Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Preparedness to IntegrateInformation Communication and Technology in SecondarySchool Mathematics Instruction in Rift Valley Region, Kenya

Abstract

Policy makers are increasingly focusing on professional development of teachers as a means of improving teaching.  Success in learning mathematics is determined by individual’s ability not only to read and write, but also to frame and solve complex problems and continually learn new skills. The education system in Kenya is increasingly being asked to provide learners with the skills needed to compete in an increasingly complex international market place. For this to be achieved teachers are an integral part of children’s intellectual and social development. Therefore they must know how to teach in ways that help learners reach high levels of competence. A national profile of teacher quality is a necessary tool for tracking our progress towards this goal. In Kenya the students’ performance in mathematics at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education has been dismal over the years and studies have been carried out on students to establish the cause of this failure. Limited research has been carried out to establish whether teacher preparedness influence performance. In this study the researcher sought to address mathematics teachers’ perception of their preparedness to integrate ICT in secondary school mathematics Instruction. The study applied an ex post facto research (causal comparative design) which was seen to be appropriate since the researcher could not manipulate the independent variable. There is a population of 1500 mathematics teachers in Rift Valley Province. A sample of 300 mathematics teachers drawn from secondary schools in Rift Valley Province participated in the study. The participants were selected using systematic random sampling and stratified random sampling (stratified by qualification and gender). The data was collected using self-report questionnaire. The instruments were pilot tested and reliability coefficient was found to be 0.83, which is above the required threshold value of 0.70 Cronbach alpha in social science research. The collected data was analysed using both descriptive (means) and inferential statistics (ANOVA and t-test) to establish differences in teacher perception of their preparedness to teach secondary school mathematics by Teaching Experience, qualification and Gender. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 Alpha (?) level. The findings of this study show that teachers perceive themselves to be less prepared to Integrate ICT secondary school mathematics instructions. The findings indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in teachers’ perception to integrate ICT in secondary mathematics instruction however there was not statistically significant difference by qualification and gender. The findings are expected to inform policy makers on how to include ICT in both pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes.

Key words: Teachers’ perceptions, ICT, Preparedness, Instruction, Mathematics