DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Karuku, Simon"

Browsing by Author "Karuku, Simon"

Now showing 1 - 14 of 14

Being There for the Other: Towards a Phenomenology of Help in Mathematics
(University of Alberta, 2013) Karuku, Simon
A qualitative study, framed within a hermeneutic phenomenological stance, was undertaken to explore and describe the essence of the meaning of help in mathematics from the perspective of high school students. Participants were drawn from seven high schools located in the eastern and mid-eastern regions of Tanzania Mainland. The participants were asked to recall and describe a moment when they either sought or gave help in mathematics. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews and participants’ own written experiential accounts. According to the participants, seeking help in mathematics means seeking change in one’s mode of being in the mathematics life-world, and exhibiting responsive openness to the target of the seeking intention. This means that when students are seeking help, they are looking for someone who would help them experience conceptual change. Giving help, on the other hand, is more a way of being there for the recipient than a kind of doing. Most of the participants recalled and described a moment of seeking or giving the type of help that was ultimately aimed at improving the recipient’s performance in examinations. Accordingly, this thesis underscores the need for the seeking that has epistemological significance; namely, the seeking that is aimed at achieving conceptual understanding. In their lived-experience descriptions, many participants also shared feelings of being neglected and disobliged by their teachers. Although the participants longed for the teacher’s time, presence, attention, concern and care, these longings were not satisfied. This led to feelings of aloneness among the participants, which appear to have acted as an impulse for the participants to seek help in the sphere of peergroup relationships. However, due to the peers’ limitations in their ability to help each other, they felt the need to consult private tutors. As professional helpers, teachers play a critical role in transforming help-seeking moments into pedagogical moments. In this regard, one of the challenges raised in this thesis is the need to recover the notion of teaching as a vocation since in essence, it is those teachers who have been called to teaching that will express their being in and through the act of teaching.
Contribution of Dynamic Instability to Microtubule Organization
(University of Manitoba, 2008) Karuku, Simon
Microtubules are hollow cylindrical protein structures found in all eukaryotic cells, and essential in several cellular processes, including cell motility, cell division, vesicle trafficking and maintenance of cell shape. The building block of microtubtles, tubulin, is one of the proven targets for anticancer drugs. A microtubule exhibits a remarkable property, termed dynam,i.c i,nstabi,Ii.ty, in which it is able to switch stochastically between two distinct states. In one state, the microtubule grows while in the other, it shrinks. The balance between the growing and shrinking states is crucial for the normal functioning of the cell. One of the interesting questions that cell biologists have pondered over the years is: what is the biological function of dynamic instability? While some great strides have been made in answering this question, the details of the precise nature of the mechanism of dynamic instability in relation to their roles are not well understood. In this thesis some biologically pìausible mathematical modeìs for microtubule dynamics 'in ui,tro are developed. Two of the models are developed with the exclusion of dynamic insiability while the others are with its inclusion. Aiso considered are two different modes of nucleation of microtubules: saturating and non-saturating mode. The models are analyzed and numerical simulations conducted, with an aim of mathematically assessing the role of dynamic instability in the integral microtubule dynamics i,n ui,tro. Results indicate that dynamic instability induces the formation of microtubules from the tubuÌin subunits, and that dynamic instability depends on the GTP-tubulin concentration
Effects of Performance Ranking in Mathematics on Students’ and Teachers’ Identity Development
(Science Publishing Group, 2019-04) Njiru, Samson Murithi; Nyaga, Milcah Njoki; Karuku, Simon
Student and teacher identities are generally considered to influence students’ academic performance in Mathematics. The objective of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the effects of performance ranking in Mathematics on students’ and teachers’ identity development. The participants for the study were Mathematics teachers and students in secondary schools in Embu County in Kenya. A random sample of 1989 students and 101 teachers drawn from a population of 41925 students and 414 teachers participated in the study. The study adopted a mixed methods research design. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and surveys. Chi-square test was used to test the hypothesis; performance ranking does not mediate Mathematics students’ and teachers’ identity development. The findings indicate that, performance ranking is a tool used by teachers and students in giving them feedback on their level of capabilities as Mathematics teachers and students. Secondly, performance ranking influence Mathematics teachers in furthering their studies in Mathematics-related courses, and students in aligning themselves to their preferred careers. Additionally, the study revealed that performance ranking is a motivation for students to work hard so as to have good relationships with their teachers as teachers are friendly to the students at the top of the rank. Similarly, the students identify themselves with peers of their abilities as far as Mathematics is concerned. The study recommends that the practice of performance ranking in Mathematics should continue and be used as a tool to identify the best Mathematics classes, students and teachers so as to act as a benchmark to encourage the rest to learn from
Explanatory reasoning in Junior high Science textbooks
(SensePublishers, 2012) Pegg, Jerine; Karuku, Simon
Current reforms in science education emphasize the importance of using inquiry- based teaching strategies that engage students in formulating explanations from evidence (National Research Council [NRC], 2000). Specifically, for example, the National Science Education Standards in the United States state that students in grades 5 to 8 should “develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence” and “think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations” (NRC, 1996, p. 145). As an additional example, current science education curriculum documents in Alberta include outcomes that expect students to investigate, explain, interpret, and discuss evidence for scientific concepts. For example, the Planet Earth unit in Grade 7 includes outcomes such as “Investigate and interpret evidence that Earth’s surface undergoes both gradual and sudden change” and “Interpret models that show a layered structure for Earth’s interior; and describe, in general terms, evidence for such models” (Alberta Learning, 2003, p. 27).
An Exploration of Factors that Contribute to Low Performance in Physics: A Case of a Secondary School in Kenya
(2015-08) Njiru, Samson M.; Karuku, Simon
The study reported in this paper aimed at exploring the factors that contribute to students’ low performance in physics. Study participants were 2 physics teachers (a male and a female) and 57 physics students (30 males and 27 females) drawn from a coeducational, government day secondary school located in Embu County in Kenya. The study adopted a mixed method approach, whereby both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to gather data. Analysis of quantitative data was done using the SPSS software package while the qualitative data were analyzed manually using thematic content analysis. Three major categories of factors were identified as contributing to students’ low performance in physics; namely, learning factors, teaching factors, and administrative factors. Learning factors are those factors that emanate from the learners, such as time management skills and background in mathematics; teaching factors are those factors that are attributable to the teacher, such as quality of teacher-student interactions and teacher’s content knowledge; while administrative factors are those factors that can be attributed to the administrative context within the school, such as access to resources and quality of guidance provision. Based on the research findings, a number of recommendations are made to practitioners and policy makers. For teacher educators, a proposal is made to include a course on improvisation in physics education during teacher pre-service training. For the school administrators, it is recommended that mechanisms be put in place to ensure that the students’ voice is heard and supported during selection of preferred subject combinations. For teachers, it is recommended that the use of practical and interesting learning experiences during lessons be inculcated right from the first year of secondary education so as to engage the learners and sustain their attention.
Implementing Language-in- Education Policy in Multilingual Mathematics Classrooms: Pedagogical Implications
(2013) Halai, Anjum; Karuku, Simon
In this paper, we examine selected literature on classroom-based research to understand how students and teachers (re)negotiate the language of interaction in a mathematics classroom when the official medium of instruction is different from the students’ dominant language. We identify the tensions and dilemmas associated with the implementation of language-in-education policy in selected postcolonial Anglophone countries where English is used as a medium of instruction at various stages of formal schooling. We also examine the pedagogical implications of these tensions and dilemmas, paying particular attention to emerging issues of code-switching, translation and ‘safe’ use of language.
An Interaction model between Cotesia flavipes and Cotesia sesamie, Parasitoids of the gramineous stem-borers at the Kenya Coast
(Kenyatta University, 2002) Karuku, Simon
One of the greatest challenges facing the people of sub-Saharan Africa is the production of sufficient food to feed a rapidly increasing population in the face of dwindling finances. As the population grows at 3% and food production at 2% per annum, an annual shortage of 250 million tons of food is expected by year 2020. The greatest obstacle to increasing the production of maize and sorghum, the staple food in many African communities south of the Sahara, is damage by phytophagous insects. Larval feeding in the plant Whorl and later through stem tunneling causes plant damage. Infested plants have poor growth and reduced yield and are more susceptible to secondary infection and wind damage. Estimates of yield losses due to stem-borer are in the neighborhood of 20-40% of the potential yield. To realize the potential of the Gramineae family in ensuring food security in the world, the stem-borers have to be effectively controlled. Various methods have been tried in a bid to control these pests. In biological control, one of the approaches is to find an exotic natural enemy that will successfully fit into the community of existent natural enemies. Hampered by a lack of economic and convenient tools, however, advances in biological control have been largely overshadowed by the rush to exploit insecticides and the ready availability and comparative simplicity of cultural methods. But that is changing. Effects on non-target organisms, resistance development and environmental pollution have incapacitated insecticides and other chemical-based methods. In this study, a simple one host-two parasitoids interaction model with a non-linear trend is developed to predict and understand the reasons for the ultimate impact of the exotic parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera Braconidae) on stem-borer population dynamics in the coastal area of Kenya. Results indicate that the ultimate extent of suppression of the stem-borers is largely determined by three attributes of the parasitoids namely; the net reproductive rate, the degree of aggregation and the searching efficiency. The model predicts coexistence of all the species considered with C. flavipes dominating the interactive system. Implications of the results for introduction scheme of parasitoids to control pest are discussed. We argue that a model of intermediate complexity may offer the pest prospects of predictive biological control in situations where it is not practicable to obtain the information needed to build and parameterize a large tactical simulation model. The conclusions we reach are of relevance to classical biological control practices, and in particular to those programs in which more than one parasitoid species has been introduced to combat a particular pest of a perennial standing crop system.
Issues for quality enhancement and harmonization of education in East Africa.
(Springer Link, 2016-03) Mohamed, Mussa; Karuku, Simon; Halai, Anjum
This chapter provides a description of the historical and political development of the current mass education system in East Africa. It goes on to provide a comparative analysis of the structure of the school education system in the East African countries, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Finally, on the basis of the historical and comparative analysis of the education system the chapter raises questions for harmonization of the education system in the partner states in the East African Community.
Manifestations and meanings of cognitive conflict among mathematics students in Embu, Kenya
(ACADEMIC JOURNALS, 2020-11) Ngicho, Dickens O.; Karuku, Simon; King'endo, Madrine
Establishing how cognitive conflict is manifested by students is an important first step in understanding how teachers can utilize cognitive conflict to improve students' learning experiences. This paper presents findings from the analysis of qualitative data drawn from a larger study that explored the role of cognitive conflict in promoting students’ conceptual development in mathematics. The study participants were secondary school mathematics students and their teachers drawn from twenty-five public secondary schools in Embu West Sub-County in Kenya. Data were gathered through surveys and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and coded, followed by organization of the codes into categories that were used to develop themes. The findings indicate that students experienced cognitive conflict in three significant ways: a moment to (co) construct one’s mathematical meaning, confusion as a result of teacher’s behaviorist stance, and a fleeting moment of magic. The paper recommends that teachers should take advantage of cognitive conflict as a strategy for scaffolding mathematics learning by giving students tasks that provoke critical thinking so that as students work on the tasks, their naïve understandings of the concepts are challenged.
Performance ranking in school mathematics in Kenya: A device that conceals and naturalizes inappropriate teaching strategies
(2020-08) Njiru, Samson M.; Karuku, Simon; Nyaga, Milcah Njoki
Teaching strategies have a significant influence on students’ academic performance. This paper presents results from a qualitative study that examined the effects that performance ranking in Mathematics has on teaching strategies employed in Mathematics classrooms. In particular, the paper demonstrates how performance ranking disguises and legalizes inappropriate Mathematics teaching strategies. The participants for the study were Mathematics teachers and students in secondary schools in Embu County in Kenya. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were employed in data collection. Results showed that due to competition by teachers to achieve a higher mean score, they engaged in examination malpractices such as leaking examination questions to students. Secondly, teachers’ desire for excellence in their subjects, and achieving top rank to receive prizes was found to be another reason behind teaching students to pass examinations rather than for conceptual understanding. Additionally, the study revealed that performance ranking promoted private tuition to offer assistance to the weak students in Mathematics to improve performance in the subject. This paper recommends that the practice of ranking should be tailored to include all the aspects.
Performance rankings in education: Implications for policy and practice
(ACADEMIC JOURNALS, 2020-11) Njiru, Samson M.; Karuku, Simon; Nyaga, Milcah Njoki
In recent decades, school performance ranking (or ‘league table’) have become a common feature of many education systems in the world. The ranking is usually published by government and news agencies in an attempt to measure and compare the relative performance of individual schools against a number of criteria, including academic performance. This paper reports parts of larger case study that set out to investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions of performance ranking in secondary schools in Kenya. The study participants were teachers and students of Mathematics drawn from secondary schools in Embu County in Kenya. Data were gathered through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys. The transcriptions of the audio-recorded interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed by first reading the texts of the transcriptions holistically, followed by the development of codes, organizing the codes into larger categories and, finally, organizing the categories into overarching themes. This paper, in particular, examines the research findings through the lens of the existing literature on school performance rankings. The paper demonstrates how school performance rankings in Kenya have been abused over the years to the detriment of quality teaching and learning. Finally, the paper highlights the implications of school performance ranking for policy and practice.
Staff Profile - Dr. Simon Karuku
(University of Embu, 2015-07) Karuku, Simon
Dr. Simon Karuku is a Lecturer/Dean, School of Education and Social Sciences He teaches mathematics and mathematics education. He has more than five years’ experience in teaching and research in institutions of higher education.
Students’ experiences of seeking injustice-induced help in a Mathematics classroom
(2012) Karuku, Simon; Simmt, Elaine
In this paper, we describe the phenomenon of a need for help that comes about as a result of problematic classroom practices, as experienced by high school mathematics students. Through students’ experiences, we demonstrate how unequal power relations in the classroom can suppress students’ voices, rendering their attempts at seeking justice futile. The students’ experiences were characterized by wishful thinking, blame, and resignation. The data are taken from a phenomenological study that is seeking to understand the meaning of help in mathematics from the students’ perspective. Students shared their lived experiences through oral and written stories told to the researcher.
Towards a Harmonized Curriculum in East Africa: A Comparative Perspective of the Intended Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda
(Springer, 2016) Karuku, Simon; Tennant, Geoff
This chapter presents the results and insights gained from a comparative analysis of the national secondary school mathematics syllabuses of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Whilst considerable commonalities were found, it was particularly Rwanda, with a different colonial past, which was found to have a more formal curriculum, exemplified in the lack of mention of measurement below the fourth year of primary school and the absence of approximation as a topic. Differences in sequencing topics were found, e.g. Uganda and Rwanda introduce number sequences in year 4 as a means of contextualizing algebra, Tanzania and Kenya introduce them in year 10 somewhat more formally. The continuance of calculations in shillings and cents in Tanzania and Kenya, and the use of logarithms as a calculation tool in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya can be taken as evidence of a mismatch between what happens in school and the outside world. Differences are acknowledged between the stated curriculum on the one hand, and what gets taught by teachers and indeed learnt by children on the other. Whilst considerable work has been undertaken already to update the curricula in different ways, further work is required to ensure that the syllabus across the region is fit for purpose for the 21st century, not least in engaging all learners in this important subject.

Browsing by Author "Karuku, Simon"

Results Per Page

Sort Options