Abstract:
The academic achievement of students in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary
Education (KCSE) Examination, particularly, agriculture subject has been below expectation.
The unsatisfactory performance is traceable partly to the teaching methods and other factors
not examined in this study. Lecture Teaching Method (LTM) alone does not adequately
deliver the content to the students. Therefore, the study sought to explore alternative and
effective teaching methods, such as, Problem Based Learning (PBL). The methods has been
tested and validated in other places and found outstanding in increasing learners’ academic
achievement. The purpose of the study was therefore to determine whether teaching through
PBL and Demonstration Teaching Method (DTM) would improve students learning
outcomes in agriculture. The study used Quasi-experimental design, specifically Nonequivalent
Control Group Pretest-Posttest research design while Constructivist Learning
Theory was applied to guide the study. Two treatments, PBL and DTM were used to teach
Form Two students. LTM was used as a control teaching method. The target population was
composed of 7124 students taking agriculture and 52 teachers of agriculture in Ndhiwa Sub
County. Stratified random sampling was utilised to sample 18 schools. Two sets of six
schools each, were subjected to PBL and DTM treatments, respectively, while the remaining
six schools acted as control. The sample size was 779 Form Two agriculture students and 18
teachers of agriculture. Data was collected using agriculture achievement test by the teachers
and the researcher. Descriptive statistics, T-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were
used in data analysis. PBL method was established to be powerful in enhancing students’
achievement in agriculture subject with a mean score of (57.47) compared with DTM (48.4)
and LTM (43.76). The PBL and DTM teaching methods significantly (p<.05) improved the
student performance in agriculture. Similarly, female students achieved a better mean score
(51.356) compared to male students mean score (48.852). The results have important
implications in informing practicing teachers on the need to adopt PBL and DTM teaching
methods, considering that the two methods have demonstrated superiority in delivering
content. The results may inform teacher preparation programmes at the tertiary institutions
and universities in Kenya regarding application of PBL and DTM to pre-service teachers in
order to improve students’ achievement in agriculture and other applied subject
