“THE EFFECTS OF USING CELLULAR PHONES ON THE FOCUS OF

STUDY IN GRADE ELEVEN STEM STUDENTS AT

LA SALLE COLLEGE ANTIPOLO”

This Research will be submitted to the teachers of

La Salle College Antipolo Department

of Senior High School

Partial fulfilment of the requirements of

the Research subject with the

description "Reading and

Evaluation of various

texts to Research"

Jeanne Paulo P. De Jesus

Alexsandra O. Juarez

John Voltaire A. Madriaga

Jezze Delle M. Paladin

Ma. Alecsandria M. Robiso

January 2018
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

With the continued enrichment of humanity in technology for the twenty-

first century, many inventions and changes in human uses have been made by

many scientists from around the world to help the daily life and needs of the

people. The cell phone is one of the most useful tools nowadays, it can help with

various things, just like learning, talking to people in other places and also

keeping the citizens to be alert of what is happening in their country. According

to Russell Ware (2018), cell phone is any portable telephone that uses cellular

network technology or the communication network where the last connection is

wireless; the name cell phone was derived from its structural structure as if it

were a cell.

Nowadays, there are many changes in the life of a person, the amount of

technology invention makes it easier for people to live, and because of this,

sometimes the cell phone users do not miss out on what needs to be done and

preferably it consumes time using a cell phone. The cell phone also helps a

person's life, sometimes also because of the many things that make things work

inside the home or in the classroom. One of the serious factors facing current

society is the excessive control of using modern technology especially in cell

phones that affect the focus of a student's learning. It can help many things, but

it also has negative impacts of society especially on students. They often miss
out on what they need to do and end up, even having family time and self-

esteem affects them, and it affects the focus of a student's learning.

It can also be a cause for the lack of focus in learning a student using cell

phone because they become victims of cyber-bullying. Rep. Rolando Andaya, Jr.

(2015), cyber-bullying is one of the problems that have persisted in the

development of technology and social media. Not only young people at school

age are able to affect by it, but also people who have their own cell phone or

have an access on the internet in their home. The House Bill stipulates five

thousand seven hundred and eighteen (5718) or the "Anti Cyber-bullying Act of

2015", which refers to acts of cruelty committed by the internet or any form of

electronic media or technology that has the effect of removing one's dignity or

causing fear or physical or emotional damage such as, but not limited to, the

following:

a) Repeatedly sent offensive, indecent and insulting messages;

b) Distributing controversial information about the victim;

c) Posting or transmission of victim's injured images, whether or not they

are altered, or taken with or without permission, with the purpose of

humiliating and embarrassing the victim;

d) Violation of an "email", "social networking" or any electronic account

and use the victim's virtual identity to send, upload or distribute

material that is embarrassing to or about others;

e) Sharing victim's personal information or any embarrassing

information, or victim's fraud in disclosing personal or embarrassing

information and sharing it with others; and

in online activities that cause fear of victim safety.

According to the GMA news (2013), more than ninety four (94) of the

Philippine population has their own cell phone and more in the population of

the country have the number of SIM (subscriber identification module) cards in

the hands of the public. Since many students especially in La Salle College

Antipolo's Senior High School have their own cell phone and the researchers of

this study noticed that most students drop marks due to lack and loss of focus

on learning because they do not accomplish what they need to do and finish

with a significant output, or they become victims of cyber-bullying from using

cell phones, that is why the researchers for this study selected this topic to find

out the answers to the effects of using "cell phone" on the focus of learning the

students at eleven stages of the STEM at La Salle College Antipolo.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The researchers of this study wanted to know how it affects the use of cell

phone on the focus of studies by students at the eleventh grade of STEM at La

Salle College Antipolo. The following questions are the questions that

researchers would like to take into account and be enthusiastic about for this

study from respondents.

1. How often do you use your "cell phone"?

1.1 How many hours a day do you use "cell phone"?

2. Do you often use "social media apps" on your "cell phone"?

2.1 Do you often play "gaming apps" in your "cell phone" too?
 2.2 In your frequent use of the "social media app" and playing "gaming

apps" on your "cell phone", do you miss doing what you need to do

and finish your homework or project at school?

3. Do you also use your "cell phone" during class?

4. Do you spend more time on "cell phone" than on review for your

upcoming exam?

4.1 Did you notice that your focus is on learning when you are out of "cell

phone"?

5. Have you had any experience of becoming a victim of cyber-bullying?

5.1 Did you lose focus on your study because you have been victimized by

cyber-bully?

1.3 Significance of this Study

It is hoped that this research will bring great contribution and benefit to

the following objectives.

Senior High School. This will help the leadership to take note of and

deal with the students who are attending their school-age class.

Students. This research will greatly help to provide the right time and

control to use cell phone.

Parents. It also helps parents to be the basis for regulating or disciplining

their children about using cell phones.

Researchers in the future. This research will greatly help future

researchers answer their problem related to this topic.

This research focuses on only one topic, and this is the effect of using cell

phone in the focus of learning STEM's eleven stages at La Salle College Antipolo.

The purpose of researchers for this study is to determine the effect of using

cell phones on the focus of the study.

Researchers in this study will only use the eleventh grade STEM students

at La Salle College Antipolo as their respondents for this research.

1.5 Definition of Terms

Effect - a change in which a result or consequence of an action or

something else.

Cell Phone - A type of phone with access to a cellular radio system to use

it in a wide area, with no physical connection to a network.

Focus - The center of interest or activity.

Study - A time dedicated to a particular person having knowledge of an

academic subject, usually at school, college, or university.

Student - A person attending a university or other area of higher

education.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES AND STUDIES

This chapter contains selected literatures and studies conducted by local

and foreign writers in which researchers can link to their topic the effects of

using cell phone in the focus of learning students of the eleventh grade of STEM

at La Salle College Antipolo. This study was conducted to determine the effects

of using 'cell phone' on student’s learning. The researchers of this study wanted

to know if the effects have resulted from their collected data from their

respondents is beneficial or harmful for their studies.

Foreign Literature

Based on the article by Erin Schreiner (2018) whose title is "Effects of

Using Mobile Phones on Students", mobile phones connect students to one

another, to educational resources, and to a potential host of distractions. The

presence of cell phones presents both opportunities and challenges for today's

students. Mobile phones can be a helpful academic tool, or a hurtful academic

disruption depending upon the attitude and use pattern of the students and the

policies of the schools they attend. The biggest lament of teachers in regards to

cell phones is that they lead to student distraction and off task behaviour.

Texting a friend is a tempting diversion that many students select over listening

to a lecture or completing a class assignment. If not silenced, cell phones can

ring during class, drawing everyone's attention away from the lesson and

disrupting the flow of learning. Many teachers worry that this added distraction
negatively impacts students' school performance as it stops them from

dedicating their full attention to their studies.

Heath Wright (2015) stated in his article "Negative Effects of Cell Phones

on Education". Cell phones carry multiple benefits, but with this technology lay

a dualism that teeters precariously between the benefits and negative effects

of cell phone usage especially with students.

Children, teens and even young adults are prone to distraction

with cell phones. In the classroom and out of school, cell phones provide

students an instant network of communication and entertainment. Inside the

classroom, students are distracted from the lessons to text, play games and, if

they are very daring, call other people. Cell phone ringers, alarms and ring tones

disrupt the flow of lessons and the attention of every student in the room and

the teacher. According to the National School Safety and Security Services, text

messaging can be an aid for cheating students. Also, the camera in a cell

phone can be used to photograph exams. The camera also can be used to

photograph other students in a way that is a violation of privacy.

Foreign Study

Based on American research conducted by Arnold Froese, et al (2012),

entitled "Effects of Classroom Cell Phone Use on Expected and Actual

Learning". The research have successfully implemented a survey measure of

students' expectations about the effects of texting on learning that was

comparable to typical classroom measures--predicted quiz scores. The measure

is quantitatively strong--a ratio measurement scale--and easy for respondents to

information that is verified in experimental outcome studies. One remaining

limitation is that students may fail to account for chance performance levels

associated with multiple-choice questions. With four response alternatives, that

chance level--25%--represents no significant learning. It is likely that those

students who predicted scores lower than chance did not understand this

baseline minimum.

The data confirmed that students expect texting to disrupt their classroom

learning, and that texting does disrupt learning. The real score declines (27%)

approximated the expected declines (33%). The somewhat higher expected

declines could have occurred as students failed to account for the 25% chance

baseline and from texting requirements that did not occupy all of the lesson

time. The corresponding declines for self-report and experimental

measurements suggest that students are aware that using cell phones for

personal communication in class compromises classroom learning. Thus, our

data support the value of self-reports of the effects of using cell phones on

learning, at least as presented with the measurement tools were used.

According to a study at the Sargodha University in Pakistan conducted by

Salman Amin, Adnan Rasheed, and Atif Umair (2015), with the title "Effect of

Using Habits of Cell Phone on the Study of the Students: A Case Study on

Parents and Teachers of Sargodha City ". The study used the survey method for

data collection. A sample of 100 respondents consisting of 50 Teachers and

50Parents was selected by using purposive and convenience sampling

technique. The findings showthat respondents frequently use cell phone and
overwhelming majority spent lots of money intheir daily lives. Respondents

frequently use cell phone to contact with parents followed byfriends, close

friends whereas somewhat with classmates and rarely with teachers. But

accordingto teachers and parents students mostly use cell phone to contact with

parents; classmates, friends, and close friends with little difference. Students

often use cell phone in class roomnot for lecture recording but for the purpose of

SMS texting etc. It is also observed that students mostly use cell phone for un-

educational activities and according to teachers and parents due theuse of cell

phone respondents are losing focus on their studies and parents are decreasing

their parental control on their children due to the use of cell phone.

Local Literature

Lemuel Dagandan (2012) said in his blog entitled "Epekto ng paggamit ng

'Cell Phone'"; the positive effects of 'cell phones' make it easier for us to

communicate with our loved ones. Especially if they are in distant places

because of this we are able to tell the important events that they should know;

especially if their help is needed. Because of this, we are especially pleased when

the messenger of ours is our very special person in our lives. There are also

many positive effects caused by the use of 'cell phone'. Despite the positive

effects of using cell phones, it also brings negative effects. One of these is the

juvenile imprisonment and the excessive use of it causes a bad effect especially

on our body. Young people also learn the use of acronyms that are not

particularly suited to students because they can carry them in their studies. This
was also the reason for the other student in their day. As a result, they will no

longer focus on their studies.

According to Alec Ventocilla's article (2017): entitled "Epekto ng

Teknolohiya". Young people are greatly affected by the adverse effects of

technology. Others neglect their learning because they are addicted to playing

computer games. Technology is very advanced but we always keep in mind that

it does not purely do it. Alec Ventocilla also mentioned in this article, the

negative effects are:

1. May be used in violence.

2. It might have damage to student’s learning due to offline and online

games.

3. People are becoming lazy.

4. Addiction to gadgets becomes vices.

5. It harms the health on excessive use of cell phone due to its radiation.

6. Might have headaches over long periods of computer disruption.

Local Study

According to the study by Joemarie Calambro, and May Jean Canarejo

(2013) entitled “Epekto ng Paggamit ng Cell Phone sa Pakikipagtalastasan ng

mga Mag-aaral ng Ika-apat na Taon ng Mataas na Paaralan ng Katalicanan”.

The data is collected by the actual examination of students in high school of

Kartalicanan. Researchers immediately list the problems faced by researchers.

After the data is collected, it is analyzed using frequency, percentage

distributions, general means, and 2-tailed. This is explained by the experts to

appears that there are 39 or 78% of the total number of participants that have

mobile phones. Most participants use misspellings of words in texting with a

grand mean of 12.7 message sender and message receiver 8.53.

In contrast with the spelling of words, spellings in questioning do not

differ. Meanwhile, in the sentence structure there is no difference in greetings

and pleas but differences in inquiry.

In conclusion, researchers have proven that the effects of using cell phones

in communicating with the participants has a communicative ability but does

not have the ability to do so because most participants cut the vowel on some

vocabulary and spelling of words in text.

The researcher Donald Cogo (2014) mentions his study entitled “Epekto ng

Teknolohiya sa Pag-aaral ng mga Mag-aaral”. This research includes sixty-two

(62) females and thirty-eight (38) males. According to the age group, the highest

is 17 years old with a total of seven (37) and the lowest is the age of (23) ages one

(1). According to the residence area, the Poblacion area has the most number of

pupils with thirty-three (33) and the minimum number is the Limulan area with

number one (1). According to the technology used, the cell phone has the

highest number with eighty-one (81) and the television has the lowest number

with four (4) students. This research reveals that more women than the male

who are studying. There are a lot of students aged 17 years and over, the number

of students living in Poblacion and most of the students use cell phones. The

technology used by the students did not significantly affect their study according

to the data collection.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter describes how the study was conducted and the researchers

used in gathering the appropriate data for the completion of the study. It

includes the Research Design, Population and Sampling, and Research

Instrument.

Research Design

The researchers of this study used the qualitative type of research wherein

it is the primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of

underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the

problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative

research. Qualitative Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and

opinions, and dive deeper into the problem. Qualitative data collection methods

vary using unstructured or semi-structured techniques. Some common methods

include focus groups (group discussions), individual interviews, and

participation/observations. The sample size is typically small, and respondents

are selected to fulfil a given quota (Susan E. DeFranzo, 2011). This type of

research was used by researchers to determine the effects of using cell phones

on the focus of studying students in senior high school.

This study is timely and is often experienced by students so researchers

can consider this to be a phenomenological research. The objective of

phenomenology is the direct investigation and description of phenomena as

their objective reality. It therefore seeks to understand how people construct

meaning. The possible outcomes are from the interviews with the respondents

that were conducted by the researchers of this study. The researchers used the

eleventh grade of STEM at La Salle College Antipolo as their respondents, the

main source of their data. The researchers of this study interviewed the

respondents by being asked about five (5) questions developed and prepared by

the researchers, some of the questions have its follow-up questions to be asked

in order to gain more understanding of the respondents’ answers. The generated

questions were adapted to the limitations and scope of this study.

Population and Sample

This research was conducted at La Salle College Antipolo, Antipolo City, in

the academic year 2017-2018. The researchers of this study applied the quota

sampling for this study, where it is a sampling method of gathering

representative data from a group. As opposed to random sampling, quota

sampling requires that representative individuals are chosen out of a specific

subgroup.
 Table 1

Sections of the Respondents Number of the Respondents

11-A 5

11-B 3

11-C 2

11-D 3

11-E 2

Total 15

Based on the table one (1), the selected respondents from the students of

grade 11 in the STEM strand, the researchers’ primitive source of data; it

consists five (5) students from 11-A, three (3) students from 11-B, two (2)

students from 11-C, three (3) students from 11-D, and two (2) students from 11-E

for a total of fifteen (15) students that will be their respondents.

Research Instrument

The instruments used in this study are the questions asked in the

interview. These questions are composed of five (5) questions that have some

follow-up questions to the selected respondents. The researchers wanted to

know the reasons for how often they use cell phones; if they often use social

media apps, gaming apps on their cell phone, if they miss out on what they

should do because of the use of cell phones; if they use their cell phones at class

hours; if they spend much time using it, and if they notice they are losing the
focus of the study because of this; and if they have been victimized by 'cyber-

bullying', and if they lose their focus on the study.

Every interview that was conducted to the respondents by the researchers

of this study was recorded in a video camera in order to be able to evaluate every

movement of the body, reaction, expression, intonation, and tone of each

answer to the questions asked in them. The researchers of this study assured the

respondents with the full certitude of confidentiality regarding to their identity

so the researchers are able to gain their answers with full honesty where each

respondent's response is very important and has a significant contribution to

having a successful result for completing this study.

After the researchers of this study conducted interviewing their

respondents and recording a video file from the camera, the researchers

analyzed their body movements, reactions, expressions, intonations, and tone to

their answers that may be a factor in their response. Each response and

observation to their respondent was recorded and compared to other responses

by other respondents to check for the results.