EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH ON STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING A SPIRALLY DESIGNED ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE COURSE AT ALJAMEA-TUS-SAIFIYAH, NAIROBI, KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study explored the effects of teachers’ instructional approach on student perceptions of learning a spirally designed Islamic Jurisprudence course at Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, Nairobi campus, Kenya. It was guided by the Constructive alignment theory proposed by John Biggs (1996) to address four research questions. The first question was what are teachers’ instructional approaches in teaching a spirally designed Islamic Jurisprudence course at Aljamea-tusSaifiyah, Nairobi campus? The second question was how these approaches affect student perceptions of learning a spirally designed Islamic Jurisprudence course? The third question focused on what challenges do teachers face in teaching a spirally designed Islamic Jurisprudence course at Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah? And the fourth question included what strategies can be employed to enhance the learning experience of students in a spirally designed Islamic Jurisprudence course at Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah? The study employed an explanatory-sequential design, where the data was collected in two phases. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect quantitative data through questionnaires and phenomenological design was used to collect qualitative data using interview guides. A random sample of 266 student participants and 25 teacher respondents were included in the study. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data was organised into themes and presented in direct quotes and narratives. Ethical considerations were observed throughout the study. The study found that 45% of teachers frequently resort to teacher-centric approaches in teaching Islamic Jurisprudence. Similarly, 40% of students in Stage 3 adopted a surface learning approach and 80% reported having low clarity of their learning experience. The study recommended that a more student-centric approach should be employed, and an alignment between clearly defined objectives, teaching activities and assessments should be obtained to enhance students' overall learning experience