Angelyn R.

Son
MAEd-ELT

Delving on Students’
Reading Habits Submitted to:

During
z the Conduct Dr. Helen Boholano

of Blended Distance
College of Teacher
Learning Modality Education
Cebu Normal
University
Cebu City
Rationale
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has
produced a worldwide educational catastrophe that has never been
seen before (Education International, 2020). Nearly 200 nations have
closed schools, affecting nearly 90% of students from kindergarten
to university (UNESCO, 2020). The untimely and immediate closure
of the schools in March 2020 have greatly affected the teachers,
parents, and the students. About five months later in our country,
there is a gradual opening of schools in which the Department of
Education recommended the Alternative Delivery Model (ADM)
through the varied learning delivery modalities. The face-to-face
classes were suspended and direct and immediate teacher-student
interaction has been challenged.
Due to this health crisis, the Philippines, in particular, found
itself in an uncertain scenario. To overcome the gaps in
schooling caused by the pandemic, several means of lesson
distribution have been developed. Public schools have
utilized the distance learning delivery modality while some
private schools have offered online distance learning
modality; other private schools have offered the two learning
modalities to the students as to how to deliver the lessons
which is also known as blended distance learning modality.
Any possible means are being utilized by the schools just to
continue the lesson delivery to the students despite the
pandemic.
In School Years 2020-2022, Saint Francis Academy, Balamban, Cebu
had provided their students these modes of delivery for their
convenience: digital modular distance learning modality, online
learning distance learning modality, or a combination of both (blended
learning). For those students who opted to learn online, they are
required to attend online synchronous classes. On the other hand,
those students who chose the digital modular distance learning
delivery modality are asked to download the tasks given by the
teachers from a platform used by the school. They could start
answering the given activities, including reading activities, and submit
these after to the school through their respective parents or any
responsible adult who can do the submission.
For the last quarter of school year 2021-2022, the Department of
Education and the Department of Health issued the Joint
Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2022 entitled “Revised Operational
Guidelines on the Progressive Expansion of Face to Face Classes”.
The said issuance allowed schools to offer a limited face-to-face
learning modality to the students upon compliance to the requirements
in which St. Francis Academy complied to. Each section was divided
into two sets, with maximum number of twenty students per set. Each
set of students took turns in going to school. For example, when the
first set of students were in school, the second set of students would
stay at home and did the tasks that their teachers gave to them
(Education, 2022).
The school still opts to choose the blended distance learning for the
upcoming school year 2022-2023. In this way, teachers and students may
still experience inability to connect in person with such learning delivery
modality, and so have less possibilities to engage in reading settings due
to time constraint. The students may lose their interest when it comes to
their reading activities provided by the teachers. The use of technology in
reading becomes a hindrance or a barrier to some students’ reading
habits. Because of this, some students reading performance has been
affected. On the other hand, when the students are at home, teachers
cannot model for students or allow them to participate in a range of
reading activities since they are not recorded in the distance learning
delivery modality. Furthermore, monitoring and assessing students' real
reading activities in a way that allows the teachers to offer timely
feedback to the students so that they can reflect and learn is challenging.
This posed a significant barrier both for the teacher and the students
which may also affect to how they perceive their reading habits.
Due to the existing problem, the researcher felt the need to examine
and explore on this; delving into the students’ different reading habits
during the conduct of blended distance learning modality is at utmost
importance. The researcher finds an opportunity in these reasons to
improve the academic reading instructions of Saint Francis Academy
during the conduct of the blended distance learning modality. There is
a need to bridge the gaps, issues, concerns or problems on the
students’ reading habits while having a blended learning distance
modality.
Statement of the Problem
This study delves on the students’ reading habits during the conduct
of blended distance learning modality at Saint Francis Academy for
SY 2022-2023 to propose a remedial program.
Specifically, it answers the following questions:

1. What is blended learning all about?

2. What makes a good reading habit to a high school student and
how important reading habit to them?
3. How does blended learning help engage students in reading
activities?
4. What are the possible adaptive strategies that will be used to solve
the encountered undesirable experiences?
5. What are the recommendations to the school administration and
teachers on the blended distance learning implementation?
z

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Research Design

This study about Delving on Students’ Reading Habits during the

Conduct of Blended Distance Learning Modality is a qualitative
phenomenological design. The important data needed in this inquiry
will be gathered through interview and survey methods. It aims to
know the different reading habits of the students during the conduct of
blended distance learning modality during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will aid the researcher in accumulating essential information
which will be highly significant for the data analysis and
interpretation.
Research Environment

This study will be conducted at Saint Francis Academy which is situated

in an urban community of Balamban, Cebu. Its neighboring towns are
Asturias, Toledo City, Tuburan, and Pinamungajan. Saint Francis
Academy is 750 meters away from Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church
and a 2-minute walk away from the Balamban Public Market. It has 30
instructional rooms and 10 non-instructional rooms. The class size is
around 40 students. The school offers academic courses both in Junior
and Senior High School. For Senior High School, 3 strands are being
offered such as Accounting, Business and Management (ABM),
Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), and Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The school consists of 35
teaching staffs and more than 10 non-teaching staffs. It is managed by a
school principal and run by a school directress from the Missionary
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM) Congregation.
Research Respondents

The target population of this study will be the grade 12 students of

Saint Francis Academy specifically those who are taking the HUMSS
strand. They will be purposively selected as key participants using
the purposive sampling approach to explore their different reading
habits during the conduct of blended distance learning modality
during COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Instruments

Significant data needed in this study will be gathered through the

semi-structured interview questionnaire and with the use of Likert
Scale that will be conducted among the grade 12 HUMSS students.
Both of the interview questionnaire and Likert Scale tools consist of
10 personal perceptions each or different reading habits during
blended distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic.
Data Gathering Procedure

This qualitative research will utilize the phenomenological inquiry in

understanding the students’ different reading experiences towards
blended distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic. Considering
the global pandemic and Covid-19 community guidelines, orientation
on the procedure of data collection, confidentiality and voluntary
participation; distribution of informed consent; and the conduct of
semi-structured in-depth interview will all be done virtually – either
google meet, zoom, skype or messenger considering the respondent’s
preference. To ensure privacy and confidentiality, the aforementioned
processes will be conducted on an individual basis.
Data Analysis

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) will be utilized to

achieve detailed analysis of the respondent’s experiences through
identifying and discussing the experiential themes and will be given
meaning through the researcher’s interpretation. The data analysis
procedure will be governed by Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological
analysis.
Ethical Considerations

All collected and collated information in this study shall be

held with utmost confidentiality. The respondents will be aware of the
conduct of the study and have therefore their permission will be asked
to be part in this research. The disclosure of the instrument and tool
used in the conduct of the study will be solely for the participants
only and the only participant can have the full access to their answers
in the questionnaire should they wish to alter something in their
answers.
In this study, the participants will not be subjected to any harm and
there will be a full consent that will be obtained from the participants
prior to the study. The result of this study shall remain confidential
and anonymity of the students will also be ensured. Any exaggeration
about the aims and objectives of the research will be avoided.
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