| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
Abacus has been considered as one of the most significant tools used for teaching and learning of mathematics among primary school mathematics teachers since it helps in spurring better performance in mathematics. However, most of the teachers who use it have reported poor and perennial ineffective use of Abacus in Rachuonyo South Sub County. It is a simple mathematics tool used for calculation and easy to use when solving problems in mathematics. The study objectives were to; find out how the effective use of Abacus can be achieved; to determine age and gender differences in the effective use of Abacus, to explore the challenges faced by mathematics teachers in using Abacus and finally to establish the strategies that could ensure the effective use of Abacus in the teaching and learning of mathematics in public primary schools. Using descriptive survey design, this study was framed from Vygotsky's constructivism theoretical perspective. This study targeted 170 public primary schools with 1,069 mathematics teachers of which568 were males and 501 were females. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 30% which was 51 public primary schools and 321 class three mathematics teachers. Questionnaires were used for quantitative data collection. Interviews were conducted among 51 heads of mathematics department while observation was done throughout the process. The validity of the instruments for data collection was ensured by expert judgment of the University lecturers. The reliability was determined by the Split Half method and a reliability coefficient of r=0. 791 was reported. Trustworthiness of the study ensured the validity and reliability of the data from the study. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 22 while qualitative data was analysed based on the construct items relating to important components on the use of Abacus. The study established that, Abacus improves performance in mathematics among pupils in primary schools in Kasipul Division. The findings of the study also revealed that, teachers had positive attitude towards Abacus. Abacus is good and effective m spurring new skills for teaching and learning of mathematics, however, most of the mathematics teachers lack the skills to use abacus effectively and need to be trained on the use of abacus. Age differences did not significantly affect the effectiveness in the use of Abacus in teaching mathematics; however, there was gender difference on the effective use of Abacus for teaching mathematics where effectiveness for male teachers was higher than that of their female counterparts. The study also established several challenges faced by mathematics teachers in the use of Abacus simply due to lack of skills. The study findings established that, mathematics teachers adopted several strategies to ensure effective use of Abacus in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The study recommended that, the Kenyan Ministry of Education should train the mathematics teachers on the effective use of abacus. Moreover, the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development should infuse the use of Abacus into the mathematics syllabus. The significance of this study therefore is that, it is believed the findings of this study will be used by mathematics teachers to improve in teaching mathematics, provide curriculum planners with an insight to infuse effective use of abacus in mathematics curriculum development and finally it is hoped that this study | en_US |