EFFECTS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND MOTIVATION IN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT IN CO-EDUCATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BARINGO CENTRAL SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

History and Government is an important subject in the Kenyan curriculum as it has social,
economic and political impact in our lives. Despite its importance, students‟ mean score for
History and Government in KCSE nationally and in Baringo central sub county from the year
2016- 2019 is well below 50%. Students‟ motivation to learn the subject is also low therefore
the study seeks to assess the effects of Cooperative Learning Strategy on students‟ academic
achievement and motivation in History and Government in co-educational secondary schools
in Baringo central county. Quasi-experimental research design, specifically Solomon-Four
Non-Equivalent Control Group Research Design was used. The target population was all Form
Two students in co-educational sub-county public secondary schools in Baringo central subcounty which is 1014 students while the accessible population was Form Two students in coeducational sub-county public secondary schools in Baringo central sub county which is 158
students. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a sample of four Co-educational sub-county
public Secondary Schools. The instruments used in the study were History and Government
Student Achievement Test (HGSAT) and History and Government Motivation Questionnaire
(HGMQ). All instruments were pilot-tested in secondary schools within Baringo central subcounty but in a division that was not be included in the study with but similar characteristics as
the sampled schools. Using KR-21 formulae, HGSAT yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.871
while using the cronbach alpha, HGMQ yielded 0.716 which were above the recommended
threshold of 0.7. Data were analysed using t-test, ANOVA and ANCOVA. The findings of this
study indicated that the use of CLS enhances students‟ academic achievement and motivations
learn History and Government better than conventional teaching methods. The study therefore
recommends that History and Government teachers should integrate the use of CLS in their
teaching and MOE to in-service secondary school teachers on the use of CLS.