TEACHING STRATEGIES IN SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION: ITS EFFECT TO

THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF MATHEMATICS MAJORS

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of
College of Education
Mabini Colleges
Daet, Camarines Norte

In Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements for
MC MATH 19
(Research in Mathematics)

By:
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Mathematics subject is considered as the most complex subject a person could

ever had in the scholastic years, or even in the daily living. We compute and we analyze

problems in a day-to-day basis which makes its principles become so much important.

Everyone should have at least a general skills and knowledge which can be employed to

solve basic to complex problems. The reason why students of today need to study

mathematics no matter what.

In the present day that the entire globe is suffering from the inevitable effects of

the COVID-19 pandemic, everything has changed – from the normal to “new normal”.

This is in accordance with the current safety and health protocols being implemented to

make everyone be protected from being infected. This also become one of the reasons

why the limitation to people movement and other social interactions are controlled.

Education was one of the most affected sectors of the society. This limits teachers and

other education personnel and also the students in having the freedom to learn

everything not just academically but through experiencing it.

According to TeachThought Staff (n.d.), Dewey argues that in order for education

to be most effective, content must be presented in a way that allows the student to relate

the information to prior experiences, thus deepening the connection with this new

knowledge. In order to rectify this dilemma, Dewey advocated for an educational

structure that strikes a balance between delivering knowledge while also taking into

account the interests and experiences of the student.

Teachers and students are both suffering from this dilemma. The goal in

achieving a high quality of education become at stake. That’s why, it is so much

important to know how every aspect of the educational system cope up with the current

situation. From the highest managing authorities up to the classroom management, the

question is what it is to be done to make every method in acquiring high quality of

education in the midst of this pandemic will become possible?

PRO-ED, Inc. (2006) stated that although students achieve greater accuracy

through the use of specific strategies, they may initially sacrifice speed and efficiency.

Use of a systematic strategy, however, ensures that students become increasingly

efficient over time, and this results in reduced work time. Teaching strategies I the midst

of this pandemic will play the most important role in the teaching-learning environment

most especially in the learning experiences that is essential to the learning process of

the students.

According to Latheef (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers to do their

job in its most unfamiliar situations. Perhaps, a silver lining is that it initiates the

widespread practice of synchronous instruction, a potential remedy for the connection,

students and faculty often missed in traditional online classes.

Moreover, it has been said that in the midst of the pandemic, online learning took

on new forms according to what districts had the resources to do at that given time. It

caused the shift from in-person to online learning during that time to be dubbed

pandemic learning or emergency remote learning because many recognized that the

learning taking place in many circumstances didn’t follow the best practices in online

learning, nor were all students properly equipped to learn online. (Froehlich, 2021)

Furthermore, as University of Arlington Online (2021) stated that some of the

students may not be particularly inclined to give the computer screen their undivided

attention. When students are not present in the classroom, teachers do not have the

advantage of picking up the small signals from students that indicate confusion or a lack

of understanding. While there are various digital tools for demonstrating problems and
concepts, teachers must remember explanations require greater detail to keep all

students engaged.

With the abovementioned advantages and disadvantages of online teaching, it is

something that has need to be addressed properly so that quality education will not be

compromised. The researchers will conduct the study to identify different teaching

strategies on the synchronous class and how does it affect the academic performances

of the students taking of Bachelor in Secondary Education, Major in Mathematics of

Mabini Colleges in the School Year 2021-2022.

Statement of the Problem

The researchers aim to know the effect of different teaching strategies in

teaching mathematics subjects in the synchronous class of the students taking up

Bachelor in Secondary Education, Major in Mathematics of Mabini Colleges, School

Year 2021-2022.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the teaching strategies being employed in teaching major subjects

in mathematics?

2. What is the academic performance of the BSED-Mathematics Major

students?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the teaching strategies being

employed by the teacher and the academic performance of the BSED-

Mathematics Major students?

Hypothesis
 There is no significant relationship between the teaching strategies being

employed by the teacher and the academic performance of the BSED-Mathematics

Major students

Scope and Delimitation

The study will focus on determining the teaching strategies on synchronous

classes and how does it affect the academic performance of students taking up BSED,

Major in Mathematics. This study is limited only to the BSED-Mathematics students

whose taking Mathematics major subjects in Mabini Colleges of the school year 2021-

2022. This will include a total number of ____ participants that will be selected randomly.

Significance of the Study

Determining the effect of the teaching strategies on the synchronous classes of

the BSED-Mathematics majors on their academic performance will be a great help to the

following beneficiaries:

To the students. Determining the teaching strategies of the teacher and how it

affect their academic performance will help them a lot in knowing their selves more with

regards to their coping mechanisms in the context of learning. With this, they will

become aware how the learning takes place on them efficiently or the other way around.

To the teachers. Knowing how their teaching strategies affect their students (if

they’re learning or not) is a big thing because it will give them the feedback if what

they’re doing is effective or not – if it’s promoting a healthy learning environment and

meaningful learning experiences or not. With this, they will be able to make adjustments

on their current strategies, teaching plans and other classroom management in the

online modality.

To the school. This study may act as an evaluation of the teachers teaching

mathematics major subjects to BSED-Mathematics students on the online modality. This

will give them the idea of how teachers perform during their classes. If they’re teaching

strategies are efficient or it just add up stress and frustrations to their students.

To the future researchers. The findings of this study may act as a basis for a

deeper study related to the topic with regards to the teaching strategies and how it affect

the learning environment – its contribution to the learning experiences of the students.

Definition of Terms

Academic Performance. This refers to the measurement of student

achievement across various academic subjects. Teachers and education officials

typically measure achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and

results from standardized tests. In this study, it refers to the factor that is being

considered with regards to the effects of the teaching strategies being employed in the

synchronous class of BSED-Mathematics students on their mathematics major subjects.

Mathematics. This refers to the abstract science of number, quantity, and space.

It may be studied in its own right (pure mathematics), or as it is applied to other

disciplines such as physics and engineering (applied mathematics). In this study, this

refers to the major subjects being undertaken by the BSED-Mathematics students of

Mabini Colleges of the School Year 2021-2022.

Mathematics Majors. They study the relationships between numbers, structures

and patterns. Their classes range from algebra to statistics, and the concepts build on

one another. Students learn skills like logic, analysis, abstract thinking and problem

solving, which are valuable to future employers. In this study, it refers to the participants

and the main focus of the study being undertaken. They will be the group to be observed

to provide their perspective regarding the effects of the teaching strategies being applied

by their teachers on teaching their major subjects and how it affects their academic

performance.
 Synchronous Communication. Is that which takes place in real-time between

two or more parties. Put simply; a synchronous communication exchange is an

interactive, 'live' interchange between people. In this study, it refers to the modality being

used by the teachers with the aid of different online tools such as Google Meet, Zoom,

and the like. This is the medium where the learning in the “new normal” takes place.

Teaching Strategies. Teaching strategies are methods and techniques that a

teacher will use to support their pupils or students through the learning process; a

teacher will choose the teaching strategy most suitable to the topic being studied, the

level of expertise of the learner, and the stage in their learning journey. In this study, this

refers to the factor of the learning environment which will be evaluated against its effect

to the academic performance of the BSED-Mathematics students with regards to their

mathematics major subjects.

 Notes

TeachThought Staff. (n.d.). John Dewey’s pedagogy: a summary.

https://www.teachthought.com/learning/pedagogy-john-dewey-summary/

PRO-ED, Inc. (2006). Strategic learning in the classroom.

https://www.proedinc.com/downloads/10619ch01.pdf

Latheef, ZI. (2020, July 13). Synchronous strategies for the “new normal”.

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-delivery-

and-instruction/synchronous-strategies-for-the-new-normal/

Froehlich, M. (2021, November 9). 5 Elements of a sustainable online learning program.

Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-elements-sustainable-online-

learning-program

University of Arlington Online. (2021, February 12). Teaching math online during covid-

19. https://academicpartnerships.uta.edu/articles/education/teaching-math-

online.aspx
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter discussed the methodology and tools employed in gathering the

data. It also includes the description of the Research Design used, Sources of Data,

Respondents and the Data gathering Procedure. Moreover, statistical treatment in

analyzing and interpreting the gathered data were also presented

Research Design

This study used the Descriptive-Correlation research design. The aim of the

researcher is to provide a specific description of how different teaching strategies

implemented by the teachers in teaching mathematics major subjects to BSED-

Mathematics students affect their academic performance in the midst of the “new

normal” through a synchronous communication.

According to Stangor and Walinga (2011), descriptive research is research

designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs while correlational research

is research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the

prediction of future events from present knowledge. Employing this research design will

help the researchers describe the current situation of education in the locality and how it

affect students in their academic performances towards their online physical education

classes and how their profiles can be related to this phenomenon.

Sources of Data
 The primary source of data of this study will be the ____ 1st year to 4th year

students of Mabini Colleges taking up Bachelor in Secondary Education, Major in

Mathematics. The respondents will be selected randomly to provide an unbiased data

that would help in quantifying the results to be analyzed and interpreted using different

statistical tool to determine the effects of the different teaching strategies being

employed through a synchronous communication using different online tools such as

Google Meet and Zoom. Secondary sources of data include books, journals, thesis and

dissertations, and electronic sources that are available online.

Data Gathering Procedure

To secure the proper data gathering procedure, the researchers will first prepare

letters to the respective personnel of Mabini Colleges to acquire data regarding the total

number of BSED-Mathematics Major students enrolled for the School Year 2021-2022

(1st and 2nd Semester). After getting the data, the researchers will then compute for the

sample size of the respondents that will unbiasedly represent the entire population (by

using sample calculator available in the net). Determining the sample size will now

enable the researchers to randomly select the respondents that will participate on the

survey. To proceed, the researchers will now prepare the questionnaire for validation,

After the validation of the questionnaire, the researchers will now prepare the google

form (electronic version of the questionnaire) to be used in data gathering. Link of the

said google form will be sent through Facebook Messenger, E-mail and other platform

convenient for the randomly selected respondents.

Instrumentation

The researchers will employ the use of a survey questionnaire to determine the

effect of the different teaching strategies through a synchronous communication using

online medium such as Google Meet and Zoom. The questionnaire will be a series of

questions that will help in assessing their learning experience towards their mathematics

major subjects being taught in the online modality.

Part I of the questionnaire will cover questions regarding the different teaching

strategies being employed on teaching mathematics major subjects to BSED-

Mathematics students through a synchronous communication. Having this data will help

the researchers know what are the current teaching strategies are being employed by

the teachers in the context of the “new normal” and as part of their adjustment schemes.

Part II of the questionnaire will be dedicated to assess the academic

performances of the respondents on their mathematics major subjects with respect to

how it was taught. Multiple choice questions will be provided to make it easier and

simple to accomplish that won’t take much time from the respondents. It will also be

more convenient for them to answer because they will be using google form and their

identities will be kept confidential.

Statistical Tool

The data gathered will be summarized, interpreted, and analyzed using the

following statistical tool:

Percentage Frequency Distribution. This will be used to display a specific

percentage or ratio of each response made by the participants in evaluating the CPA-

based ICT tool in terms of effectiveness, functionality and portability.

Pearson Correlation Coefficient. This will be used to analyze and interpret the

measurement of the strength of the two variables.

 Notes

Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2011). Psychologists use descriptive, correlational, and

experimental research designs to understand behaviour.

https://openpress.usask.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/psychologists-use-

descriptive-correlational-and-experimental-research-designs-to-understand-

behavior/