AMA COMPUTER COLLEGE

TACLOBAN CITY
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

The Effectiveness of Synchronous and Asynchronous modality in the academic performance

of Grade 11 ABM students of ACLC College of Tacloban S.Y. 2020-2021

A SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH PAPER

PRESENTED TO THE
FACULTY OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
OF AMACC (ACLC COLLEGE TACLOBAN CITY)

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

OF THE SUBJECT INQUIRIES, INVESTIGATION AND IMMERSION
 AMA COMPUTER COLLEGE
TACLOBAN CITY
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Objective:

• To know the effectiveness of synchronous and asynchronous modality in the academic performance of grade
11 ABM students of ACLC College of Tacloban as the new setup of new normal education S.Y 2020-2021.
• To collect data from advisers who handle ABM students year 2020-2021 as respondents of the study to
determine the effect of the new setup learning on students’ academic performance.
• To do on the gathered data that will serve as the reliable source on what finding the study aims. which is to
find out if the students learning in a new setup can meet the expectation of the new learning modality.
Moreover, it will serve as an idea for the students who would like to get the ABM strand.

Background of the Study

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of impact on society. The lockdown and further severe restrictions were
also implemented to contain the virus. There were several decisions made by the government, on how students
should be taught online; there were two ways of teaching students, asynchronous and synchronous online
teaching. This actively demonstrates that learners are temporarily studying from their respective homes and
adapting to the new normal setup.

In online learning, two basic settings are often compared, asynchronous and synchronous. They differ in terms
of time and place of teaching and learning activities: Asynchronous settings are temporally and geographically
independent simulatedined as more individually based and self-paced as well as less instructor-dependent
(Bernard et al., 2004; Murphy et al., 2011; Clark and Mayer, 2016; Xie et al., 2018). They, however, also bear
challenges, as also implied by the media richness (Daft and Lengel, 1984; Blau et al., 2017) and media
naturalness (Blau et al., 2017) approaches. The media richness approach describes the “capability of a medium
to (1) provide immediate feedback (2) transmit verbal and non-verbal communication cues (3) providsiprovide,
for the degree of medium naturalness, face to face is considered to be the most natural form of communication.
This results in synchronous learning environments being less natural and less “rich” than face-to-face
synchronous learning environments. The authors, therefore, claim that this leads to a higher cognitive load,
greater communication ambiguity, and lower activation. And albeit asynchronous teaching can enable students
to work self-paced and independently of time and place (van der Keylen et al., 2020), not all learners are
equipped with the according strategies to benefit from this potential advantage: Learning at home, especially in
asynchronous contexts, requires more self-study skills to stay on track, including enough motivation and will to
follow learning goals (cf. HaHartnett, 2015). Also, students must be equipped with strong digital skills to
perform academic work and complete learning activities (Kim et al., 2019).
The main strengths of synchronous online learning are real-time interpersonal communication, the use of
natural language, and immediate feedback (Blau et al., 2017). These attributes can diminish the difference
between online and face-to-face learning in this manner and provide a sense of personalization. In contrast,
synchronous communication is less useful for discussing complex ideas or deep reflection (for a review, see
Hrastinski, 2010). For students, learning experience, positive outcomes, and the type of performance matter:
They acquire practical skills better when they are taught in asynchronous online settings (Nsa et al., 2012;
Ogbonna et al., 2019), whereas cognitive achievement, such as producing meaningful and thoughtful
contributions, is greater in asynchronous settings (Hrastinski, 2008; Garrison, 2011; Ogbonna et al., 2019).
Also, synchronous learning positively impacts learners’ commitment and their task motivation (Hrastinski,
2008). At the same time, similar to face-to-face settings, the danger of disengaged participation in class (e.g.,
passive listening or watching the teacher’s lecture, silently reading peer statements in the chat) has to be
considered (Smith and Smith, 2014). According to an interview study with experts on online teaching by
Rapanta et al. (2020), videoconferencing decreases the fluency of interaction and makes interactions slower and
attention lower compared to traditional teaching (Rapanta et al., 2020). Another challenge of synchronous
learning relates to the technical infrastructure that has to allow for participation in live remote settings in a
sufficient quality (i.e., internet bandwidth; Xie et al., 2018).

In order to scrutinize the impacts of synchronous and asynchronous online teaching and learning on student
variables, it is necessary to consider the role of specific teaching methods and the underlying pedagogy of the
online courses (Murphy et al., 2011).Synchronous and asynchronous settings differ in the choice of tools used
and their pedagogical objectives. Xie et al. (2018) identified five variables to differentiate between synchronous
and asynchronous settings: communication tools, feedback types, input methods, collaboration modes, and the
skills targeted. The researchers find that while students are more satisfied with asynchronous communication
tools (such as discussion forums or email communication), they also appreciate the possibility of direct
instructor feedback in synchronous settings. Also, both the quality of learner-content interaction (i.e., reading
interactive texts, watching videos, and completing assignments), and learner-teacher interaction (i.e., providing
feedback, providing summative and formative assessments, and documenting students’ progress) have a strong
effect on satisfaction with learning and perceived learning, especially in asynchronous formats (Kuo et al.,
2014; Nandi et al., 2015; Alqurashi, 2019; Fredericksen et al., 2000). Activities, such as online discussions, are
perceived as more individualistic and less cooperative by students in asynchronous compared to synchronous
settings and are also associated with greater negative effects and a decreased sense of belonging (Peterson et al.,
2018). In contrast, learners characterize participation in online synchronous discussions as more focused, having
a stronger sense of contribution, increasing motivation, and supporting better course performance than
asynchronous discussions (Chen and You, 2007; Hrastinski, 2008, 2010; Malkin et al., 2018). Discussing
teaching and learning methods to facilitate communication within synchronous and asynchronous educational
settings, researchers stress the necessity to differentiate between various types of activation and interaction and
ways how students are engaged in the learning process as more crucial for study success compared to the form
of course delivery
(Zhu, 2006; Skylar, 2009; Nieuwoudt, 2020; Rapanta et al., 2020; Sweetman, 2021).

The researcher conducts to focus on that Accountancy, Business and Management strand as their respondents
wherein the emphasis of the research will be more subjective for it is associated. The main purpose of this study
is to identify the effectiveness of the Asynchronous modality compared to Synchronous modality to measures
the students’ academic performance.
To recapitulate, the researcher is confident and gives all the best to conduct this research without any physical
interaction with their teacher and co-students. By conducting this study, it expands our knowledge with regards
to the effectiveness of modular hard as a learning modality for G12 Accountancy, Business, and Management
students.
Statement of the Problem

This study was aimed to authenticate the learning styles of students in mode of synchronous and asynchronous
e-learning and to describe in relation the learning styles of e-learners with their academic performance.
However, question about its effectiveness is being raised by many.

1. What is the profile of respondents in terms of:

a. Age
b. Sex
c. Civil Status
2. What is the total average range of Asynchronous students’ GWA?
3. What is the total average range of Synchronous students’ GWA?
4. Is there students who fail due to the new setup of learning?

Scope and Delimitation

The study will be limited in determining the respondent’s GWA from asynchronous students and synchronous.
The study will be conducted only in ACLC College of Tacloban. Data that will be collected are the General
Weighted Average of the selected grade 11 ABM students from their advisers as the respondents of the study.
Furthermore, the study will be accomplished in March 2022. This study will be purely quantitative.

Significance of the Study

This study entitled " The Effectiveness of Synchronous and Asynchronous modality in the academic
performance of Grade 11 ABM students of ACLC College of Tacloban S.Y. 2020-2021” is being created to
benefit the following:

Students. The study will benefit the students in terms of their capacity to offer flexibility, choice, access, and
mobility. It will also allow for better evaluation and more focused revision and improvement. The modality
approach turns the students to learn at their own pace. It promotes independent learning through the modality
method.
Parents. As the supporting hand, the students have, this study will greatly benefit their relationship with their
children, and will help them understand the situation their child is in. Parents serve as partners of teachers in
educating the students.
Teachers. will be able to know the impact of Asynchronous and Synchronous modality as a new setup learning
for students, and so will be able to guide them and explore a strategic method for effective learning.
Administrators. This study would enable them to establish plans to improve their way of providing modality to
students. They can also gain insights into the quality of education that they are currently offered in their school.
Department of Education. This study will enable them to provide logistic and technical support and will
insights to them in designing and implementing a better way of providing modality learning.
Future Researchers. This study will serve as a reference that would help in conducting their research studies.
Conceptual Framework

Independent
Dependent
Variable
Variable
Asynchronous
Academic
Students and
Performance
Synchronous Students

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Figure 1: presents the conceptual framework of the study. it consists of two variables, first is Asynchronous and
Synchronous students as an independent variable and their Academic performance as the dependent variable.

The asynchronous modality is enable any-time, any-place; learners and facilitators are not necessarily online
and interacting at the same time. While the synchronous modality enables same time collaboration; events and
interactions or take real time video conference.

The data that will be collected are the General Weighted Average of the selected grade 11 ABM students from
their advisers as the respondents of the study. as we gather the responses of students on the study. This will lead
to the completion of the research paper.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework chosen to guide this research study was the transactional distance theory . This theory
was developed by Michael Moore, beginning in the early 1970s when it was originally coined the theory of
independent learning and teaching (Moore, 1973).

Moore’s original theory focused on three factors: learner autonomy, teacher-created instructional programs, and
communication systems. In 1980, Moore renamed his framework the Theory of Transactional Distance, and by
1993, Moore had fully developed and defined the theory. Moore’s (1973) goal was to create a theoretical
framework that embraced the growing field of distance education. Transactional distance is not only the
geographic distance between the instructor and student in a learning environment, but more importantly, it is the
distance caused by communication factors that must be overcome for learning to occur (Moore, 1991, 1993).
Some transactional distance exists in all learning programs, virtual and classroom-based (Moore, 1980), but
because of the geographic distance between the instructor and students in virtual learning, transactional distance
is greater in online courses.
Definition of terms

Asynchronous learning mechanisms - allow you to learn on your own schedule, within a certain timeframe.

Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) - This strand is designed for students who are inclined to
pursue college degrees related to business, accountancy, and management programs.

Blended learning - as defined by DepEd, refers to "face-to-face with any or a mix of online distance learning,
modular distance learning, and TV/radio-based instruction."

Modular learning or asynchronous learning - is a learning modality wherein students use self-learning in
print and can also use other resources such as learner’s materials, textbooks, activity sheets, study guides, and
other study materials while learning at their own pace.

New normal education - aims to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff amid a pandemic. It also
intends to give quality distance learning by using self-learning modules.

Paired T-Test - The paired samples The T-test compares the means of two measurements taken by the same
individual, object, or related unit.

Stratified random sampling - is obtained by dividing the population elements into mutually exclusive, non-
overlapping groups of sample units called strata, then selecting a simple random sample from within each
stratum.

Synchronous modality - allows for real-time video conferencing as well as simultaneous collaboration, events,
and interactions.