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Chapter 1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Is the Ateneo de Davao Bangkal Campus really ready to accommodate its
students? Are the facilities properly designed in prioritizing its students’
convenience? Could it be renovated for improvement? A cafeteria refers to a food
service location wherein customers serve themselves or are served at a counter
and take the food to tables to eat. This implements social interaction and modeling
roles for eating habits. Cafeterias can usually be found in schools where the
students can’t be individually served; thus, it is self-service. Self-service eating
encourages independence and autonomy among people, but it also has its
downsides. According to Malla (2010), a school cafeteria must develop proper
management from structural issues to space management. There are existing
factors on the management in the Ateneo de Davao SHS Cafeteria that affects the
experiences of the students. One of the factors is the poor occupancy of the space
in the cafeteria which results in low management of the crowd of students during
break-time. Furthermore, according to Pennstate (2015), overcrowded school
facilities have consistently been linked to increased levels of aggression in
students.
In Colorado, USA, according to Ready et al. (2004), the size of the school
and its mechanism should be evaluated for which it might affect or influence the
students’ and teachers’ performance. The study of Lee and Smith (1997) induced
that a bigger school size was favored by social equity.
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In the Philippines, Geographic information systems were utilized to
investigate the allocation of public-school resources and the extent of disparity in
education facilities among 75 Philippine provinces. The building conditions are of
high quality in the northern provinces. The greater region of the capital is
overcrowded but well maintained. The eastern seaboard region and the southern
provinces have poor conditions due to frequent natural calamities and the
prolonged civil unrest, respectively. Since the spatial analysis result shows that the
school building requirements are largely unmet, some recommendations are
proposed so that they can be implemented by the government in order to improve
the school facilities and mitigate the existing disparities among the four clusters of
the Philippines.
The number of students complaining about the AdDU Bangkal Cafeteria
continues to grow exponentially, especially because of the hectic schedule.
Although it is relatively large, the school’s cafeteria still becomes heavily congested
during the simultaneous lunch periods of both the grade 11 and 12. The
simultaneous lunch periods of both grade levels is certainly a factor to the
congestion, but there also seems to be a problem in the cafeteria itself, more
specifically, its architectural design and layout. For example, the stationery
commodities are stationed just along the halls with the printing station and its
waiting line blocking the hall. This ongoing problem in the school’s cafeteria
demands a solution of which will boost the students’ mental and social health.
This study aims to renovate the school cafeteria and expand it to
accommodate more students and to improve convenience, eliminating the crowd
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congestion experienced by the students every lunch period. Students are the
country’s future, their academic capabilities are honed at school but their emotional
and social health must still be kept in check as well. The cafeteria has a huge
impact on their emotional and social health; therefore, the ongoing problem in its
facilities must be addressed. The researchers have some factors it does not take
into consideration, one of which is the other cafeteria near the school entrance and
also the consequences in the ventilation and accessibility of the cafeteria during
renovation. In this study, future students, teachers, and workers of AdDU Bangkal
will be able to utilize the school cafeteria more conveniently.
Statement of the Problem
Overcrowding and the ineffective space occupancies of the main cafeteria
of Ateneo de Davao Senior High School becomes a problem to the Ateneans,
especially the increase of population this school year. The planned renovation
aims to rearrange the cafeteria occupancy from food stations, food stalls, facilities
area and seating arrangements, which is located on building E, 1st floor of Ateneo
de Davao Senior High School. Maximizing the space effectiveness it is proposed
to transfer the food stalls lining up at the left side of the cafeteria to settle the
capacity of the lining of students that may block the pathway, also to provide
additional seats at the center to cater the amount of students during that duration
of time.
There are approximately over 3500 population in Ateneo de Davao University
Senior High School. In a one-hour time frame, Ateneans experience a tight
condition in the school cafeteria space occupancy. As observed, ateneans
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experience incapacity of seats within the facilities and the blockage of people in
the pathway due to the lineup of the food sections. In order to address this problem,
the researchers are proposing a renovation project to the main cafeteria to resolve
this main problem faced by both learners and staff.
In line with this, the study seeks to answer the following questions:
1. What is the problem encountered by the ateneans regarding the concern
about the ateneo senior high school main cafeteria.
2. How does the current structure of the main cafeteria affects the situation of
ateneans?
3. What are the primary solution an ateneans may suggest to resolve the
problem about the main cafeteria.
Theoretical Framework
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The design of the main cafeteria was inspired by Sun-hee Jang and Hye-
Cha Jang (2011). The design and arrangement of each part was concisely and
precisely given into account where one section of group like food are separately
arranged in an orderly manner where spaces of each vacancies where put into
action and thought. And the chairs and tables are also aligned consequently.
It is observed that with this layout, all forms of slow traffic in line formation,
heat, noise, stall arrangement and lastly chairs and tables arrangements are will
be equally divided and observe through the flow of the students behavioral act.
And with this study, the enhancement or renovation of the cafeteria will be met
accordingly and also will adapt their design in a way that every constituent or
variables will be available in the context of Ateneo de Davao SHS.
Goals and Objectives of the Study
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The primary purpose of this study is to determine the major effects of the
existing problem regarding the overcrowding of the Ateneo Senior High School
Cafeteria. Specifically, this will address the following objectives:
a. To be able to improve the architectural design and structure of the Ateneo de
Davao SHS Cafeteria
b. To decrease the crowd congestion in Ateneo de Davao SHS Cafeteria
c. To increase the convenience for the number of students in the school cafeteria
with enough tables and chairs
Scope and Limitation of the Study
The study intends to determine the feasibility of the renovation of the main
school cafeteria of the Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School. The
allocated site of the study will be conducted inside the school, specifically near the
gymnasium. The study will be covered by the students, faculty and staffs to
determine if there really is a need for the project to be implemented.
However, there are some limitations set for this study. The proponents of
the study will be limited to the students, teachers, administrators, and school staff
of the Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School as they mostly take credit
from this study. The objective of this study is to create a scale model and technical
layout of the proposed project and also to determine the feasibility of the study.
Significance of the Study
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This study would primarily benefit the population of the school, thus, this will
evaluate the difficulties encountered by the Ateneans and provide information to
determine the problem faced by the Ateneo Senior High School main cafeteria.
This study will be beneficial to the following:
Students. This study will provide an understanding and knowledge of the
existing problem of the facility as direct recipients. The improvement of the main
cafeteria will result to the convenience that will affect different angles to their
learning experience in school. It can also benefit the future learners of the
institution as they will experience the improved facility and the non-existent
problem.
Administration, Faculty, and Staff. This study will serve as a guiding
principle for the institution to be aware of the situation experienced by one of their
school facilities. It can also cultivate them a sense of responsibility in making
decisions to think rationally and practically as it affects the learning environment of
the students.
Future Researchers. The data gathered in this project may serve as
background, overview, and reference for future researchers to validate the issue
and cover some variables that could be related to their study.
Definition of Terms
This study uses technical terms that is specific to the renovation project.
The following terms are important in this study and are defined operationally:
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Cafeteria. A restaurant where people collect food and drink from a serving
area and take it to a table themselves after paying for it.
Overcrowding. This refers to the condition where more people are located
within a given space than is considered tolerable from a safety and health
perspective which will depend on current environment and local cultural norms.
Renovation. It's a process of improving a broken, damaged, or outdated
structure. This implies to the study as its objective in repairing and improving
something, especially a building.
Food Stalls. A large table or a small shop with an open front from which
goods are sold in a crowded place.
Space. A continuous area or spacious area that is free, available, or
unoccupied.