TEACHERS’ AND LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FIELD-BASED STUDY APPROACH IN IMPARTING HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT KNOWLEDGE TO LEARNERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KERICHO COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Students‟ performance in History and Government in Secondary Schools in Kericho County
has been unsatisfactory. The students‟ underperformance is an indicator that they do not
possess requisite knowledge of the subject. Teaching approaches are among factors that
influence learners‟ acquisition of knowledge. Perceptions of teaching approaches have also
been associated with knowledge acquisition. This paper investigated teachers‟ and learners‟
perceptions on the effectiveness of Field-Based Study Approach (FBSA) in imparting History
and Government knowledge to learners in secondary schools in Kericho County, Kenya. The
study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The study was conducted in public
secondary schools in Kericho County, Kenya. The accessible population comprised of 274
History and Government teachers and 7575 form four students in the County. Purposive,
stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the 163
teachers and 433 form four students‟ who participated in the study. Data was collected using
Teachers‟ Perceptions Questionnaire (TPQ) and Learners‟ Perceptions Questionnaires (LPQ).
The research tools were validated be five educational research experts in the department of
curriculum, instruction and education management. The reliability of research tools were
estimated using the Cronbach‟s Alpha formula. TPQ and LPQ yielded reliability coefficients
of .926 and .856 respectively. Data were analysed with the aid of Statistical Packages for
Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative data generated by open-ended items were organized in
theme pertinent to the study, tallied and summarized using test for independence and the
results accepted or rejected at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that perceptions
of the teachers and learners on the effectiveness of FBSA in imparting History and
Government to learners were positive, but not related. The findings from the study may
provide history teachers with an insight of the effectiveness of FBSA in imparting History
and Government knowledge to learners. The findings may also assist school administrators,
the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Kenya Institute of Curriculum
Development in developing policies and practices that incorporate use of FBSA during
instruction