Relationship between Achievement Motivation Personality Indicator and Academic Achievement among Learners with Exceptional Potential in Public Primary Schools in Nairobi County

Josephine Karari; Mwaura Kimani; Newton Mukolwe

doi:10.51867/ajer.v2i1.15

Authors

Josephine Karari
josykarari@gmail.com
Maasai Mara University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3274-0711
Mwaura Kimani Maasai Mara University
Newton Mukolwe Maasai Mara University

Keywords:

Achievement Motivation Characteristics, Academic Achievement, Gifted and Talented Learners, Public Primary Schools, Nairobi County

Abstract

Learners with Exceptional Potential have a set of personality traits that enable them to function at a level well beyond that of their classmates. However, in Nairobi County, the learning competencies of exceptional potential learners in public primary schools are below average. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between achievement motivation characteristics and academic achievement among learners with superior abilities in public primary schools in Nairobi County. The study used a descriptive research design and included phenomenological approaches with mixed-methods analysis. The targeted audience included 23,110 people, including 3,247 instructors and 19,863 learners in grades 6 to 8. A suitable sample size of 391 was calculated using Yamane's formula. Nairobi County's abundance of sub-counties served as the impetus for using stratified sampling to split the county into 17 groupings. Each sub-county provided 10 bright and talented learners from grades 6–8 and 13 teachers. The process produced a pool of 221 teachers and 170 top-performing learners. Observational checklists and questionnaires were two of the data collection methods used. In order to evaluate validity and reliability prior to the full deployment, forty respondents from public elementary schools in Nairobi County took part in the pilot testing. Learners with particular needs and educational psychology experts gave validity support. The reliability coefficient was estimated using the split-half approach, and the result was r = 0.725, which, according to Cronbach's alpha approach, indicates extremely excellent reliability. Thematic evaluation and narrative presentation of qualitative data occurred in accordance with the research's objectives. SPSS 23, a statistical programme for the social sciences, was utilised to analyse the quantitative data both descriptively (using frequencies and percentages) and inferentially (using linear regression analysis), in order to evaluate the hypotheses. The findings show that achievement motivation characteristics had a statistically significant influence on the academic achievement of learners with exceptional potential (t = 3.714, p<0.05). These findings of this research further demonstrated that Nairobi County's public primary schools enrol a sizable number of bright and gifted learners. It was believed that the causes of these variances were differences in learners' self-worth, approach to self-driven studies, problem-solving skills, and achievement motivation. Based on these results, the research made a number of recommendations in its conclusion. Schools should develop an environment that supports learning and encourages learners with superior abilities to follow their interests while attending classes. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to be tasked with creating a plan to finance the creation of centres of excellence tailored to the needs of learners with superior abilities as well as resource centres where these children may further develop their skills. Teachers should have access to curriculum guides created by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to better fulfil the needs of the community. As an added recommendation, KICD should create a national tool to identify these learners.

Dimensions

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