Effects of Instructional Materials on the Teaching and Learning of Graduate School

Students in Occidental Mindoro State College

Introduction

Learning and teaching is the concern of trained teachers. Though learning is a complex

process, it can however, be defined as a change in disposition, a relatively permanent change in

behaviour overtime and this is brought about by experience. Learning can occur as a result of

newly acquired skill, knowledge, perception, facts, principles, new information at hand etc.

(Adeyanju, 1997). Learning can be reinforced with instructional materials of different variety

because they stimulate, motivate and as well as arrest learners’ attention for a while during the

instruction process. The importance of instructional materials cannot be underestimated in

developing students’ skills in any field of expertise since instructional materials are the devices

developed to assist teachers in transmitting organized knowledge and attitudes toward learners

within an instructional situation (Nwachukwu, 2006). Instructional materials are essential and

significant tools needed for teaching and learning in order to promote teachers’ efficiency and

improve students’ performance. It provides the much-needed sensory experiences needed by the

learners for an effective and meaningful behavioural change. Instructional materials are meant to

improve the quality of education for effective academic performance of students in schools. The

performance of the students on the intended learning outcomes provide the validation – loop on

the success of the interaction and instruction.

In the context of graduate studies, though the students are highly suggested to employ

independent study to facilitate their learning, a question still lies on the effectiveness of the

utilization of instructional materials. Although graduate students are often treated as a

completely separate species from undergraduate students, in reality they learn the same way that

all students learn: through the successful retention and transfer of knowledge (Cassuto, 2013).

Thus, utilizing instructional materials is deemed important to increase their performance.

Statement of the Problem

This study focuses primarily on the effect of instructional materials on the teaching and

learning of the four different programs offered in the Graduate School Department of Occidental

Mindoro State College. Specifically, the study set out to answer the following problems:

1. To what extent do instructional materials influence the graduate school students’

performance in the teaching and learning of the four different programs of the Occidental

Mindoro State College Graduate School Department, namely, MAT-English, MAT-

Filipino, MPA, and MaEd in terms of:

a. utilization;

b. selection;

c. availability; and

d. improvisation?

2. Is there any significant difference in the utilization, selection, availability, and

improvisation of instructional materials among the four different programs offered in

Occidental Mindoro State College Graduate School Department, namely:

a. Master of Arts in Teaching English;

b. Master of Arts in Teaching Filipino;

c. Master in Public Administration; and

d. Master of Arts in Education?

METHODOLOGY

This part discusses the research method of the study. It includes where the study will be

conducted, who and how many will be the respondents, what instrument to be used, what method

to be used, how the study will be conducted, how the information needed was adopted and how

data will be analysed to solve the problem.

Research Design

This study will use the descriptive non-experimental method of research as it aims to

discover the instructional materials’ influence in the graduate school students’ performance in
the teaching and learning of the four different programs of the Occidental Mindoro State College

Graduate School Department, namely, MAT-English, MAT-Filipino, MPA, and MaEd in terms

of: (a) utilization; (b) selection; (c) availability; and (d) improvisation.

Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted at the Graduate School Department of Occidental Mindoro

State College - Main Campus in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. This is to eliminate other factors

about the venue which may affect the results of the study.

Respondents of the Study

For this study, the respondents will be 20 teachers and 150 students teaching and learning

in t6he four programs of the OMSC Graduate School Department.

Research Instrument

The method used for gathering of data for this study is the survey research method. It

involves the use of questionnaires to obtain information from large sample of respondents

selected from a certain population – teachers and students of OMSC Graduate School

Department.

Data Analysis

To measure the extent of the instructional materials’ influence in the performance of the

respondents in terms of utilization, selection, availability, and improvisation, a Likert Scale will

be utilized (5 for Strongly Agree, 4 for Agree, 3 for Moderately Agree, 2 for Disagree, and 1 for

Strongly Disagree). To measure the significant difference, multiple regression will be used.

References:

Adeyanju, J.L (1997). Production of chip instructional materials for the 6-3-3-4 system of

education with emphasis on the first six years. Trend and Research in Educational

Technology, pp. 45-53

Nwachukwu CE (2006). Designing Appropriate Methodology in Vocational and Technical

Education for Nigeria, Nsukka University, Trust Publishers.

Cassuto, L. (2013). Student-Centered Graduate Teaching. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

http://chronicle.com/article/Student-Centered-Graduate/142791/