Instructional and Assessment Techniques Employed by Teachers of Life Skills Education in Secondary Schools in Eldoret East District, Kenya

Abstract

Instructional methods are defined as modes of delivery systems or teaching and learning methods employed in an educational process with the view of facilitating the attainment of the set goals or objectives. Some of the instructional methods used in teaching life skills include: discussion, problem solving, role playing, life approach, group work, question and answer and use of resource persons. The study that informed the writing of this paper sought to establish the type of instructional and assessment methods that are used by teachers of life skills education in Eldoret East District in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.  The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The techniques used to select the research sample were stratified, purposive and simple random sampling. Samples of 240 students, 45 teachers and 15 heads of humanities department were selected to participate in the study. To collect data, questionnaire and interview schedule were used. Data collected were coded and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSSv 13.5) and analysed by non-parametric Chi-square (χ²) test, descriptive statistics and frequency distribution. The findings were presented in form of tables, charts and graphs.  The study revealed that teachers of LSE used teacher-centred instructional techniques that did not arouse students' interest in the subject. Assessment was done using oral and written exercises. In the light of the above findings, it is recommended that teachers of LSE should emphasize on student-centred techniques of instruction which are more interactive and which arouse students' interest. The teachers should employ evaluation techniques that elicit immediate feedback based on Bloom's taxonomy.