CHAPTER I

Title: “Challenges of using Modular Distance Learning on the academic performance of Grade 12 Student’s in
Asian College”

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The outbreak of COVID-19 virus has occurred in our country, and within a year, it already turned out to a
global health emergency. It affected thousands of people who are sick and killed due to the spread of this virus. As
the pandemic arises, there are changes fulfilled to adapt to the situations. One of these changes is a face-to-face
interaction between students and teachers within the school.

For the continuity of education, our country introduced a new form of education. The Department of
Education (DepEd) implemented Modular Distance Learning as one of the learning modalities as a way for students
to learn despite this pandemic. Modular modality refers to both printed and digital offline learning materials.

Citing results from the Learner Enrolment and Survey Forms (LEFS) gathered nationwide, DepEd said that 8.8
million parents preferred modular for their children both in public and private schools. (Bernardo, J)

But, modular distance learning made more challenging on the part of the students Varied researches
demonstrated that challenges encountered in Modular Distance Learning are a common and important problem
that can affect of the students, which is needed to be addressed. There are learners who do not have parents that
could help them in studying their lessons at home (Cariño , E.).

The focus and concentration of the learners are not hundred percent served on their studies since there is
no enough supervision at home. They are often distracted and sometimes no interest in answering their modules
especially if they didn’t understand it’s content of the lesson written there. In this case, there is a possibility that
the academic performance of the learners will be affected (Mañalac, M. 2020).

After a week of introducing the modular instruction process, the task of teachers is to check the answers of
learners in the different learning areas. As can be seen, there are learners who get perfect scores in all tasks. It is
saddened to notice that there are learners who have failed to respond to the various activities in the learning
packages. They are the learners who come from a poor family, where their parents and older siblings give
importance to the food they eat every day. It is a fact that the condition of the learners has an effect on their
academic performance and learning efficiency(Canonizado, I. 2020).

Most parents are not certified educators. Even those who are educators, know that their children who’s in
different grade level struggle and finds it difficult while learning and doing their tasks. This modality put pressure
on the students, especially in the case of an asynchronous learning environment(Department of Education, 2020).

The family of seven shares one cellphone for all of their online and modular learning. Each day, they make
sure those who need the gadget the most will get to use it. But there is no reliable Internet signal and no extra
money for a pre-paid load. So they rely on modular learning with lessons, but they all admit that it is difficult to
comprehend (Pabalate, N. 2020).

Based on our experiences of being a student in Asian College, We witnessed how other students struggle on
their modules. They cannot fully sustain the pressure doing their activities on their own. Some of them do not
answer the learning activity sheets correctly and do not work on their modules properly. From this situation, We
want to know what was the problem? What was the reason why they cannot do well on their tasks.
 Departments, roles, and competencies can be a daunting and extremely costlyendeavorin this trying times
(Okeke, 2014).

As a matter of fact, citing results from the Learner Enrollmeners to both printed and digital or offline learning
materials. Most parents are not certified educators. Even those who are educators, know that there are struggles
when teaching to both printed and digital or offline learning materials. Most parents are not certified educators.
This modality puts pressure on the students, especially in the case of an asynchronous learning
environment(Department of Education, 2020).

Individualized instruction in modular distance learning is useful in remote areas with limited internet access
such as mountains. Learners use self-learning modules in print or digital format. They may need home visits by
teachers for learners’ remediation or assistance. If it is workable, students could reach their teacher via email,
telephone, text message or instant messaging. To add, parents in this level cannot help their children on the
activities in the module for they too have no capacity in dealing such because of their educational background
(International Institute for Educational Planning, 2020).

Based on my experience, parents who have children in different grade level cannot sustain the pressure of
teaching their kids on the different learning areas, because of their lack of expertise in teaching complex topics in
the module. They tend to open the answers key just to supplement the answers in the module without discussing.

In this light, the researcher decided to conduct this study to determine the challenges of using Modular
Distance Learning on the academic performance of Grade 12 students in Asian College. With all of these
compelling reasons, this study aims to as certain possible solutions that will help all students dealing with the
challenges they encountered in this new learning modality.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem of my study aims to determine the challenges of using Modular Distance Learning on
the academic performance of Grade 12 students in Asian College.

Specifically, it sought to answers the following questions:

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

1.1 Name

1.2 Strand

1.3 Section

2. What are the challenges encountered by students in modular distance learning?

3. How do the challenges affect the academic performance of the students?

4. How stressful is distance learning for you during the COVID-19 pandemic?

5. Which do you prefer printed or digital learning?

6. If you choose digital learning what device do you use?

7. How much time do you spend each day on answering your modules?

8. How important is face-to-face communication for you while learning remotely?

9. How modular learning can improve academic performance?

10. What is the main purpose of modular learning?

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will benefit the following:

This study is significant for all Educational Institutions as it can provide quality education to every Filipino
learner.

This study will benefit the students to open their minds on how they can settle in coping with the learning
modality in this new normal, feel motivated, allow greater flexibility in managing their studies, and have the
persistence to do and complete their tasks. This study will benefit the parents to encourage them to support the
needs of their children for their learning, provides them a deeper understanding of education, and influence their
children to dedicate themselves to achieve their desired outcomes successfully. This study will benefit the
teachers to provide appropriate actions to increase the level of their student’s knowledge and commitment to
learning through the use methods, motivate their student’s thinking for self-learning and their capacity to respond
to the needs of the students and to assess their students to perceive their learning to upgrade the reliability of
modular distance learning.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study will focus on the challenges of modular distance learning on the academic performance of Grade
12 students in Asian College. The researcher decided to include the 2 strands of Grade 12 students. This study will
involves fifty (50) Grade 12 students who are enrolled in academic year 2021-2022. This study will take 2 weeks to
finish the research. The data of this study is limited only to the challenges encountered by Grade 12 students of
Asian College. In this study, the researcher will ask the students to answer the questions through an online survey.

Respondents of the study

The main source of data in this study will be the Grade 12 students of Asian College. This study involves fifty(50)
Grade 12 students who are enrolled in Asian College.

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES