EXPLORING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE AT BANI NATIONAL

A Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of the Graduate School

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for

by:

VIDAL, ARZEL S.
January 2023

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 Chapter I

Introduction

Background of the study

Over the last decade, the Government of the Philippines has launched an initiative on

education reform effort to guarantee that all Filipinos have the chance to learn the skills that

they need to play a full and productive part in society (World Bank Group, 2016). However,

the issue of declining academic achievement of students in Science has generated much interest

among stakeholders in the educational sector in the Philippines. Filipino students’ poor

achievement levels in science have been documented for several years now. According to the

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in

International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, the Philippines scored 297 in

Math and 249 in Science. Both scores are lower than how the country fared in 2003, which are

358 in math and 332 in science, based on the study.

On the other hand, in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in

2018, Filipino students ranked last out of 79 countries in reading comprehension and second

lowest in both mathematical and scientific literacy. The Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA) is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students worldwide that assesses their

attainment of key knowledge and skills required for full involvement in society. The

assessment focuses on the core school subjects of reading, mathematics, and science.

While the government is doing everything possible to assist the education sector.

However, one must recognize that budgetary constraint is not the only factor that affects the

academic performance of students. In this study, some possible variables will be explored on

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whether they can influence the academic achievement of students in Science. These factors

consist of students’ study habits, teachers; characteristics and parents’ involvement in students’

studies.

Ebele & Olofu (2017) provided evidence for the study described above in their work

titled "Study Habit and Its Impact on Secondary School Students Academic Performance in

Biology in the Federal Capital Territory” which found a substantial correlation between the

aforementioned factors. This suggested that students who established effective study habits

were more likely to improve their academic achievement and academic performance in school.

Considering the importance of study skills and habits of students, and the important role they

play in the academic achievement of students, and taking into account that study habits vary

from person to person and from place to place, and also as the results of related studies are

different from each other, the present study was designed.

In any topic of knowledge transmission or education, teachers must be given due

consideration. Teachers have a crucial role in the dissemination of information. According to

Ali (2009), there is a statistically significant correlation between parental and teacher qualities

and student academic success. In a study conducted by Thompson, Greer, & Greer (2004)

twelve traits are fundamental to what students consider effective teaching which connects to

students, both intellectually and personally, and increases recent indications for academic

performance. These traits are: exhibiting fairness, having a positive viewpoint being prepared,

employing a personal touch, respecting pupils, and keeping high standards. Exhibiting a sense

of humor, possessing creativity, acknowledging errors, being forgiving, demonstrating

compassion, and generating a sense of belonging for kids.

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 In addition, the involvement of parents in their children's education plays a

remarkable role in the student’s achievement. According to research, children and adolescents

who have their parents involved in their education are more likely to do well in school and

graduate (Hill and Tyson 2009; Rumberger et al. 1990; Siraj and Mayo 2014; Zaff et al. 2017).

According to Rosie Thornton's (2015) research, students who have parents who are actively

involved in their education outperform those whose parents are not actively involved in their

children's academic pursuits. The involvement of a family in their child's education is

acknowledged by many as the single most crucial element in determining academic

performance and achievement. According to research, family participation not only boosts

academic performance, as seen by higher test scores and graduation rates, but it also enhances

the possibility that young people would seek further education. Alternatively, research studies

also show inconsistent results because some researchers have shown that parental involvement

in students' academic pursuits, particularly during the high school years, might have a

detrimental impact on student's success in the classroom.

Considering which factor affects student academic achievement at the Secondary

School level can assist the school in developing unique strategies to boost student performance

with the resources available to them.

Statement of the Problem

The essence of this study is to investigate how certain characteristics and factors are

related to the academic performance of high school students in Science at Bani National High

School, Masinloc, Zambales.

Specifically, the study would like to answer the following questions:

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 1. What is the level of study habits of the students of Bani National High School?

2. How can the teachers’ characteristics be described in terms of:

a. Academic Qualifications

b. Length of Service

c. Teaching methodology

3. What is the level of the parent's involvement in school in the academic performance

of Bani National High School students?

4. What is the level of academic performance of the students in science after years of

distance learning?

5. Is there a significant difference between students' study habits, teacher's

characteristics, parent’s involvement, and academic performance in Science when

respondents are grouped according to:

a. Age

b. Grade level

c. Gender

d. Academic Track

6. What are the possible inputs to that can be formulated based on the results of the

study?

7. What is the relationship between students' study habits, teacher's characteristics,

parent’s involvement, and academic performance in Science?

Significance of the Study

The study would be of great help to a great number and a diverse range of audiences

since it would identify the relationship of various factors influencing the academic performance

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of the students in the Science subject. Hence, it aims to provide informative results, agreeable

conclusions, and applicable implications. The study expects to bring useful insights on which

to build, modify or improve the ways of teaching/learning in the school context.

Thus, the result of this study will be beneficial to the following:

Students. The output from this research will pave the way for the improvement of the

teaching and learning process. This study will help them strengthen their learning abilities,

so that it may help them improve their career which may lead to improving their life.

Parents/ Guardians. The results of the study will assist parents/ guardians in making

appropriate parental actions and improve parental involvement in the academic performance

of students.

Teachers. To help teachers improve their teaching strategies and design suitable teaching

intervention for students, as well as enhance their characteristics to become a more effective

teachers.

School Administrators. The results of this study will enable school administrators in

developing and putting into action initiatives that will benefit learners. The findings of this

study might enlighten them about the significance of students' study habits, teachers'

characteristics, and parents' involvement in students’ academic success.

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 Future Researchers. The study will be of great support in providing baseline information

about the topic to aid them in producing relevant research or in developing this research by

furthering the knowledge that will be discovered.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

The main focus of this study is to determine the correlation between students’ study

habits, teachers' characteristics and parental involvement, and the academic performance of

high school students in Science. The main attention of this study will be on the current

performance of the students and student, home, and teacher factors that contributes to

improvement in their academic performance.

The study will only cover the academic performances of students in the first

and second quarters of the Science subject. The study will be confined to Bani National

High School in the school year 2022-2023.

Definition of Terms

For a clear understanding of this study, the following terms were defined

operationally:

1. Academic Performance- is the outcome of education and refers to students’ academic

efforts and is measured using their grades.

2. Characteristics- a feature or quality belonging to someone

3. Parent- For the purpose of this study, parents include family members, siblings,

guardians, aunts and uncles, and grandparents who are involved in school for the

benefit of a specific student.

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4. Parental Involvement. This refers to the participation of the parents such as

meaningful communication involving student academic learning, other school

activities, and character development.

5. Student. A person formally engaged in learning, especially one enrolled in a school.

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 Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies from both foreign

and local sources such as books, journals and published thesis as well as unpublished thesis

which provide data, insights, background information and references for the current research.

Academic Performance in Science

Many studies have been carried out to identify and analyze the numerous factors that

affect students’ academic performance in various centers of learning. Studies have found that

improvement in the academic performance of students is dependent on a combination of

teacher, student, school, and parental factors.

Several scholars have defined and described academic success. Academic

performance, according to Narad and Abdullah (2016), is the knowledge acquired that is

assessed by a teacher through grades and/or educational goals set by students and teachers to be

attained during a specified period of time. According to Brunello & De Paola (2010) and

Scoppa & De Paola (2010), the home environment has a substantial impact on a child's

development and is one of the crucial facets of a child's upbringing that is positively connected

with their success in science at school. Walker, Shenker, and Hoover (2010) also talked about

how parents who are more involved in their children's education by talking to them about

specific school events, fostering their curiosity, encouraging them to pursue science, and

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having them practice interactive homework are more likely to have students who have

favorable views and attitudes toward science and may lead to academic success in science.

Study Habits

Academic performance is a complicated process that depends on a number of

variables, including study habits (Odiri, 2015). Study habits are an individual's behavior that

according to the research study of Gudaganavar and Halayannava on 2014. During the learning

process, the learner's regular practices for enhancing his learning skills are taken into account

to be his study habits. Previous studies conducted by Ebele and Olofu in 2017 have shown that

effective study habits include working in a quiet environment every day, avoiding distractions

like TV and cell phones, taking notes on important material, taking regular breaks, listening to

soothing music, prioritizing the challenging material, and studying according to one's learning

preferences. Some students choose not to participate in class, take notes, do their assignments,

read their books, or utilize the library. Their academic performance, particularly in science,

may be significantly impacted by these attitudes.

The most significant predictor of academic achievement is study habits, and studies

conducted throughout the world have shown that study habits have an impact on academic

performance. According to research in the field of cognitive psychology, learning and study

techniques enhance academic achievement (Mashaekhi et al. 2014). Numerous studies have

been done on how characteristics like study habits affect students' academic success and how

well they predict it. For instance, Looyeh et. Al (2017) explored the connection between

students' academic achievement and their study habits. According to the study, a student's

study habits score may predict 6.8% of changes in academic achievement. Similar findings

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were made by Siahi and Maiyo in their 2015 study, which discovered a link between academic

success and study habits among secondary school students.

Numerous studies, like the ones described above, have shown that students with

good study habits are more likely to succeed than those with bad study habits. It would not be

inappropriate to argue that study habits are highly important and vital in a student's life. A

study habit is essential to any learning process. However, it appears that the Philippine

educational system gives little attention to comprehending this factor. This study will analyze

the study habits and academic performance of science students at Bani National High School in

the light of the aforementioned observations.

Parental Involvement and Students Academic Performance

Educators acknowledge that parental participation is crucial for students' academic

achievement, however there are different definitions of parental involvement. Parental

involvement is described as understanding the relationship between parenting practices and

children' academic achievement, assisting in their children's homework, and having a

commitment to their welfare (Nadenge, 2015). There are three types of parental participation,

according to previous studies: involvement at home, involvement at school, and

communication between the home and school (Anthony & Ogg, 2019). Home-based parental

participation refers to parents participating in educational activities with their children outside

of school events. Examples of this form of participation Includes "reading or other intellectual

activity" (Anthony and Ugg, 2019). The amount to which parents attend school-related events

is referred to as school-based parental participation (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; Fernandez-Alonso

et al., 2017). Examples of this category include attending conferences, family days, and Parent-

Teacher Association (PTA) activities are all ways to get involved. Home-school

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communication is the exchange of information between school employees (teachers, office

personnel, etc.) and parents (Anthony & Ogg, 2019). Emails, conferences, and phone

conversations are examples of this form of communication.

Previous studies have indicated that home-based parental involvement positively

influences student academic achievement (Anthony & Ogg, 2019) It has been discovered that

parental participation significantly improves children's academic achievement. Juma (2016)

found a very significant positive link between parental participation in children's education and

academic achievement. According to recent research, the majority of the past research on

parental participation and student academic success frequently draw from the environment of

an elementary school (Oswald et al., 2017). Parental participation has been reported to be

higher in elementary schools than in middle and high schools due to teenage children's growing

independence (Oswald et al., 2017). It is critical to examine whether there is a link between

student academic achievement and parental involvement in the high school.

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 Chapter III

Research Methodology

This chapter presents and describes the methods and procedures of the research. It

includes research design, research instruments, student-respondents, sampling technique and

validation of research instrument, collection of data, research locale and data analysis.

Research Design

The study will employ a descriptive correlational design. The descriptive component

of the study will revolve around the study habits of the respondents, parental involvement,

teacher characteristics, and academic performance. Subsequently, the correlational component

will center on the relationship between students’ study habits, teachers’ characteristics, and

parental involvement in the academic performance of students in science enrolled in Bani

National High School.

Participants

The participants of this research will be the grade 7-12 students at Bani National

High School, Masinloc, Zambales for the school year 2022-2023. The researcher will consider

the entire population to be used in this study to ensure a more valid result and finding. The

participants will be selected using random sampling.

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Data Collection

The data for this research will be collected using a survey questionnaire. The study

will be conducted after the second quarter of the school year 2022-2023. Necessary permission

will be secured from the office of the principal before the conduct of the study. The researcher

will also seek consent from the parents of the participants to conduct the study.

Instruments

A questionnaire will be used as the main data-gathering instrument in this study. The

study will adopt the Family Involvement Questionnaires to accurately measure the level of

parental involvement in their child’s education from Leander and Fabella (2020). The

questionnaire underwent expert content validation with Filipino translation for each item. The

questionnaire for the study habits will be adopted from Shirban, 2020. Another set of survey

questionnaire will be developed by the researcher to assess the preferred teachers’

characteristics. The researcher-crafted survey questionnaire will be subjected into a reliability

test using Cronbach’s Alpha. The data needed in terms of academic performance in science

will be collected using the report card of the students from the first and second grading periods.

Data Analysis

The data that will be obtained from this study will be subjected to appropriate

statistical analyses. To test the significant differences between the variables present in the

study, the data will be subjected to Analysis of Variance.

Ethical Considerations

Informed consent will be taken from all the participants of the study and will be

assured of the confidentiality that will be maintained throughout the study.

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