40 Balangue, J.B., K.T. Tuguinay, E.A. Tamangan, M.J.A. Roldan, & M.T.B. Valerio (2016).

Factors
Affecting the Academic Performances of Freshmen BSE Students.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES OF FRESHMEN BSE

STUDENTS

Jenny B. Balangue1, Keruvin T. Tuguinay1, Elvira A. Tamangan2, Mary Joy A. Roldan3, and Maria
Theresa B. Valerio4
1
Student Researchers, 2Research Writing Professor, 3Statistician, and 4 Adviser
Secondary Education Department, College of Teacher Education
Quirino State University-Main Campus

To cite this article: Balangue, J.B., K.T. Tuguinay, E.A. Tamangan, M.J.A. Roldan, & M.T.B. Valerio
(2016). Factors affecting the academic performances of freshmen BSE students. QSU-CTE Journal
of Educational Practices and Standards, 1 (1), 40-46.

Abstract. This study presents the different factors affecting the academic performances of
freshmen BSE students. It has four objectives. First is to identify the students’ profile. Second is to
identify the way respondents determine the different factors affecting the respondents’ academic
performances along personal, home, peer, environment and school-related factor. Third is to
determine the significant difference on the factors affecting the students’ academic performances
when grouped according to their profile. Fourth is to determine if there is a significant relationship
on the factors affecting the students’ academic performances to their general weighted average.
Using the descriptive-correlative method to 47 freshmen from the Bachelor of Secondary Education
students, the following are discovered: majority of them are in the age range of 15-17, most of
them are female and they belong to the Ifugao/Ilocano group; the statements along personal and
school-related factor are moderately true to the respondents while the statements along home,
peer and environment-related factor are slightly true; there are significant differences on the
factors affecting the academic performances of students when grouped by profile; school and
environment-related factors have high relationship with students’ general weighted average, home
and peer-related factors have moderate relationship with students’ general average while the
personal-related factor appears to have no relationship with their general weighted average.
Keywords: academic performance, factors, school, home and socio-economic status
1. Introduction
“Education is the key to success in life and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their
students” [1]. The most familiar quote we know when we talk about education. It may sound cliché
but it is true that only through education, we can achieve worth having success. Students complete
the existence of the word “education.” Good performance of students is almost equivalent to
having good quality education being offered. It gives a good impression to the educational system
being applied in a certain institution.
In the present generation, we all need to be educated. Applying for a job is competitive and
requires a certain level of formal education. We all want to become successful someday and so we
need to perform well in school. We all need to aim high so that we can attain our goals in life. It is
an applicant’s edge over the others if he/she is an achiever in school or is academically competitive
[2].
An article said that children today are “developing behaviors which are not expected of them as
students” [3]. “The influences of classroom characteristics and teacher-student relations on
 QSU-CTE Journal of Educational Practices and Standards 41

student academic achievement” examines close teacher-student relations, classroom

characteristics, and interaction effects on student academic grades and standardizes achievement
scores. Classroom characteristics including teacher instructional practices, class mean teacher-
student relationships, and a classroom index of academic risk are evaluated for their influence on
student achievement [4]. At present, academic institutions encounter problems regarding student
performances because of changes that lead students to lose their interest in their studies.
A lot of factors can be considered in the students’ performances. These include: (a) personal factor
that includes their natural ability, health, and personal motivation; (b) previous attainment; (c)
peer factor; and (d) home factor [5-6]. Home factor has a very big impact to students’ performance
that includes the kind of relationship they have at home or the financial status of the family.
Reference [7] said that the burden of performance was placed squarely on students and their
families. It may also be on the part of the teacher or the school in general. The way teachers
motivate and handle students can be a big factor on students’ performance but research suggests
that, among school-related factors, teachers matter most [8].
Immediate environment affects students’ performance. Reference [9] discovered in their findings
that there are significant increases in blood pressure associated with students in schools near to
noisy urban streets, markets, and around airports. Students in such noisy environment are often
associated with deficits in mental concentration, make more errors on difficult tasks, and greater
likelihood of giving up on tasks before the time allocated ends. In effect, therefore, the location of
schools is of critical importance. These factors were considered because socio-economic factors
like attendance in the class, family income, and mother‘s and father‘s educational attainment,
teacher-student ratio, presence of trained teacher in school, sex of student and distance of school
affect the performance of students [5]. This study determines the factors affecting the
respondents’ academic performances along personal, home, peer, environment, and school
factors; determine significant difference on the factors when grouped by profile; and determine
significant relationship on the factors affecting the students’ performances to their general
weighted average.
2. Materials and Methods
The researchers used the descriptive-correlative method of research in the conduct of the study.
A quota of 47 freshmen students from the College of Teacher Education particularly from the BSE
department of Quirino State University, Main Campus, during the 2nd Semester, School year 2015-
2016, served as the respondents of the study: age, 39 in the age group 15-17 and 8 in the age
group 18-20; sex, 16 males and 31 females; ethnicity, 44 Ilocanos and 3 others (including Ifugaos
and Igorots); High school graduated from, 42 graduated from public while 3 from private school;
General weighted average (GWA), 14 from the grade range 1.00 - 1.99 and 33 from 2.00 - 3.00.
The instrument used in this research was a validated questionnaire. This was prepared to gather
data and specific information regarding the factors affecting BSE freshmen students’ academic
performances. Gathered data was tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
42 Balangue, J.B., K.T. Tuguinay, E.A. Tamangan, M.J.A. Roldan, & M.T.B. Valerio (2016). Factors
Affecting the Academic Performances of Freshmen BSE Students.

3. Results and Discussion

Table 1. Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along Personal Factor

Personal Factor Mean Description

1 I am interested in my chosen course. 4.21 Extremely true
2 I enjoy doing my school responsibilities. 3.77 Moderately true
3 I consider my family and relatives’ expectations toward me. 4.19 Moderately true
4 I am eager to excel academically. 3.91 Moderately true
5 I really want to get the major subject I am pursuing next year. 4.26 Extremely true
6 I have a very positive outlook in life. 4.09 Moderately true
Grand Mean 4.07 Moderately true

On personal factor, the statements “I am interested in my chosen course” and “I really want to get
the major subject I am pursuing next year” are extremely true among the respondents. The rest
statements like, “I enjoy doing my school responsibilities”, “I consider my family and relatives’
expectations toward me”, “I am eager to excel academically”, and “I have a very positive outlook
in life” are moderately true to the respondents.

Table 2. Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along Home Factor

Home Factor Mean Description
1 My parents forced me to enroll in this course. 2.64 Slightly true
2 My parents can not afford to support my studies. 3.00 Slightly true
3 I am always pressured at home. 2.74 Slightly true
4 My parents and other family members are always having an 2.62 Slightly true
argument.
5 I feel that my parents do not give me enough attention. 2.49 Not true
6 My parents always monitor my performance in school. 3.51 Moderately true
Grand Mean 2.83 Slightly true

In terms of home factor, the statements “My parents forced me to enroll in this course”, “My
parents can not afford to support my studies”, “I am always pressured at home”, and “My parents
and other family members are always having an argument” are slightly true to the respondents.
The statement ‘My parents always monitor my performance in school” is moderately true while
the statement “I feel that my parents do not give me enough attention” is not true to the
respondents.

Table 3. Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along Peer Factor

Peer Factor Mean Description
1 I envy my friends who were enrolled in the course they really 3.04 Slightly true
want.
2 My friends always invite me for hangout. 2.74 Slightly true
3 My friends help me to perform academically. 3.68 Moderately true
4 My friends gave me positive influence on my studies. 3.83 Moderately true
5 I just can not resist my friends who divert my attention from 3.26 Slightly true
my lesson.
 QSU-CTE Journal of Educational Practices and Standards 43

Continuation of Table 3 (Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along Peer Factor)
Peer Factor Mean Description
6 My comrades affect my attitudes toward achieving 3.19 Slightly true
academically.
Grand Mean 3.29 Slightly true

In terms of peer factor, the statements “I envy my friends who were enrolled in the course they
really want”, ‘My friends always invite me for hangout”, “I just can’t resist my friends who divert
my attention from my lesson” and “My comrades affect my attitudes toward achieving
academically” are slightly true while the statements “My friends help me to perform academically”
and “My friends gave me positive influence on my studies” are moderately true to the
respondents.

Table 4. Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along Environment Factor

Environmental Factor Mean Description
1 Learners from the urban environment achieves more 3.49 Moderately true
academically.
2 Our house is free from any environmental disturbances. 3.38 Slightly true
3 I am surrounded by inspiring people. 3.94 Moderately true
4 Our community is safe from chaotic occurrences. 3.55 Moderately true
5 My school and community is very conducive for learning. 3.83 Moderately true
6 Learning opportunities are present in my community. 3.81 Moderately true
Grand Mean 3.03 Slightly true

In terms of environment factor, the statements “Learners from the urban environment achieves
more academically”, “I am surrounded by inspiring people”, “Our community is safe from chaotic
occurrences”, “My school and community is very conducive for learning”, and “Learning
opportunities are present in my community” are moderately true while the statement “Our house
is free from any environmental disturbances” is slightly true to the respondents.

Table 5. Factors Affecting the Academic Performances along School Factor

Environmental Factor Mean Description
1 My school is the prime key in my academic progress. 4.38 Extremely true
2 I love the school where I am now. 4.17 Moderately true
3 The administration helps the learners achieve better. 4.17 Moderately true
4 My teacher’s disposition towards me motivates me 4.02 Moderately true
academically.
5 My previous grades push me to perform better. 4.23 Extremely true
6 All my teachers are fair and just in assessing my academic 4.34 Extremely true
performances.
7 The school is free from many disturbances. 3.64 Moderately true
Grand Mean 4.14 Moderately true

In terms of school factor, the statements “My school is the prime key in my academic progress”,
“My previous grades push me to perform better”, and “All my teachers are fair and just in assessing
44 Balangue, J.B., K.T. Tuguinay, E.A. Tamangan, M.J.A. Roldan, & M.T.B. Valerio (2016). Factors
Affecting the Academic Performances of Freshmen BSE Students.

my academic performance” are extremely true and the statements “I love the school where I am
now”, “The administration helps the learners achieve better”, “My teacher’s disposition towards
me motivates me academically”, and “The school is free from many disturbances” are moderately
true to the respondents.

Table 6. t-test on the Factors Affecting Academic Performances when grouped by Age
FACTORS t-value p-value Decision
1 Personal-related factor -4.49 .000* Reject Ho
2 Home-related factor 3.74 .000* Reject Ho
3 Peer-related factor 6.35 .000* Reject Ho
4 Environment-related factor 0.91 .370 Accept Ho
5 School-related factor 6.10 .000* Reject Ho
*significant at .05 level
It indicates that when it comes to age, personal related-factor, home-related factor, peer-related
factor, and school-related factor are all significant factors affecting students’ academic
performances. Environment-related factor, on the other hand, appeared not to be a significant
factor when it comes to age. This implies that there are significant differences on the cited factors.
This led to the rejection of the null hypothesis “There is no significant difference on the factors
affecting students’ academic performances when grouped by profile.” Findings are congruent with
reference [13] where he found out that mature-aged university undergraduate students achieved
higher final grades compared to young undergraduates.
Table 7. t-test on the Factors Affecting Academic Performances when grouped by Sex
FACTORS t-value p-value Decision
1 Personal-related factor 0.62 .540 Accept Ho
2 Home-related factor 2.53 .001* Reject Ho
3 Peer-related factor 3.90 .000* Reject Ho
4 Environment-related Factor -1.30 .200 Accept Ho
5 School-related factor -3.75 .000* Reject Ho
*significant at .05 level
It indicates that peer-related factor and school-related factor are significant. The following factors
such as home-related factor and environment-related factor are significant while personal related
factor is not significant when it comes to students’ performances in terms of sex. This also led to
the rejection of the null hypothesis cited above.
Table 8. t-test on the Factors Affecting Academic Performances when grouped by Ethnicity
FACTORS t-value p-value Decision
1 Personal-related factor -5.88 .000* Reject Ho
2 Home-related factor -9.56 .000* Reject Ho
3 Peer-related factor -8.83 .000* Reject Ho
4 Environment-related factor -7.53 .000* Reject Ho
5 School-related factor -5.72 .000* Reject Ho
*significant at .05 level
 QSU-CTE Journal of Educational Practices and Standards 45

It indicates that all of the factors are significant to the respondents’ academic performances. It is
clear then that ethnicity does not affect their academic performance. This led to the acceptance
of the null hypothesis.
Table 9. t-test on the Factors Affecting Academic Performances when grouped by Type of High
School Graduated From
FACTORS t-value p-value Decision
1 Personal-related factor -3.91 .000* Reject Ho
2 Home-related factor -7.62 .000* Reject Ho
3 Peer-related factor -7.99 .000* Reject Ho
4 Environment-related factor -4.88 .000* Reject Ho
*significant at .05 level
It indicates that personal-related factor, home-related factor, peer-related factor, and
environment-related factor are all significant factors affecting students’ academic performances
regardless of the type of school they graduated from. This led to the rejection of the null
hypothesis.
Table 10. Correlation between the Factors Affecting the Academic Performances and the General
Weighted Average of the Respondents
FACTORS r-value Decision
1 Personal-related factor 1.140 No correlation
2 Home-related factor -.480 Moderately small negative correlation
3 Peer-related factor .440 Moderately small positive correlation
4 Environment-related factor .660 High positive correlation
5 School-related factor 1.730 High positive correlation

It implies that the statements along personal-related factor has no relationship to the students’
academic performances, while home-related factor and peer-related factor are moderately
related to their academic performances. Environment-related factor and school-related factor
appears to have high relationship to the academic performances of the BSE freshmen students.
This means that as the environment-related and school-related factors improve, the general
weighted average grade of the respondents also improves.
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Affecting the Academic Performances of Freshmen BSE Students.

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