Good day to our respected panelists, teachers, and fellow students.

Education is not only about what we learn inside the classroom, but also about how we grow
outside of it. Many students today join clubs, competitions, sports, and leadership activities,
believing these experiences help shape their confidence, discipline, and academic success.
However, some still question whether extracurricular involvement truly supports academic
performance or simply adds pressure to students.

With this in mind, our study entitled “The Relationship Between Extracurricular Activities and
Academic Performance among Grade 11 Students of Saint Louis College of Solano” seeks to
examine whether participation beyond the classroom contributes positively to students’ academic
outcomes. Conducted among Grade 11 students of Saint Louis College of Solano during the
School Year 2025–2026, this research aims to provide evidence-based insights that may guide
students, teachers, and the school in encouraging balanced student development.

Through this study, we hope to show that education is not only measured by grades, but also by
the experiences that help students grow into confident, capable, and well-rounded individuals.

🎓 BASIC QUESTIONS (very common)

1. What is your study all about?

Answer:
Our study examines the relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance
among Grade 11 students of Saint Louis College of Solano. It aims to determine whether participation
in school activities is associated with students’ grades and personal development.

2. Why did you choose this topic?

Answer:
We chose this topic because many students join extracurricular activities, and we wanted to know if
these activities help improve academic performance and personal skills such as confidence,
leadership, and social interaction.

3. What are your main variables?

Answer:
The independent variable is extracurricular participation, and the dependent variable is academic
performance measured through students’ GWA.
4. What research design did you use?

Answer:
I used a quantitative correlational research design because the study examines the relationship
between two measurable variables.

📊 METHODOLOGY QUESTIONS

5. How did you select your respondents?

Answer:
Respondents were selected from Grade 11 sections. Students who participated in extracurricular
activities were identified, and eight students per section were chosen until the total sample reached
forty.

6. Why only 40 respondents?

Answer:
The sample size was limited due to time constraints, but it was sufficient to analyze trends and
compute correlation using statistical methods.

7. What instrument did you use?

Answer:
I used a researcher-made questionnaire divided into four parts: participation, confidence, leadership
skills, and social skills, along with students’ GWA data.

📈 STATISTICS QUESTIONS (panels love these)

8. What statistical tools did you use?

Answer:
I used frequency, percentage, mean, grand mean, standard deviation, and Pearson Product-Moment
Correlation.

9. Why did you use Pearson r?

Answer:
Pearson r is appropriate because it measures the strength and direction of the relationship between
two quantitative variables.
10. What was your Pearson r result?

Answer:
The computed Pearson r was 0.7536, indicating a strong positive relationship between extracurricular
participation and academic performance.

11. Was the result significant?

Answer:
Yes. The computed p-value was less than 0.001, which is lower than 0.05, so the result is statistically
significant.

12. What happened to your hypothesis?

Answer:
Since the result was significant, the null hypothesis was rejected.

🧠 INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS

13. What does your result mean in simple terms?

Answer:
It means that students who participate in extracurricular activities tend to have better academic
performance.

14. Does this mean activities cause higher grades?

Answer:
Not necessarily cause, but they are strongly associated. Participation may help develop skills that
support academic success.

15. What skills improved based on your findings?

Answer:
Confidence, leadership skills, and social skills all showed high levels of agreement among respondents.
🔍 LIMITATION QUESTIONS

16. What are the limitations of your study?

Answer:
The study focused only on one school and only included students who participated in extracurricular
activities. Time constraints also limited the sample size.

17. What would you improve if you repeat the study?

Answer:
I would include students who do not participate in extracurricular activities and expand the study to
multiple schools.

🎯 FINAL QUESTIONS (very common closing questions)

18. What is the main contribution of your study?

Answer:
The study shows that extracurricular activities support both academic performance and personal
development, helping schools justify continued support for student programs.

19. Why is your study important to the school?

Answer:
It provides evidence that extracurricular programs benefit students academically and socially, which
can guide school policies and student development programs.

20. If you summarize your study in one sentence, what would you say?

Answer:
Our study shows that extracurricular participation is strongly linked to better academic performance
and personal growth among Grade 11 students.

📊 FORMULA QUESTIONS FOR DEFENSE (WITH ANSWERS)

1. Why did you compute the mean?

Answer:
We computed the mean to determine the average response of students for each questionnaire part
and to describe the overall level of participation and personal development.
2. What is the formula for the mean?

Answer:
The mean is computed by dividing the sum of all scores by the total number of responses.

3. Why did you compute the grand mean?

Answer:
The grand mean was used to determine the overall average of students’ responses across all
questionnaire items in each category.

4. What is the difference between mean and grand mean?

Answer:
The mean refers to the average score of one item or variable, while the grand mean is the average of
several means, giving an overall level of responses.

5. Why did you compute standard deviation?

Answer:
Standard deviation was computed to measure how spread out the students’ responses were from the
average.

6. What does a small standard deviation mean?

Answer:
A small standard deviation means students’ answers were close to each other and consistent.

7. Why did you use Pearson r?

Answer:
Pearson r was used to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between extracurricular
participation and academic performance.

8. What is the formula for Pearson r used for?

Answer:
It determines whether two variables move together and how strong their relationship is.
9. How do you interpret your r value?

Answer:
Our r value of 0.7536 indicates a strong positive relationship between extracurricular activities and
academic performance.

10. Why did you compute the t-value?

Answer:
The t-value was computed to test whether the correlation result was statistically significant.

11. Why do you check the p-value?

Answer:
The p-value tells us whether the relationship found in the data is significant or happened by chance.

12. What does p < 0.001 mean?

Answer:
It means the probability that the result happened by chance is extremely low, so the relationship is
statistically significant.

13. Why is df = 38?

Answer:
Because the formula for degrees of freedom in correlation is N minus 2, and our sample size was 40, so
40 minus 2 equals 38.

14. Why did you reject the null hypothesis?

Answer:
We rejected the null hypothesis because the computed p-value was lower than the significance level
of 0.05, indicating a significant relationship.

15. What would happen if the result was not significant?

Answer:
If the result was not significant, we would accept the null hypothesis and conclude that extracurricular
activities are not related to academic performance.
🎓 HARD PANEL QUESTIONS (WITH STRONG ANSWERS)

1. How can you be sure extracurricular activities affect grades and not the other way around?

Answer:
The study does not claim causation but only identifies a significant relationship. While participation
may support academic skills, we acknowledge that other factors may also influence academic
performance.

2. What if high-performing students are simply more active, not that activities improve grades?

Answer:
That is possible, which is why the study only concludes that a relationship exists. It does not claim that
activities alone cause better grades, only that they are associated with them.

3. Why did you not include non-participating students?

Answer:
Due to time limitations, we focused on participating students to ensure complete data collection.
However, we recommended that future studies include non-participants for comparison.

4. Why should the school trust your findings with only 40 respondents?

Answer:
While the sample is limited, statistical tests showed a significant relationship. The study serves as an
initial investigation, and future research with larger samples can strengthen the findings.

5. How do you know students answered honestly?

Answer:
We ensured anonymity and explained that responses were for research purposes only to encourage
honest answers.

6. Could your questionnaire be biased?

Answer:
We minimized bias by aligning the questions directly with the study variables and using clear, neutral
wording.
7. Why use a researcher-made questionnaire instead of a validated one?

Answer:
A researcher-made instrument allowed us to tailor the questions to the context of students from Saint
Louis College of Solano and directly measure the variables in our study.

8. If extracurricular activities are helpful, why do some active students still get low grades?

Answer:
Because academic performance is influenced by many factors such as study habits, motivation, and
personal circumstances. Activities alone do not determine grades.

9. What is the biggest weakness of your study?

Answer:
The study is limited to one school and one grade level, which affects generalizability.

10. If you were to repeat this study, what would you improve?

Answer:
I would include multiple schools, include non-participants, and increase the sample size for stronger
comparison.

11. Why should anyone care about your study?

Answer:
Because it provides evidence that student activities contribute to personal development and are
associated with academic success, helping schools design better student programs.

12. If your results were different, would your recommendations change?

Answer:
Yes. Recommendations depend on findings. If no relationship existed, we would suggest focusing more
on academic support rather than extracurricular expansion.
13. What is the single most important finding of your study?

Answer:
The strong and significant relationship between extracurricular participation and academic
performance.

14. Convince us in one sentence that your research matters.

Answer:
This study shows that learning beyond the classroom is connected to students’ academic success and
personal growth.

📚 CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY (READY TO SAY)

🔹 What Chapter 2 is about

Chapter 2 presents related literature and studies showing that extracurricular activities influence
students’ academic performance, personal growth, and holistic development. It includes both
international and local sources to support the importance of the present study.

🔹 Summary of International Literature and Studies

Several international authors found that extracurricular activities help improve students’ academic
achievement and personal skills.

Studies by Owen et al., Zarazaga-Peláez et al., and Seow & Pan showed that participation in sports and
structured activities improves concentration, motivation, discipline, and collaboration, which support
academic success.

Other researchers such as Farb & Matjasko and Rahayu & Dong emphasized that extracurricular
programs enhance leadership, engagement, self-efficacy, and character development.

However, some authors like Almalki et al., Sabuj et al., and Martínez Vicente also identified challenges
such as time management problems, stress, limited resources, and unequal access to activities, which
may affect students’ academic performance.

🔹 Summary of Local Literature and Studies

Local sources highlight that extracurricular activities support holistic education among Filipino
learners.

Reports from educational agencies and policies emphasize that school activities help students develop
teamwork, confidence, discipline, and real-life skills. They also show that structured programs improve
academic engagement and learning outcomes.
However, local studies also note challenges such as limited supervision, lack of resources, and
difficulty balancing academic tasks with extracurricular involvement.

🔹 Overall Synthesis of Chapter 2

Overall, the reviewed literature and studies consistently show that extracurricular activities contribute
to students’ academic performance and personal development. While some challenges exist, most
authors agree that well-managed extracurricular programs support students’ confidence, leadership,
social skills, and academic success.

In conclusion, our study aimed to examine whether participation in extracurricular activities is

Through this research, we hope to highlight that education is not only measured by grades, but also by
the experiences that shape students into confident, responsible, and well-rounded individuals. We
sincerely thank our panelists for their time, insights, and guidance, and we remain open to your
suggestions to further improve our study.

Thank you very much, and good day.