TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA USE ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF KISWAHILI IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KATHIANI SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Students' academic performance is key in every academic institution. The aim of this study was to establish the perception of teachers on instructional media on academic performance of Kiswahili students in public secondary schools in Kathiani sub-county.The students' performance in Kiswahili remains a top priority for educators in Kenya because when students get good grades, they become competitive in the world of work and may have better employment opportunities. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and the system theory was used to investigate on how perception of teachers affects the academic performance of Kiswahili students. The researcher used simple random sampling techniques to sample 20 public secondary schools to be used in the study out of the 50 secondary schools in Kathiani sub-county. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a total of 200 Kiswahili students and 40 Kiswahili teachers from the 20 selected public secondary schools. The study used questionnaires as the research instruments. There was a questionnaire for students and the teachers. Data was analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that the use of instructional media can enhance learner's performance as the lessons are always interesting, it makes the topic to be better understood, and also the content become more familiar to the students. Instructional media also improves the learner's memory. The study established that majority (60%) of the teacher respondents indicated that instructional media are used in teaching Kiswahili. The study concluded that the performance of Kiswahili was good due to the use of instructional media in teaching and learning. The study also concluded that the instructional media the teacher mostly used in teaching Kiswahili was textbook. It is therefore clear that the schools in Machakos have inadequate instructional materials needed for learning. The study further established that majority (71.2%) of the respondents indicated that instructional media enhances the learning of Kiswahili subject. Teachers' perception on the use of media improves learner's motivation and Kiswahili performance. The study recommended that the school principals should encourage Kiswahili teachers to use instructional media with the aim of raising the academic performance of the schools as it has been proved that instructional media in teaching and learning enhanced the performance of the students.