Relationship between selected students’ background characteristics and academic performance in secondary school biology in Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between selected students’ background characteristics and academic performance in biology. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. The target population included; 22 principals and 1288 form 4 biology students in public secondary schools in Nandi East Sub County. A sample of 12 principals and 296 students were selected using purposive and proportionate stratified random sampling respectively. Principals’ Interview Schedule (PIS) and Students’ Background Characteristics Questionnaire (SBCQ) were used as the main instruments for data collection. The reliability of the SBCQ was determined using Cronbach’s alpha method with the help of SPSS. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.82 and was deemed reliable. Interview schedule being mainly open ended was not tested for reliability. The data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative approach technique was used to analyze the data collected from the SBCQ while, qualitative approach was used to analyze the data retrieved from the interview schedule at the 0.05 level using the chi-square test for independence. Data was presented in frequencies and percentages. The findings of the study were that: Students’ attitudes towards biology and career preference were significantly related to performance in the subject; Parental socio-economic status and gender does not affect academic performance in biology. It was recommended that, students’ attitudes towards biology should be enhanced through use of appropriate instructional methods and motivation to boost their performance in the subject and that, teachers to make students aware of biology related careers and benefits associated with them through vocational counseling as a way of enhancing their interest and performance in the subject. The Ministry of Education, school administrators and the local leaders need to come up with frequent community based forums that are specifically structured towards enhancing parental participation in their children’s education. There is also need for policy formulation and implementation that encourage all learners to be treated equally irrespective of gender. Other factors such as availability of teaching/learning resources, motivation and school characteristics that enhance performance in biology should be strengthened so as to improve the students’ achievement in the subject.