The geographic mosaic of coevolving plant-herbivore interactions: genetic variation, local adaptation and plant secondary chemistry

Siirretty Doriast

Students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the methods used to enhance discipline in public secondary schools in Nyahururu division, Laikipia west district, Kenya

Many methods are used to enhance discipline in secondary schools. Among them are corporal punishment, guidance and counselling, psychological punishment and suspension from school. The use of corporal punishment was banned by the government and teachers were expected to use alternative methods. The opinion of the students on this matter was not sought. The main purpose of this study was to investigate students’ perception of the effectiveness of the methods used to enhance discipline in public schools in Nyahururu division of Laikipia West District. The descriptive survey method was used. From a population of 2497 students, a sample of 333 was selected using the proportionate, stratified and simple random sampling methods. Data was collected using a self-administered student questionnaire developed by the researchers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that students perceived guidance and counselling as more effective in enhancing discipline than other methods. The study also revealed that factors such as age, grade and type of school affected students’ perception of the effectiveness of the various methods. From the study it was recommended that a good student-teacher relationship be cultivated in schools and guidance and counselling be enhanced.Key words: Perception, discipline, secondary school, grad

The Principals’ and Teacher Counsellors’ Perception of the Factors Influencing Effective Delivery of Guidance and Conselling Services in Public Secondary Schools in Laikipia District

Despite the institutionalization of guidance and counselling programme inKenyan public secondary schools, cases of indiscipline are still rampant.This study investigated the factors that influence the delivery of effectiveguidance and counselling services in all the 45 public secondary schools inLaikipia District as perceived by school principals and teacher counsellors.Two questionnaires, one for principals and another for teacher counselorsprovided data which was analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test. The findings showed that there is no significant difference in the perception of the effect of training, experience, workload, age and gender of the teacher counsellors and students’ attitudes on delivery of guidance and counselling between the principals and teacher counsellors. There is a statistically significant (P < 0.05, t = -2.115) difference in the perception of the effect of availability of facilities on delivery of guidance and counselling services between the principals and teacher counsellors. It was concluded that, although principals and teacher counsellors understood what is required for  effective counselling, they have not done much to ensure the success of the programme. In order to have effective delivery of guidance and counselling services, there is need to provide sufficient facilities and training for teacher counsellors

The Effect of Inter-tribal Post Election Violence Conflict Trauma on Academic Performance among Secondary School Students in Mt. Elgon District, Kenya

Inter-tribal conflict in Kenya has persisted for a long time and intensifiesduring elections. The inter-tribal conflict in 2007-2008 in Mt. Elgon Districtwas apparently over land dispute between the Soy and Ndorobo clans of theSabaot tribe. This research aimed at establishing the effect of trauma as aresult of inter-ethnic conflicts on academic performance among secondaryschool students in Mt Elgon District, Kenya. The ex-post facto researchdesign was used. Two questionnaires, one for students and another one forteacher-counsellors were used to collect data. The sample of study comprisedof 90 randomly selected students and six teacher-counsellors from sixpurposively sampled schools from a population of 22 secondary schools. Five(83%) out of the six sampled schools registered a negative performance index in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) for the year2008. In addition, 98% of the respondents recorded a negative performanceindex in their internal examination results. More girls (70%) registered anegative drop than boys (32%). The findings showed that 70 (78%) of thestudent-respondents sought counseling services while 20 (22%) did not. Itwas recommended that trauma counseling should be entrenched in the schoolsystem

The Effect of Academic Advising on Academic Performance of University Students in Kenyan Universities

Although academic advising in Kenyan universities exists, no research hasbeen done to find out how it impacts on students&rsquo; educational and careergoals. This research aimed at establishing the effect of academic advising onacademic performance and the influence of year of study and gender onstudents&rsquo; tendency to seek academic advising. The ex-post facto researchdesign was used. A questionnaire was used to collect data. A random sampleof 187 (53, 41 and 93 first, second and third year students respectively.)participated in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select LaikipiaUniversity College of Egerton University which is one of the seven publicuniversities in Kenya. No significant relationship (r = 0.099) was foundbetween academic advising and academic performance. The findingsshowed that, first (21%) and second (27%) year students are more likely toseek academic advising than third year students (4%). An equal and lowpercentage (14%) of male and female students sought academic assistancefrom their academic mentors. The findings were attributed to the lowpercentage (11%) of students seeking academic advising and students&rsquo; needsat different years of study irrespective of gender. It was recommended thatacademic advising should actively involve more students

INFLUENCE OF ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG STUDENTS IN PRIMARY TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES IN CENTRAL REGION KENYA

This study was designed to determine the relationship between academic self-efficacy on academic Performance among students in teacher training colleges in central region in Kenya. It was guided by Self-efficacy theory and adopted descriptive survey design. The study targeted all second year students in Public Primary Teacher Training Colleges in central region in 2019. Purposive sampling was used to select central region, second years’ students and Simple random sampling was used to select 197 students, and stratified sampling to select gender. The instrument used to collect data was academic self-efficacy scale. Academic Performance was inferred from the students mean grade obtained from the mid-course examinations. Means and standard deviations were used to describe the data, while quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. The relationships among the variables was examined using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and regression analysis was used to measure the strength of the relationship, independent sample t test was used to examine gender differences. Overall, academic self-efficacy positively and significantly correlated with academic performance with (r =.70,

The Relationship between Family Functions and Juvenile Delinquency: A Case of Nakuru Municipality, Kenya

The incidences of juvenile delinquency have increased in recent years in Kenya. Most of the studies done on Juvenile delinquency have paid little or no attention to family functions as one of the possible causes. This study was carried out in Nakuru town Municipality on former street children on rehabilitation in three homes. The sample was 148 and included all the 30 girls in the three homes and 118 boys selected using the stratified random sampling technique from a population of 241. Three managers of the three homes and six purposively selected parents were included. Two interview schedules and a questionnaire were used to collect data from the respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s moment correlation and t-test. Juvenile delinquency was found to be significantly related to marital stability, family size, marital adjustment and mode of discipline. A weak relationship between juvenile delinquency and socio-economic status was observed. The delinquency level of boys was significantly higher than that of girls. It was concluded that there is a relationship between family functions and juvenile delinquency. The study recommended strengthened of counselling on parenting and involvement of families and non-governmental organizations in the rehabilitation efforts.Key words: family, functions, juvenile, and delinquency

Influence of Guidance and Counselling Programmes on Secondary Students School Connectedness. A Case Study of Nyamira County, Kenya

Secondary school students are still within the age bracket of rapid physical, social and psychological changes. These changes pose a number of challenges which result to cases of maladaptive behaviour as evidenced by strikes, riots, boycotts, indulgence in premarital sexual activities,  truancy, drug and substance abuse, disinterest in school and poor academic performance. Diverse behaviour modification strategies have been employed to mitigate against these negative tendencies but these maladaptive behaviours are still rampant among secondary school students. The current study sought  to investigate the influence of guidance and counselling programmes in improving secondary students school connectedness in Nyamira Count,y Kenya. The study  objective was to investigate the influence of guidance and counselling programmes on secondary  students school connectedness. The study was guided by two theories namely: Ludwig Bertalanffy’s Systems  Theory and Erik Erickson’s psychosocial development Theory. The study utilized descriptive survey design as well as ex-post facto design. The sample size of the study were 52 head teachers, 52 deputy head teachers, 52 guidance and counselling teachers and 311 students drawn from a population of 7740 form three students, 174 head teachers, 174 deputy head teachers and 174 guidance and counselling teachers. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select public secondary schools, head teachers, deputy head teachers, guidance and counselling teachers and form three students. Stratified sampling  procedure was used to group the target population into four strata based on school type and gender. Proportionate sampling procedure was used to select equal representation of respondents from each stratum of public secondary school. Random sampling procedure was used to obtain the final sample from each of the stratum. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Prior to data collection, a pilot study was conducted to ensure validity and reliability of the research instruments and using Cronbach reliability test, reliability coefficient of =  0.727 was reported. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data. The data analysis  was done  with the aid of computer software- statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. The study found that there is a strong positive relationship (r = .622) between guidance and counselling programme and students school connectedness which was statistically significant ( &lt;.005). The study recommends that all teachers in the school need to understand in depth the concept of guidance and counselling in the school setting and how it can be used to improve students school connectedness. The education  ministry should organize regular seminars based on personal, social and moral practices for the schools. This will ensure that the policy on professional ethics is adhered to for improved performance. The government through the  Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission should employ more teacher counselors in secondary schools to effectively tackle social and academic challenges facing the students. Keywords: Guidance and counselling, public secondary schools, students school connectedness, Nyamira County. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-22-06 Publication date: August 31st 201

APPROPRIATENESS OF MNEMONIC TECHNIQUES ON FREE RECALL LEARNING OUTCOMES IN PUBLIC UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MACHAKOS SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

The purpose of this study was to investigate the appropriateness of mnemonic techniques on free recall learning outcomes in primary schools in Machakos Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya. A 2x4 factorial design was used to test the appropriateness of three mnemonic techniques on free recall learning outcomes. Stratified sampling was to select one school from each of the three educational zones of Machakos Sub-County. Purposeful sampling was used to select four schools with mean grades between 279-281 marks in 2017 KCPE results. Random sampling was used to assign intact groups experimental and control groups. A sample size of 317 pupils was selected from standard seven pupils to participate in the study. The following research instruments were used: observation schedules for monitoring treatment process, Questionnaires for testing pupils’ satisfaction level and test scores for measuring free recall learning outcomes. The validity and reliability of the instruments was established by piloting the research instruments in Kathiani Sub-County. The reliability of the research instrument was determined through the split-half correlation method. The treatment process involved exposing pupils to learning using three mnemonic instruction conditions. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyse the data. Post-hoc pair wise comparison (LSD) was done to test which groups had significant difference. The results were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. The study had the following findings: No significance differences (F(3,318)= 2.26, P&gt; 0.05) were found in free recall learning outcomes between learners who were taught using the three mnemonic techniques hence none of the three mnemonic techniques was found to be more appropriate for free recall learning tasks. The study recommended that, teacher trainees need to be trained on how to teach using mnemonic techniques and similar study should be replicated with samples drawn from students in secondary schools, colleges and Universities.  Article visualizations

A PRACTICAL MENTORSHIP MODEL FOR RAISING LEARNING OUTCOMES AMONG ACADEMICALLY LOW ACHIEVING STUDENTS IN MACHAKOS UNIVERSITY, KENYA

Academic mentorship has been practiced in a number of universities including Machakos in Kenya though ineffectively due to the large student numbers and the presumably misconceived assumption that all students are in need and will voluntarily seek assistance. Most of the students admitted in public universities have the potential to excel academically if properly guided, supported and challenged. For academic mentorship to be successful and profitable to students, there is need to come with a workable model suitable for Kenyan universities. The main objectives of this study were to improve learning outcomes of academically low achieving students through mentorship, test an academic mentorship model for Machakos University, enhance mentorship competences of academic staff in Machakos University, and to develop mentorship resources for use by academic staff and students of Machakos University. The study used the time series experimental design in which 239 academically low achieving students were purposively selected on the basis of their performance. The selected students had failed between one and four units during the January-April 2018 semester. Each mentor was allocated ten students and advised to meet with them for at least five times during the semester. The mentees were subjected to a rigorous academic mentorship process for one semester and their end of semester performance was compared with the performance in the preceding semester. The study mainly used documentary analysis to gather the required data. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Majority of (72.38 %, N =173) of the respondents had failed one unit; 16.32% (39), two units; 8.37% (20), three units and 2.99% (7) four units respectively. The results showed that more than a half (52.24%) of the students who had failed some units during the January–April 2018 managed to pass all the units registered in the subsequent semester after exposure to mentorship. The percentage pass rate varied from programme to programme. Students registered for the BSc in Agribusiness and Trade programme recorded the highest percentage (70%) pass and those in Bachelor of Science in Mathematics recording the least improvement of 25%. It was concluded that properly organized and structured mentorship can drastically reduce the number of students who fail their examinations. It was recommended that universities through the schools and departments should institutionalize academic mentorship focusing mainly on low achieving students to minimize the number of students who fail each semester. This will improve progression and retention of students.  Article visualizations