Effectiveness of Computer Based Teaching in Enhancing Student’s Interest to Learn Agriculture in Secondary Schools in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

Abstract

Interest plays a key role in learning. Interest motivates students and this enhances successful learning. Students’ interest to learn is affected by the teacher’s style of teaching. Students get interested in learning when they become engaged and actively involved in the learning process. In Computer Based Teaching (CBT), students have hands on activities and are actively involved in the learning process and this increases their interest to learn. Taking into account that agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy, students should develop an interest to learn the subject. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness CBT in enhancing students’ interest to learn agriculture. The study employed Solomon Four-Quasi-experimental design. Target population was the 1,779, 876 secondary school students in Kenya. The study was conducted in eight county secondary schools in Tharaka Nithi county, Kenya. Stratified random sampling technique was used in selecting participating schools. A sample of 327 Form One students participated in the study. The research instrument was Interest Towards Agriculture (ITA) questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.78. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used in data analysis. Statistical significant values were accepted at α level of 0.05. The findings indicated that CBT strategy improved students’ interest to learn agriculture. The study concluded that CBT is an effective strategy in enhancing interest to learn agriculture and therefore agriculture teachers should be encouraged to incorporate CBT strategy in their teaching.