EFFECTS OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING APPROACH ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO LEARN PHYSICS IN ISIOLO COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach on secondary
school students' motivation to learn physics in Isiolo County, Kenya. Physics is an important
subject because of the role it plays in industrial, technological, and economic development of
countries. Despite the importance of physics, students’ enrolment and performance in the
subject in Isiolo County has generally been low. This has partly been attributed to low levels of
motivation to learn physics. Teaching approaches have been cited as one of the factors that
affect students’ motivation. The study employed the Solomon's Four Non-Equivalent Control
Group design. The target population was 640 form two students in public co-education
secondary schools in Isiolo County. The accessible population was 265 forms two students in
public co-education schools in Isiolo Sub County. Simple random sampling techniques was
used to select the four co-educational schools which participated in the study. Two of these
schools were in the experimental group while the rest were in the control group. The sample
size comprised of 128 forms two students. A Teaching Manual was utilized to induce teachers
from experimental schools on use of PBL approach for one week. Data was collected using the
Learner’s Motivation Questionnaire (LMQ). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the t-test
were used to test the hypothesis at α = .05 confidence level. The findings indicated that
students exposed to PBL had a higher level of motivation than their counterparts taught
through conventional methods. The findings also indicated that the difference in motivation to
learn physics between the two groups was not statistically significant. It was concluded that
PBL boosts students’ motivation to learn physics. However, the approach is not more effective
in improving students’ motivation to learn physics when compared to those taught using
conventional teaching methods.