NEW NORMAL EDUCATON: EFFECTS TO STUDENTS’ PHYSICAL AND

MENTAL HEALTH

A RESEARCH STUDY

PRESENTED TO

THE FACULTY OF SANTIAGO DELMO MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL

IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMNETS FOR

PRACTICAL RESEARCH I

BY

CHRISTEL JANE L. ELVINIA

GRAGE-12 (HUMSS)

JANUARY 2021
Introduction

The new normal education is one of the factors which has an important effect to students’
physical and mental health. The present study aims to find its effects to students in Santiago
Delmo Memorial High School (SDMHS).

This study mainly focused on new normal education as a variable of their physical and
mental health. How could new normal education be related to the physical and mental health of
the students in Santiago Delmo Memorial High School? In the new normal, all schools will have
blended or purely on-line courses. Training in using teaching and learning platforms will be
available for both teachers and students. Physical and mental health on the other hand, is
fundamentally linked. The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-
being in which the person realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of
life, can operate productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to his or her community while the
overall physical state of a living organism at a given time is physical health.”

Statement of the Problem

The education sector is one of the highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the

Philippines, where there is still a growing COVID-19 infection as of now, this study presented

some of the new normal situation in the school setting.

This study aims to determine the effects of new normal education to the physical and

mental health of the students.

The researchers wanted to answer the following questions:

1. What is the new normal education?

2. Does new normal education benefit the students?

4. What are the positive and negative effects of new normal education to students’ physical

and mental health?

Scope of Delimitation

This study covers 30 selected Grade 12 students of Santiago Delmo Memorial

High School. This study was delimited to the selected Grade 12 students of Santiago Delmo

Memorial High School. The researcher will gather information about the ne normal education

and its effects to students’ physical and mental health.

Significance of the Study

This study is beneficial because it will help us find out how the new normal education

affects the students’ physical and mental health as well as the effects of the new normal

education on students’ academic performance. Moreover, the result of the study will be helpful

to the following.

To the respondents, they will have knowledge about the new normal education and it’s

physical and mental health.

To the teachers, the study will help them in guiding the students and understand the well-

known effect of new normal education in accordance with the physical and mental health of the

students.
 To the parents, it will serve as the basis of sharing information with other parents on

how the new normal education affects the students physical and mental health.

To the future researcher, the study will serve as their guide and will help them determine

possible effects of new normal education towards the academic performance of the students.

Review of Related Literature

This review consists of summary of findings or research on the past on the same or

related topic. This review provides insight regarding what’s already known and what are to be

known. And it also guides the researchers on how they could perceive the study.

According to the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia,

significant efforts are being made by governments and educational institutions at all levels to

find practical solutions in online and modular learning amid the COVID-19 outbreak. This action

helps parents to accompany their child's education at home and at least reduce parents' concerns

about the quality of online and modular learning. A study shows that when students are not at

school, for example, holidays or study at home, they are physically less active and have a longer

time to use mobile phones, and so their use will also feel saturated, even with severe, mild stress

(Brazendale et al., 2017).

` According to the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), the pandemic has interrupted the learning of more than one billion students in 129

countries around the world [10].

online platforms etc., further inducing anxiety and mental health issues among the students.

Studies on the effect of COVID-19 and lockdowns on college students in China reported

significant adverse effects on the students’ physical, psychological well-being and high levels of

anxiety [11–13].

Students were also asked about the impact of the new normal education during this

pandemic on depressive, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health issues. These constructs were

derived from existing literature identifying prominent factors affecting college students’ mental

health [20,21].

According to the International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, the burden of

online lecture tasks is one of the contributing factors to students' stress levels and mental issues,

which requires them to use online media that they have just learned and must immediately

understand. This is reinforced by research that found that public health emergencies can have

many psychological effects on students, which can be expressed in the form of anxiety, fear, and

anxiety (Sharp & Theiler, 2018).

Based on the study of Guevarra and Cimanez (2017), students face different challenges in

terms of their academic and many more. People that encounter mental and physical health issues

lead them to rapid bodily changes such as feelings of emotional unrest causing them to feel body

aches. Many students try to mix up busy lives, school and work, while they are trying also to

have time with family and friend. For some students, this becomes almost a way of living.

However, it is dangerous to let this become student’s way of living in Senior High School

because some of the health issues can lead to a terrible effect that changes completely student’s
life and it may result to failure. Therefore, students need to create a coping strategy for their

health problems for them to reduce the negative effects to their learning and performance during

this time of pandemic.

Methodology

This chapter presents the research design of this study, the chosen respondents of the

study, data gathering procedure, data gathering instrument, and statistical analysis of data.

Research Design

The phenomenology research design was employed in this study in pursuing the main

research question, New Normal Education: Effects to Students' Physical and Mental Health. It

focused on collecting data from the students using the open-minded question to describe the

problems involved in the study about the attitude of individual participants were conducted.

Findings were reported using some direct words from the participants.

Participants

Participants of the study were the students of Santiago Delmo Memorial High School

where interviews were conducted. The 15 participants included in the study, were the Grade 12

students of different strands. The study is focused on New Normal Education: Effects to

Students' Physical and Mental Health.

Research Instrument Used

An interview guide was used to facilitate sequencing of questions discussions regarding

participants in New Normal Education: Effects to Students' Physical and Mental Health. Follow-
up questions were asked based on the answer of Students involved and additional clear questions

were asked by the research wherever necessary.

Data were gathered from the Online using Messenger who was willing to be interviewed

in-depth. Informed consent from the Students in the said school was then obtained before each

interview session. Participants were briefed about the purpose of the study and told that their

participation was voluntary and individual identity would not be disclosed.

Some participants refused to be interviewed and so the researchers respected their

decision to privacy. The rest of the participants who agreed to the interview were told that their

participation was voluntary individual identity would be kept confidential and that data collected

would be used for academic purposes only. It was emphasized that reports will materialize from

the interview would be used to fulfill the requirements for the degree pursued by the researchers.

Then open-minded interviews will the participants progressed until the data saturation occurred.

Sampling

The researchers used the Random- Stratified sampling method. This method is a

probability sampling technique in which the researcher divides the entire population into

different subgroups or strata, then randomly selects the final subjects from the different strata

proportionally, meaning it only needs a small sample size that can save researchers a lot of time,

money and effort.

An interview was performed by the researchers for the purposes of this study. Guide

questions were used for the interview to the selected students of Santiago Delmo Memorial High

School. A total of 10 questions will be asked to the participants for the interview. The guide
questions provided by the researchers will be given and asked to the 15 selected students of each

strand in grade 12.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will be guided by the following guidelines in conducting the interview:

Asking Permission to Conduct Study. The researchers will formulate a formal letter

requesting permission from the Principal of Santiago Delmo Memorial High School, to perform

the study through personal interview with selected respondents, properly noted by their thesis

adviser. Another letter will be sent to the prospective respondents, also properly noted by their

thesis adviser, requesting permission to conduct research at Santiago Delmo Memorial High

School.

Conduct of Personal Interview. For the respondents, a suitable environment will be

selected. The purpose of the interview will be clearly clarified, and the confidentiality of their

answers will be guaranteed to the interviewee. In addition, the interview format and and its

essence, intent and expectations will be clarified, as well as the interview time frame. The

interview will be conducted in an informal manner, a type of conversation with the guide

questions as basis to allow the degree of freedom and adaptability in getting the information

from the interviewee. Questions will be asked one at a time, allowing the interviewee enough

time to think and respond to the questions. All the conversation or the interview process will be

written down and actual information will be encoded relative to the interview.
Data Analysis

Verbatim transcription was utilized for data analysis major topics or themes and issues

related to the research questions were identified and discussed with an explanation from the

research adviser.

Data were analyzed using narrative descriptions collected from the participants and was

based on the principle of data saturation. Saturation refers to the repetition of discovered

information and confirmation of previously collected data (Morse, 1994) and no additional data

can be found that would add to categories being developed or examined (Minichiello, et al,

1990). Saturation is achieved for a specific culture or phenomenon at a particular time. If another

group of individuals will be observed or interviewed at another time, new data may be revealed.

After data analysis, data was broken down into categories of responses about the attitude

of participants. Once all themes or categories relevant to the study were obtained, implications to

improve the classroom management styles employed by every participant in Santiago Delmo

Memorial High School was emphasized.

Moreover, in analysis, the researchers applied etic and emic descriptions. The

participant's point of view is classified as emic description and description based on the

“insider’s point of view”, which is considered as etic description.

New Normal Education: Effects on Students’ Physical and Mental Health:

A Qualitative Study

Name: ____________________ Strand: ___________

Gender: ______ Age: _____

1. What type of blended learning are you into?

2. Do you consider this type of learning during this pandemic? Why?

3. How does this “new normal education” affect your mental health?

4. How does this “new normal education” affect your physical health?

5. Does new normal education benefit you and the other students? How?

6. Do you have physical and mental health issues during this new normal? How did you

handle it?

7. What are the advantages of this new normal education for you as a student?

8. What are the disadvantages of this new normal education for you as a student?

9. Do you think that this new normal education is more applicable than the face-to-face

learning? Why?
 10. As a student, what are the physical and mental health problems that you have

encountered during this new normal education?

Referencces

Brazendale, K., Beets, M. W., Weaver, R. G., Pate, R. R., Turner-McGrievy, G. M.,

Kaczynski, A. T., … von Hippel, P. T. (2017). Understanding differences between summer vs.

school obesogenic behaviors of children: the structured days hypothesis. International Journal of

Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 100.

Bao, Y.; Sun, Y.; Meng, S.; Shi, J.; Lu, L. 2019-nCoV epidemic: Address mental health

care to empower society. Lancet 2020, 395, e37–e38.

Cao, W.; Fang, Z.; Hou, G.; Han, M.; Xu, X.; Dong, J.; Zheng, J. The psychological

impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. J. Psychiatry Res. 2020, 287,

112934.

Guevarra and Cimanez (2017). Effect of stress on academic performance of students in

different streams https://jprsolutions.info/files/ms-file-5b66976f9227f6.15034335.pdf

Lazarus, R.S.; Folkman, S. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping; Springer Publishing Company:

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students: Pervasiveness, implications and potential points of intervention. International Journal

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Wang, G.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, J.; Zhang, J.; Jiang, F. Mitigate the effects of home

confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet 2020, 395, 945–947.

Weiller, E.; Bisserbe, J.C.; Maier, W.; Lecrubier, Y. Prevalence and recognition of

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