| dc.description.abstract | One of the major millennium goals of republic of Kenya is to be industrialized by year 2030 and this can be achieved by promoting science subjects of which chemistry is one of the core subjects. However, the performance in chemistry in Kenya has raised concerns in terms of low performance. The KCSE performance in chemistry in Rachuonyo South Sub-County has been relatively low. The purpose of this study was to establish the predictive power of motivational beliefs on chemistry achievement among students in public secondary schools in Rachuonyo South Sub-County, Kenya. Objectives were to: determine the relationship between intrinsic motivation beliefs and chemistry academic achievement, establish relationship between extrinsic motivation beliefs and chemistry academic achievement, determine the relationship between benevolent interest and chemistry academic achievement and establish the relationship between test anxiety beliefs and chemistry academic achievement among students in public secondary schools in Rachuonyo South Sub-County. The study was informed by and Eccles and Wigfield Expectancy-Value theory of motivation. Concurrent embedded design, an aspect of mixed method approach was employed. Stratified random, purposive and saturated sampling techniques were used in selection of schools and participants. From the target population of 3822 form four students, 101 chemistry teachers and 79 Guidance and Counseling teachers from all the 79 public secondary schools in the Sub-County, 351 form four students, 26 chemistry teachers and 26 Guidance and counseling teachers were sampled for the study. The study employed questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis to gather data. A pilot study was conducted on 36 form four students selected from three public secondary schools within Rachuonyo South Sub-County to ascertain validity and reliability of the instruments. Content, construct and face validities of the instruments were ascertained by two experts from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. Internal consistency technique was used to establish the reliability of the instruments by use of Cronbach’s alpha and a reliability coefficient of above 0.7 was obtained. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Descriptive statistics included frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation and variance whereas inferential statistics involved Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient, simple and multiple regression analysis and ANOVA. The formulated hypotheses were tested at 5% significance level. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed significant positive relationship between variables intrinsic motivation(r=.371, n=308, p<.05), extrinsic motivation (r=.274, n=308, p<.05), benevolent interest (r=.335, n=308, p<.05) and chemistry achievement. However, the findings also indicated that there was a significant negative (r= -.432, n=308, p<.05) relationship between test anxiety and chemistry achievement. Further analysis revealed that test anxiety beliefs had the highest negative predictive value on chemistry academic achievement (β= -.337, p<.05).The study concluded that intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and benevolent interest positively predicted chemistry achievement whereas test anxiety negatively predicted chemistry achievement. The study recommended that the issue of test anxiety should be included in schools’ guidance and counseling policies and strategies. The study recommended further research on gender differences on motivational beliefs among secondary school students. | en_US |