Abstract
Higher education institutions in Kenya have often been accused of preparing individuals that are unfit for the job market. Therefore, there is a need to examine the content that students learn and how they learn it because this determines what knowledge they retain, and skills and dispositions they acquire. Since graduates from teacher preparation programs shape the future of their students, it is imperative that they are adequately prepared to teach effectively. Therefore, these programs need to have effective syllabi preparation processes, coupled with formalized accountability structures that enhance the quality of preparation of their graduates. An exploratory study was carried out in a teacher preparation program of a select private university to analyze approaches its educators used in course syllabus preparation. The study was anchored on Fischer’s (1980) skill theory, a theory of cognitive development. Fischer asserts that cognitive development takes place through a structure consisting of skill levels with transformational rules that dictate how the levels relate to each other. It is hypothesized that a well-prepared syllabus will engage the learner and enhance not only his/her cognitive development, but also the social and affective domains as well. Findings indicated that the educators used the knowledge-seeking (shallow learning) rather than the understanding-seeking (deep learning) approach. It was recommended that the educators should aspire to transform their learners by using the understanding-seeking approach in order to equip them with appropriate competencies for their own personal growth and for the workplace.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
—Nelson Mandela
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Boni, A., Lopez-Fogues, A., & Walker, M. (2016). Higher education and the post-2015 agenda: A contribution from the human development approach. Journal of Global Ethics, 12(1), 17–28.
Brown, G. (1993). Effective teaching. In R. Ellis (Ed.), Quality assurance for university teaching. London, England: Open University Press.
Chacha, N. (2004). Reforming higher education in Kenya: Challenges, lessons and opportunities. State University of New York workshop with the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Naivasha, Kenya.
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1991). Applying the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. New directions for teaching and learning (Vol. 47). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Cloete, N., Bailey, T., Pillay, P., Bunting, I., & Maassen, P. (2011). Universities and economic development in Africa. Wynberg, South Africa: Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET).
Cooper-Knock, S. J. (2015, November). Higher education in Africa: Four key challenges. Democracy in Africa. Retrieved from http://democracyinafrica.org/higher-education-in-africa-four-key-challenges/
Commission for University Education. (2009). Guidelines for designing curriculum for university academic programme. Commission for University Education.
Commission for University Education. (2011). Standards and guidelines for academic degree programmes. Commission for University Education.
Commission for University Education. (2018). Vision and mission. Retrieved from http://www.cue.or.ke/index.php/about-us/vision-and-mission
Entwistle, N. J., & Peterson, E. R. (2004). Conceptions of learning and knowledge in higher education: Relationships with study behavior and influences of learning environments. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(6), 407–428.
Fischer, K. W. (1980). A theory of cognitive development: The control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological Review, 87(6), 477–531.
Fredua-Kwarteng, E., & Ofosu, S. K. (2018, March). Improving the quality of university education in Africa. University World News (No. 496). Retrieved from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180306124842675
Government of the Republic of Kenya. (2007). Kenya Vision 2030. Nairobi, Kenya: Government of the Republic of Kenya.
Gudo, C. (2014). Financing higher education in Kenya: Public-private partnership approach. International Journal of Educational Policy Research and Review, 1(1), 001–005.
Gudo, C. O., Olel, M. A., & Oanda, I. O. (2011). University expansion in Kenya and issues of quality education: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(20), 203–214.
Heikkila, A., Lonka, K., Nieminen, J., & Niemivirta, M. (2012). Relations between teacher students’ approaches to learning, cognitive and attributional strategies, well-being, and study success. High Education, 64, 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9504-9.
Hénard, F., & Roseveare, D. (2012, September). Fostering quality teaching in higher education: Policies and practices. Institutional Management in Higher Education. Retrieved from www.oecd.org/edu/imhe
Inter-University Council for Eastern Africa. (2014, June). Report from a study establishing the status of higher education qualification systems and their contributions to human resource development in East Africa. IUCEA.
Jordan, A., Carlile, O., & Stack, A. (2008). Approaches to learning: A guide for teachers. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.
Kagondu, R., & Marwa, S. M. (2017). Quality issues in Kenya’s higher education institutions. Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique [Journal of Higher Education in Africa], 15(1), 23–42.
Kells, H. R. (1992). Performance indicators for higher education: A critical review with policy recommendation. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Kember, D. (1997). A reconcenptualisation of the research into university academics’ conceptions of teaching. Learning and Instruction, 7(3), X5–275.
Kember, D., Charlesworth, M., Davies, H., McKay, J., & Stott, V. (1997). Evaluating the effectiveness of educational innovations: Using the study process questionnaire to show that meaningful learning occurs. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 23(2), 141–157.
Khamis, T., & Dhamani, K. (2017). Quality assurance self-assessment: A catalyst at Aga Khan University. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 15(1), 125–134.
Kivati, G. (2017). The role of Kenya’s formal higher education in sustainable development within the context of globalization. In W. Leal Filho, C. Skanavis, A. do Paco, J. Rogers, O. Kuznetsova, & P. Castro, (Eds.), Handbook of theory and practice of sustainable development in higher education. World sustainability series (Vol. 2). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47889-0_2.
Luke, A., Woods, A., & Weir, K. (Eds.). (2013). Curriculum, syllabus design, and equity: A primer and model. New York, NY: Routledge.
Marginson, S. (2010) Higher education in the global knowledge economy. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5), 6962–6980.
Mba, J. C. (2017, May). Challenges and prospects of Africa’s higher education. Global Partnership for Education. Retrieved from https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/challenges-and-prospects-africas-higher-education
Mohamedbhai, G. (2011, Spring). Higher education in Africa: Facing the challenges in the 21st century. International Higher Education, 63, 1–6
Munene, I. I., & Otieno, W. (2008, April). Changing the course: Equity effects and institutional risk amid policy shift in higher education financing in Kenya. Higher Education, 55(4), 461–479.
Ndirangu, M., & Udoto, M. O. (2011). Quality of Learning Facilities and Learning Environment: Challenges for teaching and learning in Kenya’s public universities. Quality Assurance in Education, 19(3), 208–223. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881111158036.
Ngware, M. W., & Ndirangu, M. (2005). An improvement in instructional quality: Can evaluation of teaching effectiveness make a difference? Quality Assurance in Education, 13(3), 183–201. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880510607936.
Nyangau, J. Z. (2014). Higher education as an instrument of economic growth in Kenya. Forum for International Research in Education, 1(1), 7–25.
Oanda, I. O., & Jowi, J. (2012). University expansion and the challenges to social development in Kenya: Dilemmas and pitfalls. Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique [Journal of Higher Education in Africa], 10(1), 49–71.
Obamba, M. O. (2009). Myth and ceremony: Contested marketization and internationalization regimes in Kenya’s higher education. Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique [Journal of Higher Education in Africa], 7(3), 125–149.
Odebero, S. O. (2010). Crisis in financing and management of Kenyan Higher Education: Implications for planning reform agenda. Paper presented at Educational Management Society of Kenya Conference held at Migori Teachers’ College, April 12–14, 2010.
Odhiambo, G. O. (2013). Academic Brain Drain: Impact and implications for public higher education quality in Kenya. Research in Comparative and International Education, 8(4), 510–523.
Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development. (1996). The knowledge-based economy. Paris, France: OECD.
Oketch, M. O. (2003). The growth of private university education in Kenya: The promise and challenge. Peabody Journal of Education, 78(2), 18–40.
Otieno, W. (2007). Private provision and its changing interface with public higher education: The case of Kenya. Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique [Journal of Higher Education in Africa], 5(2–3), 173–196.
Parkes, J., & Harris, M. B. (2002). The purpose of a syllabus. College Teaching, 50(2), 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567550209595875.
Raiker, A. (2009). Transformational learning and e-portfolios: A pedagogy for improving student experience and achievement. The International Journal of Learning, 16(8), 313–323.
Richardson, J. T. E. (2005). Students’ approaches to learning and teachers’ approaches to teaching in higher education. Educational Psychology, 25(6), 673–680.
Säljö, R. (1979). Learning in the learner’s perspective: Some common-sense assumptions (Report No. 76). Göteborg: University of Göteborg, Institute of Education.
Schwartz, M. (2006) For whom do we write the curriculum?. Journal of Curriculum Studies 38(4), 449–457.
Tam, M. (2014). Outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 22(2), 158–168. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-09-2011-0059.
Trigwell, K., Prosser, M., & Waterhouse, F. (1999). Relations between teachers’ approaches to teaching and students’ approaches to learning. Higher Education, 37(1), 57–70.
Van Rossum, E. J., & Schenk, S. M. (1984). The relationship between learning conception, study strategy and learning outcome. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 73–83.
Van Rossum, E., & Taylor, I. P. (1987, April). The relationship between conceptions of learning and good teaching: A scheme of cognitive development. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.
Westbury, I. (2008). Making curricula: why do states make curricula, and how? In F. M. Connelly, M. F. He & J. Phillion, The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction (pp. 45–65). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412976572.n3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wakiaga, L.A. (2020). Twenty-First Century Instruction? An Analysis of Educator Course, Syllabus Preparation and Approaches in a Teacher Preparation Program in a Selected Private University, Nairobi, Kenya. In: Pushpanadham, K. (eds) Teacher Education in the Global Era. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4008-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4008-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4007-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4008-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)