EFFECT OF TYPE OF INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES USED AND THE QUALITY OF LEARNING OUTCOMES IN BIOLOGY THEORY IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MWALA SUB-COUNTY, MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA

The study sought to assess the type of instructional resources used and the quality of learning outcomes in Biology theory in public secondary schools in Mwala Sub- County. The study was based on multimedia learning theory by Richard Mayer. The study adopted mixed method methodology and descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study was all public secondary schools, all teachers of Biology, all heads of Science Department and all form two students in Mwala sub-county. Stratified Random Sampling was used to sample 6 schools; two extra county schools, two county schools, and 2 sub-county schools. Purposive sampling was used to select 6 Heads of Science Department from the 6 sampled schools. One form two stream was randomly sampled for schools with more than one stream. A total of 240 students were selected randomly to participate in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used as data collection tools in the study. Data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively with the help of the Statistical Package for Social sciences version 27. Results of the study indicate that type of instructional resources used have an influence on the quality of learning outcomes in Biology theory. In addition, the study has established that in the surveyed secondary schools had challenges in acquiring instructional media due to resource constraints. Furthermore, the study established that students in extra-county schools performed better than their counterparts in both county and sub-county schools. The study recommends that the government should increase resource allocation to the public schools, and address inequalities experienced in access to resources to equalise resource allocation.