FACTORS AFFECTING THE MATHEMATICS PERFORMANCE OF THE SENIOR

HIGH SCHOOL GRADE ELEVEN (11) STUDENTS OF CULIANAN

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A Title Thesis Proposal

Presented to
The Faculty of the Graduate Studies
Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College
Zamboanga City

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In Partial
Fullfillment of the Requirements for the Degree in
Master of Arts in Education

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ROSARIO PEREZ - OCAMIA

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

As is the case in the past, most people today still believe that mathematics is all

about computation. However, computation, for mathematicians, is merely a tool for

comprehending structures, relationships and patterns of mathematical concepts, and

therefore producing solutions for complex real life problems. This perspective of

mathematicians has gained more attention and importance with rapid advancements in

information and communication technologies. It has become necessity for people of all

ages to reach, analyze, and apply the mathematical knowledge effectively and

efficiently to be successful citizens in our information age. In particular, students need to

be well-equipped with higher-order mathematical knowledge.

The quality of teaching and learning in mathematics is a major challenge for

educators. General concern about mathematics achievement has been evident for the

last few years. The current debate among scholars is what students should learn to be

successful in mathematics. The discussion emphasizes new instructional design

techniques to produce individuals who can understand and apply fundamental

mathematical concepts. A central and persisting issue is how to provide instructional

environments, conditions, methods, and solutions that achieve learning goals for

students with different abilities and levels of skills. Innovative instructional approaches

and techniques should be developed to ensure that students become successful

learners.
 It is important for educators to adopt instructional design techniques to attain

higher achievement rates in mathematics. Considering students’ needs and

comprehension of higher-order mathematical knowledge, instructional design provides a

systematic process and a framework for analytically planning, developing, and adapting

mathematics instruction. Instructional design is an effective way to alleviate many

pressing problems in education. Instructional design is a linking science – a body of

knowledge that prescribes instructional actions to optimize desired instructional

outcomes, such as achievement and effect.

Instructional design alone cannot yield better learning and achievement. The

instructional designer must know critical factors that affect student learning and build a

bridge between goals and student performance. Identifying these factors will help in

utilizing limited resources including financial resources and time more effectively

(Libienski & Gutierrez, 2008).

In an effort to understand the factors associated with mathematics achievement,

researchers have focused on many factors. (Beaton & Dwyer, 2002; Kellaghan &

Madaus, 2002; Kifer, 2002). The impact of various demographic, social, economical and

educational factors on students’ math achievement continues to be of great interest to

the educators and researchers.

impact on students’ achievement such as gender, family structure, parents’ educational

level, socio-economic status, parent and student attitudes toward school, and parent

involvement (Campbell et al. 2000; Epstein, 1991; Fennema & Sherman, 1976, 1986;

Fluty, 1997). Two factors or predictors in math achievement, are divided into sub

factors: Student – Related Factors (interest and study habits) and Teacher - Related

Factors (personality traits, teaching skills and instructional materials).

The quality of teaching and learning mathematics has been one of the major

challenges and concerns of educators. Instructional design is an effective way to

alleviate problems related to the quality of teaching and learning mathematics. Knowing

the factors affecting mathematics achievement is particularly important for making the

best design decisions. This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting

mathematics performance of the grade eleven (11) students of Culianan National High

School for first semester school year 2017 – 2018.

Statement of the Problem

This study attempts to determine the factors affecting the mathematics

performance of the grade 11 students of Culianan National High School. Specifically, it

sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the extent of the student-related factors in terms of:

a.) Interest

b.) Study Habits

terms of:

a.) Personality Traits

b.) Teaching Skills

c.) Instructional Materials

3. What is the level of students’ mathematics performance?

4. Is there a significant relationship between students’ mathematics performance

and students-related factors?

5. Is there a significant relationship between students’ mathematics performance

and teacher-related factors?

Significance of the Study

The result of the study will merit the following:

School Administrator. The result of this study could serve as a baseline data to

improve programs for school advancement.

Curriculum Planner. The result of this study will help them appraise the existing

programs in terms of the student’s needs and abilities and make changes as required.

Guidance Councilor. This study will help develop the guidance program in line

with individual needs and abilities of the students.

Mathematics Teachers. The result of this study will provide them relevant

information on how mathematics learning in the class is affected by different factors.

Facilitators. The results of this study may serve as an eye opener to create and

innovates instructional materials, and to use varied and appropriate teaching strategies.
 Students. This study will help the students to develop their interest toward

Mathematics and appreciate the importance of Mathematics in their daily lives.

Parents. Who are directly concerned with the education of their children

considering school performance in different discipline.

Future Researcher. The result of this study can serve as basis for further study

on teaching learning activities and student mathematical performance.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study focused on the factors affecting mathematics performance of the

grade 11 students of Culianan National High School.

This study was delimited only to 256 grade eleven (11) students of Culianan

National High School who are officially enrolled for the first semester of school year

2017 – 2018.
Students are the key assets of universities. The students’ performance plays an important
role in producing best quality graduates who will become great leaders and manpower for
the country thus responsible for the country’s economic and social development.
Academic achievement is one of the major factors considered by employers in hiring
workers especially for the fresh graduates. Thus, students have to put the greatest effort
in their study to obtain good grades and to prepare themselves for future opportunities in
their career at the same time to fulfill the employer’s demand.

According to Minnesota (2007) “the higher education performance is depends upon the
academic performance of graduate students. Durden and Ellis quoted Staffolani and
Bratti, (2002) who observed that “the measurement of students previous educational
outcomes are the most important indicators of students future achievement; this refers
that the higher the previous appearance, the better will the student’s academic
performance in future endeavors be.
Graetz (1995) conducted a study on socio-economic status of the parents of students and
concluded that the socio economic background has a great impact on student’s academic
performance. It has been main source of educational imbalance among students and
students’ academic success. Considine and Zappala (2002) also having the same views as
Graetz (1995). In their study on the influence of social and economic disadvantage in the
academic performance of school students noticed, they have stated that parents or
guardians who have social, educational and economic advantage definitely strengthen the
level of their child’s success in future.
Nevertheless, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has identified problems that
run simultaneously with the present tertiary school curriculum in the country (SEAMEO-
INNOTECH, 2003). Among the school- related factors found are unqualified and poorly
trained teachers, inadequate facilities, and dilapidated instructional materials. Non-school
factors include poverty, low educational attainment and illiteracy of parents and poor
health and nutrition (Gato et. al 2014).
Marquez (2009) also pointed out that a student who is successful in his desired career
has good study habits. In line with this, she stated that students should apply these
habits to all of their classes. She also suggested that the students should not try to study
all the subjects in a single period.
In computer science related courses, evidence confirms the importance of parental need
analysis, along with understanding what parents already do with their children and how
they are most likely to respond positively to attempts to engage them further in their
children’s learning. (Goodall et al 2010).
Parents’ involvement has been defined and measured in multiple ways, including
activities that parents engage in at home and at school and positive attitudes parents
have towards education. Several studies found that increased frequency of activities were
associated with higher levels of child misbehavior in the classroom (Schlee, Mullis and
Schriner, 2008, Carter and Winsler, 2008; Mehrafza 2004).
 Mays (1946) greatly emphasized the importance of having qualified teachers in the field
of teaching, and said that success of any program is conditioned by the ability of the
teacher to teach. If there is failure at this point, the whole structure fails. Hence, the
implementation, selection, preparation, and supervision of education will be affected.
Moreover, Dayad (2000) mentioned that good teachers are constantly on the alert for
methods and instructional materials that will make learning meaningful. With the wise
selection and use of a variety of instructional materials or audio-visual materials,
experiences may be provided to develop understanding.
The factors affecting a student’s academic performance arise from several reasons.
Thinking skills primarily affect student’s learning faculties if they do not learn what they
need to learn. If teachers do not know how to catch the attention of a student, the more
the student cannot make himself attentive to that subject. The student gets lazy because
it has a subject that they think that it’s a subject he perceives to be not so relevant to
their course; nonetheless, they still study it. This research was conducted among nursing
students of Benguet State University, La Trinidad Benguet to determine the factors that
affect the academic performance of the nursing students which may consequently help in
the improvement of the students and teachers alike.
The study aimed to determine: 1.) What is the level of impact of the different factors on
the academic performance of student nurses? 2) Which indicator among each of the five
(5) factors has the highest impact on student nurses’ academic performance? 3) Which
set of factors has the greatest effect on the academic performance of fourth year student
nurses of Benguet State University.
The result of this study may benefit the students by allowing them to understand better
the factors that can affect their academic performance. They may be able to improve
their academic performance with the findings that are established by this study. With this
study’s insights, the parents may be able to understand and help their children regarding
their school matters and give them support. For the teachers, this study may help them
to recognize problems encountered by the students that may pose an effect in their
performance. They may find alternative actions on how to handle their students. For the
school administrators, they may be able to promote thinking skills assessment in their
school, letting their teachers understand the influences of their student’s preferred
learning styles that will promote adequate learning opportunities and effective
instructions.
Teaching is the most dynamic process in the life of a teacher, and learning is likewise the
most dynamic process in the life of the students. How these two processes are
implemented to produce a balanced and good result for both the teacher and the learner
have been the framework for this study.
In the paradigm of the study, the independent variables are the senior student nurses
themselves. The dependent variables include factors affecting the academic performance.
Factors include: a) personal conditions, b) study habits, c) home-related aspects, d) school-
related aspects, and e) teacher-related factors.
2. Methodology