CHAPTER 1

Difference Between the Grades of Decided and Undecided Grade 11 Students

Introduction

As a matter of fact, the educational system of the Philippines for the past few
years was not really that advance and was always at the bottom in giving quality
education unlike other neighboring countries. With this reason, Philippines had decided
to implement K to 12 curriculum which aims to enhance and improve the potential of
each and every students in the Philippines to produce competent individuals. Therefore,
adding an additional 2 years in the educational system which is called the senior high
school. Senior high school offers four tracks, which are Academic, Arts and Design,
Sports, and Technical and Vocational livelihood. These tracks are very helpful for they
prepare students to enhance their skills for their future desired college profession.

Academic is one of the four tracks that senior high school offers. In this track,
four strands are included which are the Accountancy and Business Management
(ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Science Technology Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM), and General Academic Strand (GAS). First is the
Accountancy Business and Management, this strand focuses more on the students who
have skills in analyzing problems, and also the passion in terms of businesses. Next is
the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), this strand is more on developing the
social skill of a students. On the other hand, Science Technology Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) is a strand that improves the ability of the students in solving
complex problems. Meanwhile, the General Academic Strand (GAS) is a strand which
tackles every strand. This strand is also very helpful for the students who are still
undecided with their strands. Lastly is the Technical Vocational and Livelihood, this
strand also offers four strands namely, Agri-Fishery Arts, Home Economics, Industrial
Arts, and Information and Communications Technology. Agri-Fishery Arts is more on
agriculture and aquaculture while home economics is all about cooking and other
aspects of household management. Along with these is the Industrial Arts which
focuses on developing manual skill and familiarity with tools and machines.
 Going into senior high school, students are required to choose a track and strand
they would like to pursue in their senior high school life for the next two years. Such
tracks prepare students for college, universities, or even actual workplaces by providing
them with the necessary skills they must possess. In choosing a strand, it is like
choosing the path to your future for it gives you a clear sense of direction towards the
profession that you will take in the future. The decision in choosing the right strand is
one of the most important decisions that a student has to make and this is why a lot of
thinking must be done when deciding. It is all about your decision if your future is going
to be easy or it is going to be your biggest challenge. If a student had chosen a strand
that he or she does not truly want, his or her performance could be mainly affected and
this might result in trouble in his or her future. Most students find it difficult in selecting a
strand because the success of one’s future is already being decided on. Some new
senior high school students are already decided with their strands but there also some
who are still undecided up until now.

Decided students are those who are sure already sure about the strands that
they took while undecided students are those who are unsure about their strands.
Having that said, some factors affect the decision of a student and these could be
personal interest, family background, friends/peer influence, interest/job opportunities,
convenience, academic experience, matching skills, media influence, and financial
status.

However, a student must always be reminded that he/she is the one who should
decide for his/her future. A student must think of the great character that he/she would
play in the future, a character that he/she desires to be, not what someone expects
him/her to be. It takes a lot of time to know what track or strand a student truly wants to
take and it also takes a lot of courage and hard work. So, as soon as possible, choose
the right strand that you want to pursue in the future for it can mold you into a
competent and successful individual.

Nevertheless, an individual cannot deny how challenging it is to choose the right

strand for it is like the path to your future. This why it is very important that a senior high
school student must be already decided with his or her chosen strand for it will lead
him/her to any consequences – whether positive or negative. It might help him/her out
or it will hinder his/her future. Even though that k to 12 offers tracks that can easily
enhance the skills of the students, many of the students are still undecided in choosing
their strand. Thus, this study aims to know the correlation between the grades of
decided and undecided Grade 11 students of Holy Angel University.

According to K12 Philippines (2015), K to 12 is a Department of Education

educational system aimed at improving the basic skills of students, producing more
professional individuals and preparing graduates for lifelong learning and employment.
“K” applies to kindergarten and “12” corresponds to the subsequent 12 years of basic
education (6 years of elementary school, 4 years of junior high school and 2 years of
senior high school). When you equate it with our neighboring countries, it is a relatively
new program here in the Philippines.

Furthermore, as stated by the AMA Education System (2019), choosing a track is

critical for making a student highly proficient in the field where his or her chosen track is
related to, especially if the student wishes to work immediately after graduating from
SHS. As most educators say, a mismatch in the track and the student’s interests,
personality and passion may lead to a poorly knowledgeable graduate who will find it
hard to compete in the job market or keep up with other students when he or she goes
to college.

Moreover, choosing the right career path is becoming more and more important
for young students today. Students have to take into account many things when
choosing a career and college major. Many factors can influence a student’s decision,
including parents, coaches, religious figures, or any role models in students life as
stated by Fizer (2013).

Lastly, according to study of Vallente et al. (n.d.), it was observed that the
students who usually took the course that they don’t like were most likely to affect their
grades. For example, as a researcher, we even encounter having a hard time on
deciding what course to take and ended up having the course the course that our
parents want to us to take. At first, it was good for taking the course but as the time
goes by it will become dull finding out that it does not meet your interest. Hence, the
grade will become little and ended up thinking of shifting from another one. According to
Vallente et al. (n.d.), as observed, the students that usually took the course that they
don’t like to affect their grades. For example, as a researcher, we even encounter
having a hard time on deciding what course to take and ended up having the course the
course that our parents want to us to take. At first, it was good for taking the course but
as the time goes by it will become dull finding out that it does not meet your interest.
Hence, the grade will become little and ended up thinking of shifting from another one.

Statement of the Problem

This research aimed to find out the choice preference and deciding factors of the
Grade 11 students of the Holy Angel University School Year 2019-2020. Thus, this
study primarily sought to answer the following questions:

1) How many are the decided and undecided Grade 11 students with their strands?

2) What are the factors that affected the decisions of the respondents?

3) Is there any significant difference between the grades of decided and undecided
Grade 11 students?

Hypothesis

There is no significant difference between the grades of the decided and

undecided grade 11 students.

Significance of the Study

This study can be beneficial to school administrators, teachers, students,

parents, and future researchers.
For the school administrators. This study will act as a basis for implementing and
enhancing their programs and services to assist the students who are having concerns
regarding their strands.

For the teachers. This study will serve as an eye-opener to facilitate their students for
them to recognize their interests and capabilities, which may help a student to decide on
their strand.

For the students. The study will help them to be enlightened with the value of decision-
making in choosing a strand. Also, it will help them increase and develop their interest
towards the decision-making process.

For the parents. Through this study, they will be more aware and therefore, support
their child in choosing the right for them to avoid further concerns that the child may
have.

For the future researchers. The study will serve as a reference for them to improve or
widen their study. It may also help to increase their knowledge regarding the topic.

Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses on the difference between the grades of decided and
undecided grade 11 students of Holy Angel University, in which the researchers will
gather by asking for the first quarter general average of the respondents. The data
collection will be conducted to the 20.75% of the total population of the grade 11
students in all strands. The respondents of the study will be identified through the use of
stratified and convenience sampling techniques. This study will not cover other
concerns outside the difference between the grades of decided and undecided
students. In addition to that, other students which do not fall as part of the grade 11
students are not within the scope of this research. The study will be done through the
utilization of questionnaire of the students as a survey and reference. By this strategy,
the researchers will be able to know if there is a difference between the grades of the
decided and undecided grade 11 students and also the factors that affected their
decisions.
 CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study used both qualitative and quantitative method as well as descriptive
research design in determining the difference between the grades of decided and
undecided grade 11 students. It utilized quantitative method of research since it
involved collected numerical analysis of data and it is a descriptive study which is a fact-
finding study.

Participants

The grade 11 students from Holy Angel University were chosen to be the
participants for this study in the Academic Year 2019-2020. The participants of the
study were the 305 Grade 11 students from Holy Angel University.

Stratified random sampling and convenience sampling were used for selecting
the participants in this study. These techniques were used to ensure the fairly equal
representation of results for this study. The 305 Grade 11 students were picked and
answered questions needed for the data collection regarding the difference between the
grades of decided and undecided grade 11 students.

Instruments

The main instrument that was used to collect data for this study was the survey-
questionnaire. A questionnaire is an instrument consisting of a series of questions for
the purpose of gathering information from the respondents. The researchers designed
their own questionnaire and was validated by their research adviser. The questionnaire
is divided into 4 tables having 1 of the tables consists of 2 subdivided tables. Also, it is
composed of questions regarding the difference between the grades of decided and
undecided grade 11 students which involves asking for their current strand, also if they
are either decided or undecided as well as the factors that made them choose their
strands, and lastly asking for their first quarter general average as a representation for
their grades.

Research Procedure

For the data collection procedure, the researchers will first identify the sample
size of the total population and then the number of students to be surveyed from each
strands using stratified and convenience sampling techniques. The researchers will use
this sampling technique because it involves the division of a population into smaller sub-
groups.

To elaborate, the researchers will first and foremost get the sample size of the
total population wherein, the sample size is 305 and the population is 1469. After getting
the sample size, the researchers will then move on to dividing the population into sub-
groups which are the strands involved in the study namely, ABM, STEM, HUMSS, TVL,
and GAS. Next, the researchers will get the result of the number of students that they
will survey from each strands by getting the quotient of the number of students in each
strand to the total population and afterwards, by getting the product of the result. The
researchers will also use convenience sampling technique in order to get the sample
size of the study by conducting surveys from those who are readily available in each
strand.

Before conducting surveys, the researchers will ask permission to their research
adviser before handling the questionnaires to the respondents. After the approbation of
the request, the researchers will conduct surveys to the grade 11 students of Holy Angel
University who will serve as the respondents of the study in order to know the difference
between the grades of decided and undecided students. Lastly, the researchers will
analyze and interpret the data collected to find the results needed for the study.
 CHAPTER 3

DATA INTERPRETATION

Paired Sample t-Test

Step 1:

https://www.academia.edu/24592420/Factors_Influencing_Students_Choice_for_a_Senior_High_Schoo
l_Academic_Track?auto=download