ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

MEASURING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CLASS ATTENDANCE AND

GPA OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS OF ADAMSON UNIVESITY

A Term Paper
Presented to the Faculty of Adamson University
San Marcelino St, Ermita, Manila City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for IE113: Engineering Data

Analysis

by

ALVAREZ, LIAHN ANDREA D.

COLLANTES, CYRELLE JANSSEN A.
LUMANOG, JIOVIEN NETHANIEL P.
MADARANG, CHARLES IVAN D.
ORDOÑA, MARK STEPHEN B.
PUNLA, RANIEL CARL N.
RACHO, JAMES ANTHONY D.
VILLAPAÑA, RHONA L.

March 2023
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction
The issue of poor attendance among college students has been a
concern for educators for many years. While the relationship between
class attendance and academic performance has been well-established,
research has shown that many students still struggle with maintaining
regular attendance. This is particularly true for engineering students who
are often required to attend a high number of lectures and laboratory
sessions. This study aims to address the gap in the literature by
examining the correlation between class attendance and grade point
average (GPA) among engineering students at Adamson University in
the Philippines.
Previous studies have consistently found a positive correlation
between class attendance and academic achievement (Gump, 2005;
Robinson et al., 2010). In the Philippines, the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) has emphasized the importance of class attendance
in higher education, requiring students to attend at least 80% of their
classes in order to qualify for academic credit (CHED, 2018). Despite
this, studies have shown that many students in the Philippines have poor
attendance records (Bautista, 2016).
It was proven by the Department of Education, mentioned in Cepada
and Grepon's study (2020), that the rate of absenteeism in the
Philippines have reached 4.5% in the year 2020. This number is at least
1.2 million of the enrolled students in the country which is a relatively
huge number. It was also implied in the study that skipping classes is
one of the major reasons why the country got this percentage of
absenteeism three years ago. Not only that but this particular reason
holds a number of factors that contribute to the decision of a student to
be absent from their lectures. This then resulted in them having a low
class attendance throughout the whole school year.
The objectives of this study are to measure the correlation between
class attendance and GPA among engineering students at Adamson
University, and to determine the extent to which class attendance
predicts GPA. To address this concern, we will collect data on the
attendance records and GPAs of a sample of engineering students, and
analyze the data using statistical methods such as correlation and
regression analysis. By doing so, we aim to contribute to a better
understanding of the factors that influence academic performance
among engineering students, and to provide evidence-based
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY
recommendations for policies and practices that promote student
success.
Background of the study
Class attendance and academic performance have been the subject
of numerous studies in the field of education. School attendance or
lecture attendance, as defined by UNESCO (n.d.), refers to the
attendance of an individual at any educational institution “for organized
learning at any education level at the time of the census during the last
school year”. On the other hand, grade point average or GPA is a
numerical data that determines one’s average score on their courses—
ranging from 1.0 to 5.0, with 1.0 being the highest and 5.0 being a failed
mark—and is used to know whether they meet the required standards
of the university they are studying in (Potter, 2022).
Each educational institutions have their own attendance policy.
According to DepEd Order No. 88 in section 157 (2010), students are
required to attend all of their classes regularly. In case that a student
would not be able to have his/her presence in school, he/she must
submit an explanation letter to the school. Moreover, poor attendance
record can be measured with the number of absences a student has and
can also determine whether they would get a passing mark or a failed
one. Furthermore, it was stated in section 133 and 157.1 that a student
gaining absences of over 20% of the number of classes during one term
would receive no credit, hence will fail that term (DepEd, 2010).
The grading system in the Philippines uses a common type of
grading system which is the 5.0-1.0 grade point scale wherein 1.0 is
equivalent to 96 above, and 5.0 equals 69 and below. However, some
universities, like the De La Salle University, use a much more similar
grading system to the United States and other countries which is
recognizing the 4.0-point mark as the highest attainable grade. For the
target university of this study, the Adamson University uses the former
type.
There is a variety of factors that contribute to the rate of class
attendance. According to Ozcan (2020), there are social or contextual
factors that causes absenteeism. These factors include parental
involvement, and school-related reasons such as educator’s behavior,
school management and climate. Additionally, peers can also affect the
school attendance of an individual. He has also mentioned about the
academic failures, and health issues—which is considered to be one of
the main reasons why some students have a poor class attendance.
On that note, class attendance has a crucial role in attaining a good
academic performance. Previous research has consistently found a
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY
positive correlation between class attendance and academic
achievement (Gump, 2005; Robinson et al., 2010). In the Philippines,
the importance of class attendance in higher education has been
emphasized in government policies and institutional guidelines, with the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) requiring students to attend
at least 80% of their classes in order to qualify for academic credit
(CHED, 2018).
However, studies have shown that many students in the Philippines
have poor attendance records (Bautista, 2016). In the context of
engineering education, studies have also examined the relationship
between class attendance and academic performance, with some
studies finding a positive correlation between the two among
engineering students in universities in the Philippines and Taiwan
(Cheng et al., 2018; Echevarria and Alcantara, 2018).
Despite these cases, there is still a need for further research that
specifically examines the correlation between class attendance and
GPA, which is a widely used measure of academic performance. This
study aims to address this gap in the literature by measuring the
correlation between class attendance and GPA among engineering
students at Adamson University in the Philippines. By doing so, this
study can contribute to a better understanding of the factors that
influence academic performance among engineering students and
inform policies and practices that promote student success.
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

Theoretical Framework
This study is supported from one of the sub-theories from Self
Determination Theory which is Goal Contents Theory (Ryan & Deci,
2000). Goal Contents Theory is a framework for understanding the
underlying motivations and values that influence individuals' behavior
and goals. This theory suggests that the goal achieve can have
significant implications for well-being and behavior.
The relation of this theory to the researchers' study indicates that
intrinsic and extrinsic goals are what motivates students to attend
lectures. Without these goals affects the students' willingness to learn
and do their best. There are factors that can thwart a student's
motivation such as carrying too much pressure, expectations were high,
forced to take a major that is out in the students' field of interest, etc.
Thus, resulting to absences and unwilling to attend lectures that does
not interest a student.
This study can also be anchored on Causality Orientations Theory,
also one of the sub-theories from Self Determination Theory (Ryan &
Deci, 2000). This psychological theory helps us further understand why
certain people behave the way they do. According to this theory, there
are three ways people regulate their behavior and one of it is impersonal
orientation on which the researchers will focus.
Impersonal orientation depicts that a person feels like they are in no
control over their outcomes. This can also be applied to students. They
may believe that their hardships and efforts won't make much of a great
impact to themselves. Students being taken over by anxiety might result
to loss of motivation to study and absenteeism.
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework provides a graphic representation of the
correlation between engineering students at Adamson University's
attendance in class and GPA. It offers a framework for the study to
identify the key variables influencing class attendance and their effects
on engineering students' academic performance. The goal of the study
is to determine how this connection affects engineering students at
Adamson University's academic performance.

Figure 1. The paradigm of the study showing the correlation

of attendance and GPA of the students.

The figure shows the conceptual framework for measuring the

correlation between class attendance and GPA of Engineering students
of Adamson University. The framework begins with the percentage of
class attendance of the students, which is the independent variable. This
percentage is then linked to the dependent variable, GPA of Engineering
students. To determine the correlation between these two variables, the
factors affecting class attendance of engineering students need to be
considered.
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to investigate the correlation between class
attendance and GPA of engineering students in Adamson University.
Specifically, the following sub-problems will be addressed:
1. What is the correlation between class attendance and GPA of
engineering students in Adamson University?
2. What is the percentage of class attendance of engineering
students in Adamson University?
3. What is the percentage of the GPA of engineering students in
Adamson University?
4. How frequently does class attendance affect the GPA of
engineering students?
5. What other factors need to be considered for the GPA and class
attendance?

Hypothesis
HO: There is no significant relationship between the class attendance
and the GPA of engineering students at Adamson University.
HA: There is a significant relationship between the class attendance and
the GPA of engineering students at Adamson University.
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

Scope and Limitation of the Study

Scope
This correlational study mainly focuses on determining the
association between the class attendance of engineering students in
Adamson University and their grade point average.
In order for the researchers to accumulate the necessary data, the
research sample of this correlational study is 170 engineering students
at Adamson University. They can be from any engineering field but only
delimited to second year students, and either have a complete or
incomplete set of attendance for as long as they are currently studying
for the academic year 2022-2023 at the said educational institution and
have completed at least two semesters. The researchers also seek to
know the GPA of the selected students from their recent completed
semester. This will be used to represent the academic performance of
the students involved and thus be used to help the researchers correlate
it to the class attendance with ease.
Limitation
This correlational study is limited only to a few numbers of 2nd year
engineering students studying at Adamson University which is also the
primary place where the researchers choose their respondents from.
Due to this rather small sample size, this data may not be used or be
considered as a representation for the whole population of engineering
students in the university. The findings may also contain flaws because
of this particular reason.
The data gathering procedure is also limited to online survey
questionnaires as the use of traditional handprinted surveys will not be
possible because of health policies. In addition to that, since the
researchers opt for online surveys, the quality of the data may not be
similar to those gathered through in-person interviews. Furthermore, the
researchers have a limited time to conduct this study with only a whole
semester to complete it which can affect the time duration for the data
gathering process.
Moreover, there are also limited available sources for theories that
can be related to class attendance. While the researchers have found
theories applicable for lecture attendance, these literatures are not
recent nor updated. In addition to that, there is also a limitation on the
statistics and other related documents regarding the information about
the rate or state of school attendance in schools in the Philippines.
 ADAMSON UNIVERSITY
This study only focuses on the students’ GPA and lecture attendance
thus this paper will not include an in-depth discussion or analyzation of
the impacts of school attendance in the students’ behaviors.

Significance of the Study

The findings in this study will provide knowledge on how the class
attendance affects the GPA of engineering students in Adamson
University. This research will benefit the following:
Students. The research is expected to give evidence-based insights
into the factors that impact academic achievement among engineering
students. This can assist students in understanding the significance of
attendance and how it affects their overall academic progress.
Administration. The study's findings can help administrators in
determining what factors are influencing academic accomplishment
among engineering students and developing focused interventions to
support student success. The study might well be useful for
administrators who are in charge of developing and executing strategies
and programs targeted at improving student outcomes.
Professors. The results and the conclusion of this study will provide the
civil engineering professors an idea to improve their students'
attendance. They can change the effect of the attendance in the grades
of the students, by giving more or less value to it depending on how the
class attendance affects the grade of a student.
Future Researchers. The study's findings can help to broaden the
knowledge of the correlation between attendance and academic
success, especially in the setting of engineering education. This will be
useful for incoming researchers who will conduct a study on the same
field related to this study. The findings of this research can be used as
reference by future researchers.