FACTORS AFFECTING THE GRADE 11 STUDENT’S INTEREST IN LEARNING

MATHEMATICS

Presented to the Senior High School(SHS) faculty of Holy Spirit

National High School
Senior High School (SHS) Practical Research 1

S.Y. 2017-2018

Presented by the following Grade 11 STEM Studetnts of Holy Spirit

National High School

Casiple, Christian C.
Llano, Johnfel D.R.
Maizo,Emily
Paje, Robby F.
Viilacuatro, Tedie N.

March 2018

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 Chapter 1

Introduction

Mathematics is a science of magnitude and number that is very useful virtually in all

subject areas. This is because all fields of studies are dependent on it for problem solving and

prediction of outcomes. Akinoso (2011) viewed Mathematics as the basis for science and

technology and the tool for achieving scientific and technological development. Despite its great

importance, studies show that it is the subject that is most dreaded to learners among all

subjects offered in schools. It causes them to respond to it with less self confidence and anxiety.

Background of the Study

After the implementation of the new education system known as K-12 Basic Education

Curriculum, many schools across the Philippines offered Senior High School as a requirement

for the new curriculum. It is observed that public, private school and State Universities and

Colleges (SUC’s) offer different tracks that is suited to different careers. Our government aims

to prepare the students to become better workers in the near future.

Despite of this objective, the researchers observed that many students have lack of

interest on math-related subjects. Since this problem is visible in every schools, a lot of

researches and studies have been conducted to know and explore the factors that affect the

student’s interest in learning math.

Considering all of these, the researchers thought of the study that will strengthen the

result of previous studies formulated by diferrent researchers. Thus the researchers come up

with the study about the “Factors affecting the Students’ Interest in learning Mathematics”.

Considering this problem, the researchers aim to explore the root causes of students’

lack of interest in learning Mathematics.

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Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the factors affecting the interest of Grade 11 students of

Holy Spirit National High School (HSNHS) in learning Mathematics.

The questions that will be answered with this study are the following:

1) What are the factors that affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning Mathematics?

2) How do these factors affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning Mathematics?

Conceptual Framework

Students are being stressed because of problems that they have to manage and

conquer. These experiences have been primarily with the senior high school program. But the

hindrance of to the students is their interest in learning Mathematics. This must be answered by

asking the respondents to know the root cause of their problem.

As input in this research, the researchers want to know the factors and how these

factors affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics through an interview.

Scope and Delimitations

The study will be conducted in Holy Spirit National High School in the school year 2017-

2018. There will be one respondent in every strand (ABM, Animation, Bread and Pastry,

HUMMS, Programming, STEM and Tourism). But, due to the project of the school named

Holysians’ Snack Hub wherein the Tourism and ABM students are attending, the respondents

were decreased by two(2) persons. So a total of five(5) respondents who have difficulties in

learning Mathematics were chosen by one of their teachers based on his/her own perception.

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Significance of the Study

Students. This study will give an immediate idea on the problems that the students might

encounter in learning Mathematics and it will also help them to handle these problems.

Teachers. It will give an idea to the teachers about the things that they must consider in

teaching their lessons to their students.

Parents. In this study, the parents will know the problems that their children may encountering

as students. This knowledge will let the parents understand the sitatuations for them to be able

to help their children in dealing the problems.

Future researchers. They can use the findings of this research as a reference and basis to

their own research that is related to student’s interest in learning Mathematics.

Definition of Terms:

Grade 11 Student - Grade 11 students who are studying at Holy Spirit National High School.

Interest – The feeling of a person whose attention, concern, or curiosity is particularly engaged

by something.

Mathematics - The study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. There are

many views among mathematicians and philosophers as to the exact scope and definition of

mathematics.( Wikipedia )

Senior High School (SHS) - Refers to Grades 11 and 12 which is the last two years of the K-

12 program that DepEd has been implementing since 2012.

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 Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter include the review of related literature and studies which the researchers
have gathered to shed light on the topic under study.

Anigbo (2016) conducted a study on Senior Secondary School on Enugu State where
the result falls on the following categories: teachers, students, math anxiety, class size,
government, instructional strategy used by the teacher, and availability of infrastructural
facilities.This study is reflective to the recent study by means of approach and it is clearly find
out the main factors.

In addition, Idigo (2012) come up with similar factors and it is associated with
mathematics interest include, students’ factor, teachers factor, mathematics anxiety,
government, lack of infrastructural facilities, lack of instructional materials and problem of large
class size.

One of the main factor that the student might face in is the teacher itself.Teacher has a
great responsibility to eager the student to learn. Akinoso (2012) supported that the student’s
mathematics interest is dependent on the qualification of the mathematics teacher.

After that, Acharya (2017) conducted his recent study about “Factors Affecting
Difficulties in Learning Mathematics by Mathematics Learners” where he came out with similar
results. Both of their researches have similar results although they have different research
locale.

These studies are similar to the present study because it clearly showcase the possible
factors that might arise on the researcher’s study.

In the Philippine concept, Andaya (2014) concluded on her research that the poor
achievements in mathematics are caused by four factors: individual (student), instructional
(teacher), classroom management and evaluation. The result implies that the low or poor
performance of students in Mathematics is due to lack of knowledge in content and pedagogy,
attitude and commitment of teachers.

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 Recent studies in Mathematics achievement highlight the importance of the classroom,
teacher and school as factors affecting performance in the subject. Most of the differences
between student’s achievement in the United States and Australia were due to compositional
and organizational factors, not so much on teacher factor (Macber,2000 as cited in Andaya ,
2014) Hill and Rowe (1998) as cited by Andaya (2014) affirmed that teachers have major effect
on student achievement. Teachers’ quality contributes a lot in the effectiveness of the school,
hence quality instruction produces high achievement. The teacher at the center stage of
instruction really play a major role in the learning of students. The success or failure of students
in school and in life greatly lies on the hands of the teachers. These results may arise to the
recent study [ CITATION And14 \l 1033 ].

This study was relevant to the present study because it is related to the interest of
students in learning and arrived with similar results. However, she dealt more on achievement
while the present study concerns more on the student’s interest in learning mathematics.

Based from the related literatures and studies, the researchers agree and come up with
an idea that the students have lack of interest in learning mathematics.

Interest in math has a common root. As mentioned in recent studies, both researchers
draws similar conclusion from similar result. But their researches were conducted in different
location. Although it gives us clue on what factors may rise in this study, it is different in
Philippine due to its different culture which will affect the research itself.

We live in a world full of math .There are countless applications of math in our everyday
life. Aside from teacher’s mastery on subject matter, students have great responsibility on
learning math to make a better society and mold us to be intellect and competent in the world
when math is in demand.

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 Chapter 3

Methodology

This chapter includes research design, sources of data, instrumentation for data
collection, tools for data analysis and ethical considerations that the researcher will use in the
study.

Research Design

Qualitative research is the collecting, analyzing and interpreting data by observing what
people do and say. This methodology is considered to be suitable when the researcher or the
investigator either investigates new field of study or intends to ascertain and theorize prominent
issues (Pharm, 2014). This kind of research is suitable for this study since it uses interview and
observation.

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
Typically, data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods
(McLeod, 2008). It aims to know the factors affecting the interest in learning Mathematics. Case
study design is appropriate to this study.

Locale of the Study

This research will be conducted in Holy Spirit National High School Republic Extension.
This school is the chosen locale in conducting the research because the researchers find the
specific respondents appropriate for the study.

Population and Sample

There are five(5) respondents included in the study chosen by a Math teacher to avoid
researcher’s bias.

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Sampling Technique

According to PMC or PubMed Central, purposeful sampling is widely used in qualitative

research for the identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon
of interest.

This type of non-probability sampling will be used by researchers in determining the

respondents for the research.

In this research, the depth of the experiences or the answers of the respondents are
more important than the number of participants. The theory of saturation point shall be used to
determine the sample

Data Collection Procedure

This study focuses on factors affecting the interest in learning Mathematics of the
student in Senior High School. The researchers will use video recording and notes using
unstructured interview. In data gathering, the interview will begin with one-on-one session using
unstructured type of questions. The questions from the questionnaire will be validated by our
Reseach adviser and co-adviser to guarantee validity and dependability. The answers coming
from the respondents will be jotted down by the researchers to have a precise data. Video
recording will be used to observe the respondents, their mannerism and how it affects the
interest in learning Mathematics.

Data Analysis

Thematic analysis shall be used to treat the data which will be drawn out from the
interview.

Ethical Considerations

To safeguard ethics in research, the following will be strictly observed:

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 The respondent’s name will not be mentioned in any part of the research and their faces
will not be shown to avoid physical or emotional harm against the respondents.

The consent letters were given to the parent and participants who will be involved in the
study and the letter for the principal have been presented to him for the study to be legalized.

As a respect to the owner of a certain study for the references, we give credits to the
intellectual property of the owner and proper citing.

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 Chapter 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter deals with the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the data gathered
that were used to determine and analyze the results of the interview with the respondents from
Grade 11 students of the study entitled “Factors Affecting Grade 11 students' Interest in
Learning Mathematics”.

The researchers took down notes listened and wrote down the information gathered
from the respondents of the study. These are the process as follows:

1. Open Coding. The researchers often use highlights to distinguish concepts and
categories. They used different colors to highlight representing the different concepts and
categories and transferred it to an outline, with concepts being main headings and categories
being subheadings from the data gathered from the respondents.

2. Axial Coding. The researchers identified the relationships from the data gathered from
the respondents among the open codes.

3. Selective Coding. The researchers figure out the core variable that includes all of the
data. They reread the transcripts and selectively code any data that relates to the core
variable they’ve identified.

After those processes, the researchers come up the answers are as follows:

1. What are the factors that affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning
Mathematics?

Family Factor

Positive

Family is one of the factors that can affect the student’s interest in learning
Mathematics. They are the ones who serve as motivation for their children and also help them
with their lessons. The responses from the respondents are as follows: “hmmm kasi hindi pa
ako nagaaral non bago ako magkinder tinuturuan na ako ng magulang ko sa school na matuto
ng mga ahhmm ibat ibang subject yung mga math mga ganon… kasi wala pa ako sa school

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ano nagumpisa talaga nagturo sa akin si mommy yon”; ( before I am in kinder, my mother
teaches me different lessons in school ); “yung nag ampon sa akin nanay ko kasi teacher yun
tapos… lagi niya ako tinuturuan sa math” (“My step mother is a teacher and she always teaches
me about Math”)

Negative

Family can be a cause of students’ lack of interest in learning Mathematics. The

response from the respondent is “nung namatay sya”. (“When she died”).

Teacher Factor

Teachers affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics based on the way they
teach their lessons. They also serve as the students’ motivation in studying. The response from
the respondent is “Yung mga teachers kasi ano, minomotivate nila na mag-aral ng mabuti
,magreview sa bahay ganon selfstudy tapos ahh aralin mabuti yung mga basic lesson basic
ahhh ano tawag dito yon nga yung mga lesson sa math na hindi dapat ano basta yung mga
kaylagan aralin talaga yung mga general knowledge ganon.”(The teachers motivate me to study
hard, review at home just like that ,self study and study the basic lesson )

Peer Factor

Peers also affect the students’ interest in learning mathematics. They also serves as
their motivation to study. The responses from the respondents are as follows: “ahh oo , nung
grade 7 kasi may competition kaya nagiging ganon narin na mas pag-igihin matuto kasi para
makasabay sa agos… Masarap sa feeling pagisa ka sa mga sumasagot”( Oh yes, when I am
grade 7,there was a competition then this urge me to learn to go with the flow…It feels good
when you’re the one that can answer it );“Friends kasi ano nagmomotivate din sila na mag aral
yung isat isa.. kunwari ung future ko naaguusap usap yung mga magkakaibigan about sa future
syempre pagsila nagsabi na sila ng mga gusto nila maging syempre mamonitive ka na”.
(“Friends motivates me because example, they are talking about their future careers, they
motivate me”)

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Social Media

Positive

Social media affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics. It can help them in
studying Mathematics. The response from the student is “don maraming makukuhang
impormasyon doon sa gadgets ehh technology mga ganon kasi isang click mo lang don type
mo yung letters tas isang click mo lang don makikita mo na kung ano hinahanap mo ehh
maroon rin doon mga na appload na mga lesson mga completong solution ,formulas para
matutunan mga ganon may mga application na rin… nakakatulong rin yung mga social media
friends na magkainteres kayo sa math”(There are many information that gadgets can provide
and the like because in your one click, you can see what you are finding.There are lessons that
can be upload wit complete solution, formulas to learn.Social media friends can help to get
interest on math)

Negative

Social media affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics. It can be a hindrance
in studying Mathematics. The response from the student is “diba distraction ko nga ngayon
gadgets kaya kahit gumagawa ako ng project kunyari project hindi ko talaga sya natatapos”.
(“When at home, internet is the only distraction for me. So I can’t finish my project.”)

Computer Games

“ah.. yun so nakakaapekto rin yung gadgets”( Ah…Gadgets can affect)

School works

School works hinder them to study and learn Mathematics. The response from the
respondent is “tinatamad ako kunwari pagod maraming iniisip yung iba pang school works”( I
am being lazy example when I thinking of the schoolworks)

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Student Factor

The students also struggle with themselves. The response from the respondent is “ayaw
ko talaga sa math at science, ayaw na ayaw ko talaga..nawalan din ako ng gana sa math , kasi
feeling ko ang hirap niya kahit ano lang sya yung mga plus minus divide mga ganon feeling ko
ang hirap”. (“I really don’t like math and science, I feel it’s very hard”)

2. How do these factors affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning

Mathematics?

Family Factor

Positive

Family is one of the factors that can affect the student’s interest in learning Mathematics.
“dahil dun, madali ko nalang naiintindihan yung mga lessons naming sa school… tapos nong
pumapasok na ako yun nga parang enenjoy ko yung pagsagot ng mga ganon.. nagumpisa
talaga nagturo sa akin si mommy yon tapos nong pumapasok na ako yun nga parang enenjoy
ko yung pagsagot ng mga ganon”( Because of that, it’s easy to understand the lessons on
school…and when I am enter the class, I am enjoying the recitation and the like…It is first by
mommy by teaching me then and when I am in class, I am enjoying it); “Dahil tinuturuan nya ko,
lagi akong mataas sa math at kasali ako lagi sa top.” (“I got high grades in math because she
teaches me.”)

Negative

Family can be a cause of students’ lack of interest in learning Mathematics. The

response from the respondent is “kasi siya lang yung parang nag eencourage sa akin na
mag… pag nasa bahay, magreview, tapos… pag may kunwari laruan itatabi niya para hindi
ako madistract…syempre di ba sya lang yung nag aano sa akin e di nawalan na ako ng gana
mag-aral.” (Now that she’s gone, no one encourages me to review and to study, so I lose
interest in studying)

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Teacher Factor

Teachers affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics based on the way they
teach their lessons. They also serve as the students’ motivation in studying. The response from
the respondent is “ahmm yun nga, dahil namotivate ako mas nagsipag haha ginawa ko yun
tapos nag-aral ako mabuti… kasi lahat sila magaling magpayo.”(Ahmm that’s it, because they
motivate me to be more diligent then I study hard…because all of them are excellent councelor)

Peer Factor

Peers also affect the students’ interest in learning mathematics. They also serves as
their motivation to study. The responses from the respondents are as follows: “Syempre
pagnakakasagot sila kaylagan makakasagot ka rin kaya ano ahh mas nalilinang yung ang
kaalaman”

Social Media

Positive

Social media affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics. It can help them in
studying Mathematics. The response from the student is “So yun, dahil dun marami akong
natututunan sa math.. sa mga groups malaki talaga yung tulong non kasi doon makakakita ng
mga ibat ibang tanong mahihirap mga bago lang sa paningin mo na mga tanong tapos di mo
pa na encounter prang magkakaroon ka ng interes na pagaralan ganon tapos nakikisabay Ka
rin na sumagot ganon ahh nakikitanong Karin kung paano nangyari ganon.”

Negative

Social media affect the students’ interest in learning Mathematics. It can be a hindrance
in studying Mathematics. The response from the student is “Dahil dun, hindi na ko nakakapag-
aral sa math”. (“Because of these, I can’t study my lessons in math”)

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School Works

School works hinder them to study and learn Mathematics. The response from the
respondent is “Yun, dahil dun nakakapagod kaya tinatamad na kong mag-aral.” (“Because of
laziness, I am not able to study”)

Student Factor

The students also struggle with themselves. The response from the respondent is
“parang tinamad..tumagal tagal hanggang yung nga nawalan talaga ako ng interes”. (“As time
goes by, I lose interest”)

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 CHAPTER 5

Summary,conclusions, and recommendations

This chapter presents the summary, the conclusions drawn and the recommendations
formulated.

This study aims to determine the results of the interview of the participants from Grade
11 students of the study entitled ” Factors affecting the grade 11 students in learning
Mathematics”,held at Holy Spirit National High School on March 2018.

It attempted to answer the following questions:

1. What are the factors that affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning Mathematics?

2. How do these factors affect the Grade 11 students’ interest in learning Mathematics?

This study involved the Grade 11 students of Holy Spirit National High School Senior High
School STEM students. There are two respondents that are included in the study.

Summary of Findings

1. Base on the data gathered from the respondents, the factors that affect the students’
interest in learning mathematics are as follows:

 Family
 Teacher
 Peers
 School works
 Social media
2. Base on the data gathered from the respondents, these factors affect the relationship as
follows:
 Family is one of the main factor on having an interest in learning Mathematics. It can
cause positive or negative effect, depending on situation.

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  Teacher is one of the factor that can affect the students interest in learning Math. Their
influence can cause positive or negative effect.
 Peers can influence the students interest. They can contribute or disrupt the student.
 The degree of schoolworks can affect the students interest
 Social media is one of the factors that can be useful or harmful,depending on situation.

Conclusion

The researcher concluded that there are factors that influenced the Grade 11 students
interest in learning Mathematics such as teachers, student, schoolworks, peer, and social
media. Family is one of the main factor on having an interest in learning Mathematics. It can
cause positive or negative effect, depending on situation. Teacher is one of the factor that
can affect the students interest in learning Math. Their influence can cause positive or
negative effect. Peers can influence the students interest. They can contribute or disrupt the
student. The degree of schoolworks can affect the students interest. Social media is one of
the factors that can be useful or harmful,depending on situation.

Recommendations

Students. This study will give an immediate idea on the problems that the students might

encounter in learning Mathematics and it will also help them to handle these problems.

Teachers. It will give an idea to the teachers about the things that they must consider in

teaching their lessons to their students.

Parents. In this study, the parents will know the problems that their children may encountering

as students. This knowledge will let the parents understand the sitatuations for them to be able

to help their children in dealing the problems.

Future researchers. They can use the findings of this research as a reference and basis to

their own research that is related to student’s interest in learning Mathematics.

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References
Acharya, B. (2017). Factors Affecting Difficulties in Learning Mathematics by Mathematics Learners.
Kathmandu, Nepal: International Journal of Elementary Education.

Akinoso, S. (2011). Correlates of some factors affecting students’ achievement in secondary school
mathematics in Osun State. Nigeria.

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Andaya, O. F. (2014). Factors that Affect Mathematics Achievements of Students of Philippine Normal
University. Isabela, Philippines.

Anigbo, L. (2016). Factors Affecting Students’ Interest in Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Enugu
State. International Journal of Education and Evaluation.

Idigo, E. (2010). Effective method of Retaining Students Interest in Mathematics in Secondary Schools in
Enugu East local Government area of Enugu State. Enugu.

McLeod, S. (2008). Case study method. .

Palinkas, L. A. (2016). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
implementation research. HHS Public Access, 533-544.

Pharm, J. (2014). Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of Basic and Clinic
Pharmacy, 87-88.

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