms. Similarly, content in physics teacher education programmes was relevant (MS = 3.74) to acquisition of pedagogic skills with the need to address the content in secondary school physics, use of resources, integration of information technology, enhancing of manipulative skills and improvisation. Further, methods of teaching that should be emphasised in physics teacher education programmes were interactive lecture, experimentation, use of information technology, project work and use of models to cater for students with learning disabilities, while assessment strategies that should be emphasised were question and answer approach, project work, laboratory reports, portfolio analysis, use of information technology and group assessment. The findings may be useful in enhancing physics teacher education programmes of public universities for acquisition of the requisite pedagogic skills.