CHAPTER I: SITUATION

A. National Context of the Problem

Three government organizations handle education in the Philippines.
These are the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS),
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). In 1999, the
Department of Education, Culture and Sports, which governs both
public and private education in all levels, stated that its mission was
"to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all by
the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good."
The Department also stipulated its vision to "develop a highly
competent, civic spirited, life-skilled, and God-loving Filipino youth who
actively participate in and contribute towards the building of a
humane, healthy and productive society." All these ambitions were
embodied in the development strategy called "Philippines 2000."
One basis of the ranking in the TIMSS is the National Achievement Test
(NAT).

The

National

Achievement

test

is

Philippine-made

standardized test designed to determine pupils/students achievement

level, strength and weaknesses in five key curricular subject areas at
the end of the school year. Specifically, it aims to identify and analyze
variations on achievement levels across the years by region, division,
schools and other variables and determine the rate of improvement in
basic education with respect to individual schools within certain time
frames. The NAT, which is a system-based assessment, was specially
designed to gauge learning outcomes across target levels in identified
periods of basic education. These test are given to Grade 3 where
students are assessed in both English and Filipino (These two subjects
comprise two third of exam) and Math and Science (These two
accounts for the remaining one third). A different set of tests is given

to Grade 6 pupils where each of the following 5 subjects is assigned 40

items: (Science, Math, English, Filipino and Social Studies). Another set
is administered to fourth year high school students (This is currently
the last year of basic education in the Philippines since K+12 has not
been implemented yet for the additional two years in high school). The
scores in these exams are reported as percentage of item correctly
answered. A mean percentage score (MPS) of 75 percent is currently
set as the goal of the DepEd.
The Mangaldan National High School ranked as 36 in Pangasinan. Its
average score in Mathematics is 34.6.
B. School Situation
The research will be conducted at Mangaldan National High School
(MNHS). The school was opened on February 23, 1945. The high school
started with two classes, first year and second year. From the original
Mangaldan High School, it was renamed Mangaldan Community High
School. It was nationalized on June 6, 1977 by virtue of Presidential
Decree 1050. There had been eleven (11) principals for the past 70
years.
The school is currently offering five (6) programs/curricula: Special
Science Class, Special Program in Journalism, Special Program in the
Arts, Special Program in Mathematics, Open High School and the
Regular Class. It is the biggest school in Mangaldan and many of the
students here are not just from the said town but there are also
students enrolled from other towns like San Fabian, San Jacinto,
Manaoag and even in Dagupan City.
Mangaldan National High School consist of 254 teachers, 57 (male) and
197 (female). As of SY: 2015-2016, it has a total of 5931 enrollees,
5,536 for Secondary Regular classes and 395 for Open High School.

There are 36 sections in Grade 7, 33 sections in Grade 8, 31 sections in

Grade 9 and 30 sections in Grade 10. It is also composed of 25
buildings consist of 130 classrooms in all. They also have functional
and conducive classrooms and facilities such as library, computer
rooms, science laboratory, clinic, guidance office, mini museum, home
economics building, faculty rooms, canteens and gymnasium. The
school extends its linkages through the Parent-Teachers Association or
PTA. They also have different organizations and clubs such as Supreme
Student Government, Peer Facilitators Club, Book Lovers Club and the
other clubs for every subject. Mangaldan National High School
attended the Regional Training of Teachers for the K-12 Curriculum, K12 Curriculum for Grade 7 English and Edukasyong Pagpapakatao
seminar-workshop, K-12 Basic Education Program Regional Training for
Grade-7 Teachers in Filipino in the K-12 Curriculum Orientation and
Skills Building Workshop on the Revised SBM Assessment Process and
ACCESS (A Child-and-Community Centered Education System) and
other seminars such as GSP Basic Training and Specialization Course,
Symposium on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, Life and Spirit
Encounter Seminar, Gender and Development Seminar, Training for the
Campus Journalists, Campus Security Seminar, Regional Leadership
Training, etc.
The ratio of teacher to students is ideally 1:50 most of the class
sections follow this kind of setting, however, normally, class starts at
seven o clock a.m. and ends at five o clock p.m. The one is to one
(1:1) student-book ratio of Department of Education is followed by the
classes in MNHS.
C. Classroom Situation
The target students of this action research study were the 45 students
of Grade 8- Hummingbird. The respondents belong to a Regular class in

Mangaldan National High School. The data they gave is the grades of
the said section in Mathematics in their 1 stquarter and second quarter
for this school year (2015-2016).for the first quarter, no one got a
grade of A (Advance), 1 got P (Proficient) , 10 got AP (Approaching
Proficient), 32 got D (Developing) and unfortunately 2 students got a
grade of B (Beginner). And for the second quarter, still, no one got a
grade of A, 3 got P, 17 got AP, 23 got D and 2 got a grade of B. This
result means most of the Grade 8 Hummingbird students find
difficulties Mathematics.

CHAPTER II: PROBLEM

A. Statement of the Problem
The action research will investigate whether collaborative learning will
be a great help in improving test scores of the students in their exams.
It is clearly evident in the National Achievement Test or NAT scores in
Mathematics of the students from Mangaldan National High School that
there is a need to improve their mathematics skills.
Through observation, it shows that the teacher has a very big part in
the improvement of the students in their performance and excelling in
the class. Its on how they explain the objectives; deliver the learning
content, right choice of activities and the usage of different effective
strategies and pedagogies.
B. Evidence of the Problem
This chapter shows the summary of the performance or grades of the
students during their second quarter. The researcher made use of the
previous existing records of the students and at the same time the
updated and present profile of the respondent.
Table 1 shows the summary of the grades of the Grade-8 Hummingbird
students of Mangaldan National High School (MNHS) during their First
quarter and Table 2 shows the summary of their Second quarter grades
in Mathematics. Figure 1 shows the graph of the grades of the two
quarters.

RESULT
GRADE CATEGORY
NO. OF STUDENTS PERCENTAGE
A (Advance) 90 and above
0
0
P (Proficient) 85-89
1
2.22%
AP (Approaching Proficiency) 80-84
10
22.22%
D (Developing) 75-79
32
71.11%
B (Beginning) 74 and below
2
4.44%
Total
45
100.00%
Table 1: Summary of Grades in Mathematics of the Grade 8- Hummingbird during the
First Quarter.

GRADE CATEGORY
A (Advance) 90 and above
P (Proficient) 85-89
AP (Approaching Proficiency) 80-

RESULT
NO. OF STUDENTS
0
3

84
D (Developing) 75-79
B (Beginning) 74 and below
Total:

PERCENTAGE
0%
6.67%

17

37.78%

23
2
45

51.11%
4.44%
100.00%

35
30
25
20

1st Quarter

15

2nd Quarter

10
5
0
B

AP

A
Table

2:

Summary of Grades in Mathematics of the Grade 8- Hummingbird during the Second

Quarter.

Figure 1. Graph of the Grades of the Grade 8 Hummingbird on the First and Second
Quarter

C. Possible Causes of the Problem

Many students have a negative mindset about Mathematics and
consider it as a burden to them. Because of this, they find it an
uninteresting and unexciting subject which made them not to attend
the class. This is the reason of the poor performance of the students.
Some possible causes of this poor performance are boredom, laziness,
long discussion periods and how the teacher delivers the content.
In addition to the above causes of poor performance in mathematics,
STAN, (2002) as cited by Ojimba, (2012) was of the view that
prominent causes of poor performance in mathematics are:

acute

shortage of qualified professional mathematics teachers, exhibition of

poor knowledge of mathematics content by many mathematics
teachers, overcrowded mathematics classrooms, students negative
attitude toward mathematics, undue emphasis on the coverage of
mathematics syllabus at the expense of meaningful learning of
mathematics

concepts,

inadequate

facilities

and

mathematics

laboratories.
In another vein, Shield and Kelly, (1999) in National Institute for
Educational Development (NIED) (2010) found out in Britain that the
reasons for poor performance in mathematics from the point of views

of principals are:

lack of learning support, principal teachers

dissatisfaction with the in-career training of teachers in mathematics,

perceived

shortage

of

instructional

resources

for

teaching

mathematics, learners taught by teachers who have not participated in

career professional development, mathematics contents were not fully
covered. Emphasis is placed on few areas that involve numbers.

CHAPTER II: PROBLEM

A Statement of the Problem
This action research will investigate whether the use of cooperative
learning during class time will improve the students test scores. The
need for an improved test performance geared for students has
inspired the researcher to undertake this study. It is clearly evident in
the National Achievement Test or NAT scores in Mathematics of the
students from Tandoc National High School that there is a need to
improve their mathematics skills. Among the five subjects in the NAT,
the students from Tandoc National High School got the lowest scores in
Mathematics. It is so alarming to have 27.16 mean percentage score.
This action research sought to answer the following question: will the
use of cooperative learning increase the academic performance of
Grade-8 students in Mathematics?
B Evidence of the Problem
There is information to be gained from data. Tests in schools can be
informative. Scores of students provide a quick glimpse of the current
state of education. Thus, it is useful to have these numbers. These

numbers may not tell everything in detail with high accuracy.

Nevertheless, test results allow for a useful perspective (de Dios,
2012). On the other hand, these grades or marks can further provide
students individualized performance in a particular subject which
reflects the effectiveness of the teachers methodologies in the
teaching-learning process.
Table 1 shows the summary of the grades of the Grade-8 Darwin
students of Tandoc National High School (MNHS) during their First
quarter and Second quarter grades in Mathematics. Figure 1 shows the
graph of the grades of the two quarters.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

STRATEGY TO IMPROVE THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE OF GRADE 8 STUDENTS OF TANDOC
NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

An Action Research Project Presented to the

Faculty of the Social Sciences Department
PHINMA-University of Pangasinan
Dagupan City

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics

By
Rachel Ann R. Bandong

THE USE OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY

TO IMPROVE THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF
GRADE 8 STUDENTS OF MANGALDAN NATIONAL
HIGH SCHOOL

An Action Research Project Presented to the

Faculty of the Social Sciences Department
PHINMA-University of Pangasinan
Dagupan City

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics

By

Rosemarie G. Bautista

1st Grading
Grade
Range

Frequenc
y

90-above

85-89

2nd Grading

Percentag
e (%)

Frequenc
y

Percentage
(%)

Level of
Proficiency

0%

0%

Advanced

3.23%

16.13%

80-84

25

80.65%

21

67.74%

75-79

16.13%

16.13%

74-below

0%

0%

Total

31

100%

31

100%

Proficient
Approaching
Proficiency
Developing
Beginning

Table 1. Summary of Students First and Second Grading Quarter of Grade-8

Darwin in Tandoc National High School (2015-2016)

30
25
20
1st Quarter

15

2nd quarter

10
5
0
B

AP

Figure 1. 1st and 2nd Quarter of Grade 8 Darwin in Tandoc National High
School (2015-2016)