‘’Index Card Monitoring in a Highly Populated Classroom”

ÁBSTRACTION

This action research study aims to examine how the use of monitoring card increases
the participation of Grade 7 students during TLE class. The scope of this study shows
the major challenges that hinder learners not to participate actively in the classroom.
Fifty-six students of Grade 7 – Sunflower are the respondent in the gathering of data.
After imposing the use of monitoring cards, we have observed that their performance
was improved. Data sources included the gathering and assessing of their monitoring
card, accumulating their final grades in TLE, the students’ reasons on why they are not
participating in class and how the use of monitoring card affected their participation. The
use of monitoring card clearly shows the increase of the students’ participation in class.
The students’ TLE grades were highly greater than before. It was realized that the use
of monitoring card is useful and effective in increasing their participation during TLE
class according to the data gathered.

Introduction
Class participation is an important aspect of student learning. When students speak up
in class, they learn to express their ideas in a way that others can understand. When
they ask questions, they learn how to obtain information to enhance their own
understanding of a topic.

Class participation is an important aspect of student learning. When students speak up

in class, they learn to express their ideas in a way that others can understand. When
they ask questions, they learn how to obtain information to enhance their own
understanding of a topic.

Engagement within the learning environment generally refers to the relationship

between the content or topic being pursued. While the highest levels of engagement are
seen when the learner is passionate about the topic, significant levels of engagement
can be achieved through a variety strategy that actively involved the learner in activities
and environments that make learning both interesting and challenging (Whelan, (.1997).

Our experience reveals that for student class participation is a big problem. Teachers
are often complaint about students’ passive behavior in class participation. But up till
now there has been a very little research into the promotion of class participation. More
often low self-esteem, anxiety, and general lack of confidence is considered responsible
for students non-participation in the classroom ( Kennedy 1997, Thomson, 2001).

According to Cummins ( 1983) cited that lack of participation could be due to multiple
factors. Students who are empowered by their school experiences develop ability,
confidence, and motivation to succeed academically. They participate competently in
instruction as a result of having developed a confident cultural identity as well as
appropriate school-based knowledge and interactional structures.

Bonwell, C.C., and J.A Eison ( 1991) suggest that active learning is generally defined as
any instructional method that engages students in the learning process. Active requires
students to do meaningful learning activities and think about what they are doing. The
core elements of active learning are student actively and engagement in the learning
process. Thus, learning is enhanced when students repeat the information in their own
words or when they give examples or make use of the information ( Bransford et. al,
2000).

Studies have linked motivation and participation to student achievement ( Eccles &
Wigfield, 2002). Students who gave importance to learning the material and have
greater expectancy to be successful in a course are more likely to achieve at higher
levels ( Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). Learners with a more positive attitude towards lifelong
learning tend to be more persistent, more self-directed, and more self-confident (de la
Harpe & Radloff, 2000). They efficiently use cognitive strategies to maximize their
learning ( Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1992). Using a rubric that distinguish events
category of participation from outstanding to poor, students are often still confused
about precisely what is expected from them. It is unusual, for example, for students to
believe that attendance and participation are synonymous. (Knight, 2013 ).

Rationale and Significance of the Study

According to Zainal Abidin (2007), students engage actively in the class discussion,
know what they want to say and what they should not say. Their participation in a class
is usually spontaneous an occurs naturally. Students act more as listeners and less to
speak out in the classroom. The focus of this study is on how the index card monitoring
helped increased their level of participation in the classroom.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a teacher action research study
that examined the following questions:
1. What are the reasons why students do not like to participate in classroom
activities during TLE class?
2. Did the imposing of index card help them increased their participation in the
classroom?
3. How the use of monitoring card helped increase the participation of the students
in TLE class?

Scope and Limitation

Based on the various types of classroom behavior, to be an active learner, whenever in
the classroom, student must engage actively by playing the roles of information
seekers. According to Davis (2009), students’ enthusiasm and willingness to participate
in a classroom through these verbal engagements will create a conducive classroom
environment. While assessment of student interaction may be a useful motivator, it
could be argued that this is only true in cases where the instructor clearly defines how
such grades will be assigned and according to what criteria.
To engage the students in participation in a classroom is an important method of
teaching. It provides the students opportunity to receive input to fellow students, to
apply their knowledge and to enhance public speaking skills. From the participation of
teachers can get a more accurate idea that what is understanding level of students
about the concept being taught (Maznevski 1996). Motivation is a general term used to
refer to any arousal of an individual to goal-directed behavior. The term motivation when
applied to human is a Socio-psychological concept and motivation cannot be
considered apart from the individual’s conception of himself, his status and roles, and
the existence of society and culture which define situation and leads to students’
participation (Theodorson and Theodorsm 1969, p.26).
Instructors’ own personal biases and opinions may affect how they assess student
participation. To avoid the effects of such biases, Armstrong and Boud (2003)
suggested that instructors should distribute clear and explicit criteria which will be used
to assess participation to students at the beginning of the school year.

Methodology
Presented in this section are the locale of the study, participants/subjects and data
sources and analysis that were used to answer the research questions posed.

Locale of the Study

The study was conducted on Davao City National High School, F. Torres St., Davao
City.

Participants
The participants of this action research study were the students from Davao City
National High School, Grade 7-Sunflower with fifty-six (56) students.

Data Sources, Analysis and Interpretation

This study aims to identify the behaviors of the student during class discussion
and participation. The focus of the study is on the issue of the monitoring the
performances of the students and on how the index card monitoring helped increase
their performance in TLE subject.
Three sources of data were gathered in this study: a survey paper, monitoring
card and their TLE grades from 1st quarter to 4th quarter. The survey paper was given
two weeks before the end of the school year. The survey contains the students’
answers on how the index card monitoring affects their performance and participation in
TLE subject. The monitoring or the index cards are gathered every week to see if they
have improved in their performances. The TLE grades are the most important data that
we have gathered in this action research. The grades from 1 st grading to 4th grading
was the basis if they have really improved their performance since the beginning of the
school year until the last quarter.

Results and Discussions

In this section, the results of the gathered data are shown in the graph and
followed by the discussion and findings related to the students’ participation in TLE
class.

The response of the students in the given survey lead us to recognize the
different reasons why the students can’t perform well during discussions, presentations
and laboratory time in TLE subject. According to the result, 44% admitted that they don’t
want to participate and perform in the given activities during TLE subject because the
classroom was very crowded wherein the teacher cannot monitor their individual
performances, 35% said that they don’t like the subject specialization which is the nail
care services and 21% said that they are lack of tools and equipment I nail care
services. The results are shown in Figure 1.

21%
44% Due to overpopulation in the
classroom
I don't like the subject
specialization
35%
Lack of tools and equipment
 Because of these reasons, we required each student to have an index card. The
index card should serve as their checklist in their participation during class discussion
and their performance during laboratory time. At the end of the week, we will collect the
index card and record their points they earned on that week. In this way, we can monitor
the performance of each student and identify if they have improvement every week.
According to Denise Knight (2013) a distinguished teaching professor of English of
SVNY Cortland, if we develop a strategy that can enhance both the amount and quality
of participation of the students that they have to hold themselves accountable for every
part of their subject grade including participation.

To check if the class approved that the improving of monitoring card helped them
increase their individual performance in the classroom here are their comments, refer to
figure 2. Our of fifty-six students, 73% said that the monitoring card helped them in their
participation while 20% said that it didn’t and 7% said that they are still undecided.

Result if the students find the Monitoring

Card useful in their Participation

7%

20%
YES
NO
UNDECIDED

73%

Although some of the students said that the monitoring card does not increase
their level of participation still the majority of the class said that it is necessary and
helpful to use index cards to monitor their performance in TLE subject. Therefore we
conclude that the use of monitoring card is useful and effective in increasing the
participation of the students during TLE in a highly populated class.