Attitude of Pre-Service Teacher Trainees towards the Use of Computers in Mathematics Instruction in Secondary Schools in Kenya

The need to use computers in the teaching and learning process in order to improve performance in mathematics is critical and needs urgent address. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude of pre-service teacher trainees towards the use of computers in mathematics instruction in secondary schools in Kenya. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The target population was teacher trainees of mathematics at Kenyan universities. The accessible population was 200 teacher trainees of mathematics from four Kenyan Universities that offer Bachelor of Education degree courses. Stratified and simple random sampling procedures were employed in this study. The instruments for data collection were the pre-service teacher questionnaire, and face to face interview schedule. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that teacher trainees of mathematics at Kenyan universities have positive attitude towards computers and they believe that computers can be an effective tool in supporting the teaching and learning of mathematics. To exploit the positive attitude of the pre-service teachers towards the use of computers, it is recommended that pre-service teachers of mathematics in universities be given professional development training in the use of computer technology in classroom instruction while on the other hand the Ministry of Education should rule out programs in schools that would enhance use of computers in mathematics instruction in secondary schools in Kenya with a view of improving performance in mathematics.