CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Religion and education have a close relationship even in

ancient times. Historians and social scientists have written

about this relationship and about how the two may influence each

other. Religious leaders are not just spreading the faith but

also learning. They built schools in order to educate their

clerics and lay followers (Pew Research Center, 2016).

Undoubtedly religion has remained a significant aspect of

our society and culture since the beginning of human

civilization. The origins of religious beliefs in our ancestors

remain ambiguous, so far according to anthropologists the great

world religions started as the movements of enlightenment and

revitalization for communities looking for more comprehensive

answers to their problems (trishvicious, 2013). However, there

are firm studies claiming that the new generations are less

religious compared to the older generation. They are much less

likely to affiliate with any religious tradition or to identify

themselves as part of some religion.According to Steve-Patterson

“Plenty of people believe in God or an eternal life, but they

don’t seem religious, per se. They might believe in traditionally

religious ideas, but they lack that essential “religious-ness”

quality.

Technology has always squeezed our lives—and of course that

also includes religion. Guttenberg’s publishing of the Bible

changed the sway the clerics held over interpretation of

Christian scriptures. This could be seen as a undesirable, but

publishing the Bible also led to rising literacy rates. Lay

people learned to read so they could understand the scriptures

for themselves. This occurrence of literacy opened up

opportunities for a more personalized approach to religion. It

also put the foundation for today’s modern education systems

(Ryan Alleman, 2018).The widespread use and availability of new

technologies like computers, becomes significant in gaining

knowledge and skills. Everything that you want to know will be

given to you in just one click. Undeniably technologies have

transformed our lives- how we interconnect, how we work and even

how we learn things. In this world where everything is within our

reach, does religion still matters?

Our ancestors inculcate in our mind the importance of

religious beliefs and practices which until now is very much

apparent but due to the initiation of technology, youth at the

present time tend to neglect the religious aspect and its

importance. Research published by Professor Stephen Bullivant of

St Mary’s University, London, tells that a large proportion of

16–29year olds across 22 countries identify as having ‘no

religion. The UK is evidence of the latter; 30% of young people

here are religious (22% Christian and 8% non–Christian) and 70%

are non–religious, according to Bullivant’s statistics.

(theos, ).It has been reported that almost half the population of

England and Wales now considers itself to have “no religion”.

This sudden rise – from 25% to 48.5% over just three years from

2011 to 2014 – seems a bit too steep to be totally credible. But

then, the last survey in Scotland put the proportion of “nons” at

just over half (52%). Even if we approach these figures with some

skepticism, it is still sobering news for churches and other

religious communities (Mark Elliott Professor of Divinity,

University of St Andrews).

According to Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar

Cruz, technology and recreational activities were the reasons

Filipinos find it hard to make time and go to the Church. Newest

Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that 48 percent

Filipinos said they go to religious services regularly, followed

by 34 percent who go monthly. Seventeen percent said they

occasionally attend services while 0.4 percent said they never go

to church (inquirer.net, 2017).

 Sociologist Robert Putnam concluded that religion has not

only a good bearing, but even a great effect upon the achievement

of a child’s education compared to unchurched peers. According to

him, youth who are involved in a religious organization take

tougher courses, get higher grades and test scores, and are less

likely to drop out of high school. On the other hand, some viewed

education and religion as incompatible. There is an underlying

notion inside the liberal education institution that religious

belief is backwards and opposing to enlightenment. Schools have

long been viewed as gateways to a glorious secular and

technological future, free of religious misconception. After all,

the purpose of education is to make children “career and college

ready,” not to impart character or moral sentiments. Some

educationalists go to the point of insinuating that the less

religious influence upon the student, the better.

With the previous statement, the researcher decides to

conduct study on the Relationship between Religiosity and Student

Academic Performance of BSE- Mathematics Students in CBSUA

Pasacao Campus. This will answer some issues regarding the

student’s views and opinions about religiosity. The output of

this research will serve as bases for developing spiritual

programs that will improve the spirituality as well as the

academic performance of the students of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The purpose of the study is to examined the relationship of

religiosity on the academic performance of the BSE-Mathematics

students of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.

Specifically, the following question will be asked:

1. What is the level of religiosity of BSE Mathematics

Students of CBSUA Pasacao Campus along;

a. spiritual formation

b. values formation

c. faith formation

2. What is the level of Student Academic Performance of BSE

Mathematics Students of CBSUA Pasacao Campus?

3. Is there a significant relationship between religiosity

and student academic performance?

4. What spiritual programs could be developed out of the

study to improve the spirituality and academic performance of the

students?

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study is mainly concerned with the relationship between

religiosity and student academic performance of BSE- Mathematics

students of Central Bicol State University of Agriculture Pasacao

Campus. In the study, religiosity pertains to a perception of how

strongly one adheres to their religious beliefs or even how

exclusively they defined their spirituality in only religious

terms. On the other hand student performance defined as how well

the student has prepared for and performed in class, and how well

the student has mastered the material presented. The study

focuses on the impact of religiosity on the student academic

performance.

The 2nd year, 3rd year and 4th year BSE- Mathematics

students of CBSUA- Pasacao Campus were the respondents of the

study. The researchers believed that the respondents will

contributed for the development of the study. All second year,

third year and fourth year students will be surveyed. Furthermore

the duration of the study is only for the school year 2021-2022.

ASSUMPTION

1. This study is guided by the assumption that the level of

religiosity of the BSE-Mathematics students significantly

affecting student’s academic performance.

2. This study is guided by the assumption that students of

BSE-Mathematics could possess religiosity.

HYPOTHESIS
 There is no significant relationship between religiosity

and student academic performance of the BSE- Mathematics students

of CBSUA- Pasacao Campus.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Academic Performance. This refers to the extent to which a

student has reached their short or long-term educational goals.

Cumulative GPA can represent academic achievement.

BSE-Mathematics Major. This refers to the students who are

enrolled in Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics.

Faith formation. This is the term used to describe the

growth in faith, which implies both formation and transformation,

leading one to live out the Gospel as part of a believing

community.

Religiosity. These refers to the perception of how strongly

one adheres to their beliefs to God/divine power along with

spiritual formation, faith formation, and values formation or

even how exclusively they defined their spirituality in only

religious terms.

Spiritual formation. This refers either to the process and

practices by which a person may progress in one's spiritual or

religious life.
 Spiritual Programs. This refers to a spiritual programs

developed out of the study that will be used to improve the

students spirituality and students performance of the BSE-

Mathematics Major in CBSUA Pasacao Campus.

Values formation. This pertains to a person thought; words

and actions that help him/her grow and develop as individual.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study contributes substantive knowledge regarding the

association between student performance and religiosity of BSE-

Mathematics students in CBSUA Pasacao Campus as well as insight

for religiosity and student academic performance through

quantitative inquiry.

Teacher. This knowledge may provide tertiary school teacher

with a deeper understanding of the lives of religious students

and the role of religion in student academic performance.

Researcher. This research may provide knowledge and

information to the future researchers who wish to study the

religiosity and academic performance of the tertiary students.

Administrator. This information may provide the tertiary

school administrator with a deeper understanding of the lives of

religious students and its relationship to student academic

performance. This may also provide basis for developing spiritual

programs which will help improve the spirituality and academic

performance of the students.

Students. This research may provide information regarding

the student level of religiosity and its relationship in student

academic performance.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1 show the foregoing theoretical framework which

served as the bases of conceptualizing the present study. It

relates the theories to the religiosity and student academic

performance of BSE-Mathematics Students of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.

 Modes of Religiosity: A
Cognitive Theory of
Religious Transmission

Functionalism Rationalism
RELIGIOSITY

A Naturalistic View of
Religion

Spady’s
Sociological
theory
Bean’s
STUDENT psychological
Theory of PERFORMANCE theory
performance

Spiritual programs developed to improve the

spirituality and performance of the BSE- Mathematics
major of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.
Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious

Transmission, A Naturalistic View of Religion, Functionalism,

Rationalism, Spady’s Sociological theory, Theory of performance,

Bean’s psychological theory could really affect the religiosity

and student academic performance and as basis for developing

program that will improved the spirituality and performance of

the students.

Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious

Transmission. This theory shows how religion tends to unite

around one of these two poles depending on how religious

behaviors are remembered. In “imagistic mode”, rituals have a

lasting impact on peoples’ minds, haunting not only our memories

but influencing the way we reflect on religious topics. These

psychological features are linked to the scale and structure of

religious communities, fostering small, exclusive, and

ideologically heterogeneous ritual groupings or fractions. In the

“doctrinal mode”, on the other hand, religious knowledge is

primarily spread through intensive and repetitive teaching;

religious communities are contrastingly large, inclusive, and

centrally regulated. Modes of religiosity can provide you with a

new way to think when you think about religion.

Naturalistic View of Religion. Marx actually said very

little about religion directly; in all of his writings, he hardly

ever addresses religion in a systematic fashion, even though he

touches on it frequently in books, speeches, and pamphlets. The

reason is that his critique of religion forms a simply one piece

of his inclusive theory of society- thus, understanding his

critique of society in general.

According to Marx, religion is an expression of material

realities and economic justice. Thus, problems in religion are

eventually problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but

merely a symptom. It is used by oppressor to make people feel

better about the distress they experience due to being poor and

exploited. This is the origin of his comment that religion is the

“opium of the masses”- but as shall see, his thoughts are much

more complex than usually portrayed.In this study, the student

religiosity mayinfluence their performance in academic and non-

academic.

Functionalism. According to functionalists, “religion”

serves several purposes, like providing answers to spiritual

mysteries, offering emotional comfort, and creating a place for

social interaction and social control. One of the most important

functions of religion, from a functionalist perspective, is the

opportunities it creates for social interaction and the formation

groups. It provides social support and social networking,

offering a place to meet others who hold similar values and a

place to seek help (spiritual and material) in times of need.

Rationalism. Rationalists object to the phenomenological and

functionalist approaches, arguing that they fail to understand

why believers in systems of non- scientific knowledge do think

they tell the truth and that their ideas are right, even when

science has shown them to be wrong. They claim that one cannot

explain forms of knowledge in terms of the beneficial

psychological or societal effects that an outside observer may

see them as producing. Rationalist emphasize the importance of

looking at the point of view of those who believe in them. People

do not believe in God, they think their beliefs are correct –

that they tell them the truth about the way the world is.

Spady’s Sociological theory. Spady was one of the first

researchers to propose a widely known theory on student retention

in 1970 (Spady 1970, 77). The basic assumption of this theory is

that student dropout is best explained by a process in involving

an interaction between the individual student and the university

environment. In this interaction, the student’s attributes such

as attitudes, skills and interests are bare to influences,

expectations and demands of the university. The result of this

interaction will determined whether the student will be

assimilated in the academic and social system of the university.

Linked to this process are variables that promote the academic

and social integration of students in higher education. These

variables are family background, academic potential, normative

congruence, grade performance, intellectual development and peers

support. All these variables are more linked to two other

variables namely satisfaction by the university and institutional

commitment (Spady 1970).

Theory of performance. The theory of performance (ToP)

develops and relates six foundational concepts to form a

framework that can be used to explain performance as well as

performance improvements. The level of performance depends

holistically on 6 components: context, level of knowledge, levels

of skills, level of identity, personal factors, and fixed

factors. Three axioms are proposed for effective performance

improvements. These involve a performance’s mindset, immersion in

an enriching environment, and engagement in reflective practice.

Bean’s psychological theory. This theory further opposes

that the intentions of students to persist are influenced by

their attitudes and behaviors. These attitudes and behaviors

might affect the degree to which the student is satisfied with

the institution. The level of satisfaction might increase the

level of commitment to the institution. In 1985, Bean and Metzner

developed a theory on non-traditional students. They described

this students as older, part-time and commuter students. The

attrition of these students is mostly affected by the external

environment variables such as family responsibilities, finances

and outside encouragements, rather than social integration

variables such as university memberships and friends who tend to

affect traditional students.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 2 is the conceptual framework of the study which shows

that the students’ level of religiosity and students’ level of

performance will served as bases of developing spiritual programs

to improve the spirituality and performance of the BSE-

Mathematics major of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.

 Relationship between religiosity and student
performance of BSE- Mathematics Major of CBSUA
Pasacao campus

Level of Religiosity
Student Performance
of BSE- Mathematics
of BSE- Mathematics
 Spiritual
 Academic
formation
performance
 Values
 Non- Academic
formation
involvement
 Faith formation

Spiritual programs developed to improve the

spirituality and performance of the BSE-
Mathematics major of CBSUA Pasacao Campus.
Figure 2. Conceptual Framework

NOTES

Pew Research Center(2016. “How religion may affect educational

attainment: scholarly theories and historical background”.
Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2016/12/13/how-religion-
may-affect-educational-attainment-scholarly-theories-and-
historical-background/

Alleman,R.(2018). “The Impact of Technology on Religion: 5 Faith-

Promoting Technologies”. Retrieved from
https://blog.jive.com/impact-of-technology-on-religion-5-faith-
promoting-technologies/

Barahan,M.(2017 ). “Why fewer people are going to church”.

Retrieved from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/890119/why-fewer-people-are-going-
to-church

Horvat, J. (2015. “The Impact of Religion on Education”.

Retrieved from

http://www.tfp.org/the-impact-of-religion-on-education/