Factors Affecting Distance Learning

Communication between Grade 11 Students and

Instructors in Saint Joseph Institute of
Technology

A Research Presented to the Senior High School Main

of Saint Joseph Institute of Technology
Butuan City

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Subject of

Research Proposal of General Academic Strand

Lisondra, Marjorie Mae G.

December 2021
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Table of Contents

Chapter

I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction 1

Theoretical Framework 4

Conceptual Framework 7

Statement of the Problem 8

Significance of the Study 8

Scope and Limitations 9

Definition of Terms 10
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

The current situation in the country and the world has a huge impact on

the education system. All sectors of society were affected, including the labor

sector, business sector, and other sectors, but the worst affected was

education. As the pandemic occurred, schools were immediately closed and

the teachers continued teaching by distance education. Distance learning, also

known as distance education, is a form of education in which the main elements

include the physical separation of teachers and students during discussion and

the use of technologies to facilitate student-teacher and student-student

interaction. Effective communication is important because it will improve

learning experiences between instructors and students. Communication makes

learning easier, helps students achieve goals, increases opportunities for

expanded learning, strengthens the connection between student and teacher,

especially in distance learning, and creates an overall positive experience.

Since the previous school year, distance learning has been implemented

in our country. Most of the teachers and students are not able to adapt quickly

and are forced to switch to distance learning without a choice, and as a result,

they predominantly have difficulty communicating. The functions of

communication are to request, get attention, comment, seek and give

information, express feelings, influence, and motivate. Without proper

communication, the sender and the receiver might not understand each other.

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Proper communication skills of teachers are essential for students' academic

performance and professional success in life. The teacher communicates

instruction orally in the classroom with the students. Teachers with inadequate

communication skills may cause the failure of students to learn and promote

their academic performance. Students need to understand what is right and

what is wrong while it depends upon the communication skills of teachers on

how to adapt to changes in the classroom (Sherwyn P. Morreale, Michael M.

Osborn, and Judy C. Pearson, 2000). Good communication lessens the

potential for inconsiderate feelings during the teaching process. For learning,

the learners must be attentive towards their teachers during the lecture.

According to Loss (2000), he recommended that teachers communicate clearly

and understandably.

To improve the quality of communication, we should clarify the meaning

of communication and its effect on people’s lives, especially in education, which

is a major concept based on structured society. As it is known, communication

is a process that has three dimensions: linear, interactive, and transactional.

One-way communication is defined as a process in which people do not receive

feedback. On the other hand, the interactive view includes two-way

communication by emphasizing nonverbal communication. However, it does

not include simultaneously sending and receiving feedback, which the

transactional view underlines. Three of the views contribute to people

communicating effectively under the process. They also determined that

communication barriers prevent achieving successful communication. (Adler et

al., 1993). Thus, creating mutual understanding in communication depends on

eliminating physical, psychological, and semantic barriers.

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 Communication is significant to our daily lives, especially in having a

conversation with other people as well as communicating with the students and

instructors. As a means of communication during the pandemic, students and

teachers are communicating through electronic devices such as computers,

laptops, tablets, and cellphones. Through the use of the media and the internet

as communication tools in distance learning, they employed social media

platforms and educational apps and websites such as Zoom and Google Meet

to exchange messages and information, as well as learn and teach. Clarifying

communicational barriers in distance education is a major step to overcome all

difficulties, and it is necessary to have effective and meaningful communication

to revamp the structure and affectivity of distance education.

This study aims to determine the factors affecting distance learning

communication between students and teachers through distance learning. This

study also shows the communication barrier of distance learning and how it

affects the school performance of the students.

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Theoretical Framework

Theory of Distance Education

This study is anchored on the theoretical support of the book Theory and

Practice of Distance Education, proposed by Börje Holmberg and originally

published in 1989. According to Holmberg, distance education is used to

provide study opportunities all over the world. There are opportunities for those

who are unable or unwilling to participate by teaching in a classroom. This does

not imply that everyone agrees on its characteristics. To some, distance

education is synonymous with the private study of prescribed texts with or

without special study guides; to others, it is a teaching-learning system that

includes specially prepared study materials as well as regular, mediated

contacts between students and tutors, individually or in groups. Holmberg is

best known for his theory of personal communication in distance education

between instructors and students. The central concepts of his theory are

motivation, empathy, non-contiguous communication, learner autonomy, and

interpersonal communication. To formalize his theory of distance education, he

developed the concept of guided didactic conversation. In his book Theory and

Practice of Distance Education (1990), his approach to guided didactic

conversation as a prominent feature of distance education is founded on seven

postulates: (1) Personal relationships between teaching and learning parties

increase study pleasure and motivation. (2)That such feelings can be fostered

through well-crafted self-educational materials and two-way communication. (3)

Intellectual pleasure and study motivation, as well as the use of appropriate

study processes and methods, are beneficial to the achievement of such goals.

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(4) That the atmosphere, language, and conventions of friendly conversation

encourage feelings of personal connection. (5) Delivered messages, as well as

those received in conversational forms, are relatively simple to understand and

remember. (6) That the conversation concept could be successfully translated

for use in distance education using the available media. (7) Planning and

guiding work, whether provided by the teaching organization or the student, are

required for organized study, which is distinguished by explicit or implicit goal

conceptions. As a result, Holmberg puts the learner and his or her interaction

with the instructor at the center of the teaching and learning process in distance

education.

Holmberg believes that encouraging empathy between learners and

tutoring parties through appropriate one- and two-way interactions motivates

and encourages learners to participate personally in their studies. It also

assumes that genuine learning is primarily an individual activity that can only

be accomplished through a process of internalization. This is an assumption

that can be used to justify the theory of distance education.

Osgood-Schramm’s Model of Communication

The study is anchored by the theoretical support of effective

communication in Osgood-Schramm’s model of communication (1954),

originated by Charles Egerton Osgood and presented by Wilbur Schramm, in

which Wilbur Schramm supplemented Charles Osgood’s theory with the notion

of field of experience. The field of experience incorporates what is mutually

understood between the sender and receiver. The Osgood-Schramm’s model

of communication is a communication theory, defined as a circular model that

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shows that messages go in two directions, with a sender and receiver. The

model has four key principles: (1) Communication is circular, not linear. Every

individual is both a sender and a receiver of information. As a result, rather than

communicating solely in one direction, they may converse with one another. (2)

Communication involves interpretation. According to Schramm, communication

is more than just sending a packet of data from a sender to a receiver. He

realized that in order to be understood, messages must be interpreted. (3)

Encoding, the process of converting thoughts into communication, is required

for communication. The encoder sends the message through a medium, such

as a phone call, email, text message, face-to-face meeting, or other form of

communication; decoding refers to the process of interpreting a message that

has been encoded by a source according to the decoder’s own thinking and

experience; and According to Tilden (1977), interpreting is an educational

activity that focuses on revealing meaning and relationships through the use of

original objects in relation to firsthand experiences and also through illustrative

media, instead of simply transmitting factual information. (4) Communication

that is both equal and reciprocal. Both parties to the communication have the

ability to encode, decode, and interpret. Therefore, this model considers the

two members to be equal participants in the conversation. In contrast,

Schramm’s model sees the participant as both a sender and a receiver of

messages.

Osgood-Schramm’s model of communication shows how feedback

works. The speaker can receive feedback on their language, quirks, choice of

words, and so on, allowing them to improve their communication skills as the

cycle progresses. It also explains how sometimes individuals can mishear and

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misinterpret the message caused by semantic barriers or noise during

communication.

Conceptual Framework

Students – Instructor
Interaction
(Independent Variable)

Learning Environment Academic Performance

(Independent Variable) (Dependent Variable)

Teaching Method
(Independent Variable)

Fig 1. The Relationship of Independent and Dependent Variable.

The diagram shows the relationship between the effectiveness of

communication on distance learning regarding student-teacher interaction,

learning environment and teaching method. Academic Performance serves as

dependent variable while student-teacher, learning environment and teaching

method serve as an independent. The academic performance of the students

depends on how the student and the teacher exchange information and

messages regarding the lectures and queries of the students concerning school

works on distance learning.

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Statement of the Problem

The main concern of this present study is to determine the factors

affecting distance learning communication between students and instructors at

Saint Joseph Institute of Technology. The following questions below seek to

raise sufficient and rational answers that may help the researchers to

understand the factors that affect distance learning communication.

1. What is the perception of students and teachers towards distance

learning in terms of communication? Is it effective or not?

2. What are the dilemmas that students and instructors face during their

communication in distance education?

3. How does communication in distance education affect the academic

performance of the students?

4. How do the instructors and students overcome the communication

barrier in distance learning?

5. What has the action taken by the administrations and faculties in the

situation?

Significance of the Study

This study is significant due to the scarcity of studies that aim to shed

light on the relationship between effective communication in distance education

among students and instructors. This study will aid in determining the effects of

communication among respondents, whether the results are positive or

negative. They will also understand how to overcome communication barriers

encountered during distance learning.

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 The importance of this research may help the teachers to be observant

and to acknowledge the struggles of the students during distance learning in

terms of communication. They will also find an action to make improvements to

their communication skills and to help the students regarding their academic

performance.

The beneficiaries of this present study may help the parents to guide and

to assist their children in communicating properly with their instructors during

distance learning.

This study may help the students to be aware of communication barrier

and how it affects their academic performance. They will also know how to

overcome the barriers of communication despite the difficulties during distance

learning.

This study may help the school administrators to acknowledge the

problem regarding communicational barriers between students and instructors.

They might take action to improve communication skills and provide effective

materials to better communicate with the students.

The result of this study may help future researchers to be their guide and

references that can support their research.

Scopes and Limitations

This research focuses on determining the effectiveness of

communication on distance learning between students and instructors in Saint

Joseph Institute of Technology. The study limited its number of research

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participants to forty (40) student respondents in grade 11 and ten (10)

instructors in the Senior High Department to answer the survey questionnaires.

No matter what strand, gender and age, all people have the right to give their

opinion and perception so this research would be more valid, clear, and neutral.

The procedure of answering the questions will be on google forms by sending

the link through messenger.

Definition of Terms

Academic Performance. The measurement of student success throughout

diverse educational subjects.

Communication. The act of transferring information from one place, person,

or group to another.

Communication Barrier. It includes anything that prevents or disable

individuals to deliver information or messages at the right time, it may physical

or virtual.

Distance Learning. A method of learning that includes physical separation

with your classmates and teachers, you may be able to connect with them

through a virtual meeting.

Education. A process on which students will acknowledge learnings and

experiences for them to be successful in life.

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