UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIC STRESS OF STUDENTS IN

TALA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A Research Presented to the Faculty of

Tala Senior High School
Sitio Tala, Munting Indang, Nasugbu, Batangas

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Subject

Practical Research 1

Kristine Mae Quijano

Rovic Morancil

Abegail Perfinian

Mary Ann Cuaresma

Jenny Martinez

March 2020
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The researchers would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the

following persons who helped them in the completion of the study:

Ms. Maria Carla M. Estipona, the researcher’s adviser, for her painstaking

effort in giving suggestions and advice.

Mrs. Ma. Verla Africa Alvaran, Principal of SHS within Tala Elementary, for

her utmost support and encouragement to finish the study.

To the Respondents, for the cooperation on this study and for the honest

answers that surely help the study.

To the Co-Researchers, for the effort to finish this study and for the

sleepless nights and other sacrifices to comply with this subject.

Kristine Mae Quijano

Rovic Morancil

Abegail Perfinian

Mary Ann Cuaresma

Jenny Martinez
 DEDICATION

This is

To all the persons who encouraged us

To pursue this creation of wisdom

In which we shed our blood and

sweat…

Kristine Mae Quijano

Rovic Morancil

Abegail Perfinian

Mary Ann Cuaresma

Jenny Martinez
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………………….................... i

APPROVAL SHEET………………………………………………...…………….… ii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.………………………………………………….…..….... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT…………………………………………..………………….. v

DEDICATION…………………………………………………….………………..… vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….…...… viii

LIST OF TABLES (if any)……………………………………………..……………. x

LIST OF FIGURES (if any)……………………………………………..………..…. xi

CHAPTER

I. THE PROBLEM

Introduction ................................................................................................... 6

Statement of the Problem ............................................................................ 7

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study .......................................... 8

Significance of the Study .............................................................................. 8

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Conceptual Literature…………………………...………………………... __

Research Literature……...……………………………………….……..... __

Synthesis…………..………………………………………..……………... __

Theoretical Framework……………………………………………..…..... __

Conceptual Framework……………………………………………..…..... __

Definition of Terms………………….…………………………...…….…. __
III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Research Design……….…………………….....…………………........... __
Subjects of the Study.....………………………………………………. __

Data Gathering Instrument.………..………………….………………. __

Data Gathering Procedure……..……………………………………… __

Statistical Treatment of Data…….………………….…………........... __

IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

4.1 The Perception of the Respondents about Academic

Stress….…………………………………………………………………

4.2 The Factors that Cause Academic Stress to the

Respondents……………………………………………………………

4.3 The Effects of Academic Stress to the Respondents

Academic Performance…………………………………………………

4.4 The Possible Reasons that can Trigger the Stress of

Students………………………………………………………………..

4.5 The Possible Solutions to Overcome Academic Stress………..

V. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of Findings ….………………………………………. __

Conclusions………………………………….………………… __

Recommendations…………………………………………….. __

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………… __

APPENDICES

CURRICULUM VITAE
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Stress is an insight of emotional and physical tension. There are numbers

of incidents in a person’s life that lead to negative emotions like anger, frustration,

and nervousness that further develops stress in an individual. Stress is the body’s

reaction to challenge or demand. It can be positive at times however prolonged

stress can lead to severe conditions.

The stress among the students varies when work is given as challenges or

threat. The pressure to perform well in the examination or test and time allocated

makes environment very stressful. Thakkar (2018) explains that the greatest

academic stressors include tests, grades, homework, academic and achievement

expectations and parental pressure. School related stresses include inadequate

instructional methods, heavy academic workload, poor physical classroom

environments, inability to balance one’s leisure time with school, and

disorganization surrounding academic assignments and schedules. Additional

sources consist of struggle to meet academic standards, worries about time

management and concerns over grades and scores. Students are thus, seen to be

affected by the negative causes of academic stress. There are lot of stress related

to studies, homework, tests, reading, tuition and other academic competitions.

Student faces a lot of stress due to imbalance of academic and social performance

and time management for extracurricular activities from education. Academic

stress is especially high in the students who are unable to maintain balance

between their academic, family and friends, social, financial pressures and lack of

time management skills. Stress is said to have influence on students learning,

academic performance, motivation, interpersonal relationships between teachers

and students (Kadison, 2004). Students are usually conditioned in a way that

makes them tearful to take up upcoming challenges as the focus is only the

academics and not their development of students to get better mentally.

Academic stress is an alarming problem of a student life in the present. Our

education system has loaded the students with a different pressure such as vast

curriculum, examination fear, neck to neck competitions and peer and parental

pressures. The researchers noticed that the students are carrying so many

problems that may lead to their stress. Hence the researchers conducted this

research to understand the academic stress of students in SHS within Tala ES.

Also, it aims to know the cause and effect of academic and to find out better

solutions to help students to cope up with academic stress.

Statement of the Problem

This study focuses on identifying the causes of academic stress among

students. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is the perception of the respondents about academic stress?

2. Why do the respondents experience academic stress?

3. How does academic stress affect the respondent’s academic

performance?
4. What are the possible reasons that can trigger the stress of students?

5. What are the possible solutions to overcome academic stress?

Scope, Delimitation, and Limitation of the Study

This study focuses on understanding academic stress of students in SHS

within Tala ES, specifically the cause and effect of academic stress to the

respondents. This study also covers the possible reasons that can trigger the

stress of students.

The data collection was conducted to10 students from Grade 11 and 12 in

SHS within Tala ES. This research used purposive sampling in which students

were chosen based on the researchers’ observation. The respondents are those

students having a hard time coping with heavy academic workload that lead to

their stress.

A limited number of subjects have been considered in this research. The

time to conduct this research is not enough if higher number of respondents is

gathered.

Significance of the Study

This research would be beneficial to the school, teachers, parents, students

as well as future researchers.

To the school, they will know the cause and effect of academic stress of

students. Therefore, the school can provide action to help students prevent

academic stress.
 To the teachers, the teachers may be able to understand the changes of the

behavior, perception in life and academic performance of the students that were

engaged to academic stress.

To the parents, they will know the effects of academic stress to their child.

Parents will be aware of the risk of this of this problem so they can help to prevent

and avoid their child to be stressed.

To the students, they will know the negative effect of academic stress in

their academic performance. They can be aware on implications that academic

stress can do to them.

To the future researchers they will get some information that might be

needed in their research and some of their questions may possibly be answered

by this research.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of conceptual and research literatures

which have bearing on the present study, its synthesis, conceptual frameworks,

and definition of key terms.

Conceptual Literature

The following literature concepts are all about study habits, burnout,

academic pressure and academic curriculum.

Study Habits. Kyoshaba (2009) stated that study habits are strategies and

methods of purposely learning, usually centered on reading and writing. Effective

study skills are essential for students to acquire good grades in school and are

useful in general to improve learning throughout one’s life.

For some students, strategies and methods in studying are not applied

that is why they cannot manage their activities in a certain time. If a student has a

bad studying habit, they tend to be pressured by academic workload and they did

not know how to finish all the task that can lead to their stress.

Likewise, Aluja & Blanch (2004) stated that study habits include skills that

enable a learner to systematically plan, access, record, organize, encode, and use

information on their own in order to achieve a certain goal. Life at school includes

juggling many things like reading books and chapters, meeting paper/academic

work deadlines and participating in the usual school extracurricular activities

making the students feel like there is not enough time to complete all their work

adequately.

Many students may find the academic experience very stressful attributing

it to various such as poor time management that may include not allocating time

properly or last minute cramming for deadlines and exams. In addition, most

students start working on large task well before due dates. The large tasks are

broken down into small, which are achievable on a regular schedule. Students who

regularly ignore these techniques find themselves in great distress about exams

and academic works.

Burnout. According Essel&Awusu (2017) burnout also referred to as

soulless situation is where a person loses the eagerness and motivation in

continuing to a particular kind of studies or activity as a result of both external and

internal factors. The skills and expertise are still active but the desire and the

wellness to perform is dead in the person as such activity or studies become huge

responsibility without any joy.

The researchers noticed that academic stress can lead to burnout. It

destroys a student’s motivation and may kill the initiative’s at studies or school. It

normally affects students whose studies are interaction with people like team

leaders, etc. Also, students whose studies are time band that is adhering to strict

time schedules also experienced academic stress that lead to burnout.

Academic Pressure. Airic (2012) stated that academic pressure is one of

a student’s biggest causes of stress. These pressures mainly come from peer and

parental expectations and from fear. Fear of failure and disgrace. Everything that
students do in school is looking towards getting into a good college by aiming for

a perfect GPA, loading on multiple class and most importantly studying hours on

end in order to do well on standardized tests.

An increase in class workload stresses up students in the sense that when

students have to do more than they can handle, they turn to get frustrated and are

unable to focus and think straight. Students will overschedule their plans to meet

up with the class workload in other to get good grades but eventually because

these tasks are too much for them, they end up messing everything up.

Academic Curriculum. Edglossary.org (2015) stated that the term

curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a

specific course or program. It is often defined as the subjects offered by a school,

but it is rarely used in such a general sense in schools. Depending on how broadly

educators define or employ the term, curriculum typically refers to the knowledge

and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or

learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers

teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials,

videos, presentations, and readings used in a subject; and the tests, assessments,

and other methods used to evaluate student learning.

Every student has a life outside the academic curriculum and environment.

When a student has to compromise and use their personal time for other activities

for studies, they turn to get bored and lose interest in studies. At the long run, this

situation stresses them up which causes them to lose focus on academic work.
Students will become stressed if all they do is to use their private time for studies

and not have time for themselves.

Research Literature

The study conducted by Feridoet. al. (2015) determined the stressors and

stress responses of Filipino college students in relation to sex, course, and

academic classification. There were 258 respondents for the study. The top five

overall stressors of the respondents were academic difficulty of subject matter,

workload due to subjects, time management because of subjects, responsibilities

due to being on one’s own, and time management because of both subjects and

organizations. For both male and female respondents, the top stressors were

academics, workload due to subjects, and time management concerns. They all

reacted to stress with affective stress responses. These patterns can be monitored

to maintain the psychological and physical well-being of adolescent students.

Salvacion (2004) studied the stress profile of students in the College of

Dentistry of the University of the Philippines, Manila. The study involved 149

dentistry student-respondents. Academic stressors like examinations and grades,

fully loaded days, difficulty in completing clinical requirements, and fear of getting

delayed topped the identified stressors. Academic factors were stressful in the first

3-year levels. Academic stress peaked during the sophomore year. No significant

differences in rankings were observed between genders. There was undeniable

similarity in the general stress profile of the different year levels.

The study of Mazo (2015) entitled, “Causes, Effects of Stress, and the
Coping Mechanism of the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Students

in A Philippine University,” sought to determine the causes of stress, the effects of

stress, and the stress coping mechanisms of Bachelor of Science in Information

Technology students in the Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City. It tested some

assumptions using the descriptive survey method with 51 respondents. Thesis

writing/research and school requirements/projects were the most common causes

of stress. Sleepless nights and irritable/moody feeling were the common effects of

stress. The use of computer and praying to God were the common stress coping

mechanisms. There was an observed disparity between the male and female

responses.

Leal (2012) studied the “Stress Experiences among Graduating Students of

Isabela State University San Mateo Campus.” Results showed that the graduating

students of Isabela State University San Mateo Campus experienced different

causes/ sources of stress. Results also revealed the effects of stressor differ

between male and female. Thus, knowledge of the causes/ sources, effects and

coping mechanisms of stress help student confront stress constructively.

Based on the study of Ahern (2015) in the University of Limerick, an

interactional approach to student stress is explored, based on the primacy of

student developmental needs. The present study is a qualitative investigation of

the stress experienced by a group of 27 third level students. Stress is examined in

terms of the meaning of stressful experiences for individuals. The data collected in

the present study consists of a series of interviews carried out with each of the

students over a three-month period. The analysis of data reveals a number of

patterns of stress, with pattern of academic over-identification, parental conflict and

social inadequacy particularly noteworthy. Gender differences with regard to the

need for separateness and belonging are highlighted and the relationship between

stress and developmental needs is reinforced.

Khan (2018) explored the effect of academic stress on students’

performance and the impact of demographic variables like gender, age and

educational level. A sample of one hundred and fifty students was taken from

different universities located in Islamabad. Seventy- five respondents were males

and the remaining seventy-five were females. The results showed significant effect

of academic stress on student’s performance. There was a non-significant

difference between male and female university students on scores on the

Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). A significant difference between junior and senior

students was found on the PSS. Academic stress was found to be higher in

younger students than older students. There was a non-significant difference on

PSS scores among students when stress was measured at the beginning and at

the end of the semester.

Melton et, al. (2010) qualitatively assess the sources of stress, types of

stressors, and coping mechanisms employed among students in Georgia Southern

University. Nominal group process was utilized to obtain information related to

study variables and help prioritize the accounts provided by study participants (n =

173). The results revealed that participants gave insight into the unique stress

faced by this generation (grades, GPA, multitasking, parental expectations), stress

symptoms (more psychological in nature), and coping strategies (prayer, talking to

mom, surfing the net, and social networking). The top stressors included:

schoolwork, money, time management, parents, and friends. Moodiness/irritability,

anxiety, and sleep problems were the highestranked symptoms of stress cited by

study participants. The three most-reported coping mechanisms were: working out,

prayer, and talking to their mother.

Owusu & Essel (2017) examines the impact of stress on students’ academic

performance and stress management among students of Seinäjoki University of

Applied Sciences. The results obtained show the different factors that cause stress

among students. The factors were grouped into four, namely Relationship factors,

Environmental factors, Academic factors, and Personal factors. With respect to

Relationship factors, working with new people was the main cause of stress for

students in both groups. In the case of Environmental factors, worries about the

future was the main factor causing stress among students, whereas class workload

was the main element of stress with regard to the Academic factors. In the category

of Personal factors, financial problems caused most stress to students. Stress can,

however, be managed through the introduction of a stress management course

and engaging in extracurricular

activities.
Synthesis

The aforementioned review of literature provided the researcher vast

information on different topics closely related to present study. Kyoshaba (2009)

and Aluja & blanch (2004) concepts about study habits and edglossary.com

concept about academic curriculum is significant to the present study because both

concepts help the researchers to identify and find out the common stressors of the

respondents.

The concept of academic pressure stated by Airic (2012) is significant to the

present study because it helps the researchers to identify the different academic

related cases of stress of the students of SHS within Tala E/S.

Essel & Owusu (2017) concept about burnout is significant to the present study

because it gives the researchers idea on the possible effect of stress if it is not

handled properly.

The study of Khan (2018) is similar to the present study because both

explored the effect of academic stress to the respondent’s academic performance.

However, the difference between the two is Khan study sought to determine the

significant difference between junior and senior students while the present study

focuses on the students of senior high school.

Melton et. al. (2010) and Mazo (2015) study is both similar to the present

study because it tackles the different sources of stress. Mazo also used descriptive

method like the present study while Melton et. al. used survey questionnaire. the

two studies are also different to the present study because they also tackled about
the coping mechanisms of the students while the present research just focuses on

the cause and effect of stress to the students.

Likewise, Feridoet. al. (2010) and Salvacion (2004) also studied the

different sources of stress. It is different to the present study because the data was

collected to the equal amount of male and female respondents while the present

study disregards the gender and choose respondents based on the researcher’s

observation.

The study of Ahern (2015) is alike to the present study because it tackles

about the in-depth analysis about stress of the students. Both also used qualitative

investigation using interviews. The only difference of this study to the present study

is that they consider the gender of the respondents and find the difference between

the two genders.

Owusu & Essel (2017) examines the different factors that cause stress

among students. Likewise, the present study sought to determine the different

stressors that cause stress. While the difference is the present study does not

group the cause of stress into different factors.

Conceptual Framework

The foregoing concepts were basis for creating a research as presented in

Figure 1 below:

The paradigm identifies the input of the study in which the contents are the

causes of academic stress of the respondents and the factors that affect the

academic performance of the respondents. It also identifies the process of the

study which contains the process of collecting data by the use of interview, data

analysis and interpretation. Lastly, it includes the output which contains the

recommendation and suggestion on the possible solutions to overcome academic

stress.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Researcher ‘s
recommendation and
Cause of academic Interview questions
suggestions on the
stress of the
possible actions to
respondents
overcome academic
stress

Factor that affect the

academic performance Data analysis and
of the respondents interpretation
Possible solutions to
overcome academic
stress

Figure 1.
Research Paradigm on Understanding Academic Stress of Students in
SHS within Tala ES
Definition of Terms

For the purpose of clarification, the important terms used in this study have

been defined.

The following terms are;

Academic Performance. According to ballotpedia.org academic

performance is the measurement of student’s achievement across various

academic subjects. In the study, the researchers use academic performance as

one of the things being affected by academic performance based on

respondents’ perceptions.

Academic Stress. According to Wittlory (2016) academic stress is mental

pressure installed onto the student’s brain due to overload of excess and

unnecessary load of school work and high parental expectations. In this study,

academic stress is used as the main problem of the study.

Stressors. Teppel (2007) define stressors as a chemical or biological

agent, environmental condition, external stimulus or an even that causes to an

organism. In this study, stressor is defined as too much workload that pressure the

students that lead the respondents of the research.

Escape. To cope with academic stress, some students may withdraw from

friends and become socially isolated.

Positive Self-talk. Talk to yourself influences or be a support for yourself

then you will feel more hopeful and have enough energy to achieve results and be

more likely to realize your full potential.

 Good Practice. Self-care it is important to take care of yourself. Studying

all-night or all day makes concentrating on studies keep us alone and isolated.
 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD AND STRATEGIES

This chapter presents the research method that was utilized in the study. It

includes the research design, subjects of the study, data gathering instrument

which includes the construction, validation and administration of the interview

questionnaires.

Research Design

In this study, the researchers used qualitative research method. Qualitative

used to observe feelings, thoughts behaviors and the belief of the mass society.

Qualitative data sources include observation, interviews and the researcher’s

impressions and reactions (Ramesh G. 2008)

For this research, method of interview was employed. Interview was use to

understand the academic stress of students in SHS within Tala ES. Interviewing of

selected individuals in a very important method because if will enable the

researchers to find out what is on their mind, what they think and how they feel

about academic stress. The research is dealing with human interaction and

perspective hence it will be a more accurate finding as the respondent are

perceived to give a more honest answer and opinion.

This study was performed using case study design. Case study is the

method of analysis and a specific research design for examining a problem, both

of which can be used to generalize findings across populations. The researchers

choose this method because its aimed to focus and analyze a specific case about

academic stress.

Subjects of the Study

The research involved 10 students from grade 11 and 12 in SHS within Tala

ES batch 2019-2020.

In this study, the researchers used purposive sampling for the selection of

the respondents.

Purposive sampling refers to intentionally choosing sample according to the

needs of the study. Likewise, this method enables the researchers to collect

relevant and useful information.

Data Gathering Instrument

The study used a researcher made interview guide as a data gathering.

Interview. The main instrument used in gathering was the researchers made

interview guide. Interview method is one of the ways to obtain primary data.

Therefore, in order to obtain primary information, face to face interview were

employed.

The interview questions were designed in English Language but to ensure

proper responses from the respondents, the interview process was also conducted

using the mother tongue language (tagalog). The responses were later carefully

transcribed and translated to English. The use of the mother tongue language was
used for the respondents to express their answer thus enabling than to contribute

relevant information in relation to the academic stress.

Construction. The researchers made an interview guide composed of 10

questions. This interview question was used as the main the instrument to collect

primary information about academic stress of students on SHS within Tala ES

Validation. The researchers made interview guide is presented to the

Practical Research Teacher. Then the practical research teachers revise some of

the questions in the interview guide. After the revisions, the researchers finalized

it and proceed on the administration of the interview.

Administration. The researchers wrote a letter to the Principal of SHS within

Tala ES to ask permission to conduct the interview to the respondents inside the

school.

The researchers also asked the permission of the respondents for their study. The

researchers explained to the respondents the content of the interview that they

administered.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers wrote a permission letters to the principal of SHS within

Tala Elementary School to seek approval to administer the interview to the

respondents.

After the letters were approved, the researcher started to interview was

conducted to support the data gathered.

 CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of data regarding the

result of the interview about academic stress of students in SHS within Tala ES.

4.1 The Perception of the Respondents about Academic Stress

Some of the respondents said that academic stress is such a headache. It

can somehow destroy the life of a student because it can affect the way they think

because of so many negative thoughts that come through their mind. 4 out of 10

students said that academic stress is a feeling that always keeps your mind in

trouble. When heavy academic workload is given, they do not know what to do first

and in the end. They do nothing at all.

Most of them said that it can affect emotionally because they are always

frustrated and irritated. It can also affect their physical aspect because most of

them cannot eat at the right time and become sleepless for they need to meet the

deadline of an academic work. Lastly, their mental health is the one that is being

affected the most because it changes the way students think and their behavior.

One of the respondents concluded that academic stress is a gateway for

depression.

The researchers found out that the respondents perceived academic stress

by the way it affects their life. They have different perception about academic stress

but all of them said that it can affect their life badly.
4.2 The Factors that Cause Academic Stress to the Respondents

Most of the respondents said that research paper, time management, lot of

activities, assignments and project, simultaneously task and over pressure are

some of the reason why students experience academic stress.

Therefore, the researchers concluded that most of the reason why

respondents experience academic stress is because of a lot of activities

assignments and projects. Probably because there are so many subjects that they

need to improvise. It is because of a long suspension of classes that extend for

almost three weeks that is why there are so many take home activities that are

given.

4.3 The Effects of Academic Stress to the Respondents Academic

Performance

4 out of 10 respondents said that the positive impact of Academic stress on

their education is that they are doing well in school because they can easily think

right 2 respondents said that they are motivated to learn more because it speeds

up the thinking skills. In addition, the remaining 4 respondents said that the positive

effect of academic stress on their studies was that they learned to balance their

time in at school at home. 5 out of 10 respondents said that the negative impact of

academic stress on student's learning of Senior High School within Tala ES is that

they can't think properly and correctly because of the amount of school work that

they do and their works do not turn out to be good. 3 out of 10 respondents said

that they could not do the school work anymore because they did not know what
to do first. One said that she was experiencing stress and one said that it causes

headaches in many adolescents.

The researchers found out that academic stress affect their life. Not only

their academic life but also their social, emotional and their personal life

4.4 The Possible Reasons that can Trigger the Stress of Students

Almost all of the respondents said that heavy academic workload can trigger

their stress. One of the respondents said that they can feel the pressure when they

are working on essay, activities and projects. They also said that lack of time

management triggers their stress. Some respondents said that they are having a

hard time adjusting to Senior High School and there are so many take home

activities that are given. They feel stressed because they still have to do household

chores but they also have academic work that they need to pass tomorrow. They

do not finish the entire task with their limited time.

There are so many reasons that can trigger the stress of students and they

cannot almost handle the stress. Lack of time then academic work and household

chores mostly are the factors that trigger academic stress.

4.5 The Possible Solutions to Overcome Academic Stress

From 10 respondents, most of them said that their self, classmate, parents,

God, teachers, gadgets and their favorite vlogger is the one who may help them to

overcome academic stress. In addition, they handle this by the help of music,

dancing, hanging out with friends, sleeping, eating, and doing what they want to do.

Moreover, they think that is one of the challenges that they need to overcome to

avoid academic stress.

 There are many ways to avoid academic stress like do some relaxation,

listening music and dancing. In that way they know how to avoid academic stress

by doing what they love.

 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of findings, conclusion and

recommendation of the study.

Summary of Findings

The study aims to understand the academic stress of students in SHS within

Tala ES and to know the cause and effect of it and to find out better solutions to

help students cope up with their academic stress.

Specially, this study sought to answer to the following questions.

1. What is the perception of the respondents about academic stress?

2. Why do the respondents experience academic stress?

3. Why does academic stress affect the respondent’s academic

performance?

4. What are the possible reasons that can trigger the stress of students?

5. What are the possible solutions to overcome academic stress?

The researchers used qualitative research method to observe feelings,

thoughts, behavior and beliefs of the respondents. Method of interview was

employed to understand the academic stress of students in SHS within Tala ES.

The research involved 10 students from Grade 11 and 12 in SHS within Tala

ES Batch 2019-2020. The researchers used purposive sampling for the selection

of the respondents.
 1. The Perception of the Respondents about Academic Stress

The respondents perceived academic stress as a threat to their mental

health, gateway for depression and it affect their life badly.

2. The Factor that Causes Academic Stress to the Respondents.

Heavy academic workload is the reason why respondents experience

academic stress. It can be stated that most of the reasons of the respondents are

because of so many subjects that they need to comply with.

3. The Effects of Academic Stress to the Respondents Academic

Performance.

The study reveals that academic stress affect the life of students not only their

academic life but also their social, emotional and their personal life.

4. The Possible Reason that can Trigger the Stress of Students.

Based on the study, there so many reasons that can trigger the stress of the

students and they cannot almost handle it. Lack of time, academic work and

household chores mostly are the factor that can trigger academic stress.

5. The Possible Solutions to Overcome Academic Stress.

The researchers found out that there are many ways to avoid academic stress

like doing some relaxation, listening to music and dancing. In that way they can

avoid academic stress by doing what they love.

Conclusion

From the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn.

1. Respondents perceived academic stress negatively because it gives

 negative effect to their life.

2. Unable to manage their time and thoughts causes stress to the students.

3. Academic stress may greatly affect student’s lives if it cannot be handled

well.

4. If things that can trigger the stress of students are not prevented, it can lead

to long term stress or worse.

5. There are so many solutions that students can do to overcome academic

stress.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusion drawn from the collected data, the

researcher recommends the following:

1. Students should always think positive and do not let their selves drown to

the racing thoughts in their mind.

2. Students should be enlightened on the need for positive attitude to heavy

academic work.

3. Parents should work in cooperation with their children to reduce the

academic stress experienced by the students. This could be done by

providing the necessary supports that their adolescent children may need.

4. Teachers should be encouraged to make the teaching/learning

environment more comfortable and tension free for effective learning.

5. Relaxation techniques can be provided to students to reduce the stress and

being mentally healthy.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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