Academic Problems Met by Lycee Senior High School STEM Students

Bel S. Salamanca, Hendrick Napoleon S. Jimenez, Cedie John J. Dayaganon

STEM Block 3 Lycee Saint John Baptist de La Salle University

La Salle St. Aguada, Ozamiz City

INTRODUCTION

This research will be conducted to address a particular issue. This particular issue is the

academic problems met by students. Academic problems are associated to the learning

difficulties of students. This research study identifies the various reasons of academic problems

and its possible effects and outcomes to students. This study is important in addressing the

causing factors and the possible outcomes of the academic problems in order to find the possible

solutions for the students. Students encounter different sort of academic problems in school.

These include difficulty in understanding, underachievement, poor academic performance like

having set of poor grades, and other educational problems. According to the researchers, most of

the students have difficulty in understanding mostly in the field of Mathematics that leads to low

scores and poor grades.

A lot of students struggle so much from school. It has been argued that identifying the

reasons firsthand is the key to supporting the struggling students (Jennifer Cleland, 2009). The

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solution to a problem depends on what causes it, in which case, one has to discover why the

problem arises. However in most cases, the best approach is simply to deal with the problem.

There are a lot of factors and reasons of students’ academic problems. According to Gettinger

and Seibert (2002), capable students at all grade levels experience difficulties in school, not

because they lack ability, but because they lack good study skills. All students have the capacity

and ability to learn but the problem is that they have lack good study skills. Gettinger and Seibert

(2002) pointed out that study skills are very important since it act as tool for learning. These

enhance the student’s capacity of learning and these typically play an important role in the life of

students at school. On the other side, students’ behaviors affect the academic performances in

school. McIntosh (2008) concluded that behavior truly matters when it comes to the state of a

student’s academic performance.

The aim of this study is to identify the academic problems and its reasons which is the

first step in making solutions to prevent further complications among the Lycee Senior High

School STEM students, St. John Baptist de La Salle, during school year 2016-2017. On the other

side, it also aims to address the possible outcomes to provide the possible solutions.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This section of paper will state the related studies regarding the academic problems

encounter by students. This section aims to identify the different academic problems and

difficulties of students, the reasons of these academic problems and its possible effects and

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outcomes. This is divided into three keywords, namely academic problems, reasons of academic

problems and effects.

Academic problems

Students from school experience some academic problems which include difficulty in

understanding, underachievement and failures, and poor academic performance. Academic

problems among students comes from various reasons, the problem regarding the outcome of

their academic performance ranges from the lack of support from parents and peers, behavior

towards people, usage of technology, physical or mental maltreatment, health risks , and other

factors that can trigger the cause of academic problems.

According to Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg (2010) most of the students have

problems in completion in mathematical skills, reading and speaking language. It is one of the

most common problems that students encounter. They have some difficulties in understanding

that leads them to low and poor set of scores and grades. According to Jennifer Cleland (2009)

identifying the reasons firsthand is the key to supporting the struggling students. When the

problem is addressed early it would have a remove the chance of the students having a negative

effect which can be long-term.

Reasons of academic problems

Students encounter many different kinds of academic problems from school. This study

is conducted in order to know and identify the possible reasons and factors of this kind of

problem. According to Gettinger and Seibert (2002), capable students at all grade levels may

experience difficulties in school, not because they lack ability, but because they lack good study

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skills. Study skills have a huge contribution with the possible positive outcomes of the different

areas of academic content to the learners. Students having poor study skills have also poor

academic performance. Students may have difficulty in understanding that leads to some

academic problems. However, according to Semb, Glick, and Spencer (1979), procrastination is

the reason of academic problems. Academic procrastination results in detrimental academic

performance, including poor grades and course withdrawal. A high number of students engage

procrastination on several academic tasks. Students cannot complete necessary tasks, they may

either meet a deadline, late or fails to meets it. It is useful to keep in mind that procrastination is

not merely a deficit of study habits and organization of time but involves a complex interaction

of behavioral components (Ziesat, Rosenthal, and White, 1978). Academic problems depend on

the behavior of students since study behavior of students affect their academic performance.

Effects of academic problems

. Many students in the world are having trouble regarding the academic problems and its

effect that affect their lives within their perspective. This study will be conducted to know the

possible effects and outcomes of the students’ academic problems. Many students in the whole

world specifically at schools are also having disciplinary problems, rejected or neglected

students from their academic issue due to their failures or being violated at school. According to

Kendall-Tackett ( 1996) , this study examined how neglect in itself and also to those students

who were being neglected from their perspective and having lower academic performance. These

effects persist regardless of gender and socio-economic status which they also stated that

negligence alone and physical neglect and sexual abuse are associated with lower scored and

more frequent suspensions.

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 Students experience academic stress and depression due to academic problems they

encounter. It affects their mental and physical health that ruins their ability to perform well in

their academic tasks. Stress correspond to poor health, depression and poor academic

performance (Agkun & Ciarrochi, 2010). Students who are struggling and showing low scores

on their academic performance obviously shows that they needed support to get them out of their

situation. [ CITATION Ela07 \l 1033 ].

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study will be conducted to identify the academic problems met by Lycee Senior

High School STEM students. Specifically, it aims to answer the following:

(1) What are the academic problems encountered by students?

(2) What are the reasons and factors of academic problems?

(3) What are the possible outcomes of these problems?

METHODOLOGY

I. Research Design

The research design that will be used in this research study is qualitative design. A

qualitative research design is a way of inquiry employed in different academic disciplines. It

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talks about the characteristics of a certain topic which students may give any opinion. The

research approach that will be used for the purposes of this present study is grounded theory

approach. According to this approach the researchers must construct a theory. Using this

approach, it will be effective with the use of the information that will be gathered that will lead

the researchers to construct a certain theory. This approach will help the researchers collect and

interpret the data better and will also help the researchers in being knowledgeable about the state

of the participants according to their own perspective. The researchers will use qualitative design

since they will conduct specific observations and interviews to gather information and data.

II. Research Participants

The participants of this research study will be the senior high school students enrolled in

the academic strand Science and Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Lycee St.

John Baptist de La Salle, Ozamiz City. The sample size will be 20 participants. The researchers

will choose STEM students as the participants of this study it is because strand STEM has 11

subjects as compare to other strands which have only 9 or 8 subjects. The researchers observe

that senior high school STEM students have some difficulties in dealing with the course which is

relevant to the study. The sample will be chosen through snowball or chain sampling in which

the researchers will ask relevant people if they know someone or somebody fitted or is willing to

participate in the research study [ CITATION Cle16 \l 1033 ]. For ethical purposes, the researchers

will inform the participants about the purpose and objectives of the present study. They will be

informed that they can discontinue their participation to the research at any time they wish to.

III. Research Locale

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 The researchers intend to conduct the study in Lycee La Salle University, Ozamiz City. La

Salle University is a private and co-educational school wherein they have a better quality of

educating the people and high standard teaching here in Ozamiz. Researchers will choose Lycee

La Salle since the researchers can easily gather more information because they have near sources

and it is accessible.

IV. Research Instruments

The data will be gathered through an interview. The researchers will personally ask about

things and information they need from the participants. and prepare a specific set of questions

but could ask follow-up questions to the participants for them to elaborate their answers. It is

easy for the researchers to gather additional information and to have an in-depth perspective on

the responses of the participants when this type of interview is used (Clemente, Julaton, &

Orleans, 2016). The conduction of this research will involve the preparation of questions or

semi-structured questionnaire, which will be used as an interview guide for the researcher but

additional questions will be made for the satisfaction of research objectives.

V. Research Tools

For this research, the researchers will be using different kinds of gadgets to save time and

collect better results. First is a laptop, researchers will use this in order to search for references

that are needed in our research and to encode all the data gathered. It is also used to gather all

the information that we need from the participants for further analysis. A laptop is a portable

device which is suitable for travelling because it is easy to carry and a better substitute for a

desktop computer. Second is a smartphone also called as cellphone is an advanced mobile

operating system with features similar to a desktop computer, its use is to record the voice of the

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participants who will take part in our research and to record their opinions and set of beliefs in

which they will answer from our questions during the interview. We will also use it for making

a documentation using the camera of the smartphone for our evidence that we interviewed the

participants.

VI. Research procedures

We will be using a qualitative type of research with the approach called grounded theory.

First, the researchers will be choosing 20 participants who are taking the academic strand STEM.

They will be chosen with the help of the snowball or chain sampling technique wherein the

researchers will ask people if they know someone fitted or is willing to participate in the research

study (Clemente, Julaton, & Orleans, 2016). Then, the researchers will prepare a semi-structured

questionnaire and they will be conducting an interview to the chosen participants. The

researchers will be recording or taking pictures during the interview with the participants with

the help of the research tools which will be used for the interview transcript. With the

cooperation of the participants in answering the questions and with the data gathered, the

researchers will be able to analyze, interpret and construct a theory regarding the present study

which is the academic problems faced by STEM Senior High School students in Lycee Saint

John Baptist de La Salle.

REFERENCES

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Akgun, S., & Ciarrochi, J. (2010, July 1). An International Journal of Experimental Education

Psychology Webpage. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from Taylor and Francis Online Website:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0144341032000060129

Gettinger, M., & Seibert, J. K. (2002). Contributions of Study Skills To Academic Competence.

ProQuest , 31, 350-365.

Huffman, L. C., Mehlinger, S. L., & Kerivan, A. S. (2000, October). Retrieved February 20,

2017, from Research Gate: https://secure.ce-credit.com/articles/9580/riskfactorsacademic.pdf

Loe, I. M., & Feldman, H. M. (2007, June 14). Journal of Pediatric Psychology Webpage.

Retrieved February 18, 2017, from Oxford Academic Website:

https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/article/32/6/643/1021192/Academic-and-Educational-

Outcomes-of-Children-With

Solomon, L. J., & Rothblum, E. D. (1984). Academic Procrastination: Frequency and Cognity-

Behavioral Correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology , 503-509.

Crosnoe, R., Cavanagh, S., & Elder, G. H. (2003, September 1). Adolescent Friendships as

Academic Resources: The Intersection of Friendship, Race, and School Disadvantage.

Sociological Perspective , 331-352.

Kendall-Tackett, K. A. (1996). The Effects of Neglect on Academic achievement on Disciplinary

problems: A developmental perspective. Child abuse and Neglect , 20(3), 161-169.Luiselli, J. K.,

Putnam, R. F., Handler, M. W., & Feinberg, A. B. (2010). Whole-school positive behaviour

support: effects on student discipline problems and academic performance. An International

Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology , 25, 183-198.

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McClelland, M. M., Morrison, F. J., & Holmes, D. L. (2000). Children at risk for early academic

problems: the role of learning-related social skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 15(3),

307-329.

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needAccess=true&journalCode=imte20

D. Husarova, L. B. ( 2016). Screen-based behaviour and school difficulties among adolescents:

the role of sleep problems and dietary habits. Retrieved from EHP:

http://www.ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/view/1950

Elaine Walsh, L. L. (2007, September 5). Suicide risk and protective factors among youth

experiencing school difficulties. Retrieved from Wiley online library:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2007.00483.x/full

Jennifer Cleland, R. A. (2009, July 3). Failing finals is often a surprise for the student but not

the teacher: identifying difficulties and supporting students with academic difficulties. Retrieved

from Informa: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01421590500156269?

needAccess=true&journalCode=imte20

McIntosh, K. (2008, October). Behavior problems trigger academic problems, not vice versa.

Retrieved from Educational research: http://www.ernweb.com/educational-research-

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Clemente, R. F., Julaton, A. E., & Orleans, A. V. (2016). Science in Today's World for Senior

High School Research in Daily Life 1. Sibs Publishing House, I.nc.

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 INTERVIEW GUIDE QUESTIONS

Some sample questions that will be included in the semi-structured questionnaire are the

following:

Question 1: As a STEM student, do you experience some difficulties in dealing with the course?

Question 2: What are the academic problems you encounter?

Question 3: What would be the main reasons of these problems?

Question 4: Do you think these problems have a huge impact?

Question 5: What are the effects of these academic problems?

Question 6: How do these problems affect your life as a student?

Question 7: In your view, what will be the possible solutions to your problems?

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