Browsing by Author "Githaiga, Pauline Wanjiru"

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Enhancement of Secondary Schools Students’ Moral Reasoning through the Christian Religious Education Curriculum in Nakuru County, Kenya
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2018) Githaiga, Pauline Wanjiru; Wamutitu, Joseph Mworai; Kinuthia, Lydia Nkatha
Moral reasoning is important as it equips students with skills to distinguish between right and wrong. It is taught in Kenyan secondary schools through Christian Religious Education (CRE) and other carrier subjects. Despite exposure to moral reasoning content, moral judgment of students is generally unsatisfactory. This suggests that moral education imparted through the CRE and other carrier subjects have not achieved their objectives. This study examined the role of CRE in enhancing moral reasoning of public secondary school students’ in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised all secondary school students in the county while accessible population composed of 10,603 Form Four CRE students. A sample of 386 students was selected using stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques. CRE Students’ Moral Reasoning Test (CRESMRAT) was used to gather data. The face and content validity of CRESMRAT was examined by five research experts from the department of Curriculum Instruction and Educational Management of Egerton University. The instrument was also piloted for reliability and its coefficient estimated using the Kuder Richardson’s formula (KR20). The reliability coefficient of the tool was 0.801. Qualitative data was described and summarised using frequencies and percentages while differences in moral reasoning by gender and school location were determined using the t-test. Role of CRE in enhancing students’ moral reasoning was established using open ended items. The results of the study indicated that the students’ moral reasoning level were average. The results also showed that difference in moral reasoning by gender was significant in favour of the females while the difference by school location was not. Majority of the respondent were of the view that CRE enhances moral reasoning. The results of the study can be used by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to enhance moral reasoning content of the CRE curriculum and other carrier subjects. Teacher training institutions can use also use the results to strengthen moral education and methodologies in their programmes. Lastly, the results can be used by the society to mold young people into responsible citizens.
Impartation of students’ moral reasoning through secondary school Christian religious education curriculum in Nakuru County, Kenya
(Egerton University, 2018-11) Githaiga, Pauline Wanjiru
Moral reasoning is important as it equips students with knowledge and skills to distinguish between right and wrong. Moral reasoning taught in Kenyan secondary schools through Christian Religious Education (CRE) and other carrier subjects. Despite exposure to moral reasoning content, moral judgement of students is generally unsatisfactory as demonstrated in the acts of lawlessness in schools. This suggests that moral education imparted through the carrier subjects has not achieved its objectives. This study investigated the impartation of secondary school students‟ moral reasoning through the Christian Religious Education Curriculum in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted the ex- post facto research design, correlational type. The target population comprised all secondary school teachers and their students while accessible population composed of 332 CRE teachers and 10,603 Form Four students who were studying the subject. A sample of 186 CRE teachers and 386 students was selected using stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques. Four instruments namely; CRE Teachers‟ Curriculum Perceptions Questionnaire (CRETCPQ), CRE Students‟ Moral Reasoning Test (CRESMRAT), Moral Reasoning Methods Observation Schedule (MRIMOS) and Curriculum Content Analysis Matrix (CCAM) were used to gather data. The face and content validity of the four instruments were examined by five research experts from the Department of Curriculum Instruction and Educational Management of Egerton University. CRETCPQ, MRIMOS, CCAM and CRESMRAT were piloted for reliability. Their coefficients were estimated using the Cronbach‟s, Krippendorff‟s Alpha method; and the Kuder Richardson‟s formula (KR20) respectively. The reliability coefficients of the three tools were 0.897, 0.803, 0.831 and 0.801 respectively. Data was analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Qualitative data was analysed and described using frequencies and percentages. The study hypotheses were tested using simple linear and multiple regression at α = ≤ .05.The results of the study indicated that moral reasoning content coverage in the CRE curriculum and students‟ moral reasoning level were average. The results also indicated that the instructional methods used by CRE teachers to enhance moral reasoning knowledge and skills to students significantly imparted their moral reasoning. The results further indicated that teachers‟ perceptions of CRE curriculum do not impart students‟ moral reasoning. The results of the study can be used by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to enhance moral reasoning content of the CRE curriculum while teacher training institutions can use them to strengthen moral education and methodologies in their programmes. The results can also be used by teachers to enhance moral education content delivery. Lastly, the results can be used by the other religions such as Islam and Hindu among other and; the society at large to mould young youths into responsible citizens.