Acknowledgement

In doing this study, the researchers were directly involved

in completing the different stages of research, but it is not

without the help of a lot of people who assisted them in

completing the research through their guidance and cooperation.

To the administrative supervisor, Ms. Lourdes B. Quiogue,

who allowed us to pursue this thesis and assisted us in making

the necessary corrections that made our research more

presentable.

To the academic supervisor, Mrs. Penelope E. Mercado, who

gave important suggestions in order to complete this thesis.

Furthermore, her efforts that made the research study a better

one by assuring the research questionnaires are appropriate were

really appreciated.

To our research instructor, Mrs. Grace G. Magno, who

believed that we can surpass the challenge of the chosen topic

and guided us through her advices and suggestions.

 To our adviser, Mrs. Rosario A. Martin, who have been our

second mother and gave us essential advices that helped polish

and complete the study, just like a real mother would do.

To our Lord God, who provided His guidance from up above.

We knew that while doing this research, He is always beside us.

He is there at the start till the end this research and will

always be there for us in every challenge that we will face in

our life.
 Dedication

We dedicate this work, first of all, to our Lord Almighty

who helped us made this research a success. Without his

guidance, we may not be able to complete the study. We also

dedicate this to administrators and faculty members who really

supported us in making this research valuable. To our beloved

parents who served as our inspirations in striving to do this

research. To our fellow classmates who have shown their moral

support for us to complete, pass and be successful in the study

we have conducted.

The help of these people, especially of the Lord Almighty,

are truly remarkable and mirrors the real content of this

research. We are hoping that through this study, we will be able

to impart a legacy that will help the younger ones in making

their own researches not only for the sake of completing this as

a requirement but doing this as part of helping the society

change for the better.

 Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter contains the background of the study, the

theoretical/conceptual framework, the statement of the

problem, the formulated hypothesis, the significance of the

study, the scope and delimitation of the study and the

definition of terms used in the research.

Introduction

The importance of mathematics in all realms of life

and the recent debate on the falling standards of students’

achievement in mathematics has triggered the growing

attention for researchers, parents and education

authorities in their quest. The teaching and learning of

mathematics has therefore been an issue of considerable

concern for some time now and the mathematics curriculum.

According to the study, three different but interrelated

factors affecting mathematics teaching and learning are

distinguishable in the literature: personal, classroom and

school related factors. Lamb and Fullarton classified

individual personal factors as believes and attitude,

preparedness and willingness to learn; home factors as

socio-economic status, parents’ educational background and

occupation and classroom and school factors as the school

physical environment, learning resources, teaching and

learning strategies. Despite the importance of these

different but interrelated factors, the core of the

interplay between the learner and what is learned is

accredited to the teacher who is recognized and accepted by

the society to pass on the society’s accumulated norms,

values, knowledge and skills to the present and future

generation.

The goal of the study is to be able to identify the

perceptions of the students in the Mathematics Teachers’

teaching skills, to identify the relationship between the

Academic Performances of the students and the teaching

skills/technique of instructors of mathematics, and to

determine if there is any significant relationship between

Mathematics Teachers’ teaching skills and the students’

Academic Performances.
 Background of the Study

Every school has a goal of providing quality of

education to their students. It is upon this that impact of

teacher related factors on students learning of mathematics

and student’s performance in mathematics has been receiving

a considerable attention for some time now. In examining

the impact of teacher related factors on students learning

and their performance, a number of studies have

investigated into the impact of teachers’ subject content

knowledge on their teaching and established that teacher’

subject content knowledge impacts on their teaching.

Mewborn established that although mathematics teachers’

subject content knowledge plays a vital role in their

teaching, “merely knowing more mathematics does not ensure

that one can teach it in a way that promote students

conceptual understanding”. Ernest explained that good

subject knowledge and the kind of perception that the

teacher have toward mathematics determines how he or she

teaches. Ernest further argued that the way a teacher

teaches is immensely influenced by the teacher’s

theoretical perspective and more particularly his/her

beliefs and perception toward the subject and a broad

research has been conducted examining teachers’ perception

of their teaching. That is, teachers’ perceptions of their

teaching is a valuable variable in promoting effective

teaching and learning of mathematics as what the teacher

teaches and the way he/she teaches is a reflection of the

experiences and beliefs he/she hold .Jurdak argued that

mathematics teachers’ conception and the kind of beliefs

they hold influence the way they teach. Teo in his

investigation of the beliefs of 16 teachers in Singapore,

reported that teachers beliefs and conception about

mathematics has an influence on the individual teacher’s

teaching. Similarly, Pepin in his comparative study also

established that there is a direct relationship between the

teacher’s beliefs and their teaching practices. Also

Perkkila in his study involving Finish primary school

teachers also revealed that teachers’ recollection of their

experiences and beliefs has great influence on their

teaching. Perkkila further added that, the way a teacher

teaches can be traced back to his/her school days how

he/she experienced the teaching and learning of the

subject. In all the above studies it was established that,

although factors such as the demands of the mathematics

curriculum and the national call for a change in the

teaching and learning of mathematics impacts on teachers’

teaching, the impact of the individual teacher’s beliefs

and experiences cannot be underestimated That is, teachers’

perception of their teaching and how they teach is of great

importance in measuring the effectiveness of mathematics

teaching and learning and it also reinforces teacher’s

decision making. Ernest explained that, teaching reforms

cannot take place unless teachers’ deeply hold good beliefs

about mathematics teaching and learning changes.

Researching into teacher’s beliefs and perceptions of their

teaching has therefore been receiving considerable

attention for some time now and this is broadly documented

in the literature. However, Ahmed and Aziz argued that

collecting data from students regarding their teachers’

teaching provides meaningful data of what their teacher

does. Ahmed and Aziz further argued that collecting data

from students about their teachers’ teaching is a valuable

as their perceptions are “coloured by challenging and

interesting experiences that allow them to observe learning

and teaching behaviors more intimately than their

teachers”. That is, students perception of their teacher’s

teaching contribute very much in improving the teaching and

learning of the subject as it provides valuable suggestions

and directions for the teacher’s future improvement. Ahmed

and Aziz also found out that when students develop

conceptual understanding of the concept presented when they

 perceive their teachers’ classroom environment as

cooperative rather than competitive. In describing students

perception regarding their mathematics teachers’ teaching,

Rawnsley established that students develop a more positive

attitude toward their mathematics lessons where the teacher

is considered to be highly supportive and gives the

students the chance to play an integral role in the

teaching-learning process.

(http://www.iojes.net/userfiles/Article/IOJES_784.pdf)

Statement of the Problem

1. What are the perceptions of the students in the

Mathematics Teachers’ teaching skills?

2. What is the Academic Performances of the students in

Mathematics?

3. Is there any significant relationship between Mathematics

Teachers’ teaching skills and the students’ Academic

Performances?
 Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between the

Mathematics Teachers' Teaching skills and the students’ Academic

Performances.

Significance of the study

The study will benefit the following:

Students – The students may acquire a better understanding on

the lessons discussed in mathematics subject.

Mathematics Teachers – The evaluation in their teaching will

give them idea in which teaching strategy is more effective to

use.

School Head/s – The School Head/s may conduct seminars for their

teachers that will help them enhance their teaching skills.

Future Researchers - To give them an idea about Mathematics

Teachers' teaching skills that can be a useful reference to

their future studies.

 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

Exploring Students’ Perceptions about Learning in School:

An Activity Theory Based Study Authors: Yelena Portnov-

Neeman|Moshe Barak Abstract: In the current study, we used

Activity Theory as the conceptual framework for exploring

students’ perceptions about how learning in school is affected

by the following five elements: Object, Tools, Rules, Community

and Division of Labor. Data were collected by administrating a

semi-structured questionnaire among 70 junior high school

students and interviewing a sample of 25 participants. The

findings showed that the students positively evaluated the

Object and Division of Labor categories, but appreciated less

the contribution of Tools, Rules and Community to learning. This

indicts that current schooling offers only little a

constructivist-learning environment in which students interact

with Tools, Rules and Community, and take an active part in

forming the learning environment, as derived from Activity

Theory.
 The perception of
students

Mathematics
Subject
Teachers
teaching skills

The relationship on their

Academic Performance

Fig. 1 Research Paradigm

In this research, according to the paradigm shown above,

the perception of students on their teachers’ teaching skills

and their Mathematics subject are being correlated to know its

significance. Therefore the tools in teaching mathematics

subject are very important and also giving some activities that

will get the attention of the students.

 Scope and Delimitation

This study was conducted for the purpose of knowing the

perceptions of the students in the teachers’ teaching skills in

mathematics subject. This study will be held in RCC-SED. The

respondents are from 3rd Year HS students.

Definition of Terms

Perception - The act, power, process or product of perceiving.

(Webster Illustrated CONTEMPORARY DICTIONARY)

Relationship – the state or quality of being related; connection

(Webster Illustrated CONTEMPORARY DICTIONARY)

Student – a person engaged in a course of study; in an

educational institution (Webster Illustrated CONTEMPORARY

DICTIONARY)

Teacher - is a person who provides education for pupils

(children) and students (adults).

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacher)

Teachers Teaching Skills – the ability/expertise of the teacher

in teaching the topic/subject. (http://www.wikipedia.org/)

 Chapter II

Review of Related Studies and Literature

This chapter presents the articles, journals and these

which the researchers reviewed and analyzed for the present

study.

Foreign Literature

Each year, the number of students needing remedial math classes

is increasing (Hodges & Kennedy, 2004; Krzemien, 2004).

Nationwide, between 60% to 75% of entering the community college

freshmen need remediation in mathematics in order to succeed in

a college environment (Shore & Shore, 2003). Many colleges

require developmental students to successfully complete their

remedial courses before they are allowed to register for college

level classes. Therefore, some students must take one or more

remedial classes, thus increasing the demand for such courses.

As students must take more math courses to be prepared to take

college-level mathematics courses, choice of major fields of

education become limited because of the amount of time it would

take to complete those courses and enter into the desired major

program. Stage and Kloosterman (1995) called these preparatory

developmental courses “gate keepers.” Because mathematics is a

prerequisite for many professions, these courses serve as “gate

keepers” that effectively filter many students out of careers

they might otherwise pursue. In brief, many students realize the

importance of mathematics for meeting career aspirations.

College remedial mathematics courses, however, are one barrier

to meeting career aspirations that many find difficult to

overcome.

Developmental students’ perceptions of unsuccessful and

Successful mathematics learning, this literature review examines

learning experiences and learning strategies that influence

mathematics skills acquisition, which include teaching

competency, teaching methods, and students’ personal

circumstances. The review also focuses on student motivation,

attitude, and beliefs about learning mathematics.

Under a constructivist view, the teacher is expected to

implement “methodologies that enable students to interact in the

learning environment and to construct meanings about

mathematics. In such learning situations, individuals construct

mathematical knowledge as they interact with peers and teachers”

External factors in elementary and secondary education may have

contributed to the number of students coming out of high school

who are lacking in basic math skills. In order that students can

progress with their own age group, students may be passed to the
next grade without demonstrating proficiency. Teachers may also

not be proficient in teaching some of the skills. Ferrandino

(2004) reported that “finding teachers with a solid handle on

math can be challenging. Research has found that many elementary

and middle grade teachers don’t feel as comfortable with their

math knowledge as with other subjects”. Teachers who do feel

inadequate mathematically may not emphasize math skills as much

or they may unintentionally pass on their fear or dislike for

the subject (Ferrandino). A comfortable atmosphere where

students feel free to ask questions is conducive to learning

(Bain, 2004; Kealoha, 2006; Middleton & Spanias, 1999).

Schweinle, Meyer, and Turner (2006) suggested that a positive

classroom climate promoted engaged learning. “In classrooms that

provided a significant positive affective climate, students

reported considerable intrinsic motivation, additional help

seeking, positive emotions related to content, and significant

perceptions of task-specific competencies”. The particular

method used to teach mathematical concepts also influences the

way students learn. Many theorists suggest that teachers are not

aware of the theories and research which reflect best practice

in teaching mathematics (Funk, 2003; Kieren, 2000; Lerman, 1996,

2000; Morgan, 2003; Steffe & Thompson, 2000), making the

teaching of mathematics less effective than it could be. A

predominant theoretical perspective in the mathematics

educational research community today is constructivism (Bain,

2004; Kieren, 2000; Lerman, 1996, 2000; Middleton & Spanias,

1999; Muis, 2004; Pugalee, 2001; Weinstein, 2004).

“Constructivist theory rests on the assumption that knowledge is

constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their

experiences. Learners, therefore, are not empty vessels waiting

to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking meaning” Jean

Piaget helped form the constructivist discourse (Driscoll,

2005). Knowledge is acquired in a closed system in which

constructs and their interrelationships are changing and

evolving. Piaget maintained that the learner continually revises

the way he understands the world as he interprets his physical

experience (Davis, 2004; Driscoll). After having reviewed

research in implementing constructivist methodologies, Muis

(2004) stated, “The instructional implications of this research

suggest that teachers should engage students in actively

learning mathematics using a constructivist-oriented approach to

teaching mathematics” .Learning environment also affects student

learning (Lombardo, 1987; Orzek, 1987; Wozniak & Fischer, 1993).

In education, the ecological perspective would emphasize the

importance of the environment. “Places ‘do’things to people”.

Certain places require certain behavior. “The important thing

about a behavior setting is that it is the immediate environment

of the behavior” The behavior setting for art will be different

than that for mathematics for example. Teachers not only have to

know about each of their individual students, but they need to

know which place in the environment would be best suited for the

individual student. “School teachers are trained to understand

the individual child, but when you have 30 individual children,

it is pretty important to know how to organize the setting and

have it function”

Local Literature

In the article entitled “How Children Learn Mathematics”, For

many years now researchers have investigated children’s

mathematical ideas and conceptions as well as their development

(Althouse 1994; Even and Tirosh, 2002). Most of the results of

these articles suggest that learning mathematics is complex,

takes time and is often not understood by many teachers (Even &

Tirosh). Attempts to develop theories that describe how students

learn mathematics continue to evolve. A prominent example is the

van Hiele theory, one of the most comprehensive theories

formulated concerning geometry learning. Pierre and Dina van

Hiele developed the theory almost half a century ago (Even &

Tirosh, 2002). The theory states that when students learn

geometry they progress from one discrete level of geometrical

thinking to another. This theory contributed to the learning of

geometry by proof. The van Hiele theory also suggests phases of

instruction that help students progress through the levels of

geometry.

Foreign Study

A consensus has emerged recognizing that mathematics teachers

may need certain types of mathematical knowledge that are

specific to the work of teaching mathematics (Ball & Bass, 2000;

Ball, Lubienski, & Mewborn, 2001; Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008).

Shulman (1986) defined the concept of pedagogical content

knowledge (PCK), which intertwines pedagogy and content, deals

with common student difficulties, common student misperceptions,

and the utility of different forms of representations in various

teaching settings. The concept of PCK was adapted by Ball and

colleagues (e.g., Ball & Bass, 2000; Ball, Lubienski, & Mewborn,

2001; Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008) in a construct known as

mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). Specifically,

mathematical knowledge for teaching refers to the mathematical

knowledge that is necessary for the teaching of mathematics

(Ball et al., 2008). For example, it is helpful if teachers are

able to figure out mathematically how to respond to guide,

redirect, or extend students’ thinking. Participants A total of

50 teachers across all three sites participated in this study

(15 from Site 1, 13 from Site 2, and 22 from Site 3). All were

participants in a MTC (a control group was not feasible given

the exploratory nature of this study). Of these, forty-five

participated in the demographic survey. Survey respondents

indicated that their teaching experience ranged from one to 30

years, with an average of 10.5 years of teaching experience (SD

= 7.3). Twenty-one of the respondents had master’s degrees,

almost all of which were in education. Thirteen reported having

participated in a substantive mathematically oriented

professional development program over the past three years,

where “substantive” was defined as a program that lasted for a

week or more or involved at least 30 hours of the teacher’s

time.

Local Literature

According to the latest Gallup youth survey conducted in 2004

(as cited by Saad, 2005), the subject that the teenagers find

most difficult in school is mathematics. Thus, Saad(2005) said

that it is not surprising how the subject has the lowest

performance rate. The reasons were not mentioned, however,

Stites (1993) said that people have the tendency to blame the

educators of the poor performance of the students in math.

However, Temple professor and mathematician John Allen Paulos

(as cited in Stites, 1993) directed these problems to a number

of factors. Paulos (as cited in Stites, 1993) attributed this

problem to the educational system that "emphasizes practice

without incorporating the concept." In addition to this, he

mentioned that this is also partly because of the mentality that

math is not for everyone. According to Paulos (as cited in

Stites, 1993), people think that math is only for a selected few

or the left-brained ones. However, Paulos (as cited in Stites,

1993) disagreed with this as everyone has the ability to do

mathematics and problem solving as long as they know the basics.

Another problem pointed out by Paulos (as cited in Stites,

1993), is the hierarchical way math is taught where teachers

teach algebra and geometry instead of more applicable ones such

as probability and statistics for their students to have a high

percentage in passing standardized exams.In the Philippine

concept, as cited in a research conducted by Cabahug and Ladot

(2005), the University of the Philippines’ greatest failure is

in mathematics. It is also said that repetition in mathematics

is common among UP students that almost one out of three repeat

a mathematics course. Cabahug and Ladot (2005) also said that

the faculty of the UP Cebu Natural Science and Mathematics

Division or NSMD have felt the declining performance of students

in basic mathematics. It is also stated that the attitude

towards mathematics and achievement in mathematics have always

been a great concern.n Fullarton (1993) as cited in Cabahug and

Ladot (2005), stated that poor attitude towards mathematics is

often being said as one of the contributing factors to lower

participation and less success in the courses. Neale(1969) still

cited in Cabahug and Ladot (2005), said that the attitude

towards mathematics affects performance as performance in turn

affects attitudes.

Local Study

In the study conducted by Cabahug and Ladot(2005), there were

941 students in four school years excluding transferees and

those who withdrew from Math 11 and Math 17 were the subjects of

the study. The dependent variable was the students’ performance

in Math 11 or Math 17 measured by a dichotomous criterion of

“pass” or “fail”. The researchers stated that the UPCAT

mathematics ability, University predicted grade, attitude

towards the subject, degree program and type of high school the

students graduated from are the factors of success and failure

of students. The results of the study showed that the students

who took up Math 11 and Math 17 got a passing rate of 73.3% and

73.2% respectively. The highest failure rate is 36% for math 11

and 31.2% for math 17. The researchers stated that these results

showed that the training of the incoming freshmen is deficient.

Furthermore, Cabahug and Ladot(2005) said that for students who

were required to take math 11, their only significant factor is

the attitude of students towards the subject. The results of

their study also showed that for students enrolled in degree

programs requiring Math 17 in addition to UPCAT mathematical

ability and attitude towards mathematics, the type of school is

also a significant factor. Davidson and Levitov (1993), on the

other hand, point these difficulties to the condition that fears

mathematics. In study entitled, “Images, Anxieties and Attitudes

Toward Mathematics” the researchers Bilbase and Shashidar (2010)

said that there could be various reasons for fear of the subject

mathematics. ’Strawderman, (as cited in Bilbase and Shashidar,

2010) proposed three domains to study mathematics anxiety:

social/motivational domain, intellectual/educational domain, and

psychological/emotional domain. Bilbase and Shashidar (2010)

clarified that the social/motivational domain includes those

forces that act upon a person through the agencies of family,

friends, and society as a whole. The authors described that the

intellectual/educational domain is comprised of those influences

that are cognitive in nature. According to Bilbase and

Shashidar, these cognitive influences include but are not

limited to, the knowledge and skills an individual has and or is

expected to acquire and his or her perception of success or

failure in them. The authors explained that the

psychological/emotional domain is formed by the faculties that

are affective in nature. They continued that it is largely

comprised of the individual’s emotional history, reactions to

stimuli, and arousal states. Hence, the researchers said that

the continuum associated with this domain is feelings wherein at

either end of the feelings continuum lie anxiety and confidence.

Bilbase and Shashidar (2010) continued that the images in the

classrooms and the means of teaching may have a significant

impact on shaping the attitude towards mathematics. They

proposed that another thing that may affect a child’s perception

of mathematics is the attitude of the parents toward the

subject. They said that most likely, parents that show

negativity towards mathematics will give the child a negative

attitude of it - this shows how much parental encouragement is

important in a child’s learning. They also added that anxieties

and attitudes play significant role in learning mathematics Part

of these attitudes is a child’s interest in mathematics, which

is fear’s counterpart.
 Chapter III

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter contains the explanation of the method of

research, the subjects of the study, the research instruments

used and the statistical tool used in computing data.

Method of Research

Descriptive research includes all studies that support to

present facts concerning the nature status of anything a group

of person, a number of objects, a system of thought or any other

kind of phenomena which one may wish to study.

Descriptive research describes and interprets what is. It

is considered with conditions of relationships that exist,

practices that prevail, beliefs and processes that are going on

effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing.

The process of descriptive research goes beyond mere

gathering and tabulation of data. It involves an element of

interpretation of the meaning or significance of what is

described. Thus, description is often combined with comparison

and contrast involving measurements, classification,

interpretation and evaluation.

Respondents/Subject of the Study

The researchers chose some of the 3rd year high school

students as the respondents. Only a number of students coming

from each section are given a chance to take survey that will be

utilized. The Sloven’s formula was used in getting the number of

respondents. The random sampling technique was used in order to

get the names of the chosen respondents from the entire

population of the 3rd year high school students.

Research Instruments

In this study, the researchers used the survey questionnaire.

It contains number of questions about the teacher’s teaching

skills.

5 – Strongly Agree

4 – Fairly Agree

3 – Agree

2 – Disagree

1 – Strongly Disagree
Statistical Tools

The following statistical tools were used in this study:

The researchers used the

∑𝑓𝑥
𝑥=
𝑛

Where f = frequency in each weight

X = assigned weight

Chi Square

Where Fe = expected

Fo = observed
 Chapter IV

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

This chapter discusses the data gathered from the respondents, the analysis of data
and the interpretation of the findings. The tables are presented according to the specific
problems of the study.

Table 1 Students’ Perceptions on their Mathematics Teachers’ Teaching Skills