Despite a number of challenges, training institution Kenya has produced structural engineers in the building and construction field. As a result, there have been problems facing these apprentices that have led to questions concerning their competencies in the Kenyan building and construction industry. Mitigating such foreseeable problems, require proper policy planning, which can only be enacted after findings of facts have been adduced. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the challenges facing university trained structural engineers in the construction industry in Kenya. The research design in the study was cross-sectional survey research design. Purposive sampling was employed in collecting the data. The study population comprised practicing structural engineers trained at the universities offering building construction, civil engineering and structural engineering. Questionnaires were used to collected data from the sampled respondents in the building industry. Proportional analysis techniques and statistical chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Information on problems facing the engineers and perception of the engineering graduates concerning university training were collected from 89 Kenyan university trained practicing Structural engineers. The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23.0) presented inform of descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, frequency distribution, cross-tabulation and Chi-square (c2) tests. The results obtained revealed that, graduates had problems related to initial choice of the course, for which they did not have interest in and hence poor content coverage. These results demonstrate the need for establishment of a clear policy aimed at regulating the learning resources for structural engineers at the universities appropriately. Moreover, there is need for standard resources for the teaching of the programme and the need for higher educational funding scheme for research in the universities.
Knowledge is valued as a vital asset for progress and prosperity in every sphere of human understanding. Knowledge is attributed with successful innovation in firms. Research has been identified as the main source of knowledge. In Kenya, University students have been accused of doing low quality research. Statistics is important in research, it starts at the planning stage to establish the design and sample size. Studies have pointed to wrong use of statistics as a contributing factor towards low quality research. The purpose of this study was; to determine masters' curriculum meets the needs of masters' students' use of statistics in research, a case of curriculums of universities of western Kenya. Three curriculums from 3 different universities were analyzed. The study established that; general objectives and specific objectives in courses related to statistics adequately covered the requirements for statistics training; the scheduled content for the core courses covered descriptive and inferential statistics; ICT concepts are catered for in the sampled masters' curriculums, however, the courses are too wide to be effectively learned in one semester of 4 months; The study established that lectures, class discussion and students presentations are common methods of instruction across the sampled curriculums. The study established that continuous assessment tests and end of semester sit in exam were the common form of exams administered. In addition in one case there were also term papers and practical in some courses. However the end of semester exam carried more weight of 60%. The study recommended for proper integration of ICT and statistics, increase of statistical courses and use of open book examination.
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