ACTION RESEARCH

STRATEGIC LEARNING MATERIALS AND MANIPULATIVE SKILLS IN

IMPROVING MATHEMATICS PERFORMANCE AMONG GRADE SIX PUPILS

I. Context and Rationale

Every teacher aims to make every learner understand and apply the lessons

learned from the class to daily lives, but this may not be met if students themselves

find it hard to understand the lessons in Mathematics. According to Kautzman

(2012), many students these days seem to struggle more and more with math, it

could the standards are growing in difficulty, and there are more requirements for

the students. Math intervention strategies are needed and used to help students

who are struggling or having difficulty succeed for what reason. Van-de Walle (2007)

found out that students perceive exponents as challenging, unnecessary

complicated concepts and they think that exponents have no connection with

everyday life. With different rules or laws of exponents, students tend to experience

problems in remembering these rules.

daily lives, but, this may not be met if students themselves find it hard to
understand the lessons in Mathematics.
According to Kautzman (2012), many students these days seem to struggle more
and more with math, it could be
the standards are growing in difficulty, and there are more requirements for
the students. Math intervention
strategies are needed and used to help students who are struggling or having
difficulty succeed for whatever
reason. Van-de Walle (2007) found out that students perceive exponents as
challenging, unnecessary and
complicated concepts and also, they think that exponents have no connection
with everyday life. With the
different rules or laws of exponents, students tend to experience problems in
remembering these rules.
 Students have many conceptions in learning Mathematics which hinders them

to progress and study subject. When students are struggling, teachers should use

various assessments to identify areas of need, and they should use the data that

they obtain to choose strategic learning materials and manipulative skills. These

interventions can help the students achieve and master the competencies in

targeted and structured ways. To help them achieve success in learning, one of the

ways found to be effective is through the use of a strategic learning material and

manipulative skills.

Strategic learning materials and manipulative skills are used for the mastery

of the least-learned competencies. These materials consist of activities and simple

interactive discussions where students can study and explore on their own. With

these features and uses of the strategic learning material and manipulative skill, the

proponent is prompted to conduct this study to determine strategic learning

materials and manipulative skills in improving mathematics performance among

grade six pupils. The findings of the study serve as the basis or reference of the

school for further improvement and enhancement of the instructional delivery if

there is a need, especially in the use of intervention materials to increase and boost

the perform and mastery of the students on the concepts discussed.

II. Action Research Question

This study entitle, “Strategic Learning Materials and Manipulative Skills in

Improving Mathematics Performance among Grade Six Pupils”, specifically seeks to

answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of manipulative skills in mathematics of Grade VI pupils?

 2. What is the strategic learning material and manipulative skill of Grade VI

pupils?

3. How pupils in grade six improve their manipulative skills in Mathematics?

III. Proposed Innovation, Intervention and Strategy

Strategic Learning Materials

They were intervention materials which designed to help teachers provide the

students a needed support to make progress. They tried to increase and deepen

their skills, knowledge and understanding from concrete science to what is more

abstract. They gave the students the opportunity to explore their understanding and

make sense of these new scientific ideas. They helped the students what they know

and understand from the teacher to formalize their thinking. Furthermore, they were

instructional materials meant to reteach the concept (s) and skill (s) to help the

learners master a competency-based skill which they were not able to develop

during classroom teaching.

Each intervention material has five parts such as the guide card, activity card,

assessment card, enrichment card and reference card. The guide card stimulated

the students’ interest on the topic discussed and gave a preview of what they would

learn. It presented the skill focus that mentioned the learning competency, the three

subtasks or activities and the concrete outcome or product students are expected to

demonstrate or produce. This cited the activities and challenged the learner in

performing the tasks which were competency-oriented and can be done individually

or per group. The activity card followed the guide card where it translated the focus

skills in at least three activities. It provided activities that were organized based on

the sequence of the focus skills written in the guide card and included examples to
concretize the concepts, particularly those drawn from real life experience. The

activities included in the activity allowed students to make discoveries and

formulate ideas on their own, guide and challenge their thinking and learning and

use local data and situations like interacting with people in the community. It also

provided transition statements that reorganized students’ accomplishments.

Likewise, the learning materials provided questions that guided students to develop

concepts and focus skills, elicited the message or meaning that a student can take

away from an activity and established the relationship between the topic/lesson and

what students already know or are familiar to them. The assessment card provided

exercises, drills or activities that allowed students to assess their understanding of

what they have learned correct errors when appropriate and monitor their learning

and use feedback about their progress. This card was formulated standard test

formats to give students practice in test taking techniques. It therefore has a

separate card that includes the answer key. The enrichment card provided activities

that reinforced the content of the lesson and provided opportunities for students to

apply what they have learned to other subject areas or in new contexts. It also

encouraged students to work independently or in a group to explore answers to their

own questions. The reference card provided reading to students. It related the

content with the students’ life experiences. It included a carefully and well-

researched list of resources that helped students reinforce concepts and skills that

they learned. It also included additional useful content not found in the books.

In a nutshell, the strategic learning materials ensured alignment of activities

with the tasks/objectives, kept the activities short and simple, provided a variety of

activities to cater to the diverse learning styles; provided number of activities so that
the learner can have enough practice in developing the skill and lastly focus on the

least mastered skills, simple, easy to understand and reproduce.

PRE-TEST/ POST-TEST

It was a 20-items teacher-made test which was designed to measure the

mastery level of the students on the lesson chosen by the researcher. The items in

the test were analyzed and the difficulty/discrimination indices were taken to

discard or reject the item. Items which were not within the range of 0.20 to 0.80

difficulty index and 0.30 to 0.80 discrimination index were discarded and items fall

within the prescribe limit were retained. Furthermore, the validated test was

finalized and a pilot pre-test was administered to two groups of respondents before

the experiments. The experimental group was exposed to the use of Strategic

learning Materials while the control group used the traditional way of teaching.

Likewise, a pre-test was given to both groups before the introduction of the lesson

and a post-test after the end of the lesson. Both pre-tests and post-tests given to the

experimental and control group were the same.

IV. Action Research Methods

a. Participants

The Grade VI pupils in Mathematics VI handled by the proponent were the

respondents in this action research. They were the Grade VI students of Pikit

Central Elementary School. There were 40 selected student-participants.

b. Data Gathering Method

The proponent presented the idea to the Subject Team Leader in Mathematics

and discussed with the conduct of the research. A proposal was made and was to

the Principal of Pikit Central Elementary School. With the consent of the Principal,
the proponent then sought approval about the subject matter. After the approval,

the proponent identify the least mastered skills in Mathematics VI and found out

that mastery level was not achieved by students in the previous years (2020-2021)

and this school year. The orientation of the student-participants followed. Then the

conduct of the tests started. The set of tests was given to the participants after

implementing the strategic learning material. And their scores were tallied and

interpreted to determine whether there were significant differences in their scores in

the pre-tests and post-tests.

The researcher presented the idea to the Subject Team Leader in Mathematics and
discussed with he conduct of the research. A proposal was made and was to the
Assistant Principal for Junior High School. W the consent of the Assistant Principal,
the researcher then sought approval from the principal about the s matter. After the
approval, the researcher met the Mathematics Teachers with the Subject Team
Leade identify the least mastered skills in Mathematics IX and found out that
mastery level was not achieved by students in the previous years (2016-2017) and
this school year. The orientation of the student-particip followed. Then the conduct
of the tests started. The same set of tests was given to the two groups - control
experimental group, however, experimental group was given the intervention
material. And their scores in e treatment were tallied and interpreted to determine
whether there were significant differences in their m scores in the pretests and
posttests. A letter of request was secured for from the School
Principal with the endorsement of the Master Teacher. Upon its
approval, proper coordination with the class advisers and parents
of the pupil respondents was done by the researcher.
The researcher personally administered the questionnaire to
ensure that all items will be answered and 100% percent retrieval
will be attained. The interview, observation and field notes was
also personally done by the researcher.
c. Data Analysis Plan

To determine the effectiveness of the strategic learning material and

manipulative skills in improving mathematics performance of the participants in

positive, zero, and negative integral exponents, the following statistical tools were

utilized:
Mean and Standard Deviation - These tools were used to answer Problem 1 to

determine the level of manipulative skills in mathematics of Grade VI pupils. The

following guide was used for interpretation: Parameter

Qualitative Description

12.20 – 15.00 Very High Performance

9.40 – 12.19 High Performance

6.60 – 9.39 Average Performance

3.80 – 6.59 Low Performance

1.00 – 3.79 Very Low Performance

V. Action Research Work Plan and Timelines

STRATEGIE PERSONS Resources (Funding/Time/ Time

S INVOLVED People/ Material Frame
1. Identify
and target Proponent
pupils with
minimum
growth (slow Performance Target August
learners) Monitoring Chart, practice 2022
2. Set tests, Least Mastered Skills
targets for Proponent
pupil
achievement
(by the end
of each
grading
period).

3. Conduct Proponent
on-the spot Participants
pre-test

4. Develop Proponent
personalized Pupil's profile, strategic September
intervention intervention materials, 1st Week
programs monitoring and evaluation
report

5. Allow Proponent Activity sheets, laboratory September

pupils to do Participants materials, others 2nd week
hands-on
activities to
learn more

6. Submit Proponent Basic Education Research October

result Fund (BERF) 2022
(Action
research) to
the Principal
I. Show the
outcome and
intervention
to other
teachers
teaching
Mathematics
subject
7. Use the Proponent Basic Education Research November
findings in Fund (BERF) 2022
addressing
the
problems on
Mathematics

VI. Cost Estimate

 A detailed breakdowns of items with their corresponding cost will be

furnished. The item and cost reasonably reflect the funding needs of the action

research and adhere to the guidelines of BERF guidelines. The overall plan reflects

the proponent’s capacity to project specific expenses.

Cost
STRATEGIE PERSONS Resources (Funding/Time/ Time Estimate
S INVOLVED People/ Material Frame d
1. Identify
and target Proponent
pupils with
minimum
growth (slow Performance Target August
learners) Monitoring Chart, practice 2022
2. Set tests, Least Mastered Skills
₱ 500.00
targets for Proponent
pupil
achievement
(by the end
of each
grading
period).

3. Conduct Proponent
on-the spot Participants
pre-test

4. Develop Proponent
personalized Pupil's profile, strategic Septembe
intervention intervention materials, r ₱ 500.00
programs monitoring and evaluation 1st Week
report

5. Allow Proponent Activity sheets, laboratory Septembe ₱ 500.00

pupils to do Participants materials, others r
hands-on 2nd week
activities to
learn more
6. Submit Proponent Basic Education Research October ₱ 300.00
result Fund (BERF) 2022
(Action
research) to
the Principal
I. Show the
outcome and
intervention
to other
teachers
teaching
Mathematics
subject
7. Use the Proponent Basic Education Research November ₱ 500.00
findings in Fund (BERF) 2022
addressing
the
problems on
Mathematics

Total ₱ 2300.00

VII. Plans for Dissemination and Utilization

The findings of this study will be disseminated and utilized in the

improvement of mathematics performance of the Grade VI pupil of Pikit Central

Elementary school that effect changes of instructional supervisory of Mathematics

Teacher using the Strategic Learning Materials. Nevertheless, other Mathematic

Teachers will be topped and encouraged to adopt the Strategic Learning Materials in

teaching Mathematics for the improvement of Mathematics performance of the

Participants. The results will be cascaded to the internal and external stakeholders

of the school during the parents-teachers meeting. These unspoiled avenues will be

utilized to share reflections about the current research results and recommend

future actions to the teachers.

VIII. References

Bureau of Elementary Education 2004 Annual Report. http://bee-deped.

tripod.com/bee2004annualreport

Das, R C.( 2004) Science Teaching in Schools. Sterling Publishers Private

Limited De La Cruz, Eduardo. (1990, March). Development of the Work-
Text in Algebra, PCU March 1990 Ediger,

Kautzman, K. (2012). Math intervention strategies: Suggestions for struggling

learners

Marlow.(2005) Teaching Science Successfully, Discovery Publishing House

Garcia, Maan V.( 2003, September). Educator, Magazine for Teachers, Manila
Philippines Llewellyn, D. (2005) “Teaching High School Science Through
Inquiry: A Case Study Approach” Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Manila Times, Tuesday, July 6, 2004. The Sorry State of RP Public

Education Manila Bulletin. (2003, September). Educators Speak. Manila

Philippines

Panorama. (2004, May). Giving Quality Education to our children, Manila

Philippines

Van-de Walle, J. A. (2007). Elementary and middle school mathematics

teaching
developmentally (6th ed.).