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Chapter 1

Introduction

One of the goals of today’s pre-service and in-service training of teachers is to

promote teacher’s competencies. According to the Department of Education, it is a big

factor in the academic achievement of the students. Included under teacher competencies

are teaching effectiveness, professional recognition and awards, membership and

participation in professional organizations, scholarly abilities and creative

productiveness, and university and community service (Manual of Regulation for Private

Schools, 2010). In the daily life of students, they encounter different kinds of teachers. It

is a fact that the various teaching competency levels of their teachers bear different

effects upon the students’ learning. Because of this, teachers must be aware of their own

level of competency so as to be extra conscious of how their teaching affects the learning

of the students.

According to Onike (2007), a teacher occupies an important position and is a key

element in the operations of the school system. Teacher’s competence, knowledge,

interest, devotion, commitment, dedication, professional training, attitude and personality

make up matters and largely determine the quality of services provided by the teacher.

Muijs and Reynolds (2005) claims that how a teacher teaches becomes a vital key

in promoting effective teaching and learning to the students. The researchers took interest

in the study of how the teachers’ competencies affect the learning of the students whom

they are teaching. Therefore, the teachers themselves are given the obligation to mold

students into learned, competent, responsible and moral citizens of the country which is
 3

aligned with the aim of every educational institution, that is to produce competent and

excellent graduates.

Given the current demands of various schools with regard to the teacher’s

competency, the researchers chose to look into this topic so as to expand their knowledge

on the situations and the possible remedies to some existing problems.

Upon noticing the impact of the quality of education to the future of the students,

the researchers came up with a common view that the present condition of the teachers’

competencies could still be raised higher.

The primary focus in this study is the teachers, mainly because they are in charge

of the facilitation of their students’ learning experiences. The effectiveness of their

teaching is one of the factors that determine how well the students would do in their

journey towards knowledge acquisition. Basically, the teachers play a vital role in the

daily lives of their students. Thus, the advocacy to promote academic excellence and

quality education in STI College Pasay-EDSA Senior High School Department in view of

making this institution a center of academic excellence made the researchers decide to

conduct the study that will determine the effects of teaching competencies of the Social

Science teachers in STI College Pasay-EDSA Senior High School Department to the

students’ academic performance.

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Statement of the Problem

This study endeavors to determine the high school students’ perception as regards

the instructional competencies of the Teaching Force and their relationship to students’

academic performance.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following sub-problems:

1. What are the students’ perceptions on the instructional competencies of the Senior

High School Social Science teachers in terms of the following?

1.1 General Knowledge/Mastery of the Subject Field

1.2 Teaching Skills

1.3 Classroom Management

1.4 Evaluation Skills;

2. What is the level of academic performance of the respondents in the following

subjects?

2.1 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

2.2 Personal Development

3. Is there a significant relationship between the teachers’ instructional competencies

and the students’ academic performance in the following subjects?

3.1 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

3.2 Personal Development

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Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between the teachers’ instructional

competencies and the students’ academic performances in Introduction to the Philosophy

of the Human Person and Personal Development.

Theoretical Framework

Vygotsky highlights that interaction plays a role in the cognitive development of a

learner (Dahms et al., 2007). In the light of the theory discussed, More Knowledgeable

Others (MKO) refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability than

the learner with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. In this study, this MKO

refers to the teachers. Another aspect of the theory is the Zone of Proximal Development

(ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult

guidance and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability to solve the problem

independently. According to Vygotsky, learning occurs in this zone (Daniels, 2005). This

theory is related to the instructional competencies of the teaching force and how the

interaction between the teacher and students brings about the latter’s learning.

Another theory that will be presented is the constructivist theory by Jerome

Seymour Bruner. Constructivism sees learning as a dynamic process in which learners

construct new ideas or concepts in their current/past knowledge and in response to the

instructional situation. Constructivism implies the notion that learners do not passively

absorb information but construct it themselves (Bruner’s Constructivist Theory, 2006).

The teacher resources used should be focused in encouraging, aiding and allowing the
 6

students to uncover the main principles on their own. Communication between the

learner and teacher is the key concept.

Teachers need to master two types of knowledge: content, also known as deep

knowledge of the subject itself, and knowledge of the curricular development. Content

knowledge encompasses what Bruner, as cited in Shulman (1992), calls the structure of

knowledge – the theories, principles, and concepts of a particular discipline (Ornstein,

2000).

The last theory on which this study is founded is the Bronfenbrenner’s model of

the ecology of human development. Paquette and Ryans (2001) explain the

Bronfenbrenner’s model of the ecology of human development which stipulates that the

child does not develop in seclusion but in relation to his or her environment. Interactions

with these environments as well as the environments themselves such as the family and

school are keys to development. The family and school are considered as the most

proximate environmental system and Bronfenbrenner called it the Microsystem, the most

influential environment to the developing child. According to Cobb (2001), the

microsystems of Bronfenbrenner’s model of ecology are the various settings in which the

person, in this case, an adolescent student, moves throughout the day; at home, at school,

at work and with friends which is innermost and immediate in environmental influence.

A characteristic of the microsystem is that the activities, interpersonal relations, and roles

involve the adolescent in face-to-face interactions with others. To be specific, the school

environment will be used to relate the teachers themselves in the learning of the students.
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Conceptual Framework

The main factor affecting the students’ academic performance is their teacher. To

be more specific, this study seeks to look more into the instructional competencies that a

teacher should be possessing. First on the list is the Mastery of the subject field. Teachers

must be adept on the subject field that they intend to teach. They must be aware that

every bit of information that they hand down to the students are accurate and precise. The

set of teaching skills that they have could greatly affect the way they present lessons to

their class. The classroom management of the teachers is also of immense significance,

for the researchers believe that a great teacher also instills values and self-discipline to

their students. A teacher must always strive to be in absolute control of the classroom

situations or happenings. Last on the list is the evaluation skill, which the researchers see

as something essential for a teacher. Evaluation skills give the teacher a capability to

judge the student’s performance and progress, which most likely give them a hint on

some necessary adjustments or notices to give. All of these are connected to the academic

performance, specifically in Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, and

Personal Development

(Figure1)

Teachers’ Instructional Students’ Academic

Competencies Performances in:

 Mastery of the Subject

 Introduction to the
Field
Philosophy of Human
 Teaching Skills Person
 Classroom Management  Personal Development
 Evaluation Skills
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Figure 1. The Relationship of the Teacher’s Instructional Competencies to the Students’ Academic
Performance

Significance of the Study

The researchers believe that this study will mainly contribute to the following:

To the Administrators. The result of this research will contribute to the

improvement of the Senior High School department of STI College Pasay-EDSA

particularly on the academic field. This will be useful in identifying the appropriate

qualifications and the competency of the Senior High School Social Science teachers.

The level of adequacy of faculty members on the various knowledge concepts and skills

needed in teaching the said subjects will provide data to administrators and teacher

training institutions to guide them in planning courses and in-service training programs.

Priorities are directed towards the current needs of teachers.

Curriculum Developers. Curriculum developers could also make use of these data

as bases for the development of the Senior High School Social Science teachers’ resource

materials especially with regard to the topics they find very difficult to teach.
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Faculty Members. The result of this study will also reveal certain competencies of the

Social Science teachers as perceived by the Senior High School students of STI College

Pasay-EDSA. By knowing the competencies of the teachers in teaching, effective

teaching-learning situation would be facilitated and by evaluating oneself, teaching

would become a more rewarding experience. A proposed development program can be

recommended to improve teachers’ competency and promote adequacy of knowledge.

To the Students. The teachers of the students will be more aware of their teaching

competencies. Thus, students will have more confidence towards their teachers, yielding

more learning experiences that are directed towards excellence in academic performance.

To Future Researchers. The future researchers may be able to use this study as a

guide if ever they will pursue or consider the same area of interest.

Scope and Limitation

The study was confined to the teachers’ instructional competencies of the Social

Science teachers of STI College Pasay-EDSA Senior High School Department as

perceived by the Grade 11 and Grade 12 high school students of academic year 2022-

2023. The number of respondents was determined through the use of the formula to get

the sample (See Appendix C). In order to meet the approximate number of samples, the

researchers randomly selected respondents from two sections and eliminated the entries

to get the exact required number of samples computed. This study was not able to follow

strictly the random sampling since the sample was not distributed to all the groups.

Consequently, the remaining section/s of each year level, were not represented in the

study. Academic achievement on the other hand was limited to the students’ learning
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for the first semester of 2022-2023 in Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person

and Personal Development subjects.

Definition of Terms

For clearer and better understanding of the terms used in this study, the following

are defined according to their use in the study:

Academic Performance refers to the academic achievement of the Senior High

School students (Grade 11 and 12 students) of STI College Pasay-EDSA shown through

their mean grades computed from the first and second quarter grades of the school year

2022-2023 in Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person and Personal

Development subjects.

Classroom Management Skills refers to the teachers’ capacity to be in control of

the classroom atmosphere and the student’s behavior and conduct.

Evaluation Skills refers to the teachers’ ability to conduct a battery of purposeful

assessment tools in order to measure the student’s intellectual progress.

Instructional Competency refers to the teachers’ mastery of the subject field,

teaching skills, classroom management and evaluation skills.

Mastery of the Subject-Field refers to the subject matter proficiency of the

teacher.
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Students’ Perception refers to how the students recognize their teachers’

capacity to provide them with quality education and useful learning experience.

Teaching Effectiveness refers to the potency of the instruction which goes along

with effective learning of the students.

Teaching Force refers to the faculty of STI College Pasay EDSA Senior High

School Department in the subject areas of Introduction to the Philosophy of Human

Person and Personal Development subjects.

Teaching Skills refers to the instructional abilities that a teacher must possess in

order to become a more effective teacher.

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Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter presents relevant literatures and studies, both foreign and local that

have given direction to the present study.

Instructional Competencies

According to the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers (1997), a professional

teacher is a licensed professional who possesses dignity and reputation with high moral

values as well as technical and professional competence. S/he adheres to observe, and

practice a set of ethical and moral principles, standards and values. In connection to this,

a teacher who is a keen observer of these practices should have a high level of

instructional competency. In general, teachers must not be in any way, negligent of the

instructional competencies that they must own so as to assure betterment and quality

education on the students’ part.

The teaching profession consists of members who have acquired by training

experience some specialized techniques. These are basically intellectual in nature. They

form associations as means of promoting the purposes of the profession, establish a

degree of unity in purpose and procedure, oversee and set the standards of the training of

recruits and guarantee the competence of the new members establish and enforce

standards of practice that is usually embodied in a proclaimed code of ethics. It has a

large degree of individual autonomy in the practice of the profession, places altruism,

service and social welfare ahead of personal gain. It promotes the personal welfare of its

own members, counsels the government with respect to the necessary legal regulations,
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informs the public and guides its expectations concerning the profession and cooperates

with other professions in adjusting related overlapping functions.

The teachers being central to the achievement of instructional goals and

objectives should see to it that effectiveness is assured and output is maximized. The

success and failure of the school program rests entirely on their hands. In them lies the

future of the educational institution that they pledge to serve enthusiastically and

diligently, considered by all as a moral obligation and responsibility to the society where

they belong (McLendon, 2003).

Joyce, Weiland and Calhoun (2008) analyze teaching into five processes which

involve effective control over a certain area of reality that is essential to teaching.

The first one is to make and use knowledge. The teacher must understand what is

meant by knowledge – those methods or concepts one uses to organize life experiences –

and he must know how to instill this operational knowledge in students. Knowledge is

not simply data or information; it is the way one goes about seeking data and drawing

generalizations. Second to that is to shape the school. Every teacher must develop

strategies whereby he/she can identify critical educational problems and along with

his/her colleagues, make decision towards solving them by doing the necessary solutions

to the difficulty. He/she has to organize the curricula around coherent themes so that the

growth of the students’ knowledge from year to year is cumulative rather than dispersive

or sporadic. These curricula, in brief, will deal with the content of subject matter, with

ideas methods and values to be taught, with instructional resources, with the organization

of students into classes or group with testing and evaluation, and with every other general

educational influence on students. Every teacher must learn how to cooperate with his/her
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colleagues to make comprehensive decisions affecting several interacting problems. The

third process is to teach with strategies. For carrying out the various curricular decisions,

the teacher must learn how to employ a wide range of teaching strategies – that is – the

set of methods of approaching the students. They must find appropriate methods and

materials and then reward the behaviors they want to encourage in students and inhibit

those they wish to discourage. When appropriate, they need to let students, individually

or collectively, plan largely on their own. Most importantly, teachers must exercise self-

control with students so that their personal feelings or needs do not interfere with their

efforts to carry out professional decisions. In short, they must learn to implement

curricular decisions to the best effect.

The fourth process is to create interpersonal climates. The teachers must learn

how to work with groups of people – students and colleagues. They must recognize their

effect on groups and vice-versa. As members of a team of teachers, they must know both

how to lead and how to cooperate. With students, they must further know how to lead and

how to cooperate in groups in a shared search for knowledge. All of these call for an

ability to experiment with varieties of organization, to compromise with fellow teachers

on plans and procedures, and to diagnose the needs and interest of students who must be

organized.

The last process is to control a teaching personality. The teacher must learn to

cope with himself/herself. He/she must handle information and theories with flexibility

and accurately, with minimal personal bias and with result and understanding. He/she

must be able to control himself when students challenge established authority and

standards, and he/she must help them develop their own standards. He/she must provide a
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mountain of support for the brightened and insecure students. He/she must learn to

radiate the interpersonal climate appropriate to the task at hand and to the students being

taught. He/she must be able to access his/her behavior objectively and then work

deliberately to improve it; he/she cannot afford to be defensive about his/her current

personality or practices.

According to Arthur and Philips (2002), competence gives the teacher the

responsibility to present evidence of the achievement of the students. The question is how

teachers perform, identifies the competencies and relate to overall performance of the

students according to the capacity.

According to Kyriacou (2001), the essence of being an effective teacher lies in

knowing what to do to foster students’ learning and being able to do it. Effective teaching

is primarily concerned with setting up a learning activity for each student which is

successful in bringing about the type of learning the teacher intends.

Successful teaching is thus crucially bound up with developments on both

decision-making skills and action skills. This distinction between these two types of skills

is extremely important, because teaching is as much a thinking activity as it is observable

actions. Developing skills as a teacher therefore is as much about developing and

extending the type of decisions that teachers make about their own teaching as it is about

the successful execution of those decisions.

In the Philippine system of education, there are factors that give difficulty to the

implementation of objectives. The problems of inadequately-trained teachers, lack of

support either from the government or from private sector, lack of solid planning, lack of

follow-up of result – all these add to the difficulty (Nem Singh et al., 2009).
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In evaluating teacher’s instructional competencies, the use of student achievement

as the basis to assess or evaluate teachers is one of the many approaches of teacher

evaluation. Other approaches in evaluating teacher’s instructional competencies include

classroom observation, student ratings, peer ratings, principal/HOD/administrator ratings,

self-rating, teacher interview, parent rating, competency tests, and other indirect measures

(Joshua et al., 2006).

Mastery of the Subject Field

Ornstein and Lunenburg (2008) identify that the teacher must have a thorough

grasp of the subject he teaches. Effective learning demands that the teacher must possess

a solid knowledge of his/her subject.

A well trained and certificated teacher must show evidence of mastery of the

subject matter. According to Dunhill (2000) teacher knowledge must be of two fold

nature. A good teacher must first possess a wide general knowledge and within the

confines of this general knowledge, a sound understanding of the subject he is to teach in

the classroom. Quadri, (2004) corroborates that a good teacher must be well knowledge

versed in his area of specialization. He must know which to teach, when to teach and how

to teach. The quantity and quality of the teacher's knowledge will give the teacher enough

material and confidence to teach effectively.

Knowledge of the subject matter is a definite factor in successful teaching. Lack

of it may cause narrow views or bluffing on the part of the teacher and distrust on the part

of students (Nem Singh, 2009). One the other hand, present-day teaching demands that a

teacher must possess a general understanding of other branches of knowledge. If a

teacher expects to help children understand and appreciate the world they live in, he must
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understand the interrelation and interdependence of the various areas of knowledge. He

must be able to show his subject fields, particularly in the solution of life’s problems.

Furthermore, children at present have a wide range of interests, background, experiences

and abilities (Ornstein et al., 2008).

The teacher must know about truth and fallacy, about evidence and bias, and

about the nature of theory. He needs to know what scholarly inquiry is, how knowledge is

produced, held, used, and made obsolete. Because he will have to help students about

scholarly discipline by practicing these disciplines with them, he needs to know what it

means to practice scholarship (Joyce et al., 2008).

According to Shulman (1987) as cited in Ornstein and Thomas (2000), to teach all

students according to today’s standards, teachers need to understand subject matter

deeply and flexibly so that they can help students create useful cognitive maps, relate one

idea to another, and address misconceptions. Teachers need to see how ideas connect

across fields and to everyday life. This kind of understanding provides a foundation for

pedagogical content knowledge that enables teachers to make ideas accessible to others.

Therefore, general understanding of other branches of knowledge must be acquired by

the teacher to help students build the knowledge by putting it into the context of the

learners.
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Teaching Skills

To promote learning effectively, a teacher must know not only what, which is the

subject matter, but also how which is the method to teach. Hence, the third essential

requirement of effective teaching is the skill with teaching methods (Ornstein et al,

2008).

They must also realize that all students have different levels of strengths and

weaknesses. It is only through teaching skills that a teacher can introduce creative and

effective solutions to the problems of the students. Thus, a teacher can enhance the

learning process (Kyriacou, 2001). According to Hindman and Stronge (2006), effective

teachers know how to use instructional techniques, such as mastery learning and

cooperative learning. When used appropriately, these strategies can result in student

achievement that is at least one standard deviation higher than that of students taught

without the use of strategies. Effective teachers use technology during instruction to offer

more individualized student attention, to provide hands-on experiences, and to shift the

focus from the teacher to the students. Effective teachers also use the students’ prior

knowledge as a starting point with hands-on, inquiry-based approaches to facilitate

increased levels of learning. Furthermore, effective teachers use questioning effectively.

In the studies conducted by Osakwe (2009), it was concluded that teaching skills

was one of the significant correlating factors and predictors of effective classroom

interaction. This is because no educational goals and objectives will be achieved where

there is lack of good communication skills used by the teacher in the instruction.

Therefore, effective classroom interaction could be influenced by the teacher’s skills. The
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teachers should be provided with opportunities where they can develop such attributes

through seminars, workshops, conferences and educational programs.

Classroom Management

Classroom management is closely connected to, and often discussed in

conjunction with, dealing with students’ misbehavior by disciplining (Muijs et al., 2001).

Lellough (2003) identifies classroom management as the process of organizing and

conducting a classroom to maximize learning by creating a learning environment that

encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning and self-motivation.

According to Rodriguez (n.d.), classroom management deals with identifying classroom

problems and addresses suggestions for preventive strategies and practical solutions in

response to the maintenance of the conducive learning environment for the students.

Classroom management and management of student conduct are skills that

teachers acquire and hone over time. To be sure, effective teaching requires considerable

skill in managing the myriad of tasks and situations that occur in the classroom. Skills

such as effective classroom management are central to teaching and require common

sense, consistency, a sense of fairness, and courage. These skills also require that teachers

understand in more than one way the psychological and developmental levels of their

students (ADPRIMA, 2010).

For teachers to be successful, they must have a profound knowledge of the

learner. The nature of the child must be studied and understood by the teachers. They

must realize that children differ in bodily health, mental ability and temperament. Good

teachers must always remember that the learners are product of different home
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environments and they have different potentials and opportunities to develop their

learning interests. Teachers have to know and understand the learners' previous

experiences and their individual differences. A good teacher must take cognizance of the

learners' psychological needs, adaptive behaviors and constraints (Dunhill, 2000).

The principle is that effective teaching and learning take place in well-managed

classrooms. The inability of teachers to effectively manage the classroom environment

and behavior often contributes to the low academic achievement of the students (Oliver et

al., 2007).

Nem Singh and Padilla (2009) raised five major concerns in classroom

management: (1) individual concerns; (2) harnessing self-control; (3) encouragement; (4)

reaching-out to students and (5) disciplining students’ behavior.

Class management then, can be defined as the provisions and procedures

necessary to create and maintain an environment in which teaching and learning could

occur (Agno, 2009).

Evaluation Skills

The process of evaluating students includes any task students perform in order to

demonstrate knowledge or ability in the subject area. The teacher should use as many

instruments as possible on as many occasions as possible to ensure valid and reliable

indicators of student progress and attainment (Assessing and Evaluating Students, n.d.).

Ornstein and Lunenburg (2008) claim that if teachers expect to guide learning

effectively, they must know how many children at various levels of maturity are capable
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of understanding that would determine the nature of the assessment and evaluation of the

students.

The choice of assessment and evaluation of an effective teacher must

accommodate and cater these differences (Dunhill, 2000).

The nature of evaluating students influences what is learned and the degree of

meaningful engagement by students in the learning process. According to Wiggins (1998)

as cited in McMillan (2000), the process of evaluating students should be authentic, with

feedback and opportunities for revision to improve rather than simply audit learning; the

more general principle is that understanding how different assessments affect students.

Therefore, tools to be used in evaluating students must be valid, fair, ethical, uses

multiple methods, efficient and feasible.

Nem Singh and Padilla (2009) define the purpose of evaluation as determining

marks to be given based on the collected information from the students for evaluation is a

process of making measurements and rendering judgment which also should be fair and

realistic.

According to Hidalgo (2001), for evaluation to be effective, the teacher must

employ some general principles in evaluating the students. Evaluation must be based on

the clear concept of the aims of education outlined in our constitution, of the school, and

the course of study. It must also be comprehensive, continuous, functional, cooperative,

diagnostic and must be made an integral part of all teaching and learning. Evaluation

should be based on accepted criteria, standard, and principles of validity, reliability,

objectivity, practicality, and appropriateness in the particular situation to be appraised.

Evaluation must be considered as basic to guidance and must also be conceived in terms
 21

of the educational purpose of teaching and learning. Lastly, it must consider all aspects of

school and community life that affect the growth of each student.

Academic Performance

According to Jarvis (2006), the outcome of the teaching process had to be

measurable so that the emphasis on behaviorism, as learning is defined as what students

can actually do when they have finished a course of study obtaining a change of behavior

after an experience(Central New Mexico Foundation, 2010), reflected the objectives set.

If teachers could undrerstand how the learning process occurred they could endeavor to

ensure that their activity was efficient and achieved the predetermined outcome.

According to Bell (2009), academic performance reflects the learning of a student

and on how well the students meet the standard set by the educational governing bodies.

Peterson (2000) described this as the core concern about educational program and adding

that student achievement is the most compelling evidence about teacher quality. In

particular, the interest is in what students gain while working with the teacher – the

difference between where pupils start and end in their achievement. Essentially, it

determines the contributions of the teacher, or teacher effects, on student learning.

In Philippine colleges and universities, the letters are replaced with numerical

values which correspond to the measured achievement of the student in particular subject.

However, in basic education, academic achievements are expressed as percentages (De

Guzman-Santos, 2007).

In the Philippines, there are two types of grading systems which measure the

students’ academic performance: the averaging system and the cumulative grading
 22

system. The averaging system is done by looking at the average of the learner from the

past learning period and the present. In the cumulative system, the present learning is

observed to have improved or not based from the previous grading period.

In Don Bosco College Canlubang, each academic year is divided into four

grading periods and the method for computing grades is averaging (Bosconian’s Daily

Guide, 2011).

Relationship between Instructional Competencies and Students’ Academic

Performance

A study was conducted by Hamdan, Ghafar and Hwa Li (2010) on the teaching

competency and dominant characteristics of 309 teachers from different secondary and

primary schools in Johor Bahru. Their competencies are determined through teaching

skills, concern for Johor Bahru, concern for students and concern for self, forming a

comprehensive and practical model of teachers’ competency characteristics. The result

showed that all teachers are competent, and there are significant relationships between

teaching competency and gender, specializations, and academic achievement. It is

suggested that teachers have to enhance their competence in other elements such as
 23

subject knowledge, teaching prowess, classroom management, instructional planning,

collegiality, concern on schools, students and oneself to build the image and ability as a

competent teacher.

Schacter and Ycow Meng Thum (2004), sought to use research to identify

effectiveness in teaching. They reviewed research on the effects that teaching

competencies had on students’ performance. They devised twelve standards of teaching

performance (i.e. Teacher Content Knowledge, Lesson Objectives, Presentation, Lesson

Structure and Practicing, Activities, Feedback, Questions, Thinking, Grouping Students,

Motivating Students, Classroom Environment, and Teacher Knowledge of Students.)

Espino (2001) determines the correlation of the instructional skills ratings of

selected high school teachers of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna with the academic

achievement of their respective students for school year 2000-2001. The study made use

of the normative survey descriptive method of research utilizing the correlational

procedures. The instrument used to gather data was Instructional Skills Inventory. The

teachers were rated satisfactory on lesson planning, very satisfactory on preparatory

activities, satisfactory on developmental activities, and satisfactory on physical

environment and routines. In general, the students average grades were satisfactory

ranging from 86 to 90. The relationship between the teachers’ instructional skills and the

students’ academic achievement was positive, moderate and substantial.

Another study which was conducted by Altea (1999) which endeavors to identify

the perceived instructional competencies and teaching methodologies of faculty in

Systems Technology Institute as they relate to students’ attitude and academic

performance. The study arrived with the findings that the Computer Science faculty
 24

members of Systems Technology Institute possessed an acceptable level of competency

in communication skills, work organization, work attitude and teaching effectiveness.

The faculty members were also effective in utilizing teaching methodologies to promote

and enhance student learning. This resulted to the academic performance of the senior

students in computer science as satisfactory. The study came up with a conclusion that

teachers’ instructional competencies will greatly influence students’ academic

performance as the researcher obtained high correlation values of 127.24 and 44.29 and

highly significant at .01 and .05 levels.

It was revealed in the study conducted by Cangcungco and Yumul (2005) that

teaching-practices which the teacher applies have a vital role to the student-learning. This

study aims to identify the best practices of English teachers for the elementary grades at

Angeles Elementary School. In the process of identifying those practices, they

enumerated the ways of English teachers deliver their lessons accordingly; teaching style,

subject expertise, teaching environment, community involvement and professional

development.

It was also in the study which was conducted by Arceo, Evangelista and Vinoya

(2004) that practices in teaching Mathematics are truly effective in obtaining student-

learning in Mathematics. In the process of identifying those practices, they enumerated

the ways of Mathematics teachers deliver their lessons accordingly; teaching style,

subject expertise, teaching environment, community involvement and professional

development.
 25

Both in the studies of Cangcungco et al. (2005) and Arceo et al. (2004), the ways

of teachers deliver their lessons identify the best practices in teaching the subjects which

directly affects student learning.

Calara and Garcia (2003) identify the factors affecting the mathematical

comprehension of the students, which is the ability of the students to understand and

learn mathematical concepts. In one of the factors, it reveals that teacher-factor is one of

the important elements which affect students’ mathematical comprehension. Under the

element of the teacher factor are the capabilities of the teacher to explain the lesson, give

motivation to the students to learn, give motivation to the students in learning

mathematics and employ mastery of the subject matter.

The study of Fabrigas (2001) looked into the relationship between the teachers’

competencies and students' performance in the regional achievement test in English I-IV

in the fourth congressional during the school year 1998-1999. The respondents of this

study were twenty-three English teachers from the seven selected public secondary

schools in the fourth congressional district of Camarines Sur. There were 1,400 students

from first year who were used as student-respondents. It was assumed in the study that

the English teachers showed better competencies in all aspect and that the performance of

students in the achievement test varied from fair to poor. The hypothesis of this research

states that there is no significant relationship exists between the teachers' competencies

and the students' performance in the regional achievement test. In the course of the study

reveals that the teachers are very competent in all aspects of teaching except in the use of

teaching strategies where they are rated satisfactory; the performance of the students in

English I-IV in the 1998-1999 Regional Achievement Test is poor because their mastery
 26

level is below average; there is a significant relationship between the teachers'

competencies and students' performance in English I-IV; and the findings imply that the

teachers need to improve their instructional strategies in teaching the English language.

Barcena (2004) designed a study to determine if there is a significant relationship

between the teachers' teaching competencies and the academic achievement of the third

year high school students in Chemistry in the public secondary schools of Cateel, Davao

Oriental. It was found out that three out of the four teachers' teaching competencies affect

the academic achievement of the students. These three are the good assessment and

evaluation, promotion of professional growth and classroom management. Among the

four, problem-solving was not included in those that affect the academic achievement of

the students. Moreover, based from the results of the interview, it was revealed that lack

of training, insufficient knowledge and background of the subject matter of the teachers,

and the inaccessibility of suitable materials to supplement the teaching-learning process

also affect the teachers' teaching competencies and students' performance as well.

Balbosa (2010) came up with the special problem to determine the factors

affecting Mathematics Performance of one hundred fifteen Laboratory High School

Students at Laguna State Polytechnic University Academic Year 2009-2010. In the study,

it revealed that Personality traits had an average weighted mean of 4.50 and interpreted as

“always.” Teaching skills had an average weighted mean of 4.41 and interpreted as

“often.” Instructional materials had an average weighted mean of 2.98 and interpreted as

“sometimes.” In terms of the level of performance of the students in Mathematics, the

students obtained the mean grade of 88.23 with verbal interpretation of “Satisfactory”

and standard deviation of 4.84. Through the test of significance, the researcher concludes
 27

that there is no significant relationship between teacher-related factors that are of

personality traits, teaching skills and instructional materials and the performance of the

students in mathematics.
 29

Chapter 3

Methodology

This chapter deals with the research design, population, corresponding sample

that were used as respondents for this study, the research instrument procedures for

gathering the data, and the statistical treatment of the data collected.

Research Design

To determine the relationship between the instructional competencies of the

Social Science teachers of STI College Pasay-EDSA Senior High School department and

the academic performance of the students on their Introduction to the Philosophy of

Human Person and Personal Development subjects, Descriptive-correlation research

design was used in this study. Descriptive-correlation research design is the most

appropriate research design for this study because it seeks to determine the degree of

linear relationship between the two variables; the instructional competencies and the

students’ academic performance.

Population and Sample

The respondents of this study were the Senior High School students of STI

College Pasay-EDSA from Grade 11 and Grade 12 students in their first semester

academic year 2022-2023.

In order to come up with the sample population of the study coming from each

year level, the following formula was used:

N
n
1  Ne2
 30

Where:

n = number of samples;

N = total population; and

e = margin of error = 0.05.

The current population of the Senior High School students of STI College Pasay-

EDSA and its estimated sample (based on 5% margin of error) is given in the table

below:

Table 1
Distribution of the Population with Percentages per Year Level and Estimated Sample with Percentages per
Year Level

Estimated
Year Level Population % %
Sample
Grade 11 123 24.3 54 24.2
Grade 12 136 26.9 60 26.9
Total 506 100.0 223 100.0

The stratified random sampling was used to ensure that the different groups in the

population are adequately represented in the sample. For the, study the year level served

as the stratum. Table 1 presents the distribution of the population by year level. The total

population of the first year is 123, that is 24.3% of the total population; the second year

have 136, that is 26.9% of the total population; the third year have 134, that is 26.5%; and

the fourth year have 113, that is 22.3% of the total population. By using the formula to

get the sample, the researchers came up with the figure of the total sample size. In order

to distribute this sample size evenly by year levels, the population size of the year level

was divided by the total population and multiplied by the total sample size (See Appendix

C). Thus, the process gave the following figures of sample for each year level: 54

students from the first year, 60 students from the second year, 59 students from the third

year and 50 students from the fourth year. After obtaining the concrete sample size from
 31

the different year levels, researchers randomly selected at least two sections for each year

level where the number of students approximate the estimated samples needed. This

process was done for the convenience in conducting the survey. In order to come up with

the estimated number of sample, the researchers randomly and evenly eliminated the

entries of the collected data.

Instrumentation

The main instrument used in this study is the questionnaire which was prepared to

find out the instructional competencies of the faculty members involved in the study as

perceived by the students.

The survey questionnaire was validated by teachers who are currently in an

academe and pursued graduate studies in the field of education (See Appendix D). The

alterations that were looked into in the questionnaire were mainly of the manifesting

behaviours in particular instructional competency that is being evaluated. The phrasings

of some of the items were changed into more understandable and acceptable ones

considering the accuracy of the behaviours.

As for the reliability of the instruments for the questionnaire used for the Senior

high school students in evaluating the teachers’ competencies, pilot testing and reliability

testing were conducted.

 32
Table 2
Equivalent Mean Range for Verbal Description of Perceived Instructional Competencies

Scale Verbal description Equivalent Mean Range

1 Rarely 1.00 – 1.50
2 Sometimes 1.51 – 2.50
3 Often 2.51 – 3.50
4 Always 3.51 – 4.00

As for the academic performance of the students concerned in the study, the first

and second quarter grades Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person and Personal

Development subjects were gathered. In analyzing the level of academic performance of

the students, this study made use of the rating scale that is applied in STI College Pasay-

EDSA’s Senior High School Department. The scale below indicates the rating and

description of the grade equivalent as presented in the 2018 edition of the STI’s Student

Handbook.
 33

Table 4
Scale for Student’s Grade

Percentage Equivalent
95 and above Excellent
90-94 Outstanding
85-89 Above Average
80-84 Average
75-79 Below Average
74 and below Failed

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers sought permission from the Assistant Principal of the Senior High

School Department to conduct a study on the students of high school department. Upon

approval, the schedule for the survey was set.

The first and second quarter grades Introduction to the Philosophy of Human

Person and Personal Development subjects which served as the measure to academic

performance of the students of STI College Pasay-EDSA in Senior High School

Department for the school year 2022-2023, was collected from the Office of the Assistant

Principal for Academic Affairs of the Senior High School Department with a notice to all

the subject teachers concerned upon the approval of the Principal.

Treatment of Data

The collected data were analyzed, interpreted, and the implications were

determined with the use of both descriptive and inferential statistics.

To facilitate the tabulation and tallying of the data gathered, the researchers made

use of the Microsoft Excel 2010® and subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS

(Statistical Package for Social Sciences).

For the students’ perception of instructional competencies, frequency distribution

 34

was used to measure the number of responses and its magnitude with the sample. Also,

the study made use of the mean, standard deviation, and ranking to describe the

perception of the respondents in their instructional competencies style.

The mean is expressed through the following formula:

∑
X̅ = X
n

Where:

̅X = mean

ΣX = sum of all data value

n = number of data items in the sample.

The standard deviation is expressed through the following formula:

(∑ X)2
∑ 𝑋2− 𝑛 ∑ 𝑋2−(∑ 𝑋)2
s =√ 𝑛
or s =
𝑛(𝑛−1)
√
𝑛−1

Where:

s = standard deviation

X = each score

̅X = mean

n = number of data items in the sample.

Σ = sum accross the value.

 35

The researchers retrieved Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person and

Personal Development subjects first and second quarter grades of the senior high school

students from Grade 11 and Grade 12 in the school year 2022-2023, with the proper

permission from the Senior High School Principal. In order to measure the academic

performance of the students over the two quarters, an average of the grades in two

quarters were calculated respectively for all the subjects concerned.

Bivariate Correlation Analysis with the Pearson-Product Moment Correlation

Coefficient was used to determine the relationship between teachers' instructional

competencies and students' academic performance. Pearson-Product Moment Correlation

Coefficient (PPMCC) is a measure of the correlation of linear dependence between two

variables X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1 inclusive which is widely used in

the sciences as a measure of the strength of linear dependence between two variables

(Ariola, 2006). The Pearson-Product Moment Correlation Coefficient is expressed

through the following formula:

Where:

r = Pearson − Prduct Moment Correlation Coefficient

x = value of the variable 1

y= value of the variable 2

x̅ = mean of the value of variable

1 y̅ = mean of the value of

variable 2 Σ = sum accross the

value.
 36

In analyzing the correlation of the instructional competencies and

academic performance of the students, this study made use of the correlation

scale that indicated the interpretation on the correlation based on the value of r

obtained.

Table 5
Correla
tion
Scale

Value of r
Between ± .80 to ± .99
Between ± .60 to ± .79
Between ± .40 to ± .59
Between ± .20 to ± .39
Between ± .01 to ± .19
Interpretations
High correlation
Moderately high correlation
Moderate correlation
Low correlation
Negligible correlation

Furthermore, in order to find out the significance of the correlation made,

p-value was interpreted accordingly. The p-value is the probability of obtaining a

test statistic at least as extreme as the one that was actually observed, assuming

that the null hypothesis is true. A p-value that is less than or equal to 0.01

indicates that the correlation made is highly significant because the p-value

would suggest that there is only 1% probability that the null hypothesis is not

being true, and thus accepted. On the other hand, a p-value that is greater than or

equal to 0.05 indicates that the correlation made is not significant because it

exceeds .95 which used to mean something is good enough to be believed. Thus

any value in between the two values is considered significant at 0.05 level which

gives 5% of margin of errors which means that the null hypothesis has a 95%

chance of being true (The Survey System, 2010).

37