CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Education is a systematic and scientific process of providing knowledge, skills

and experiences to develop a human force as per requirements of society. This is

accomplished by using different methods and resources at different levels of education

for different stakeholders like students, teachers, parents, administrators and others so

that every individual of the society be equipped with the desired change in behaviour to

be social, cultural, sympathetic and helpful to the other members of society and for the

nation. Educational institution is an important component of the system, where key role

is played by the teachers. Teacher is the personality who initiates all curriculum related

activities, motivate students to participate and learn from them and also help them to

use the newly acquired knowledge and skills in practical situations. Teachers fulfil their

obligations with sincere efforts in order to develop the youth of the nation to their full

potential. So, for making an efficient education system, availability of effective teachers

is the prerequisite and therefore on the top of every educational program, there is a

provision of some sort of teachers‟ training and capacity building program. Usually the

purpose of these teachers‟ training programs is to equip them with latest content

knowledge, modern methodologies, use of advance technology or other aspects of

academic or administrative nature, so that they may fulfil their responsibilities to the

fullest satisfaction of students, parents, society and above all their “personal

satisfaction‟ as a teacher, guide and facilitator.

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In the knowledge driven world of today, the pace of change is so fast that it even

defies Moor’s law. Even to stay at the same place, the organizations have to run fast.

Strategic advantages to the organizations come only from the core competences, which

are developed by the individuals working in it. Such levels of excellence can be

achieved only by investing in people. Investment must not confine to compensation

only, but must entail the inputs aimed at updating the skills of the employees. Training is

one such potion to cure the organizations of the sluggishness, which may creep in

because of the organizational inertia. Training is important, not only from the point of

view of the organization, but also for the employees. It gives them greater job security

and an opportunity for career advancement. A skill acquired through training is an asset

for the organization and the employee. The benefits of training stay for a very long time.

So, every organization must have a systematic training program for the growth and

development of its employees.

The same applies for the teachers in the schools, although some individuals are

born teachers and do not need much training for learning skills of teaching. Their

sincerity paves the path for self-learning and some times, such self-made teachers have

been found more effective than formally trained teachers. However, in case of majority,

teacher learning is facilitated by training programs delivered before entry into teaching

profession and also while continuing in teaching. Professional education or training is

more important in teaching, because a trained teacher can teach better and can

progress than an un-trained teacher.

It is believed that as a result of these training programs, teachers utilize their

updated knowledge, experience, practices and well managed strategies to satisfy the

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challenging demands of their profession. If the teachers are properly educated, rightly

guided, well trained and motivated, give better performance in and outside the

classrooms. Without effective instruction and communication, a teacher cannot

accurately deliver the subject content to the students, who in turn cannot correctly

understand and reply in the class, nor write on the answer sheet, so the whole process

of teaching and learning is sabotaged by ignoring and not properly addressing this one

aspect of “effective interaction in the class between teachers and students”.

In view of the above considerations, the proponent of the study wants to know

the implications of various DepEd service training to the effectiveness of secondary

school teachers in Araling Panlipunan in the Division of Batangas City.

Statement of the Problem

In the Philippines particularly in the Division of Batangas City, there are various

challenges in the field of teachers training. Most important of all, is the shortage of

sufficient number of trainings for different areas like, curriculum development, teaching

methodology, students’ evaluation, classroom management, planning and

administration. Immediate in this aspect is the Quality of Teacher Training programs.

The better a teacher is trained, the better he or she can educate tomorrow's generation

of Batangueos. Additionally, teacher training puts positive impact on teachers and

students' subject knowledge. In this way, the information shared by the teachers to

facilitate children improve their knowledge but help to stay in school, and decrease low

scores and dropout rate. In Pakistan in general and province of Sindh in particular,

numerous English language and other training programs were launched at national,

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provincial and district level, but unfortunately these attempts proved to be only partially

successful and not to the satisfaction of stakeholders.

In view of this, the researcher wants to know the viability of assigning homework

as a means to improve the academic performance of the students.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1. How does assigning homework impact the attitude of the students as

assessed by the respondents?

2. How does homework assignment affect the academic performance of the

students?

3. What homework approaches and practices can be proposed in order to

improve the academic performance of the students?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

The study will determine the observable attitude of the students towards

homework assignment and the academic performance of the students in Science as

perceived by Grade 7 Science Teachers in the Division of Batangas City. Furthermore,

the study will also assess the effects of homework assignment to the academic

performance of the students. Furthermore, the study will propose various homework

approaches and practices that will improve the learning outcomes of the students.

The participants of the study are 25 Grade 7 Science Teachers in the Division of

Batangas City for School Year 2013-2014.

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The study is limited to the perception of Grade 7 Science Teachers in the

Division of Batangas City regarding their students’ academic performance and attitude

towards homework and the students’ perceptions will not be included.

The study is further defined by the effects of homework on student performance.

Furthermore, the study researches the benefits and drawbacks of home work from the

perspective of the science teachers only.

Finally as there is no study conducted regarding the effects of homework on

Filipino students, the study will use mostly foreign literature and studies.

Significance of the Study

Many educators have claimed that homework is a valuable tool that strengthens

students’ performances on assessments and tests; however, when students perform

low on those assessments, it is necessary to examine if homework is the common

denominator of student success.

Specifically, the study is significant to the following:

To the Science teachers, the aim is to pinpoint the effects of homework at

specific grade levels and help teachers find the most effective approaches to any

homework activity that will benefit students and increase learning outcomes. It will also

address the necessity of allowing students to maintain a healthy balance between time

dedicated to schoolwork and time participating in extracurricular activities. These

activities teach them the importance of making quality decisions, help them explore

career paths of individual interest, and fit their unique gifts and talents.

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To the students, the study will determine if homework assignment can help them

improve their academic performance and teach them discipline in learning even outside

the confine of the classrooms.

To the parents and the academe, this study will assist them in determining if the

benefits of homework outweigh the costs, or if homework is detrimental to the learning

needs of students and takes away valuable time that could be used to develop their

unique sets of gifts and talents. The study will also serve as a framework for further

study regarding the effects of homework to G7 students.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the literature from secondary sources such as books,

journals and internet which are deemed relevant to the present study.

Conceptual Literature

For over 100 years, U.S. educators have debated the importance of homework

and the amount of homework students should be assigned. In the early 1900s, many

school districts banned homework, especially at the elementary level, in an effort to

discourage rote learning. In the 1950s, the cold war and Russia’s launch of the Sputnik

satellite led to increased homework loads. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s,

homework assignments again declined, but fears about the country’s economic

competitiveness created pressure on educators to assign more homework. During the

1980s and 1990s, the majority of the public supported homework. Today, however,

there is increasing disagreement about the value of homework and how much

homework to assign (Center for Public Education as cited by Hayward, 2010)

Homework has been defined simply as “tasks assigned to students by school

teachers that are meant to be carried out during non-school hours”. But definitions of

homework become more complicated when variations in the types of assignments given

are considered: difficulty level; skill or subject area; completion deadline (short- or long-

term); degree of individualization; social context (completed independently or with other

students); mandatory or voluntary; and if it will be submitted for grading (Cooper,

20010). Furthermore, teachers assign homework for many different reasons, although

researchers have noted that most assignments usually serve multiple purposes.

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Homework is a part of life for students of all ages and grade levels, and has been

a topic of research for some time. Research on homework has focused largely on

interventions related to homework completion and the positive and negative outcomes

that result from homework performance and completion, especially those related to

academic achievement (Trautwein and Ludtke, 2009). Cooper as cited by Geary (2010)

defines homework as “tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to

be carried out during non- school hours.” Geary (2010) further notes that, although

homework can be completed during school hours, for example in study hall, homework

does not include guided work completed during school hours. Extracurricular activities

and “home study” programs are also not considered homework. Cooper's definition of

homework does not include studying and classroom behavior related to homework

completion, such as writing down assignments. The current study expands upon

Cooper’s definition to include these important components of homework.

Proponents of homework believe it can benefit students when used

appropriately. The most obvious benefit is that it will improve students’ understanding of

the material covered. Homework helps students develop good study habits, such as

goal setting, following directions, organizing materials, planning ahead, and budgeting

time, as well as strategies for dealing with mistakes, difficulties, and distractions (Center

for Public Education as cited by Hayward, 2010). In addition, homework also helps

students develop positive attitudes toward school and a sense of personal responsibility

(Center for Public Education as cited by Hayward, 2010).

Homework may also encourage cheating (Canadian Council on Learning 2008)

in a sense that students admitted to cheating by copying other students’ homework,

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downloading material from the Internet, or having their parents complete the homework.

Finally, homework can widen social inequalities. Compared to their higher income

peers, students from lower income homes are more likely to work after school and less

likely to have an environment conducive to studying (Canadian Council on Learning,

2008).

Although homework completion may have both positive and negative outcomes,

it can be argued that the positive effects of homework completion outweigh the negative

effects. Positive effects of homework seem to be greater than negative effects of

homework, and the occurrence of negative effects seems to occur less often. Despite

which is greater or occurs most often, homework most likely will continue to be assigned

given its long history as part of the education system and curriculum (Kralovec, 2007).

As such, it is important to develop interventions that focus on reducing the negative

effects and problems associated with homework and its completion. An important step

in developing an intervention is to identify specific behaviors and situations that make

homework completion problematic. Behaviors explored should include those related to

the home setting and situation at the time of homework completion, classroom

behaviors related to homework, and studying, as each of these may affect a student’s

ability to complete homework. The identification of specific problems associated with

poor homework completion can help clinicians better develop and implement an

appropriate intervention for the individual.

Research Literature

Assigning homework in class has been a long standing tradition in education. A

study performed by Wilson & Rhodes (2010) showed that 86% of the students in the

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study agreed that homework reinforces concepts learned in class and 67% reported that

homework helps them understand the subject matter better. In this study, 64% of

students disagreed with the statement that homework provides little or no purpose.

These types of results would make one think that homework completion should not be

an issue, and yet it is. So what are the reasons or factors that prevent students from

completing their homework?

One reason or factor that may prevent students from completing their homework

is intrinsic motivation. A study performed by Deci, Connell, and Ryan as cited by

Watkins (2012) determined that intrinsic motivation is increased when an individual feels

independent and when information is provided about their competence in exploring their

environment. This indicates that if students feel as though they are learning on their own

and receive feedback from their teacher about what they are doing correctly and what

they need to improve upon, they will be more motivated to complete the assignment.

This study also showed that when an environment that an individual experiences is not

controlled by him/her, individuality and therefore intrinsic motivation decreases. This

indicates, again, that if teachers are controlling every little thing that the students are to

be doing and do not allow for students to learn on their own and show individuality,

students will be less motivated to complete the assignment. Ryan & Deci in 2000 as

cited by Watkins (2012) found that choice positively impacts intrinsic motivation and

people will have an increased intrinsic motivation to complete a task if the task allows

them to make personal choices. A study done by Patall, et al. (2010) confirmed the

findings of Ryan & Deci showing that providing students with choices in homework tasks

increases their intrinsic motivation and performance. Providing two or three choices for

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a project for students to choose from would be one way in which they would have some

control and therefore lead to more intrinsic motivation to complete the project.

Although motivation is a major player in a student’s completion of homework,

there are other factors that may also be contributors. As alluded to earlier by the study

performed by Warton as cited by Watkins (2012), the perceived quality of the homework

assignment by the student is a factor in completion of assignments. A quality

assignment is one students find beneficial, aiding them in their learning, practicing what

has been learned in class with clear directions as to what is to be done. This factor was

confirmed by Trautwein and Lütke (2009) which found that the perceived quality of the

assignment has a positive effect on a student completing the assignment. If the

students believe the assignment is valuable, it will help them understand content, help

them to perform well on exams, and they may show greater interest in the assignment

thus leading to the completion of an assignment. Further, Xu (2011) found a positive

relationship between homework completion and interest in the assignment.

Just as important as motivation, quality, and interest are to completion of

homework are where and how the homework is being completed, that is, the

environment. Kackar, et al. (2011) indicated that high school students have greater

concentration on their homework when they work alone versus working with another

individual or group therefore leading to greater effort and completion of assignments.

This same study also showed that doing homework at home also led to greater

concentration contrasted with lower levels of concentration, effort, and interest when

working on homework in class. This study indicates that the environment in which

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homework is being done has a large impact on the interest, concentration, and effort of

a student.

Perhaps the most interesting factor in homework completion regarding what a

teacher can do is feedback from teachers pertaining to the homework assignments. Xu

(2011) has indicated that teacher feedback has a positive effect on homework

completion. Without feedback, a student is in the dark as to knowing whether or not they

comprehend the topic being studied. A student may also feel as though the teacher

does not place much value in the assignments and thus the student starts placing less

value and effort in the assignments. Wilson and Rhodes (2010) found that 44% of the

students surveyed indicated that their teachers rarely returned graded homework by the

next day. Twenty-seven percent of these students indicated that their teachers

sometimes returned graded work within a day or two. Without proper or timely feedback

students do not know what they need to work on or what kind of additional help they

need.

Understanding of what an assignment is asking a student to do is another aspect

of homework completion. Perhaps not as surprising, 43% of the students in the survey

by Wilson and Rhodes (2010) indicated that they do not complete their homework

because they do not understand it. Understanding how and what to do for the

assignment is crucial in the completion of the homework which leads back to the

importance of having a quality homework assignment to encourage and motivate

students.

The final factor that needs to be considered when it comes to homework

completion is probably the most powerful as seen by teachers like the researcher -

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outside influences. Extra-curricular activities like jobs and time management skills are a

few of these outside influences. In Wilson and Rhodes (2010), 36% of the students said

that extra-curricular activities caused them to get home late and be unable to finish their

homework. This reported percentage is likely lower than actual due to whether students

understood the phrase “extra-curricular activities” to mean only school-sponsored

activities and not jobs. Participation in extra-curricular activities leads to a student

needing to have time management skills and students may need help in learning those

skills. Xu (2011) found that the management of time to do homework is positively

related to homework completion.

One of few papers using non-US data is, who find for Germany that homework

frequency is more important than the time students’ use on mathematics homework in a

cross-section framework. Using data from TIMSS 2003, Baker et al. (2007) find that

teachers in countries with low average student achievement assign more homework

than teachers in countries with high achievement, see also Dettmers et al. (2009).

Dettmers et al. (2009) use another international comparable achievement test, and find

in most countries a positive association between achievement in mathematics and

average homework time at the class level as reported by the students.

The small literature in economics which addresses the causal effect of homework

is mainly concentrated to students at the university level. Grodner and Rupp (2010)

present evidence from a field experiment in which a treatment group of students was

required to do homework. They find that the treatment group got significantly better

learning outcomes. The novelty of Grodner and Rupp's paper is that they are able to

separate between the effect of being assigned homework and the effect of completing

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homework. By exploiting natural experiments which randomly divided students into

different study groups, Emerson and Mencken (2010) find that students in groups with

graded homework increased their achievement.

McMullen and Busscher (2009) study younger students, and is thus more

comparable to the present study. They use data for students in first to fifth grade from

the US survey Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and find no relationship between

homework and achievement in pooled regressions. However, in models with student

fixed effects, both the time teachers expect their students to spend on homework and

the number of times per week the parents report their children worked on homework

have positive effects on mathematics and reading achievement.

In a recent paper, Eren and Henderson (2011) exploit that eight grade students

in NELS are tested in two different subjects. They argue that it is possible to include

both student fixed effects and teacher fixed effects in the model. It turns out that the

effect of assigned homework, given student fixed effects, is extremely sensitive to the

inclusion of teacher fixed effects. The results are driven by a large homework effect in

mathematics.

There are some attempts to estimate heterogeneous effects of homework in the

literature. Both Ronning (2011) and Eren and Henderson (2011) find that only students

from higher educated parents benefit from homework. Ronning (2011) also shows that

higher educated parents help more with homework than lower educated parents, and

suggests that assigning homework can amplify existing inequalities through

complementarities with home inputs.

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Machin and McNally (2008) study a highly structured literacy hour that was

introduced in English primary schools in the 1990s, and find that the change in teaching

method significantly increased literacy skills. Schwerdt and Wuppermann (2009) exploit

between subject variations in lecturing style at eighth grade. They find that traditional

lecture type teaching yields higher student achievement than in-class teaching time

used for problem solving.

Synthesis

The studies conducted by Machin and McNally, and Wilson and Rhodes and the

present study marked similarities in a way that both studies dealt with homework

assignment and completion and its effects to the academic performance of the students.

However, there are also differences in the context of the studies. The present study

uses local setting while the other two studies are international in scope. In addition, the

researcher only uses homework assignment and academic performance in Science

while the other studies used Mathematics and Science.

Finally, the literature and studies served as the foundation for the interpretation

and analysis of the data gathered in the present study.

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Research Paradigm

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Figure 1

Research Paradigm on the Effects of Homework Assignment on the Academic Performance of Grade 7 Science Students in the Division of Batangas City

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Observable attitude of the students towards homework

Academic performance of G7 students in Science

Effects of homework assignment on the academic performance of the students

Data gathering through

Literature Review

Questionnaire

Proposed Homework

Approaches and Strategies

to Improve Academic

Performance in Science

FEEDBACK

CHAPTER III

Research Methodology

Research Design

This study entitled “Relationship of homework completion to the academic

performance of Grade 7 students in Science among public secondary schools in the

Division of Batangas” as perceived by Grade 7 Science Teachers is a descriptive and

qualitative research that attempted to gather existing information and insights regarding

the effects of homework on students’ academic achievement. The study is descriptive

because it describes and documents aspect of a situation as it naturally occurs. On the

other hand, it is also qualitative as it quantified the perceptions of the respondents with

respect to the subject area for analysis.

The research utilized both the descriptive and exploratory research methods in

the conduct of the study. Descriptive research is a method used to obtain information

and describe what exists within the variables or conditions of the situation. Surveys and

observation were used as the main tool in presenting the study. Since the effects of

homework on the academic performance of Filipino students are new to the proponent,

exploratory research was also used in order to familiarize with the concept of the

problem under study. The researcher made use of existing literature in order to verify

her observations and come up with preliminary ideas regarding the research problem.

Subject of the Study

The subjects of the study are the Science teachers teaching Grade 7 students in

the secondary schools under the Division of Batangas City.

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Data Gathering Instrument

The researcher used various instruments in order to obtain the data needed for

the conduct of the study. One of these instruments is the survey questionnaire which

also served as the main data-gathering instrument.

Preparation of the Questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into 3 parts

each of which will answer the statement of the problem posited in Chapter 1. The

questions were structured using the Likert format. In this survey type, four choices are

provided for every question or statement. The choices represent the degree of

agreement of each respondent regarding the statement in the survey questionnaire. The

scale was used to interpret the total responses of all the respondents by computing the

weighted mean. The Likert survey was the selected questionnaire type as this enabled

the respondents to answer the survey easily. In addition, this research instrument

allowed the research to carry out the quantitative approach effectively with the use of

statistics for data interpretation. 

Validation of the Questionnaire. The researcher will submit a draft of the

survey questionnaire to the school Principal and the members of the research

committee of the Division of Batangas City for approval.

Administration of the Questionnaire. The proponent of the study will

personally distribute the approved questionnaire to the Grade 7 science teachers in the

different public schools in the Division of Batangas City. This will also give the

researcher the opportunity to further explain to the respondents the purpose and

objectives of the study.

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Data Gathering Procedure

The data for the study was collected from books, journals, unpublished thesis

and from other electronic sources. Most importantly, the data for this research will be

collected from the survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire was based on the

concepts and literatures collected regarding the subject of the study. The members of

the research committee of the Division of Batangas City will validate the questionnaire

before distribution to the participants of the study. The researcher will assure the

respondents of the confidentiality of their responses and will only be used for academic

purposes. The researcher also understood the people’s consciousness may also affect

their honesty and effectiveness in answering the survey, thus, the option of being

anonymous was given to them.

Statistical Treatment of Data

In analysis of data gathered from the perceptions of the respondents, the

researcher will use the internationally accepted SPSS Version 20.0 or the Statistics

Program of IBM to quantify the results.

Percentage.This is used to determine the relationship between two magnitudes

as a part of a whole.

The formula of percentage is:

P=F/N x 100

Where:

P= percentage

F= total number of responses under one category

N= number of participants

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100= constant multiplier

Weighted Mean. It is synonymous to average. It is the summing up of all the

value of items divided by total number of the participants. The following formula is used

for the weighted mean.

Where:

x-  is the repeating valuew-  is the number of occurrences of x (weight)x̄-  is the weighted mean

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Emerson, T. N. and Mencken, K. D. (2011). Homework: To Require or Not? Online Graded Homework and Student Achievement. Forthcoming in Perspectives on Economic Education Research

Grodner A. and Rupp N. G. (2011). The Role of Homework on Student Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Working Paper, East Carolina University

Machin S. and S. McNally (2008). The Literacy Hour. Journal of Public Economics, 92, 1141-1462.

Ronning, M. (2011). Who benefits from homework assignments? Economics of Education Review, 30, 55-64.

Schwerdt G. and Wuppermann A. C. (2009). Is Traditional Teaching really all that Bad? A Within-Student Between-Subject Approach. CESifo Working Paper No.2634, Munich

Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., & Pieper, S. (2010). Learning Opportunities Provided by Homework. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. Retrieved from http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/forschung/eub/projekte/halo.htm.

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