1

Chapter I

THE PROBLEM

INTRODUCTION

Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and

techniques. Learning styles group common ways that people learn. Everyone has a mix of

learning styles. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far

less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different

circumstances. There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed. You can develop ability in

less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use well. They also

change the way you internally represent experiences, the way you recall information, and

even the words you choose. Learning style inventories are designed to help respondents

determine which learning style they have. These inventories typically take the form of a

questionnaire that focuses on how people prefer to learn. Respondents choose the answers

that most closely resemble their own preferences. Learning styles refer to a range of

competing and contested theories that aim to account for differences in individuals' learning.

These theories propose that all people can be classified according to their style of learning,

although the various theories present differing views on how the styles should be defined and

categorised.A common concept is that individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of

individualized learning styles became popular, and has greatly influenced education despite

the criticism that the idea has received from some researchers proponents recommend that

teachers assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best

fit each student's learning style. Although there is ample evidence that individuals express

preferences for how they prefer to receive information, few studies have found any validity in

using learning styles in education. Although learning styles will inevitably differ among
 2

students in the classroom. Teachers should try to make changes in their classroom that will be

beneficial to every learning style. The manner in which a student learns is considered his or

her learning style. A student may learn best by seeing, hearing, being active, or reflecting, to

name a few. Learning styles are typically described by a student's sensory modalities visual,

tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic and intellectual processes active, reflective, global, or

analytical. Teaching styles and tools also vary and typically include giving lectures, holding

discussions, role playing, or demonstrating. Mismatches between teaching styles and student

learning styles can cause students to become inattentive and unproductive in class. Numerous

learning style inventories are available to identify individual student learning styles.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the learning styles of STEM students in University of

Northern Philippines during the school year 2017-2018.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

a. age;

b. sex; and

c. final grade last school year?

2. What is the level of learning styles among the SHS STEM students interms of:

a. auditory,

b. visual and,

c. kinesthetic
 3

3. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the learning

styles of the students?

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study aims to determined the learning styles of the Science Technology

Engineering and Mathematics Students in grade 12 in the University of Northern Philippines

of the school year 2017-2018.

Theoretical Framework

The researchers are guided by the following articles and researches from different

sources. The researchers gathered these articles from the library and from the web and made

use of the Country of origin approach.

On the study of Camilla P.(1992), Stated that there are differences among students in

the top one percent of mathematical ability. Among students in the top 1% of ability, those

with SAT-M scores in the top quarter, in comparison with those in the bottom quarter,

achieved at much higher levels through high school, college, and graduate school. Of the 37

variables studied, 34 showed significant differences favoring the high SAT-M group which

were substantial. Some gender differences emerged; these tended to be smaller than the

ability group differences; they were not observed in the relationship between mathematical

ability and academic achievement. The predictive validity of the SAT-M for high-ability 7th

and 8th graders was supported. (pg, 23)

On the study of Aswal, (2001), Stated that the study intended to examine the

relationship of intelligence with achievement in mathematics in context with different level of

socio-economic status. Two hundred students of class XI selected randomly from five

colleges of Tehri district served as a sample for the study and also found that there was a
 4

significant correlation between intelligence and achievement in mathematics. Relation

between intelligence and achievement in mathematics may vary across different levels of

socio-economic levels as three colleges reflected significant difference among different levels

of SES out of live colleges in intelligence and achievement in mathematics 15 references are

cites. (pg, 18)

On the study of Muftuler LT (2001), Stated that the study have given evidence for

music causally enhancing spatialtemporal reasoning. A wide range of behavioral experiments

showed that listening to a Mozart Sonata (K. 488) gave subsequent enhancements. An EEG

coherence study gave evidence for a carry over from that Mozart Sonata listening condition

to the subsequent spatial-temporal task in specific cortical regions. The article presents MRI

studies comparing cortical blood flow activation by the Mozart Sonata vs. other music. In

addition to expected temporal cortex activation, it reports dramatic statistically significant

differences in activation by the Mozart Sonata (in comparison to Beethoven’s Fur Elise and

1930s piano music) in dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, occipital cortex and cerebellum, all

expected to be important for spatial-temporal reasoning. (pg, 67)

On the study of Krishna (2004),Stated that the purpose of the study was to compare

the effectiveness of strategies involving multiple intelligence theory on mathematics at

secondary school level with reference to instructional objectives. The researcher adopted

experimental method for the present study and selected the pre-test and post-test non

equivalent group design for the study. The tools used were lesson transcript multiple

intelligence theory is more effective than present methods of teaching on achievement on

mathematics and strategies involving multiple intelligence theory were effective than the

present method under instructional objectives. (pg. 93)

 5

On the study of Olivas (2005), Stated that the study is from a sociocultural

framework, this study was conducted to examine how Spanish speaking Hispanic students

were negotiating for mathematical meaning in a communicatively demanding mathematics

environment. The findings resulted in patterns of discourse across mathematical performance

levels and English language proficiency levels. For example, more advanced English

language students who were also proficient in mathematics better justified their mathematical

strategies and reasonings in their discourse. However, students who were less fluent English

language learners and advancing towards mathematical proficiency were also less proficient

in expressing their mathematical strategies and reasonings in their classroom discourse. This

study created a mosaic of students in transitions of their second language development and

mathematical discourse development. Findings imply that mathematics educators can better

support English language learners through providing students grater opportunities to interact

in mathematical discourse. (pg. 165)

On the study of Charles,Clotfelter,Helen, LaddJacob, Vigdor, (2007), Stated that the

longitudinal analysis with student fixed effects and had concluded that a teacher's experience,

test scores and regular licensure all have positive effects on student achievement, with larger

effects for math than for reading. Taken together the various teacher credentials exhibit quite

large effects on math achievement, whether compared to the effects of changes in class size

or to the socio-economic characteristics of students. (pg. 27)

On the study of Saha (2007), Stated that the boys and girls differed significantly on all

the three measures under consideration. The field independent boys excelled over the field

dependent boys significantly in their achievement in mathematics. Similarly, field

independent girls also excelled over the field dependent girls significantly. (pg. 31)
 6

On the study of Xavier and Annaraja (2007),Stated that the purpose of the study was

to find out the performance of control and experimental groups in their gain scores and to

find out the difference between control and experimental groups in their multiple intelligence.

The findings revealed that 10% of the control group students had high level of gain scores

and 26.67% of the experimental group students had high level of gain scores. It is also found

that there is no significant difference between control and experimental group students in

their multiple intelligence. (pg. 158)

On the study of Wajiha (2008),Stated that the objective of the study was to find out

the relationship between achievement in mathematics and mathematics creativity, test

anxiety, attitude towards mathematics and achievement motivation of IX standard students.

The sample was comprised of 800 boys and girls, selected from 20 secondary schools giving

due representation to sex, type of management and medium of instruction. Achievement test

in mathematics constructed by the researchers and mathematics creativity test (Singh 1988)

were used as tools for the study. The result of the study reveals that there is significant effect

of gender on academic achievement and the study of schools in which the study has

significant effect on achievement in mathematics. (pg. 42)

On the study of Saileela k,(2012), Stated that the purpose of the study was to compare

self-regulation scale, self efficacy scale and attitude towards mathematics scale in relation to

achievement test in mathematics .investigator administered to a random sample of 1000 first

year higher secondary students. the result of the study reveals that there is achievement in

mathematics of boys is significantly greater than girls and there is exists positive and

significant correlation between achievement and self efficacy. (pg. 217)

 7

Based on the articles presented majority of them stated that auditory learning style is the most

effective among visual learning style and kinesthetic learning style. Some of the researchers

stated that there are students whose learning style is on visual, but some is kinesthetic.
 8

Conceptual Framework

This study revolved the paradigm where in the independent variables were correlated

with the dependent variables as illustrated below;

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Profile of the
Respondents

a. Age LEARNING
b. Sex STYLES OF THE
c. Final grade last STUDENTS
school year

Figure 1: Research paradigm

The paradigm above shows the independent variable which is the profile of the

respondents in terms of age, sex and final grade last school year will be correlated to the

dependent variable which is the learning style of the students.

 9

Operational Definition of Terms:

Sex.It refers to either of the two main categories (male and female) into which

humans and many other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions.

Age.It refers to the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed.

Learning Style. Is an individual's unique approach to learning based such as auditory,

visual, kinesthetic.

Auditory.Is a learning style in which a person learns through listening.

 Visual. Is a way of learning in which information is associated with images.

Kinesthetic. Is a learning style in which learning takes place by the students carrying

out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations.

Questionnaire.Itrefers to the set of printed or written questions with a choice of

answers, devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study.

Hypothesis

The researchers tested the following hypothesis:

1. There is no significant relationship between the profile of the students and their

learning style.

Research Methodology

This study provided a discussion on the research design population, data gathering

instrument, and data gathering procedure.

 10

Research Design

This study employed the descriptive-correlational. The learning styles of STEM

students related variables namely: sex, age, and final grade last school year. The respondents

profile was further correlated with their learning style.

Data Gathering Instrument

To obtain relevant information on the students related variables sex, age,final grade

last school year and a set of questionnaire to be answer by the students.

Part I consists of the profile of the respondents gathered included variabe such as age,

sex and final grade last school year.

Part II consisted of items measuring learning style adopted from the study of O’Brien

(1985). The said questionaire was composed of 30 items equally distributed along 3 learning

styles namely: Auditory,Visual and,Kinesthetic.

The following norms was made to interpret the data gathered;

Learning Styles Items

Auditory------------------------------------------- 1-10

Visual-----------------------------------------------1-10

Kinesthetic-----------------------------------------1-10

Legend:

Scale Range of Values DR

3 2.34 - 3.00 High
 11

2 1.67 - 2.33 Fair

1 1.00 - 1.66 Low

Data Gathering Procedure

Prior to the conduct of the study, the researchers asked for approval from the SHS

coordinator. The researchers made use of 30 questionnaires adopted from the web. The

selected Science and Technology Engineering Mathematics Senior High School Students in

the University of Northern Philippines were chosen to be as the respondents. After floating

the questionnaires, the reseachers tabulatedthe data, analyzed, summarized and interpret.

Population and Sample

The respondents of this study were 50selected students in every sections of Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Strand in University of Northern Philippines.

Table 1: Distribution of Population

Sections No. of Students Number of Selected

Respondents
Grade 12 STEM-A 40 10
Grade 12 STEM-B 39 10
Grade 12 STEM-C 40 10
Grade 12 STEM-D 36 10
Grade 12 STEM-E 36 10
TOTAL 50
 12

Statistical Treatment of Data

To attain the objectives set for this study, the following statistical tools were

used to analyze the data gathered;

1. Frequency and Percentage to describe the respondents in terms of learning style.

2. Mean to determine the learning styles of the respondents

3. Point Biserial or simple correlation analysis to determine the relationship between

the profile of the respondents and their learning style.

 13

Chapter II

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter deals with the presentation, interpretation, and analyses of the data

gathered pertinent this study.

Problem 1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

a. age;

b. sex; and

c. final grade last school year

The profile of the respondents from the University of Northern Philippines in Tamag,

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur is presented in Table 2.

Table 2

Profile of the Respondents

Variables F %
Age
16 1 2%
17 40 80%
18 9 18%
Total 50 100%
Sex
Male 16 32%
Female 34 68%
Total 50 100%
Final grade last school year
75 1 2%
81 1 2%
82 1 2%
83 6 12%
84 1 2%
85 9 18%
86 5 10%
87 6 12%
 14

88 8 16%
89 3 6%
90 5 10%
92 1 2%
93 1 2%
94 1 2%
96 1 2%
Total 50 100%

On Age. The table indicates that 40 (80%) of the respondents are 17 years old, 9 (18%) 18

years old, and 1(2%) are 16 years old.

On Sex. Majority of the respondents 34(68%) were females and only 16 (32%) were males.

On final grade last school year. Majority of the respondents got 1 (2%) 75,81,82,84,92,93,94

and 96 of final grade last school year, and some of them, 3(6%) of the respondents got 89 of

their final grade,

Problem 2. What is the level of learning styles among the SHS STEM students in terms

of:

A. auditory,

B. visual and,

C. kinesthetic?

Table 3 shows Mean Rating on the Level of Learning Styles of Respondents in terms

of Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic

 15

Table 3

Item Mean Rating on the Level of Learning Styles ofRespondents in terms of

Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic

Auditory    
Indicators Mean DR
1. I enjoy doodling and even my notes have lots of 2.02 Fair
pictures and arrows in them.
2. I remember something better if I write it down 2.40 High

3. I get lost or am late if someone tells me how to get to 2.02 Fair

a new place, and I don’t write down the directions.
4. When trying to remember someone’s telephone
number, or something new like that, it helps me to get a 2.22 Fair
picture of it in my mind.
5. If I am taking a test, I can “see” the textbook page 1.92 Fair
and where the answer is located.
6. It helps me to look at the person while listening; it 2.26 Fair
keeps me focused.
2.00 Fair
7. Using flashcards helps me to retain material for tests.
8. It’s hard for me to understand what a person is saying 2.30 Fair
when there are people talking or music playing.
9.It’s hard for me to understand a joke when someone 1.58 Low
tells me.
2.50 High
10. It is better for me to get work done in a quiet place.

Overall 2.122 Fair

Table 4

Visual Mean DR
1. My written work doesn’t look neat to me. My Fair
papers have crossed-out words and erasures. 2.02
2. It helps to use my finger as a pointer when reading to Fair
keep my place. 2.08
3. Papers with very small print, blotchy dittos or poor Fair
copies are tough on me. 2.02
4. I understand how to do something if someone tells Fair
me, rather than having to read the same thing to myself. 2.06
5. I remember things that I hear, rather than things that I Fair
see or read. 2.04
6. Writing is tiring. I press down too hard with my pen Fair
or pencil. 1.86
 16

7. My eyes get tired fast, even though the eye doctor Low
says that my eyes are ok. 1.66
8. When I read, I mix up words that look alike, such as Low
“them” and “then,” “bad” and “dad.” 1.6
Fair
9. It’s hard for me to read other people’s handwriting. 1.92
10. If I had the choice to learn new information through
a lecture or textbook, I would choose to hear it rather Fair
than read it. 2.06
Overall
1.932 Fair
Table 5

Kinesthetic Mean DR
1.I don’t like to read directions; I’d rather just start Low
doing. 1.66
2. I learn best when I am shown how to do something, High
and I have the opportunity to do it. 2.4
Fair
3. Studying at a desk is not for me. 1.76
4. I tend to solve problems through a more trial-and- Fair
error approach, rather than from a step-by-step method. 1.98
5. Before I follow directions, it helps me to see Fair
someone else do it first. 2.14
Fair
6. I find myself needing frequent breaks while studying. 2.12
7. I am not skilled in giving verbal explanations or Fair
directions. 2
8. I do not become easily lost, even in strange Fair
surroundings. 1.94
9. I think better when I have the freedom to move High
around. 2.34
10.When I can’t think of a specific word, I’ll use my
hands a lot and call something a “what-cha-ma-call-it” Fair
or a “thing-a-ma-jig.” 1.88

Overall 2.022 Fair

Majority of the respondents got a auditory learning style whose average as the highest while

some students are good in kinesthtic learning style, but there are students that is poor in visual

learning style and average as the lowest among the presented table.

Legend:

Scale Range of Values DR

3 2.34 - 3.00 High
2 1.67 - 2.33 Fair
1 1.00 - 1.66 Low
On Auditory Style
 17

Among the items of auditory styles, item 10 “It is better for me to get work done in a

quiet place” got the highest mean score of 2.5 and as rated as Sometime applies to me. This

implies that the Grade 12 STEM students prefer quiet places to get their work done better.

Through that, they can focus more on their works without any disturbances.

On the other hand, item 9 “It’s hard for me to understand a joke when someone tells

me” was rated as Never applies to me and got the lowest mean score of 1.58. This means

that students are having a hard time to understand a joke from someone. Therefore, students

needs a sufficient time for them to realize a witticism.

On Visual Style

As a whole, item 2 “It helps to use my finger as a pointer when reading to keep my

place” got the highest mean score of 2.08 as rated as Sometimes applies to me. This means

the Grade 12 students often use their finger pointer when reading to emphasis the words that

they are reading. Using this technique they can focus their full attention on what they are

reading.

Item 8, “When I read, I mix up words that look alike, such as “them” and “then,”

“bad” and “dad” got the lowest mean score of 1.6 and was rated as Never applies to me. This

signifies that respondents have never been encountered a mix up words that look alike.

On Kinesthetic Style

As a whole, item 2 “I learn best when I am shown how to do something, and I have

the opportunity to do it” got the highest mean score of 2.4 and rated as Sometimes applies to

me. This means that students learn the best when somebody taught them how to do it and

have the chance to do it at their own.

 18

Item 1 “I don’t like to read directions; I’d rather just start doing” got the lowest mean

score of 1.66 and was rated as Never applies to me. This could be because students always

read directions when doing something while starting to do it.

Table 6

Learning Style of the Respondents

Learning Style Mean DR

Auditory 2.122 Fair
Visual 1.932 Fair
Kinesthetic 2.022 Fair
Overall 2.025 Fair

Base on the table, majority of them is on Auditory learning styles whose got the

highest average, while some students is good in kinesthetic learning style whose got the

second to the highest average, and some students is poor in visual learning style whose got

the lowest average.

Problem 3. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and

the learning styles of the students?

Correlational between the Profile and the Learning Styles

Table 7 shows the correlation between Profile and Learning Styles of the respondents.

Table 7
Correlation of Profile and Learning Styles
 19

Variable
Profile of the Students - Learning Styles
Respondents Interpretatio
t-value t-tabular df Decision
n
Not
Sex 1.34 2.013 30 Accept Ho significant
Age 3.85** 2.013 30 Reject Ho Significant
Final Grade Last Not
School Year 1.68 2.013 30 Accept Ho significant
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Correlation of Profile and Learnig Styles

Table 7 reveals that only the age was found to significantly infuence the leaening style

of the respondents (t-value= 3.85**). This means that the age of the respondents has a big

impact to their learning styles. As students get mature to their studies the greater the

improvement of their learning style in terms of auditory, visual and kinethetic.

The rest of the variables such as: sex and final grade last school year were not

significantly realated to the learning style.

CHAPTER III

Summary, Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

 20

This chapter presents the summary, conclusion and recommendation of the study:

Summary

This study was undertaken to determine the learning styles of STEM students in

University of Northern Philippines during the school year 2017-2018.

This study was intended to find out if the profile of the respondents in terms of age,

sex and final grade last school year is related to their learning styles.

A descriptive-correlational method of research wastcunducted and used a set of

adopted questionnaire as the main data gathering tool. The questionnaire of learning styles

was adapted from O’Brien (1985). The respondents of the study were 50 STEM students of the

University of Northern Philippines. For school year 2017-2018. The group was constituted by 10

STEM A, STEM B, STEM C, STE, D and STEM E. The statistical tool utilized were the frequency

count and percentage, mean, point biserial and persons pruduct moment of correlational.

Findings

After the analysis and interpretation of data, the researchers summarizes their findings

as follows.

1. Profile of the Grade 12 STEM students in the University of Northern Philippines

On Age. The table indicates that 40 (80%) of the respondents are 17 years old, 9

(18%) 18 years old, and 1(2%) are 16 years old.

On Sex. Majority of the respondents 34(68%) were females and only 16 (32%) were

males.

On final grade last school year. Majority of the respondents got 1 (2%)

75,81,82,84,92,93,94 and 96 of final grade last school year, and some of them, 3(6%)

of the respondents got 89 of their final grade,

 21

2. The level of learning style experiences of the respondents

On Auditory StyleThe respondents experience a Fair level of Auditory styleof

learning rating ( x̅ 2.122).

On Visual Style. The overall level of Visual style as rated by the respondents got a

mean rating of ( x̅ 1.932) and rated as Fair.

On Kinesthetic Style. Kinesthetic style was rated a Fair with a mean score (x̅

2.022)

3. The sinificant relationship betweeb the profile of the respondents and their level

of learning style

Age ( t-value= 3.85**) of the respondents significantly relate with the

learning style of the respondents. The rest of the variables did not yield

significant.

Conclusion

Based on the findings presented, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. Majority of the respondents are 17 years of age whose sex are female and have a 85 final

grade last school year.

2. The Fair level of visual style experiences of the respondents implies that the students are

haing a hard time to learn through images. Therefore, the respondents which is the Grade

12 STEM students prefer the Auditory style which a person learns through listening.

The Fair level of auditory learning styleis the manifestation that have a equal

perception of this type of learning style which is the way of learning in which

information is associated with images.

 22

The Fair level of visual learning style is the implication that students have a

fair perception of this type of learning style which is the way of learning in which

information is associated with images.

The Fair level of Kinesthetic learning style is a manisfestation in which

learning takes place by the students carrying have an balance perception of the

respondents.

3. Kinesthetic learning style is significantly relates with the students which learning takes

place by carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching

demonstrations.

Recommendation

Based on the findings and conclusion grown the researcher recommends the

following:

1. The students should improve their visual learning style by practicing their

evaluation style of learning through images.

2. The teachers should mold their students ability to learn through images as early as

primary schooling.

3. A similar study should be conducted about the learning styles of the students in

terms of Auditory, visual and kinesthetic.

 23

Bibliography

Bibliography

Aswal, (2001), “A study on Intelligence as a correlate of achievement in mathematics across

 24

different levels of socio economic status”Retrived from https://research-

advances.org/index.php/IJEMS/article/viewFile/186/200

Bodner M, Muftuler LT (2001), “The effect of music on spatial insight and mathematical

performances. Behavioral studies, motivated by columnar cortical model prediction’

Retrived from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/PubTator/curator_identifier.cgi

user=User720791406&pmid=10513321&searchtype=PubMed_Search&query=77315

51[relatedto]&page=1&stress_display=1&Species_display=1&Gene_display=1&Che

mical_display=1&stres_display=1&Disease_display=1&tax=

Olivas, Desiree Marie (2005), “A study on Building linguistic and mathematics competence

in Hispanic English language learners”Retrived from

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326977ea1102_2

Charles, T., Clotfelter,Helen, F., LaddJacob, L., Vigdor, (2007), “The Teacher credentials

and student achievement”Retrived from http://www.nber.org/papers/w12828

Xavier and Annaraja (2007), “A study on effectiveness of multiple intelligence based teaching

mathematics on achievement of VI standards students”Retrived from

downloads.hindawi.com/journals/cdr/2012/876028.pdf

Benbow, Camilla P.(1992), “A study on Academic achievement in mathematics andscience

of students between ages 13 and 23”.Retrived

fromhttps://my.vanderbilt.edu/smpy/publications/camilla-benbow/

NoorjehanGanihar, Wajiha (2008), “A study on factors affecting academic achievement of IX

 25

standard students in mathematics” Retrived from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1066813

Saileelak,(2012), “A self-regulation, self effiancacy and attitude towards mathematics of

higher secondary students in relation to achievement”Retrived from

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=EBBF6DE370ACADD257

C2CB2A1DF7FAEF?doi=10.1.1.494.2271&rep=rep1&type=pdf
26