1

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
College of Arts and Sciences
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

THE PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS TOWARDS THE

TEACHING STRATEGIES OF GENERAL
EDUCATION INSTRUCTORS OF
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

A Research Paper
Submitted to
The Department of College of Arts and
Sciences of Northwestern University
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Bachelor of Arts

by

Kenneth John Reyes

Alyssa Danielle Tolentino
Laymar Malamug
Jamielyn Gaspar

07 May 2019
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

When considering student learning, a variety of theoretical perspectives focus on the

contrast between the organization of knowledge as discrete, serial elements to be remembered
and the integration and transformation of knowledge into a personally constructed
meaningful entity. Marton (1975) first made this distinction when he described approaches to
learning in terms of either surface or deep processing of information, and this
conceptualization has led to much further theoretical development (Biggs, 1987; Entwistle et
al., 1991). The deep approach involves an intention to gain personal understanding, with
corresponding strategies to gain meaning from the learning task. This `meaning’ aspect is
complemented by a structural aspect whereby information is organized by integrating the
whole and the parts. The surface approach describes an intention to avoid failure with
corresponding strategies that facilitate the memorization of facts without meaning and
organization (Ramsden, 1992).A similar distinction underlies theoretical analyses of both
students’ beliefs about knowledge and conceptions of learning. Studies of students’ beliefs
about knowledge (Perry, 1981; Belenky et al., 1986) have found a developmental sequence
that progresses from a simplistic view of knowledge as absolute and imparted by authorities,
to a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity of different knowledge claims, and
the need to construct personal interpretations based on evidence and analytic reasoning. The
particular learning strategy adopted by a student in a given situation is thus determined by a
complex interaction between, first, the student’s pre‐existing beliefs about knowledge and
learning, and general pre‐disposition towards particular approaches to learning, and, second,
the student’s perceptions of the learning approach that is required by the educational context.
The way in which the student perceives the latter, however, will also depend on the student’s
pre‐existing beliefs, with different students perceiving the same learning environments
very differently (Perry, 1981, 1988). For instance, students with a preference for deep
approaches to learning are more likely to recognize the learning potential of constructivist
teaching strategies than are students with surface learning preferences, who tend to focus on
the transmissive aspects of teaching and reproductive aspects of learning (Campbell et al.,
1996). For instance, students with a preference for deep approaches to learning are more
likely to recognize the learning potential of constructivist teaching strategies than are students
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with surface learning preferences, who tend to focus on the transmissive aspects of teaching
and reproductive aspects of learning (Campbell et al., 1996). Fostering deeper approaches to
learning in students with surface learning preferences is thus a complex process, and the
particular attributes of classes that encourage such development need to be studied.
Furthermore, it is important to recognize that the way in which the teaching context
influences learning is complex (Baird & Northfield, 1992), and includes affective as well as
cognitive components (Fraser, 1991; Wubbels et al., (1991). Watts & Bentley (1987) and
Noddings (1993) stress the importance of a safe, supportive, caring classroom environment if
students are to be willing to take the risk of engaging in constructivist approaches to learning
rather than adopting the safer option of reproducing that transmitted to them by their teachers.

Theoretical framework

A similar distinction underlies theoretical analyses of both students’ beliefs about

knowledge and conceptions of learning. Studies of students’ beliefs about knowledge (Perry,
1981; Belenky et al., 1986) have found a developmental sequence that progresses from a
simplistic view of knowledge as absolute and imparted by authorities, to a more sophisticated
understanding of the complexity of different knowledge claims, and the need to construct
personal interpretations based on evidence and analytic reasoning.

Conceptual Framework

Teaching and learning are main aspects of learning activities that affect student
achievement. The authors in stated that students' learning styles and teaching styles affect the
student’s cognitive, affective, and psychomotor which ultimately will affect learning
outcomes. According to which stated that there are 4 important components in the learning
process are: 1) Adequacy of students’ background for a particular course, 2) Amount of
students’ work (efforts) in a particular course, 3) Standards in educating, examining and
evaluating, 4) Quality of teaching in a course. Standards in educating will guide the learning
to run in accordance with the objectives of learning.

Statement of the Problem

This study analyzed the difference on the context of casual conversation between
male and female students at Northwestern University (NWU). Specifically, the study sought
answer to the following question:
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1. What are the different learning strategies that teacher should learn to use?

2. What learning strategy is posessed by most student of the University?

A. Auditory learner

B. Visual learner

C. Kinestetic learner

3. What is the most effective learning strategy among the three?

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will enlighten the school administrator, teachers, students, and
other researchers about different learning strategies in teaching General Education subject.

School Administrator. This will help in understanding students who hardly catch up
with their study and to their other classmate

Teachers. To help them cater the different learning strategies to be possessed by their
students

Students. This will help them evaluate their own learning strategy and try to discover
things that will help them to absorb knowledge faster.

Researcher. The result of the study will provide them insight about the said topic and
the result will serve as their baseline information in conducting similar studies.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study focused on the perception of students towards the learning strategies of
General Education Instructor at Northwestern University. It also determined the reasons of
teachers using different learning strategies in teaching General Education subjects. It was
limited only with the mother College of the University the College of Arts and Sciences
(CAS).

The respondents of this study were the students who were enrolled from the college
during the second semester school year 2018-2019.
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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES AND LITRATURE

This chapter is an exhibit of the literature and findings of local and foreign studies on
difference between male and female conversation. Furthermore, this chapter also presents the
different theories from which this study will be based.

The quality of higher education has to be related to the practice of knowledge and
learning experience obtained by the students. There are a few components contained in the
teaching and learning processes that are the main factors determining the quality of teaching
which is consists of the lecturer (motivation, competence, the technique of building rapport
with the students), teaching tools (courses, syllabus, media, teaching methods), students
(students’ competence, relationship among students), and instructional implementation
(explanation on lecture materials, task assignment, evaluation, as well as restraints in
teaching) (Suarman et al., 2013). According to Marsh (1990), Toland and De Ayala (2005),
Gursoy and Umbreit (2005), Oxford Brookes University (2005), there are nine components of
the quality of teaching and learning, which are the 1) courses, 2) lecturers’ motivation, 3)
instructional design, 4) relationship among students, 5) relationship between the students and
lecturers, 6) assignment, 7) lecturers’ competence, 8) obstacles and constraints, and 9)
evaluation.

Mathematics is one of the basic subjects that are important for further studies in any
field to be ventured by the students. Mathematics is seen by society as the foundation of
scientific technology knowledge that is vital in social economic development of nation
(Justice et al., 2015). Correspondingly, quality of lecturers plays a huge role as they are very
significant in shaping and guiding student.

The low quality of teaching and learning process among lecturers is often questioned
and become a problem in the field of education (Koster, 2000). According to Ramsden
(1991), characteristics of effective teaching and learning process is good in teaching, freedom
in learning, clear goals, appropriate teaching workloads and quality of lecturers.
This clearly shows that the quality of lecturers is an important aspect in providing effective
instruction to students. Furthermore, the learning process also correlated with students’
perception of the subject that has been studied. Effective learning is not only dependent on
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the skills and competencies of lecturers, but also depends on the overall strategy (Wilson &
Lizzion, 1997).

In fact, effective teaching should be linked to the quality of the students and how the
effectiveness of learning guides them toward a more effective learning (Kelly, 2002).
Teaching is also said to be effective if the increase in students’ achievement is consistent with
the goal of teaching after a period of teaching (Stringer & Irwing, 1998).
The effectiveness, quality of teaching and education are very important in ensuring the
success of one’s career. According to Gordon and Partingon (expressed in Rowley, 1996), the
quality of education refers to the success of an institution providing educational environment
where students achieve learning goals as well as an effective academic measurement.
The effectiveness of education at the tertiary level can be judged from various aspects. There
are the lecturers’ educational background and different teaching experiences. Besides, the
validity and reliability of studies that correlate the level of Teaching and Learning process of
lecturer against students’ achievement is often questionable.

There are studies that deny the positive relationship between qualities of teaching to
students’ achievement. However, not much effort was made to investigate the students’
perceptions of the quality of teaching to student achievement (Guolla, 1999). Therefore, this
study should be conducted to assess the relationship
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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter represents the research methodology such as research design, locale of
the study, population and sampling, data gathering instrument, and data gathering procedure.

Research Design

This study is quantitative in nature. The researcher used a survey questionnaire to

gather data and find for concrete answer for the research question.

Moreover, this study determines the purpose and implication of the learning strategies
of General Education Instructor in the University. In addition to this the researcher would like
to know whether the learning strategies are really effective for students who have different
learning mechanism. Setting these objectives, the researcher gathered information which was
very useful in conducting the study.

Locale of the Study

The research was conducted at Northwestern University (NWU) located along Airport
Avenue, Laoag City. Specifically, the study was conducted to the level of the mother College
of the University namely: College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).

Population and Sampling

In the analysis phase of the study, random sampling technique was utilized. The
purpose of the said analysis was to examine the effectiveness of learning strategies of General
Education instructors.

The respondents of this research study were students from the College of Arts and
Sciences with a total population of 128. Using the Slovin's formula a total of 98 were the
respondents of the study out of the 128 from the total population of the college.

Moreover, random sampling was employed in determining the respondents of the

study.
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Research Instrument and Data Gathering Procedure

The main data gathering tool used for the study is a survey questionnaire. The
questionnaire consists of one part only. This questionnaire is developed to answer the guide
questions. Random sampling technique was employed wherein the researcher ask random
students on what is their perception towards the learning strategies of General Education
instructor. As a researcher focused on the mother college of the University namely: College
of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The researcher asks the respondents to answer the questionnaire
with their distinct answer that represent the learning strategy of their General Education
instructor.

Slovin's Formula provides the sample size (n) using the known population size (N)
and the acceptable error value (e).

Fill the N and e values into the formula N=128 / (1+N (.05) ^2). The resulting value
of n equals the sample size to be used.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The researcher the frequency and rank in interpreting the reason of students behind
the learning strategy. This was administered so that the tabulation would be easily done and
to have a good idea of the proportion.
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CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This part of the research paper discusses about the results from the survey
questionnaire, which are then summarized, assembled and presented in tabular form for
further analysis and interpretation regarding the gathered data from the survey questionnaire.
Essentially, the discussion is focused on the findings on the specific problems as mentioned
in Chapter 1.

Profile of the Respondent

This section only presents the respondent’s attitude by their chosen scale preference
regarding their perception or view towards the teaching strategies of General Education
instructors of Northwestern University. Profile classification for the respondent’s age, sex,
college course and year are not included in this chapter as it is excluded in the survey
questionnaire.

Gathering of the Data

Data is gathered with the use of the Likert scale or the measurement of the respondent’s
attitude which varies from the scales of: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and/or strongly
disagree; which are provided in the survey questionnaire.

Interpretation of Data

The data are then interpreted by using the formula of a Weighted Mean; a weighted
mean is a type of mean that is calculated by multiplying the weight (or probability) associated
with a particular event or outcome with its associated quantitative outcome and then
summing all the products together. The formula for the weighted mean is stated below:

X = X1 (W1) + X2 (W2) + X3 (W3) . . . Wn

W1 + W2 . . . Wn
Legend:

4 3.26 – 4.00 Strongly Agree

3 2.56 – 3.25 Agree
2 1.76 – 2.55 Disagree
1 1.00 – 1.75 Strongly Disagree
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Table 1 Individual Data

Frequency (f) Verbal

Statement Mean
4 3 2 1 T Interpretation
1. Our teacher makes an effort to
25 42 20 11 98 2.83 Agree
get to know me.
2. Our teacher uses his/her mother
tongue during discussion if
20 60 9 9 98 2.93 Agree
needed for us to understand more
of the lesson.
3. My teacher always recognizes
24 42 16 15 97 2.77 Agree
my efforts.
4. I get to participate in different
groups with different classmates 25 52 15 6 98 2.98 Agree
in ways that help me learn.
5. During class, our teacher gives
us different opportunities to 23 54 12 9 98 2.93 Agree
show our skills.
6. In our class, our teacher provides
learning activities that teach us 19 59 11 9 98 2.90 Agree
important things to know.
7. Our teacher both use oral
explanation and written
28 52 10 8 98 3.02 Agree
explanation as well as pictures to
help us learn.
8. My teacher gives me a chance to
correct the mistakes I made by 35 40 15 8 98 3.04 Agree
his/her help.
9. I get to make choices as a
learner: in what I learn, how I
23 47 11 15 96 2.81 Agree
learn, and how I show my
learning.
10. If I am not understanding 25 35 17 20 97 2.67 Agree
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something, my teachers provide

me with time and chance to re-
learn.
Total: 976 25.95 AGREE

Table 1 shows the data of each questions put in the survey questionnaire with the data
of the scale preferences separated to show the individual answer results from the respondents
in which the results are then also added for the total frequency for each questions while
retaining individuality. Statement no.8 is the highest with the average of 3.04, next is
Statement no. 7 with the average of 3.02, whilst Statements no. 4 follows with the average of
2.98; Statement no. 2 and 5 with the average of 2.93 followed by Statement no. 6 with the
average of 2.90; Statement no. 1 with the average of 2.83 followed by Statement no. 9 with
the average of 2.81 and lastly, Statement no. 3 is the lowest with the average of 2.77 followed
by Statement no. 10 with the average of 2.67

Table 2 Overall Data

Frequency (f)
4 1
3 2
Strongly Strongly Total
Agree Disagree
Agree Disagree
247 483 136 110 976

Table 2 shows the overall results from the gathered data with 3 as the highest with the
frequency of 483, 4 follows as the second highest with the frequency of 247, next is 2 as the
third highest with the frequency of 136, and last is 1 as the lowest with the frequency of 110.
Overall total frequency is 976.
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CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of the research, the findings discussed and
interpreted, the conclusions drawn from the findings, and the corresponding
recommendations made as an outgrowth of this study.

This study was taken to determine the perception of the students of the College of
Arts and Sciences department of Northwestern University towards the teaching strategies of
General Education instructors of Northwestern University.

Summary

This study is aimed to determine the teaching strategies of General Education

instructors of Northwestern University as perceived by the students of the university’s
College of Arts and Sciences department. It also attempted to find out the correlation between
the instructors teaching strategies at class and how their teaching strategies help with their
students’ scholastic process and achievements.

More specifically, the researcher sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is the level of perception of the of the following questions as perceived by

the respondents:

1.1. Our teacher makes an effort to get to know me.

1.2. Our teacher uses his/her mother tongue during discussion if needed for
to understand more of the lesson.
1.3. My teacher always recognize my efforts.
1.4. I get to participate in different groups with different classmates in
ways that help me learn.
1.5. During class, our teacher gives us different opportunities to show our
skills.
1.6. In our class, our teacher provides learning activities that teach us
important things to know.
1.7. Our teacher both use oral explanation and written explanation as well
as pictures to help us learn.
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1.8. My teacher gives me a chance to correct the mistakes I made by

his/her help.
1.9. I get to make choices as a learner: in what I learn, how I learn, and
how I show my learning.

1.10. If I am not understanding something, my teachers provide me with and

chance to re-learn.

2. Is there any effort and help shown and done by the instructor’s teaching strategies
to their students’ scholastic process and achievements?

Findings

The findings of the study revealed the following:

1. Most of the student respondents chose to tick scale no. 3 or Agree having the
frequency of four hundred eighty-three (483); scale no. 4 or Strongly Agree having
the frequency of two hundred forty-seven (247); scale no. 2 or Disagree having the
frequency of one hundred thirty-six (136); and lastly, scale no. 1 or Strongly Disagree
having the frequency of one hundred ten (110). The common weighted mean average
for overall is 2.93.

2. General Education instructors of Northwestern University are revealed to make an

effort to get to know their students better and provide help to their students in need of
understanding the subject content they teach, as well as recognizing their students’
efforts and letting their students have the option to make choices as a student and
learner of their subject matter.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, the following conclusion is drawn:

Students who were enrolled from the College of Arts and Sciences of Northwestern
University during the second semester, school year of 2018-2019; the majority of the students
agree that the General Education instructors indeed help them with understanding the subject
they teach on their classes and make an effort to get to know their students as part of their
teaching strategies, whilst some students do not agree with the other students as they base it
from their own experience and perspective.
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Recommendation

This is the recommendation formulated from the findings and conclusion of the study:

1. Students should be thankful that the teaching strategies of instructors help them with
their learning.
2. Students should not be afraid to voice out their criticisms regarding their instructors
teaching strategies.
3. The General Education instructors should help their students more when they are in
need of help of a teacher.
4. The General Education instructors should work harder in showing their efforts to
know their students in order to improve their teaching strategies.
5. There should be synergy between students and instructors that would allow them to
work in a healthy study environment.
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