BOUNDLESS PEN: UNFOLDING THE LIVED EXPERIENCES ON CREATIVE

WRITING IN ONLINE LEARNING

A Research Proposal

Presented to College of Teacher Education and Technology

University of Southeastern Philippines Tagum-

Mabini Campus

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

course Language Educational Research

Proponents:

Dela Torre, Jelaica Jill Q.

Grado, Kent Elden C.

Nor, Kristine Jane M.

December 2021

CHAPTER 1
 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Creativity plays a significant role in different academic areas particularly in

technological advances, in the social and behavioral sciences, and the
humanities and arts (Dudek, 2003, cited in Tok & Kandemir, 2014). It imparts
considerable contribution to entrepreneurship and innovation which place it as
one of the primary concerns of organizations and businesses around the world
(Runco, 2004). In school environments, one of the means to evaluate creativity in
students is through text by using writing skills.

Writing skills is essentially important language skills for both academic and
professional performance (Mohammed, 2019). Furthermore, Creative Writing is a
type of writing that surpasses the characteristics of traditional, academic, or
technical forms of writing. It is an artistic expression of thoughts to convey
meaning through the use of drama, narrative, and imagery (Duke University,
N.d). Over the years, it has been considered to be an integral part of language
education and literature. It has gained great appreciation in the field of ELT
wherein many universities in Asia began offering these courses (Thadhoothon,
2020). Developing student's creative writing skills in particular is indeed a great
challange especially for those ESL learners. It requires them to master its
mechanisms and procedure comprising the organization, vocabulary,
punctuations, spellings, and other considerations (Mohammed, 2019). However,
amid the current pandemic that the world is facing today, face to face learning is
changed into a distance learning in order to protect the health of the teachers
and the learners. Thus, teaching and learning creative writing in particular is also
affected. Research shows that students perform differently in online class
compared to face-to-face learning. Through online class learning, students’
success in engaging to learning considers a wide range of different
characteristics, circumstances, student/instructor experiences, and more.

Internationally, in Lithuania, the study of Burkšaitienė (2015) revealed that

half of the 18 participants claimed to be creative where only four participants are
involved in creative writing. Burkšaitienė (2015) argues that experience of
students is important to foster creativity. Teachers should take into account what
students already know about creativity and creative writing Burkšaitienė (2015).
Successful communication of ideas to readers is the main goal of a writer
(Chaiyadejkamjorn, Soonthonrojana, & Sangkhaphanthanon, 2017). The writer
should be creative in writing in order to meet the goal, hence, they need to utilize
their unique imagination and ideas in writing (Chaiyadejkamjorn et. al., 2017).
When it comes to expressing ideas thru writing, some learners found it frustrating
as their vocabulary is limited (Cole & Feng, 2015)..

Moreover, in Philippines context, the study of Gustilo (2016) shows that

there is difference between more proficient and less proficient writers in writing.
Gustilo (2016) states that good student writing are praised while the opposite are
tend to be disliked. Acuin, Petallana, Esperas (2018) states that it is a challenge
for students to write creatively. The study of Portillo (2021) revealed that common
writing difficulties made by learners are grammatical errors and inappropriate
choice of vocabulary. Portillo (2021) also found out that unnecessary shift in
tense, ambiguous pronoun reference, loose sentence, sentence fragment,
dangling modifier, and wordy sentence are also the problems of learners in
writing.

This study aims to recognize HUMMS students of Mabini National High

School lived experiences in creative writing through online learning. This study is
based on the premise that that knowledge derived from this research will reveal
the current situation of creative writing- learners. More importantly, this will also
give insights to both language learners and instructors on how to still deliver
quality education in teaching creative writing using online modality.

Review of Related Literature

This sections presents the research literature of the study arranged

according to the variables and indicators namely: Learner experiences, Creative
writing, challenges in creative writing (different genre/forms of literature,
individual difference and writing process, lack of motivation, untrained English
teachers, insufficient time for instruction, and focus on surface errors.).

Learner Experiences. Experiential learning focuses on learners reflecting

on their experience of doing something (Bates, 2015). Burkšaitienė (2015)
argues that experience of students is important to foster creativity. Learner
experiences were described by Huang, Spector, and Yang (2019) as a generic
experience that stems from learner experience. Huang, et. al. (2019) further
stated that through effective learner experiences, interesting and memorable
educational experiences can be achieved. In online education, learner
experience inside the learning platforms are also considered rather than solely
focusing on meeting the pedagogical aspect of online education (Bouchrika,
Harrati, & Vu, 2018).

More so, Quintana, Haley, Magyar, and Tan (2020) states that online
learning experiences are becoming in trend. As such, Quintana et. al., (2020)
stresses that understanding of learner experiences also increases. In the study of
Tal, Zou, Farren, and Muntean (2020) states that student motivation, academic
performance, learning experience improves when students are reinforced
effectively. Classroom designs need to evolve in order to meet the needs on how
students learn today.

Creative Writing

According to Erdogan & Erdogan (2012), writing is one of the essential

literacy skills that students are taught starting in the early years of primary
school. As a result, writing is one of the most crucial skills that any student
should be able to acquire. Students are expected to be able to express their
ideas and thoughts in writing, which is a skill that everyone should possess.

Tarigan (2008), states that writing may be viewed as an activity that

reveals ideas through the use of writing language as a media presenter. Writing
activities teach students how to articulate their thoughts or innovative ideas,
allowing them to think creatively and communicate their ideas through writing.
Creative writing stresses a person's active practice of expressing ideas using
innovative techniques to create a variety of copyrighted works that are both
valuable and engaging.

According to Yunus (2015), creative writing highlights a person's active

process of gaining ideas in unconventional ways to produce a variety of creative
works that are not only valuable but also enjoyable. Students learn how to
convey their creative ideas through creative writing. So that children become
accustomed to expressing themselves through writing activities.

Harper (2016) defines creative writing as a form of creativity involving

language in written form. The term ‘creative writing’ usually refers to two things -
the activities done in creative writing and the completed works produced. As an
activity, it refers to the act of writing imaginatively and artistically, drawing from
one’s “imagination” and “intellect”, using one’s “personal and cultural knowledge”.

In addition, Maley (2012) defines creative writing as an aesthetically

motivated, highly disciplined, and personal activity that involves the imaginative
representation of emotions, events, people, and experiences rather than the
representation of facts.  Creative writing includes not only language but also
content or idea, and it adheres to specific literary forms and genres. Instead of
emphasizing formal language and grammar accuracy, creative writing fosters
freedom in writing forms and linguistic experimentation.

Challenges in Creative Writing

Neupane (2014) enumerated challenges in creative writing, this includes

different genre/forms of literature, individual difference and writing process, lack
of motivation, untrained English teachers, insufficient time for instruction, and
focus on surface errors.

Different genre/form of literature. Frow (2014) defines genre as the way

of categorizing literature and culture. Esberk (2014) in his study states that
literary genres and their corresponding sub-categories do not have many
differences in each other resulting to problem in identifying and categorizing the
genere of the work. In the study of Worshman and Kalita (2018) entitled genre
identification and the compositional effect of genre in literature presents genre
identification problem. Wroshman and Kalita (2018) states that genre
identification problem requires syntactic and thematic analysis in order to
determine the genre of the work.

On the other hand, Patil (2019) describes literature as way of expressing

experiences, ideas, imagination, feelings, and life itself. Patil (2019) further states
that literature genre have their own characteristics which enables writers to utilize
based on their personal concern. Neupane (2014) states that these literature
genres have rules, regulations, norms, values, principles, theories, structural
pattern, features, types, formation, and so on which are distinct to the genres
itself.

Neupane (2014) further states that in order for the students to write
creatively the teacher should have enough knowledge about literature genres to
support the learners’ creative writing. In creative writing, the teacher should
expose the students to different genres for them to gain knowledge which they
could use in creative writing.

Individual Difference and Writing Process. Neupane (2014) states in

his work that individuals with vastly diverse process can still produce equally
good results. Patil (2019) mentioned in her work that a woman and man have
differences and that experiences differs from each individual but there are still
common denominators to people. Patil agrees to Neupane regarding individual
difference. Patil (2019) states that having different genres of literature pertaining
to one idea might happen as literature is grounded on human observation and
experiences.

Crossley (2019) in his work stresses that L1 writers differ with L2 writers in
writing. Crossley (2019) states that L1 writers are more fluent with language use
compares to L2 which vary significantly in their language proficiency. Crossley
(2019) further states that non-native and native speaker may differently affect the
learners’ writing quality. More so, Cole and Feng (2015) stated that when it
comes to expressing ideas thru writing, some learners found it frustrating as their
vocabulary compares to other learners is limited. Cole and Feng (2015) added
that students with lack of background knowledge of target language, the student
will find it difficult to write with meaning.

Learner’s individual emotion such as fear, anxiety, etc. can affect the oral
and written expressions of students especially during class discussion
(Dallimore, Hertenstein, & Platt, 2011). Despite the learners’ individual
differences and writing process, we should not neglect the fact that every
individual can produce good results in writing.

Lack of Motivation. Students’ inclination, energy, and interest in writing

and writing tasks – including essays, stories, short answers, and reports are the
main ideas pointed out by writing motivation (Collie, R.J., Martin, A.J., &
Curwood, J.S. (2015). Frank (2019) stated that almost half of writers experience
motivational problems. Furthermore, Hartnett et al. (2011) describes motivation in
online learning context is an intricate phenomenon that is mostly affected by
individual traits and definite circumstances. As pointed out by Kyewski & Krämer,
2018) motivation is worth exploring in an online course because students are
inclined to participate less and high erosion rates lead to motivational questions
in distance education for instructional designers.

Untrained English Teacher. Manny researches has found that there is a

positive or significant relationship between teachers’ qualifications and students’
academic performance (Ezeh, J. 2020). She added that this can lead to further
disruption in the performance of the students, their self-persistent, critical low
self-esteem, and decreased motivation for self-development if qualifications were
not attained. As the result is that students are being sold short, denied the skill
and devotion that could engage them in both a subject and a love of learning that
could lead to a lifetime of fulfilment (Morrison, N. 2015). Tshabalala (2014)
advances the argument that the quality of teacher training has an impact on
teaching methods and improvement of skills. It is claimed that for effective
teaching and learning to take place, teachers need to have some satisfactory
degree of experience. Mavhundutse (2014) is of the view that experience is one
of the major factors contributing towards effective teaching. Untrained teachers
lack the capability to teach lessons that need deep expertise in literature.
Untrained English Teacher lacks proper knowledge and will not be able to
provide good ideas to write creatively and use different strategies and techniques
to involve the students in creative writing (Neupane, S. 2014).

Insufficient time for instruction. Though online education is perceived

to take less time than a class you're physically present for, in the article "Ten
Disadvantages of Online Courses," by Sean Chamberlin, written for Montgomery
College, points out that all comments, question and assignments are written in an
online course, which often takes longer than simply speaking questions within a
classroom context (Kokemuller, N. 2021). Manny researches found out that there
is less information available on what online instructors do with their instructional
time. Specifically, to gain a better understanding of the time investment required
for online teaching, it is important to understand the distribution of time across
the various activities involved in effective online instruction (Mandernach &
Holbeck, 2016). Furthermore, in the study conducted by Phillips, Schumacher &
Arif, regarding Blended Learning Environment which includes online learning,
they discovered that BLE increased faculty workload but was well received by
students. Time spent viewing online lectures was less than what was allocated in
two of the three courses. While, the scholars of Peking University proposed the
following five specific teaching strategies for online education in pandemic
circumstances and these include the importance of thorough delivery of
information and this could be attained through enough allotment of time in
teaching (Bao, 2020); and contingency plans to address unexpected incidents on
online education platforms that might reduce the time for instruction.

Focus on surface writing errors. Errors are common when learning

(Ozkayram & Yilmaz, 2020). Ozkayram & Yilmaz, 2020 states that if learners are
habituated to not to commit errors, learners tend to avoid using the language.
They further argue that errors could give the authorities valuable information
which helps to spot language areas that student having difficulties. In the study of
Yusuf, Mustafa, and Iqbal (2021) presents that despite the fact on level of
students’ achievements, they can still encounter problems when it comes to
using of correct grammar in their writing. Neupane (2014) states that teachers
tend to assess the works of the students on a surface level. This means that
teachers only giving feedbacks when it comes to spelling and punctuation rather
than creativity which do not really reinforce the enhancement of creative writing
ability of students.

Neupane (2014) argues that if teachers are grounded on assessing

students’ writing on suface level this could make students hesitate and frustrated
in writing. In the study of Kirana, Mustafa, and Bahri (2017) argues that teachers
should pay more attention to strong errors rather than focusing on other errors.
Kirana et.al., (2017) suggest that dealing first the serious errors could improve
the students’ progress in learning. In giving feedbacks and assessing the student
creative writing, the teacher should consider the meaning or the creativity of the
students rather than assessing only the surface errors.

Theoretical Lens

The theoretical underpinning the study is anchored on the Experiential

Learning Theory of John Dewey (1938). The theory posits that knowledge
building is influenced by experiences of students in learning. Experiential learning
focuses on learners reflecting on their experience of doing something (Bates,
2015). As such, the experiences of students in creative writing in an online
modality could be utilized in promoting knowledge construction.

The concept of experiential learning theory of Dewey (1938) stresses that

experiences is utilized for knowledge building in which the process happens in a
social environment. The knowledge of the student which is generated based form
the experiences are organized by the teacher into logical content to allow
learners to learn from the experiences (Grady, 2003). Dewey (1938) stresses
that experiences should be coming from the learner and the learner should be
prepared to learn. During the learning, the experiences of the students are
facilitated by the teacher based on students’ ability and readiness (Grady, 2003).
Grady (2003) stresses that in order for the experiences to be educative, it must
lead out into the real world. More so, the experiences will lead to learning which
contributes to student knowledge and readiness, and allowing the process to
start again (Grady, 2003). In the context of the study, the process of learning
creative writing occurs in an online modality in which the knowledge and
experiences of learners are organized and facilitated for contextual learning. The
learner will have the learning that adds to their knowledge in creative writing.

As reinforcement to the experiential learning theory, the componential

theory of creativity of Amabile (2012) states that in creative writing, , the student
is influenced by its domain-relevant skills, creativity-relevant processes, task
motivation, and social environment (Amabile, 2012). Domain-relevant skills refer
to students’ knowledge, expertise, and technical skills (Amabile, 2012) in which
are learnable through formal education and from surroundings and experiences
(Herawati, 2019). Creativity-relevant processes refer to students’ cognitive style
and personality traits (Amabile, 2012) which support creativity and influence the
process of creative writing (Herawati, 2019). For task motivation, students are
more likely to perform better in creative writing whenever they are motivated both
externally and internally. Social environment also gives impact to students’
creative writing as it gives extrinsic motivations. In an online learning of creative
writing, the students will be able to perform better when experiences are relatable
and relevant to them as Dewey (1938) states that experiences should be within
the ability of learners.

In connection to the study, Dewey (1938) states that not all experiences
are educative. Dewey (1938) further states that disconnectedness of experiences
generates dispersive and disintegrated habits. Neupane (2014) enumerated
challenges in creative writing, this includes different genre/forms of literature,
individual difference and writing process, lack of motivation, untrained English
teachers, insufficient time for instruction, and focus on surface errors.

Conceptual Flow

The study explores the lived experiences of senior high school students in
their online learning of creative writing. The study will also seek on the
challenges experienced by the students on learning creative writing in an online
modality and further investigate possible insights based from the findings of the
study.

Shown in figure 1.1 is the conceptual paradigm of the study. The paradigm
shows the conceptual flow depicting the lived experiences of the senior high
school HUMMS students in online creative writing class which could lead to
unfolding of the challenges experienced by the HUMMS students in online
creative writing class. The challenges and the lived experiences of the students
can lead in drawing insights to address the concern in learning creative writing in
an online modality.

To clarify the key concept of the study, conceptual definitions are

indicated. Lived experiences of HUMMS students in online creative writing class
refers to grade 11 HUMMS students’ experiences they encountered in online
creative writing class. Challenges experience by the students in online creative
writing class refers to the challenges that grade 11 HUMMS students
experienced in online creative writing class. Learner’s individual emotion such as
fear, anxiety, etc. can affect the oral and written expressions of students
especially during class discussion (Dallimore, Hertenstein, & Platt, 2008).
Neupane (2014) enumerated challenges in creative writing, this includes different
genre/forms of literature, individual difference and writing process, lack of
motivation, untrained English teachers, insufficient time for instruction, and focus
on surface errors.
 Possible insights based from the findings of the study pertain to any
knowledge that can be drawn based from the findings of the study. This will be
realized along the process of conducting the study.

Challenges experience Insights based

Lived experiences of
by the students in online on the
HUMMS students in
Creative Writing findings of the
online Creative Writing
Class study.
Class.

Figure 1.1 The diagram shows the conceptual paradigm of the study.

Domain of Inquiry

The purpose of this study is to unfold the lived experiences of the HUMSS
students in creative writing in their online class. This study is conducted to seek
and provide answers to the following questions:

1. What are the lived experiences of HUMMS students in their online

Creative Writing Class?
2. What are the challenges experience by the students in their online
Creative Writing Class?
3. What is/are the insight/s based on the findings of the study?

Philosophical Stance

The study follows with the philosophical premise that was coined as
paradigm. The ontological, epistemological, axiology, and methodology
(Creswell, 2013; Lincoln, Lynham, & Guba, 2011; Mertens, 2010) are the four
philosophical assumptions under the paradigm. The ontological is concerned with
the nature and features of truth, epistemological pertains to the best ways for
coming to know, axiology relates to the aesthetics and the role of values in any
investigation, and methodology pertains to the methods employed in the
research process. This study will explore the lived experiences of Grade-11
HUMMS students of Mabini National High School in online creative writing class
(ontological). The researchers will build connection and collaborates with the
participants to gather the objective experiences of them (epistemological). More
so, the researchers will openly consider applying personal interpretation of the
information gathered from the field in connection with participants’ interpretation
(axiology). The researchers proceeds with the process of analyzing the data in
order to gain more in-depth understanding of the subject under investigation.

CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The approach of this study is qualitative. Qualitative research is

considered most appropriate given that it aims at understanding a social
phenomenon as it occurs in natural settings (Kervin et. al 2016) and how people
interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning
they attribute to their experiences. This study attempts to understand the
phenomenon of creative writing as understood and practiced by HUMSS
Students of Mabini National High School. By doing a thorough analysis of the
students lived experiences, a deeper understanding of their creative writing in
online class can be drawn.

In addition, this study can be categorized as a phenomenology study. A

phenomenological approach was adopted as it is concerned with understanding
the meanings of lived experience. Phenomenology allows the researcher to
explore lived experiences of phenomena that are not well understood (Ivey,
2013). Through this design, the researchers will able to join the participants'
environment, grasp and understand their experiences. The key informants'
position and thoughts will be explained and drawn out by the researchers.

To conclude, phenomenology supports us in understanding the

importance of student's lived experiences. A phenomenology study looks into
what people have experienced and focuses on how they experienced about a
phenomenon. As a result, it is an appropriate design that suits the goal of this
study, which is to acquire a deeper understanding of the students' lived
experiences in online classes and the challenges they have faced in online
learning with Creative Writing.

Sampling Procedure

In this study, there will be a total of five (5) Grade-11 HUMSS students
from Mabini National High School who will participate in the interview. This study
will be utilizing purposive sampling procedure. Purposive sampling refers to
intentionally chosen sample according to the need of the study. It is selected
based on the characteristics of a population and objective of the study
(Crossman, 2017). Purposive sampling enables a researcher to identify and
select individuals or groups of people who are knowledgeable or experienced
about a particular phenomenon of interest (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The
research participants will be chosen based on the information needed, as well as
their ability and willingness to participate in the study (Oliver, 2015). In
phenomenological studies, in-depth interviews with participants were regularly
used to collect data. According to Cresswell (2013), interviewing five people
would be sufficient to collect all of the data needed for the study. The participants
will also be interviewed to verify that the sources have been triangulated and that
the responses are valid.

Research Instrument

The data and information gathering is in the pursuit of answering the

research questions, the researchers will conduct an in-depth interview through
online or video calls and will send questionnaires through Gmail in order to
collect data and information. Aside from conducting individual interviews with
each participant, the researchers will also conduct a Focus Group Discussion
(FGD) through an online meeting. A focus-group interview is “the process of
collecting data through interviews with a group of people, typically four to six”
(Creswell, 2014). This will be utilized to further explore interesting responses
from one-on-one interviews, intriguing phenomena from their experience, and
their shared understanding about creative writing in order to gain richer data
(Creswell, 2012). A discourse group of participants among Grade-11 HUMSS
students having the same background or experiences in online learning in
Creative Writing will be considered. All of this will be monitored and carried out in
compliance with COVID-19 pandemic standards and safety protocols.

Research Participants

The study will be conducted at Mabini National High School, a public high
school within the municipality of Mabini, Davao de Oro. The participants of the
study will be five (5) Grade-11 HUMSS students from Mabini National High
School. In order for the participants to be selected properly for this study, they
will need to meet a variety of criteria. They must currently be a Grade-11 HUMSS
students of MNHS under online learning. They are chosen as the researchers'
participants considering that based on the grade level standard of Department of
Education (DepEd) K-12 curriculum, students must able to communicate and
share their understanding in creative writing during online learning. Due to the
threat posed by COVID-19, it doubles their dilemma as to how they may
strategize and handle the problems in their creative writing class during online
learning.
Ethical Consideration

In any research, especially one involving humans or animals, ethical

issues are of extreme importance. Conducting all steps of research in an ethical
manner is also necessary to ensure the validity and reliability in a qualitative
research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The ethical considerations are taken into
account by the researchers. This is to assure that the respondents’ and their data
are protected and safe, as well as to ensure the credibility of the study.

The researcher will follow three principles of the Belmort Report, namely
beneficence, respect for human dignity as well as the justice (Polit et al. 2014).

1. Principle of beneficence, this principle means, “above all does no harm”.

This principle contains broad dimensions such as freedom from harm and
exploitation as well as the researcher‘s duty to evaluate the risk/benefit ratio.

1.1 Freedom from Harm, the researcher was sensitive to the

participant’s emotions when probing questions that could
psychologically harm the participants. The researcher will tell the
participants that if they feel that some parts of the interview were too
much for them they were free to withdraw from the study or choose not
to answer the questions.

1.2 Freedom from exploitation, the participants in the study is

protected from adverse situation. They are assured that the
information that they provide to the researcher on their participation will
not be used against them. The research-participant relationship should
not exploit. The tapes and written narratives were safely stored and
were destroyed after the study.

1.3 Risk/benefit ratio, the researcher considered the risk-benefit ratio

and kept risk to the minimum. The participants benefited by sharing
their ideas with their peers as well as improving their knowledge
regarding abortion if it is an immediate solution. The participants were
also satisfied that the information that they provided would help in
 improving the knowledge and prospects of teenage women in regards
with abortion.

2. Principle of human dignity, this principle includes the right to self-

discrimination.

2.2.1 Right to self-discrimination, this principle means that

prospective participants should not be corrected into taking part in the
study. Participants have right to decide whether to participate without
incurring any penalty. Participants were approached and the purposed
of the study was explained. No remuneration was offered and they
were informed of the opportunity to withdraw at any stage of the
research. Verbal and written consent were obtained. Individuals who
refused to participate were not forced.

2.2.2 The right to full disclosure, full disclosure means the

researcher has fully explained the nature of the study, and the
person‘s right to refuse participation. The researcher will share the
goal and purpose of the study, the type of interview and other data
collection procedures with the participants.

3. The principle of Justice, this principle includes participant‘s right to fair

treatment and privacy.

3.2.1 The right to fair treatment, fair treatment includes that the
selected participant‘s inclusion was based requirements of research.

Non - prejudicial treatment of participants who refused to take part or

to those who withdrew.

The participants had access to the researcher at any point in the study
to clarify information.

Sensitivity to and respects for the participant‘s beliefs, habits, lifestyle,

culture, and emotions.
 Courteous treatment all the time

The sampling method was purposive with the purpose of selecting

participants with experience.

3.2.2 The right to privacy, this means that the information

provided by the participants will be shared without their will. As the
study was conducted in the participant‘s natural settings; there was no
intrusion of privacy with regard to information provided. Anonymity is
the inability to link information to participants. This was achieved by
tape-recording the interview conducted. The participants were assured
of confidentiality verbally and in the written consent form.

The list names, transcriptions and notes were kept in a locked safe.

The list of names was kept separate from recordings, transcriptions,

and notes.

No names were attached to the tapes or transcriptions or notes.

Furthermore, the researchers will refrain from discussing personal matters

and will respect the participants' feelings as they share their experiences and
strategies. When speaking with the respondents or performing the interview, the
researchers will keep proper attitudes and ethics in mind.

Trustworthiness of the Study

According to Pilot and Beck (2014), trustworthiness or rigor of the study

refers to the degree of confidence in data, interpretation, and methods to ensure
the quality of the study. Researchers should establish the protocols and
procedures required for a study to be considered worthy of readers' attention in
each study (Amankwaa, 2016). This study will address trustworthiness by
informing participants that their contributions will be kept confidential and that
everything they say about the study will be kept within four concerns of the room
where the interview or data collection will take place. Furthermore, participants
will be provided written assurance that their testimony and personal information
would not be shared or exposed. Furthermore, this study will always highlight
that, in order to protect their individual identities and maintain direct privacy, a
name titles for each participant must be assigned one of two options based on
their source signatories.

In this study, the researcher will address trustworthiness by putting aside

their preconceived ideas about the phenomenon under investigation and by
returning to participants to ascertain whether the description was a true reflection
of their experience. Lincoln and Guba (1985), created a criteria outlined that are
accepted by many qualitative researchers. These criteria include credibility,
dependability, conformability and transferability.

Credibility or the confidence in the truth of the study and therefore the
findings, is the most important criterion (Polit & Beck, 2014). The
researchers will ensure the process of selecting the participants best
applies and that the students chosen are those who are trustworthy
enough to disclose fully their life experiences and insights on their own
accounts. For the purpose of extracting thoughts and insights on the
difficulties experienced by Grade-11 HUMSS students in creative writing in
online learning, the researchers will use an in-depth interview and focus
group discussion.

Dependability refers to the stability of the data over time and over the
conditions of the study (Polit & Beck, 2014). To address the issue of
dependability in this study, the researchers will choose participants for
both an in-depth interview and a focus group discussion who can answer
to the questions or queries posed during data collection, and the results
will be saturated based on the data gathered from each participant's
responses. The researcher will also ensure that data is accurately
documented, noted down, and transcribed based on the responses given
by the participants during the interview process, then the process of data
 reduction, followed by data submission for analysis and then generating
themes from the transcribed information of the participants.

Conformability is the neutrality or the degree findings are consistent and

could be repeated. The researcher will use a technique in this study to
assist researchers in facilitating data validation through cross-verification
from more than two sources. In addition, the researcher will employ the
triangulation technique to gather data in order to acquire a comprehensive
view of the investigation. In qualitative research, triangulation is the
process of correlating evidence from several individuals, types of data, or
data gathering methods in descriptions and themes (Creswell, 2014).

Transferability support the study with a rich, detailed description of the

context, location, and people studied, and by being transparent about
analysis and trustworthiness. The researchers will address transferability
in this study by including information and documents provided to
encapsulate meaningful answers to research questions that are credible
and comparable to a similar situation, allowing researchers to access
facilities and linkages in innovating conclusions as the foundation for
further research study.

Research Procedure

In the gathering of data, this study will employ systematic procedure. To

begin, the researchers will send an email to the principal of Mabini National High
School, requesting for permission to conduct the study among their Grade 11
HUMSS students. The participants will receive a letter of consent from the
researchers once the proposal is approved. Following that, we will provide a soft
copy of the in-depth interview questions to the participant using Google Forms or
any possible platforms agreed so that a virtual in-depth interview can be
conducted. After that, the information will be gathered, interpreted, and analyzed
in a discreet and appropriate manner.

Data Analysis
 Data analysis is the process of making sense out of the data which
involves consolidating, reducing, and interpreting what people have said and
what the researcher has seen and read—it is the process of making meaning
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Similarly, Flick (2014) describes the process of data
analysis as “the classification and interpretation of linguistic (or visual) material to
make statements about implicit and explicit dimensions and structures of
meaning-making in the material and what is represented in it. The Researchers
will employ the data analysis methodology of Braun and Clarke (2006) in
analyzing the data. The distinct six steps of the method of Braun and Clarke
(2006) provides a thorough analysis of the data. The stages are applied below:

1. Familiarization of the data. The researchers will be transcribing,

reading, re-reading the data, noting down initial ideas to familiarize the gathered
data.

2. Generate initial codes. The researchers will start chunking the

gathered information thru coding which represents the meanings and pattern in
the data.

3. Search for themes. After generating initial codes, the researchers will
organized it into potential themes.

4. Reviewing themes. The researchers will review, modify, and develop

the preliminary themes identified.

5. Define themes. The researchers will finalize the preliminary themes

identified.

6. Producing the report. After the thorough analysis of the gathered data,
the researchers will make the final report of the analyzed data.

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