SDO – Santa Rosa North Annex

EULALIO N. ADRIANO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Rajal Sur, Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija

Use of Scaffolding in Improving the Performance Level of

Grade 4 Pupils in Science

by:

MARITES DV. VILLAROMAN

Researcher

JESUSA L. SIGUA
School Principal II
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Abstract

Introduction

Review of Related Literature and Studies

Conceptual Framework

Statement of the Problem

Assumption

Significance of the Study

Scope and Limitations

Method

Type of Research

Respondents and Sampling Method

Instruments

Data Collection Procedure and Ethical Considerations

Data Analysis

Intervention

References
Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative action research was to investigate

the Scaffolding and its Effects on the learners Performance in science. A total of

thirty-nine (39) Grade 4 from Section Rizal Pupils of Eulalio N. Adriano Elementary

School, Schools Division of Nueva Ecija were included as respondents of this study.

The data was presented and analyzed hence, at the end of the study, the following

conclusions was drawn: for the profile of the student-respondents, thirty-five (35) of

them are 10 years old, twenty-six (26) are females; and in terms of academic grades,

all of them (39) have had passed (with passing grades) in Science 4. The identified

three least learned topics in Science 4 (all of the topics are under Third Grading

Quarter/Period) based are as follows: 1. Explain the effects of force applied to an

object; 2. Investigate properties and characteristics of light and sound; and 3.

Describe the force exerted by magnets. The assumption of this study that there is a

high performance level of the pupils in Science 4 using Scaffolding is hereby

accepted.

Rationale

Scaffolding is defined as the "strategy used by the teachers to facilitate

learners' transition from assisted to independent performance" (Sukyadi and

Hasanah, 2013). Scaffolding as the contextual supports for meaning through the use

of simplified language, teacher modeling, visuals and graphics, cooperative learning

and hands-on learning. Scaffolding is a teaching learning strategy in which the

teacher and learners engage in a collaborative problem-solving activity with the

support and guidance of the teacher to enable learners become increasingly

independent. Scaffolding is a strategy used by teachers to help their students to

become more independent learners during reading comprehension lesson, to

perform the reading comprehension tasks independently, etc.

Scaffolding is a process that supports and improves the performance of

students before, during, and after reading which in turn affects their learning in all

subjects. Graphic organizers, pictures, and charts can all serve as scaffolding tools.

All of them can help, guide and shape students‟ thinking when they apply them, i.e.,

students can discuss, write an essay, or use them with the difficult reading texts and

new challenging information. The following are a number of types of instructional

scaffolding strategies: 1. Modeling 2. Bridging 3. Contextualizing 4. Schema building

5. Re-presenting text 6. Developing metacognition (Abdul-Majeed, 2015).

Saxena, M. (2010) clearly explained the concept of IRF in scaffolding

(Initiation-Response-Follow-up). Teachers provide 'directive scaffolding' on the

assumption that their job is to transmit knowledge and then assess its appropriation

by the learners. The question-answer-evaluation sequence creates a predetermined

standard for acceptable participation and induces passive learning. In this type of

interaction, the teacher holds the right to evaluate and asks 'known-information'

questions which emphasize the reproduction of information. 

As per the researcher’s experience as a classroom Science teacher in the

present school year, scaffolding is likewise effective in terms of transmission of

knowledge to the learners. Hence, the present study intends to provide data to back

up such observations and to be able to tackle the effectiveness of Scaffolding in

fostering the performance in Science among Grade 4 Pupils.

Statement of the Problem

This descriptive quantitative action research aims to investigate the

Scaffolding and its Effects on the Performance of Grade 4 Pupils Section Rizal of

Eulalio N. Adriano Elementary School in Science for the School Year (SY) 2019-

2020.

Specifically, this study answers the following research questions:

1. What is the profile of the pupil-participants be described in terms of: age; sex;

and academic grade?

2. What are the three least learned competencies in Third Quarter/Period on

Science?

3. How is the performance level of the pupils in Science 4 be described without

and with the use of Scaffolding technique?

Assumption

The following is the assumption of this study.

1. There is a high performance level of the pupils in Science 4 after using

instructional Scaffolding.

Review of Related Literature and Studies (RRLS)

This segment consists of the related sources: both foreign and local which

serves as a guide for the researcher in conducting this present study.

Foreign Literature

Salem (2016) study revealed that Non-native English language teachers are

not aware of the nature of scaffolding strategies they use; they use such strategies

for the purpose of assessing their students’ comprehension rather than scaffolding
their comprehension. It is recommended that English language teachers have an

adequate orientation of the nature of scaffolding strategies, to what extent to be used

(when to begin using these strategies and when to stop using them) and the

significance in developing comprehension skills of students in the mainstream

schools.

Scaffolding is an instructional technique that teachers can use in order to

make the context of learning more understandable to the learners. As Maybin,

Mercer & Stierer (1992) stated (quoted by Talebinejad and Akhgar, 2015) scaffolding

helps a child to do a task which they cannot do alone or are boring to do. In

classrooms, students need support structure that provides them with opportunities to

learn English in meaningful contexts. The role of the teacher is very important, as the

teacher not only guides the students through the stages of listening, but also

motivates them to feel autonomy in learning by scaffolding techniques (Talebinejad

and Akhgar, 2015 as quoted by Detal, 2018).

Gerakopoulou (2011) investigated the instances of scaffolding strategies

applied among learners and revealed that teachers tend to use different forms of

body language and contextualizing to support their instruction especially with the

younger learners. Another significant result of this research was that students’

participation is encouraged and the teachers try to lead students to the production of

the output mainly through the technique of elicitation.

In another study, Yami and Ahmed (2008) investigated the impact of

scaffolding interactive activities in developing the English listening comprehension

skills of Grade 6 elementary schoolgirls in Jeddah. The results showed that the

scaffolding activities have a positive impact on listening comprehension of Grade 6 in

Jeddah.
 To support such claim, Margaret (2005) and Omiko (2013) in their studies saw

scaffolding as the assistance (parameters rules or suggestions) a teacher gives to

the students in a learning situation. Margaret added that instructional scaffolding is a

learning process designed to promote a deeper level of learning. Scaffolding is the

support given during the learning process which is tailored to the needs of the

students with the intention of helping the students to achieve their learning

objectives.

In a similiar fashion, Sawyer (2006) stated that instructional scaffolding is the

provision of support to promote learning when concepts and skills are being first

introduced to the students. He further expatiated that these supports may include;

resources, a compelling task, templates and guidance on the development of

cognitive and social skills. The same author added that these supports are gradually

removed as the students develop autonomous learning strategies, thus promoting

their own cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning skills and knowledge.

Additional insights was presented by Juce and Braz (2008) by stating that it is

best to think of the uses of instructional scaffolding in an effective learning

environment as one would think of the importance of scaffolding in the support of the

construction of a new building or bridge. This implies that scaffolding is the support

while the building is the knowledge or topic in the subject.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary 6th Edition

(2005), scaffolding is a structure of planks and metal poles used while working on a

building. In the education sector, scaffolding can be said to be a help or assistance

given to the students or pupils to enable them learn what they want to learn within a

period of time. Scaffolding therefore represents the helpful interactions between a

teacher and learners that enable the learners to learn something beyond their

independent efforts.

Conceptual Framework

This study shall use the IPO framework. Figure 1 shows the linkage between

the Input, Process and Output of this study entitled: Using Scaffolding in Improving

the Performance Level of Grade 4 Pupils in Science.

Specifically, this study will have the following variables as research Inputs: the

profile of the pupil-participants be described in terms of: sex; and academic grade;

the three least learned competencies in Fourth Quarter on Science; and the

performance level of the pupils in Science 4 be described using Scaffolding.

Next, is the Process which are as follows: analysis and treatment of data

using descriptive quantitative tools/technique. Lastly, the expected Output are as

follows: The Frequent Use of Scaffolding Techniques; Improved Performance of

Grade 4 Pupils in the Science subject.

 profile of pupil Instruments:
sex 1. Pre-Test
academic grades 2. Post-test
3. Observation Frequent Use of
scaffolding Scaffolding
strategy of Statistical Tool: Techniques
teacher 1. Mean
2. Frequency Improved
Effect of 3. Percentage Performance of
scaffolding to 4. SD Grade 4 Pupils in
grades/performan Science.
ce & retention of
comprehension

Figure 1

Research Paradigm

Method

Type of Research

This is a descriptive quantitative study of teachers’ scaffolding practices inside

the classroom in Science. A descriptive approach will be used to investigate the

classroom use of scaffolding strategies which can be done through the means of a

questionnaire, teachers’ self-report, class records, etc. such approach will also be

utilized for the purpose of using such scaffolding strategies i.e. whether or not

scaffolding teaching strategies positively affect students’ grades/performance and

retention of comprehension.

Respondents and Sampling Method

 Since there is a minimal population of the study, the researcher had decided

that the entire Grade 4 population shall be used for this study, hence universal

sampling shall be utilized. This means that all the Grade IV-Rizal pupils of Eulalio N.

Adriano Elementary School (male is 20, plus female is 19, so it equals to 39) will be

chosen as the samples of this action research. Eulalio N. Adriano Elementary School

is a public school under Santa Rosa North District, Division of Nueva Ecija,

Department of Education (DepEd).

Since this is a classroom based action research, all the respondents are

actually the pupils (advisory class) of the researcher for the current school year.

Instruments

The following are the instrumentations of this action research.

Item Analysis Report. The item analysis is the data gathering instrument to

be used to be able to answers the research question number 2.

Pre-test. The pre-test is the data gathering instrument to be used to be able

to answers the research question 3.

Post-test. The post-test is the data gathering instrument to be used to be able

to answers the research question 3. The first instrument will be done by

researcher while the second and third instruments are standardized ones.

Data Collection Procedure and Ethical Considerations

The respondents will be presented with scaffolding activities in the classroom

by the teacher-researcher. Then, data collection through the aforementioned

instrumentations shall be implemented on a one-week time frame period.

 The collected data will be coded into and analyzed by one of the latest version

of the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). In order to test the

homogeneity of the participants in terms of their academic performance in Science

during the Fourth Quarter, an independent sample t-test will be run.

Moreover, ethics is an integral aspect of every research. Therefore, the

researcher shall apply the principles of informed consent, confidentiality, and

beneficience as the ethical considerations of this action research.

Data Analysis

Specifically, the data following analysis techniques will enable the researcher

to answer the following research questions:

Frequency distribution and percentage will be used in order to analyze the

demographic profile of the respondents in terms of: sex; and academic grades.

Weighted Mean will be used to describe the weighted value of the responses

on the scaffolding strategy being utilized by the teacher-researcher.

Standard Deviation will be calculated to indicate the extent of deviation for a

group as a whole, in this case the Grade 4 pupils considered as a group.

T-test will be computed in order to answer the research question number 3.

Data Presentation and Analysis

This part is the data analysis of this descriptive quantitative research which

aims to investigate the Scaffolding and its Effects on the Performance of Grade 4

Pupils of Eulalio N. Adriano Elementary School in Science. The sequence of the data

presentation and analysis are as follows: the profile of the pupil-participants be

described in terms of: age; sex; and academic grade; the three least learned
competencies in Third Quarter on Science; and the performance level of the pupils in

Science 4 be described without and with the use of Scaffolding technique.

1. Profile of the pupil-participants

The profile of the pupil-participants was presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Profile of the Pupil-Respondents

Respondents Profile Frequency %

Age
9 years old 2 4.54
10 years old 35 90.90
11 years old and above 2 4.54
Sex
male 20 59.09
female 19 40.90
Academic grade
Passed 39 100
Failed 0 0

Table 1 shows the profile of the student-respondents in terms of: age; sex;

and academic grade. As aforementioned, the total population was included in this

study, hence, out of thirty-nine (39), in terms of age, thirty-five (35) of them are 10

years old; in terms of sex, nineteen (19) are females; and in terms of academic

grades, all of them (39) passed in Science 4.

2. Three least learned competencies (LC) in Third Quarter on Science 4

The three least learned competencies in Third Quarter on Science

based on the data gathering conducted by the researcher are as follows:

Table 2

No. Least learned topics in Science Code

1 Explain the effects of force applied to an object S4FE-IIIa-1

(Third Quarter)
2 Investigate properties and characteristics of light S4FE-IIIh-5
and sound (Third Quarter)
3 Describe the force exerted by magnets (Third S4FE-IIId-e-3
 Quarter)

Table 2 presented the three Least Learned (LC) topics in Science 4

based on the data gathering conducted by the researcher which are arranged

from the top 1, 2 up to 3 which are as follows: 1. Explain the effects of force

applied to an object; 2. Investigate properties and characteristics of light and

sound; and 3. Describe the force exerted by magnets. All of these topics are

under the Third Quarter period. This implies that the topics under Physical

Science particularly under Physics are considered the most difficult topic

among Grade 4 pupils.

3. Performance level of the pupils in Science 4

Table 3 shows the performance level of the pupils in Science 4

described without without and with the use of the Scaffolding instructional

technique.

Table 3

Level of performance of the Respondents Before and After Exposure to

Scaffolding in Science 4 with respect to the Least Learned topic

Least Pre Exposure Post Exposure

learned
topic in Mean Sd Verbal Mean Sd Verbal
Science 4 Interpretation Interpretation

Explain the
effects of
2.62 1.61 FS 6.88 4.19 S
force applied
to an object
 Table 5 shows the mean distribution and standard deviation of the

respondents’ level of performance on the Before and After Exposure to Scaffolding in

Science 4 with respect to the Least Learned topic.

The mean for pre exposure is 2.62 and standard deviation of 1.61 with a

verbal interpretation of FS or fairly satisfactory, respectively. The mean for post

exposure is 6.88 and standard deviation of 4.19 with a verbal interpretation of S or

satisfactory, respectively. The mean and standard deviation both increased from pre

exposure into post exposure. This suggest that pupils’ exposure to Scaffolding in

Science 6 (under the Fourth Quarter of the present school year) did help them to

improve their knowledge and performance about the “Use weather instruments to

measure the different weather components” as their least learned competency.

There following assumption of this study - There is a high performance level of the

pupils in Science 4 using Scaffolding is hereby accepted.

Intervention

In this segment, the researcher proposed the following Intervention.

1. Create a Lesson Plan or Daily Lesson Log (DLL) about Force where in the

Scaffolding technique shall be utilized.

2. Request for a Demonstration teaching using the aforementioned LP or DLL from

the Head Teacher or Principal. The researcher documented it for future uses.

3. Lesson Plan (LP) or Daily Lesson Log (DLL): Topic - “EXPLORING FORCES”

Directions - Complete each interaction and draw a diagram that includes the

following:

• A sketch of the moving and/or motionless object upon which the

interaction occurs.
 • Arrows that show the relative size and direction of the forces applied

to the object. Be sure to label each arrow. In addition, record observations

about the object’s motion. You should refer to the example that you complete

with the learner.

• Gently push the Newton cart with your finger. Two people attempt to

pull the Newton cart in opposite directions. Each person uses an equal

amount of force.

• Two people push the cart at the same time from opposite sides. One

person applies a greater force than the other person.

• Hold a penny 20cm above the table, and then release the penny.

• (other practical situations which the teacher could think of, applying

the concept of force.

Using the aforementioned situations, the teacher can proceed with the

follow up discussion questions and then the evaluation.

References

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in bilingual classrooms within the neo-Vygotskyan approach. Journal of

Applied Linguistics & Professional Practice, 7 (2), pp. 163-184

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http://didisukyadi.staf.upi.edu/files/2010/03/Scaffolding-and-

ReadingComprehension.doc
Bradley, Karen Sue and Jack Alden Bradley (2004) "Scaffolding Academic Learning

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Yami and Ahmed (2008). The Effectiveness of Scaffolding Interactive Activities in

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