CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Measuring of academic performance of students is challenging since students performance is product of physiological, psychological, economic and social factors. The extent of students learning in academics may be determined by the grades that a student earns for a period of learning had been done. It is believed that a grade is a primary factor that indicates of such learning. If a student earns high grades it is concluded that they may also had learned a lot while low grades indicate lesser learning. However, many experiences and studies found out that there are also several factors that would affect the grades. Not a single factor can be definitely pointed out as predicting grades. It had been interplay of so many factors gender, IQ, study habits, age, year level, parents educational attainment, social status, number of siblings, birth order, etc. In fact, almost all of existing environmental and personal factors are a variable of academic performance. Students are facing with many issues in their lives, and because of the competing things for your attention, its hard to concentrate on studying. Studying can seem very boring when compared to any other exciting activity. You may even prefer doing non-sense things rather than to study your lessons. Too many people treat studying as the thing to do when you get around to it or have some

spare time, too many people look at studying as necessary task, not an enjoyment or an opportunity to learn (Grohol, 2006). Studying is important in our lives, especially to the lives of the students. Each student as unique individual had different abilities, approaches, ways of thinking, interests and ways of studying the lessons. These individual differences had significant influences on ones learning style and acquisition. Each student had different methods and ways of studying and these methods are sometimes helpful but some are not as effective as the others (Oppapers, 2010). One reason we often dont start studying until last possible minute is that we had misjudged how long it will actually take as to absorb and understand the material we are studying. If you are a student attending classes, you had probably experienced many moments when it is hard to make yourself settled down and study even when an important exam is coming up. Most student put off studying until the very last minute. The night before the exam youll stay up all night cramming, getting little or no asleep at all. In the morning youll drag yourself out of bed and wake yourself lots of coffee and go into the exam feeling exhausted, stressed out and nervous. Youll find it hard to focus or think and answer the exam questions. Nowadays, students are faced with lots of stressors such as physiologic, psychological, social and economic status which somehow affect their academic performance. Moreover, numerous temptations around are present which cause them to drift away from their studies. Students play the lead role in obtaining

good grades to acquire good education. Hence the researchers were motivated to conduct a study on the factors affecting their academic performance.

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Factors Physiological Psychological Social Economic Academic Performance

Figure 1 The Conceptual Paradigm of the Study Figure 1 presents the factors affecting the academic performance of level II nursing students in the different areas such as physiologic, psychologic, economic and social factors as the independent variable and the academic performance as the dependent variable.

Statement of the Problem This study focused on the factors affecting the academic performance of level II nursing students of Universidad de Zamboanga. Specifically, it answered the following questions: 1. What is the academic performance of the respondents? 2. What are the factors affecting the academic performance of the respondents in terms of: 2.1) Physiological factors 2.2) Psychological factors 2.3) Social factors 2.4) Economic factors 3. What is the most common factor affecting the academic performance when physiological, psychological, social and economic factors are considered?

Significance of the study

This study is of utmost important as this would help in determining the most possible effective strategy that promotes improvement in the academic performance of the students. This is specifically significant to the following:

Students The study provides the students full awareness on the factors affecting their academic performance and they will know how to manage the problem after which this will be brought to the care of their parents and the department. This may serve as a motivation for the students to improve their academic performance in determining ways which may help them in their studies.

Faculty Result may help further evaluate their teaching skills and to help improve any weakness of the students in classroom performance. Through this study, they may identify which factor affects the student the most and at the same time how to improve the academic performance by meeting the students needs and concerns.

Parents The result of this study will help them understand the needs of their daughter/sons thus helping them improve their academic performance and provide support based on the needs determined through the study.

Nursing Department The result of the study serves as a baseline information on the academic performance of the students in the department as well as the factors specifically affects the decline of their grades, hence, initiation of plans and programs will be outlined to address the needs for the betterment of the department as a whole.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study was limited to determining the factors affecting the academic performance of level II nursing students of Universidad de Zamboanga, who enrolled during the first semester of the school year 2012-2013. This study entailed review of students records, specifically their pre-mid and midterm grades in all the major subjects to include NCM 101 ( Care of the Mother and Child), Microbiology/ Parasitology ( lecture and laboratory), Community Health Nursing (CHN),Basis of choosing the respondents depend whether after a comparison made between the two terms showing a decline in the midterm grades, hence only 21 students were considered as subjects of the study out of 38 initially chosen respondents who gave the consent to become the subjects of the study.

Definition of Terms

Academic Performance refers to the Pre-mid and Midterm grades of the respondents in all their Major subjects during the 1st semester of school year 2012-2013. Factors are the conditions affecting the respondent academic performance classified into: Economic Factor Refers to the financial state of the respondents Physiological Factor Refers to the physical condition of the respondents. Psychological Factor Refers to the respondents emotional and mental state. Social Factor Refers to the respondents interpersonal relationship with others.

Level II Nursing Students. refers to the respondent of this study who are currently enrolled for the school year 2012-2013 1st semester. Universidad De Zamboanga refers to the university were the respondents are currently enrolled.

CHAPTER II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology presents the method and procedures used in the research. These are the research design, locale of the study, respondents of the study, sampling design, research instrument, data gathering procedures and statistical treatment.

Research Design

This study used the descriptive research because the study wanted to determine the academic performance of BSN level 2. This is the most appropriate method on inquiry about the present status and condition of particular phenomenon. Concepts and procedures of general description, analysis, and classifications are discussed and illustrated in considerable detail. This method tends to cover the qualitative analysis of inquiry such as the present investigation. Descriptive technique is to tell what exist or what is about a certain educational phenomenon. It may likewise include a study on factors or current conditions about the nature of the group of individuals or a class of events which may involve induction, classification, analysis or a class of events which may involve induction, classification, analysis, enumeration, or

measurement (Manuel, 2000).

Locale of the study The study was conducted at Universidad de Zamboanga, School of Allied Medicine, specifically at the 3rd floor, Science Building, Main Campus, Don Toribio St., Tetuan, Zamboanga City. School of Allied Medicine offers five programs which are the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology (BSMT), Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BSPh), Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy (BSRT) and Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Technology (BSRad).

Respondent of the Study

The respondents of the study were the BSN 2nd year students currently enrolled during the first semester of the school year 2012-2013. Level 2 students were divided into two sections: sections A and B. There were 54 students in level 2, but only 38 gave their consent to have a copy of their grades ( Please see attached consent in Appendix ), hence only 38 respondents were involved in this research. Out of the 38 students, only 21 students were considered official respondents because there was a decrease in their academic performance.

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Sampling Design

Purposive sampling was utilized in this study. This type of sampling is also called deliberate sampling where the samples are selected based on the judgment of the researcher on who would best qualify to be the samples of the study.

The researchers first identified the respondents based on their grades. A comparison was made between the two term grades (Pre-mid and Mid-term) and should there be any decline on the grades of the respondents automatically that particular student becomes the respondent.

Data Gathering Procedure

The gathering of data started after the approval of the letter of permission to conduct the survey from the director of School of Allied Medicine and program chair of the nursing department. Furthermore the researchers wrote a letter addressed to the respondents seeking permission to have a copy of their grades noted and approved by the research adviser and Program chair, at the same time letter of permission was sent to the different instructors of the respondents seeking permission to obtain the grades of the respondents. The researchers gathered the grades from the

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respective instructors after being assured that the data gathered would be handled with utmost confidentiality.

Statistical Treatment

Researchers utilized the following statistical tools to answer the problems in the study.

Weighted mean was used to determine the academic performance of the respondents. Frequency and percentage were used to determine the factors affecting the academic performance of the respondents. Weighted mean was used to determine the factors that affects the academic performance of the poorly performing students.

CHAPTER III PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of the data.

Problem 1: What is the academic performance of the respondents? Table 1 Academic Performance of the Respondents

Respondents 1

10

Subjects Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN

Pre-mid 81.5 77 78 72.2 70 74 92.3 81 82 78.1 74 79 75 79 84 74 76 68 80.6 80 76 88.4 79 74 88.85 78 77 94.3 74 78

Midterm 85 78 80 83.5 73 75 93.5 82 87 78.5 75 73 74 82 88 80 77 82 80 76 86 88 76 82 89.5 79 78 94.5 83 81

Average Difference -3.5 -1 -2 -11.3 -3 -1 -1.2 -1 -5 -0.4 -1 6 1 -3 -4 -6 -1 -14 0.6 4 -10 -0.4 3 -8 0.65 -1 -1 -0.2 -9 -3

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Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN 74.6 73 74 86.15 72 81 77.95 75 70 90 75 74 92 75 74 79 72 77.33 83.5 71 72.8 83.5 75 73.47 77 69 70.6 83.5 72 73.2 79.5 71 72.67 82.5 72 72.4 89 77 80.33 88.2 76 78.57 87 78 75.30 84 74 75.53 85.5 76 76.67 88.5 74 82 91 75 81 78.5 74 81 87.3 74 74.67 86.4 73 80.60 83.85 72 75.73 89.1 75 79.07 83.05 75 80.60 79.2 73 75.73 84.1 70 80.33 84.9 74 80.67 81 72 81.93 79.33 73 80.27 78.88 76 78.13 87.7 74 78.80 83.6 73 80.60 88.95 75 81.87 -13.9 -1 -8 -4.85 -3 0 -0.55 1 -11 2.7 1 -0.67 5.6 2 -6.6 -4.85 0 1.6 -5.6 -4 -6.27 0.45 0 -7.13 -2.2 -4 -5.13 -0.6 2 -7.13 -5.4 -3 -8 1.5 0 -9.53 9.67 4 0.06 9.32 0 0.44 -0.7 4 -3.5 0.4 1 -5.07 -3.45 1 -5.2

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

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28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN Micro/Para NCM 101 CHN

83.5 69 81.27 87.5 75 75 75 69 72 77 80 70.93 73 70 82.47 95.5 75 80.2 74 76 77.57 82.5 75 79.73 87.5 81 77.33 76 72 67.6 81 75 74.47

88.1 74 77.67 86.9 74 82.53 76 74 73 76 78 79.33 84.85 76 79.27 89.55 83 84.0 76 73 77.33 82.75 72 81.33 82.6 75 80.47 82.7 73 80.47 87.4 72 79.80

-4.6 -5 3.6 0.6 1 -7.53 -1 -5 -1 1 2 -8.4 -11.85 -6 3.2 5.95 -8 -3.8 -2 3 0.24 -0.25 3 -1.6 4.9 6 -3.14 -6.7 -1 -12.87 -6.4 3 -5.33

Table 1 shows the academic performance of the respondents. The data reveal that out of the 38 respondents, only 21 students have a decrease from their pre-mid grades to mid-term grades. Researchers identifies that only few of them has shown a difference in their Pre-mid and Midterm grades. The highest average difference score seen in Table 1 is 6.

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Problem 2: What are the factors affecting the Academic Performance of the respondents in terms of: a) Physiological factors b) Psychological factors c) Social factors d) Economic factors Table 2 Factors Affecting Academic Performance
Physiological 1. I usually skip meals in the morning due to lack of time preparing for my first period of class. 2. I am having difficulty remembering the lessons just conducted. 3. I usually have difficulty sleeping at night, which makes me feel sleepy in my classes. 4. I am having difficulty eating balance diet; it is easy to prepare instant foods during meal time. 5. I often get sick once or twice a month. TOTAL SCORE Psychological 1. I dont feel well whenever we have quizzes, graded recitations, or major exams. 2. I am hesitant to raise my hands during recitation or class discussion even if I know the answer. 3. I always feel bad whenever I get a low grade. 4. I feel less motivated throughout the semester if during the start of the semester I dont perform well. 5. I feel ashamed every time I answer incorrectly, which triggers my being passive in class, TOTAL SCORE Social 1. My parents have high expectation of me to do well in school. 2. I feel that I dont belong with my classmates, I prefer to be alone than study with them. 3. I am easily influenced by my friends to skip classes or play computer games. 4. I spent more time in face book, twitter, and other social networking sites especially with my friends around. 5. My relationship with opposite sex eat much of my time

f
15 6 10 9 10 50 5 3 10 9 9 50 8 8 5 2 0

TR
21 21 21 21 21

%
71% 28% 48% 43% 48%

21 21 21 21 21

24% 14% 48% 43% 43%

21 21 21 21 21

38% 38% 24% 9% 0%

16 studying and doing other school work. TOTAL SCORE Economic 1. I am having difficulty concentrating on my studies due to delays in my tuition fee and allowance. 2. I feel ashamed to always ask for promissory note from the Director or Program chair during exams which distort my concentration during exam day. 3. I spent most of my time thinking where to get money for my tuition fee or daily expenses when I am short of my budget. 4. It bothers me every time I fall to give my contribution during group activities. 5. I am affected whenever my parents/relatives who send me to school expresses their hardship in looking for funds for my daily requirements. TOTAL SCORE

23 7 6 21 21 33% 28%

10

21

48%

12 14

21 21

57% 67%

49

Legend: TR = Total Respondents f = frequency % = percentage

Table 2 shows the different factors affecting the academic performance of the BSN Level II Nursing Students as classified according to Physiological, Psychological, Social and Economic factors. For Physiological factors there are fifteen students who said that, skipping meals in the morning due to lack of time preparing for my first period of class. There are ten students who have difficulty sleeping at night, which makes me feel sleepy in my classes. Ten students who get sick once or twice a month. Nine students who have difficulty eating balance diet; it is easy to prepare instant foods during meal time and six students who have difficulty remembering the lessons just conducted.

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Nowadays, most of the students stay in boarding house rather than staying in their houses because of the distance from the school. They find it very hard to prepare sometimes their breakfast due to hectic schedule and an early class in the morning. For Psychological factors, there are ten students who always feel bad whenever I get a low grade. Nine students who feel less motivated throughout the semester if during the start of the semester they dont perform well. Nine students who feel ashamed every time they answer incorrectly, which trigger them to be passive in class and Five students who dont feel well whenever we have quizzes, graded recitations, or major exams. Students usually feels depressed and becomes less motivated after getting a very low grade in class that might make them think that they dont have a chance to improve their academic performance. For Social factors, there are eight students who have high expectation to do well in school. Eight students who feel that they dont belong to their classmates; they prefer to be alone than study with them. Five students who are easily influenced by their friends to skip classes or play computer games. Two students who spent more time in face book, twitter, and other social networking sites especially with my friends around and none who have relationship opposite sex that eat much of the time studying and doing other school work. Most of the students work really hard to improve their academic performance because of a very high expectation of their parents. This is also one of the reasons that they fail in class because they push themselves too much that with

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they forgot their physical needs and students usually cant focus on studying when their friends are around and with that they tend to be alone. For Economic factors, there are fourteen students who are affected whenever their parents/relatives who send them to school express their hardship in looking for funds for my daily requirements. Twelve students who feel bothered every time they fail to give their contribution during group activities. Ten students who spent most of their time thinking where to get money for tuition fee or daily expenses when they are short of budget. Seven students who have difficulty concentrating on their studies due to delays in my tuition fee and allowance. Six students who feel ashamed to always ask for promissory note from the director or program chair during exams which distort my concentration during exam day. Students are affected by the hardship they see from their parents which concerns them a lot that they cannot concentrate on their studies.

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Problem 3.What is the most common factor affecting academic performance when physiological, psychological, social and economic factors are considered? Table 3 Most Common Factor Affecting Academic Performance when Physiological, Psychological, Social and Economic factors are considered

FACTORS

FREQUENCY/TOTAL SCORE (f) 50 50 23 49 172

PERCENTAGE (%) 29% 29% 14% 28% 100%

PHYSIOLOGIC PSYCHOLOGIC SOCIAL ECONOMIC OVERALL SCORE

Table 3 shows that among the factors affecting the academic performance. The data show that 50 respondents (29%) considered physiologic and 50 (29%) considered psychologic the most common factors affecting the students academic performance. This is followed by economic, 49 or 28% and the least is social, 23 or 14 %.

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Score (frequency) of Factors Affecting Poorly Performing Students

Physiological Score 50 Psychological 50 Social 23 Financial 49

Score (Frequency) of Factors Affecting Poorly Performing Students

60 50 50 50

49

Scores

40 30 20 10 0 Physiological Psychological Factors Social Financial 23 Score

Figure 2 Figure 2 shows the scores of the factors affecting the academic performance of the respondents. Based on the frequency, it has been found out that physiological and psychological factors have affected the academic performance of these poorly performing students. As seen in the graph, financial factor could be a possible major factor in the future. Social factor is seen as a lesser factor in their academic performance.

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Mean of Scores of the Factors Affecting Poorly Performing Students

Physiological Mean 2.38 Psychological 2.38 Social 1.10 Financial 2.33

Mean of Scores of the Factors Affecting Poorly Performing Students

2.50 2.00 2.38 2.38 2.33

Mean

1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 Physiological Psychological Factors

1.10

Mean

Social

Financial

Figure 3 Figure 3 shows the mean of the scores of the factors affecting the academic performance of the respondents, where in physiologic and psychologic are the most common factors that affects their academic performance.

CHAPTER IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary, conclusions and recommendations of the study.

Summary of the Findings

Out of 38 students who had signed the consent form, 21 respondents had a decrease in their mid-grades. The researchers identified the common factors which are physiological, psychological, social and economic factors. The result shows that both physiologic and psychologic are the common factors that affect the academic performance of the students although Economic factor is a possible major factor in the future because the overall score difference is very close to the major factors.

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Conclusions

The result stated that the common factors are physiologic and psychologic factors. although economic factor is a possible major factor to the students in the future because the result difference is very close to the major factors. Nowadays, students are using new technologies when studying. Some students might get addicted to the so called internet surfing where they might forget their usual daily activities such as eating on time or exercising. Because of this, this may affect their academic performance. Students might takes exams or quizzes with their stomach empty or forgets to take lunch because of the class schedule. Having a health problem may also affect their psychological status wherein they ought to get low grades because of not feeling well while in class or lectures.

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Recommendation

With these findings and conclusion made, the following recommendations are presented:

1. Students should not be satisfied with their present academic performance but they should strive harder and improve in terms of grades and passing percentage in the future.

2. Teachers should encourage students who are not excelling in their subject.

3. Parents should understand and support the needs of their daughter/sons in their studies. They should monitor their childrens classroom performance.

4. The Department of Nursing should outline a program on how to improve the academic performance of BSN students specifically to involve classroom instructors teaching professional subjects.

5. Lastly, future researchers should help their fellow students who find difficulty in their academic performance.

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Bibliography

Electronics Materials

Grohol, J. (2012). 10 Highly Effective Study Habits. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 19, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/top-10-most-effectivestudy-habits/

(Oppapers, 2010). Academic Performance Related To Study Habits Essays and Term Papers. http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Study-Habits/95114