Influence of Instructional Strategies Used by Teachers in Implementation of Life Skills Education Curriculum On Academic Performance in Public Primary Schools in Matinyani Sub-County, Kitui County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of instructional strategies used by teachers in implementation of life skills education curriculum on academic performance in public primary schools in Matinyani Sub-County, Kitui County Kenya. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The target population was 27 head teachers and 81 class teachers in Matinyani sub-county. Simple random sampling method was used to select 81 class teachers and purposive sampling was used to select 27 head teachers to get a representative sample of 108 respondents. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 and presented in tables and charts. The findings were that most of the primary school teachers do not use participatory instructional strategies in teaching life skills education and this affects the overall academic performance of the pupils. The ministry of education should ensure implementation of life skills education curriculum in order to promote participatory learning. The findings of this study will shed light to all educational stakeholders in promoting quality education

Reconstructionist Analysis on the Relevance of Secondary School Learning Opportunities in Promoting National Cohesion Among Students in Machakos Town Sub-County, Kenya

The study investigated the relevance of secondary school learning opportunities in promoting national cohesion. The study was based on the ideals and principles of a school curriculum as advocated by Brameld Theodore on reconstructionism philosophy. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample size of four hundred and nine (409) respondents comprising of three hundred and sixty (360) student leaders, Forty eight (48) teachers and Sub-County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer (QASO) was used for the study. Purposive sampling was adopted to select the respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used for data collection. The study established that the secondary school learning opportunities do not to adequately capture learner related peculiarities such as aptitude, interests and regional diversities. It thus recommended a review on secondary school learning opportunities to reflect the emerging issues on national cohesion and integration. The findings of the study will provide information to educational stakeholders on the vital role that the secondary school learning opportunities plays in promoting national cohesion. Keywords: Reconstructionist analysis, Secondary school curriculum, Learning opportunities, National cohesion

Certainty of Knowledge and Performance of Physics among Secondary School Students in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

The study aimed to investigate the extent to which students’ epistemological beliefs in the dimension of certainty of knowledge acquisition relate to performance in physics. The study used a mixed-methods research approach that included philosophical analysis, a descriptive survey, and a correlational analysis. The sample size comprised 310 form two students, 60 physics teachers, and 20 heads of the science department. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed through a thematic approach. The study revealed a positive correlation between sophisticated beliefs in the certainty of knowledge and performance in physics. The researcher concluded that sophisticated beliefs in certainty of knowledge contribute towards better performance in physics. The study suggests the implementation of strategies aimed at fostering the development and adoption of sophisticated epistemological beliefs in the certainty of knowledge among students to enhance their performance in physics. The outcome of this study can inform educational policymakers, curriculum developers, and teachers in Kenya to design interventions that promote the development of students’ epistemological beliefs in certainty of knowledge to stimulate performance in physics. Keywords: Certainty of knowledge, Epistemological belief, Knowledge acquisition, Physics performance, Secondary school DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-28-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

The index tracking problem with a limit on portfolio size

For a passive fund manager tracking a benchmark, it is not uncommon to select some, and not all the assets in the index to his portfolio. In this thesis, we consider the problem of minimizing the tracking error under the mean--variance formulation which gives us a quadratic objective function. Our model includes a cardinality constraint, that puts a limit on the portfolio size. Our problem is a mixed integer nonlinear problem with a convex, quadratic objective function. For this NP-Hard problem, we apply continuous as well as Lagrangian relaxations. We illustrate a subgradient algorithm, modified to our problem. We also present two construction and three improvement heuristics to this problem. Our approaches are compared to the results of an exact and an interrupted solver and computational time is of interest. Our data sets range from 50-400 (500), with real constituent weights from S&P Dow Jones Indices for the largest set of index