EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS TOWARDS LEARNING OF CHEMISTRY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MAARA

Abstract

Students perform poorly in Chemistry examinations in Kenya. The teaching of Chemistry aims at developing scientific attitudes, concept, principles and skills in learners. Differentiated instruction consists of efforts of teachers to respond to the variance among learners in the classroom. This study investigated effectiveness of differentiated instruction in enhancing students’ academic achievements in chemistry. Quasi-experimental research design was used, particularly Solomon’s four group design. The research was done in four sub-county secondary schools in Maara. The target population was 12,187 chemistry students. The accessible population was 1,242 form two chemistry students. A purposive sampling technique was used to draw the participating schools. Simple random sampling was used to select and assign schools in experimental and control groups. The sample size was 165 form two chemistry students. The instrument used was Chemistry Achievement Test. It was piloted to determine it reliability, while validity of the instrument was ascertained by experts’ opinions from Department of Education of Chuka University. Reliability coefficient for CAT was 0.74. The experimental groups were taught using differentiated instruction teaching approach while the control groups were taught through conventional teaching approach. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 was used for data analysis. The raw data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The level of significance for rejection of null hypotheses was at α = 0.05. The findings indicated that differentiated instruction significantly improved the students’ achievement towards learning chemistry. The finding is expected to form a frame of reference for further research on innovative teaching strategies in chemistry education.