Using Self-Directed Activity as Remedial Approach to Selected Grade 9 Students in Antipolo National High School

Abstract

Education at any level has normally been based on some image of the future; that was not impossible in a world that was changing slowly like what is happening now, that learning in the new normal is a challenge for the teachers, students and even parents. And since going back to the “normal” we’re all accustomed to isn’t going to happen anytime soon, let’s all do the best we could to adjust and make this current situation work. Today, educators are preparing learners for a world that we cannot predict, and self-directed learning has become essential foundation for 21st century learners. This study was designed to determine the effect of Self-Directed Activity as Remedial Approach to Selected Grade 9 Students in Antipolo National High School. Moreover, the study aimed to answer the following problems: 1.) the performance of students before the intervention; 2.) the performance of students in the posttest 3.) and the significant difference between the pretest and post-test of the students. Quantitative approach was used to measure its effectivity, and experimental design was employed to the study. The participants of the study were the 50 students from handled sections of the researcher in Antipolo National High School and they were selected through random sampling. Data were gathered through using Pretest and Post-test result with teacher-made test as the main instrument which consist of fifty-item test which were based under the most essential competencies (MELC) of DepEd. Mean and standard deviation were used to determine the performances of the participants and dependent t-test was applied in order to get the result of the performance of the students in both pretest and post-test. And based from the result, a significant difference occurred from the pretest and post-test of the respondents. Based from the result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn such as; there is no significant difference in the pretest scores of the students, self-directed activity was effective based on the increase in the posttest results after the intervention was made. The highest posttest score attained by the students were on the range of 46 to 50 and the lowest was in the range of 26 to 30. The mean scores of 38.20 and standard deviation of 5.19 respectively, the posttest results of the respondents was significantly different and that the use of self-directed activity approach produces significantly higher scores among the students. And the used of self-directed activity as an approach for remediation in teaching selected grade 9 students was effective since the mean in the posttest was higher than the mean in the pretest.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

There are many changes in educational system due to the tremendous effects brought by Covid-19 pandemic. It has been challenging for teachers, school administrators and parents to meet the learning needs of learners as they adhere on guidelines, policies and practices in adapting to the new normal. There are situations beyond control and most routines that have been doing in the past school years are restricted or no longer practiced.

DepEd Order no.12, s2020 which is also known as adoption of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan for SY 2020-2021 in the light of Covid-19 Public Health emergency, states one of the principle of the BE-LCP to ensure learning continuity through K-12 Curriculum which includes the alignment of materials and orientation/ training of parents or guardians to ensure quality education. Hence, parents and teachers have significant role in the teaching and learning process.

One of the common problem during this time of pandemic is how to extend help to those students who need support from their teachers. Nowadays, teachers are obnoxious on how to meet the learning needs of the of students since it is implausible to conduct face to face classes. Hence, teachers and school administrators shall vehemently think of strategies aligned in the new normal so that students will be given attention and continuously enjoy the help they deserve.

Based on DEPED order no. 8, s. 2015, teachers should see to it that remedial activities where given to students during the last week of every quarter to avoid failure.

With the release of DepEd Order (DO) No. 012, s. 2021, also supports further interventions amidst the educational challenges experienced by learners and teachers. Many students find it difficult to keep up with class activities because of different situations in their lives that can cause them to get low marks in Social Studies (Economics). These students should be given help from their teachers and parents to give them the opportunity to keep up with their studies. With the use of Self-Directed Activity, students can be able to cope up with their low or failed grades and can able to develop their skills with their own initiatives even with or without the help of their teachers. Self-directed Activity gives learners the freedom to choose the what, why, how, and where of the learning by Francis, (2017). It is an instructional strategy where students, with guidance from the teacher, decide what and how they will learn. It can be done individually or with group learning, but the overall concept is that students take ownership of their learning, Garland (2021). And as cited by Kidane, (2020), Self-directed learning is an appropriate and preferred learning process to prepare students for lifelong learning in their professions and make stay up to date.

In Antipolo National High School after the consolidation of Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (LESF) most parents prefer modular distance learning as they do not have internet connections. A total of 11, 556 learners are in modular distance learning without their peers and teachers by their side. And as observed by the researcher most of the students under this modality have low performance since their grades in Economics as reflected in the 2nd quarter were very low and some of them were failed.  With the desire of the researcher to reach out those students, the researcher extend extra effort through additional activity as their remediation just to ensure that no students will left behind and all of them can pass especially in Economics subject and this is with the use of Self-Directed Activities (SDA) as remediation to their low or failing grades.

The study will make use of quantitative approach as the purpose is to measure the effect of using Self-Directed Activity as remedial approach in teaching Economics to the selected students of grade 9. This research gave focus on the following research problems:

1. What is the performance of students before the intervention?
2. What is the performance of students in the posttest?
3.  Is there a significant difference between the pretest and posttest?

A. Hypotheses of the Study

1. There is no significant difference on the performance of the students before the intervention.
2. There is no significant difference on the performance of the students in the posttest.
3. There is no significant difference on the performance of the students before the intervention and on the posttest.

B. Significance of the Study

The result of the study can be beneficial to;

1. Curriculum - to contribute for more enhancement of the curriculum because of actively share knowledge and build networks that can develop to the curriculum.
2. Students -  to go out on their shell, develop appropriate reading strategies through trial and error and expose themselves to improve meta-cognitive ability, higher motivation and improve SDL;
3. School -  to adapt to changes of environments to make school well known to others because of the performance and
4. Teachers - to create awareness among them on their rights and responsibilities to achieve quality education, to gain more control over their teaching process and to provide a basis for helping the learners to create and apply their knowledge on the lesson;
5. Parents - especially if you are a working parents you’re giving the chance to your child to be independent since they will be working or doing work alone even without your guidance

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Quantitative approach was used to measure the effectiveness of using Self-Directed Activity as an approach for remediation to grade 9 students. Experimental design was employed since the research involves the manipulation of dependent variable without the random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions. And in a similar vein, an experimental design is a blueprint of the procedure that enables the researcher to test her hypothesis by reaching valid conclusions about relationships between independent and dependent variables. The participants of the study were the 50 students from handled sections of the researcher in Antipolo National High School. 

From the 120 students who failed during the 2nd quarter, 50 students were selected through random sampling as respondents of the study. They were exposed to the Self-Directed Activity, and pretest and posttest was administered unto them. This was conducted for 2 weeks before the end of the 3rd quarter. The result of the test was the basis for evaluation of effectivity of the Self-Directed Learning as an approach for remediation. To evaluate the effectiveness of Self-Directed Activity as an approach for remediation in teaching grade 9 students, teacher-made test was administered to the Grade 9 students for validation. Data was gathered from the Weighted Mean and Standard Deviation and to determine if there is a significant difference on the score of the students in the pretest and post test scores dependent T-test was applied.

III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Problem 1. The performance of students before the intervention

TABLE 1

PRE TEST SCORES OF STUDENTS

It can be gleaned in Table 1, the scores of students in pretest where in majority of the students which is 18 or 36% had scores in the range of 21-25 followed by 14 or 28% in the range of 26-30 while 10 or 20% of students had score in the range of 16-20, and 4 students or 8% obtain in the range 11-15. And lastly 4 students got the highest score in the range of 31-35. With the total of 50 students, they were able to gain a mean of 23.40 and standard deviation of 5.28.

The result of the study is parallel to the study of Leddo, Boddu, Krshnamurthy, Yuan and Chippala (2017), found out that Self-Directed Learning was equally effective as a traditional approach in teaching since it showed from the result of the test given. Leddo et al (2017) concluded that, student aptitude may also play in how effective the approach which is self-Directed Activity.

Problem 2. The performance of students in the posttest after the intervention was made

Table 2

Posttest Scores of Students

As manifested in table 2 the result of posttest scores of the students after the intervention was made, that majority of the students which is 17 or 34% were in the range of 36 to 40 followed by the range in 31-45 and 41-45. Both had 13 students or 26%.  On the other hand, 4 or 8% of the students were in the range 46-50. While 3 or 6% of students were in the lowest range of 26-30.

The result is somehow the same to the study of Ertug and Fayday (2018) who stated that self-directed contributes to the motivation of students to learn, interpersonal communication, autonomy and control of their own learning process.

Likewise, to the developmental study of (Wyk 2017) the portfolio as an empowering strategy can be used for enhancing Self- Directed Activity skills for personal growth and professional development. This can be used as critical tools to manage each students’ academic progress and can play an important role in managing the performance and progress of a whole education system. It is through self-determination.

Problem 3: Significant difference between the pretest and posttest of students

As shown in table 5, computation using t-test revealed that the computed t-value of 19.64 was higher than the critical value of 1.676. Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected. This result suggest that a significant difference occurred from the pretest and posttest result. It can be deduced from the result of the statistical test that used of Self-Directed Activity as Remedial Approach in Grade 9 Economics was effective.

The findings of the present study are similar to the study of Nasri (2017) on the effect of self-directed learning as a strategy to teachers, to create effective instructional processes, learning activities and facilitating strategies should be devised according to the learners’ level of self-direction. Self-Directed Learning highlights the importance of matching learning and teaching activities with the learners’ readiness for and ability in self-direction. Self-Directed Learning model to a great extent has shaped my understanding of Self-Directed Learning and served as one of the main references for this study.

Problem 4: Effect of Self-Directed Activity to student’s performance

As shown in the table 4, from the 50 students who were part of the remediation using Self-Directed Activity, 45 or 90% already passed in the 3rd quarter and only 5 or 10% were failed and still need to have enrichment activity.

The result is similar to the study of JM. Asio and E. Jimenez (2020), that the use Self-Directed Activity as an approach for remediation will help increase the academic performance of pupils in a particular subject. This will support each pupil to master the competencies required in the subject and at the same time, shall be able to increase the division overall rating.

The results of the research revealed in the pretest that 18 or 36% had scores in the range of 21-25 followed by 14 or 28% in the range of 26-30 while 10 or 20% of students had score in the range of 16-20, and 4 students or 8% obtain in the range 11-15. And lastly 4 students got the highest score in the range of 31-35. With the total of 50 students, they were able to gain a mean of 23.40 and standard deviation of 5.28.

The concentration of posttest scores of the students after the intervention was made, that majority of the students which is 17 or 34% were in the range of 36 to 40 followed by the range in 31-45 and 41-45. Both had 13 students or 26%.  On the other hand, 4 or 8% of the students were in the range 46-50. While 3 or 6% of students were in the lowest range of 26-30. And from the 50 students who were part of the remediation using Self-Directed Activity, 45 or 90% already passed in the 3rd quarter and only 5 or 10% were failed and still need to have enrichment activity.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn after the undertaking of the study: 1.) there is no significant difference in the pretest scores of the students, 2.) self-directed activity was effective based on the increase in the posttest results after the intervention was made. The highest posttest score attained by the students were on the range of 46 to 50 and the lowest was in the range of 26 to 30. The mean scores of 38.20 and standard deviation of 5.19 respectively, 3.) the posttest results of the respondents was significantly different and that the use of self-directed activity approach produces significantly higher scores among the students. And the used of self-directed activity as an approach for remediation in teaching selected grade 9 students was effective since the mean in the posttest was higher than the mean in the pretest.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Olivia G. Alcantara. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.