DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING MATHEMATICS AMONG ELEMENTARY

GRADE PUPILS IN THE DISTRICTS OF LEON I AND II:

BASIS FOR REMEDIATION

BY:
Ma. Sheila C. Canag
Yolanda C. Peniero
Joy C. Tiposo

The study is sought to answer the problems about: the level of difficulty among
elementary grade pupils in learning mathematics content and skills; the significant
differences in teaching mathematics content and skills when grouped according to gender,
GPA, location of school, and type of school. The significant relationship between the
pupils’ level of difficulty in content and skills. And the remedial measures will address
the pupils’ difficulties in mathematics. The researchers employed the descriptive method.
The data were gathered through the researcher-mad test and subjected to Cronbach Alpha
Reliability test. The respondents, 609 elementary pupils of district I and II, were chosen
by means of stratified proportionate random sampling. The data were analyzed through
frequency count, percentage, ranks, means, and standard deviation for descriptive
statistics. T-test for independent samples, One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and
Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation were used to test the hypotheses of
the study. The 0.05 level of significance was used in deciding whether to reject or to
accept the null hypotheses. Some year levels have difficulties in learning mathematics
concept and skills when they are grouped. When GPA was considered, those who were
classified as outstanding, very satisfactory, and satisfactory had “average” level of
difficulty, while those who were classified as fairly satisfactory and poor had “high” level
of difficulty.
In general, no significant differences in all grade levels were noted in the level of
difficulty in mathematics concepts among pupils grouped according to gender, except in
grade VI where the female group had low level of difficulty compared to males.
 However, there is no significant difference in all grade levels when grouped according to
GPA. Positive and significant relationship existed between pupils’ difficulties in
mathematical concepts and skills.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

MATHEMATICS
CONCEPT

Gender
GPA in Math REMEDIATION
Location of school
Type of school

MATHEMATICS
SKILLS
* Computational
* Problem- solving
STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE AND PREFERENCE IN USE OF CALCULATOR
IN ALGEBRA

BY:
Ma. Conception Manalastas

The objective of the study was to find out the students’ mathematics performance
and their preference in the use of calculator in completing mathematical tasks in algebra.
The study used the descriptive method, and the study followed three phases: development
of the learning material, implementation and evaluation. The respondents are female
sophomore students of St. Scholastica’s College- Westgrove. The instrument used for the
study: worksheets in factoring polynomials with or without the use of calculator and the
attitude scale to determine the students’ performance and preference in the use of
calculator in algebra. The data were analyzed through the formula for the mean in order
to determine the mean percentage performance by tasks in the worksheets. For
determining the students’ preference on the use of calculator, a 3-point rating scale was
used as guide for interpretation for the students’ responses. Based on the mean percentage
performance, it was found out that students performed well on the topics of factoring and
exponents, and monomial factoring and factoring by grouping polynomials. It was also
observed that students performed well in the knowledge and comprehension level of
mathematics achievement and not so with analysis and application level in using
calculators. Thus, the need to focus more on the level with higher thinking skill is mush
need to further improve students’ performance in using calculator in algebra. From the
attitude scale, researcher found out that students prefer to use calculator in factoring
polynomials and to ensure that their answer is correct. In general, using calculator in
algebra can be a great help to the students and it turns out that calculator aided method is
effective on specific topics and difficulty level of tasks in algebra.
The researcher presents recommendations: ensure that all students know how to
operate the keys/functions of the calculator in order to find comfort and security i9n
handling the calculator; extend the study; develop more integration for the calculator; and
 teachers should encouraged to fully utilize the use of scientific calculators with more
complex functions in teaching various topics in algebra and other mathematics subjects.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

Calculator Conventional
aided LEARNER method
method

Mathematics achievement Preference

levels of mathematical task Using calculator
knowledge Using manual
comprehension computation
application
analysis

Easy computation Develops mechanical

Focus more on the H.O.T. computation skills
More time concentrating Mastery of mathematical
on understanding the concepts
problem
 LEARNING ACTIVITIES ON DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
AMONG GRADE V PUPILS

BY:
Cynthia Abaricia- Bautista

The objective of the study is to find out the appropriate learning activities to
improve the critical thinking skills of the grade V pupils. The researcher conducts a study
to the Grade V pupils of St. Mary’s College wherein she used a descriptive method. The
researcher makes four steps for the study. The first one is to plan and study the styles and
skills, and different thinking skills. Second is the writing of learning activities. The third
one is to design evaluation instrument to assess the extent of difficulty of the critical
thinking exercises. And the last procedure is to try the learning activities to the pupils.
Based on the data gathered, the researcher finds out that the critical thinking skills that
need to be enhanced among the Grade V pupils are: Distinguishing facts from opinions;
distinguishing true-false statements; finding support for the key ideas; making intelligent
guesses and predictions; recognizing, analyzing, and synthesizing ideas or information;
and reacting critically by judging the relevance, and worth of ideas and the soundness of
the reasons presented. And the learning activities that can enhance the critical thinking of
the pupils are more on Social Studies.
In general, the researcher concludes the following: Critical thinking skills may be
developed through appropriate learning activities; and good and appropriate strategies in
teaching Social Studies can enhance the pupils’ critical thinking. And she recommends
that teachers need to consider strategies that will enhance the pupils while studying social
studies like: engaging the pupils in self-reflective discourse; asking open-ended and
divergent questions; and encouraging students to seek and express new ways of thinking
critically. Environment issues and technology integration should be integrated in every
learning activity to amuse the young minds on how to process and discriminate
information. Teaching higher order thinking skills should not be incorporated in the
intermediate grades level but also in the high school curriculum.
 Vali
Activities for the
date
development of critical
d
thinking skills.
stag
e
Preparation of learning
D activities
evel Evaluation of the learning
opm activities
ent Evaluation by a pool of
stag experts
e
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

Try- out
Pre-
deve Learning competencies for
lop social studies
men Profile of Grade V pupils
t Survey of existing
stag materials/ reference
e
 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER TUTORING SYSTEM ON SELECTED
TOPICS IN BASIC MATHEMATICS FO COLLEGE STUDENTS

BY:
Amor Llanes- Borbon

The main purpose of the study is to develop a computer tutoring system on selected
topics in basic mathetics (CTS-M) for the first year college students of St. Bridget
College, Batangas City. The researcher first reviews the basic math for college students
(Math1) and the books used in this subject. Students’ difficulty in basic Math was
determined through the survey questionnaire and the assessment test in Basic Math. From
the two instruments, courseware developed which consists of: integers; fractions;
percentage and; ratio and proportion. The researcher made a flowchart. This was the basis
of the presentation of the courseware. Lesson plans and storyboard are constructed and
became basis of the design of the courseware. Microsoft Access and Visual Basic were
the programs used in the creation of the CTS-M. The courseware were used and
evaluated by 10 teachers and 55 students of St. Bridget College. Rating scale, checklist,
and open-ended questions were used for the evaluation and the courseware was revised
based on the results of the evaluation and suggestion of the teachers and students.
Predictive evaluation was done to compare the results of the pretest and posttest that were
taken by the students. The researcher found out that the topics in basic Math were ranked
according to the most difficult. Mathematics teachers ranked the topics as follows: 1.
percentage; 2. fraction; 3. ratio and proportion; 4. integers; 5. decimal; 6. fundamentals of
number theory; 7. whole numbers and; 8. numeration system. On the other hand, students
ranked the topics as follows: 1. percentage; 2. fraction; 3. ratio and proportion; 4.
integers; 5. fundamentals of no. theory; 6. decimal; 7. numeration system; 8. whole
numbers. The developed computer tutoring system included the following topics:
integers, fraction, percentage and ratio and proportion. The teacher and student
respondents’ evaluation on the developed Computer Tutoring System on selective topics
in Basic Mathematics showed high rating. And based on the findings, the researcher
recommends the following: another courseware can be developed covering other topics in
Basic Mathematics; the students may use this CTS-M; the mathematics teachers can
utilize the material in teaching Basic Math for college students; the effectiveness of CTS
as a mode of learning may be studied and; the courseware may also be used as a model
for developing the same in English and science.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

- INPUT - PROCESS
•course syllabus • The development phase of
 Review of books in CTS-M
basic math  Design at
 Data gathering programming
 Try-out, evaluation
and revision

Integers Fraction

Ratio and Percentage

Proportion
 DRILL CHARTS IN ENHANCING HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS IN
MATHEMATICS AMONG GRADE IV PUPILS

BY:
Antonia B. Dela Cruz

The main concern of this study is to develop and validate drill charts in enhancing
higher thinking skills in elementary mathematics for grade four pupils in the division of
Laguna. And to find out the higher order thinking skills materials be developed, haw doe
the user can assess it, and if there is significant difference between the mean of the pretest
and posttest. How do mathematics teachers and school administrators assess the
acceptability of H.O.T.S. materials in terms of the relevance of the contents with
objectives, the language and style, the organization and presentation, and the usability.
The researcher hypotheses in the null form guided in the course of the investigation. The
study focused on the development and validation of higher order thinking skills drill chart
materials in 82 topics in Elementary for grade IV pupils in the division of Laguna. The
study used the descriptive method. Based on the results of the recent achievement test
conducted by the division, the pupils performed poorly and the teachers and
administrators assessed the skills highly needed as shown by the overall obtained mean
value of 4.85. the school administrator and teacher respondents rated the relevance of the
materials to the objectives, the language and style used, the organization and presentation
of the materials and its suitability very acceptable as evidence by the obtained overall
weighted mean of 4.79, 4.62, 4.61, and 4067, respectively. The obtained overall t values
for the aforementioned variables yielded values of 0.573, 0.215, 0.403, and 0.249 which
fell below the critical value of 2.021 at five percent level of significant, interpreted not
significant and accepted the null hypothesis. The performance of the grade four pupils in
their pretest is very poor but the posttest is satisfactory. And the value of pretest and
posttest were significant and null hypothesis is rejected.
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

INPUT Assessment by the Validated

• Drill charts in teacher, principal and drill charts in
enhancing expert respondents enhancing
H.O.T.S. in Elem. • utilization of H.O.T.S. in
Math IV H.O.T.S. Elem.
Respondents of the study: materials to Mathematics
• teachers selected pupils IV
• administrators • statistical
treatment of data

Input throughput output

 DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND ACCEPTABILITY OF WORKTEXT IN
ADVANCED ALGEBRA

BY:
Liezel Castaniares

The study aimed to develop, validate and determine the level of acceptability of
worktext in advanced algebra which will serve as supplementary instruction material in
teaching Math IV. The study employed the descriptive and the experimental with pretest
and posttest design utilizing questionnaire checklist. Pretest and posttest and developed
worktext as the research instrument. The respondent of the study is composed of two
groups; students and the mathematics teachers in secondary from Tanay, Baras and
Morong District. The student respondents are classified into two groups, 20 from IV-
Molave are utilized as experimental group that are exposed to the developed worktext
and 20 from IV- Narra are utilized as control group that has a traditional approach. Their
main performance in Third year and sex are utilized as their equating variables in
classifying them into high average and low performance. The researcher conducted an
evaluation for the worktext in Math IV to study the strength and weaknesses of the said
learning materials which serves as bases for the construction of the worktext. After that,
the researcher studied the Philippine School Learning Competencies in Math IV, after
thorough evaluation of the PSLC the researcher outlined the skills and constructed the
worktext based on the skills and specialists evaluate the said worktext. 80 numbers of
items were constructed. Out of 80 items constructed 27 were retained, 30 were rejected
and 23 were revised and a total of 50 items which was administered to the students during
the pre test and post test. From 40 items test constructed, there were 15 items retained in
polynomial and 12 for the exponentials and logarithmic. The same numbers of items
constructed were rejected in the two chapters while 10 and 13 items were revised in
exponential and logarithmic function respectively. The result revealed that both the
experimental and control group obtained low performance in the pre test and high
performance in the post test. based on the findings, performance of the experimental
group in the pre test and post test differ significantly similar to the performance of the
 control group. However, pretests of the two groups have no significant difference while
their posttests differ significantly with the experimental group obtaining better
performance in the posttest due to the utilization of the developed worktext in Advanced
Algebra. Evaluation of the two groups of respondents on the level of the acceptability of
the developed worktext is similar with respect to content, relevance, language and style,
and reinforcement. However, for organization and presentation, evaluation of the two
groups differs significantly. And the academic performance in Mathematics and English
are contributory to the performance of the students in the posttest in selected topics in
advanced algebra while sex is not a determinant. The researcher recommends that
continuous revisions and modification can be done to suit the learning styles of the
learners, the developed worktext can be used by the students to facilitate teaching-
learning process and try out of the worktext should be done in other schools to determine
the effectiveness.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

Input Process Output

Philippine Secondary School

Learning Competencies Development Developed, validated and
Pretest-Posttest Validation Accepted worktext in
Questionnaire Acceptability Advanced Algebra.
References used
 DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN ACHIEVEMENT TEST IN
MATHEMATICS FOR GRADE V WITH QUESTIONS ADDRESSING HIGHER
ORDER THINKING SKILLS (HOTS)

BY:
Susan DL Oribiana

The study conducted to develop an achievement test in mathematics for Grade V

using questions that elicited higher order thinking skills. The researcher made use of the
descriptive-development design. This design as used in the research means developing,
trying out and validating an achievement test in Mathematics V using
questions/statements that produced HOTS. There were 300 participants of the study were
the Grade V and VI pupils of selected public schools in the District of Nagcarlan-Rizal in
the division of Laguna. The first one hundred were randomly selected in Grade VI, they
were the participants in the first try- out. For the second try- out, a set of hundred Grade
V pupils was chosen using cluster sampling and the last one hundred is chosen using the
same method. To determine the concurrent validity of the test, the Pearson-Product
Moment Correlation was used to correlate raw scores in the achievement test to pupil
ratings in Mathematics V. to establish the construct validity of the test, the convergent
validation and the known group technique was used. In the convergent validation
technique, the pupils’ raw scores in the achievement test was correlated with their scores
in the District Diagnostic test in Math V. in the known group technique, pupils were
grouped into two: Central School Science Curriculum and Non-central School Regular
Curriculum class. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied. To establish the
reliability of the test, the Kuder-Richardson Formula20 was used to get the internal
consistency of the test through an analysis of the individual test items. In the light of the
findings of the study, the following conclusions are as follows: the developed
achievement test in Math V with questions addressing higher order thinking skills has
dace validity and content validity which means that it is a valid measure that surveys the
achievement in Math by grade V pupils; the developed test has constructed validity which
means that it is a valid measure of achievement in Mathematics; the developed
instrument has internal consistency, which means that item responses correlate with the
total test scores. This proves that the test is reliable. On the basis of the aforementioned
findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are offered: the developed
achievement test be utilized in evaluating the achievement level of Grade V pupils in
Math; pupils mathematical strengths and weaknesses be identified using the results of the
test.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

HOTS

BEC A available
Expectations C materials
In Math V H
I
E
V
E
M
Societal demand E technology
Demand for N advanced
Analytic and T
environment
Individuals T
E
THESIS ANALYSIS
FOR
RESEARCH 1

SUBMITTED BY:
ANELIA SIBAL
III- 27 BSE Mathematics

SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. Baccay
 THESIS ANALYSIS
FOR
RESEARCH 1

SUBMITTED BY:
RIO ALLISON MACAWILI
III- 27 BSE Mathematics

SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. Baccay

AN ASSESSMENT OF A RESEARCHER DEVELOPED WORKTEXT IN GRADE

TWO MATHEMATICS: BASIS FOR REVISION
 BY:
Rebecca A. Ruadap

The study sought to assess the content of grade 2 mathematics worktext used in
Assumption Antipolo and revise the same based on the results of the assessment. The
researcher employed the descriptive evaluation approach concentrating on the preparation
and validation of the assessment instrument, actual assessment of the worktext using the
validated instrument and revises the materials based on the results of the assessment. The
participants in this study were 10 stakeholders and experts in the mathematics who were
involved in the validation of the assessment instrument and 10 mathematics teachers who
assessed the worktext using the validated instrument. The worktext was evaluated by
chapter and by lesson. The findings are: the expected learning competencies in grade 2
mathematics are covered by the materials; the presentation of lessons and development of
concepts are clear and followed a horizontal order from simple to the more complex;
retain the interesting exercises in chapters with many activities in chapters with fewer
exercises; the integration and development of values are limited or only implied. It was
suggested that the values content of the materials be concretized or integrated when or
whenever possible in the text; the material is user friendly; the graphics helped the user to
comprehend concepts presented and in application of skills and; there provision for
learners’ progress evaluation through chapter test. and based on the findings of the study,
the researcher concluded that a validated instrument is useful and practical in assessing
the grade 2 mathematics worktext; evaluating materials may improve the quality of
instructional materials and; the worktext in mathematics is generally accepted.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

The grade 2 math worktext was developed on the Piagetian Perspective that,
concepts cannot be simply planted in a child’s mind. Rather the child must filter the new
information and past experiences and construct and organize existing mental structures to
assimilate and accommodate new ideas. It is therefore appropriate and best that the
piaget’s stages of mental development be an integral part of curriculum planning since
the preparation of instructional materials like workbook/textbook or worktext is for the
purpose of helping the students learning skills and have fun, the learning exercises and
the activities of the grade 2 worktext were prepared around the piagetian stage
development. According to piaget, readiness is very important in the learning process.
Children learn from experiences until they have reached the cognitive level of thought
that will allow them to understand those experiences.