Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
January 2018
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. TITLE PAGE 1
II. ABSTRACT 3
III. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4
XII. REFERENCES 27
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted among the struggling students and primarily focused on
included 90 students and 90 parents. Mean Percentage Scores (MPS), weighted means, t-
test and ANOVA were applied to make inferences from the collected data.
It was found out that students had comparable Mathematics achievements and they
showed negative attitudes towards Mathematics before the start of experimentation. After
was significantly higher compared with those who were exposed in traditional assessment
style. Students who were subjected with traditional assessment tool still had negative
impression in Mathematics.
methods had a positive effect on the academic achievement and attitudes of students in
Mathematics.
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
appreciation the valuable assistance she received from all those who in one way or another
Evelyn R. Fetalvero and Dr. Gleen A. Bisnar, for their untiring efforts to read and revise
this action research and the rest of the working force of Performance, Planning, Review
Dr. Eskak M. Delna, CES, Principal IV of Esperanza National High School, for his
countless motivation that pushed her to submit action research proposal as well as his
Dr. Samsudin N. Abdullah, her friend, for the constructive comments and worthy
suggestions for the improvement of this manuscript. Special appreciation is also extended
to him for the statistical treatment of data as well as his efforts in the data analysis of this
action research.
family, for their valuable comments, suggestions and scholarly ideas leading to the
To her husband, son, and daughters, her sources of inspiration and strength, for
their unconditional love and understanding. Not because of them, this endeavor would not
be successful.
To her close friends and relatives, for their moral support and understanding in all
odds and sacrifices despite the tasking work and hectic schedule.
Above all, to the Almighty LORD, who provided her everything she needs to
symbols to help students represent, manipulate, and reflect fundamental ideas, and invent
spatial visualization, concrete analysis, abstract thinking, and problem solving. In fact, we
are at competitive edge of lifting our academic performance to spell the difference in our
educational goals. Researches reveal that students do not perform to the expected level.
Paculanan (2013) stated that students’ under achievement in Mathematics is not just a
concern of a particular school, but has become a national concern over the years.
Education researchers have recently given much attention on how teachers should
teachers have attended various trainings and workshops to attain high performance level in
Mathematics proficiency, yet they still found a number of ineffective ways to address the
problem. Some have cited the causes and solutions to the emerging issue and have
pointed at the improvement of learning assessment styles. Mathematics is the most poorly
taught, widely hated and most abysmally understood subject in secondary schools. That’s
why, the quality of Mathematics education remains to be poor and challenging. Learners’
poor performance in Mathematics over the years has been attributed to the fact that the
reasoning and thinking skills. Developing the cognitive skills of students can be done
through modern assessment styles motivated by games, puzzles and other hands-on
activities.
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Games and activities have similarities and differences. Gough (2009) stated that a
“game” needs to have two or more competing players who take turns, each trying to
achieve a winning situation of some kind, each exercising some choices about how to
move at any time through the playing. Oldfield (2011) added that “game” involves a
challenge, usually against one or more opponents. It is governed by a set of rules and has
a clear underlying structure and normally has a distinct finishing point and has specific
mathematical cognitive objectives. On the other hand, Abdullah (2012) defined “activity” as
a task that a certain person should do just for fun or in order to achieve something. Activity
can be accomplished by one or more persons. Although it has a goal but no winner will be
declared. Paculanan (2013) added that game is also an activity but activity is not
necessarily a game.
learning assessments will utilize viable games, puzzles and other hands-on activities that
will encourage the use and synchronization of both minds and hands.
different modern assessment styles that encourage the slow learners to love puzzles and
other hands-on classroom activities and further improve their performance in Mathematics.
The three sections that were utilized for the experimentation had the same set of topics
and activities. They were exposed into both modern and traditional instructions. They only
differed in the form of assessing students’ learning performance. The first-two sections
enjoyed assessment styles that were motivated by various games and activities,
respectively. The third section used the traditional assessment such as paper-pencil test,
etc.
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The ultimate benefit of this study was to improve the Mathematics achievement and
assessment styles motivated by games, puzzles and activities. The researcher assured
that with these learning assessments, teaching methodologies and techniques were
improved. Game and activity sheets helped the students master the subject matter they are
currently taking up. The assessment tools were very useful to the teachers on how to
construct and develop different means of enhancing Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
of their students.
Since the two modern assessment styles were proven effective, the researcher
produced the learning assessment materials in volume and distributed them to the Grade
10 Mathematics teachers for them to utilize in their classroom activities particularly in the
lower sections. Corrections and suggestions from the teachers were noted for the
improvement of the materials. These materials again went through series of validation
before they were submitted in the Division Office for adoption of some Mathematics
teachers. The researcher-made instrument in this study was also submitted to the School
Many students are not able to cope up with the teacher’s assessment styles. In
order to promote active participation of students, teachers should adjust their strategy in
doing class activities to a more learner-centered style. As stated by Paculanan (2013), the
process of documenting students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes should require peer
interaction and this can be effectively done through student-centered assessment. Two of
these are the game-based and activity-oriented assessments (Abdullah, 2012). These
types of assessment will require different relatable games, puzzles and other hands-on
activities.
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Games and activities used in assessing the learning outputs of the students will be
designed based on the 1st Quarter and 2nd Quarter Competencies in Grade 10
Mathematics. The four (4) main lessons covered in the experimentation stage were: (1)
division of polynomials, (2) the remainder theorem and the factor theorem, (3) polynomial
equations, and (4) circles. There were two (2) games and two (2) activities for each main
lesson, a total of eight (8) games and eight (8) activities and a grand total of twenty (16)
games and activities which were validated by at least five (5) Mathematics Experts. The
materials were developed following the four (4) basic criteria: content, relevance,
Figure 1 shows the three groups under the study. The exposure of the three groups
Assessment (TA) was an important aspect of the present research process. The groups
exposed to GBA and AOA were designated as experimental groups and the group
subjected to TA was regarded as control group. The effect of these three learning
Assessment (GBA) and Activity-Oriented Assessment (AOA) and one Control Group which
was subjected with the Traditional Assessment (TA) served as the independent variables.
On the other hand, the Mathematics achievement and attitudes of the Grade 10 students
were determined using the result of their Pre-test and Post-test before and after the
experimentation, respectively. The result of the tests served as the dependent variable.
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This study was carried out to determine the effect of Game-Based Assessment
1. To what extent are the pre-test and post-test scores of students exposed in
There are a few important terms or variables discussed throughout this study and
Attitude is a positive and negative value, which the students gives to the teaching and
technology.
comply at the specific time allotment. No winner will be declared since there
Experimental Group refers to the class that will be subjected to either Game-Based
and activity sheets, respectively. Aside from these assessment tools provided for
this group, interaction between the teacher and students will also be observed
for additional inputs to the subject matter. Series of games or activities will be
will employ on the first experimental group after a direct instruction in discussing
related to the present lesson to compete with other. Winner will be declared after
knowledge, skills and attitudes to confirm what students know about the
outcomes or goals to certify proficiency and make decisions about their learning
assessments.
Mathematics Achievement is the students’ mastery level in the following topics, to wit:
polynomials and division of polynomials, the remainder theorem and the factor
theorem, polynomial equations and circles. Mastery level of the students will be
Pre-test is a test given to the three before they will be exposed into the experimentation.
Traditional Assessment is the learning assessment which the study will employ on the
control group. The teacher spends more time to write on the board all the types
examples and applications of the principles will be done through chalk-and talk
method.
Research Design
control group to verify the effect of Game-Based Assessment (GBA) and Activity-Oriented
students. It was a three-group design composed of two experimental groups and one
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control group. The group was randomly assigned to a method of assessment. The two
experimental groups were exposed to GBA and AOA, respectively and the control group
was treated with Traditional Assessment (TA). Comparing the three groups was a big
factor to measure the degree of change occurring as the result of assessment methods.
This allowed the researcher to associate the final post-test results among the three groups,
giving her an idea of the overall effect of the GBA and AOA on the Mathematics
achievement and attitudes of students. The design of the study is symbolically represented
Control Group
Traditional Assessment x3 y3 /x3 – y3/ = d3
Table 1 shows that there are three assessment methods developed in this study, to
Assessment (TA). The first-two were under the experimental groups and the third one
belonged to the control group. Based from the table, mean gain scores which was the most
important data needed in the study were computed by getting the absolute difference of the
This study was conducted at Esperanza National High School, the biggest public
high school in Sultan Kudarat with a total of 5,900 students for the School Year 2017 –
2018. The school is situated in Mabolo St., Poblacion, Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat.
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The first type of respondents of this study was the Grade 10 struggling students of
Esperanza National High School for the School Year 2017 – 2018. These students were
probably from the lower sections whose final grades in Grade 9 Mathematics were below
80%. The three sections were utilized as the two experimental groups and one control
group. The second type of respondents was the parents/guardians of the students. The
parents were included as respondents to triangulate the data given by the students
regarding their attitudes towards Mathematics. Table 2 presents the number of student-
were males and 37 were females. Each group had the same number of students. Then, 90
respondents.
The quantitative data needed in the study were collected and analyzed using a
initially consisted of 75 items, 15 items per major lesson. The items were based on
Curriculum Guide of Grade 10 Mathematics during first and second quarters. To ensure
proper distribution of the test items, Table of Specification (TOS) was prepared with five (5)
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major topics and four (4) levels of objectives following the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. The
research instrument went through validation process, which was the most important feature
Sampling Technique
Simple random sampling using lottery method was utilized to identify the three (3)
sections and this was also applied to determine the actual student-respondents of the
study. Not all students in the three (3) sections were part of the study. Thus, proportional
sampling procedure will be used to obtain the number of student-respondents per group.
Although all students under experimentation enjoyed same set of activities per class, only
the target respondents’ pre-test and post-test scores were recorded for the purpose of the
study.
The researcher firstly focused on the construction of the 75-item test instrument
which went through series of validation process. The item analysis of the instrument was
carried out to determine the discrimination and difficulty indices. After discarding or revising
some items, 50-item test instrument was finalized and this was firstly pilot-tested to the
selected Grade 11 students. After testing the validity and reliability of the research
instrument, the researcher now determined the three groups as well as the respondents of
the study.
Before the experimental study, the pre-test was administered to the three groups of
towards Mathematics only) to measure their achievement and attitudes’ level and, likewise,
to find out if both groups possessed the same cognitive level. The treatment for the
experimental groups differed from that of control group in only one aspect, the assessment
method. Direct instruction was still applied to all groups in discussing the basic principles.
During the period of study, the first experimental group was exposed to GBA and the
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second experimental group was subjected to AOA. The control group was solely taught
with talk-and-chalk method of teaching and assessment. In order to have a successful GBA
and AOA activities, the teache carefully explained the instructions as well as the
mechanics.
Traditional Assessment to the control group. The same set of topics and instructional
methods were employed to the three groups. The researcher still utilized the direct
instruction to all groups except for the assessment styles. She handled the three sections
At the end of the treatment phase, post-test was administered. The researcher
conducted the pre-test and post-test to ensure the reliability of the data needed in the
study. Treatment effect was appraised based on mean gain scores. The experimentation
was done in 2 months. The content of the post-test was the same as that of the pre-test.
The students’ scores in the pre-test and post-test were converted into Mean
Percentage Score (MPS) and were dichotomously categorized, described and interpreted
following the criteria adopted from National Educational Testing Research Council
To find out the degree to which students behave in Mathematics class before and
after the experimentation, the following criteria adopted from the research instrument of
At the end of the study, the post-test was administered to measure the achievement
level of the students. Both the pre-test and post-test were supervised by the researcher
together with the Guidance Counsellor and Testing Coordinator. The results of the pre-test
and post-test were checked, tabulated, analyzed, presented in the form of tables and
Statistical Treatment
The data generated in the pre-test and post-test were tabulated and subjected to
statistical treatments. The mean along with standard deviation was used in determining the
level of the pre-test and post-test as well as the extent of students’ attitudes towards
Mathematics for both the experimental and control groups. To determine the significant
difference in the pre-test and post-test mean scores and extent of attitudes of students
towards Mathematics, one way ANOVA was used. t-test was employed to determine if
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This section deals with the discussion of results and reflection considering the
specific action research questions which sought to answer the main problem of the
research. The data were sequentially presented below in the form of tables for the
Mathematics achievement and attitudes of students before and after the experimentation.
percentage scores of 28.62, 28.14 and 26.90 all respectively as Low Mastery. After their
exposure to three different assessment methods, students who are subjected with Activity-
Oriented Assessment got the highest mean percentage score of 81.66% described as
Moving Towards Mastery. Students who were provided with Game-Based Assessment
received a mean percentage score of 79.24% interpreted as Moving Towards Mastery too.
Students who were given the Traditional Assessment got the lowest mean percentage
score of 58.90 with a verbal description of Average Mastery. This finding means that before
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the exposures of students to three different assessment styles, they really lack knowledge
about the topics covered in this study. Yet, after their exposures to the assessment styles,
Table 6 discloses the attitudes of students towards Mathematics before and after
the experimentation.
Before After
Attitudes of Students towards
Mathematics Mean Verbal Mean Verbal
Description Description
1 Positivity in Mathematics 1.75 Very Low 4.21 Very High
2 Relation to Real World 1.55 Very Low 3.55 High
3 Importance of Formulas 1.78 Very Low 3.42 High
4 Confidence in Solving 1.78 Very Low 3.45 High
5 Exploration in Problem Solving 1.74 Very Low 3.44 High
6 Independence in Learning 1.67 Very Low 3.67 High
7 Use of Technology 1.57 Very Low 3.60 High
Overall Mean 1.72 Very Low 3.62 High
It is clearly shown in the table that students had a Very Low interest in Mathematics
as signified by the overall mean of 1.72 prior to their exposures to different assessment
methods particularly in the indicator Relation to Real World which received the lowest
mean of 1.55 (Very Low). After their exposures to different assessment styles, their
3.62 interpreted as High. This implies that students’ perceptions towards Mathematics were
very negative but after their exposures to modern assessment tools, their behaviors
towards the subject became positive especially in the indicator Positivity in Mathematics
which got the highest mean of 4.21 described as Very High. Further, due to these modern
scenarios.
This finding is supported by the study of Paculan (2016) who found out that
reciprocal peer tutoring assessment styles really helped the students boost their positive
attitudes in Mathematics.
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Tables 7 and 8 present the t-test analysis on the Mathematics achievement and
As can be shown in the table, all types of assessment tools gave significant
(for game-based), 0.000 (for activity-oriented) and 0.000 (for traditional) which are all less
than α = 0.05. This means that regardless of assessment method, students really learned
from the teachers’ discussion on Mathematics topics. This further means that game-based,
activity-oriented and traditional assessment methods were all effective in improving the
emphasized that traditional method of teaching still gave significant improvement in the
achievement of students. Further, Paculanan (2013) found out that although students
exposed in the peer tutoring activities had better learning performance compared with
those who were not peer assisted, experimental and control groups still gave significant
proven by the p-values of 0.001 (game-based) and 0.000 (activity-oriented) which are all
less than α = 0.05. This means that from the start of experiment, students perceived that
Mathematics is a difficult subject but due to their exposures into modern assessment tools,
their positive attitudes towards Mathematics significantly improved. This is attributed by the
fact that game-based and activity-oriented assessment styles captured the interests of
students in solving problems since the exercises were introduced through games and
activities. Daily and summative assessment styles in the experimental groups were game-
Further, students’ attitudes before and after the experimentation were comparable
as shown by the p-value of 0.612 > 0.05. This means that traditional assessment style such
as paper-pencil test and those quizzes done in intermediate papers didn’t boost students’
positive attitudes in Mathematics. Although, students learned a lot using the traditional
approach in teaching and assessment, their negative impression about Mathematics didn’t
change.
assessment tools that attend to the different needs of students. It is hereby recommended
that the developed assessment tools in this study should be adopted to boost students’
wit: polynomials and division of polynomials, the remainder theorem and the factor
theorem, polynomial equations and circles. Mastery level of the students will be determined
through pre-test and post-test. Table 9 and 10 present the analysis of variance on the
It can be gleaned from the table that p-value > 0.05. This means that students from
three different groups had the same level of Mathematics achievement prior to the start of
experimentation. This also connotes that the three groups under experimentation didn’t
have the prior knowledge about topics. This finding is in consonance with the study of
Abdullah (2012) who stated that two or more groups under experimentation should have
the same level of academic competence. He stated as much as possible, before the pre-
test will be given to two groups under experimentation, standardized test should be
conducted to ensure comparable mastery level of students. Paculanan (2013) added that if
the two randomly selected groups’ academic achievement under study will be significantly
different after giving pre-test, work plan and timelines of the study will be affected. That’s
why, standardized test should be given before administering the pre-test in conducting an
experimental research.
students after the experimentation. The p-value of 0.000 < 0.05 indicates that at least one
Applying the Post-Hoc analysis, students exposed in Game-Based (79.24) and Activity-
the same superscript a. This implies that the effect of game-based assessment on the
confirmed by the same superscript received by the two modern assessment styles.
Although the control group subjected with traditional assessment obtained a significant
improvement of the academic achievement after the experimentation, its mean percentage
score (MPS) of 58.90 is significantly lower than that of the two modern styles of
means that exposing the students in different modern assessment tools such as game-
This finding is in consonance with the findings of Simpal (2017). He found out that
the use of modern approach in teaching like exposing the students with visual
problem solving in Mathematics and Physics. Adullah (2012) validates the above finding
when he concluded that practical work approach using supplemental learning materials
Thus, this study encourages the Mathematics teachers to contextualize and localize
the learning resources provided by the DepED to suit the interests of the students. Many
textbooks supplied by the DepED have higher level of difficulty which discourages the low
performing students to solve by themselves. If these exercises will be simplified, all types
Many people have negative attitudes towards Mathematics and these attitudes are
hindering mathematical learning and engagement. Tables 8 and 9 explain the attitudes of
As can be shown in the table, attitudes of students in three different groups under
experimentation are not significantly different as confirmed by the p-value of 0.610 > 0.05.
This indicates that before the experimentation, students from the three groups considered
Mathematics as a difficult subject. They initially thought that Mathematics will give them a
hard time to adjust with the subjects. Moreover, finding tells that have comparable negative
This finding is justified correct by Akinsola (2008) when he stressed that negative
mathematical attitudes and poor achievement or engagement are related. Abdullah (2012)
Students even hate Mathematics teachers when the latter don’t apply modern approach in
teaching that prompts the former’s interest in solving problems. It has been his personal
25
reflection that Mathematics is considered as the most difficult subject. Anderson (2007)
stated that teachers’ attitude is the most significant potential to influence students’ identities
teachers should possess positive attitudes in teaching. Teachers’ positive attitudes include
wearing a smile before the start of the lesson and giving concrete examples where the
The p-value of 0.020 < 0.05 confirms that attitudes of students after the
experimentation were significantly. Applying the Post-Hoc analysis using Least Significantly
tool had similar attitudes with that of those subjected with activity-oriented assessment
assessment tool are very far behind compared with the positive attitudes of students in
superscripts. In layman’s language, the two modern assessment methods really changed
Relative to this finding, Bramlett and Heron (2009) as stressed by Paculanan (2013)
stated that several studies and researches have been done in many countries to find the
factors that influence the students’ performance in Mathematics. Students’ attitude towards
Mathematics is one important factor that has been consistently studied. Often, the studies
26
on relationship between student’s attitude and the students’ academic performance show a
positive relationship. Hence, students’ attitude towards Mathematics is a major factor that
might influence the performance of the students. Several studies have been conducted in
different countries in order to find to find out the students’ attitude towards Mathematics.
struggling students. Thus, the developed modern assessment tools should be adopted to
give optimum learning of the students and further enhance their critical thinking particularly
ACTION PLAN
The following actions and initiatives were taken to effectively implement the result of
the action research as well as to encourage Mathematics teachers to adopt the developed
Total 5,500.00
REFERENCES
BOOKS
Anderson, L.W. & Krathwohl R.(2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and
Assessing: a revised of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
New York : Longman.
Bohner, G & Wanke M. (2002). Attitudes and Attitude Change. 27 Church
Road, Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
Crano, W. D. (2010). The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change: An
Introductory Overview.207, Madison Avenue, New York: Psychology
Press.
Emerson, J. D. & Mosteller, F. (2004). Cooperative Learning in Schools and
Colleges . Wesport , CT: Libraries Unlimited Inc.
Forgaz, H. & Rivera, D. ( 2012).Towards equity in Mathematics education:
gender, Culture and diversity , advances in Mathematics education .
Heidelberg: Springer
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THESIS
Abdullah, S. N. (2012). Practical Work Approach Using Supplemental Learning Materials
for Effective Teaching in Trigonometry, Sultan Kudarat State University, Tacurong
City
Paculanan, A. M. (2013). Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (RPT): Its Effect on Mathematics
Achievement and Attitudes of Students, Sultan Kudarat State University, Tacurong
City
JOURNALS
Baines, E. & Galton, M. (2003). Changes in grouping practices over primary
and secondary school, International Journal of Educational Research, 39(1),
9-34.
Bettenhausen, S. (2002). Students as Teachers. Journal of Educational
Psychology.Kappa Delta Pi Record, 38(4), 188 – 190.
Campbell, B. G. (2003). Helping Students Improve Academic Achievement and
School Successes Behaviour, Professional School Counselling, Journal of
Educational Psychology
Fantuzzo, J.(2005). Peer- assisted learning intervention with elementary school
students: A meta- analytic review. Journal of Educational Psychology.95(2), 240 –
257.
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FINANCIAL REPORT
The following were the expenditures that had been incurred for the successful
conduct of the study and the implementation of the action plan to disseminate findings of
this research.
Prepared: