Assessment of methods used by chemistry teachers in developing scientific thinking skills among secondary school learners in Nyakach sub - county Kenya

Abstract

The teaching of Chemistry remains challenging in secondary schools in Kenya since Chemistry requires learners to think abstractly. There is need to instill scientific thinking skills that permeates the field of science. According to Kenya National Examination Council, learners avoid questions that require such skills as critical thinking and problem solving, an indicator that the scientific thinking skills are inadequately developed. This contributed to low achievement in Chemistry in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, between the years 2013 – 2018 with the mean score being 3.5724 at national level, 3.3780 for Nyakach, 3.7479, for Kisumu Central, 3.5110 for Nyando and 3.4516 for Muhoroni with Nyakach having the lowest mean. Since the development of skills depend on the method of teaching, it was important to examine what ails the methodology used by Chemistry teachers to develop such skills among learners. The purpose of this study was to assess the methods of teaching used by Chemistry teachers to enable learners develop scientific thinking skills. The objectives of the study were to: determine the methods used by Chemistry teachers to enhance learners‘ acquisition of analytical skills in secondary schools; investigate the methods used to develop evaluative skills among learners, and investigate the methods used to enable learners develop inferential skills. The study adopted the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) theoretical model developed by Stufflebeam (1983). The design of the study was descriptive survey and was conducted in Nyakach Sub-County in Kenya. The study targeted a population 2540 Form 3 Chemistry students and 54 Chemistry teachers from 54 secondary schools within the Sub-County. The form 3 students had opted for Chemistry and were readily available because they were not an examination class. A total 18 schools were randomly sampled 6 from each of the three divisions. Chemistry teachers were purposively sampled from the 18 schools. Using the table by Krejicie and Morgan (1970), 333 learners were sampled using simple random sampling form the sampled schools. Data from teachers was collected using interviews and a lesson observation using a rating scale as they taught Chemistry. Data from learners was collected using structured questionnaires. The instruments were piloted to ascertain their reliability and critiqued by the experts from the school of education to determine their face validity. The reliability was established by computing a Cronbach alpha for the test items. The Cronbach‘s Alpha coefficient was 0.843. Data from interviews was analyzed qualitatively by organization into categories as per the emergent themes then reported and presented in a narrative form while data from observation guide and learners questionnaire were quantitatively analyzed using percentages and means and presented in form of tables. The study revealed that, the Chemistry teachers were acquainted with the methods of enhancing acquisition and development of analytical skills such as questioning, use of models, discussion and use of ICT and that even though they were aware of the skills that would develop analytical skills among the learners, their classroom practices revealed 40.0% of the teachers applied the said skills. The study also found Chemistry teachers are well endowed with the methods for developing evaluative skills such as inquiry based learning, problem based approach and project work but the methods were minimally used as lecture method dominated. Further teachers limit the development of scientific thinking skills by use of lecture method and limited practical and project work 45.4% of the teachers used such methods. The findings also revealed that teachers 43.3% applied methods that help the learners develop inferential skills, such as inductive reasoning, practical work and teacher guided demonstrations. The study concluded chemistry teachers unsatisfactorily used methods that enable the development of scientific thinking skills among the learners in Nyakach sub –county at 42.93%. The findings of the study may be useful to: Chemistry teachers to focus on the higher order thinking skills as they teach Chemistry, the teacher training institutions focus on the skills which promote scientific thinking and curriculum support officers to assist teachers improve their instructional methods