CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

SITUATION ANALYSIS

The pandemic disruptive consequences have been felt globally across a broad range of
populations, industries, and organizations. The academe is not spared of its downside. Movement of
humans became limited if not put to a halt. This drastic event in human history created a ripple of
changes in the mode of teaching-learning process which yet to bring about complex challenges to both
teachers and students. Such chain of events results to a great blow to all, let alone to students who are
still learning the skills to move about and survive the mainstream. Chain of reactions the academic
community come into play to address changing needs.

School closure has led to online study, modular mode of learning, blended learning, and other
online learning platforms. It is good that technology is present to patch the gap created by the absence
of face-to-face instructions. Diverse approaches, strategies and more other way to spur to effect
learning. Immediacy and urgency to collaborative efforts in all sectors of the economy. The cooperative
effort of all resulted to a remarkable feat of success in a civilized society.

Nonetheless, in the microscopic level, the pandemic made varying impact to different
individuals as each one has faced these challenges with diverse circumstances. Early research indicates
that the resulting loss of routine and isolation have exacerbated mental health issues in an already
susceptible group (Anderson, 2020). Numerous recent studies conclusively illustrate the pandemics
widespread impacts on college students where Parry (2021) coined the term pandemic stress.
Demonstrate that the pandemic resulted in degree delays, salary and employment losses, and a
decrease in students post-graduation labor market expectations.

According to Rodrigues-Planes (2020) low-income students were differentially impacted. The

developing literature offers a grim picture of college students experienced during the COVID-19
epidemic. Despite the fast proliferation of these critical researches, we still know very little about how
college students dealt with hardship.

A growing body of literature describes the many difficulties encountered by students during the
COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how students dealt with hardship. We offer some of
the first data on the coping techniques students reported and the links between their endorsement of
various coping strategies and later well-being, by focusing on a single school. Students concentrated on
compensating for a loss structure by the development of new routines, the maintenance of social
relationships, and the exploration of new activities. Students who originally supported social
connectivity as a strategy score much better on a complete well-being assessment five to twelve weeks
later, regardless of their baseline issue indexes.

Higher education institutions are more cognizant of the variety of their existing and prospective
students. This is evident by the fact that they provide a variety of interaction choices. University
students now have an increasing number of flexible delivery options, which give different routes and
chances for individual pursuing more education (Gillett-Swan,2017). This may be accomplished by
“conventional” face-to-face delivery (internal), internet delivery (external), or a combination of both
(blende) modes of enrolment. Even within this enrolling modality, students often choose to approach
certain units (subjects) in unique ways (Schmidt et al., 2016)

As colleges increasingly embrace completely online and mixed learning approaches, there is
much debate over the implications for pedagogy (Comman,2020). While many of the strategies
employed in face-to-face communication may be modified and applied in an online setting, it is not as
simple as taking a “one size fits all” approach, as instructional personnel inexperienced with the online
environments sometimes do. This is when the information or delivery method utilized in other, mostly
face-to-face settings is modified to an apparently comparable online format and hence declared
acceptable for all learners and cohorts in each mode. Rather than that, scales of adaptability and
differentiation within the method could be utilized to more clearly distinguish between various learners
and instructional environments through online and live formats.

Considering the plight of the Filipino students, the Education sector with the three governing
bodies namely: the Commission of Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Education (DepEd) is very vigilant to undertake
a paradigm shift in their approach to education. Secretary Briones (2020) of DepEd called for earnest
cooperation and collaboration within the trifocal education system of the Philippines in collaboration
with the other agencies of the government namely, the Department of Head, Department of Social
Welfare and Development, the Department of the Interior and Local Government among others to
safeguard the life and health of the citizens.

In the same vein, the College of Education (CE) of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State
University-South La Union Campus (DMMMSU-SLUC) specifically the Bachelor of Special Needs
Education (BSNED) Program exerts effort to address the student’s needs. Flexibility in the modes of
instruction and turns in of outputs is exercised to alleviate challenges faced by the students during the
pandemic.

The move that DMMMSU not only by SLUC but the entire university is complementary with the
programs of the education sector. The administrative and academic councils of the university made
plotted and implemented continuous development plans in upskilling and retooling the faculty and staff
to braces themselves with the new normal.

While the faculty are gripping for capability enhancement and empowerment, they did not
neglect the education needs of the students, along with these changes in the mode of instructions.

Hence, this is the core of this research endeavor. To help students better, the researchers delve
on the challenges, threats, or struggles of the BSNED fourth year students.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter included a review of literature and studies which have significant relationship and
similarities with the present study.

Distance/Workplace Education vs. Formal Face-to-Face Education

As a result of the aforementioned tendency, the boundary between official and informal
education is rapidly fading. Distance education has always been seen as a secondary option to
convention face-to-face education. It was thought that the latter allowed more possibilities for pupils to
engage with the instructors and peers (other students) and, as a result, may be more useful to learning.
This traditional advantage, however, is no longer valid. Because of the contextual character of cognition,
the reduction in informal education/training setting resonates with and is coherent with the
contemporary focus on true job learning (Gillett-Swan,2020). In most cases, learning may take place in
the workplace as well as via online learning activities, which, as previously said, can be more engaging.
The tendency is currently toward a mixed- mode approach in which learners may meet face-to-face at
certain milestone or stages in the course (for an example of this mixed mode approach) (Lapitan,2021).

CHALLENGES IN ONLINE LEARNING

Since the new beginning of the year 2021, there has been an explosion of research linked to the
new normal in education. Some focused on the national policy, professional development, and
curriculum; others focused on the unique learning experience students had during the pandemic.

There are two such studies; Copeland et al. (2021) and Fawaz et al. (2021), which investigated
the influence of COVID-19 on college students mental health and coping techniques, respectively. In
their study Copeland et al. (2021) found that the pandemic had a negative impact on students
behavioral and emotional functioning, notably attention and externalizing difficulties (i.e., mood and
wellness behavior), which were caused by isolation, economic/health consequences, and uncertainty. In
the research conducted by Fawaz et al. (2021), students expressed their worries about learning and
assessment techniques, an excessive workload, technological challenges, and confinement in the
classroom. Students actively coped with the issue by seeking assistance from their professors and
families, as well as participating in leisure activities, in order to cope with the difficulties. Carter et al.
(2020), who investigated students self-regulation techniques, found that these active oriented coping
mechanisms of students were consistent with their findings.

Tang et al. (2020), conducted another research in which they assessed the efficiency of several
online teaching formats among engineering students. The findings of a questionnaire suggested that
students were generally unsatisfied with online learning in general, and especially with the
communication and question-and-answer modalities. In spite of this, students’ attention, academic
performance, and course assessment all improved as a result of combination of online instruction and
flipped classrooms. The researches at Hew et al. (2020) conducted a similar study in which they changed
traditional flipped classrooms into completely flipped classrooms using a cloud-based
videoconferencing-assisted online flipped classes.
 Surayman et al. (2020), in contrast to the previous two research, investigated how learning took
place at home throughout the pandemic. Their results revealed that students encountered several
challenges in a home learning setting, including a lack of technological proficiency, a high cost of internet
access, and a lack of engagement, and sociability amongst and among themselves. In similar research,
Kapasis et al. (2020) evaluated the influence of lockdown on pupil’s ability to learn. According to their
results, the lockdown caused major interruption in the learning experience of the kids involved.

In addition, the students shared some of the difficulties they encountered while taking their
online courses. Anxiety, sadness, bad internet connectivity, and an unsuitable home learning
environment are among the issues that students face, which are exacerbated when they are
disadvantaged or come from rural areas.

In contrast to the result of Kapasa et al. (2020), Gonzaga et al. (2020), discovered that keeping
pupils in their classroom throughout the pandemic had considerable beneficial on their academic
performance. According to the researches, these outcomes were due to student’s consistent use of
learning methodologies, which in turn increased their learning efficiency.

ACCESIBILITY

Access is the initial stage in online learning. Regardless of how effectively the instruction is
created, if the student is unable to access the course learning materials through technology owing to
physical or budgetary restrictions, the instructional design is rendered meaningless and non-existent.
This is particularly true in the case of continuing education or employee training.

In the past, training mostly done outside of the workplace, in places like training schools and
centers, which are referred to as a formal training environment. This easy access to learning materials
and the internet has the potential to blur the lines between official and informal training. Today’s focus
on “on-the-job” training, combined with readily accessible information through the internet, is
narrowing the virtual gap between formal and informal training.

FLEXIBILITY

A second benefit of online learning is the flexibility to be adaptable. Traditional distance

education, for example, relies heavily on paper-based materials. Interactions are put on top of the
content, which is often performed by phone conferencing. Video conferencing has become popular in
recent years. However, since this technology is expensive and seldom interactive, it has not been
extensively used. There are at least two problems; video-conference set up is expensive, and it only
allows the site to be flexible in terms of time and scheduling. That is, for contact to occur, two people
must be present at the same time. Individual interaction is now feasible with a very low-cost set-up
owing to the internet. Nowadays, everyone with an internet connection may participate in e-activities
Furthermore, since these e-activities are asynchronous, learners may choose when to participate, and
they now have more time to examine the information before replying.

It should be noted, however, that flexibility typically comes at a cost. By stressing one aspect of
flexibility, others become rigid. To develop a sense of learning community, for example, all students
must have a certain amount of time to engage with one another. This always places a constraint on the
time. If we desire flexible time and space, we will have to sacrifice on the flexible content. We must
forsake the comfort of flexible access to resources and professionals if we want a varied pace (who are
not always accessible) (Dhawan,2020).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study is designed to peer into the coping mechanisms or coping strategies among the
Bachelor of Special Needs Education (BSNED) students in managing challenges associated in online
learning.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. Profile of the BSNED student in terms of:

a. Source of income
b. Presence of electronic equipment for online class
c. Stability of internet connectivity

2.What are the challenges faced by the students during the blended learning?

3.How do the BSNED students cope with the challenges they face during the blended learning?

4.What are the most common coping mechanism and least common coping mechanism among
the BSNED students?

5.What implication can be deduced from the result of this study for the improvement of “coping
mechanism” in increasing the BSNED students’ awareness in online class?

HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant relationship between the profile factor and coping mechanism of BSNED
students before and after the increased of coping mechanism awareness in online classes.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

For better understanding of the research report, the following terms were operationally
defined:

Coping mechanism is defined as the thoughts and behaviors mobilized to manage internal and external
stressful situations (Althorn EB, Gupta V. 2021).

Blended learning is a new teaching style combining traditional and modern learning models, where the
digital methods of teaching students do not completely replace the ways in which the traditional
teachers used to interact with and teach the students.
 Gillett-Swan (2017). Online Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1127718.pdf

Schmidt (2016). Decision Making Process in Distance Learning. Retrieved from

https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-018-0106-1

Comman, (2020). Online Teaching and Learning Through Blended Education. Retrieved from
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10367/pdf

Lapitan (2021). An Effective Blended and Online Teaching Strategy. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7847201/

Dhawan (2020). Making Sense of Flexibility. Retrieved from https://teachonline.ca/fr/node/85357