Kenyan Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of Their Science Classroom: Influence of Gender and School Type

• In Event: Roundtable Session 45
  In Roundtable Session: Current Trends and Issues in Education in Africa and in the Caribbean

Abstract

Two motivational theories framed this comparison of students’ subjective experience in Kenyan secondary-school science classrooms by (a) gender, (b) school type (coeducational, single-sex), and (c) gender across school types. Some gender differences were found but those were fewer and weaker than those found recently in other countries. Female students reported less control and enjoyment, marginally less success and stress, and more competitiveness and challenge in their science classes than males. Contrary to the argument that single-sex schools are beneficial for both males and females, results generally favored those attending coeducational schools. Motivational processes differed in which specific processes were stronger for males and females in coeducational than single-sex schools. Results have implications for promoting motivation in Kenyan secondary-school science classrooms.

Authors

• Lee Shumow, Northern Illinois University

• Teresa Akinyi Wasonga, Northern Illinois University

• Anna D. Strati, Northern Illinois University