BICOL UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL
College of Education
Legazpi City

A Critique Paper
on Teachers’ Competency on the Use of ICT in
Teaching Physics in the Junior High School
by Catherine Bergonia Briones

Submitted by:

PAOLIN PEARL O. RAPISURA

MAPhyEd

Submitted to:

Dr. EPIFANIA B. NUÑEZ

Professor
 I. Research Title:

Teachers’ Competency on the Use of ICT in Teaching Physics in the Junior High
School

II. Author:

Catherine Bergonia Briones, Doctorate Student at Philippine Normal University

(PNU)-Manila Campus, Scholar of the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) – NCGSME

III. Problem

Integrating ICT in teaching and learning process at present remains a

challenging task on the part of teachers due to some reasons like: the ratio of
student-computer and teacher-computer, lack of trainings in integrating ICT, lack
of confidence and competence in ICT, lack of technical support and lack of
accessibility to ICT resources.

This study was conducted to determine the teachers’ level of ICT

competency in the use of ICT in teaching Physics in the Junior High School.
Specifically, the study aims to determine (a) the level of ICT competency of
teachers in the use of ICT in teaching Physics in Junior High School based on the
DepEd ICT competency standards; (b) the innovative practices of teachers in the
use of ICT in teaching Physics; (c) if there is any significant relationship between
the teachers’ level of competency in the use of ICT and the performance of the
students in Physics; (d) the gains and challenges met by the teachers in integrating
ICT in teaching Physics in the ten identified schools; (e) the enhancement program
that can be designed and proposed to further enhance the ICT competency of the
teachers.

IV. Theory

Constructivism theory is one of the most effective theories that help the
learner construct and build their own knowledge. Learners build meaning and
knowledge through joining to groups, collaborating, and engaging with these
groups. He/she will construct knowledge based on their experiences, thoughts,
and beliefs. Constructivism theory has a great impact for both the learner and the
instructor. In fact, the impact will be much more especially if this theory integrates
 with technology. Also, the technologies get the benefit from using constructivism
theory as approach in order to integrate technology in education. The technology
will become more advantageous. Learners will become very active and more
responsible about what they learn. Even more, this theory supports higher skills
and complex and collaborative problem solving in learner mind. Constructivism
theory impacts the teachers as well from change their way on teaching style from
transmitters of knowledge to guiders in the learning process.
Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by E.M. Rogers in 1962, is
one of the oldest social science theories. It originated in communication to explain
how, over time, an idea or product gains momentum and diffuses (or spreads)
through a specific population or social system. The end result of this diffusion is
that people, as part of a social system, adopt a new idea, behavior, or product.
Adoption means that a person does something differently than what they had
previously (i.e., purchase or use a new product, acquire and perform a new
behavior, etc.). The key to adoption is that the person must perceive the idea,
behavior, or product as new or innovative. It is through this that diffusion is
possible.
Adoption of a new idea, behavior, or product (i.e., "innovation") does not
happen simultaneously in a social system; rather it is a process whereby some
people are more apt to adopt the innovation than others. Researchers have found
that people who adopt an innovation early have different characteristics than
people who adopt an innovation later. When promoting an innovation to a target
population, it is important to understand the characteristics of the target population
that will help or hinder adoption of the innovation.

V. Method and Design

The descriptive-correlational design was used to determine the relationship

of the teachers’ level of ICT competency to the performance of students in Physics.
Quantitative data was gathered using survey questionnaires for teachers and
immediate supervisors and achievement test in Physics for the students to
determine the teachers’ level of ICT competency and students’ performance
respectively.
Qualitative data was drawn from the research instrument, interview guide,
and focus group discussion guide. Descriptive design was used to describe the
level of ICT competency, performance level of the students, and the innovative
practices of the teachers. Correlational design was used to determine the
relationship between the teachers’ ICT competency level and the students’
performance in Physics.
 VI. Sampling

In this method, the population is first divided into subgroups (or strata) who
all share a similar characteristic. It is used when we might reasonably expect the
measurement of interest to vary between the different subgroups, and we want to
ensure representation from all the subgroups. Each district is represented by two
schools; there were ten identified schools in the Division of Camarines who were
the primary respondents of this study. The ten (10) schools were identified based
on the number of populations and they are all recipient of the DepEd
Computerization Program (DCP). The respondents of this study were composed
of 10 immediate Supervisors, 23 Physics teachers, and 920 Grade-8 students from
23 sections handled by the 23 Physics teachers. The immediate Supervisor and
peer of the teacher respondents were included as respondents for the triangulation
of the data from the teachers.

Stratified sampling improves the accuracy and representativeness of the

results by reducing sampling bias. However, it requires knowledge of the
appropriate characteristics of the sampling frame (the details of which are not
always available), and it can be difficult to decide which characteristic(s) to stratify
by.

VII. Respondents

The Department of Education, Camarines Sur Divisions is composed of five

districts namely, District I, District II, District III, District IV, and District V. Each
district is represented by two schools; there were ten identified schools in the
Division of Camarines who were the primary respondents of this study. The ten
(10) schools were identified based on the number of populations and they are all
recipient of the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP). The respondents of this
study were composed of 10 immediate Supervisors, 23 Physics teachers, and 920
Grade-8 students from 23 sections handled by the 23 Physics teachers. The
immediate Supervisor and peer of the teacher respondents were included as
respondents for the triangulation of the data from the teachers.

VIII. Locale

The locale of the study is the entire Department of Education, Camarines

Sur Divisions which is composed of five districts namely, District I, District II, District
III, District IV, and District V.
IX. Instrument used

The research instruments used in this study were the focus group
discussion guide, self-evaluation, peer-evaluation, immediate supervisor
questionnaire for the ICT competency, checklist for the gains & challenges,
interview guide questionnaire for the innovative practices, and the achievement
test for students’ performance in Physics. The set of questionnaires were
distributed to all the respondents.
The self-evaluation questionnaire for teachers was divided into three parts
accordingly; Part I is on the school’s and respondent’s profile in terms of ICT
facilities and resources, teachers’ educational attainment, and trainings attended
by the teacher. Part II is on the teachers’ level of ICT competency that is based on
the DepEd ICT Competency Standards for Teachers. Part III is the checklist about
the different gains and challenges encountered by the teachers in using ICT in
their teaching. The peer evaluation and immediate supervisor questionnaire only
includes the Part II of the self evaluation questionnaire. An interview questionnaire
was used to gather the different innovative practices of the teachers in teaching
Physics-8.
The focus group discussion guide questionnaire was used to explore the
insights and ideas of teachers in the use of ICT. The achievement test in Physics
that is based on the learning competencies for Physics-8 indicated in the K-12
Science Curriculum Guide provided by the DepEd was used as the research
instrument in gathering of data from the students. The test was composed of fifty
items.
To evaluate the validity of the self-evaluation questionnaire for teachers,
and the test items for students, these were shown to the jurors composed of six
(6) experts in ICT and in Physics, two (2) of them are currently handling ICT and
education media technology subjects in college, three (3) Physics teachers who
are M.A. and Ph.D. holders in Physics who are currently handling high school and
college Physics classes for not less than five (5) years, and one (1) of the jurors is
the I.T. Officer of the Department of Education in the Division of Camarines Sur.
The suggestions and recommendations of the experts were considered in
the revision of the questionnaires. The achievement test was first administered to
twenty-eight (28) Grade-9 students who were not the respondents of the study and
who were done taking Physics-8 subject during their Grade-8 level. This group of
students are from Computer Science High School of Bicolandia where the
researcher is presently teaching. The students’ answers to the seventy (70) items
were subjected to item analysis. To test the Internal Consistency Reliability of this
test, the Kuder and Richardson Formula 20 was used. The computed (ρKR20)
coefficient value is 0.70, these are considered good and few items can be
 improved. The value of ρKR20 = 0.70 shows that the test has high reliability. The
students’ answers to the first set of seventy (70) items were subjected to item
analysis.

X. Statistical Treatment

Descriptive statistics like frequency counting, percentage, and weighted

mean was utilized to quantify the teachers’ level of ICT competency and the
performance level of students in Physics-8. In data gathering and tallying, simple
frequency distribution and percentage were utilized. Item analysis was used to
determine the items that were included in the final draft of the achievement test.
Pearson r correlation was used to test the statistical relationship of the
teachers’ level of ICT competency and the performance level of students in
Physics-8. The Pearson r assesses whether the two variables are statistically
related. To test the significance, a risk level must be set. In most social research,
the ”rule of thumb” is to set the alpha level at.05. In this study the degrees of
freedom is 21.
The r-critical value of the Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient
at 0.05 level of significance for a non-directional (two-tailed) with the degrees of
freedom 21 is 0.433. If the computed value of r is greater than or equal (≥) to the
tabled r-value a significant relationship exists between the teachers’ level of ICT
competency and the performance level of students in Physics-8.

XI. Findings

Findings of the study revealed that: (1) The ICT competency level of the
Grade-8 Physics Teachers is proficient. The teachers are in the basic level both in
Pedagogy and Organization and Administration domains; (2) The ICT-based
innovative practices performed by the teachers in teaching Physics which were
categorized into three themes such as (1) lesson preparation, (2) lesson
implementation, and (c) collaboration; (3) There is a moderate positive correlation
that exists the between the teachers’ level of competency in the use of ICT and the
students’ performance in Physics. The relationship is found to be significant; (4)
The teachers perceived that the use of ICT; helped improve students’
understanding of science ideas, increases students’ motivation in learning science
ideas, stimulates students’ interest to scientific ideas, facilitates the teaching and
learning process, and provides teacher the opportunity to be innovative in
delivering the lesson.
The teachers also enumerated the top five most pressing challenges
encountered that includes the following; poor/no internet connection, lack of
 seminars and trainings in ICT, lack of technical support, lack of time to plan and
prepare lessons using ICT, and unavailability of ICT tools and software:
and (5) An Enhancement Program entitled “ICT Competency Enhancement
Program for Physics Teachers.” was proposed to address the advancement of the
competency level of the teachers in the use of ICT for a more innovative teaching
and learning process.

XII. Reflection

ICT is a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to

communicate, and manage information. When used appropriately, ICTs help in
expanding access to education through faster information distribution and
availability anytime and anywhere (Aktaruzzaman et al., 2011). ICT removes
problems concerning space and time. ICT gives access to knowledge makes
serving and sharing knowledge easier. Truly the benefits of integrating ICT in the
teaching and learning process is limitless. It offers us convenience, makes
interaction more enjoyable and opens windows for new thinking, an atmosphere
of innovation.
Even more so that we could see the importance of ICT in education in the
new normal way of learning because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. All of the more
traditional ways of teaching (face-to-face) that we’ve been fond of is not possible
because of the pandemic. Therefore, it means that most of the learning processes
must be done virtually, through the aid of ICT of course.
In the world over, it is generally agreed that development could only be
meaningful if and when it is science and technology driven. Information and
communication technologies (ICT) have become one of the fundamental building
blocks of modern society. Many countries now regard the mastering of the basic
skills and concepts of ICT as an inevitable part of the core of education. Physics
is generally of the subject that students have a hard time understanding. It is
because some of the concepts in physics is so complex that they have a hard time
visualizing or grasping the idea that is being thought.
ICTs have the potential to support advance educational procedures in
science and physics education. First of all, technology rich curricula can assist in
meeting the growing demands of the resent standards for inquiry-based learning.
In addition, new, innovative content can support sweeping changes that go far
beyond what is envisioned in the standards. ICT and science education share the
platform of the educational reform movement. ICT enables access to vast volumes
of scientific and technologic information and synthesizes and produces useful
knowledge from it. Therefore, it has forced new goals for education that have
students learn about ICT and become proficient in using ICT in the pursuit of
 knowledge to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning procedures.
If ICT is to great in integrating in education specifically science education,
then why aren’t we seeing enough ICT integration in the teaching and learning
process in the Philippines? The answer relies on two things: the first one is the
teacher competency in using ICT tools to integrate in their lesson and the second
one is the government’s provision of ICT facilities in schools.
I believe that for ICT to be properly and effectively utilized seminars,
trainings and workshops related to ICT should be proposed to help the teachers
enhance their ICT competency level; teachers should be encouraged to run
through advanced practices on the use of ICT in teaching Physics by exposing
them to the different ICT-based methodologies. Integration of ICT in lessons also
greatly depends on the material that both the students and teachers use therefore
the government should allocate appropriate funds for ICT facilities, tools, and
software that can be used to facilitate the teaching and learning process.
Now that we are personally experiencing the importance of ICT in education
in online learning we must not forget to apply them to our practices when face-to-
face classes resume. We must aim to incorporate as much ICT-based
methodologies as we can to our daily lesson planning because not only will it make
our jobs of making the students understand different concepts much easier but it
would also develop the higher order thinking skills of the students.
As I’ve said before (ICT) have become one of the fundamental building
blocks of modern society. We must adapt, we must incorporate and we must not
be after of learning new things specially things that involve technology. Instead of
being afraid of the new we must embrace it with open arms because at the end of
the day, progress doesn’t happen without change.

XIII. References

Catherine Bergonia Briones, (2018), “Teachers’ Competency on the Use of ICT in

Teaching Physics in the Junior High School” in 4th International Research
Conference on Higher Education, KnE Social Sciences, pages 177–204. DOI
10.18502/kss.v3i6.2380

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