Effective Communication In Writing: A Challenge Among Student Teachers In Universities In Kenya

The purpose of the study was to establish English student teachers’ knowledge of writing strategies to facilitate instruction of writing skills. The specific objectives were: to find out introduction strategies used by participants when writing essays, to establish strategies used by participants to ensure coherence of the written essay and to examine conclusion strategies used by the participants in essay writing. A total of 37 fourth year English student teachers’ were used in the study. The instrument used for data generation was document analysis of written essays. The study revealed that the student teachers lack sufficient knowledge of writing strategies. The study recommends that: English Language Teacher Educators should design a course about communication strategies for effective essay writing to be taught to student teachers specializing in English to equip them with both content and pedagogical knowledge for effective teaching

INTEGRATED APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE: THE PRACTICE IN KENYA

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to establish how the integrated approach was used in teaching cultural practices and English language skills in the set book novel: The River and the Source by Magaret Ogola. The findings revealed that teachers analyzed cultural practices in isolation without integrating the teaching of literature with the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Punctuation and grammar was also not taught. The instructional objectives focused on identifying and illustrating the cultural issues in the novel. Teachers emphasized on the cognitive domain ignoring the psychomotor and the affective domains, hence there was a disparity between curriculum developers' expectations and classroom practice

UTILIZATION OF VISUAL AND REALIA INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN ENHANCING ACQUISITION OF PRE-READING SKILLS AMONG PRESCHOOL LEARNERS IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA

Early childhood education, also referred to as preschool education is essential to children’s social, physical, emotional, and cognitive growth. Learning can be made more effective when the teachers have the right instructional materials. The study was guided by the following research questions: how were visual instructional materials utilized in teaching pre-reading skills among preschool children? and how were realia instructional materials utilized in the teaching of pre-reading skills among preschool learners? The study adopted a descriptive survey design and data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and observation schedules. The findings of the study revealed that visual instructional materials for teaching pre-reading skills were available but not adequate in most of the schools, hence affecting the effective teaching of pre-reading skills among the learners. The study further established that most preschools lacked adequate realia materials for teaching pre-reading skills. It was concluded that Preschool teachers should attend relevant workshops, seminars, vocational and teacher professional development courses, to acquire pedagogical skills, besides effective utilization of Visual and Realia instructional materials in teaching pre-reading skills to preschool learners. Emphasis should be on pedagogical content knowledge.  Article visualizations

Use of Athletics and Debate in Developing Competencies Among Learners:Perception of Teachers

The study investigated Teachers Perception of the Use of Athletics and Debate in Developing Competencies among learners in secondary schools in Kenya. The Objectives of the study were: To determine teachers’ perception of participation in athletics in developing competencies among learners; and to examine teachers’ perception of participation in debates in developing competencies among learners. A descriptive research design was used in describing teacher’s perception of the use of debate and athletics in developing competencies among learners. The target population comprised of 80 teachers who were in charge of co-curricular activities. Census sampling technique was used hence all the 80 teachers formed the study sample. Questionnaires were used to collect data. To ensure validity, the instruments were reviewed by an expert supervisor. The researcher conducted a pilot study of the questionnaires to test their reliability. Data was analyzed and interpreted according to the objectives. It was presented using frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that Use of Athletics and Debate in developing competencies among learners in secondary schools facilitated in building confidence, promoting citizenship, communication and collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, imagination and social skills. The researcher recommends that: learners should be allowed to choose the kind of co-curricular activity they want to participate in, schools should create time for co-curricular activities during formal school hours, the Government of Kenya should come up with a policy to ensure co-curricular activities are made compulsory in all secondary schools. The overall outcome of the study will contribute to existing knowledge and provide baseline data for further studies on the use of co-curricular activities in developing competencies among learners. Keywords: co-curricular activities, Athletics, Debate, Competencies, learners DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-35-08 Publication date: December 31st 201

Hypothermia amongst neonatal admissions in Kenya: a retrospective cohort study assessing prevalence, trends, associated factors, and its relationship with all-cause neonatal mortality

BackgroundReports on hypothermia from high-burden countries like Kenya amongst sick newborns often include few centers or relatively small sample sizes.ObjectivesThis study endeavored to describe: (i) the burden of hypothermia on admission across 21 newborn units in Kenya, (ii) any trend in prevalence of hypothermia over time, (iii) factors associated with hypothermia at admission, and (iv) hypothermia's association with inpatient neonatal mortality.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 2020 to March 2023, focusing on small and sick newborns admitted in 21 NBUs. The primary and secondary outcome measures were the prevalence of hypothermia at admission and mortality during the index admission, respectively. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between selected factors and the outcomes cold stress (36.0°C–36.4°C) and hypothermia (<36.0°C). Factors associated with neonatal mortality, including hypothermia defined as body temperature below 36.0°C, were also explored using logistic regression.ResultsA total of 58,804 newborns from newborn units in 21 study hospitals were included in the analysis. Out of these, 47,999 (82%) had their admission temperature recorded and 8,391 (17.5%) had hypothermia. Hypothermia prevalence decreased over the study period while admission temperature documentation increased. Significant associations were found between low birthweight and very low (0–3) APGAR scores with hypothermia at admission. Odds of hypothermia reduced as ambient temperature and month of participation in the Clinical Information Network (a collaborative learning health platform for healthcare improvement) increased. Hypothermia at admission was associated with 35% (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.22, 1.50) increase in odds of neonatal inpatient death.ConclusionsA substantial proportion of newborns are admitted with hypothermia, indicating a breakdown in warm chain protocols after birth and intra-hospital transport that increases odds of mortality. Urgent implementation of rigorous warm chain protocols, particularly for low-birth-weight babies, is crucial to protect these vulnerable newborns from the detrimental effects of hypothermia

PARENTAL LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND TRANSITION RATES OF LEARNERS FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MUKURWEINI SUBCOUNTY IN KENYA

<p>Parental level of education entails the extent to which parents acquired education. The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which educated, semi-educated and uneducated parents influence transition rate of pupils from primary to secondary school in Mukurweini sub county, Nyeri, Kenya. The study used mixed methods approach. The target population for this study comprised of 65 head teachers and 65 class 8 class teachers. A sample of 40 respondents, of whom 20 were head teachers and 20 class 8 class teachers were used. Questionnaires were used to collect data from head teachers and class 8 class teachers. Document analysis was utilized to collect data on pupil's transition rate. Validity was established through expert judgment who improved the content validity. Reliability was determined using test re-test technique. Data analysis was done both qualitatively, as per the emerging themes in narrative forms and quantitatively, using frequencies and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that parental level of education influence learners' transition rates from primary to secondary school; children of educated parents successfully transit to secondary schools. The findings of the study will help policy makers to address challenges related to parental level of education on pupil's transition rate and develop appropriate policies in mitigation, to enable the ministry of education to find strategies to alleviate future challenges relating to parenting that hinder school going children from transiting from primary schools to secondary school.</p&gt

Neonatal mortality in Kenyan hospitals: a multisite, retrospective, cohort study

Background Most of the deaths among neonates in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be prevented through universal access to basic high-quality health services including essential facility-based inpatient care. However, poor routine data undermines data-informed efforts to monitor and promote improvements in the quality of newborn care across hospitals.Methods Continuously collected routine patients’ data from structured paper record forms for all admissions to newborn units (NBUs) from 16 purposively selected Kenyan public hospitals that are part of a clinical information network were analysed together with data from all paediatric admissions ages 0–13 years from 14 of these hospitals. Data are used to show the proportion of all admissions and deaths in the neonatal age group and examine morbidity and mortality patterns, stratified by birth weight, and their variation across hospitals.Findings During the 354 hospital months study period, 90 222 patients were admitted to the 14 hospitals contributing NBU and general paediatric ward data. 46% of all the admissions were neonates (aged 0–28 days), but they accounted for 66% of the deaths in the age group 0–13 years. 41 657 inborn neonates were admitted in the NBUs across the 16 hospitals during the study period. 4266/41 657 died giving a crude mortality rate of 10.2% (95% CI 9.97% to 10.55%), with 60% of these deaths occurring on the first-day of admission. Intrapartum-related complications was the single most common diagnosis among the neonates with birth weight of 2000 g or more who died. A threefold variation in mortality across hospitals was observed for birth weight categories 1000–1499 g and 1500–1999 g.Interpretation The high proportion of neonatal deaths in hospitals may reflect changing patterns of childhood mortality. Majority of newborns died of preventable causes (>95%). Despite availability of high-impact low-cost interventions, hospitals have high and very variable mortality proportions after stratification by birth weight