A Phenomenological Analysis and Evaluation of the Meanings Attached to Examination Malpractices by the Teachers and Students in Kisii County, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya the problem of examination malpractice keeps on recurring amidst stringent measures. This study gives the perspective where  understanding the meaning attached to examination malpractice by the teachers and students helps in minimizing the annual cyclic  examination malpractices. Its main objective is to present a phenomenological analysis and evaluation of the meanings attached to  examination malpractices by the teachers and students in Secondary schools in Kisii County. The study was carried out in Kisii County,  Kenya. It focused on students and teachers in secondary schools in the County who have experienced the problem of examination  malpractice. Given that examination malpractice is an ethical problem and those who engage in it justify their actions using certain  ethical theories, the study was guided by normative ethical theories. It utilized descriptive survey research design through open-ended questionnaires for data collection. Purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used to pick the respondents whose number was  indeterminate given that the study is qualitative and only interested in getting the qualitative data as opposed to quantitative data. This  fitted well with the snowball referrals from one relevant participant/interviewee to another. The study adopted hermeneutic and  transcendental phenomenological approaches for both prescription and analysis of data. The findings showed that: there are  examination malpractice meanings that are popular/conventional such as a deliberate act of a wrong doing and implied/unconventional  such as an effect of pressure to get good examination grades; the meanings attached to the examination malpractice by the teachers  and students in Kisii County influence the perpetuation of the menace. The study makes the following conclusion: Implied/ unconventional meanings influence examination malpractice more than the popular/conventional meanings if the cyclic perpetuation of  examination malpractice is to be justified. The study recommends that curbing measures should be directed equally on both the implied/ unconventional and the popular/conventional meanings given that paying attention to only the latter has not given the expected  educational outcomes.