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Course Preferences of Grade 12 Students from Different Strands in

Makapuyat National High School

A Quantitative Research

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

In Practical Research 2

Constantino Karla
Marquez Jessica
Ramirez Jeanzen P.
Ricafranca Rex Mark

Submitted to:
Ms. Nira Lugmao
(Practical Research II Teacher)

2023-2024
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CHAPTER I
INTODUCTION
One of the most important decision every senior high school student has to make is choosing the
course they will take when they go to college, a very significant choice to make that can greatly
affect their future. So, it is important to consider the factors that is needed to be considered so
their choice won’t be a reason for regret in pursuing their chosen path to be successful someday.
According to research, students are more likely to believe that their education has purpose when
they receive assistance in choosing courses of study and jobs that interest them. Preference for a
course, however, is based on what local colleges and universities have to offer. According to
Briones & Rubi (2021), the concerns raised by enterprises and industries regarding the degrees
that universities and colleges offer are becoming less significant.
Pascual (2014) agrees that students' top priority while selecting a college subject is their potential
to get employment after graduation. The majority of students want to enroll in popular Filipino
courses or field courses related to science. The agricultural route is the least favored one. There
was a tendency among the student responders to enroll in professional courses. The courses that
students want to take connect to what their fathers do for a living. The student's desired college
course is unrelated to other factors including the mother's occupation, the family income each
month, the position of the student's siblings, and the student's third-year general average grades.
When it comes to selecting competency skills for vocational high schools, junior high school
students are psychologically in a stage of adolescence that is still unstable due to a variety of
factors. Adoption is a complicated decision because there are numerous implementation-related
factors to consider (Gusdiandika & Sinduwiatmo, 2012). When students select expertise
competencies based on criteria other than their interests and talents, they may make mistakes in
their choice of competencies. These outside variables include peer group dynamics, school
promotion dynamics, career information dynamics, and parental guidance dynamics.
Concurrently, another significant factor is the curriculum shift. Graduates from K–12 programs
are better equipped for postsecondary education, according to Daquioag (2012). Because of an
improved curriculum that will offer timely and relevant content, basic education will guarantee
that its graduates have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, allowing them to pursue
further education if they so desire.
Higher education establishments need to be aware of this and ready to meet the demands of these
incoming first-year college students. The universities need to make sure that the courses they are
delivering are appropriate, appealing, and engaging for the students. Therefore, this study will be
conducted as preliminary survey among the senior high school students in the Makapuyat
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National High School. This is for the purpose of having a bird’s eye view on what courses are
most preferred by senior high school students.

Statement of the Problem

This study determined the course preference of the grade 12 senior high school students and the
factors affecting their choice. Specifically, this study answered the following questions:
1) What are the leading preferred courses of senior high school students as a whole and
when grouped according to chosen strand in senior high school?
2) What among the factors greatly influence students preferred course?
3) How can these factors influence the students course preferences?

Significance of the Study

This study will contribute to the following:
Students
This study can help them give options on where they can pursue their courses that they will take
here so they can have a wider view this research also shows the list of courses that they may
prefer or other options they can also consider before making a choice. It can also be a self-
assessment to every senior high school student as a step of choosing their preferred courses.
Teachers
It can be an initial view of their student’s course preferences so they can help them give advices
ang guide them to be prepared in taking the path they will take after they successfully graduate
senior high school.
Future Researchers
This study can guide them in the process of making the study wherein they may or may not
encounter missing pieces or additional ideas or information about or related to this study. This
also includes information or data that the researchers have obtained to ensure that the study is
accurate and effective to aid future researchers in conducting fruitful research studies.

In addition, the researchers also believe that this study if conducted in all high schools in the
province can help resolve if there are any problems of unavailability of courses here in the
province of Marinduque that a lot of students prefer that may leave them no choice but to go to
other college institutions in other cities that is sometimes far away from their home.
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Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses on knowing the course preferences, also the factors that they consider in
making this choice and the college institutions of senior high school students prefer in pursuing
the path of tertiary education in order to obtain their dreams or career choice.
The research's findings are restricted to the information acquired through the questionnaire tools,
which will be created and validated by the researcher. As a result, the researcher is willing to
accept that any findings would only apply to the setting in which this study was done and to the
respondents who made up the study's sample.

Operational Definition of Terms

To have an easy understanding of the terms in this study, the following words are hereby defined
operationally:
Pleminary View – like an initial view that can lead an idea.
Higher Education Establishments – College Institutions
Course Preferences – refers to the course’s students prefer in taking in pursuing their college
year.
Strands – Refers to the SHS program opened and offered in Makapuyat National High School.
These are classified as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), General
Academic Strand (GAS), Electrical Installation and Maintenance (EIM), Food and Beverage
Services (FBS).
Tertiary Education – A path they will take after finishing Senior High School in short, its college.
Path – A direction they will take after finishing or achieving something.
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Conceptual Framework
This study will be using IPO model in determining the needed information or data of the
researchers this includes the Input, Process and Output of the study.

Input Process Output

1) What are the leading

preferred courses of
senior high school
students as a whole and
when grouped
according to chosen
strand in senior high
school?
2) What among the
factors greatly
influence students
preferred courses
3) How can these
factors influence the
students course
preferences?
Fist making a letter of
permission to conduct the  Course
study to approve the Preferences of
survey questionnaire that senior high school
will be given to the Students
respondents.  Leading Factors
that influence
Then giving them list of
students course
college courses wherein
preferences.
the survey questionnaires
 How these Factors
are also included to
influence course
determine their course
preferences of
preferences.
students.
Analyzing and assessing
Data
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Foreign Literature
Many students struggle with decision-making when it comes to their education,

especially when it comes to selecting their college courses. It's critical to weigh the advantages of

each course and look for distinctions in order to choose which option would be greatest for their

future. The majority of circumstances where a person needs to make a decision quickly but is

unable to do so because they are unsure of what to choose or are having trouble differentiating

between the options that are available could be classified as instances of indecision (Fernando et

al., 2018).

Making a career decision is extremely difficult, especially when it affects one's ability to

support themselves. Students now find it difficult to choose a career because of the unorganized

industry and rapidly evolving technology (Eremie & Chiamaka, 2019).

According to Dayao and Almario (2018), selecting a course and college to attend is one

of the most significant decisions that graduating students must make and is a crucial part of their

educational journey. As a result, each element influencing these choices needs to be highly

significant and have a bearing on the choices that students make regarding their courses.

Everyone agrees that education is the solution to the world's socioeconomic problems.

Education is seen by both nations and individuals as the answer to a number of problems,

including unemployment, mental illness, drought, excessive rainfall, poor governance,

inadequate shelter, starvation, and inadequate knowledge. Therefore, every country in the globe
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strives for social status and a high quality of life through wise job decisions, especially for kids

preparing to enter college (Oanu, Torre, Japitan, and Moneva, 2019). Choosing a college course

is maybe one of the most important and profound choices a person can make.

Personality, parents, job opportunities, and interest were found to be statistically significant in

influencing and predicting students' career preferences, out of the five career selection

determinants. In the model, only the peer component (LRT p-value = 0.110) was shown to be

statistically insignificant. Among the career selection determinants, the variable interest was

found to have the strongest influence on students' course preferences. It can be inferred that

diverse career selection factors have statistically significant effects on students' senior high

school career choices. Since students' preparation in senior high school is crucial to their

subsequent studies in tertiary education, or employment after senior high school, the study gives

vital inputs for students, parents, and school officials on how to lead and develop their career

plans. (Dublin et al. 2020)

Local Literature

Republic Act No. 10533 (RA 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.

An act enhancing the Philippine Basic Education System by strengthening its curriculum and

increasing the number of years for basic education, appropriating funds therefore and for other

purposes.

Dagang and de Mesa (2017) identified the results which point to the strong influence of

parents on their children choice of tertiary school. It is deeply rooted in the consciousness of the

Filipino people the respect of elders, Hence the strong influence of parents on children decision.
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In Filipino family children are financially dependent on their parent decision, thus explaining the

moderate influence of others such as the peers, friends, and relatives.

Eremie and Okwulehie (2018) indicated that factors such as environmental, opportunity

and personality could influence the choice of career among secondary school students. In terms

of environmental factors, it revealed that family, socioeconomic status and peer groups have

significant influence of the student choice of career while opportunity factors such as education

and mentorship also had influence on the choice of career as well as the personality factors such

as students interest, values and skills in choosing their courses.

Foreign Studies

According to the study of Laurie A Henry, Norman A Stahl (2017) entitled Dismantling

the developmental education pipeline: Potent pedagogies and promising practices that address

the college readiness gap, suggest the metaphoric pipeline eventually leaking students into

remedial classes in college is actually a pre-K-16 issue and the leak can begin to fixed by

forging partnerships among educators from secondary schools, community colleges and when

appropriate four-year institutions to design, implement, support, and evaluate programs

reflecting the strengths of the local culture and the needs of community.

“Senior High School Curriculum in the Philippines, USA, and Japan” a Journal of

Academic Research (2016), The study is a review of the literature on the basic education (k-12)

curriculum specifically the senior high school (SHS) of the Philippines, Japan, and the US.

Results of the review show that the SHS curriculum is intended to prepare students to enter into

college/university or to work in the industry or be an entrepreneur. The SHS program is the last
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level in all basic education programs of the countries reviewed. The Philippines has a clearer

model with at least four tracks (academics, tech-voc, sports, arts & design) and at least ten

strands. Japan has two tracks in academics and tech-voc. The US basic education system varies

from state to state, similar to its SHS curriculum. There is no definite track as this is left to

individual state and their school districts to decide. There are purely academic, tech-voc and

other types of schools. The majority of those who choose academic track are students who plans

to proceed to college. There is still a stigma in selecting tech-voc and other courses as this are

seen by many as the course for poor performing/problematic students. The enrolment in tech-voc

schools in the US is declining despite the surge of demand for skilled workers. In the three

countries, the availability of qualified teachers is still an issue. This situation is very real in the

Philippines as it started the SHS program in June 2016. Other problems include the need to

construct a huge number of classrooms and facilities. All of these are currently being addressed

too by the government.

Local Studies
The study of Ouano JV. et al (2019) entitled Factor Influencing on Grade 12 Students Chosen

Courses in Jagobiao National High School-Senior High Department discovered that choosing a

career is a pivotal moment in the lives of every student. Before making a choice, students need to

weigh a number of considerations. This study evaluated the impact of various factors on career

decisions, including interest and decision-making, peer influence, institutional considerations,

and future employment chances. The findings indicate that factors related to the institutions are

the most important, followed by interest and decision-making, peer pressure, and potential future

employment.
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According to the study of E.S Pagulayan et al. (2021) entitled The Value of Economic

and Cultural Capital to College Readiness Among Filipino Senior High School GraduatesThe

research looked at how students' cultural capital—their parents' greatest level of education and

their involvement in the community—and economic capital—their parents' monthly income and

weekly allowance—relate to their readiness for college. According to the study's findings, the

respondents' parents only earned a secondary education and had an income below the Philippine

poverty line. They, too, lack college readiness, suggesting that the skills they acquired in their

foundational education require additional development. Furthermore, cultural and economic

capital emerge as important assets that shed light on the college preparedness of Filipino Senior

High School (SHS) graduates. Those whose families are more prepared for college. Surprisingly,

the kids' poor cultural and economic capital may account for their lack of college readiness. Due

to their lower cultural and economic capital, individuals typically possess less competences that

allow them to navigate higher education. As a result, these underprivileged students typically

find it difficult to succeed in life and achieve more.

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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the Research Design, Participants of The Study, Data Gathering
Instruments, Research Locale, Data Gathering Procedure, Data Analysis and Ethical
Considerations of The Study.

Research Design
Descriptive research methodology was utilized in the study that was done. This would provide a
true and accurate systematic description of a situation or area of interest (Aquino, 1992). For this
type of investigation, the researchers employed a descriptive survey research design, which
collects data for the study through survey questionnaires. Survey research was defined by
(Kerlinger, 1973) as a study conducted on both small and large populations using samples
selected from the target population in order to ascertain the relative incidence, distribution, and
interrelationships. This type of design is employed by the researcher to facilitate the easy
collection of precise data from the samples. The primary goal of the research is to draw
conclusions about the topic based on the interpretation of the data in order to identify the courses
that graduating senior high school students prefer and the elements that influence their decision.

Participants of the Study

The participants in this study are the Senior High School grade 12 students with the total number
of (264) using the sloven formula the final number of the respondents minimize to (159) then
will be divided by the different strands. The researcher will use stratified sampling and
availability sampling during the selection process of the sample from the population. The
researchers believe that it is the perfect sampling to use because stratified sampling is a
probability sampling technique wherein the researcher divides the entire population into different
subgroups or strata, then randomly selects the final subjects proportionally from the different
strata.
In measuring the number of samples in this study, the researcher used Slovin’s formula with
standard error 5% or 0.05. The total sample of this research was 159 that consist of 19 students
from the 8 sections from different strands specifically the General Academic Strand (GAS),
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Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Electrical Installation and

Maintenance (EIM) and Food and Beverage Services (FBS).

This formula used to determine the number of samples from population. The Slovin’s formula
shown as followed:
N
n= 2
1+ NE
Explanation:
n=Number of populations
N=Population
e=Standard error (5 %=0.05)

Research Locale
This study will be conducted in Makapuyat National High School located in Napo Sta. Cruz
Marinduque under is the illustration provided to properly determine the location where the study
will be conducted:

Figure 1: Location of Napo Sta. Cruz Marinduque where Makapuyat National High School is located.

Data Gathering Instrument

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The researchers will be using survey questionnaires specifically combination of open and
close ended questionnaire Likert scale will also be used to determine the needed data to answer
the questions this study aims to answer which is the course preferences, and factors that greatly
influence this decision. The researchers believe that it is the perfect data gathering instruments to
use based on the needed data of the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will first be writing a letter for permission and a letter for validation for the
survey questionnaires that will be given to the respondents, then the letter will be sent to the
principal to give permission for conducting the study and the involvement of the participants
which is the Grade 12 students in Makapuyat National High School. The letter of validation on
the other hand will be sent to the chosen validator of the researchers. If the letters are approved
the researchers will then only start the gathering of data., the survey questionnaires will be given
to the respondents of the study to be answered after that leaves the researchers to analyze and
interpret the gathered data.

Data Analysis
After the survey questionnaires was answered by the respondents the data gathered from the
respondents will be analyzed carefully by the researchers to ensure that the interpretation of data
from the gathered data will be accurate. The researchers will also ensure that the results are only
based on the data gathered to make sure that the answer that study aims to answer will be
accurately done. In addition, the analyzed data will be written and recorded.

Ethical Consideration
Before conducting the research, the researchers sent a letter of permission for the principal’s
approval in order to conduct the research right and formally. The said study will also be
explained to the respondents before answering the survey questionnaires and also for them to be
at peace that the gathered data will be confidential and only be used for research purposes only
the information that the respondents will state will remain private and if ever leaked and cause
harm to the respondents the researchers will hold accountable for that manner.
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1. Briones, M. & Rubi, R. (Offerings. Asia Pacific Journal of Educational Perspectives,
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Career planning Program.
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