Browsing by Author "Odhiambo, Mabel Nandwa"

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Effectiveness of Scientific Calculators on Secondary School Students’ Attitude Development in Mathematics
(Journal of Education Research and Behavioral Sciences, 2016-12-12) Odhiambo, Mabel Nandwa; Wekesa, Duncan Wasike
There is poor performance in mathematics among secondary school students in Kenya. In an effort to improve performance in the subject, there has been introduction of various devices aimed at helping learners to get solutions to mathematical problems starting from counting sticks, abacus, slide rule, mathematical tables and recently scientific calculators. Unfortunately, there is no tangible evidence to show that scientific calculators will solve the problem in mathematics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using scientific calculators in Mathematics instruction and establish if they had any effect on students’ attitude. An experimental research design was adopted entailing the pre – test post-test equivalent groups design. The population was drawn from the form three students selected from public secondary schools in Mumias Sub County. The findings in the study showed that the use of scientific calculators was superior to mathematical tables.
Influence of Instructional Practices on Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Mathematics
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2015-12-04) Odhiambo, Mabel Nandwa; Wekesa, Duncan Wasike; Toili William Wanjala
Mathematics is a key subject which students cannot avoid if they have to lead a bright future. Despite the introduction and implementation of different teaching methods and strategies suggested by researchers the achievement of students in mathematics at school level has persistently been poor, hence the need to explore the influence of different instructional approaches. The purpose of this study was to find out the extent to which instructional practices influenced students’ achievement in secondary school mathematics. This entails the use of Behavioral Objective- Based (BOB), Peer Instruction enriched with Concept Tests (PICT), both BOB and PICT (BO-PICT) and Conventional Instruction (TI). The theoretical framework which guided this study was social constructivism theory. The study adopted quasi-experimental, utilizing pretest posttest non-equivalent group design. The target population for the study was all the 3056 form three students in the 38 secondary schools in Mumias sub-county. Disproportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling was used to select 327 students who took part in the study. Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that there was a significant difference in achievement, between all Experimental groups (BOB, PICT and BO-PICT) and the control group in favor of the Experimental groups. There was a significant difference between means of groups that used BOB and BO PICT as well as PICT and BO-PICT. Those ones who used BOB and PICT were found to have similar achievement in the learning of mathematics. Based on the findings, BOB, PICT and BO-PICT were found to be viable instructional strategies that could promote performance in mathematics.
Influence of Selected Teacher Instructional Strategies on Secondary Schools Students’ Mathematics Learning Outcomes.
(International Journal of Advanced Research,, 2016-12-04) Odhiambo, Mabel Nandwa; Wekesa, Duncan Wasike
Mathematics is a key subject which students cannot avoid if they have to lead a brighter future. Despite the introduction and implementation of different teaching methods and strategies suggested by researchers, students‟ motivation towards mathematics has persistently been poor. The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of selected teacher instructional strategies on students‟ motivation in mathematics in secondary schools. This entailed the use of Behavioral Objective Based (BOB) Instructional Strategy, Peer Instruction enriched with Concept Tests (PICT), both BOB and PICT (BO-PICT) and Conventional Instruction (TI). This study investigated the relationship between the motivation of students who used BOB, PICT and BO PICT strategies and their counterparts who used TI. The theoretical framework which guided this study was social constructivism theory. This study adopted a pre-test post-test non-equivalent group design. The target population for the study was all form three students in the 38 secondary schools in Mumias sub-county. Stratified random sampling was used to select schools that took part in the study. The strata were boys‟ schools, girls‟ schools and co- educational schools. This study used disproportionate stratified sampling to select 2 schools out of 3 boys‟ schools by saturated sampling, 3 schools out of 10 girls‟ schools and 3 schools out of 25 co-education schools by simple random sampling giving a total of eight (8) schools that participated in the study. One stream selected randomly from each sampled school took part in the study. The Control group (C) used (TI), the Experimental group one (E1) used BOB Instructional Strategy, the Experimental group two (E2) used (PICT) while the Experimental group three (E3) used both BOB and PICT (BO-PICT) in the learning of mathematics. Each group (C, E1, E2, and E3) comprised of two schools selected randomly from the eight schools. Students‟ Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) was used to collect the required data. The instrument was developed basing on the objective as well as variables in the theoretical model and given to experts in mathematics education to validate. The Split half technique was used to determine the reliability of the research instruments because it requires only one testing session to save on time and it eliminates chance error. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in motivation between all Experimental groups (E1, E2 and E3) and the Control group (C) in favor of the Experimental groups. BOB, PICT and BO-PICT Instructional Strategies were found to be viable instructional strategies that could promote performance in mathematics. Recomemendations were made for the adoption of BOB, PICT and BO-PICT instructional strategies in the teaching of Mathematics in secondary schools. Specifically it was recommended that BO-PICT which was superior to other strategies be adopted in schools for the teaching of mathematics.