DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN

BIOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT TO THE

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF
GRADE 12 STEM STUDENTS IN UMTC
CHAPTER 3
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN BIOLOGY

Shown in Table 1 are the mean scores for the indicators of Difficulties Encountered In
Biology among senior high school STEM students with an overall mean of 3.21
described as sometimes with a standard deviation of 0.518. The sometimes level could
be attributed to rating sometimes given by the respondents in all indicators. This
means that the respondents’ response to Difficulties Encountered In Biology are
negative/positive in majority of the cases in the items of learners’ characteristics
trouble spot, understanding conceptual difficulties, and knowledge too foreign for
learners.

This cited overall mean score was the result gathered from the following computed
mean scores from highest to lowest: 3.28 or often for knowledge too foreign for
learners; 3.21 or often for understanding conceptual difficulties; and 3.14 or often for
learners’ characteristics trouble spot
The main difficulties indicator that was negative/positive in senior high school STEM
students of UM Tagum College with the highest mean was on Knowledge too Foreign
for Learners. It has the question with the highest mean “As a student, I can understand
Biology if real life objects or situations related to the topics are shown,” in which
respondents often experience difficulties that are often an unavoidable but important
part of the learning process.

With regards to the indicator which got the second highest mean Understanding
Conceptual Difficulties was also negative/positive among senior high school STEM
students in UM Tagum College. The question with the highest mean “As a student, I
find it hard to analyze some terms in Biology because there’s a lot of words to
familiarize,” in which they also experienced difficulties in so many topics in biology
negatively affects students’ motivation and achievement and their resilience level
facing unfamiliar vocabulary.
Finally, the difficulties indicator that was negative/positive also in senior high school
STEM students in UM Tagum College was on Learners’ Characteristic Trouble Spot,
being the indicator with the lowest mean and a question with highest mean score “As a
students, I easily forget our lessons in Biology,” which means that the respondents are.
LEVEL OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Shown in Table 2 are the mean scores for the indicators of Academic performance with an overall mean
of 3.54 described as sometimes with a standard deviation of 0.42. The often level can be attributed to
respondents' frequent ratings in all indicators. This means that the respondents’ response to academic
performance in UM Tagum College is positive in majority of the cases in the items of Motivation, Skills,
Biological Structure, and Responsive Environment.

The cited overall mean score was the result gathered from the following computed mean scores from
highest to lowest: 3.67 or sometimes for Motivation; 3.66 or sometimes for Responsive Environment;
3.59 or sometimes for Biological Structure; and 3.25 or sometimes for Skills.
Motivation was the major Academic Performance indicator that was positive in the STEM strand at UM
Tagum College with the highest mean of 3.67. It has the question “As a student, I find it important to
understand Biology and be able to utilize my knowledge in the future” in which respondents are needed
to initiate and maintain the activity until the goal directing the episode is attained.

This is preceded by the Responsive Environment indicator with the question of the second highest mean
score “In learning biology, my teacher promotes quiet and harmonious environment during his/her
lectures” which means that the respondents must have the cooperation that will facilitate progress
towards the goal.

Finally, in the STEM strand of UM Tagum College, the online learning indicator that was also positive
was Skills, being the indicator with the lowest mean and the question with the highest mean score under
the said indicator is “As a student, I believe that I can think critically and analytically when doing Biology
tasks, exams, quizzes and lesson” which means that the respondent must construct and execute a
pattern of activity that will produce the desired result. This is important for the students to know in what
part of the lesson they don`t understand well. It gives them clear guidance on how to improve their
learning and also to improve their confidence, self-awareness, and enthusiasm for learning.
TABLE 2. Level of Academic Performance among STEM students in UMTC
Significance on the Relationship between the Difficulties
Encountered in Biology and Academic Performance
One important purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the difficulties
encountered in Biology have significant relationship with the Academic Performance of
grade 12 STEM senior high students in UM Tagum College. Results of the
computations are shown in Table 4.

The overall r-value of 0.879 and probability value of .693 for the indicator Learners’
Characteristics Trouble Spot doesn’t bear a significant relationship to motivation, skill,
biological structure, and responsive environment. This means that there is no
relationship between two variables correlated because of probability level of 0.693
which is higher the 0.05 alpha level of significance. This means that the hypothesis is
accepted.
The overall r-value of 0.881 and probability value of .693 for the indicator
Understanding Conceptual Difficulties doesn’t bear a significant relationship to
motivation, skill, biological structure, and responsive environment. This means that
there is no relationship between two variables correlated because of probability level
of 0.693 which is higher the 0.05 alpha level of significance. This means that the
hypothesis is accepted.

The overall r-value of 0.884 and probability value of .693 for the indicator Knowledge
Too Foreign for Learners doesn’t bear a significant relationship to motivation, skill,
biological structure, and responsive environment. This means that there is no
relationship between two variables correlated because of probability level of 0.693
which is higher the 0.05 alpha level of significance. This means that the hypothesis is
accepted.
The correlation between the overall difficulties encountered in biology and the
academic performance yields an r-value of 0.075 with a verbal description of no
correlation or little if any correlation. Moreover, the two variables attained a computed
p-value of 0.693 which is higher the 0.05 alpha level of significance. This means that
the hypothesis is accepted.

Furthermore, a positive r-value implies that as the level of the difficulty of biology
increases, the level of academic performance also increases. In the same manner, as
the level of the difficulty of biology decreases, the level of academic performance also
decreases. This implies that the academic performance is dependent on the difficulties
encountered among grade 12 senior high school students in UM Tagum College.
Table 4. Significant Relationship between the Difficulties Encountered in Biology and
Academic Performance
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