The Relationship Between Note Taking and the Academic Performance

of Academic Track Learners

Researchers:

Fabra, Paula Angela G.

Cabingas, Chelsea Ann

Alavazo, Gaius David

Ilustrisimo, Jevie B.

Harina, Alfred C.

Decena, Michelle

Gerero, Jefferson

Garillo, Jemarlie

Divina, Arjay

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 Chapter 1

Problem and Research Background

Introduction

As an aspiring future public servants, advocates of change, and nation's leaders, one must

entail a trait of being excellent in the field of social science. Relating to the late senator and

known as the "Iron Lady of Asia" Miriam Defensor Santiago, the next president to lead the

country should have three types of excellence. According to one of her speech during the

campaign period on the presidential position last 2016 election, a leader must have three

excellences namely academic, professional, and moral excellence to be qualified as the country's

leader. In relation with this, a student especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences strand

wanting to be of one of the above mentioned should increase the quality of its academic

achievements. The reason why it is vital to take charge in increasing the quality of study habits

of the learners and see if it greatly influences the academic performance of students.

Nowadays, study habit among adolescents have been one of the problems the institution is

facing. Due to various distractions like internet, television, their surroundings as well as the

attitude of parents the students are having a difficulty to focus and increase the quality of their

study habit. A decent study system is the most crucial requirement for an efficient study habit.

Study habits are more important in general than in particular. It has very long-lasting effects that

penetrate deeply into learner's lives as well as cumulative and interacting consequences on

society. Improving the study habits of learners can help them attain their academic goal. (Gohain

and Singh, 2022)

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 According to Stone (2018), social sciences are academic disciplines concerned with the

study of human society and social relationships which is one of the subject area under the

Department of Education K-12 Basic Education Curriculum of Senior High School Academic

Track in Humanities and Social Sciences Strand. The sole purpose of social studies or social

sciences is to help next generation to be informed and make rational decisions for the public

within this multi-cultured, interdependent and democratic world. Basically, social science is one

of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among

individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology,

the original "science of society", established in the 19th century. In addition to sociology, it now

encompasses a wide array of academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology,

economics, human geography, linguistics, management science, communication science and

political science. (Greenfeld and Nisbet, 2023)

One of the study habits being practiced inside the classroom is note taking. According to the

findings of Sakirudeeen and Sanni (2017), it showed that there is a significant relationship

between notes taking the academic performance. According to the result of their study, it implies

that the note taking study habits can aid the learning and remembering during the activities done

by the students. Based on the result, they recommend the teachers to teach the student on how to

make important notes during the lesson. In here, we can conclude that the note taking is efficient

to the improving of one’s academic achievement. Note taking according to Nordquist (2019) is

the practice of writing down or recording key points of information thus, serves as a study aid or

material to those who are in need of it. And as a HUMSS learner one must have the ability to

acquire information by observing and writing those down.

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 In relation with Magulod (2017) the need to produce competent graduates in their specific

discipline who possessed the skills and attributes to deal with the ever-changing work

environment in the 21st century is a herculean task assigned to HEIs in the Philippines. We also

share the same goal here in our school, and that is to produce competent grade 12 HUMSS

students in the social science subject. The reason with the need to improve the study habits as

well as the academic performance of the students.

Statement of the Problem

There is a public outcry on the standard of education system and poor study habits of the

learners resulting to their poor academic performance in M. B. Asistio Sr. High School Unit-I.

Poor study habit among students depicted on the low numbers of graduates in the Humanities

and Social Sciences strand last school year. As a result of poor study habit among students, the

issue of examinations, malpractice, failure, school drop‐ out and etc. are on the increase.

Therefore, the main problem of this study is to examine the efficacy of note taking in the

academic performance of senior high school learners in social science subject in M. B. Asistio

Sr. High School Unit-I.

1. What is the perception of frequency of note taking strategies of the academic track

learners from

1.1 11 HUMSS A?

1.2 11 HUMSS B?

1.3 12 HUMSS A?

1.4 12 GA A?

1.5 12 ABM A?

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 2. What is the level of academic performance of the learners from the academic track?

3. What is the relationship between note taking strategies and academic performance of

academic track learners from

3.1 11 HUMSS A?

3.2 11 HUMSS B?

3.3 12 HUMSS A?

3.4 12 GA A?

3.5 12 ABM A?

3.6 Academic Track?

Significance of the Study

One of the major thing a HUMSS learner should have is a good study habit since the social

science subject requires a lot of critical thinking. If a learner want to excel in this particular

subject he/she should improve his/her study habits. The degree to which a student engages in

routine academic activities, as seen by a regular study schedule, is referred to as their study habit.

Good study habits (1) increase success and performance, which is crucial for students pursuing

long-term study. Here, the researcher tries to know the study habits of the students and

generalize it as well as how it affects the student's academic performance. The sole purpose of

this study is to help the learners specifically the senior high school learners in (2) improving their

study habits that would yield to academic success. The study will help students to (3) further

utilize their full potential and maximize what they have in front. This would contribute to the (4)

increase of competent learners in the Humanities and Social Sciences strand. With this research,

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the learners as well as the educators will be (5) duly informed on how to manage and where to

focus on the study habits of learners that will help them achieve academic success. (Luitel, 2022)

Here are also some of the benefits of this study according to Kumar (2015)

 Good scores during examinations.

 Longer retention of concepts.

 Spend more time productively and efficiently.

 Felt positive about themselves and their abilities.

The following are the benefits to respective sets of people:

Students-

Teachers-

Researchers-

Scope and Limitation

This research focuses on determining the effects of note taking among HUMSS learners on

their academic performance in the social science subject and understanding the problem in order

to attain greater knowledge and give recommendations to better solve the said issue.

This study is limited only to the determination of the problem or identifying the effects of

note taking on the academic performance of the learners in their social science subject.

This will cover the efficacy of note taking on the academic performance of HUMSS students

in the social science subject that can be considered as factor on the low quality education

resulting to failed outcome of one's future.

This is confined only to the students of Humanities and Social Sciences Strand in M. B.

Asistio Sr. High School Unit-I depending on the target number of respondents given by the

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practical research adviser and their availability that will be approved by the learners' teachers and

parents as well as the school head or the principal.

Theoretical Framework

From the study of Md. Islam (2021) Gestalt theory of learning from the Gestalt

psychology founded by Max Wertheimer implies understanding the academic performance, the

environment which stimulates certain study habits, use of instructional materials, and perception

and understanding of a lesson by the student. The main goal of this theory is to encourage the

brain to view not just the whole, but also its parts that make up the whole. In relation to this,

learners should see to it that study habits affects their academic performance. That the problem

or factor hindering them to achieve their goal could be their study habits not their personal issues

or other challenges occurring in their life. This theory will guide this research in a way that it

will introduce how if note taking has or has no significance in the academic performance of

learners.

Conceptual Framework

The Relationship Between Note Taking

and Academic Performance of Academic
Track Learners
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 Figure 1. This shows the flow of this study. As seen on the illustration, the title was

divided into two parts its independent variable which is the study habits specifically note-taking

and the dependent variable which is the academic performance in the social science subject. In

here, the study will only focus on how note taking affects the academic performance of students.

In the study habits, researchers will be focusing on one of the many kind of study habits which is

note-taking. While, note-taking will be used to determine if it improves the academic

performance of students. Through conducting a survey researchers will determine if note-taking

has significance in improving the learner’s academic performance. While the main goal of this

study is to see if the academic performance of the learners is affected by the note-taking.

Researchers will be able to determine how many of the learners is doing note-taking and if it has

helped them achieve or perform better in terms of academic. This is to show the relationship

between the two variables.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

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 These literatures provided an information that study habits has or no significant to the

academic performance of learners. Several factors where mentioned including the subject, school

environment, type of institution, and etc.

Foreign Studies

Based on the findings of Sakirudeen and Sanni (2017) they have concluded that there is a

significant relationship between note taking, students' use of library, time allocation for study

and students' academic performance in mathematics in secondary schools (SS2) student in Uyo,

Local Education Council in Akwalbom State.

From the present study of Gohain and Singh (2022) they've concluded that a school

environment is the educational setting and how it looks and feels can be positive or negative.

Teachers impact positively upon the learning environment in many ways, including the physical,

psychological and instructional setting. The trained and educated teacher can inculcate proper

values among the students which are proved fruitful for the students for the development of good

study habits. Knowledge and skills of the administration is very necessary for making school

environment conducive for the better educational growth of students. School environment has

great impact on the study habit and academic achievement of the students. Different programmes

should be organized by the administrators to provide guidance and counselling to the students to

improve their study habits and interest towards learning. Such guidance services can help the

students to overcome their weakness and proceed ahead in their interest areas.

Also, from the study of Islam (2021) it was concluded that the students from public schools

were proved to be good from private schools regarding all three variables (study habits, self-

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esteem, and academic achievement). Similarly, the girls were proved to be good in respect to all

three variables. There were positive bilateral correlational relationships among three study

variables. Students' study habits were significant as these habits were significantly positively

correlated with their academic achievement. In respect to whatever the school type, study habits

and self-esteem were the significant predictors in explaining students' academic achievement.

The study results might help the researchers establish a solid foundation in private versus public

secondary school context. Regarding all variables, private school students scored lower scores

than their public school counterparts. Stakeholders who are involved in private schools should

take initiatives to improve their student's self-esteem. Therefore, the following recommendations

have been made: (a) parents, teachers, psychologists, and counselors should endeavor to help

students to develop positive self esteem through hard working and optimism in private schools;

(b) assisting the students through teaching and training on how to improve their study habit and

self esteem; (c) both parents and teachers should create and encourage relaxed atmosphere for

students; (d) there is need for continual development of school facilities, skilled teachers, seeking

school recognition, etc. especially in private schools to ensure students' school acceptance that

make them a feedback to develop self esteem; and (e) it needs to ensure that students will be

accepted unconditionally by their environment (i.e. home, school, group, etc.), they will have

freedom, positive regard, and should be provided study plans to make learning easy.

Last from Brown-Kramer (2020) the study attempted to add to existing research on the

effects of study habits on students' academic achievement. The researchers' goal was to present a

comprehensive analysis of the various factors that might aid individuals who could profit from it

in raising their academic performance. The initial findings of this study indicated that one of the

fundamental principles of education is that there is, in fact, a strong relationship between a

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person's study habits and how their performance turns out. Another thing to keep in mind is that

education has grown to be quite important in people's lives because it may serve as a guide for

both their personal and professional lives.

Local Study

This literature from Barcenas and Bibon (2022) revealed that study habits have big contribution

to the academic performance of students. This study revealed that focusing on what the teacher is

teaching, memorizing, and reviewing for classes beforehand were the frequently practiced study

habits of senior high school students in Cagraray Island, Philippines. However, these habits do

not necessarily contribute to the development of academic performance thereby revealing that

study habits such as creating and performing review schedules, reading, and taking down notes

were the most effective habits influencing the academic achievement of students. Nevertheless,

low significant relationship between study habits and academic performance of senior high

school students was revealed further suggesting the attribution learning development to other

factors delimited in the current study. This study concluded that senior high school students of

Cagraray island were not aware of the study habits that helped them increase their overall

academic performance. Recommendations such as providing a convenient class schedule,

improving reading comprehension, and strategic note-taking were suggested to improve the

study habits of senior high school students within the locale to cater academic performance

development in the long run.

It is evident that there are several factors affecting the students' study habits affecting theit

academic performance.

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Hypothesis

H1: There is no significant relationship between note taking and academic performance in social

science.

Relevant Theories

The theory of cognitive load by John Sweller that is an instructional design theory that aims

how the human brain processes and stores information. It refers to the amount of information that

our working memory capacity can hold at one time. As we go through everyday we learn and

discover new things for instance in our everyday encounter during class hours at school we learn

various concepts in every new lesson that is introduced to us, now aside from mentally saving

those knowledge we resort to various tactics in order to recall it when we need it for instance for

examinations. Now, note taking is one way on how we can apply these theory. In note taking we

jot down keywords or key information in every ideas we face, it is one way of storing data and

information. Everytime we listen to someone in front of us, we are either saving what he/she is

saying through our mind or whenever we write. This theory is relevant to note taking as they are

used to stores information that learners are using in order to review all the things they’ve learned

and do a great job in their academic endeavor.

Synthesis

These are the following literatures that the researchers used for this research paper.

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In the study of Islam (2021), it was found that there is significant positive relationships found

among study habit, self-esteem, and academic variable. Through their cross-sectional research

design they were able to tell that students from public school were proved to be good than

private. They’ve recommended that stakeholders who are involved in private schools should take

initiatives to improve their student’s study habits and self-esteem. With the use of study habit

inventory through a descriptive survey design, it can be concluded that a school environment is

the educational setting and how it looks and feels can be positive or negative. Teachers impact

positively upon the learning environment in many ways, including the physical, psychological

and instructional setting. The trained and educated teacher can inculcate proper values among the

students which are proved fruitful for the students for the development of good study habits.

Knowledge and skills of the administration is very necessary for making school environment

conducive for the better educational growth of students. School environment has great impact on

the study habit and academic achievement of the students. Different programmes should be

organized by the administrators to provide guidance and counselling to the students to improve

their study habits and interest towards learning. Such guidance services can help the students to

overcome their weakness and proceed ahead in their interest areas. (Gohain and Singh, 2022).

According to the study of Barcenas and Bibon (2022), Note-taking serves as study material for

review and a way to be ready in upcoming examinations. In addition, this was proven as one of

the solid study habits that contribute much in the academic performance of the students.

Developing note-taking skills help organize information into an understandable format for the

studying process. Despite the benefits of note- taking, most of the students neglect this habit

hence, suggestions are needed to improve this academic routine. In this time of pandemic where

modular learning is the common modality for the student-repondents, capturing photos or

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snippets of modules will serve as the reference for review. Moreover, they can also practice

strategic note taking by underlining important details, abbreviations, and identifying keywords.

On their study it was that study habits do not necessarily contribute to the development of

academic performance however note taking is one of the most effective study habits. The results

found in the study of Dachia and Kyauta (2018) revealed that there is a significant correlation

between study habits and academic performance. This means that, having a good study habits is

likely to improve student's academic performance and achievements. There is significant

relationship between students' use of library, the note-taking and academic performance, as well

as on the time allocation and academic performance of students. (Sanni and Sakirudeen, 2018).

Definition of Terms

According to Kumar (2015) study habits refer to the regular tendencies and practices that one

depicts during the process of gaining information through learning. In this study, study habits is a

habit that one should possess in order to attain wide knowledge and academic success. In here,

study habits should be improved and is one of the factor affecting a learner’s academic

performance..

According to Nordquist (2019) note taking is the practice of writing down or recording key

points of information thus, serves as a study aid or material to those who are in need of it. In

here, note taking serves as the independent variable which is the cause. This study will focus on

effective note taking in the social science class of the HUMSS learners.

According to Aghaei, Jafari, and Khatony (2019) academic performance is a complex process

that is influenced by several factors, such as study habits. Similar to that, academic performance

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that being described in this study is the dependent variable which is affected by the study habits

and must be increased.

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 Chapter 3

Methodology

Research Design

The research will be conducted through the quantitative correlational design. It adopted a

descriptive survey design. Quantitative because this study aims to know the number and level of

learners engaging or practicing study habits. It is a correlational because it aims to discuss or to

know the relationship between two variable without the researcher controlling or manipulating

any of them.

Population

This study have an overall 164 sample from the population of 254. In order to acquire the

sample the researchers used Slovin’s Formula which is a statistical tool to calculate the

minimum sample size needed to estimate a statistic based on an acceptable margin of error. The

population came from the Academic Track HUMSS, GA, and ABM strands.

Respondents

This study will not be complete without the respondents. In order to collect the data and

information needed and the students who will benefit from this research the sections from Senior

High School of Academic Track which are the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS),

General Academic (GA), and Accountancy and Business Management (ABM) strands of M.B.

Asistio Sr. High School Unit 1 will be the respondents of this research.

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Research Instrument

The research instrument used/adopted in collecting and gathering data from the respondents

is the pre-test/post-test questionnaires from TOEFL Monograph Series (Note Taking Strategies

and Their Relationship to Performance on Listening Comprehension and Communicative

Assessment Tasks.

Also, these are the following scales used in analyzing the data.

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Statistical Treatment

To analyze the data, the study has two analysis the descriptive statistics and inferential

statistics. Descriptive analysis summarize the characteristics of a data set and measures the

central tendency or describe the center of the data set thus, the use of Mean, Median, Mode, and

Standard Deviation. This study presented the mean which is the average of a set of values and

standard deviation which is the measure of the amount of variation of a random variable

expected about its mean. A low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to

the mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while a high standard deviation indicates

that the values are spread out over a wider range, result of the data collected. For inferential

statistics, it allow the researchers to test a hypothesis or assess whether your data is generalizable

to the broader population. The tool used is the Pearson Correlated Coefficient (r) is the most

common way of measuring a linear correlation where in a number between –1 and 1 that

measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

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References

Kyauta, A.M.A. and Dachia, A. (2018), Study Habits among Students of Umar Suleiman
College of Education, Gashua, Yobe State, Nigeria, KIU Journal of Humanities, 3(1):187-195
Dr. Kumar, S. (2015), Study Habits of Undergraduate Students, International Journal of
Education and Information Studies, Research India Publications, 17-24
Sakirudeen, A.O. and Dr. Sanni, K.B. (2017), STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATIC: A CASE STUDY
OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UYO LOCAL EDUCATION COUNCIL, Creative
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Aghaei, A., Jafari, H., and Khatony, A. (2023), Relationship between study habits and academic
achievement in students of medical sciences in Kermanshah-Iran, Advances in Medical
Education and Practice

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Academic Performance in Public Junior High Schools in the Ekumfi District of Ghana, European
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Ambar, F., Qurashi, G.U.D., Tantry, F.A. (2020), Study Habits of Senior Secondary School
Students, Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, 796-802
Brown-Kramer, C. R. (2020), Improving Students' Study Habits and Course Performance With a
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Performance of Senior High School Students in Cagraray, Island, Philippines
Ezeji, K. and Ezeji, P. (2018), Effect of Social Media on the Study Habits of Students of Alvan
Ikoku Federal College Education, Owerri, World Academy of Science, Engineering, and
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Gohain, J., Dr. Singh, R. (2022), Study Habits among Higher Secondary Students in Relation to
their School Environment, Journal of Positive School Psychology, 5289-5295
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