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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Rationale

Mathematics (Math) is considered essential to almost all human endeavor

that helps enable a person to analyze, describe, and understand the world we live in.

the world we live in now, considers Mathematics as a necessity. Employers globally,

look for a possible employee that can estimate, interpret data, and communicate

using mathematics Mathematics (Griffore & Gouthro, 2004). However, most

Mathematics teachers have observed that many students have poor performance in

Mathematics. Classroom researches over the years show that Math instruction has

continuously been taught in a traditional manner wherein only a few students were

able to understand and grasp the concepts (Winters, Cerulli, Bjork, & Mor, 2006).

Teaching Math has been viewed as unappealing to the majority of students and has

been outdated and not connected with their interests and experiences, bringing

about poor performance in Math (Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001).

Internationally, the performance of Filipino students in Math was far below

the desired outcome. In the 2003 international examination for Math and Sciences,

the Philippines ranked 23rd among 25 participants in the elementary level with an

average score of 358 compared to the average of 495 while for the Grade 8 or 13

year-old level, the country ranked 42nd among 45 participants with an average

score of 377 compared to the international average of 466 (Juon, 2004).

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In an article of The Philippine Daily Inquirer (May 29, 2005 issue), it was

stated that regardless of the Constitutional mandate for the Philippine government

to spend its largest share of the national budget on education, the national National

achievement Achievement test Test (NAT) results on Math and Science showed a

low level of learning on the part of majority of the public school students. In the last

2012 – 2013 NAT examination (De Dios, 2013), the overall Mean Percentage Score

(MPS) for Filipino high school students was 48.9 % which was far away from the

goal of 75%. In Math specifically, the MPS of all the high school students is 46.37 %

which was also very far from the 75% goal. This also holds true in the classroom

setting of the researcher. There is a really low Mean Percentage Score (MPS) during

periodical exams. Last December 2013, the MPS scores of the grade 7 students in

Mathematics reached only 30% compared to the passing percentage of 75%.

To answer this concern, the Department of Education (DepEd) in the

Philippines promulgated different means of improving the curriculum. The latest of

these changes was the DepEd Order No. 73 S. 2012. This order emphasized on

implementing the standards-based assessment and rating system to support the

progressive roll-out starting with grades 1 and 7 of the k to 12 Basic Education

Curriculum in both public and private schools nationwide. This started a wide range

of changes in the curriculum, focusing on using assessment as a quality assurance

tool to track student progress in the achievement of standards, stimulate self-

reflection and personal responsibility for individual learning which was commonly

known as assessment for learning (AFL) (Evangelista & Evangelista, 2012). In a

research conducted by Riorda and Noyce in Massachusetts, it stated that students at

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the top, bottom, and middle of their classes all did better with the integration of AFL

than their counterparts using the traditional assessment (Riorda & Noyce, 2001).

While changes in the curriculum, particularly in the way teachers assessed

their students, may affect what was taught, the fundamental issues and problems of

Math education remained, which is the poor performance of students. Students at all

levels from grade Grade sSeven to fFourth yYear high school had difficulty

transferring and connecting Math concepts taught in the classroom into other fields,

subjects, and in real life situations. Thus, this study is conducted to find out if

assessing the students, properly with the use of the Assessment For Learning (AFL)

strategy, would enhance their learning or performance in Statistics.

Theoretical Background

Related Theories

This study is anchored on the following theories: 1.) John Dewey’s Learning

by Doing Theory, 2.) Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal, and 3.) Siegfried Engelmann’s

theory of Direct Instruction. John Dewey’s Learning by Doing Theory stated that the

most important factor for improving student performance is students’ involvement

which means spending time, effort, and energy dedicated to the learning process

(Dewey, 1938). This theory is related to the Chinese proverb about learning which

states that,

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may

remember. Involve me and I will understand.
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In order to let the students understand, then they must be involved. In AFL,

students are given active roles in their learning. They are tasked to take charge for

their own learning and assessment (The Assessment Reform Group, 2002). AFL also

requires students to be responsible of their own learning and assessment resulting

to a higher transfer of learning (Partnership Management Board, 2007).

Another theory that supported AFL was Vygotsky’s “Zone of Proximal

Development” which stated that social interaction played a fundamental role in the

development of cognition. According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development

was the actual level of development of the learner and the next level attainable

through the use of adult or peer facilitation (Vygotsky, 1978). AFL also exposed the

students or learners to varied activities facilitated by the teacher and contain peer

assessment which involved the learners to interact with their peers.

AFL is anchored on these two theories. On the other hand, the control group

in this study was given direct interactioninstruction. A, which is anchored on the

theory developed by Siegfried Engelmann. This theory focuses on the teacher giving

lecture/discussion while students listen, then they are given practice exercises and

seat works to reinforce learning (Huitt, 2009). Direct Instruction was also found out

to be effective in getting the attention of students, engaging them in class

discussions, and improving their achievement (Magliaro, Lockee, & Burton, 2005)

Related Literature and Studies

Assessment was considered as an essential part of learning. It was

administered to take into account the different learning styles, strengths, and needs
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of each student (Goode, 2010). In the Philippine setting, these standards referred to

the Philippine Secondary Schools’ Learning Competencies (PSSLC) which contains

the expected outputs of students taking up high school Math. On a study conducted

by Linn, he observed that content standards should influence both the choice of

assessments to be measured and the ways in which they were eventually measured

(Linn, 2000). Thus, assessment should be based on standards. These standards were

the competencies or learning objectives that schools set for their students to achieve

or accomplish.

One of the purposes of this standard-based assessment was “assessment for

learning”. Assessment for Learning (AFL) transpired as a part of the daily teaching

and learning process. Through strengthening the connections between lessons and

assessment, AFL had influenced student learning (Goode, 2010).

In a research conducted by Black and William, AFL helped elevated the

standards of teaching and learning giving benefits to both learners and teachers. It

also showed good results in checkpoint tests, Cambridge set exam in England, and

achievement tests (William, 2004). AFL was where teachers and students worked

together to find out what needed to be learned, to identify the steps to take in order

to get to the targeted goal, and to check individual progress or how far one have

gone to (Partnership Management Board, 2007).

In another research done by Shute, AFL helped identify students who were

struggling with a particular task/topic or working under misconceptions. This led to

improve instruction that addressed student learning (Shute, 2008). This type of

assessment fostered student motivation on task behavior and self-awareness. In

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another study, Brockhart (2010) observed that teachers began to see students as

their partners, a partner who was responsible and capable to monitor for their own

learning.

AFL was a research-based theory of learning and teaching which had many

components all of which had been shown to improve the learning of students

(Guest, 2000). However, there were also researches that showed the said

assessment to be neither effective nor necessary. In a study conducted by McGatha

et. al, integrating AFL in classroom assessment showed no significant effect on

students’ learning and performance in mathematics (McGatha, Bush, & Rakes,

2009). In support of this, efforts to teach according to what would come out in the

test or exam by supplementing the new curricula with drill on basic skills were

neither effective nor necessary.

There were studies which implied that AFL intervention had a positive effect

on the performance of students while there were also some researches that claimed

that there was no significant effect on the performance of students.

The K – 12 program of the Department of Education identified essentials for

the carrying out of the K to 12. One of which was to improve teaching through the

use of Spiral progression in Science and Math (DEPED, 2011). In connection, DEPED

implemented standards based assessment which also supports AFL. One major

component of AFL is the setting of learning goals and success criteria which are

based on the standards set forth by the school.

As part of the Spiraling Progression, Statistics is offered in the curriculum.

For the past 25 years, Statistics, also known as data analysis and probability, has
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become a key component of the K – 12 Math curriculum (Franklin & et. al, 2007). In

current years, many Math teachers and statisticians had dedicated huge fragments

of their careers to improve statistics education materials and pedagogical

techniques (Franklin & et. al, 2007).

The aforementioned theories, literature, and studies are relevant to this

present investigation and provide the conceptual framework shown in the next

page.

Based on this theoretical background, the conceptual framework is Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"

presented in Figure 1 to make it easier to understand the flow of the study

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Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

The schematic diagram of the theoretical background of the study which shows the

conceptual framework is shown below.

NOTE: theories should be presented in similar level, thus, Vygotsky’s theory

rectangle is in line with that of Dewey’s and Siegfried’s. Formatted: Font: Not Bold
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Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of

the Study

This study was anchored on the theories of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal

development and Dewey’s concept of learning by doing, which all supported the

idea of inculcating AFL to improve the grade seven students’ performance in

Mathematics, specifically the topics on basic Statistics.

Another theory made mentioned in this study is Engelmann’s Direct

Instruction Theory which supports the teaching process done on the control group.

AFL included learning intentions and success criteria which focused on

letting the learners be informed of the goals they were able to set for themselves to

monitor their progress. Another part of AFL was questioning and feed backing. This

was done after every activity given during the learning process. The last part of was

peer and self – assessment. In this part, students were assessed by themselves and

also by their peers.

Both the control and experimental groups of grade seven students were

given a pretest in which, the mean scores were compared to evaluate the

comparability of the groups and to assess their learning prior to the discussion of

the identified topic. After the discussion, the control group was given paper and

pencil test as a form of assessment while the experimental group was given an
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activity based on the concept of assessment for learning. Posttest was then given to

both groups. The mean scores of the different groups were compared as well.

This study was done in two phases, in which, the two groups were

interchanged in the second phase. The experimental group became the control

group while the control group became the experimental group. Same set of

procedures was followed.

Analyses of data were done after gathering the pretest and posttest scores.

The conclusion and recommendation were drawn from the data and results

acquired.

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of this study was to find the effects of assessment

Assessment for learning Learning towards Mathematics performance of the grade

Grade seven Seven students of Pooc National High School, in Statistics as one of the

Mathematics fields to be taken in the fourth quarter of S.Y. 2013 – 2014.

Specifically, the study aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What is the students’ pretest and posttest performance in Statistics in phase

1 and phase 2:

1.1 in the control group; and

1.2 In the experimental group?

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2. Is there a significant mean gain from the pretest to the posttest performance

in Statistics of the experimental and control groups in phase 1 and phase 2?

3. Is there a significant difference in mean gains between the control and

experimental groups in phase 1 and phase 2?

4. What intervention can be used to improve students’ performance in

Statistics?

Statement of the Null Hypotheses

From the statement of the problem above, the following hypotheses were

tested in this study:

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the hypothetical mean and actual

mean of:

1.1 the experimental group

1.2 the control group

Ho2: There is no significant mean gain difference from the pretest to the posttest

performance in statistics of the experimental and control groups.

Ho3: There is no significant difference in mean gains between the experimental

and control groups.

Significance of the Study

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This study was conducted to find out if integrating AFL in the teaching and

learning processes will affect the performance of students in Math, specifically in

grade seven Statistics. This can also possibly benefit the following people:

Administrator. This would give ideas to the administrators whether or not

to implement AFL in the school’s curriculum to enhance the students’ performance

in Math.

Teachers. This would encourage them to integrate AFL which can help in

improving students’ performance in Math. Also, this would give them the

opportunity to explore possibilities of inculcating different assessment strategies

that would improve the teaching and learning process.

Students. This would help them achieve a better performance in Math.

This would also give them an opportunity to explore the possibility of improving

their Math performance at the same time enjoying a certain task while assessing

themselves.

Researcher. This study would answer the researchers’ question on whether

integrating AFL do affect a student’s performance in Math. This would also enlighten

the researcher to investigate further into other possible ways of improving Math

performance of students.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study was conducted at Pooc National High School – Division of Talisay

City Cebu. This school was located in Pooc, Talisay City, Cebu. The subjects of the

study were the grade Grade sSeven students of the said school. Included in this
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study were the gathering of students’ pretest and posttest scores for both phase 1

and phase 2.

This study was conducted during the fourth quarter of school year 2013 -

2014. This was pushed in the fourth quarter because Statistics was offered in the

fourth quarter and it was the field of Math in which the study was intended to focus

on since also it was the subject taught by the researcher in the said school.

One of the limitations in this study was the time constraint. There were

several class interruptions, which were brought about by the different activities

held in school, which resulted to the back log of topics in the third quarter of the

school year. Some of the topics from the third quarter were moved to the fourth

quarter already which decreased the number of meetings for the Statistics class and

just allowed a shorter time to conduct the study. Another limitation was the

attendance inconsistency of some of the respondents. These were the students who

had been out of school due to family matters, health concerns, and money matters.

Some of these respondents were not able to complete the task due to the fact that

they need to find money for their family. Thus, random samplings were done to

assure the equality of the number of students in both the control and experimental

groups.

In this study, the groups were treated separately due to time constraint and

lack of facility. It was not possible to gather all respondents in one place for the

pretest and posttest because the school had no extra space or classroom or facility

that would hold all the respondents in one place. Thus, the respondents took the
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pretest and posttest in their respective classrooms during their respective Math

class schedule.

Definition of Terms

Comprehension of this study was made easier through the definition of some

terms of words used operationally for this research.

Assessment for Learning (AFL). This is based on extensive research conducted by

Paul Black and Dylan William. It refers to the different activities done on a day-to-

day basis and takes place during the learning process. This includes learning

intentions and success criteria, feedback, questioning, and peer and self-assessment.

Learning Intention. This refers to the description of what the teachers wants their Formatted: Indent: Left: 0"

students to learn. It is also known as learning objectives.

Success Criteria. This refers to the statements that help the students recognize if

they have been successful in learning.

Feedback. This refers to the teacher’s comments regarding the students’

performance like “well done” and “try harder”.

Self-assessment. This refers to the students ability to reflect of their own progress.

Mathematics Performance. This is the score achieved by the students in a given

pretest and posttest about Statistics.

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