ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA

S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

THE IMPACT OF NO-DECOR POLICY TO THE ATTENTION AMONG SELECTED

SENIOR HIGH STUDENTS AT ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

S. Y. 2023-2024

A Research Paper

Presented to

ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Benito Soliven, Isabela

In partial fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Subject

INQUIRES, INVESTIGATION, AND IMMERSION

Casanding, Leomar C.
Pineda, Xean Denver M.
Lugo, Bryan C.
Gadiano, Reneboy
Novelozo, Leo

2024
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER I

Inroduction

Traditionally school rooms decorating to make attractive, it is normal to decor what

you want and post different posters inside of rooms. This decoration is one of the students

always seeing when they are first entering to a room especially now, we are into the modern

with advance of technologies. Students do not want too much designs but an aesthetic and

just a simply. Teachers designing their rooms to warmth the environment of learners. The

classroom environment can either improve a student's ability to learn and feel safe and

comfortable as a member of the class. Classrooms that encourage emotional well-being create

an atmosphere for both learning and emotional development. Educational research supports

creating an atmosphere of mutual respect, where students feel relaxed in asking questions and

expressing their thoughts and feelings (Stronge, 2002).

However, this School Year (S.Y.) 2023-2024 the Department of Education (DepEd)

Secretary Sara Duterte implements the no-décor policy communicated through DepEd Order

Number 21, Series of 2023 which provides for this year’s Brigada Eskwela, required schools

to clear classrooms and all its walls of unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin and

posters. A no-décor policy typically refers to restrictions or guidelines on decorating

classrooms, this is in order to maintain a professional and focused to learning environment. In

this order teachers stripped all decorations in their classroom as of the order. Seeing

classrooms with no-decoration is an ingenerating to our eyes. This situation gives us

adjustments not only for learners but also to teachers.

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of this research is to identify the impact of no-decor policy to the

level of learning among selected Senior High School Students. Thus, the study sought to

answer the following questions:

1. What are the adjustments do by the respondents?

2. What are the differences of having decor and no-decor that connects to the attention

of the respondents?

3. If respondents more active when with or without decoration in their rooms?

4. Is there a change in to the students' attention by the respondents?

Scope and Delimitations

The main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of no-décor policy to the level

of learning among selected Senior High School Students at Andabuen National High School

S.Y. 2023-2024. The study will mainly identify the relationship of no-décor policy to the

level of learning by respondents. Researchers also consider every aspect of student’s personal

information that has an impact to the level of learning. This study limited its coverage in the

Andabuen National High School and the participants of the study are the selected 15 every

section of Senior High Students composed of 4 sections every grade level in total of 120

respondents. In this study, the researcher will use quantitative survey-questionaries method.
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Significance of the Study

The study provides valuable information regarding to the impact of no-décor policy to

the level of learning among Senior High Students at Andabuen National High School. The

study aimed to benefit the following:

Students this study helps students to be more active during of class.

Future Researchers the result can be an encouragement to future Researchers to conduct

similar studies on a wider scope on the impact of no décor policy to the students learning

among Senior High Students at Andabuen National High School.

The researchers the study may also benefit them as they come up in comprehensive study in

knowing what are the impact of no-décor policy to the level of learning among Senior High

Students.

The teachers the study will give them an idea on what are the impact no-décor policy to the

level of learning among Senior High Students.

Definition of Terms

No-décor Policy. It is the newly order of the Department of Education that needs to follow of

all teachers. Unnecessary posters will remove. (Optional)

Level of Learning. The level of learning focusing to the activeness of students due to the no-

décor policy of Department of Education. (Optional)

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER II

Review of the Related Literature

This chapter of discusses the overview of the current knowledge on the topic. It

provides the investigation with a framework on which to build an appropriate hypothesis.

Classroom displays - Attraction or Distraction? Evidence of impact on attention and

learning from children

Classrooms are usually colorfully decorated with displays of children’s work along

with educational posters which can act as learning aids (e.g., multiplication tables, grammar

rules). These displays are intended to create a positive and stimulating visual environment

and research has shown that personalizing classrooms with a student’s own work can increase

their level of self-esteem (Maxwell & Chmielewski, 2008). Although there may be a positive

impact from classroom displays in terms of self-esteem, it is also possible that such displays

could impact upon paying attention and learning in the classroom. Recent evidence suggests

this is the case for typically developing (TD) children, although the impact on children

developing atypically is less clear. Barrett et al. (2015) surveyed the physical characteristics

of 153 classrooms in the UK for evidence of naturalness (e.g., light), individualization (e.g.,

ownership) and stimulation (e.g., complexity and color) and their effect on academic progress

for primary school children. These physical aspects of the classroom accounted for 16% of

the variance in academic progression over the course of 1 year, measured by National

Curriculum Level (NCL) tests. Complexity of the classroom– that is, how Running Head:

Impact of classroom visual distraction on attention and learning in autism and typical

development aspects of the classroom” combine to create a visually coherent and structured,
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

or random and chaotic environment” (p.120) was found to have a curvilinear relationship

with academic progress. Too much or too little complexity was predictive of poorer academic

progress from NCL tests of reading, writing and math at the start or the year, compared to

NCL tests at the end of the year. Barrett et al. (2015) suggested that complexity of classroom

displays could interact with a child’s ability to focus attention in the classroom which may

then impact upon their potential learning. The ability to focus and sustain attention to relevant

information is crucial for learning in the classroom and subsequently for academic

achievement (Kannass, & Shaddy, 2002). Attention is the gateway to learning from

instruction across domains (Cornish & Scerif, 2012) and the more time we spend focused on

a task, the better the learning outcome (Carroll’s ‘time-on-task hypothesis’, 1963). Attentional

abilities follow a developmental trajectory – as children get older, they get better at sustaining

attention for longer periods and become less susceptible to interference from irrelevant

distractors (Matusz et al., 2015), although attentional abilities vary between children of the

same age. Erickson et al. (2015) showed that an experimental measure of attentional control

(the Track-It Task) was associated with performance on a classroom-type learning task in TD

5–6-year-olds. Those children who performed better on a task requiring high levels of

attentional control (lack of interference from distractors) had higher scores on the learning

task. Although focusing or sustaining attention on a task is clearly important for learning, so

too is modulating or changing the overt focus of visual attention. Studies of looking behavior

during cognitive tasks have shown that children look at the experimenter/teacher when

listening (e.g., when being given information), but look away when thinking (formulating an

answer), and that gaze aversion (looking away) increases with task difficulty and is

associated with greater accuracy (Riby, Dorothy-Sneddon & Whittle, 2012). Therefore,

modulating overt attention plays a functional role in thinking. Gaze aversion studies have
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

shown that children functioning on the autism spectrum also modulate their gaze to look

away when thinking. However, these children show atypicality of gaze Running Head:

Impact of classroom visual distraction on attention and learning in autism and typical

development when required to listen, i.e., more gaze aversion during listening (Dorothy-

Sneddon et al., 2012). Thus, while sustaining attention on task promotes better learning, there

are reasons why children need to modulate the focus of overt attention. A pertinent question is

whether being in a classroom containing lots of visual displays increases the likelihood of

attention being directed and maintained ‘off-task’, and whether this has an impact on

learning. Fisher, Godwin and Seltman (2014) provided the first systematic exploration of the

impact of visual displays on behavior and learning in young typically developing children

(mean age 5.5. years). They systematically manipulated the number of visual displays in a lab

classroom over the course of six brief science mini lessons, such that half the lessons were

delivered when the lab classroom was heavily decorated with visual displays and half when

there were no visual displays. Children visited the lab classroom for the 6 lessons over the

course of a two-week period, and completed an assessment workbook at the end of each

lesson containing multiple choice pictorial answers. They were video-recorded during the

lessons and their behavior was coded in terms of their visual engagement as either being on-

task (e.g., looking at the teacher, looking at their books) or off-task (e.g., looking at peers,

looking at the walls). In the sparse condition (visual displays removed), children did engage

in off-task behavior (28.42 % of instructional time), mostly with their peers (approx. 20%

attributable to peer distraction). In the presence of lots of visual displays (decorated

condition), children spent more time overall engaging in off-task behavior than in the sparse

condition (38.58% of instructional time). This was directly attributable to more time looking

at the displays on the walls (3.21% in sparse compared to 20.56 % in decorated conditions).
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Importantly, children performed significantly worse in terms of their learning scores in the

decorated condition than the sparse condition. More time spent off-task was related to poorer

learning, and mediation analysis confirmed that time off-task mediated the relationship

between classroom condition (sparse vs decorated) and learning. Emerging evidence

therefore highlights that visual feature of primary school classrooms, specifically wall

displays, have implications for attention and learning (Barrett et al., 2015; Fisher et al., 2014).

These studies provide the first empirical evidence for the possible detrimental impact of

classroom Running Head: Impact of classroom visual distraction on attention and learning in

autism and typical development visual displays on learning, and yet several important

questions remain. For example, the study by Barrett and colleagues (2015) was observational

in design and did not systematically manipulate the level of classroom visual distraction, thus

providing an indirect measure of the impact of visual displays on learning. While Fisher et

al.’s (2014) study of young TD children did involve a systematic manipulation of visual

distraction, their measure of eye gaze was less precise than other measures, such as eye-

tracking techniques. Critically, neither Barrett et al. (2015) nor Fisher et al. (2014) explored

the relationship between individual differences in cognition and behavior and the impact of

distraction from the environment. It is only by taking such an approach that we can begin to

understand how and why visual displays might impact attention and learning. This has

implications for all children, especially for children with developmental conditions that

impact upon attention.

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Local Literature

Brigada Eskwela Implementing Guidelines

According to the Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 021, s. 2023. 2023,

schools shall ensure that school grounds, classrooms and all its walls, and other school

facilities are clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin, and posters at

all times. "Make sure the classrooms are clean and free of decorations, tarpaulins or posters

so that our students can focus on the lessons from our teachers," Duterte said on a Facebook

post, citing guidelines from DepEd (Department of Education) CNN Philippines (2023).

The Importance of a Classroom’s Physical Environment and Possible Improvements for

A Better Learning Environment

Earlier studies have shown that the access of daylight affects the students’

performance, their mood and focus (Heschong2018, p.57). According to the interviewed

teachers those conclusions are correct. The majority of the observed classrooms had access to

daylight from more than one side of the room, mostly from the walls opposite to each other. It

made the daylight illuminating the whole depth of the room. The Educational Facilities

Manual recommended windows on both side of the classroom with low sill height

(Department of Education 2014, p. 34). The sill height of the windows in the observed

schools was from 0.8-1.2 meters. The sill height for the windows should not exceed 1 meter

to get a view out when sitting down according to Inan (2013, p 125). 7.2 Colours The studied

schools used light colours on the walls and ceilings in the classrooms and dark colours on the

floors. It accords with the Educational Facilities Manual by the Department of Education

(2013, pp. 35-36), and with the study made by Barrett et al. (2017, p. 668) saying light
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

colours are most suitable for a good learning environment. The interviewed teachers agreed

that light colours contributed to a better learning progress for the students. The Educational

Facilities Manual advised grey or blue-grey colours on the floors. Only Shining Light

implemented this, while the other schools had a brown colour on the floors. Barrett et al

(2015, p.129) suggested light colours on the furniture, but the furniture used in the studied

schools were all in darker colours. The classrooms in the schools used cool colours for all

grades, which both agreed and disagreed with the studies made by Barrett et al., Engelbrecht

and Pile. Barrett et al. suggested the cool colours for younger students, grade 1-3 (2013, p.

688), and Engelbrecht recommended bright colours for them (Higgins et al. 2015, p. 20).
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, method will use in the study, respondents of

the study, data gathering instrument, data gathering procedure and statistical tools employed

in the study.

Research Design

This research is an assessment on The Impact of No-decor Policy to the Attention

Among Selected Senior High Students at Andabuen National High School S. Y. 2023-2024.

The method will use in this research is descriptive research. Descriptive research can be

either quantitative or qualitative. It can involve collections of quantitative information that

can be tabulated along a continuum in numerical form, such as scores on a test or the number

of times a person chooses to use a-certain feature of a multimedia program, or it can describe

categories of information such as gender or patterns of interaction when using technology in a

group situation. Descriptive research involves gathering data that describe events and then

organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection (Glass & Hopkins, 1984). It

often uses visual aids such as graphs and charts to aid the reader in understanding the data

distribution. Because the human mind cannot extract the full import of a large mass of raw

data, descriptive statistics are very important in reducing the data to manageable form.

Most quantitative research falls into two areas: studies that describe events and studies

aimed at discovering inferences or causal relationships. Descriptive studies are aimed at

finding out "what is," so observational and survey methods are frequently used to collect

descriptive data (Borg & Gall, 1989).

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Descriptive studies report summary data such as measures of central tendency

including the mean, median, and mode, deviance from the mean, variation, percentage, and

correlation between variables. Survey research commonly includes that type of measurement,

but often goes beyond the descriptive statistics in order to draw inferences.

Descriptive statistics utilize data collection and analysis techniques that yield reports

concerning the measures of central tendency, variation, and correlation. The combination of

its characteristic summary and correlational statistics, along with its focus on specific types of

research questions, methods, and outcomes is what distinguishes descriptive research from

other research types.

Sample and Sampling Procedure

The respondents for this study were selected through probability sampling

specifically, simple random sampling. According to Moore and McCabe (2007), a simple

random sample n consists of n individuals from the population chosen in such a way that

every set of n individuals has equal chance to be the sample actually selected.

The researchers consult this to one of the math teachers for getting the sample size

that may serve as the number of respondents out of the 162 total number of Senior High

School students in Andabuen National High School. To get the respondents in every section,

the researchers divide the Number of Samples (n) to the Total Population (N). The answer

from division will multiply to the number of students every section. The formula and solution

were shown below.

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Slovin’s formula was use for calculating sample size to determine the ideal sample

size for a population.

N
n= 1+ Ne
2 =n=❑
❑ =

Whereas:

n = no. of samples

N = total population

e = error margin / margin of error

271 271
n= 1+ 271(0.05)
2 =n= 1.67 = 162

162
271 = 0.6

Grade Level Section Population Size Sample Size

11 Acropolis 35 21

11 Athens 34 21

11 Spartans 35 21

11 Parthenon 32 19

12 Aphrodite 39 23

12 Apollo 39 21

12 Poseidon 22 13

12 Zeus 35 23

TOTAL 271 162

Research Instrument
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Data for this research were gathered via questionnaires and statistical tools. These

were essentially used for assessing the Impact of No-Décor Policy to the Attention Among

Selected Senior High School Students School Year 2023-2024.

Statistical Method is the method of collecting, summarizing, analyzing, and

interpreting variable numerical data. Statistical methods can be contrasted

with deterministic methods, which are appropriate where observations are exactly

reproducible or are assumed to be so. While statistical methods are widely used in the life

sciences, in economics, and in agricultural science, they also have an important role in the

physical sciences in the study of measurement errors, of random phenomena such as

radioactivity or meteorological events, and in obtaining approximate results where

deterministic solutions are hard to apply.

Data summarization is the calculation of appropriate statistics and the display of such

information in the form of tables, graphs, or charts. Data may also be adjusted to make

different samples more comparable, using ratios, compensating factors.

Statistical analysis relates observed statistical data to theoretical models, such

as probability distributions or models used in regression analysis. By

estimating parameters in the proposed model and testing hypotheses about rival models, one

can assess the value of the information collected and the extent to which the information can

be applied to similar situations. Statistical prediction is the application of the model thought

to be most appropriate, using the estimated values of the parameters.

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions (or other

types of prompts) for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. The

questionnaire was invented by the Statistical Society of London in 1838.

Although questionnaires are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses,

this is not always the case.

Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are

cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and

often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, such

standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact

that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for

some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be concrete.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will do the following steps prior to the actual data gathering:

1. A letter of permission requesting the conduct of the study was passed to

the research teacher upon the permission of the research teacher and the

head teacher in order to start the study.

2. The researchers formulated questionnaires distributed it.

3. Retrieved the answered questionnaires from the respondents.

4. The researchers organized the data gathered and reduced the number of

data or information present that are relevant or irrelevant to the study.

5. The researchers analyzed and interpreted the gathered information.

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

6. Tallied answers are carefully organized by the researchers.

The researchers in this study have prepared a sample questionnaire. While the

respondent is giving his or her answer to the questions prepared, the researchers are carefully

observing the respondents on answering.

In order to analyze the data being gathered by the researchers for this study, the

researchers used the following statistical tool:

a. Frequency and Percentage. This will determine the profile of the respondents. This tool

is used to reduce the different sets of numbers or common frequencies of a comparative

sets of number. It is employed as a form of numerical analysis. This was utilized to

determine the proportion of the answers of respondents in each category.

b. Mean(x). This formula was used in determining the average perception of respondents.

Mean was used to determine the average answer of the respondents in the assessment of

project.

c. Likert Scale. This was used to determine the level on how the respondents experience the

given choices.

OPTION INTERVALS INTERPRETATION

5 4.20-5.00 Strongly agree

4 3.40-4.19 Agree

3 2.60-3.39 Neutral

2 1.80-2.59 Disagree

1 1.00-1.79 Strongly disagree

 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

Data Analysis

Sample Questionnaires

Put a check mark for the answers that you find most appropriate where (1) =strongly agree,

(2) = agree, (3) = neutral, (4) =disagree and (5) = strongly disagree.

ITEMS 1 2 3 4 5

1.Excessive visual elements on classroom displays distract me

from focusing on the lesson.

2.I prefer a classroom with a moderate number of educational

displays rather than too many visuals.

3.Do you believe that classroom displays positively impact

your focus and attention during lectures.

4.A well-organized and thoughtfully designed classroom

display setup contributes to a better learning environment.

5.The classroom displays affects my level of engagement in

lesson.
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

6.Complex or cluttered displays make it harder for me to

concentrate.

7.I find displays with interactive quizzes or challenges

engaging.

8.Displaying student work on classroom walls motivates me

to participate more in class activities.

9.I feel overwhelmed when there are too many colors or

bright visuals on classroom.

10.I find displays featuring quotes or inspiring messages

motivating.

11.Displays allow student interaction or contribution improve

my learning experience.

12.I believe a variety of displays types enhance the classroom

environment.

13.Classroom displays affects my level of engagement in the

lesson.
 ANDABUEN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
ANDABUEN, BENITO SOLIVEN, ISABELA
S.Y 2022-2023

___________________________________________________________________________

14.Classroom displays are effective in capturing my attention

during lectures.

15.Excessive visual elements on classroom displays distract

me from focusing on the lesson.