Running head: THE STORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS 1

The Story Behind Academic Success Among CLSU Academic Achievers

Ferrer, Dainielle L.

Genuino, Jose Leonardo M.

THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS2

The Story behind Academic Success among CLSU Academic Achievers

School is oneof the necessities of a child to learn, gain knowledge and be an independent

individual, which allows the child in learning and exploring different kinds of new things that

will help the students in becoming an educated individual that can contribute to the society.

School allows the student to experience social interaction and learning new information but they

may also experience academic stress, and peer pressure. However, despite, of experiencing

academic stress and peer pressure, many students excel with their studies. The achiever students

have more chance of showing the criteria of having a high GPA and standardized test scores

(Long & Lange, 2002). Some students struggle at school, because of projects, assignments,

research, and so on. Many studentsstrive to be an achiever. There are different kinds of stress

related issues on being a freshman student at a University; these are maintaining motivation,

academic achievement, and a sense of purpose. All graduated students experiences these kinds of

stress (Cao, 2001). Stress is also a part of being at the university. Fifty percent did not finish the

program (D’Andrea, 2002). Many students also experience failure because of incomplete grades.

According to Nagaraju (2004), the ultimate goal of education is presenting the perfection and

improving individuality. Braxton (2003), described that student success is that students achieved

their goals in life. Students who become aware of themselves to be academically successful

especially when meaningfully engaged in their academic work- are more likely to persist in

school, that help the colleges to maintain or increase the continuous rates (Braxton, Milem, &

Sullivan, 2000). Academic success is nurtured from academic achievers by having the proper

way of learning. Students gain academic success because they have a great development of

learning.
THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS3

The learning product can describethe responsibility and the achievement of the student

(Steve, 2000). To encourage the learners in order to nourish the study topics in educational

world. There are significant factors that lead the student academic success and beyond (Ericsson,

2008). These are strategic learning, resource management, internal motivation, and efficient

management of non-academic problems. The aim of this research is to know how the academic

achievers study. Study habit is very important for students to achieve high grades in to do the

right steps in studying, and to improve the academic performance of students for the students to

become an academic achiever.

Study Habits

Study habits is the student’s way of studying wherein the students learn from using their

own way of gaining knowledge and proper learning through studying. According to (Nagaraju,

2004), study habits make the students do something with less effort and thought. It is an

important role in creating a way of learning. When students develop a good study habits at the

early stage of childhood it can lead to a better learning. Study habits was created by formulating,

acquiring, cultivating and fixing by repeated effort, which enable the students on having a proper

way of studying by training themselves to do a repeated pattern of studying. Students might get a

high score because of having an effective study habits. Study habit is composed of study attitude,

study method, and study skill. Having an attitude in studying has a big impact in the academic

achievement and good study pattern of a student.

Studying is a part of the student’s life who goes to school or college and every individual

studies different kinds of degree. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines ‘study’ as following

“an act or process of giving a full attention of the mind so as to gain knowledge or
THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS4

understanding, as by reading, investigating, etc., and critical examination, and investigation of,

any subject, event, etc.” Therefore, studying is an intellectual work which involves in applying of

knowledge or understanding in the mind and a “study habit is a formed of new learning with

respect to his learning activities of an individual.”The skills such as note-taking, observation,

asking question, listening, thinking, and presented the ideas in discovering new things

Study habit is a continuous attention that needs to increase the student’s knowledge base

on the study habits system (Crede&Kuncel, 2008; Khurshid, Tanveer, &Qasmi, 2012). Having a

study skill, can use an effective strategies and techniques in time management as well as other

involving things to become an academic achiever (Crede&Kuncel, 2008). Hoeffner (2010) found

whether there is an improvement of grades when a student discovers his or her learning styles

and being identify the study habits and learning styles is very helpful for the students. According

to Ch (2006), the center of having a good study habits give the students to perform better

academic tasks.

A good study habits will help the students in a critical reflection with skills on a finish

product such as selecting, analyzing, and synthesizing (Fieldman, 2006). Achiever students have

positive attitude toward their study and use the time properly. According to Fry (2000) ‘studying

is a skill system’ (p. 15). Studying has a different kinds of characteristics, they are as follows: (a)

Students use an appropriate study skill on his or her various stages of life, (b) Studying should be

wiser but not being too much on one’s self, (c) Studying is a process into easy-to-follow simple

steps. (d) Studying is more difficult when students feel unhealthy, hungry and tired. (e) Making a

good study system, (f) Studying needs time to be effective, and (g) Studying prefers ‘listening’

than seeing to get the necessary knowledge.

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The important factor for cognitive functioning in explaining students’ academic

performance is their motivation and hard work.Students achieve better grades when they are

highly motivated than others do. Student’s effort can influence motivation. The amount of time

spent studying combined with “deliberate practice” can improve academic performance (Plant,

Ericsson, Hill &Asberg, 2005). Nonis and Hudson (2006) found that the amount of time spent

studying by students was measured during the ninth week of a 15-week semester does not have

direct influence on academic performance, but it interacts with academic ability in affecting

academic performance. The study measures the teacher’s effect on student perception of teacher

quality was correlated to students’ motivation.

The good habits and skills will help the students in promoting the efficiency of the tasks.

About education, having a proper study practice and skills will lead to proficiency as well as the

high quality of learning of students (Dehghani&Soltanalgharaei, 2014). This study focuses on the

influence of these types of non-cognitive factors such as time spent studying. Study habits, level

of effort, motivation, attending review classes conducted by independent tutorial centers, as well

as student perception of teacher effectiveness on the performance of students in introductory

college courses. This study refers to them as “study habits, skills, and attitudes” (SHSAs), which

was used in the (Crede&Kuncel, 2008;Tullao& Rivera, 2009), added that the positive impact of

the employment status and educational attainment of the household head to school participation

is another important result of the study (p. 425).There are also a style of learning besides having

effective study habits that is used to have a better way learning and later have a better study

habits.

Learning Style
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Learning style refers to a student’s response to and use of stimuli in an educational

context. It is the combination of the behavior that they engage in when learning and is not

necessarily a fixed or static construct (Stapleton, 2001).

Study strategies (also known as learning strategies) are the collection of mental tactics

used by an individual in a learning situation facilitating the acquisition of knowledge or skill

(Derry & Murphy, 1986).

Having a learning styles is just like having a life style by having an own style of studying

that can easily access by learning (Zhang & Stenberg, 2005). A studentlearning and discovering

depends on what the student is comfortable or easy to learn base on the learning styles. Smith

and Dalton (2005) illustrated that learning style is a one of a kind and practice that needs a

knowledge and skills in every situation of studying. It is important for a student to know how to

use his or her own learning style and if students practice the study habits with a combination of

learning style, it will give a good outcome for an achievement (Gettinger& Seibert, 2002; Rana

&Kausar, 2011).The learning product can describe the responsibility and the achievement of the

student (Steve, 2000). Every student,has a different style of learning (Schmid, Yeung, & Read,

2009) because success at examinations is related to strategic or deep learning style and the

effects of deep learning styles are inconsistent, strategic, and convergent (McManus et al., 2003).

Students who have an effective study habits and use an effective learning often become academic

achievers because their way of studying and learning has a positive effect with their academic

performance.

Academic Achievement
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Academic achievement is one of the most significant thing for all students who aim to be

the best among all students that can give a difference with the performance that is need in life. It

is an outcome of what he or she needed to accomplish about his or her studies. Academic

achievement is one of the key of all students that will discover the talents, abilities, and

mechanisms about student competencies that will develop through the career of the student (Lent

et al., 2000). Workload components are the key tasks characteristics that influence human

performance which define how people accomplish a required work and in what manner a person

comprehends the task. Rahman and Uddin (2009) indicated that education is a basic need of

human beings. It is also very important for the development of any country. Eamon (2005)

indicated that in most of the studies done on academic performance of students, it is not

surprising that social economic status is one of the major factors studied while predicting

academic performance. Hansen and Mastekaasa (2006) studied the impact of class origin on

grades among all first year students and higher level graduates in Norwegian universities. Their

analysis showed that students originating in classes that score high with respect to cultural capital

tend to receive the highest grades. According to Hargreaves andFullon (2013) “It is what

teachers think, what teachers do and what teachers are at the level of the classroom that molded

the kind of learning that young people get” (p.36). Kwesiga (2002) and Sentamu (2003) stated

that the type of school a child attends has an impact on educational outcomes. From Minnesota

measures (2007), confirmed that academic preparation of students in high school is the most

reliable predictor of student success in college. Geiser and Santelices (2007) Uganda Christian

University, stated that high school grades or admission points have an influence student’s

cumulative performance over a period of years and that is the reason why they are considered as
THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS8

the best predictor of college success. Anthony (2000) found that students and faculty rate’s “self-

motivation” are among the factors that influences academic success.

Many studies, which focuses on cognitive factors,are conducted as predictors of

academic success. The researchers examine study skills as the role of non-cognitive variables.

(Fazal, et.al, 2012; Awang, &Sinnadurai, 2011; Demir et. al, 2012). An important aspect of a

student’s characteristic on having effective study habits is the value that the student saw in what

they have to learn. (Sarwar et. Al, 2010). Students with academic achievement often say that

their teachers are competent, impartial, and interested in their duties (Sarwar, Bashir, Khan, &

Khan, 2009). According to Osa-Edoh and Alutu (2012), here is a high correlation between study

habits and students’ academic performance when they studied the usefulness of imbibing in the

student study habit, as a means of enhancing their academic performance.

It explains that if students use or cultivate proper study habits then their academic

performance will improve. Nuthana and Yenagi (2009) found significant correlation between

study habits and academic achievement. According to their study, it says that reading and taking

notes, habits of concentration, and preparation for examination had significant correlation with

academic achievement. The study of Fazal (2012), identified various study skills used by

learners and identified which study skills is more related to academic achievement. Nonis and

Hudson (2010) also conducted a study on performance of college students-impact of study time

and study habits in which they found that an effective study habits had a positive direct

relationship on student performance when it involves long hours of studying.

Demir et al., (2012) examined the effect of development of efficient studying skills

curriculum on academic achievements and studying skills of learners and it was found that
THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS9

students could acquire effective studying skills by means of curriculum in developing effective

studying skills. The students were able to organize the study environment and use specific

methods effectively, such as efficient reading, listening lectures, note-taking, efficient writing

and doing homework. The aim of this study is to know how the academic achievers maintain

their academics consistently high. The aim of this study is to know how the academic achievers

maintain their academics consistently high.

THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS10

Theoretical Framework

Qualitative research gives “people who are often study but seldom heard” a voice in the

scientific community (Ferguson et al., 1992b). A qualitative framework that focuses on

individuals’ subjective experiences and cognitions is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

or IPA (Smith &Eatough, 2007). Interpretative phenomenology explores in detail how

participants interpret and makes sense of their personal and social world (Giorgi & Giorgi,

2003). It has its theoretical foundations in phenomenology and symbolic interactionism, which

focus on subjective perception and the importance of individual interpretation (Moran, 2000;

Palmer, 1969). This study used interpretative phenomenological lens as its theoretical

contribution to understanding the road map of academic achievers. This study explores as to how

does an adolescent with an obsessive-compulsive disorder experience and makes sense of the

self and his social world.

Phenomenology

There are three main theories these are phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography.

Phenomenology is a full life story of a person that is the lived experience. Eventually the

everyday life of the person that will tell (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2009). In any case, it will tell the

experiences of the students that are academic achievers and to show how these students manage

to become an achiever. The IPA will show the connection of each story itself (Brocki&Wearden,

2006).

Hermeneutics
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The IPA has a connected to the hermeneutics or the process of meaning sense (Smith,

2007). The researchers will recognize about the experiences of the participants. But, it will move

to one-sided interpretation of the researcher into a reflexive stance of own process meaning-

making. Smith and Osborn (2009) will give a clear hermeneutics and a questioning of

hermeneutics. That IPA follows the two- step of interpretative analysis that will show of what is

the point of the experiences of the participant, and the researchers must be critical of what the

participant will saying or not saying.

Idiography

Researcher must know everything in-depth an individual case or idiographyto know

one’s person life. It only concentrates on the very point of study and preserve through analysis of

each individual case. Then, it talks about the detail interpretative account that argue of each case.

It focused on the center that settle about the phenomenological world of the participant (Palme,

Larkin, De Visser, Fadden, 2010). In this way, it will give the connection of the context in a

person’s life representing a unified psychological world (Larkin, Watts, Cliffton, 2006) IPA will

be used for the researchers to know and gain insights for reason of success of the participants and

the researchers will know the way the academic achiever students study by knowing their

background. The data will be analyze based on the information about how they started learning

from their background.

THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS12

Methodology

Participants

Four participants to the possible sufficiency in study when this study concentrates on

purposive selected from the eight colleges, the participants of this study only involves eighteen

to twenty-three years of age. The participants consist of two University scholars and two College

scholars. All the participants are from Central Luzon State University in Science City of Munoz,

Nueva Ecija during the first semester academic year 2018-2019.

Research Design

This study “The Story behind Academic Success among CLSU Academic Achievers.” will use a

descriptive method of research. This study will use interview method, which will the researchers

gather relevant information to be collected from the participantswith self-made questions to get

information about the CLSU students who are academic achievers. The researchers aim to know

the participant’s kind of learning styles, the source of motivation and their passion with their

chosen field of study.

Instrumentation

The study will use qualitative method. The data and the information in this study will gather

through semi-structured interview and made and developed by the researchers. The recorder will

be used by the researchers to record that consists of statements are relevant about the concept of

story behind academic success.

The instrument that the researchers will use in this interview and actual data gathering

will comprise with three parts: The First part includes socio- demographic characteristics of the
THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS13

participants, and the indication of name is optional. The second part will use open-ended

question to give opportunity for the researchers to search different themes that will come from

their insights. That is answerable of what kinds of learning style, source of motivation, and their

passion fromtheir chosen field of study they are applying in studying.

Data Gathering Procedure

For the duration of this study the researchers provide a description regarding about the concepts

of student on being an academic achiever from there chosen field of study that will be possible

for the participants to the answers. The data in this study will gather through interview. First, the

researchers will ask the participants when was their available for the appointment is then they

will introduce themselves. After that, the researchers will give some briefing about the study and

the researchers will ask permission if they can record their conversation from the interview. The

researchers will tell the participants that they will give confidentiality then the researchers will

ask questions about their learning styles, source of motivation and their passion about their

chosen field of study using recorder to record the conversation of the interview. After the

interview, the researchers will give gratitude to the participants. Then the researchers will give a

day to the participants after the interview and if the researchers have further questions. They will

ask again from their participation for the study

Data Analysis

The data that is collected are going to be analyze according to the objectives of the study

and it be will made in a paragraph form. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis will use to

gather information of the story behind academic success among CLSU academic achievers and

the data will be transcription.

THESTORY BEHIND ACADEMIC SUCCESS14

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