Influence of CBL Methods on Secondary School Physically Handicapped Students’ Academic Achievement in Mathematics in Kenya

Abstract

Learners with special needs education are of diverse categories. Among them are the Physically Handicapped (PH) and the Visually Impaired (VI).These learners may lag in education if there are no environmental and instructional adaptations to enable them compete on equal footing with their non-disable peers. Mathematics has been the worst performed subject among the PH learners in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) as indicated in the results of the years 2008 to 2013. Traditional mode of instruction had been the only method of teaching these learners. There was therefore, need to device ways to enable them to participate in learning with ease. Computer based learning (CBL) has reported to be effective in the teaching and learning of complex concepts in physics and accounting and could provide solution in the teaching of mathematics among the learners with physical disabilities. The purpose of this study was to establish the effects of CBL Methods on Secondary School Physically Handicapped (PH) academic achievement. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of CBL methods on Secondary School PH students’ academic achievement. A pre-test quasi experimental and correlation research designs were employed. The conceptual framework was adopted from Winnie and Butter, (1994) model. Saturated sampling was used to get and 5 mathematics teachers from Joyland secondary school for the physically handicapped in Kisumu County, Joytown Secondary School for the physically handicapped in Thika County and Mombasa Secondary school for the physically handicapped in Mombasa county. The instruments used were Computer Assisted Statistics Text, student motivation questionnaire, student interview guide and teacher interview guide. Validity of instruments was established by experts in special needs education. Reliability coefficient of student questionnaires was established by test re-test method whereby coefficient of 0.70 and above at p value of 0.05 was considered reliable. Quantitative data was analyzed using inferential statistics. The findings indicated that there was statistically significant difference in using CBL method [F (2, 125) =33.14, p=.000] on academic achievement. The CBL influenced the students’ academic achievement in Mathematics among the physically handicapped. It showed that there was significant difference in final exam scores of students receiving traditional instruction and those learning through CBL. The findings showed that use of CBL improves the learners’ motivation and achievement in their performance of mathematics. Professional should be provided to help teachers understand the needs of learners who cannot study because of their physical conditions. This modern system of learning is alleged to provide them with an equal opportunity to study, as their regular friends and relatives. Keywords: computer assisted statistics text, computer based learning, physically handicapped and the visually impaired