STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOR: A DETERMINANT ON EXAMINATION SUCCESS

S/Y 2017- 2018

An Undergraduate Thesis

Presented to

The Faculty of the College of Education

Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology

Naga City

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements in

(Educational Research)

CHAVEZ, CRISSELDA

CLAPIS, MARRIANE

COLLANTES, MARY JANE

DANGCULOS, ALYSSA

DASICO, REYMOND

.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Behavior is the manner in which a person behaves in reaction to social stimuli, however,

behavior involves a constellation of attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority and rapport that are

all closely related. As a result, various approaches to behavior can focus on cognitive aspects (such

as authority, strategy use and rapport), non-cognitive aspects (such as attitudes, emotions, values and

ethics), or both.

Behavior acts an important role on the examination of the students. For example, according to

Mussen et. Al (1979), human beings are living for self - actualization, that they strive to fulfill their

aims, goals, and potentials. These are true to students. Each student is studying to achieve a certain

goal. This goal serves as a motivation to give their best and to do any task in relation to studying.

High score in examination is one of the goals of the students therefore, students do whatever they

could to get a high result in examination. However, there are certain factors that affect the behavior

of the students which later affect their examination’s result.

People differ in their values and in the events they find most rewarding. There are many

tendencies that affect the behavior of a person. One of which is his need for achievement.

Achievement, was believed to be governed by reinforcement contingencies. Reinforcements or

rewards are factors that increase the probability of a given behavior. Punishment, on the other hand,

refers to unpleasant consequences that decrease the probability of a given behavior. Under this

structure, the teacher’s job is clear: to give reasonable grades, better affirmations and reduce or

remove punishments that can affect their student’s behavior. (Stipek, 1996).
 Motivation is one of the most important factor for the students to increase their performance

during examination. It greatly affects the behavior of the students towards studying. For example,

Gottfried (1990) defines motivation as “enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery

orientation; curiosity; persistence; task-endogen; and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel

tasks” On the other hand, Turner (1995) considers motivation to be synonymous with cognitive

engagement, which he defines as “voluntary uses of high-level self-regulated learning strategies,

such as paying attention, connection, planning, and monitoring” Furthermore, In connection to how

students perform their tasks we can simply say that motivation has a great scope and role to their

examination success.

On the other hand, the lack of motivation of students concludes low academic performance.

The participation and attention will be affected thus, will result to disinterest in studying. Without

motivation, it would really be hard for the students to perform well during examination. The students

might not take the examination seriously which will result to low performance during exam.

Motivation is not easily get by the students. It is planted on the students and should be developed

continuously.

Students behavior is not only governed by motivation. It also affected by other factors like

attitude. According to Mussen et. al (1979), “Attitude is a product of mental and emotional

processes, and it is a disposition toward action.” If a student has a positive attitude towards studying,

it means that he or she has some opinions about studying that are favorable, that he or she is happy

with that situation. Students therefore, should be able to create a positive attitude towards studying

or examination. The students’ examination performance will be best honed if they are optimistic

towards studying.
 Students’ emotions also affect the performance of the students during examination. Emotions

can have profound effects on the behavior of a person- either interfering with or enhancing

performance. Emotion is generally conceived as controlled by reactions within the central nervous

system; yet it may also be influenced by the interaction to his or her social environment. For

example, if a student experienced bullying inside the classroom, the student might get depressed and

will perceive the school as a negative place which will eventually result to low academic

performance. On the other hand, if a student feels accepted, the student will create positive emotions

which will make the student perform well inside the classroom. Emotions therefore is factor that is

very important but must take a full attention and consideration. Students’ emotion should be handled

appropriately and gently for it may cause positive or negative effects on the part of the students.

Another factor that affects the students in acquiring information is the thinking or learning

styles. Each student has its distinct way of learning or thinking. In any group of learners, it will

always be composed of students who have different characteristics. Some students absorb the lesson

when they are moving or working with their bodies, other students absorb the lesson when they

seeing pictures while other students learn when they are listening to their teachers. Thus, students’

diversity means that students have different learning styles that affect their examination result.

Therefore, traditional way of teaching such as full- time lectures will not necessarily effective to all

students especially that some students are learning through the use of visual aids or through the use

of moving strategies like role playing, playing or dancing.

Ethics on the other hand also affects the performance of the students during examination.

Ethics is the rules of behaviors based on ideas on what is morally good or bad. Ethics affects the

performance of the students in deciding what kind of action will they take during examination.

Ethics is always ignored during examination. Students in a desperate situation tend to do some action
which are not are appropriate. An example of which is a student doing cheating during an exam.

Though the result of examination is high or excellent, however, the means to get it might be wrong.

Though always ignored, ethics is an important factor during examination. Students’ full potential

and knowledge are best measured when it is really from them. Therefore, honesty during an

examination is very important to see whether their exams are successful.

Authority and rapport are related to each one another. Authority is the power to give orders or

make decisions while rapport is the relationship between individuals. In a classroom setting,

authority is associated on the teachers. Teachers are the one giving orders to students on what will

they do for studying. Teachers are also the ones deciding on some important in relation to classroom

management. However, authority is always misunderstood as superiority to the other and the other as

submissive. With this kind of situation, fear is imparted to the students instead of good relationship.

Therefore, in order to manage the class in a good way, rapport should be built among the students

and the teacher. A friendly environment inside the classroom motivates the students to learn well

which will later affect the result of examination. The feeling of belongingness enhances the skills

and knowledge of the students.

This study focuses on determining the students’ behavior that affects the academic

performance of Third year college students of BISCAST for school year 2017-2018.

This study aims to identify the factors composing the behavior of the students which affects the

academic performance of the Third year college students of Bicol State College of Applied Sciences

and Technology.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Generally, this study determines the significance of Behavior to Third year college

students of Bicol State College of Applied Science and Technology. Specifically, it seeks to

answer the following questions:

1. What behaviors are manifested by the Third year college students in Bicol State College

of Applied Science and Technology along:

1.1 Attitude;

1.2 Emotion;

1.3 Values;

1.4 Ethics;

1.5 Authority; and

1.6 Rapport?

2. To what extent had the behaviors manifested by the Third year college students

contributed on examination success?

3. What are the dominant learning styles of the students that affect their learning?

ASSUMPTION OF THE STUDY

The third year college students among the four colleges in Bicol State College of Applied

Science and Technology had manifested different behaviors which are considered as factors in

examination success.
HYPOTHESIS

The rank orders of the respondents’ assessment on students’ behavior do not significantly

agree among the four colleges in Bicol State College of Applied Science and Technology.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study determines the significance of the Behavior of Third year college student for

the first semester school year 2017-2018 in Bicol State College of Applied Science and

Technology located in Naga City, in the province of Camarines Sur, Bicol Region. The study

involves 30 third year college students enrolled in the College of Education, 30 third year college

students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences, 30 third year college students enrolled in

the College of Engineering and Architecture, and 30 third year college students enrolled in the

College of Trade and Technology .

The examination success of the college students is based on their behavior they are

manifesting in their subjects which is part of their course. The main purpose of this study is to

provide the COE, CAS, CEA, and CTT with the basis for possible aid on how they will motivate

students in learning. Moreover, this study gives recommendations for improving the examination

performance of the students.

To level off the understanding of concepts appropriated in the study, the terms

presented are operationally defined.

Behavior - The manner in which the person behaves.

Attitude - A manner of thought or feeling

Emotions - A strong feeling of any kind

Ethics - Rules of behavior based on ideas about what is

morally good and bad

Authority - The power to give orders or make decisions

Rapport - A friendly relationship

Motivation - This refers to the extent to which the individual

or strives to learn because of a desire to achieve

goal.
Intrinsic Motivation - This refers primarily to affective experiment

experiences, enjoyment of the process involved

in engaging in an activity.

Extrinsic Motivation - This refers primarily to belonging oneself from

outside that act upon as a whole in engaging

an activity.

Performance - Refers to the demonstration of that

knowledge or skill after it has been acquired.

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter entails the studies and articles that helps in justifying the study and in

discovering the relationship between students’ behavior and success in examination. It may be

useful to conceptualize the term students’ behavior and examination success.

The topic about behavior had been a major interest of researchers for centuries. However,

when it comes to defining the word behavior almost every researcher comes up with their own

definition of the word. For how many decades, the definition of behavior has been a source of

debate. Psychologist define this term with different approaches. Some defined it based on its

characteristics and structure while some through the theories or test that measures it.

The term behavior is not use here, in its simple, everyday sense. It refers to almost any

activity. Behavior includes attitudes, thoughts, physical changes, emotional changes, and so is

thinking. In other words, studying behavior means trying to figure out why it occurs (Mcmahon

et. Al, 1990).

Sigmund Freud (1895), an Austrian physician, “stated that problems that appear in

adolescence and adulthood can be traced to things that happened in the five or six years of life”.

Therefore, the current behavior of the students towards schooling might be affected by their

childhood experience. Similarly, William James (1890), “preferred to look human experiences

as complete wholes. Thinking for him is a stream of ideas not a series of separate thoughts.” this

means that when a person thinks it is connected to his prior knowledge.

associations we have made. For instance, we are afraid of something because we have associated

bad or unpleasant experiences with it.” Students behavior therefore, depends on what they feel

towards studying. The students might excel on their performance if they feel optimistic about it.

However, students might perform low if they have something to be afraid of school.

B.F. Skinner (1990), “operant conditioning believed that how we turn out in life is the

result of what we learn from all the operations we make over the years. If the environment

rewards us when we perform certain acts, then we tend to repeat those actions”. Thus, if a

student studies hard, gets a high score on examination and takes a compliment from other people,

the student will tend to repeat the action. However, if a student fails an examination and feels

ashamed about it, the student will not repeat the action.

APPROACHES RELATED TO STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOR

Many researchers especially psychologists have discussed different approaches towards

students’ behavior in connection with learning. School achievement or academic performance

may come from learned motivation, natural personal growth, or social influences. The different

approaches in relation to behavior will explain how learning takes place to students.

One of the approaches is the behavioral approach. The behavioral approach states that

people are the product of learning and associations. In support of this approach, there are

evidence that people do a great number of things because they have rewarded for them in the

past. These rewards are called reinforcement. Reinforcement is something that follows a

response and strengthens the tendency to repeat that response. In learning, there are two

reinforcements that can affect the academic performance of the students. First is the positive
reinforcement. Positive reinforcement strengthens the tendency to repeat a response by following

it with the addition of something pleasant. For example, a student is studying hard so that he or

she can get a high grade and be included in the list of honors. Another type of reinforcement is

negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement strengthens a response by following it with

taking away or avoiding something unpleasant. For example, a student is studying hard so that he

or she can get a high grade and to avoid repeating the same grade level.

Another approach is the humanistic approach. According to Carl Rogers, people are

worthwhile creatures with free will and choice (Rogers, 1961, 1986). Rogers believed that every

person is capable to reach his or her full potential in his or her own way with a little guidance

from other people. Humanistic approach believed that the environment does not force people to

become anything; instead, it acts as a background for people’s internal growth. Humanists said

that people are basically good in nature and capable of helping themselves. Unlike the behavioral

approach, humanistic approach does not treat humans as mere robots or machines which can be

operated. Human is capable to developed themselves and learn new things.

Cognitive approach also tries to explain why a certain person behaves. Cognitive

approach focuses on the internal processes. Learning is an active process. Learners initiate

experiences, search for information to solve problems, and reorganize what they already know to

come up with new insights (Lucas et. al, 2013). An example of which is constructivism.

Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction. Constructivism believe that students should

be able to discover new knowledge or information on their own rather than direct instruction

from the teacher. Constructivism see learners as active thinkers who interpret new information

based on what they already know. They construct knowledge in a way that make sense to them.

This knowledge that students already in mind may refer to schemas. A schema is an organized
body of knowledge about something. It is like a file of information you hold in your mind about

something. This schema helps the students to predict a certain situation based from their previous

experiences. Thus, it makes the students prepare and assume of what might happen on a certain

situation.

FACTORS THAT AFFFECT EXAMINATION SUCCESS

Many researchers have discussed the different factors that affect the student’s

examination performance in their research. Students can be motivated by many things, but

basically motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. For those who are lucky, students find

their motivation from within which is also known as drive. According to Pink, Daniel (2011),

drive is not through the process of a reward like money; “high performance and satisfaction of

the students is the deeply human need to learn and create new things and to do by ourselves and

our world.” Inner drive is what enables the students to be proactive, to be creative and to

persevere despite the hardships. Classroom is the place where students’ motivation is highly

manifested. Inside the classroom, you will find different students with different factors. Some

students get their motivation thru intrinsic approach where students get to remain focus despite

of the extraneous factors that may contribute to the destruction of attention. Others rely greatly

on extrinsic factors like classroom environment, reinforcement and rewards (Fabian, 2015).

A sense of high self- efficacy means a high sense of competence. Self- efficacy is the

belief that one has the necessary capabilities to perform a task, fulfill role expectations, or meet a

challenging situation successfully. When students believe that they have the ability to perform

learning activities successfully, they are more intrinsically motivated to do such learning
activities. The secret, therefore, to enhancing intrinsic motivation is enhancing the students’

sense of self- efficacy (Lucas et. al, 2013). However, self- efficacy is supported by great efforts

to achieve competence. Therefore, a student must study well or hone his or her skill to achieve

self- efficacy and achieve good performance in examination.

In addition, students are more likely motivated when they are self – determined on a

certain object. Self- determination is believing that a person has choices and control regarding

the things he does and the direction of his life. If a person feels that he is capable of doing

something regardless of his or her situation in life, his or her sense of self determination will

positively affect his or her performance. Thus, there is more possibility that students’

examination will be successful if they are determined and think that can perform well.

The goals set by the people or students also affect their level of motivation. There are two

types of goal that students want to achieve. First is the learning goal which is the desire to

acquire additional knowledge or new skills while the other one, the performance goal, is the

desire to look good and receive favorable judgements from others or else look bad and receive

unfavorable judgements.” (Ormrod, 2004) In relation to examination success, if students perform

low with their examination, it will make them look bad to others therefore, students might study

vigorously to perform better in their examination.

Methodology

This chapter presents a review of the research method conducted, design appropriateness

and a discussion of the population and sample. Moreover, it also presents a background of the

participants and a brief description of how they were recruited, steps and rationale for the data

collection and the conduct of data analysis.

Research Design

This study made use of a quantitative-qualitative design in determining the positive

relationship of behavior in the success of examination of third year college students of Bicol

State College of Applied Sciences and Technology. The quantitative-qualitative design helps this

research on knowing the insights, opinions and beliefs of the students and teachers who

participated in the survey and interviews.

This study used research instrument such as survey questionnaires. The instrument used

in this research was designed to achieve the goal of knowing the positive relationship of behavior

to third year college students of Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology.
Research Setting

The study was conducted in Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology

during the first semester of the school year 2017-2018. Bicol State College of Applied Sciences

and Technology is located at barangay Penafrancia of Naga City, Camarines Sur. This institution

has been founded since 1901. Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology has

always been a supportive of classroom and school motivation. This is indicated by the different

programs held in the school to encourage the students to actively participate in different

activities. Affirmation through teacher has always been applied inside the classroom for active

interaction among the students and the teacher. The existence of these programs is beneficial for

the conduct of the study.

Research Participants

The participants of this study are 30 third year students enrolled in the COE, 30 third year

students enrolled in the CAS, 30 third year students enrolled in the CEA and 30 third year

students enrolled in the CTT of Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology. The

participants were selected according to convenience for they were qualified in the conduct of the

study. The students who were selected were asked to answer survey questionnaires to draw out

helpful information regarding the problem. The experiences and knowledge of participants with

regard to the problem were important components in knowing the advantages of motivation

inside the classroom.

The participants of this study are asked to answer questionnaires related to the study. The

researchers asked permission to the students who were having their vacant time inside their

classroom. The researcher showed a formal letter that states the intent of the study concerning on

the behavior of third year college students of Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and

Technology. The names of the participants were witheld as consideration for their right to

privacy.

Data Collection

In this study, several procedures were done in order to achieve the set objectives. The

survey questionnaire used in this study is adapted from other studies related to the problem. This

study made used of questionnaire that has already been used by other researchers who conducted

the same study. Though adapted, the questionnaire was revised to fit on the study. The

questionnaire was administered to the participants for three to five minutes. It is done on the

classrooms of different buildings inside Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and

Technology.

The data gathered on the study were tallied and graphs were used to represents these data.

Data analysis and interpretation of the data were done based from the result of the graph.
Data Sources

This study used the instrument, survey questionnaires for gathering its data. The

instrument is applied to attain the goal of the study especially to gain information concerning the

problem of the study. Only one set of questionnaire is given to third year college students of

Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology.

This study made use of Quantitative Survey Instrument to determine the students’

responses with regards to the sections they are into. Quantitative Survey Instrument is a good

instrument in assessing students’ responses concerning to behavior. The strategies used in

quantitative survey instrument are the best way to relate the data collected “to the types of

variables that you have created through your research” (Bryman, 2001 p. 215).

Summary

This study employed a quantitative research design to get the perspective of the students

on the behavior and examination success of third year college students of Bicol State College of

Applied Sciences and Technology. The participants of this study includes 30 third year students

enrolled in the COE, 30 third year students enrolled in the CAS, 30 third year students enrolled

in the CEA and 30 third year students enrolled in the CTT. The respondents were asked to

answer a questionnaire to get the insights of the students. Ethical consideration was also been

observed in this study by not revealing the identity of the participants. Data gathering procedures
was also used in this study like adapting survey questionnaires from other researchers who have

the same study.