Influence of students’ self perception on biology achievement among secondary school students in Nakuru county, Kenya

Abstract

Acquisition of biology knowledge and skills at Kenya’s secondary school is measured by administration of tests especially at national level. Achievement in biology has not been satisfactory in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination (KCSE) and scholars have fronted various reasons that contribute to this unsatisfactory achievement. The factors include students’ negative attitude towards the subject, lack of teaching/learning resources and inadequate staffing. Researchers have also investigated students’ entry behavior which varies from individual to individual and so do learning outcomes. Irrespective of entry behavior, when meaningful learning takes place, the expectation is improved academic achievement. However this is not always the case and this study aimed at assessing the impact of students’ self perception on achievement in biology. This study was guided by self perception theory (SPT) and adopted ex-post facto research design. Random sampling was used to select a sample size of 390 Form three students from three randomly selected secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The data was collected by use of a questionnaire (Students’ questionnaire). The data collected was coded, categorized and then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Null hypothesis were tested at .05 significance level. The Study findings showed that students had positive self perception which had no statistical significant influence on biology achievement among students in Nakuru County, Kenya.