Abstract:
Rarieda Sub-County has been registering relatively low performance in agriculture at KCSE in the recent years yet studies have shown that field trips have the potential to assist secondary school agriculture students to apply agricultural practices and principles during their examinations, culminating into better performance. It was against this background that the current study was set to focus on the perceptions of principals, teachers and students on the role of field trips in teaching and learning agriculture in secondary schools, Rarieda Sub-County of Siaya County. Specifically, the study examined the respondents’ perception on the value of agricultural field trips, quality of effective agricultural field trips, challenges facing the use of agricultural field trips and compared the performance in KCSE agriculture among the various categories of selected secondary schools. Descriptive survey design was used to collect data from a target population of 967 form four agriculture students, 48 agriculture teachers and 36 principals from 36 public secondary schools. Cluster sampling method was used to select seventeen secondary schools to represent all the types and categories of schools in Rarieda Sub-County. A sample of 380 form four agriculture students, 22 agriculture teachers and 8 principals were used as respondents. This gave a total sample size of 410 respondents. Reliability was determined using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha and a reliability coefficient of 0.892 and 0.851 for agriculture teachers and agriculture students respectively obtained. Data collection was done using questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (ANOVA). Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results showed that principals, agriculture teachers and students recognize agricultural field trips as a valuable tool for teaching and learning agriculture in secondary schools even though majority of them only participate once a year. An effective agricultural field trip should entail the following key qualities: compulsory for all students, aligned with skills students are expected to acquire in curriculum, focus on specific educational objectives, familiarize students with trip site and expectations, supervision and evaluation of the students after the trip. The main challenges facing agricultural field trips were congested agriculture syllabus, time constraints, inadequate funds and bad weather. Low competence in practical skills by the teachers was also a challenge which the teachers were in self-defense against. There was statistically significant difference between the mean scores in KCSE agriculture among the various categories of schools (p< 0.001 at α=0.05). From the findings the following recommendations were made: Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to work on the congested agriculture syllabus for secondary schools so as to create room for practical learning such as field trips which require more time. Parents and guardians be sensitized so as to give financial support for use in agricultural field trips. Agriculture teachers should continue to use agricultural field trips with support from school administrators for effective teaching and learning of agriculture in secondary schools.
