Determining Methods used in Teaching Geography in Secondary Schools in Rongo District, Kenya

Abstract

This article dealt with methods of teaching Geography in Kenya but also the world over. The importance of Geography in secondary school curriculum cannot be overemphasized. Improving the performance of Geography education is a great societal need in Kenya not only for industrialization of the country as contained in the vision 2030 but also for ensuring food security in the country through practices like land reclamation and irrigation farming The objective of this article was; to find out the teaching methods used by various Geography teachers in secondary schools in Rongo district. The research question was: Which are the teaching methods used by secondary school Geography teachers in Rongo district? This study was guided by the B.F Skinner’s (1971) theory of Operant Conditioning which states that learning is based on consequences-reward. The respondent’s behaviour (R) is under the control of stimulus (S). It is therefore a process through which organisms learn to repeat behaviour that yields positive outcomes. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and targeted students taking Geography in the district. Female students were 302 while male students were 704 in secondary schools in Rongo District, Kenya. The study sample consisted of 308 students and 11 Geography teachers drawn from 11 secondary schools in Rongo district. The eleven schools is equivalent to thirty two per cent of secondary schools in Rongo district, which is considered statistically representative enough. Stratified random sampling was used to choose the schools to be included in the sample by using divisions as units of study. In order to identify the schools to be used from each division, simple random sampling was used. Purposive sampling was used to ensure that there is gender equity. The researcher used a questionnaire, observation and document content analysis as the main instruments for data collection. Data was collected using closed and open ended questionnaires. The questionnaires were pre-tested by being administered to 30 respondents from two schools which were not included in the study. The scores obtained from the first and second tests were 0.76 and 0.77 respectively. The descriptive statistics including percentages mean and frequency tables were used to analyse the data. Data was also analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0 computer programme. The results of the study indicated that the use of question and answer method by teachers is at 85.3% while students’ preference for it is at 48%. The use of field work by teachers is at 56.2% while the students’ preference for it is at 75%. The study recommends that teachers to use the teaching methods which are preferred by students and are recommended by the syllabus.