Factors Affecting Students’ Kenya Certificate Of Secondary Education Performance In Art And Design, In Secondary Schools Of Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Students‟ performance in Art and Design subject in Nairobi county is not impressive. This is reflected in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) sampled results of the county from the year 2006–2009. The results show an average means score performance of 53%. Above average performance is expected in the subject; this is particularly so because Art and Design is an elective subject done by few students. This study is therefore necessary in order to investigate the factors affecting students‟ performance in Art and Design in secondary schools in Nairobi county. The study sought to fulfill the following research objectives; to investigate the effect of school-related factors on students‟ performance in Art and Design, to analyze the effect of student‟s attitudes on their performance in Art and Design, to establish the challenges that face Art and Design student‟s in preparation for KCSE in secondary schools, and to establish measures that can enhance student‟s KCSE performance in the subject in secondary schools of Nairobi county. The reviewed literature was organized according to the research objectives/questions as follows; school-related factors, student‟s attitudes towards Art and Design, challenges facing Art and Design, and measures to enhance students‟ performance in the subject. The reviewed related literature found that no study had been done on factors affecting students‟ performance in Art and Design in secondary schools in Nairobi county and therefore this research was necessary to fill the gap. The study used a combination of descriptive survey research design and naturalistic designs. The study used a sample of nine secondary schools and 45 respondents who consisted of nine teachers and 36 students from the sampled public and private secondary schools in the county.Stratified random and systematic random techniques were used to select the samples. The instruments for data collection were: questionnaires, interview guides, focused group discussion (FGD) guides and observation guide. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for windows was used to process the collected data. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize the data. Qualitative data from the interview guides and FGD‟s were organized into themes from which descriptive narratives and interpretive report were written. On the basis of the findings, the study concluded that; teacher-related factors, student-related factors, and availability, adequacy and utilization of Art and Design resources and facilities in schools significantly influence students‟ performance in Art and Design. The study recommends among others that basic Art and Design resources and facilities such as; art room, materials, tools, equipment and textbooks should be made available in schools for teaching/learning of the subject.