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Factors Affecting the Decision-making of

Grade 10 Students in Choosing Their
Senior High School Track

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to the Faculty
Of San Leonardo National High School
San Bartolome, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija

In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Subject
RESEARCH PROJECT

Lorence James M. Catacutan

Girlie Joy A. Nunez
Michelangelo N. Dela Cruz Jr.
Arabelle Salomon
Willie P. Fernando Jr.
Harold S. Asinas
Elijah E. Candelaria

May 2020

CHAPTER I
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Rationale

Prior to the implementation of K to 12, the Philippines

was the only Asian country with a 10-year education program,

and it is one of three African countries that still has it

in place, along with Djibouti and Angola (Geronimo, 2013).

When it comes to competitiveness with other countries that

have 12 or more years of education and are unable to master

basic competencies that they require, 10 years of education

has always been a source of contention. The mastery of basic

competencies and the age of the youth who have completed the

10-year basic education are also issues that the Department

of Education must address.

Grade 10 students perception on pursuing their desired

life and career is affected by many factors and this is the

main reason why us researchers will conduct a study focused

on the factors that affects the decision making of grade 10

students. We also plan on providing face-to-face surveys on

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the total population of grade 10 students. We also want to

know about what are the major factors that affects the grade

10 students and their perception on K to 12 programs and

this study is also designed to identify the unknown factors

here are some reasons why we chose this study the

participants can be accessed easily by our researchers and

we can send face-to-face surveys without wasting too much

time the researchers can also provide the participants the

survey involves additional this study will be less hasty and

that is one of the reason why as the researchers of this

study shows.

Review of Related Literature

A review of related literature is the process of

collecting, selecting, and journals, reports, abstract and

other reference materials. The following information may be

collected: Background information about the problem and

related concept. Data that confirms the existence and

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seriousness of the problem. General and specific findings

of studies related to the problem. Recommendation for

further study given in related studies.

K to 12 program

According to prof. Darryl Roy T.Montebon (2014) The

initial implementation of the K12 curriculum has raised

some social concerns. In a paper written by John Mark

Burila (2012), he cited some concerns of the community

in the implementation of the K12 program like the

readiness of the Philippine Government to undergo

transitions such as the poverty in the Philippines,

availability of technology, teachers training, and even

the low salary of the workforce of the academe have been

cited. In an online forum, Dr. Flor Lacanilao (2012) of

the University of the Philippines Diliman, also

presented some critiques on the K12 program where he

based his arguments on the stand of Filipino scientists

and non-scientists. According to Dr. Lacanilao,

scientists do not agree with the implementation of the

K12 program because it does not answer the real

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problem of the Philippine education system like the

number of dropouts recorded each year. Also, the

inclusion of the kinder level is not scientifically

proven that it contributes in the enhancement of student

learning. Moreover, Dr. Lacanilao stressed that upon his

readings, those who agree with the K12 implementation,

are not scientists or educators.

As stated by Clara Masinag (2012) reported in

Interaksyon.com (October, 2012) that the K12 program has

gained acceptance from the Filipinos according to the

Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. In her report, 72%

percent of Filipino adults believe that the new

curriculum will prepare students in their college

education even in their field of work. Sixty nine (69%)

of the respondents believe that students will be

encouraged to continue their study in high school

because of the additional 2 years that is equivalent to

college level even if it will cost them more money and

time. Now that the K12 is being implemented for about

three academic years some issues are

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raised like the lack of training of teachers to

implement the new program. With these, Senator Antonio

Trillanes makes a move to stop implementing the K12

Program which he referred to as overly ambitious because

of perennial issues in the education system of the

Philippines. In an article in Inquirer.net of Maila

Ager (2014), Sen. Trillanes elaborated that upon his

country-wide inspections, he found real problems like

the availability of classrooms and low wage of

kindergarten teachers. He also foresees the problem of

the number of college professors that will go through

retrenchment because of the lack of enrollees for school

year 2016. Sen. Trillanes also mentioned that backlogs

in the education system are still present even if the

department of education declared that there is none.

Career choice

According to Asma Shahid Kazi, Abeeda Akhlaq

(2017), making a career choice is a defining phase in

every student’s life. Students have to consider several

factors

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before arriving at a decision. The purpose of this

research was to see the factors which affect the choice

of career among students. This study investigated the

influence of several factors such as parental education,

profession and income on the career decisions of 432

students from two public sector universities in Lahore

city. The influence of peers on the respondents’ choice

of subject specialization was also investigated along

with any impressions taken from the media. It also

examined whether students at the MS level opt for their

chosen fields forcefully, make compromises, or make

decisions which are independent and without external

pressures. Data was collected through a questionnaire

and in-depth interviews. The results show the parents

influence as most significant, followed by influence

from peers, gender, print media, financial reasons,

interest and others. He also cited that the influence of

career choice has a lasting impact on an individual. It

serves to be a predictor and determinant of their

prospective level of income, nature of work and

consequently leaves a mark on

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the personality, demeanor and outlook of an individual.

Thus, one wrong decision can change the fate of an

individual. It is difficult for everyone to make a

decision regarding their career. This individual action

is manifested on a larger scale in the economic

prosperity of a nation. Individuals who are misfits in

their workplace tend to be less productive and

efficient, and therefore are unable to achieve their

goals.

Tracks and Strand

According to Loren Legarda, the RA 10533 which adds

two (2) extra years of high school with specialized

specialty lessons. Senior high school is the term given

to this new grade level. Prior to this year, students

who finished their fourth year of high school were

qualified for college entrance and may choose the course

they wanted to study. To be a senior high school student

on the academic track, you should pick a strand from

ABM, STEM, HUMSS, or GAS, but there are many aspects to

consider. However, under the K-12 model, every student

must study an
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additional two years of specialized courses such as

colleges, technology, engineering, and mathematics

(STEM), humanities and social sciences (HUMSS), and

general academic subjects (GAS). There are implications

to choosing and deciding on anything. The outcome of

what you have can either benefit you or have a

detrimental impact on your future. The same is true for

the course you are considering. There will be a

significant investment of time, money, and effort. The

outcome may determine the shape of brilliance in the

student's life. Thus, we are keen on considering the

conduct of innovation and the student's view of figuring

out how to manage this flare-up. It is crucial to know

what track to pursue in Senior High School. Hence,

through this study, students will be able to choose

their perspective strand out their thoughts. If the

result of this study is not positive, immediate solution

can be made. And if not, propositions for Educational

System upgrade could be created.

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Loren Legarda (2013) was also the person to

introduce Republic Act No. 10533, otherwise known as the

Enhanced

Basic Education Act of 2013, has expanded the years of

schooling in basic education from 10 years to 12 years.

In school year 2018-2019, an additional 2 years

representing Grades 11 and 12 will be introduced in the

basic education system through senior high school.

Recognizing the need for additional support to students

due to the added two years in basic education, the

State, through RA 10533, further expanded Republic Act

8545 (RA 8545) to provide financial assistance to

qualified grade 10 completers entering senior high

school. RA 10533 has mandated the Department of

Education (DepEd) to formulate programs to enact the

abovementioned provision of the law. In line with this,

DepEd Order No. 11 series of 2015 (DO 11 s.2015)

introduced the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS

VP) as a mechanism to provide financial assistance to

senior high school students. Through the SHS VP, the

DepEd engages the non-DepEd Senior High School providers

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to enroll qualified voucher recipients from both Public

and Private Junior High Schools. Once qualified voucher

recipients are enrolled in non-DepEd Senior High School

providers, the

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DepEd will provide assistance to these students through

a voucher subsidy paid to the non-DepEd Senior High

School provider.

Decision making

According to Keith nitta(2023)decision making,

process and logic through which individuals arrive at a

decision. Different models of decision making lead to

dramatically different analyses and predictions.

Decision-making theories range from objective rational

decision making, which assumes that individuals will

make the same decisions given the same information and

preferences, to the more subjective logic of

appropriateness, which assumes that specific

Institutional and organizational contexts matter in the

decisions that Individuals make.

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According to Sonia Patel(2019)Decision-based

learning can be used in education or professional

development to help learners understand situations

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properly and the process behind making the most

effective decision.

In typical decision-based learning, conditional

knowledge is taught first. The BYU say that this is the

knowledge of when or under what conditions concepts and

procedures apply — so, understanding the problem and

strategy.

According to Ed burns Kate brush (2022)A

decision-making process is a series of steps taken by an

individual to determine the best option or course of

action to meet their needs. In a business context, it is

a set of steps taken by managers in an enterprise to

determine the planned path for business initiatives and

to set specific actions in motion. Ideally, business

decisions are based on an analysis of objective facts,

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aided by the use of business intelligence (BI) and

analytics tools.

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Definition of Terms

K to 12 program – Improve the math, science and

linguistics skills of Filipino students to further

demonstrate their competence in the school

CAREER CHOICE - It include decisions regarding

education and training for certain occupations.

TRACK - track are the choices of grade 10

students defending on their career choices

Decision making - the procedure for choosing options by

deciding on a course of action, acquiring data, and weighing

potential answers.

Senior High School – strand – academic program that

seniors must follow to get ready for their selected college

major.
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Theoretical Framework

John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice (RIASEC)

maintains that in choosing a career, people prefer jobs

where they can be around others who are like them. They

search for environments that will let them use their skills

and abilities, and express their attitudes and values, while

taking on enjoyable problems and roles. Behavior is

determined by an interaction between personality and

environment. Holland’s theory is centered on the notion that

most people fit into one of six personality types these are

Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising,

Conventional

Holland asserts that people of the same personality

type working together in a job create an environment that

fits and rewards their type.W this theory there are six

basic types of work environment, which correlate directly to

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the personality types. Holland emphasises that people who

choose to work in an environment similar to their

personality type are more likely to be successful and

satisfied. This idea is important

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as it shows Holland’s theory can be flexible, incorporating

combination types.

Holland’s theory takes a problem-solving and cognitive

approach to career planning. His model has been very

influential in career counselling. It has been employed

through popular assessment tools such as the Self-Directed

Search, Vocational Preference Inventory and the Strong

Interest Inventory.
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Statement of the Problem

The major problem of this study is to identify the

factors affecting the decision-making of Grade 10 Students

in selecting their Senior High School Track.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following

sub-problems:

1. How may the profile of the respondents be described in

terms of:

1.1 Age;

1.2 Sex ;

1.3 Grade level; and

1.4 Economic Status?

2. What Senior High School Track do the respondents intend

to take?
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3. What are the factors that the respondents take into

consideration when choosing their Senior High School

Track?

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CHAPTER II

Research Methodology

Research Design

According to Pritha BhandariQualitative research

involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g.,

text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or

experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into

a problem or generate new ideas for research.

Qualitative research is the opposite of quantitative

research, which involves collecting and analyzing numerical

data for statistical analysis.Qualitative research is

commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, in

subjects such as anthropology, sociology, education, health

sciences, history, etc.

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According Martyn Shuttleworth (2021) The design of

qualitative research is probably the most flexible of the

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various experimental techniques, encompassing a variety of

accepted methods and structures. Though there is no

standardized structure, this type of study still needs to be

carefully constructed and designed.

Researchers need to continually ensure they are

conducting bias-free, open-ended technique and staying alert

to potential Sources of error. This usually involves

awareness of bias and deep sensitivity to the phenomenon in

question.

Research locale

This study will be conducted in San Leonardo National

High School. We selected this place for the reason that we

want to know the factors that affect the decision-making of

grade 10 students in choosing their high school track in this

school. This research study will be implemented on the

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students of San Leonardo National High School and the samples

will be coming from grade 10 students. This study aims to

determine the factors that affect the decision making of

grade 10 students. This study will be implemented inside of

the school

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premises of the San Leonardo national high school, the

environment is fresh/tidy the population is a bit small but

it is enough. We will use total sampling procedure by the

reason that the total number of grade 10 students in San

Leonardo National High school will take our prepared survey.

Participant Population

Grade 10 Galilei 40

Grade 10 Einstein 43

Grade 10 Newton 39

Total Participant 122

Sampling procedure
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According to Deming w. Edwards When working with small

populations, total sampling can be an effective method for

selecting a representative sample because every element in

the

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population has an equal chance of being selected. This helps

to ensure that the sample accurately reflects the

characteristics of the population as a whole, and it

eliminates the potential for bias in the selection process.

Additionally, because the population is small, it is

typically less time-consuming and resource-intensive to

implement total sampling compared to larger populations.

However, it’s important to consider that the sample size

will also be small, which may not be enough to make

generalizations about the population. In this case, the

sample will have a higher variance and low power.

Furthermore, with small populations, it may be more feasible

to simply include every element in the population in the

sample, rather than using a random selection method like

total sampling. This is known as a census. A census is a

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complete enumeration of a population and it is not necessary

to use statistical methods to infer the characteristics of

the population. This can be useful in cases where the

population is small and resources are limited.

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In summary, total sampling is a good option for small

populations as long as sample size is enough to make

generalizations about the population. Otherwise, a census is

a more cost-effective and efficient way of college citing

data in small populations.

Scope and Delimitation

Determining the factors that affect the decision making

of grade 10 students on choosing their strand was the focus

of this research. This research is limited only to Grade 10

students of San Leonardo National High school of San

Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. This study will be conducted during

the third quarter of academic year 2022-2023.

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Research Instrument

A face-to-face survey contains a list of questions

that should be covered in the survey and this is only

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used as a guide because the researchers have a prepared

set of questions for the respondents. This is the

technique that the researchers of this study used to

collect data that they needed in this research paper.

The researchers also used an face-to-face survey guide

that has the entire open-ended question that they asked

to the respondents

The survey will includeincludee open-ended

questions such as: ‘What factors influenced your

decision in choosing your Senior High School track?’,

‘What sources of information did you use in making your

decision?’ and ‘How did you make your decision?’. The

survey will also include closed-ended questions such as:

‘Did your parents/guardians influence your decision?’,

‘Did your school guidance counselor influence your

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decision?’, and ‘Did other people influence your

decision?’ to further explore the factors that

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Data Gathering and Procedure

Here are the following step data gathering

procedure. The researchers will ask for approval from

their respective teachers who are in charge of the

thesis. It was to know whether or not the study will be

accepted. They check if there are further corrections and

revisions to be made before the conducting of research.

When the study is approved, the researchers will start

working on their questionnaire basing their questions on

the theories they’ve found. The researchers will use

related questions to be able to achieve the respective

goal of their study. After the questionnaire has been

made, the researchers will distribute the questionnaire

to each section in the Grade10 level. The number of

students chosen in each section will retrieve using

stratified sampling method. The researchers will collect

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the questionnaire distributed from the Grade 10

respondents. Each questionnaire is checked by the

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researchers and have the data gathered. Also, they

analyze the results and had the answers.

Data Management and Analysis

Data management and analysis of factors that can affect

a grade 10 student’s decision when choosing their track

would involve collecting data on the student’s interests,

abilities, career goals, and any other relevant information.

This data would then be analyzed to identify patterns and

trends that can help predict which track a student is most

likely to choose. Some examples of factors that could be

considered include:

Interests: A student who is interested in math and

science may be more likely to choose the STEM track, while a

student who is interested in the arts may be more likely to

choose the humanities track.

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Abilities: A student who excels in math and science may

be more suited for the STEM track, while a student who

excels

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in language and literature may be more suited for the

humanities track.

Career Goals: A student who wants to pursue a career in

a STEM field may be more likely to choose the STEM track,

while a student who wants to pursue a career in the arts or

humanities may be more likely to choose the humanities

track.

Family Background: A student whose parents have a

background in STEM field may be more likely to choose STEM

track, while a student whose parents have a background in

arts or humanities may be more likely to choose humanities

track.

Socio-Economic Status: A student from a lower socio-

economic background may be more likely to choose a track

that is more directly related to getting a job, such as the

STEM track, while a student from a higher socio-economic

background may be more likely to choose a track that is more

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focused on education for its own sake, such as the

humanities track.

It’s important to note that this is not an exhaustive

list, and different schools and countries may have different

factors that are considered. Additionally, it’s also

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important to consider that students may change their minds

and switch tracks later on, or may not fit neatly into one

track or another.

We will analyze the qualitative data using content

analysis because This is one of the most common methods to

analyze qualitative data. It is used to analyze documented

information in the form of texts.

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Research Design

Qualitative research design is a type of research that

focuses on collecting and analyzing non-numerical data.

According Martyn Shuttleworth, the design of qualitative

research is flexible and encompasses a variety of accepted

methods and structures. However, this study still needs to

be carefully constructed and designed. Researchers

conducting qualitative research must ensure they are

conducting bias-free, open-ended techniques and must be

aware of potential sources of error. This usually involves

being aware of potential biases and being sensitive to the

phenomenon being studied.

Other:

The decision of choosing a senior high school track is

a crucial one for Grade 10 students, as it determines the

direction of their future education and career path.

Understanding the factors that affect their decision-making

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can help educators, parents, and policy makers in providing

guidance and support to students in making informed choices.

The research entitled on "Factors Affecting the

Decision-making of Grade 10 Students in Choosing Their

Senior High School Track" will provide valuable insights

into the decision-making process of students and the various

factors that influence their choices. This information can

be used to improve the guidance and counseling services

offered to students, and to design educational programs that

cater to the needs and preferences of students.