MODULAR LEARNING AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES

IN MATHEMATICS OF STUDENTS

A Practical Research Presented to

The School Research Committee
Senior High School Department
Sonlon National High School

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Subject
Practical Research 2

SHERYL LUIS LINO

QUEENDELYN BAL
ARABELA ANONAS
RESLY ARNADO
JHONAH TAYPIN
RISTY MAE MARTOS
FRANCIS APURADO
JHON CEDRICK GLORIA
JESSA MAE CAMARILLO
GLAIZA SANCHEZ
THONNY LASPIÑAS
APRIL KHIM JAMON
DOROTEO ARELLANO
RANDY SAMBAYON
KEN YNTIG
GENEVEV PAPAS
 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Rationale

Education is very essential in everyone's life and learning mathematics is very

relevant in man's daily life for some students. And the use of various learning modalities

such as Modular Distance Learning as an immediate solution to assure education continuity

( Alcantara, 2015). The effects of Modular Distance Learning has a great impact to the

academic performance in Mathematics of the Students.

Ifedili and Ojogwu (2007) averred that the falling standard of education manifested in the

performances of students at various examinations is leaving many people to wonder about

the future and place of Nigerian education in 21st century. So many factors have been

pointed at as academic achievement especially in Mathematics in Nigeria with its attendant

problems has been a great thing of worry to all stakeholders, such as parents, teachers,

educational psychologists, Counsellor, Government and the society at large (Aburime,

2009). This consistent poor performance by students in Mathematics calls for serious

national action to remedy situation. In the developed part of the world, there have been shift

to cognitive and meta cognitive strategies like self-instructional learning strategy which has

been found to improve students‘ performance in solving mathematical word problems

(Burgio, Whiteman, & Johnson, 1980; Maccini, & Hughes, 2000). Incidentally, there has

been very little research done in Nigeria in this area. This study is, therefore, centred on the

effects self –instructional learning strategy has on the students‘ achievement while solving

mathematical word problems using modified version of Montague‘s instructional mode.

Matthematics is often pointed as a difficult topic despite of its importance in daily life.

Such perception is due to the abstract nature of Mathematics as said by Sufiana K. Malik

(2012). If the students with negative perception towards Mathematics performed poorly and

vice versa, that performance of mathematics can be improved through enhancing positive

perception towards Mathematics (Wasike, Michael, & Joseph, 2013). According to Antony

Charles that modular approach in Mathematics learning proved to be an effective and

efficient tool to help students to learn mathematics themselves. (Jazim and Rahmawati,

2017) stated students improve the mathematical understanding on the material that is given

to them. As they explained, the use of module in learning mathematics makes students with

high academic ability tended to be more active in the discussion process. Moreover, this

approach is also useful for students with a poor mathematical background and lack of

motivation (Abramovits, Berezina, & Shvartsman).

This study will research the effective platform for the learning delivery modality of the

Grade 10 students in Sonlon National Highschool. This study will also determine and

measure the advantages and disadvantages of Modular Learning through the effect of

printed modules for the Grade 10 students in sonlon and it will be based on their academic

performances.

Research Objective

The main purpose of this study is to find out the level of effectiveness of

modular distance learning significantly influence the academic performance of students in

Sonlon National High School in Asuncion, Davao del Norte. Specifically, the study has the

following objectives:

1. To describe the level of effectiveness of modular distance learning in terms of the

following:

1.1 Mathematical Thinking

1.2 Mathematical Skills
1.3 Mathematical Ability
2. To describe the level of students academic performance.

2.1 Cognitive learning

2.2 Affective learning,

2.3 Psychomotor learning

 3. To determine the significant relationship between the modular distance learning to

student's academic performance in mathematics.

Hypothesis

Ha: The Effects of Modular Distance Learning in academic performances in mathematics of

the grade 10 students in Sonlon National High School.

Review of Related Literature

This section of the study presents various literature which have a connection to the

current study. The researchers focused on Modular Distance Learning and student's

academic performance in mathematics.

Modular Distance Learning

According to Bonz Magsambol (2020), to make sure that learning remains

unhampered, DepEd will be implementing a distance learning approach a learning delivery

mode where interaction takes place between the teacher and the students who are

geographically remain from each other during instruction, this means lesson will be delivered

outside the traditional face-toface setup. Based on (Manlangit, Paglumotan, & Sapera)

Modular learning is a form of distance learning that uses self-learning modules (SLM) based

on the most essential learning competencies (MELCS) provided by DepEd. According to

Mark Antony Llego (2020), modular distance learning is learning in the form of individualized

instruction that allows learners to use self-learning modules (SLM) in print or digital

format/electronic copy whichever is applicable in the context of the learner, and other

learning resources like learners’ materials, textbook, activity sheets, study guides and other

study materials. Learners access electronic copies of learning materials on a computer,

tablet PC, or Smartphone, CD'S /DVDs /USB storage and computer-based application can
all be used to deliver e-learning materials, including offline E-Books. The learners may ask

assistance from the teacher via E-mail telephone, text message/instant messaging etc.

Dr. Sejpal (2013) defined Modular learning as a unit of work that is virtually self-contained

and a method of teaching that is based on the building up skills and knowledge on discrete

units should be independent, self -contained, self- instructional and well defined and have

clearly defined objectives. He said, modular method of teaching is more effective, recent and

more technology based teaching method in the present educational field. Modular approach

provides more flexibility to distance teaching made as well to learners. Using modular

approach, the students improve the mathematical understanding on the material that is given

to them. The use of module in learning mathematics makes students with high academic

ability tended to be more active in the discussion process (Jazim & Rahmawati, 2017)

Academic Performance

Academic performance of students is the center around which the whole education

system revolves. The success and failure of any educational institution is measured in terms

of academic performance of students. Not only the schools, but parents also have very high

expectations from students with respect to their academic performance, as they believe that

better academic results may lead to better career options and future security (Astor &

Benbenishty, 2018).

Academic performance refers to the knowledge attained and designated by marks,

assigned by teacher. In educational context, academic performance is the educational goal

to be achieved by a student, teacher or institution over a certain period and is measured

either by examinations or continuous assessments and the goal may differ from one

individual or institution to another. Academic performance is the outcome of education, the

extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals.

Academic performance of an individual is influenced by various factors such as personality,

intellectual ability, environment, etc. (Narad, 2016).

 Academic success has a great influence on a student’s self-esteem, motivation, and

perseverance in higher education. Poor academic performance or high failure rates may

result in unacceptable levels of attrition, reduced graduate throughput and increased cost of

education. Hence, student’s academic performance has always been a topic of interest for

educators. Educators and researchers have long been interested in identifying and

understanding the variables that contribute to academic excellence. Many researchers have

identified demographic, socio-economic, family and school factors as variables contributing

to student’s academic performance (Farooq, Chaundhry, Shafia, & Bethanu, 2011).

The first domain of academic performance is the cognitive learning. Cognitive

learning talks about the information processing habits of an individual. Unlike individual

differences in abilities, cognition describes a person’s typical mode of thinking, perceiving,

remembering, or problem solving. Cognitive learning is usually described as a personality

dimension which influences attitudes, values, and social interaction (De Vicente, 2017).

Cognitive learning is a type of learning that is active, constructive, and long-lasting. It

engages students in the learning processes, teaching them to use their brains more

effectively to make connections when learning new things. This style of learning is a

powerful alternative to the traditional classroom approach. Instead of focusing on

memorization, cognitive learning builds on past knowledge. Students learn to make

connections and reflect on the material- skills that help them become better learners (Lynch,

2018).

The second domain of academic performance is the affective learning. One of the

three main domains or categories of learning objectives is the affective learning. This type of

learning focus on the learner’s interests, emotions and degree of acceptance or rejection of

instructional content (Belanger & Jordan, 2000). The affective domain includes the manner

in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation,

enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes (Bloom, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956; Wilson, 2018).
 The affective domain describes learning objectives that emphasize a feeling tone, an

emotion, or a degree of acceptance or rejection. Affective objectives vary from simple

attention to selected phenomena to complex but internally consistent qualities of character

and conscience. We found a large number of such objectives in the literature expressed as

interests, attitudes, appreciations, values, and emotional sets or biases (Krathwohl et al.,

1964; Wilson, 2016).

The third domain of academic performance is the psychomotor learning. The

psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill

areas. Psychomotor behaviors are governed by fine relationships between physical activity

and cognitive functions. Psychomotor objectives are those specific to discreet physical

functions, reflex actions and interpretive movements. Traditionally, these types of objectives

are concerned with the physically encoding of information, with movement and/or with

activities where the gross and fine muscles are used for expressing interpreting information

or concepts. This area also refers to natural, autonomic responses or reflexes (Iliadi,

Gluscencova, Boulianne, 2016).

Psychomotor skills, like cognitive skills, requires the ability to transfer skills to different

contexts. Psychomotor skills are presented separately from cognitive skills and knowledge,

research suggests a link between motor development and cognitive development in children

experiencing linguistic delays, even suggesting that motor development is a prerequisite for

cognitive development and academic learning (Bloomfield, Roberts, & While, 2010).

In fact, a recent study out of Germany found that fostering the children’s physical

fitness during the primary school age could enhance both motor and cognitive learning

abilities related to the academic achievement. It is important that at a young age, the motor

and cognitive skills of a person is already enhanced, so that when they reached

adolescence, they are confident enough to showcase their abilities that may contribute to

their academic performance. (Hartman, Elferink-Gemser, Smith, te Wierike, Van derfels &

Visscher, 2015).
Theoretical Framework

The Effects of Modular Distance Learning To Academic Performance In

Mathematics Of Students

The effect of Modular Learning Approach on the academic achievement of students

has come to realization. Students using the modular learning approach significantly

increased the academic performance of the Students.This study supported by Aksan (2020)

cited and revealed that the Modular Distance Learning Approach in Math is very effective

despite of it's challenges in Covid-19 Pandemic.

Alcantara (2015) claimed that education is very important in everyone's life thus, learning

mathematics is very relevant in man's daily living some students with this, teacher who

facilitate learning should prepare and apply different strategies and techniques in order to

help students to understand the lessons especially in Mathematics.

She added that developing a learning module is a great effort a teacher will do in

supporting students learning. Alcantara (2015) also mentioned that modules are the most

widely accepted learning materials so it is important to prepare in intelligently. It has an

impact in learning since using this material has already been spread in the whole and the

use of it has an effect in the learning process of the students all over world especially in the

subject mathematics.

Conceptual Framework

This paper present a conceptual framework that will be used for analyzing divergence

that showed in figure 1, The dependent variable is the (1) Mathematical thinking of the
students, Lot more than just being able to do arithmetic or solve algebra problems. It is a

whole way of looking at things, stripping them down to their essentials, whether it's

numerical, structural or logical and then analyzing the underlying patterns. Math is about

patterns.

Next is (2) Mathimatical skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, analytical

thinking, quantitative reasoning, ability to manipulate, precise and intricate ideas, construct

logical arguments and expose illogicalarguments, communication, and time management.

Lastly (3)Mathimatical ability. The ability, whether learnt or perceived as natural

capability to process numerical data and conclude a mathematical calculation based on that

data. MATHEMATICAL ABILITY: "Some individuals have a greater mathematical ability than

others."

The bidirectional interface between mathematical thinking and cultural neuroscience is used

to explore different learning styles, cognition patterns and neural activities in response of

mathematical thinking influenced by culture. Research questions are emerged as how do

innate mathematical abilities, plasticity of the young brains and the mathematical cultural

environment contribute to mathematical thinking? Why do a group of students from one

ethnicity tend to achieve higher scores in mathematics than a group of students from another

ethnicity? How does cultural neuroscience report the differences in mathematical thinking

and learning trajectories? How does culture accelerate the mathematical thinking?.

This study aimed to identify the challenges of students in the use of modular distance

learning modality amidst pandemic and how students cope with these challenges as to be

showed in figure 1 ( INDEPENDENT VARIABLE). This study is a qualitative research which

employed the phenomenological research design to determine the challenges encountered

by teachers in the use of modular distance learning modality. The study was conducted

among teachers in different public secondary schools within Tacloban City. Ten (10)

professional public secondary teachers were approached to request their voluntary

involvement as key participants through convenience sampling. The personal experiences

and coping mechanisms of the teachers were gathered through a survey, particularly by

using a semi-structured questionnaire with open-ended questions.

Colaizzi's method was used in the interpretation of data. The challenges of students were

identified based on how they plan, prepare and answer thier modules specially in terms of

mathimatical assessments, They monitor students' learning, check, evaluate outputs, and

provide feedback on students' performance. Furthermore, teachers used various ways to

cope with the challenges encountered in modular distance learning modality such as time

management, innovating teaching strategies, adapting to the changes brought by the new

normal trend in education, being flexible, providing alternative plans, being optimistic,

patient, somehow also competence and equipping oneself with the necessary skills for the

new normal ways of education.

Various stakeholders need to work and plan for alternatives on different issues that may

arise as they are involved in the teaching-learning process considering all the limitations in

these trying times brought by the pandemic.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Modular Distance
Learning

 Mathematical Thinking
Academic Performance Of
 Mathematical skills Students
 Mathematical ability
 Figure 1. The conceptual model of the study

Significance of the Study

This study was conducted to help address the existing concerns on the effects

of modular distance learning involvement on the academic performance of the

students. The researchers sought to explore if mathematical module distance

learning really has an effect on students, and if there is, the researchers want to

determine the different factors of it that can affect the Grade 10 student's academic

performance specially at mathematical terms.

The importance of this study will redound for the society to be push and

encouragement to help make a positive search for a healthy and productive school.

The result of this study will benefit the following:

Future Researchers. The result of this study will guide the future researchers

conducting the same study in evaluating and testing the validity of their findings in

related literature. This may also serve as a cross-reference for their study in the

future.

Students. The result of this study will surely partake and can be used as an

instrument in informing the students, particularly in Sonlon National High School

about the importance of camaraderie and may encourage them to build a healthy

relationship with their teachers, co-students and other school participants that can be

a big step in achieving smooth mathematical enjoyment.

Parents. The result of this study may help the parents know about module in

distance especially in mathimatical term to their children's academic performance in

school. This may help them to open their minds in guiding their children. And since

parents are important factors in creating a good and positive learning, this study may

also inform them about what they can contribute to make a healthy and productive

school for their children.

Teachers and School Administrators. As one of the main personnel of the school,

the result of the study may give information to the teachers and school

administrators regarding the Modular learning and academic performances in

Mathimatical terms which may serve as the basis for making educational plans, rules

and regulations, programs and activities that may help in improving or enhancing the

Mathimatical learning in school.

Definition of Terms

Modular Learning- Dr. Sejpal (2013) defined Modular learning as a unit of work that is

virtually self-contained and a method of teaching that is based on the building up skills and

knowledge on discrete units should be independent, self -contained, self-instructional, and

well defined and have clearly defined objectives. He said, modular method of teaching is

more effective, recent and more technology based teaching method in the present

educational field. Modular approach provides more flexibility to distance teaching made as

well to learners. Using modular approach, the students improve the mathematical

understanding on the material that is given to them. The use of module in learning

mathematics makes students with high academic ability tended to be more active in the

discussion process (Jazim & Rahmawati, 2017.

Academic Performance - is the measurement of student achievement across

various academic subjects. Teachers and education officials typically measure

achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and results from

standardized tests.