Effects of Multimedia Technology Integration on Students’ Science Process Skills Acquisition in Chemistry in Co-Educational Secondary Schools in Bomet County Kenya

Abstract

Although Science Process Skills (SPS) have served as the basis for the study of Chemistry, learners at secondary schools in Kenya often do not perform very well practical-based work owing to inadequate laboratory facilities and teacher-directed curricula. This research set out to determine the impact that Multimedia Technology Integration (MTI) would have on the acquisition of Science Process Skills in the science education of Chemistry at co-educational secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. A Solomon Four Non-equivalent Control Group quasi-experimental design was employed. It included 208 students in Form Three from four co-educational schools purposefully identified in the program (two experimental and two control). For the experimental therapy, MTI incorporated other interactive techniques for the teaching of the mole concept as animations, simulations and films was used over a four-week period in a four-week intervention. Control group members received instruction using Conventional Teaching Methods (CTM). Data collection instruments comprised a researcher-created acquisition test regarding scientific process skills (KR-21 reliability = 0.853) and an observation checklist on science process skills; past KCPE science performance was a co-variate. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, and ANCOVA at ɑ = 0.05 revealed that MTI group had significantly superior SPS acquisition performance than the CTM group (p < 0.05). The experimental group did better than the control group in both test scores and observed practical class level tasks; we saw that 70.2% of participants improve on their competencies. MTI is a promising method for enhancing science process skills acquisition across chemistry classrooms. These findings are encouraging the use of multimedia technology in science curricula to enhance inquiry-based learning and enhance practical competencies in resource-constrained educational conditions.