Determinants Of Pre-Primary School Teachers’ Use Of Improvised Materials In Science Instruction In Bungoma East Sub County, Bungoma County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Science is essential to all people and it should be taught in all learning institutions since i helps in the growth of economy, industrialization and advancement in technology. Early years are important to build a solid foundation for learners in science subjects. In this regard science education and instruction should be made affordable and accessible to all learners by using locally improvised materials. Research done in Western countries like USA revealed that teachers used materials from the local environment to teach science in preschools. In Africa especially in Nigeria and Kenya, there is inadequate use of materials for science instruction and majority of teachers adopt the lecture method to teach science in pre-primary schools, blackboard appears to be the common material used. This really hinders proper science instruction to learners given that science is a practical subject and children learn best by doing. The purpose of the study therefore was to examine the preprimary school teachers’ use of improvised materials in science instruction in Bungoma East Sub County, Bungoma County. The study specifically sought to determine the relationship between the frequency of use of improvised instructional materials in science instruction by pre-primary teachers and the factors which were believed to influence their use. Jean Piagets’ theory of learning guided the study. Co relational study design was employed. The dependent variable was the frequency of use of improvised materials in science instruction while independent variables were the availability of improvised materials, teachers training level and teaching experience and the level of head teachers support towards improvisation. Purposive and random samplings were used to select the study location. Stratified sampling was used to select the pre-primary schools from the 58 targeted schools (34 public and 24 private). Questionnaires and observation checklist were used to generate data where content validity and test retest techniques were used to determine validity as well as reliability of the instruments respectively. Results from data analysis were presented using tables and were organized according to objectives. The data collected was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Quantitative techniques were used to analyze data which involved frequencies, standard deviation, means and percentages. Inferential statistics used to test null hypotheses was Chisquare at alpha value 0.05 (p