Difficulties Encountered by Grade 10 Students in Choosing their Strand in

Colegio De Calumpit

S.Y 2019-2020

A Research Paper Presented To Faculty Of Colegio De Calumpit Inc.

In Partial Fulfillment of the Subject Requirement In Practical Research 1

By:

Galang,Kyle Adrienne

Manansala, Francis

Arcilla, Ingrid

Coronel, Jasmine

Lacanilao, Marnelle
 CHAPTER I

The Problem and its Background

Introduction

Now in the modern world, it’s getting harder for the students who are going to step

forward to their senior high school life, specially to the path that they are going to

peruse. Its new curriculum is new to the Filipinos that made it harder for us. Decision

making in the teenage years is confusing especially in choosing the course that they are

going to college. Students still don’t know what career they should take, that’s why they

are still confused in the strand that they will take in senior high school because they

should be consistent and serious about it because they are going to engage it to the

rest of their lives. Everyone is claiming to collect information about certain things than

risking immediately. Collecting, gathering and making an official effort to determine the

influences of choosing a strand is necessary for students to finalize their chosen strand.

What are the possible influences? One of the primarily caused is the external factors

and different social influences. External factors including parental preferences, family

considerations, financial constraints, and peer pressure while in social influences like

compliance, identification, persuasion and conformity. These influences create a conflict

to what one’s thoughts about his/her chosen strands. The direct interaction of the

students in their social relationship pushes them to believe to other. As the attachment

to these important people strengthen the more the conflict between his/her decision and

to other decision arises. The influence is needed can make a huge effect on a student it

can be positively recognized the students most suitable strand or can negatively bring

them more in confusion. It creates changes in the student’s real plan. A lot of question is
destroying a one’s mind but other than that as an individual with own thinking still

considered his/her personal factors, limitation, strengths, weakness and personality trait

before stating a final strand. Conducting decision making, being responsible, self-

consciousness, and being realistic it the bit better to determine the best strand for them.

That is why this research will be executed to furthermore identify problems that the

Grade 10 Students of Colegio De Calumpit encountered.

Statement of the Problem

The researchers would want to find out specific problems encountered by Grade

11 Students in choosing their strand:

The following questions are to be answered in this study:

1. What are the difficulties encountered by Grade 10?

2. What are the reasons in choosing their preferred strand?

3. Who can influence most when deciding a strand?

4. What’s the most common difficulties encountered?

Scope and Delimitation

This study will only focus on various factors that affected the respondent’s

decisions and if it affected negatively or positively. The respondents are selected Grade

10 students at Colegio De Calumpit as the future depends on the youth. (Smith, 2014)
Significance of the Study

The general importance of this research is to raise awareness in what such thing

can affect one’s decision, specifically in the academe.

The following are the importance for:

The respondents: To give their knowledge about descision making as they would

soon go to college which is similar to the study and help them to have a stong basis in

choosing a strand as it will affect their future.

The parents: Help their children in deciding wisely.

The teachers: To help them create new teaching strategies that is based from the

result of this research.

The school: To have clarification and more knowledge about what problems

incoming grade 11 students face.

 CHAPTER II

Theoretical Framework

Related Literature

Choosing a strand is like choosing a course in college. It should be considered

before making a decision, because it can affect a person's life in the future. There are

such thing that can affect one's decision, according to Arizona State University, (2006)

friends can affect a person by exchanging opinions, feelings, or knowledge. According

to Taylor, (2009) parents play an important role in deciding to their children because

they are experienced it. According to the book of Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao 9,

(2014) family financial status should be deducted. According to Rivera, (2008) personal

interest is a strong factor in choosing in any course. In his writings, he also mentioned

that it is important to think of the school that you want to go into that develops one's

ability. (Rivera, 2014)

Related Theories

This research focuses on the basics of choice, which will include decision making

so researchers gather decision-making theories. According to Straker, (2002) the

following are decision makers: Cognitive Dissonance- it is the feeling of uncomfortable

tension that comes from holding two opposing thoughts at the same time. Consistency-

when our inner systems support ourselves. Commitment- a commitment is affected by

public or private aspects. Certainty-Effect- when an outcome is certain and the

possibility of a wrong decision is reduced. Choice-Supportive Bias- when we remember

a past decision, we make the choices we make that seem to work best. Confirmation
Bias- when we make a hypothesis, we actively look for things that confirm our decision

or hypothesis. Scarcity Principle- our need to control the world choice is freedom Sunk-

Cost Effect- when we are striving for something, we are often reluctant to make up for

the loss we are going to make, even if the constant refusal to jump ship will lead to

further loss. According to him, the following are thought processes for decision making:

Ambiguity Effect- this is a reflection of the many possibilities of what might happen after

a decision is made, and the person usually chooses the known probability. Biased Blind

Spot- this is the use of bias from ourselves. Elaboration Likelihood - when a person

carefully examines his or her decision making that can change his or her self.

Information Bias- this is the use of data as a basis for decision making. Information

Processing Theory- this is to agree with a message but compares the previous

perspective to the current one. Source Credibility- the more likely it is that the one who

can influence is skilled and trustworthy. Lastly is the Unconscious Thought Theory

which states that one's consciousness affects positively or negatively in decision making

According to Turpin, (2004) The following are different model decisions: The

Rational Model, The Model of Bounded Rationality, The Incrementalist View, The

Organisational Procedures View, The Political View, The Garbage can Model, The

Individual Unreconciled Perspective, Naturalistic decisions Making, and The Multiple

Perspective Approach

According to Kenton, (2019) There are three studies of the theory of decision

making, this is the Descriptive decisions Theory where the people are being studied in

the logical. Others may decide without righteousness. The Prescriptive Decision Theory

is to provide support to the best decisions even when the basis is uncertain. This means
that a person can only express his or her own desires. The Normative Decision Theory

provides support for decision making on a strong basis. It is information gathering to

make effective decisions.

Related Studies

According to Dietrich, (2010) decision making is the root of what we all do.

Decision making is also difficult, that’s why they indicated that a model should be

followed for our daily lives leading in satisfactory. Additionally, there are several factors

they stated to influence most are cognitive biases, past experiences, age & individual

differences, belief in personal relevance, and an esalation of commitment. They also

stated that most humans choose decisions that they can somehow manipulate. From a

neuroscientist Moran Cerf, who’s also been studying decision-making for over a decade

has stated that material goods, experiences, or personal philosophy does not maximize

one’s happiness but it is the decision of whom he or she spend time with. Additionally,

he also stated that decision-making is fraught with biases surrounding one’s judgement

that could lead to misinterpretation of experiences which affects their decision in the

way that people make choices they’d otherwise avoid. (Weller, 2017)

The American Psychological Association, (2003) has stated that the Teaching-

Family Model, where the parents teach their children in a group home and teach them

essential interpersonal and living skills, is truly important as in their findings, it has been

mentioned that young people’s quality of life and that they feel to make contributions to
the society. This study shows how parents or family in general can affect one’s

wholeself.

CHAPTER III

This chapter discusses about the methods and procedure, research methodology,

subjects of the research, and the instrument used in this study.

Methodology of the research

This research is a descriptive one. According to Shuttleworth, (2008) a descriptive

research allows observation without affecting the normal behavior. It is mostly used to

determine the habits of the respondents. In this case the researchers will only describe

such difficulties of the Grade 10 students in Colegio De Calumpit in choosing a strand. It

will be effective as limitations are observed.

Subjects of the study

The respondents of this research are 50 Grade 10 students of Colegio De

Calumpit. There are 5 sections of the mentioned grade level in which per section, 10

questionnaires will be handed out through random sampling per section. Random

sampling will allow this research eliminate any bias thus promoting diversity yet in

respect of the limitation. (NEDARC, 2019)

Instruments of the research- Jasmine

 The importance of questionnaire is the answers can easily analyzed and quantified

and also it gives the respondents enough time to answer the question. According to

Mcleod, (2018) Data can be collected relatively quickly because the researcher would

not need to be present when the questionnaires were completed. This is useful for large

populations when interviews would be impractical. Questionnaires can be an effective

means of measuring the behaviour, attitudes, preferences, opinions and, intentions of

relatively large numbers of subjects more cheaply and quickly than other methods. An

important distinction is between open-ended and closed questions. The use of these

methods will be effective and has relevance to this research.

Procedures of Data Gathering

The process of research began in working and validating the questionnaires that

will help to gather data with a large part in the said study. The survey questionnaires

contains 4 questions, the researchers choose to create a survey form to explain by the

respondents their answers. The questionnaires were also based from the Related

Literature of the study and observations. The researchers used this to determine the

difficulties encounter by Grade 10 students in choosing their strands.

 CHAPTER IV

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

This chapter tackles the information elicited from the respondents of the

research. . These were the results:

I. Profile of the respondents.

Section Male
A 6
B 5
C 2
D 5
E 2
Total 20
Female Total
4 10
5 10
8 10
5 10
8 10
30 50

This table shows the gender of the respondents. Many female took part than the

males. The next tables will show the sections of the respondents, A(10-Narra), B(10-

Yakal), C(10-Almaciga), D(10-Molave) and E(10-Kamagong)

II. Preferred track(s) of the female respondents.

A B C D E Total
STEM 2 2 3 0 4 11
HUMSS 1 1 1 1 0 4
ABM 1 4 4 2 1 12
TVL 0 0 0 0 2 2
GAS 0 0 0 2 1 3
Others: 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 7 8 5 8 32
From the table shown, the answers were not exactly 30 because two of the

female respondents preferred 2 strands, STEM and ABM. With ABM being said, it is

also shown as the most preferred strand of the female students. STEM was the second

most preferred strand and then HUMSS, GAS, and TVL respectively.
III. Reason(s) of the female respondents
A B C D E Total
Personal Interest 2 5 5 3 8 23
Parent’s Choice/
2 2 4 1 0 9
Family Influence
Environmental
0 1 0 0 0 1
Need
Friend’s Influence 0 0 0 1 0 1
Others: 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 8 9 5 8 34

As the table portrays, personal interest is what the female respondents was

driven by to choose their corresponding strand. Followed by Family Influence,

Environmental Need, and Friend’s Influence respectively. The table did also not equal to

30 as 3 of our respondents answered multiple reasons, two chose Personal Interest and

Family Influence and one also chose the two but as well as Environmental Need as the

reasons.

IV. The female respondents were influenced by

A B C D E Total
Friends 1 2 0 3 2 8
Family 2 4 7 1 5 19
Others 1 0 1 1 2 6
Total 4 6 8 5 9 33

Even though it was just mostly themselves that made them pick their respective

strand, the female respondents were still mostly influenced by their family followed by

their friends. Other than that, they were also influenced by just themselves. One of the

female respondents also said that she was influenced by TV/Online shows.

V. Difficulties encountered by the female respondents.

A B C D E Total
Personal Aspects 3 2 5 1 3 14
Family Conflict 0 1 4 2 0 7
Environmental
0 1 0 0 0 1
Aspects
Peer Pressure 0 3 3 2 0 8
Others 1 0 1 0 5 7
Total 4 7 13 5 8 37

Table V. shows the difficulties they encountered. The total of the difficulties has

reached 37 meaning they had multiple difficulties. The most encountered difficulty is

Personal Aspects. According to the respondents, they are still confused and/or having

doubts about their preferred strands. Other conflicts were about their family, whether it

is what the parents’ dream for them or the pressure from the parents as well as their

siblings. Grades were also considered a problem.

VI. Preferred track(s) of the male respondents.

A B C D E Total
STEM 4 2 1 1 0 8
HUMSS 1 1 0 3 0 5
ABM 1 0 0 0 1 2
TVL 0 2 1 0 0 3
GAS 0 0 0 1 0 1
Others: 0 1 0 0 1 2
Total 6 6 2 5 2 21

Table VI shows the preferred tracks of the male respondents. Most of them

prefer STEM followed HUMSS, then TVL, ABM, and GAS. One male wanted to take

ARTS and DESIGN and the other one has no idea what to take yet. The total exceeded

the number of respondent because one of them preferred 2 tracks, HUMSS and ABM.

VII. Reason(s) of the male respondents

A B C D E Total
Personal Interest 3 6 1 2 1 13
Parent’s Choice/ 1 0 1 2 0 4
Family Influence
Environmental 2 1 0 0 0 3
Need
Friend’s Influence 0 1 0 0 0 1

Others: 0 0 0 0 1 1

Total 6 8 2 4 2 22

The most common reason of the male respondents is their personal interest.

Family Influence is the second most followed by Environmental Need, Friend’s Influence

and Others. One of the male respondent also added that his reason in his preference is

the job that he will get from it.

VIII. The male respondents were influenced by

A B C D E Total
Friends 1 2 1 0 1 5

Family 2 0 1 4 0 7

Others 3 4 0 1 1 9

Total 6 6 2 5 2 21

Mainly the male respondents were influenced by family and their friends. The

respondents’ answers on ‘others’ are different from one another. According to them they

were just influenced by themselves and their goals in life.

IX. Difficulties encountered by the male respondents.

A B C D E Total
Personal Aspects 3 3 1 3 0 10

Family Conflict 0 1 1 1 0 3

Environmental 1 1 0 1 0 3
Aspects
Peer Pressure 2 2 0 1 1 6
Others 0 0 0 1 1 2

Total 6 7 2 7 2 24

This table shows the difficulties encountered by the male respondents. Personal

Aspects are the most common difficulty, followed by Peer Pressure, Family Conflict and

Environmental Aspects, and Others. As it exceeded the total number of the

respondents, it explains that others may have more than just one difficulty. Their

difficulties revolves around doubts, their grades and pressure from their friends or

family. However, one respondent answered that he’s got no difficulty in this decision-

making.

CHAPTER V

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations

Summary

Knowledge is power. One way of gaining knowledge is through education. That is

why we need for ourselves, as well as the future. Few years ago there was a big

change in the education of the Philippines, the K-12. From the old curriculum there are

only four years of high school but in K-12 there are six. In the added years, there
strands to choose from, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics),

ABM (Accountancy, Business, and Management), HUMSS (Humanities and Social

Sciences), GAS (General Academic Strand) as well as various kinds of TVL (Technical,

Vocational, and Livelihood), Sports Track and Arts and Design. A student will choose

one from all of the strands. However, choosing is not easy as it is for their future. That is

why this research is conducted.

The findings of this research were divided by their gender and sections. The

results were pretty similar basing males from the females and vice versa. One thing that

is not similar is their preferred track(s), STEM for the males and ABM for the females.

Both genders have the same common reason, who were they influenced by, and their

difficulties. Amazingly, out of the 50 respondents that took part in this research, only one

had no difficulty.

Conclusion

From the conducted study, the researchers have discovered that:

1.) Most of the incoming Grade 11 students have difficulties that must be solved.

2.) Other students are not able to pick what they really want because of family or

peer pressure, even their grades or just because of themselves.

3.) Most of the respondents are having doubts thus not sure of what to take or

what will their consequences be.

Recommendations

For the respondents:

 They must know when to be practical or passionate.

 They should choose what they think they need as it is for the future.

 They should also consider to plan ahead and do research.

For the parents:

 Support their child/ren by helping them to pick what’s best for them.

 Be an example or an inspiration for them.

For the teachers:

 Create teaching strategies for the betterment of their decision-making.

For the school:

 Conduct seminars so that the incoming grade 11 students will be prepared.

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