Effects Of Stem Education Programme On Chemistry Performance Among Students In Extra County Secondary Schools In North-Rift Region, Kenya

Abstract

The study examined the effects of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education programme on Chemistry performance among secondary school students in North-Rift Region, Kenya. The study was anchored on Social Learning Theory. Causal comparative ex post facto research design guided the study. The target population was 3550 form four students and 175 teachers of Chemistry. Simple random sampling was used to select six Counties in North-Rift Region. Stratified random sampling was used to separate schools to STEM and Non-STEM schools and simple random sampling technique was then used to sample out students and teachers. The sample size consisted of 1092 respondents. Data were collected using questionnaire, a document analysis schedule and a Chemistry achievement test. Reliability of the evaluation instruments was examined using test-re-test method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hypotheses were tested using t-test for independent groups. The study findings revealed that chemistry performance among students was good and was associated to STEM education programme. Study findings established that students’ performance in Chemistry in STEM schools (Mean 21.68, SD 6.17) was higher than in Non-STEM schools (Mean 19.06, SD 7.15). The difference in mean scores in STEM and in Non-STEM schools was established to be statistically significant implying that students’ performance in Chemistry was dependent on the school where a student studied whether STEM or Non-STEM. The Chemistry performance in both categories of schools was greatly associated to STEM Education programme under implementation, which was more effective in STEM schools than in Non-STEM schools. The number of Chemistry projects presented by students was higher in STEM (173) than in Non-STEM schools (144). The study also established that students lacked adequate space to design projects and hence it was recommended that an innovation room (makerspace) be constructed in each school to enhance creativity and innovation and allow students to expand on the number of Chemistry projects