Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design and methodology used in this study.

Specifically, it outlines the research design, the locale and setting of the study, the subject

participants of the study, the data gathering procedure, the research instruments, and the

statistical treatment that was utilized in this study.

Research Design

This study generally used quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Specifically, the one-group pretest-posttest design was used. The design is shown below:

O X O

The symbol O refers to observation. The first O refers to the first observation

done in the form of administering all the research instruments including the test

instrument (pretest). X refers to the instructional intervention in the form of Video

Lessons-Assisted Modular Instruction (VL-AMI). The second O refers to the second

observation done in the form of administering all the instruments including the test

instrument (posttest).

The quantitative part of the study utilized data in the form of test scores and

Likert-type rating scores. The qualitative part of the study utilized data in the form of

reflection writing, open-ended questions in the module and one-on-one interview

responses. These three contribute to the interpretation of data by providing qualitative

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insights, identifying patterns and themes, understanding participants' perspectives, and

enriching the overall analysis. These methods help gain a deeper understanding of the

data and enhance the validity and reliability of the findings. The students’ responses in

each form of data was collected and analyzed via thematic analysis to further support the

quantitative part of the research.

Locale of the Study

The study was conducted at Mindanao State University – Saguiaran Community

High School located along the high way of Barangay Poblacion, Saguiaran, Lanao del

Sur. It is one of the High School External Units of the Mindanao State University (MSU)-

Main Campus. It is considered the best Mindanao State University External Units High

School and is one of the most reputable public high schools in Lanao del Sur. It offers

Junior and Senior High School. The first Muslim Summa Cum Laude of Mindanao State

University is one of the alumni of the school.

Saguiaran, officially the Municipality of Saguiaran is a 4th class municipality in

the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a

population of 26,712 people. It is seated about 5 km north of province’s capital, Marawi

City, and about 812 km south-east of Philippine’s main capital, Manila. It is home to

National Power Corporation- Agus II Hydroelectric Power Plant that generates 120 MW

electric powers.. Entering Lanao del Sur would mean you are entering the Municipality

of Saguiaran upon crossing Pantar Bridge from Iligan City and entering the huge

structured welcome arch with its Islamic façade indicating the presence of Islam.

The school’s faculty consists of 40 faculty members and 12 administrative staffs.

They have five teachers in mathematics in which two of them were handling Grade 7-
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Diamond and Grade 7-Emerald. The school has a total of 17 rooms including the

classrooms, computer and science laboratories, faculty room and office of the principal.

The school has its own mosque inside the campus. In addition, it has a gymnasium which

was donated by former governor Soraya A. Adiong and a stage which was also donated

by the former mayor Mahmod Muti.

The map showing Mindanao State University-Saguiaran Community High School

from Mindanao State University – Main Campus is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Map of MSU-SCHS

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The Subject Participants of the Study

The subject participants of this study consisted of one intact class of Grade 7

students of Mindanao State University – Saguiaran Community High School who were

officially enrolled for the school year 2021-2022 comprising of 45 students. There are 19

boys and 26 girls. All of which are Meranaos. The researcher chose Grade 7 because the

topic domain of the study focused on algebraic expression which is covered in the second

grading period of Grade 7 Mathematics students of MSU-SCHS. By focusing on Grade 7

students, the researcher can gather data that is relevant to the specific topic and grade

level being studied. This allows for a more targeted analysis and interpretation of the

data, as the findings can be directly related to the curriculum and instructional practices

specific to Grade 7 algebraic expressions at MSU-SCHS.

Data Gathering Procedure

The procedure of gathering the data in this study was divided into three phases:

the pre-intervention phase, the intervention phase, and the post-intervention phase.

Pre-Intervention Phase

The pre-intervention phase was focused primarily on the selection of topics,

construction, revision, and validation of the research instrument such as the Conceptual

Understanding Test (CUT), Mathematics Interest Inventory (MII), searching for and

adopting Mathematics video lessons and self-learning modules and the development of

the interview guide.

Development of Research Instruments and Pilot Testing. In the pre-

intervention phase, different types of learning materials related to algebraic expressions

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such as mathematics books, learning modules, educational videos and online sources

were used in the construction, revision, and validation of instruments utilized in the

study.

The research instruments such as the Conceptual Understanding Test (CUT)

consists of 47 items of multiple choice type with four choices. Table of Specification

(TOS) was used as a guide for distribution of scores for the questions which identified the

level of difficulties of the test. The questions were based on the K to 12 Mathematics

Curriculum Guide as well as online sources and available algebra modules. Additionally,

a printed modular guide supplemented to the video lessons was adapted from the

Department of Education ADM modules. The CUT along with the printed modules were

presented to the researcher’s adviser and experts for corrections, suggestions, face and

content validation. Also, the adopted Mathematics Interest Inventory (MII) from Snow

(2011) was validated by the adviser and some mathematics experts as well. The revisions

and suggestions of the experts were used to finalize the CUT, MII and the DepEd Region

10 Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) adapted modules.

Asking Permission. A letter of permission to conduct the pilot testing of the test

instruments was sent to the principal of Mindanao State University – Balo-i Community

High School (MSU-BCHS) for approval of the administering of the pilot testing. The

finalized CUT was then administered to one section of Grade 8 students of MSU-BCHS

for pilot testing. Test answers were scored, items were analyzed and the reliability

coefficient was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha after the test.

Before the intervention, another letter of permission was given to the principal of

Mindanao State University – Saguiaran Community High School as well as the Assistant
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Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs asking for permission to conduct the study to one

intact section of Grade 7 in the said school. The topic domain of the study focused on

Algebraic Expression which includes the following topics: Basic Terms in Algebra,

Translation of Verbal Phrases to Mathematical Phrases and Vice Versa, Evaluating

Algebraic Expressions, Addition and Subtraction of Polynomials, Laws of Exponents,

Multiplication of Polynomials, Division of Polynomials, Special Products, Solving Word

Problems Involving Algebraic Expressions.

After all the preparations in the pre-intervention phase, a letter of permission to

conduct face-to-face pretest to the Grade 7 students was sent to the Office of the

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. A separate letter of permission was sent

to the students’ parents or guardians asking them to allow their child to have their pretest

inside the school premises. Minimum health standards were observed. Then, the research

instruments consisting of the Conceptual Understanding Test and the Mathematics

Interest Inventory were administered to the students for pretesting.

The Intervention Phase

Upon approval to conduct the study and after administering the pretest, the

intervention followed. The topic domains were taught to the intact class of MSU-SCHS

Grade 7 students. The subject participants of the study learned through the video lessons-

assisted modular instruction method of teaching.

The intact section of Grade 7 students were exposed to different activities that

were guided with the video lessons-assisted modular instruction method. Here the teacher

provided the students with educational video lessons which is sent to the students’ Group

Chat and can also be accessed using QR code scanner embedded in its corresponding
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printed module every week. When modules are released, they can access the videos

lessons anytime using internet connection. At the same time, the video is sent to their

Group chat room for them to watch at home and learn from the said educational tools.

Tools in the use of VL-AMI were educational videos and printed modules which include

weekly assessment and open-ended questions in the module as well as journal entries

from the students. There are a total of nine topic domain and nine video lessons in all.

The video lessons were obtained from Youtube. There are a lot of video lessons and the

researcher filtered out only those video lessons which contain what was exactly in the

DepEd Self-Learning Modules. This is to ensure that the video content coincides with the

sequence of lessons as well as the examples in the module.

The flow diagram showing the steps of instructional procedure in a video lessons-

assisted modular instruction is shown in Figure 3.

Assessment
Viewing of the test/activity in the
Releasing of
educational videos module and
educational videos
and studying the reflective journal
and modules
modules at home entry

Releasing of Checking and

educational video evaluation of the
Submission of
clips and modules activities and
modules
for the next lesson assessment test in
the module

Figure 3. Flow Diagram of Instructional Procedures of Video Lessons-Assisted Modular

Instruction
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The Post Intervention Phase

After the intervention, the research instruments administered for the second time

as posttest to the subject participants of the study in a face-to-face set-up. A letter of

permission was sent to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (External

Units) to conduct the said face-to-face posttest examination. A letter of permission was

also given to the students’ parents or guardians for the administration of the posttest.

Minimum health protocols such as social distancing and wearing of face masks was

observed. The said test was the same set of tests given to the participants during the

pretest. The participants were asked to submit their reflective journal reflecting their

experiences on the use of video lessons-assisted modular instruction. Ten students were

interviewed after the intervention. The data gathered was then analyzed and interpreted.

Research Instruments

In order to gather data and to answer each statement of the problems in this study,

the following research instruments were used.

1. Conceptual Understanding Test (CUT). This is researcher – made test

consisting of 47 items which covers the topic domain of the study. The said test has

undergone the step in test development to be used in research such as face and content

validity done by experts. It original test questions consist of 50-items but after face and

content validity, three items were omitted resulting to the final 47-item test questionnaire.

It is a multiple choice type of test with four choices A,B,C and D. The purpose of the test
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is to measure students’ understanding of mathematical concepts in Algebraic

Expressions. A Table of Specifications (TOS) was prepared to ensure fair distribution of

the difficulty of the items based on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Objectives such as

Remembering, Understanding, Analyzing, Applying, Evaluating and Creating. Part of the

TOS is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Table of Specification

TOTAL NUMBER
TOPIC DOMAIN ITEM NO.
OF ITEMS
Basic terms in algebra 1,4,6,19 4
Verbal phrase and 3,9,12,14,16 5
mathematical phrase
Evaluating algebraic 2,5,7,8,13,15 6
expressions
Addition and subtraction of 18,20,22,23,24,26 6
polynomials
Laws of exponents 25,28,29,31 4
Multiplication of polynomials 28,30,32,35 4
Division of polynomials 34,36,38,40,43 5
Special products 33,37,39,41,42,45,46 7
Solving word problems 10,11,17,21,44,47 6
involving algebraic
expressions
TOTAL: 47

In addition, the said test was presented to the thesis adviser and mathematics

experts for validation and reliability of the test to improve the content of the instrument

so that its strength and weaknesses could be identified straightforwardly before testing

and giving it out to the participants. After the CUT was validated and analyzed, the CUT

was pilot tested at MSU-BCHS to the 50 Grade 8 students on November 16, 2022. The

results were presented to the adviser and statistician for reliability and item analysis of
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the tests. Based on the results, there were some items which had to be eliminated to

increase its reliability. Using Cronbach’s Alpha with reliability coefficient of 0.713, the

Conceptual Understanding Test was reduced to 47 items only.

The conceptual understanding levels of the students were measured in terms of

the raw scores obtained in the CUT. The level of conceptual understanding was based on

the score obtained and then transmuted based on the transmutation table of MSU-

External Units. The scores were classified as high, moderate, and low. The categorization

with the corresponding scores is shown in Table 2.

Table 2

Categorization of Students’ Conceptual Understanding Levels

Levels of Conceptual Understanding Score Range

High 42-47
Moderate 24-41
Low 0-23
Score range is based on the transmutation table of MSU-External Units

2. Mathematics Interest Inventory (MII). This is a 20-item questionnaire

intended to measure students’ interest in Mathematics. This instrument was adapted from

Snow (2011) whose study focused on the Development of a Math Interest Inventory to

Identify Gifted Students from Underrepresented and Diverse Populations. The MII is a

20-five point Likert type item. It is a five-point likert-type scale that ranged from 1 to 5.

The students were asked to choose their interest in Mathematics, based on a scale with

choices as never, rarely, sometimes, most of the time and always.

The mathematics interest levels of the students were measured in terms of the

raw scores obtained in the MII. The level of mathematics interest was obtained based on
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the transmutation table of MSU-External Units. Raw scores were obtained then

transmuted to identify the levels of mathematics interest of each student in the one group.

The scores were classified as high, moderate, and low levels of interest. The

categorization with the corresponding scores is shown in Table 3.

Table 3

Categorization of Level of Mathematics Interest

Levels of mathematics interest Score range

High 90-100
Moderate 50-89
Low 0-49
Score range is based on the transmutation table of MSU-External Units

3. Printed Modules. It is a set of learning opportunities that is organized around

well-defined topics which contains the elements of instructions, specific objectives,

teaching-learning activities and evaluation using criteria-referenced measurement. It is

adapted from the Department of Education Self-learning modules. It underwent face and

content validity testing by an expert before being provided to the students. It served as a

guide to the video lessons provided and contains detailed presentation and evaluation of

the topics. The weekly assessments along with some open-ended questions are included

in the printed modules which were used to support the qualitative part of the study.

4. Reflective Journals. These are the entries written by the students about their

experiences and insights on video lessons-assisted modular instruction approach.

5. Interview Guide. In addition to the data gathered from the Conceptual

Understanding Test, Mathematics Interest Inventory, and open-ended questions in the

module, the researcher also conducted one-on-one interviews with randomly selected
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student participants. The purpose of these interviews was to personally ask them specific

questions and gather qualitative information about their experiences in using Video

Lessons-Assisted Modular Instruction.

Statistical Treatment of Data

To process the quantitative data for statistical computations, the Statistical

Package on Social Sciences (SPSS) for Microsoft Windows software was used. Statistical

treatments were all tested at ∝=.05 level of significance. Specifically, the following

statistical tools were used:

Descriptive statistics such as the frequency, mean and standard deviation were

also used. The mean was used to determine the significant changes in the conceptual

understanding test and mathematics interest of students after the intervention. The

standard deviation was used to identify the average variability of all the scores around the

mean. Frequency and percentage are the tools used to describe the students’ scores in the

Conceptual understanding test administered.

Chi-square test was used to determine whether there is a significant difference in

the distribution of students to the different conceptual understanding levels and interest

levels before and after intervention.

Moreover, t-test for dependent samples at .05 level of significance was used to

determine whether there is significant difference between the pretest and posttest of one

group of student’s conceptual understanding and interest in mathematics before and after

intervention.