MOTIVATION AND EXPECTATION OF STUDENTS IN PURSUING

MARITIME EDUCATION

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

The Problem and its Background

The Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) is a four- year undergraduate

degree program which leads to a professional career in the maritime industry, as a marine deck
officer. Through this program, the students will be able to acquire the necessary skills and
knowledge needed to accomplish their future duties and responsibilities of a marine officer, and
will be exposed to theories and practices in seamanship, navigation, ship business, meteorology,
and marine laws. Graduates may also work shore side, in positions in management or sales.
While earning a degree may not be necessary for all positions, employers may prefer it. Marine
transportation programs are available as both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
The study of Marine Transportation explores boat and management. Marine Transportation
programs explain navigation and business skills. Education programs in this field teach
prospective shipmates the navigation skills and technical expertise needed to begin a marine
career. Marine transportation is a bridge of progress of World Economy. Marine transportation is
providing knowledge, vigorous and disciplined marine deck officers to the profession.
The Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering is a four-year degree program that centres
on the construction, operation, and maintenance of different kinds of marine vessels such as cargo
ships, cruise ships, fishing boats, battleships and submarines.
This program aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills that will enable them
to operate and maintain the different machineries installed in marine vessels, including the
propulsion plant, adjunct and auxiliary machinery, electrical and refrigeration systems. The
Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering is taught through classroom-based frontal instructions
as well as hands-on trainings usually conducted in special laboratories and a one year
apprenticeship aboard a ship.
In this third world country most of its citizens suffer poverty, lack of food, lack of shelter and
lack of chances to have a better future. Nowadays, the youths dream big as far as their
imaginations. Their wants go beyond the farthest destination. They plan the best for their future
and for their family. They want to explore the world. Maritime education will bring them to their
goal. In this profession they will reach out their dreams. A lot of benefits and opportunity will come.
Maritime students expected that if they are dedicated in this career they will achieve what they
dream.
There are some students who are inspired by their neighbour or maybe there is a
generation of seafarers in their blood, some by their friends or it might be by the request of their
parents. Being a maritime student is not always good. There are circumstances that make them
feel hopeless to finish it. The financial need is a major factor that affects their studies, others came
from peer pressure or unique environment. No matter what reasons they have they are already
motivated to choose maritime study. Question of improvement quality of studies is a continual hot
issue in every educational environment. In maritime education and training, this question is
especially important because of international regulations of maritime professions.
Quality of studies is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon. It is influenced by a
range of factors: from labour market and current educational policy to individual students’ efforts
and characteristics. Quality education is first and foremost a function of instruction. In the hands
of committed and effective professors, the best designed syllabus is deemed to succeed. While it
is true that some students can learn not only from their professors, it cannot be denied that the
quality of the outputs of educations is a function to a great extent of instructions and students,
interactions with their professors.
This study focused itself to the obstacles of expectations and motivations of maritime
students. It helped the students to answer some questions regarding how they should prepare if
they choose maritime education.
Conceptual Framework
The researchers of West Bay College, Inc. (WBCI) determined to look into their motivations
and expectations in pursuing maritime studies. As part of WBCI, the center is uniquely positioned
to engage the nearly 120 maritime students in the said institution for which motivation and
expectation in pursuing maritime studies are greatly needed. The center focused on two levels to
effect change: first, in improving the knowledge of students in the field of maritime studies and
second, in increasing students’ access to high quality maritime programs.

Statement of the Problem

The study aimed at determining the current status of students who are not motivated and
well-prepared in pursuing maritime studies.
Specifically, the study sought to answer the following question.
1. What are the motivations of the students in pursuing maritime education?
2. What are the expectations of the students in pursuing maritime education?
3. Is there a significant relationship between motivation and expectation of the students in
pursuing maritime education?

Basic Assumptions of the Study

1. The students are attracted to enter in the Maritime program due to high salary.
2. The researchers got some results that the students are motivated to choose maritime
program because of their parents.
3. The researchers knew that the students are motivated to study hard to pursue their dream
of becoming a Captain or Chief Engineer.

Significance of the study

The results of this research provided information for the maritime Graduates in West Bay
College Institute (WBCI) and the students returning to the maritime courses. For maritime
graduates, this research will be able to provide the motivation to expand their dreams as a sailor
and an officer of a ship and be good at their job. For students of WBCI that they maybe able to
fulfill their dreams of being a seafarer. That they may also hone their skills, achieve good discipline
and be proud of what they have become And lastly, to students intending to enrol in the maritime
course that they may be able to acquire more information on the course of their choice and decide
intelligently if it suits them or not.

Scope and Delimitation

This study aimed to answer the questions on the, motivations and expectations of the
respondents on the respective programs that they enrolled in West Bay College, Inc (WBCI).
There were few reasons why the researchers chose this research topic. First of all, there were
many issues and problems which took place in the courtesy segment and many of them have an
impact in their performance and organizational outcome that can motivate maritime students and
what can be used to gain their commitment from maritime instructors, teacher and staff of the
school perspective. By investigating students motivation issues in small and medium sized pubs
from maritime instructors, teacher and staff of the school perspective will only help the WBCI to
understand the perception and attitude of students towards the current motivation practice in the
WBCI they work for, but also enable students in this segment to find out strategies to motivate
them to work hard and retain them. This research was conducted at West Bay College, Inc.,
Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The researchers distributed survey questionnaire to the responding
students to gather the necessary data pertinent in this study.
Definition of terms
Bachelor of Science in Maritime Transportation (BSMT) - a four-year undergraduate degree
program which leads to a professional career in the maritime industry, as a marine deck officer.
West Bay College, Inc (WBCI) – is the school were the researchers will conduct their research.
Motivation – That student inherently have to gain their certification falls short of creating the
desire to learn.
Expectation – is defined as believing that something is going to happen or believing that
something should be a certain way.
Marine Transportation – explains business skills and teaches prospective shipmates the
navigation skills and technical expertise needed to begin a marine career.
Bachelor of Science in Maritime Engineering - is a four-year degree program that centers on
the construction, operation, and maintenance of different kinds of marine vessels such as cargo
ships, cruise ships, fishing boats, battleships and submarines.
Profession - is a job or work of people by virtue of having completed a required course of studies
and/or practice.
Seafaring- is the career or work of a sailor and stepping stone of young generation due to the
salary.
Competition- among cadets because of insufficient number of companies with cadet training
program
Apprentice- is the one year on the job training of cadets/cadette.
Competency- is the foundation of the students being consistent to his work.
Attitude - is the behavior of the student how he comply the command.

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

According to Kalvaitiene, et al., (2011), the motives of choosing profession of the great
majority of young people were determined by economic, social and psychological factors.It is
proved statistically that if the student chooses profession following his emotions, interest in the
profession and understanding of the advantages of professions, his studies are more effective,
than if he chooses profession accidentally or influenced by his/her family or relatives.
Cristina Dragomir (2014), Young people are not motivated to follow a seafaring career due
to several reasons like they will be far from their family and friends for long periods and stressful
work in challenging conditions. Seafaring is attractive for young generation due to the salary.
The Researchers, Yui-yip Lau, Adolf K.Y. Ng (2015), a good program should have the
following capabilities: (1) increases students’ professional abilities and skills, (2) provides updated
information on the industry, and (3) courses to be brought by well-qualified teachers. Additionally,
well-qualified teaching staff should provide a wide variety of good teaching methods so as to
transfer relevant professional and practical skills to students and enhance their knowledge about
the maritime industry.
Zbigniew Szozda, et al., (2014),There is a high competition among cadets because of
insufficient number of companies with cadet training programme, what causes problems for young
people who try to obtain required experience on board vessels needed to be an officer on watch
certificate. It is observed that women encounter problems when it comes to finding a job as an
apprentice on board a ship. As the research shows most of the problems is gender discrimination.
Jimelyn Strife (2014), the researchers conclude that dreaming to become a chief engineer
greatly motivates the marine engineering students in taking up BSMarE course. Having a high
salary is the most influencing factors in taking up BSMarE course because having a high salary
can lead to a better life that can help us to build a better future.
According to Dörnyei(2001),the “expectancy-value framework” suggests that students are
motivated to act in so far as they believe that the outcome they will receive as a result of their
action is both attainable and important to them.
According to Bandura (2005), these findings demonstrate that students' confidence in their
writing capabilities influence their writing motivation as well as various writing outcomes in school.
Academic implications and strategies that may help guide future research are offered.
 Murray Goldberg (2012), which the motivation that students inherently have to gain their
certification falls short of creating the desire to learn. Yet without the desire to learn, students are
much less likely to plumb the depths of the knowledge and skills your training program is
providing to them. The desire to learn is a character trait and so varies according to the
personality of the individual student. However, there are steps we can take to move student from
simply having the “desire to pass the exam” to having the “desire to learn”. Doing so will yield
benefits in training and professionalism According to M. Vervoort (2012), Student’s main
objections to the project-based cooperative learning approach were the excessive time devoted to
the project and they demand more effort in supervising. The researcher also conclude that as
students are not used to this kind of teaching, at the beginning of the project more continuous
help and guidance is needed than in traditional teaching methodologies.
According to Alcantara, et al., (2015) factors directly associated with an individual's
aspirations include educational, vocational, and quality of life issues. The word aspiration cannot
be simply defined as individual dreams or ambitions. Students' aspirations are derived from a
combination of educational goals, vocational endeavours, and perhaps, most importantly, their
own sense of self as it relates to what they feel is important elements to success in lifestyles of
their choosing. Learners are encouraged and challenged when teaching strategies or instructional
methodologies cater within their sphere of interests and values. Maritime students belong to
determination category where they try their best to have high/good grades for future employment,
to become a ship captain in the future no matter how hard it is and to have their own set of
objectives and direction to achieve a better future
Kunal Anand (2014), the seafarers’ accord to the role of higher education, their
perceptions towards it and finally their motivations to continue in it to change the perception
amongst seafarers, where higher education although perceived positively, is seen as beneficial
only to move to management positions ashore or something that is just good to have, in addition to
their competency based training, which they feel is core to their job requirement., the development
of higher education skills from early stages of the career is also equally important, not just for
higher roles but even for their roles as junior officers, because they do need problem solving and
analytical skills at all stages of their career and also because good education is equally essential
for being competent.
Their experience in higher education would also make them better trainers of trainees on-
board.
Manuel Joaquin Fernandez Gonzalez, et.al. (2014), according to the researcher that the
students who are interested in seafarer profession are attracted by the good salaries, but for them,
a good salary is not the most important aspect of the profession: stable employment and travelling
now reached even a higher level of importance. The most important discouraging factor was
difficulties for family life, it seems that students interested in the profession are already more
aware of the possibility of having a family life, even if they are still afraid about the difficulties of
works in the ship. Students still perceive seafarer profession as an isolating one, it seems that they
are afraid about the lacking connectivity with relatives and friends through internet on board.There
are also some gender differences: Males are more attracted by the salary and respect of the
profession, while females are more attracted by travelling and they are discouraged by health and
risk issues
According to Carlos L. Aguado, et al., (2015), Maritime students graduated from public
schools have significantly higher chance of being influenced by people in choosing the school and
degree program and they also have significantly higher degree of interest towards the maritime
program compared to those graduated from private schools. It is the student’s choice to enroll in
Maritime Program with the support of their parents. Also, with the advice from their brothers and
sisters and as well as teachers is also considered in making their decision. If they can practice the
profession right and they have the eagerness to make their dreams come true, there is an
assurance that they can come across all borders.
Edwin M. Agena, et al., (2015), the researchers found out that Marine Engineering
students have higher positive attitude because of the professor giving fair grades while the Marine
Transportation is having doubt in their grades and they want to discuss and re-orient how the
professors make their grades.
 According to Pascual (2016), the findings revealed that the availability of work after college
is the first consideration of students in choosing a course in college. This could be the common
response of students since now-a-days graduates finds it difficult to find a job even if they have
already finished well know courses.

CHAPTER III: MATERIALS AND METHODS

Site of the Study
The research was conducted at West Bay College, Inc., Cajiles Compound, Ilaya St.,
Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Subject of the study

The respondents of the study were Second Year, Section A, B and C of Bachelor of
Science in Marine Transportation and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering

Methods and Procedures

A survey questionnaire was used in gathering data. The questionnaires have two parts.
The first part of the questionnaire is about how the students are motivated in pursuing maritime
education. The second part of the questionnaire is how the student expects from their maritime
instructor in way of teaching.
The population was selected through convenience sampling because the researchers
depended on the number of students that are present in class.
A letter of permission was addressed to the Maritime Instructors and the students who
served as respondents of the study. The survey questionnaire was collected right after the
respondents finished answering the questions.
The data gathered from the questionnaire was arranged, tabulated, classified and analyzed.

CHAPTER IV: RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Table 1 showed that indicator no. 4 “Dreams of better Future” obtained the highest
weighted mean of 4.59 which has a descriptive rating of “very motivated”, followed by indicator no.
6 “to develop leadership” which has a weighted mean of 4.56 and interpreted as “very motivated“.
Indicator no. 1 “Parents” obtained the third highest weighted mean of 4.54 which has a descriptive
rating of “very motivated“. In table 2 indicator no. 5 “to complete training” and indicator no. 6 “to be
fluent in English” got the highest weighted mean of 4.67 with the descriptive rating of “agree”. Next
is indicator no. 9 “to share my knowledge skills with others who share the same dreams” having a
4.66 weighted mean and descriptive rating of “agree”. Indicator no. 1 “to study hard” got the third
highest weighted mean of 4.65 which has a descriptive rating of “agree”.
Table 3 indicated that there is no significant relationship between motivation and
expectation. According to the researchers, Pearson r – value is 0.1566 with the descriptive of
“Slight Correlation” with t – value of 0.4485, degree of freedom of 8 and critical value of 1.860.
Since t – value is less than critical value; the decision is to reject the null hypothesis.
 Table 1.0
Sources of motivation in pursuing maritime studies

No. Indicator Weighted Descriptive Rating Rank

Mean

1. Parents 4. 54 Very Motivated 3

2. Peers 3.76 Moderately 9
Motivated
3. Advertisement 3.59 Moderately 10
Motivated
4. Dreams of better future 4.59 Very Motivated 1
5. Practically Passion for 4.49 Very Motivated 5
travelling
6. To develop leadership 4.56 Very Motivated 2
7. To become independent 4.43 Very Motivated 6
8. To earn big money 4.24 Very Motivated 8
9. Professionalism 4.53 Very Motivated 4
10 Health 4.41 Very Motivated 7

The expectation of being motivated

No. Indicator Weighted Descriptive Rank

Mean Rating
1. To study hard 4.65 Agree 3
2. To have high grades 4.57 Agree 7
3. To be able to graduate in 4.53 Agree 8
maritime program
4. To pass the board exam 4.63 Agree 5
5. To complete training 4.67 Agree 1
6. To be fluent in English 4.67 Agree 1
7. To go on apprenticeship 4.34 Agree 9
after CAR
8. To become an officer 4.64 Agree 4
someday
9 To share my knowledge 4.66 Agree 2
skills with other who share
the same dreams
10. To improve leadership 4.57 Agree 6