Abstract

Higher education in Kenya has experienced tremendous growth since independence. With only one public university with an enrolment of less than 1000, the number stands at twenty two public universities with student population of over 150,000. This growth has been attributed to the introduction of module II programs and increased private and public funding for university education. However, despite the increase in enrolments, there has been no commensurate development and/or improvement of the requisite teaching staff and other teaching and learning resources. Consequently, stakeholders have raised concerns on the instructional effectiveness and the quality of education provided in public universities in Kenya. This study was conceived to establish the effect of university expansion on instructional effectiveness in Maseno University. The study was anchored on the education production function theory and adopted a descriptive design. The study was carried out in Maseno University. The target population was 7,377 comprising of 7,000 undergraduate students and 377 lecturers of Maseno University in the 2011/12 academic year. Simple random sampling was used to select 2,100 students and 114 lecturers making a sample of 2,214. Data was collected using a questionnaire for students and lecturers and document analysis. Research instruments were validated using face and content validity while reliability was determined using the test-retest technique at r= 0.7. A pilot study was conducted in Maseno University and the data collected used to determine the reliability of research instruments. Data was analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages by aid of SPSS version 17 and analyzed objectively and presented in tables. Based on these findings, it was concluded that both the teaching staff and students highly did not have enough confidence in the effectiveness of the instructional processes at Maseno University.