Papers by Margaret Wangui Murugami
The area under study up surge in problem behavior disorders among learners and this affect their ... more The area under study up surge in problem behavior disorders among learners and this affect their academic performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the challenges teachers faced in their endeavors to manage learners with Emotional and Behavior Disorders (EBDs) in primary schools in Madaraka zone. The study objectives were to investigate challenges teachers faced in managing learners with selected behavior disorders, to confirm the presence of learners with conduct disorder, opposition defiant disorder and anxiety depression disorder in schools under study and to determine the performance of learners with selected disorders academically and in class behaviors. To describe the situation as it existed, the study used descriptive research design. Simple random sampling was done to select four schools and a sample size of 30 class seven teachers was selected through purposive sampling. Data from the research instruments was analyzed and presented descriptively. The study revealed that the most serious challenges the teachers faced in managing learners with EBDs was high enrolment/ overcrowded classrooms and lack of specialized training. The study recommends that inservice training for teachers be done with a view of building capacity to face the challenges with the EBDs, that Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to give guidelines on behavior disorder management.
Educational Research, 2012
This research explored the role of guidance and counselling in preparing learners for work from p... more This research explored the role of guidance and counselling in preparing learners for work from primary to university levels of education. It explored current status of learners with visual impairment regarding their ability to understand abilities and potentials, realistically accepting limitations and making independent career decisions. The study adopted Career Development and Self-efficacy Theories as bases of exploration. Proponents of these theories assume that career development process facilitates development of vocational self-concept and decisionmaking self-efficacy. The premise was that a correct self-image as a worker contributes to the person environment match, facilitating self-actualization to impact on future employment outcomes. Major findings indicated linear relationship between vocational self-concept and decision-making self-efficacy, implying increased development as learners progressed in education. However, learners portrayed limited awareness on impact of severity of disability. This affirmed need for developmental career guidance and counselling process for learners with disabilities, culminating to suggested model by Murugami (2010).
European Journal of Education Studies, 2021
The thrust of the study was to determine levels of mathematic efficacy among students with dyscal... more The thrust of the study was to determine levels of mathematic efficacy among students with dyscalculia in public secondary in Kandara sub-county in Muranga County guided by Expectancy Theory (ET) of motivation developed in 1964 by Victor Vroom. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population for study was 54 Public secondary schools in Kandara Sub-County, out of the 54 targeted schools 7 public secondary schools were sampled for the study. The target respondents were 7 principals, 7 teachers of mathematics, 1 from each school and 125 students were sampled for dyscalculia screening. Research instruments included: questionnaire for mathematics students with dyscalculia, dyscalculia screening instrument, mathematics self -efficacy scale and documentary analysis. Pilot study was conducted in Gaichanjiru Mixed and Kenyoho Secondary schools in Kandara Sub-County, Murang’a County. The validity of research instruments which were used for this study were first tried in a pilo...
A comprehensive psycho-educational assessment for learners with learning disabilities (LD) is a s... more A comprehensive psycho-educational assessment for learners with learning disabilities (LD) is a significant event for parents, psycho-educational assessors, teach- ers and leaners. This research study aimed to analyze the determinants of psycho- educational assessment for learners with LD in the city of Brno in the Czech Republic. Psycho-educational assessment for learners with LD remains a challenge in the Czech Republic, hence, there is an extensive debate as to how to best improve psycho-educa- tional assessment outcomes. Mixed method was used in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Quantitative data from secondary sources as well as in-depth interviews were used to investigate issues and to discover how the psycho-educational assessors and teachers thought and felt about the whole process. Interview data from parents of school-age children with LD who had psycho-educational assessments done within the past one year were ...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2015
Identification process is an important element of behavior disorder management in schools. For pr... more Identification process is an important element of behavior disorder management in schools. For proper behavior management teachers need to identify learners with behavioral disorders in order to design intervention programs befitting their educational needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the intervention strategies teachers used in managing learners with selected emotional and behavior disorders (EBDs) in primary schools in Madaraka zone. The objectives were; to establish effectiveness of assessment methods teachers used in identifying learners with selected behavior disorders and to explore intervention strategies teachers used in managing learners with selected behavior disorders. The study used descriptive research design which was appropriate since it enabled the researchers to describe the situation as it existed. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Simple random sampling was done to select four schools which participated in the study. Purposive samp...
European Journal of Special Education Research
The purpose of this study was to determine the approaches to enhancing access to Braille material... more The purpose of this study was to determine the approaches to enhancing access to Braille materials for optimal learning at Kibos Primary School for the Blind. The study was guided by the main objective which was to determine the causes of the shortage of Braille materials at Kibos Primary School for the Blind. The study employed a case study research design with a target population comprising 26 teachers, one transcriber, a librarian, and a resource person. Census was used to acquire the needed information from the target population since it was small, and the researcher had no control. Interview schedules and questionnaires were administered to different groups of respondents. A pilot study was conducted in one of the primary schools for learners with visual impairment within the study area. Data was analyzed qualitatively and quantitively. Qualitative data was organized, reviewed and data coding system developed, data was assigned codes and recurring themes were identified and the...
Contributions to human development, Nov 11, 2011
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of ethnic identity and acculturatio... more The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of ethnic identity and acculturation strategies with psychological well-being among adolescents with an immigrant background in Kenya. A total of 269 adolescents from ve high schools were involved. The
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, Jul 2, 2021
The purpose of this paper is to report some of the findings of a study which investigated the inf... more The purpose of this paper is to report some of the findings of a study which investigated the influence of mathematics Braille proficiency on mathematics performance among learners with visual impairment in selected special secondary schools in Kenya. In this study, descriptive design was used with a sample size of 55 respondents comprising of head teachers, mathematics teachers and learners with visual impairment in two special secondary schools. The study respondents were purposively sampled. Findings on the level of mathematics braille proficiency possessed by learners with visual impairment; and the relationship between mathematics Braille skills and mathematics performance are reported. These findings demonstrate a very low level of mathematics Braille skills; and there was a significant positive relationship between mathematics braille proficiency and mathematics performance, particularly among touch readers. These findings
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2015
There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimen... more There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scales (BMSLSS). The current article evaluates the measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across cultural contexts. This cross-sectional study sampled 7,739 adolescents and emerging adults in 23 countries. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of configural and partial measurement weights invariance models, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loading for both adolescents and emerging adults across various countries. We found insufficient evidence for scalar invariance in both the adolescents’ and the emerging adults’ samples. A multi-level confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural invariance of the structure at country and individual level. Internal consistency, evaluated by alpha and omega coefficients per country, yielded acceptable results. The translated BMSLSS across different cultural contexts presents ...
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, Apr 14, 2021
Effective education ensures that students are able to fully participate and benefit from it, rega... more Effective education ensures that students are able to fully participate and benefit from it, regardless of whether they have impairments or not. Good vision is important for students at all stages of learning as it helps them reach their academic potential. It is paramount that students with visual impairment are proficient in Braille so that they are not disadvantaged academically since Braille remains their main medium of communication. Previous studies have ventured into academic performance of learners with visual impairment, however, nothing much is known about their Braille proficiency level. Braille reading tests were administered to forty-seven class eight and form four students in special schools for learners with visual impairments to establish their Braille literacy level. Semi structured interviews were used to solicit more information from four head teachers and a questionnaire used for sixteen teachers in the schools under study. Data was analyzed qualitatively along the common themes identified. The results established that Braille literacy level among primary school children was rather low. However, the case was quite different among high school students. There was no uniformity in the way schools arranged to teach their students Braille. Braille literacy could be improved if strategies were set to teach children with visual impairment Braille and ensure that they were proficient in it.
British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 2016
Controversial reports on gender and academic performance of students necessitated the study to de... more Controversial reports on gender and academic performance of students necessitated the study to determine the effect of gender on students' academic performance and retention in financial accounting in technical colleges. Technical colleges in Anambra State were chosen for the study. Four research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Quasi-experimental design of pretest, posttest non-randomized control group was adopted for the study. Population was all the 168 National Business Certificate (NBC) year II students from all the 11 state owned technical colleges in the area. A sample of 138 was purposively selected to compose the experimental and control groups based on schools that offer accounting and have both male and female students. Experimental groups were exposed to Problem-based teaching method (PBTM) while the control groups were exposed to lecture teaching method. Instrument for data collection was Accounting Achievement Test (AAT) validated by three experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.83. Arithmetic mean was used to analyze data relating to research questions while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses.
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the... more A Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Special Needs Education) of Kenyatta University. November, 2018
Global Perspectives on Well-Being in Immigrant Families, 2013
Little—if anything—is known about the factors that contribute to the positive development and psy... more Little—if anything—is known about the factors that contribute to the positive development and psychological functioning of adolescents of immigrant background in the African context. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the influence of parent and peer attachment, the sense of school belonging, and religious and ethnic identity on the psychological well-being of adolescents of Arab and Asian background in Kenya. The central research question is to what extent adolescent connectedness influences psychological well-being.
The aim of this research was to explore career information learners with visual impairment acquir... more The aim of this research was to explore career information learners with visual impairment acquire from school to enable them develop vocational self-concept and career decision-making self-efficacy. It explored role of guidance and counselling in preparing learners for world of work from primary to university levels of education. The study adopted Career Development and Self-efficacy Theories as bases of exploration. Two standardized tools were used to assess development of these aspects. Pilot study was conducted to validate instruments, testing reliability for applicability with subjects in Kenya. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences for quantitative and Atlas Ti to code qualitative data. The major finding indicated a linear relationship between aspects implying that learners experienced increased development as they progressed in education. Other findings are explained in text. The findings affirmed need for comprehensive career guidance and counselling for learners with disabilities, culminating to suggested vocational development model.
Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 2015
Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for p... more Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for psychological well-being. However, the relationships between these constructs are mainly examined in Western contexts, amongst dominant-non-dominant groups. We investigate ethnic identity across the mainstream group of a prototypical Western society (the USA) and several multi-ethnic sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia), as well as how it relates to psychological well-being. A total of 1255 university students (61.8% females, M age = 20.94 years, SD = 2.97) completed a questionnaire with ethnic identity and psychological well-being measures. Results indicated that ethnic identity was most salient in two different South African ethnocultural samples and least salient in a mainstream US sample. These results suggest that groups that are more exposed to ethnic strain in multicultural societies tend to have more salient ethnic identities. Furthermore, the underlying structure in the ethnic identity psychological well-being relationship was similar across groups.
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the... more A Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Special Needs Education) of Kenyatta University. November, 2018
The aim of this research was to explore career information learners with visual impairment acquir... more The aim of this research was to explore career information learners with visual impairment acquire from school to enable them develop vocational self-concept and career decision-making self-efficacy. It explored role of guidance and counselling in preparing learners for world of work from primary to university levels of education. The study adopted Career Development and Self-efficacy Theories as bases of exploration. Two standardized tools were used to assess development of these aspects. Pilot study was conducted to validate instruments, testing reliability for applicability with subjects in Kenya. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences for quantitative and Atlas Ti to code qualitative data. The major finding indicated a linear relationship between aspects implying that learners experienced increased development as they progressed in education. Other findings are explained in text. The findings affirmed need for comprehensive career guidance and counselling for learners with disabilities, culminating to suggested vocational development model.
Disability Studies Quarterly, 2009
Uploads
Papers by Margaret Wangui Murugami