Sorsogon National High School

Sorsogon City

Lack of Attention Among

Students
And its Impact

By:

Berdera, Natanael

Deocareza, Marvin

Landeza, Jerome

Mendoza, Emmanuel

2019-2020
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND IT’S SETTINGS

Introduction

Throughout every level of education, there are frequently issues with students’

ability to maintain their attention throughout the entirety of a lesson. Specifically, students tend

to have an extremely difficult time with attention spans. Many studies have focused on the

challenge of lack of attention in students both with learning disabilities and without any

diagnosed learning disabilities. Other studies have looked into ways to assist students in learning

to better control and increase their attention spans. In this study, scheduled implemented

exercise/movement breaks in the classroom will be observed as a potential additional strategy

that may help first grade students to develop increased attention spans.

Many EPAS students are unable to maintain attention throughout long lessons in

classrooms. With a large number of students in an average public school classroom, there are

many distractions and students of such a young age can find their minds wandering very easily.

As the researchers began observing in Senior High EPAS classroom this year, they noticed the

difficulties students were having and how it was affecting not only their own academic success

by a loss of interest and attention, but also their peers by their behavior.
 Anderson et al., (1985) notes that the conversations held with students about their

perceptions of the importance of seatwork were significant. By having open communication on

the importance and meaning behind the tasks given, students find purpose and are able to find

seatwork meaningful, leading to a higher overall understanding of the material. When students

find tasks to be significant, their attention span tends to improve, resulting in higher academic

achievement. Student’s ability to focus on seatwork tasks not only allow teachers time for

individualization, but researchers note that students’s attention skills are important in helping

their social-emotional and academic competence (Rhoades, Warren, Domitrovich,. & Greenberg,

2006). These researchers suggest that 4 emotional knowledge does later effect student’s

academic achievement, and student’s attention acts as a mediator of the relationship between the

two. Without the ability to focus their attention, students may not be able to grasp emotional

knowledge and might then be prevented from reaching their highest academic success. It

appears, therefore, that the ability of students to focus their attention is extremely important both

for their immediate progression in academics as well as for their long-term achievement.

Student’s focusing skills develop throughout their early elementary years. Often,

focusing skills directly relate to the classroom environment in which a student is placed. In

school, students are directly affected by the environment that surrounds them for a large

percentage of their day. Not only does this environment include the physical conditions of the

classroom, but also the psychological aspect of the school such as the materials, the enthusiasm

of the teacher and his/her interactions with the students, teacher respect, and the overall stress of

the classroom (Milkie & Warner, 2011). If the classroom is a negative environment, students’

mental health is affected. In a negative environment, there is evidence of more emotional and
behavioral problems as well as a lack of attention to daily tasks, and task persistence. These

researchers also noticed the extreme significance of a teacher’s perception of how appreciated

and respected she/he is in the school. If a teacher perceives that they do not have respect, the

student’s mental health is negatively affected.

Students’ ability to focus their attention is critical to their academic and lifetime

success. This needs to be something that teachers can quickly identify as a learning disability and

diagnose their students so they can get the necessary help. If it is not a learning disability, they

must begin implementing new class-wide interventions in hopes of finding best solutions to

assist their students in focusing their attention. Additional factors that have been found to

contribute to student’s lack of attention include the teacher’s emotional support, parental

involvement and classroom management strategies. Teachers must take all of these factors into

consideration when providing the most beneficial educational experience for the students in their

classrooms. (Mautone et al., 2012).

Romer (1993) is one of the first few authors to explore the relationship between

student attendance and exam performance. A number of factors have contributed to declining

class attendances around the world in the last 15 years. The major reasons given by students for

non-attendance include assessment pressures, poor delivery of lectures, timing of lectures, and

work commitments (Newman-ford, Lloyd & Thomas, 2009).

 Along with environmental circumstances that prevent children from maintaining

their attention in the classroom, there are internal interferences such as learning disabilities

including ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder)/ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) as

well as the student’s understanding of the value of the subject matter that prevent students from

focusing. ADHD can be defined as “a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-

impulsivity that is more frequent and more severe than typically observed in individuals at a

comparative 6 level of development” (Martin, 2013 p.145). ADHD naturally interferes with

selfregulation and executive functioning, causing students’ academic outcomes to be impaired.

In Anderson et al., (1985) study looking into student responses to seatwork, it was observed that

students believed that the most important aspect of seatwork is simply to get it done.

Statement of the Problem

The main problem of this study is to determine the common academic difficulties of

EPAS students in Sorsogon national high school. Specifically, will sought answers to the

following questions.

1. What are the factors affecting lack of attention in academics among EPAS

students in SNHS?

2. What is the level of lack of attention of EPAS students in academics in SNHS

 3. What is their current academic performance?

4. Is there a significant relation between lack of attention to the academic

performance of EPAS students?

5. What are the possible recommendation based on the results of the study?

Scope and Delimitations

This study is aimed to determine the Lack of Attention among Students and its

Impact. This study will be focusing on the reasons why EPAS students tends to lose attention to

teachers and whill be determining its impact to their academic status due to lack of attention in

school activities, lectures, and projects.

The respondents had been set to limit of the study within the Senior High School

department of Sorsogon National High School. Having 5 respondents each in every section from

EPAS 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Significance of the study

The objective of this research is to determine the common academic difficulties of

EPAS students in Sorsogon National High School. Aside from the above stated objective, the

researcher expects this study will be good guide to the following:

1. Students. The information presented will provide them knowledge that can help them to

have an idea on what to do with common academic difficulties.

2. Teachers. The outcome of the study will give them an idea to formulate strategies and

guidelines in improving/molding skills and knowledge in school, also they create standards

of quality for learnings.

3. Parents. The researcher benefits the parents to gain more knowledge that can help their

children in choosing their knowledge that are very helpful and more reliable for their

children to consider.

4. School Administrators. Will help them to solve educational problems that do not have an

easy answer. They will help to address their own professional practice and improve

student’s learning achievement.

5. Future Researcher. This idea presented may be used as reference data in conducting a

new research in validity of others related.