CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is a vital aspect of a student's life, particularly during the critical phase

of Grade 12, where students prepare for higher education and face the challenges of

their academic pursuits. Within the education system, the Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) track in Grade 12 is known for its rigorous

curriculum and demanding workload. Science, Technology, Engineering, and

Mathematics (STEM) have set high expectations for the teachers throughout all tracks.

They consequently offer overlapping workloads as a result. The students will not have

any free time this way to enjoy themselves or spend time with their loved ones. This

may put the students under excessive pressure, which compromises their mental health

such as stress, anxiety, and depression.

Student achievement in schools has always been a concern for parents,

students, and educators. There have been several theories on the areas of what help

students achieve. One of the main factors impacting student achievement has been the

use of homework (Collier, 2007). Opinions vary on whether or not homework has

positive effects on achievement. National statistics have shown that teachers are

attempting to remedy low test scores by giving students more homework (O’Neill 2008).

Researchers from Binghamton University and the University of Nevada conducted a

study showing that although homework may benefit some students, particularly high

and low performing students; it is counterproductive for students who are average

performing students (O’Neill, 2008).

Some believe that homework can be beneficial, but is sometimes over used and

the pros are outweighed by the cons. Educators have to be careful not to over assign

homework assignments because homework will cause additional stress on students

(O’Neill, 2008). Assigning hours and hours of homework, sometimes called busy work

can backfire by depriving students of free time they need to develop other skills.

Homework should support what students learn in school (Cooper, 2007). O’Neill

advocates that educator make homework moderate but meaningful so students can

discover their own intellectual curiosity without excessive homework forcing them to

learn.

Bennett and Kalish (2006) criticized both the quantity and quality of homework.

They provided evidence that too much homework harms students’ health and family

time: They also asserted that teachers are not well trained in how to assign homework.

The authors suggested that individuals and parent groups should insist that teachers

reduce the amount of homework, design more valuable assignments, and avoid

homework altogether over breaks and holidays.

Homework should be appropriately assigned for students. Research has shown

that overloading homework does not only make students lose their academic interests,
but also leads them to physical and emotional fatigue (Copper, 1994). Likewise, it

impacts on students’ attitudes towards homework and does not yield positive results in

learning. Warton (2001) states that homework impacts on young children’s emotional

and creates conflicts between them and their parents. In some cases, students are

unwilling to do homework since they do homework to satisfy their teachers (Paudel,

2012).

For homework to be an important teaching tool, Cooper (2001) argued that

specific guidelines must be set. Specifically, the amount and type of homework must

reflect the individual student’s needs by considering the amount of support the student

has at home and the student’s developmental level. Research shows that students have

a profile for the way they learn best, such as auditory, visual, tactile, or kinesthetic and

when learning styles match teaching methods, student achievement increases

(Vatterott, 2009).

Cooper, Robinson, and Patall (2006) issued a strong warning about too much

homework. “Even for these older students, too much homework may diminish its

effectiveness or even become counterproductive (pg.53)”. The Homework Literature

Review stated that “excessive homework may impact negatively on student

achievement” (2004, p.3). Apparently, if teachers give too much homework, students

may be overwhelmed, not complete the homework and ultimately achieve nothing a

result.
 Numerous studies concentrate on how students’ mental health affects their

academic performance. However, there has not been a lot of attention given to the

factor of the unstable mental health of the students. By examining the psychological

effects of feeding overlapping activities on students’ mental health, focusing on negative

aspects, and recommending solutions to the problem, this study significantly fills a gap

in the literature.

The results of this study should demonstrate the effect of providing students in

Holy Cross Academy's Grade 12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

(STEM) classes with overlapping activities. This seeks to demonstrate the type of

mental illness that students are going through as a result of overlapping activities and

the strategies used by students to complete their tasks under duress. This

demonstrates the drawbacks of having students participate in overlapping activities and

how that affects their psychological well-being.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative research is to:

 Explore the psychological effect of giving overlapping activities to the grade 12

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students of Holy

Cross Academy. In line activities can prevent us from taking care of ourselves

and connecting with our family and loved ones, which can harm our
 psychological health. This purpose will help us learn about the many

psychological conditions that overlapped activities might cause in students. The

type of mental illness the students are dealing with will be examine.

 In-depth interviews addressing students’ perspectives about having overlapping

activities are implemented. This objective will help us understand how different

students respond to overlapping activities. This is done to collect data for

preliminary research.

 Preliminary research gathered from interviews will be used to inform

administrators, teachers, and parents to develop evidence-based overlapping

activity policies for students learning and physical and psychological health.

 Identify coping strategies used by students to manage overlapping activities. By

knowing how to handle them and manage the activities, this objective will assist

parents and school authorities as well as the students in lessening the effects of

overlapping activities in their mental health.

 Assess the availability and effectiveness of support services for students in

managing their schedules and mental health. This objective will assess the

study's impact on the students' mental health.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the impact of overlapping activities in mental health

of Grade 12-STEM Learners of Holy Cross Academy for school year 2023-2024.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

 1. What are the impact of feeding overlapping activities to learners before the

implementation of the study?

2. What kind of mental health problems do the learners experience when having

clashing tasks?

3. Is there an improvement of the learners' psychological health after the

implementation of the study?

4. What coping mechanisms do learners employ to manage the stress and pressure

resulting from involvement in multiple extracurricular activities?

5. What are the suggested solutions may design to help learners overcome mental

health issues especially undertaking too much activities?

Significance of the Study

This study is made to find out the psychological impacts of giving too much

activities to the Grade 12-STEM of Holy Cross Academy that leads to unstable mental

health of the students.

This study can help the following:

To the Students, this study will help the students to know how to manage their time

properly and how they can cope if they are given overlapping activities.
To the Parents, this study will help them understand the current situation their child’s in

and avoid giving them pressure to get high grades.

To the Future Researchers, this study will help future researchers to see the impact of

feeding overlapping activities for learners, and how this various study important to all

students experiencing mental breakdowns by giving overlapping activities.

To the School Administrators, this study will give them an idea that giving overlapping

activities to learners can affect their mental health and that they should minimize giving

activities.

To the Field of Education, this study will give them the idea that giving overlapping

activities to learners can increase the possibilities that they will fail their other subjects.

Scopes and Limitations

This research focuses on the Psychological Impact of Feeding Overlapping

Activities for the Learners of Grade 12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and

Mathematics (STEM) of Holy Cross Academy. This includes the disadvantages the

learners would encounter due to the overlapping activities, and how would this impact

the learner’s mental health. Data collection is conducted through recent studies and

researches.
 This research would not cover other problems that are not necessarily connected

on the Psychological Impact of Feeding Overlapping Activities for the Learners of Grade

12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The research is only

limited and cannot study other than the Senior High School Strand of Grade 12 Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) of Holy Cross Academy.