I.

Context and Rationale

Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) for elementary, while Technology

and Livelihood Education for secondary, is a subject included in the curriculum which aims

to equip learners with valuable hands on trainings that will develop and enhance their skills.

According to Umlas (2015), this subject provides learners the necessary experiences,

valuable knowledge, skills, and values. This curriculum is intended to give learners a better

output and enhance the quality of education in the Philippines. However, EPP is only one of

the ten subjects being catered in basic education. Since EPP is a hands-on subject, learners

will often have activities which will require them to exert time and effort. Aside from EPP,

there are still other subject areas to consider which the learners must take care of also.

Based on the study of Chambers (n.d), the amount of work the learners are asked or

expected to do is among the most crucial factors affecting their engagement with a course of

study nowadays. Learners are bombarded with truckloads of requirements especially when

it comes to performance task because learners must perform tasks coming from different

learning areas yet, student-workload is a neglected issue. According to Stenger (2018),

giving learners too much work and tasks causes them academic stress which takes toll to

learners’ mental and physical health, thus hinders effective learning.

In order to address this, using the interdisciplinary approach learners will be able to

perform a single task which will involve several content areas. Moreover, pupils will learn

creative solutions to some of today’s most challenging problems, as they can analytically

and creatively embrace new ideas, and will develop collaboration skills while working with

others who have different perspectives. Moreover, according to Wood (2017), it

accommodates learners’ diversity by providing for the differentiation of learners’ investigating

and reporting techniques and it emphasizes mastery of the learning processes as well as

the content to be learned. The common goals of educators that they bring in the classroom,

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such as engaging learners and help them develop knowledge, insights, problem solving

skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy and passion for learning, can be promoted into

realization through interdisciplinary instruction and exploration.

Furthermore, according to Wood (2017), brain processes information more efficiently

when presented with holistic, interdisciplinary studies. Therefore, many academic skills can

be taught and practiced in the meaningful context of interdisciplinary study. Interdisciplinary

instructions also provide many opportunities for the learners to work together cooperatively.

Education is highly prioritized by the Filipinos. Many say that education is the way to

success. It is the chance to gain new knowledge and skills which are key tools in having a

better future and a successful life. It was not enough that the teacher knows the subject

matter, what is important is that the teacher must able to apply impact it properly and

effectively to the pupils. With a creative and effective strategies a teacher could make the

class conducive, as it will captivate the attention, curiosity and the sense of wonder to

learners. Moreover, they will learn creative solutions to some of today’s most challenging

problems, as they positively and analytically embrace new ideas, and acquire collaborative

skills while working with others who have different perspectives.

Strategies and techniques used by teachers are very important factors considering the

organized, orderly, systematic, and well planned procedure. It should aim to achieve goals

such as enhancing teaching/classroom management at its best, as it optimize the learning

process of the pupils.

Academic performance according to (Mbandeka, 2016) is one of the crucial areas of a

learner’s life. Some learners may not be bothered if they progress or not, however their

parents are left with great distress if their children do not perform. This is because families,

as well as the government invest in the education of the child. On top of that, generally all

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parents would want their children to be successful citizens in future. Multiple factors come

to play when it comes to academic performance of a learner, which need to be considered

should one want to perform better. Research has found that determinants of learners’

performance have been the subject of on-going debate among educators, academics and

policy makers.

Teachers must be sensitive to students’ needs as they explore and discover new

concepts. For students to see teachers as a resource to assist them in learning, teachers

must provide consistent and responsive interactions with students and provide an

environment for students to feel safe to explore and discover (Pianta, Cox, & Snow, 2015).

Approaches to learning were defined as attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness

to learn, learning independence, flexibility, and organization (Ready et al., 2017).

III. Research Questions

This research activity aims to determine the impact of interdisciplinary approach to

pupils. The findings will be helpful in alleviating the students truckloads of assignment, thus

will give them more quality time in their learning process. Specifically, it will answer the

following questions:

1. What is the profile of the pupils according to:

1.1 sex;

1.2 grade level;

2. What are the pre-existing knowledge do the pupils have about EPP?

3. How much time do pupils spend at EPP class?

4. What are the strategies the teachers need in order to apply the interdisciplinary

approach?

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 5. How do these strategies impact the pupils’ learning processes?

IV. Scope and Limitation

The descriptive method of research will be used in this study. The study delimits its

focus on the integration of Mathematics and Science to EPP. The respondents will include

only the grade four, grade five and grade six level of San Jose Elementary School, Tanauan

City Division and will take effect on December - February or the fourth grading period.

V. Methodology

The methodology will be facilitated by focus group discussion (FGD) of the concerned

teachers as a collaborative part in developing the strategies to be used in the application of

interdisciplinary approach, including on the construction of instructional materials to be used

and evaluation of tools to determine impact on pupils . The application of customized IM’s to

the grade four, grade five and grade six levels will serve as the basic methodology which will

be followed by triangulation for the analysis of the results.

This action research will use descriptive type of research which is conclusive in nature.

It will gather quantifiable and qualitative information that can be used for the analysis of the

data.

a. Sampling

The target population in this study will be the concerned teachers of EPP, Mathematics

and Science in San Jose Elementary School in Tanauan City, Batangas with a total umber

of four (4) and the entire students of grade four, five and six, with a total number of

________ ( __).

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 b. Data Collection

The following procedures will be followed in gathering data needed in this study.

b.1 Data Gathering Instrument

Questionnaire/IM’s. The action research will utilize the customized questionnaire

and IM’s to draw data to be processed and analized.

Unstructured Interviews. An unstructured interview will be done to validate the

responses, solicit more information and add more inputs that would substantiate the

discussion of the data gathered from the questionnaires.

Focus Group Discussion. To supplement the data which will be gathered from the

questionnaire, a focus group discussion will be initiated by the concerned teachers.

b. 2 Data Gathering Procedure. To establish the validity of the instruments, the

questionnaires will be presented to CID Chief, Research and Planning Unit Head, and

Schools Division Superintendent. The instrument will be revised and finalized based on their

validation and valuable suggestions. Permission from the concerned authorities will be

secured before administration or the conduct of the study to target respondents, retrieval of

the data will be filed and analysed accordingly, which later will be treated with appropriate

statistical procedures to be used.

Follow up questions to the pupils will be facilitated to conclude the impact of the

interdisciplinary approach on them using a four point Likert-rating scale as another form of

gathering data to determine correlations. Descriptive equivalents or verbal interpretation will

be provided for the interpretation of results. The high and low scoring items will be

highlighted and interpreted. The equivalent rating of the mean score will be determined

using the table below:

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 Table 1: Verbal interpretation of Mean Score
Range Verbal Interpretation
Competency Attitude
3.50 – 4.00 Absolutely Knowledgeable Strongly Agree
2.50 – 3.49 Moderately Knowledgeable Agree
1.50 – 2.49 Slightly Knowledgeable Disagree
1.00 – 1.49 Not Knowledgeable Yet Strongly Disagree

c. Ethical Issues

Research ethics will be fully implemented in this research undertaking. Permission and

informed consent will be secured from the respondents’ parents although, they are free to

withdraw their consent to let their child to participate at anytime. The research purposes and

processes will be fully explained, as offensive, discriminatory, or other unacceptable

language are avoided in the formulation of questionnaire. Respondents will be treated with

greatest anonymity, reassuring benefits to the respondents and confidentiality of the results

that may not benefit the latter. However they will be offered the opportunity to receive

feedback about the results of this study on a scheduled event.

d. Plan for Data Analysis

Data analysis will be according to the work plan provided below or as the need arises

after every conducted facilitative and integrative class on EPP using the interdisciplinaru

approach.

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 VI. Workplan

The Gantt Chart below shows graphically the order in which various tasks must be

implemented and its duration.

Tasks to be Performed DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY

Week No. Week No. Week No.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1. Draft the Research Proposal ✔ ✔
2. Finalize the Research Proposal ✔
3. Clearance to Gather Data ✔
4. Data Collection/Interview ✔ ✔ ✔
5. Retrieval of Questionnaire ✔ ✔ ✔
6. FGD ✔
7. Data Analysis ✔ ✔
8. Finalize Report ✔
9. Presentation and Dissemination ✔

VII. Cost Estimates

Items Unit Cost Multiplying Total Cost

Factors
Photocopy of Questionnaire Php 1.00 3 pages x 4 Php 12.00
copies x 1.00
Snacks for FGD Php 100.00 4 participants + Php 600.00
2 researchers x
100.00
TOTAL Php 612.00
Contingency (10%) Php 61.20
GRAND TOTAL Php 673.20

VIII. Action Plan

Objective Action/Activity Target Date

1. To construct Conduct an Action December- February 2020

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 interdisciplinary Research on
approach Interdisciplinary
questionnaire. approach
2. To validate Tap the PSDS and March- October 2020
interdisciplinary other persons in-
approach charge
questionnaire.
3. To ensure and Activity Proposals for June 2021
practice the results of Grades 4 to 6 that will
the study. cater the
interdisciplinary
approach among the
subjects EPP, Science
and Mathematics

IX. List of References

Bushe, G. R. (2013) Encyclopedia of Management Theory. Sage Publications.

Cooperrider, D. L. & Whitney, D. (2005) Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in

Change. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco.

Whitney, D. & Trosten-Bloom, A. (2010) The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide
to Positive Change. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco.

https://oakland.edu/Assets/upload/docs/AIS/interdisciplinarity_literature_review.pdf
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/

http://fluidsurveys.com www.iisd.org/ai/locating.htm

www.iisd.org/ai/locating.htm

www.uri.org