Inquiry Learning in Secondary School Chemistry: Are Science Teachers Using IT?

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With the rapid developments in science and technology, Chemistry, which is fundamental to many disciplines, has become increasingly important. The number of compounds and their many different applications begs the question on how best to teach all the knowledge to students. To meet with the needs of society, reform in Chemistry teaching has taken place all over the world. However, it is difficult to teach students everything in this rapidly developing world. Accordingly, most science educators agree that students should be taught how to learn and apply Chemistry. It is also true that if people want to keep up with the development of knowledge, they should keep reflecting on how that knowledge has impacted on their lives. However, because the reformat has concentrated on knowledge structures, our teaching methods are still teacher-centred, not student-centred and do not encourage students to achieve lifelong learning and assessment. The purpose of the study was to assess teachers' use of science inquiry as a method of teaching Chemistry in secondary schools in Kenya. This paper discusses the extent to which Chemistry teachers use inquiring method as stipulated in the chemistry syllabus and the factors that hinder extensive use of inquiry method in the teaching of chemistry. A descriptive survey design was employed. The target population comprised 16 Form Three Chemistry teachers and 320 Form Three students in 16 selected secondary schools in Nandi North District. The 46 schools in the District were stratified into boys‟ and girls‟ schools and simple random sampling approach was used to select 8 boys‟ and 8 girls‟ schools. In each school, 20 students were selected using simple random sampling technique. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaire and interview, personal observations and documentary analysis. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study established that both teachers and students were in agreement that the Chemistry teachers did not use inquiry method to the extent stipulated in the syllabus. The findings of the study identified major factors hindering implementation of Chemistry inquiry method as lack of time due to congested syllabus, lack of resources and equipment, inadequate qualified Chemistry teachers and poor preparation.