ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SPECIALIZED SUBJECTS AND LEVEL

OF CONFIDENCE IN PURSUING ABM-RELATED PROGRAMS

AMONG GRADES 11 AND 12 STUDENTS

A Research Paper
Presented to
The Faculty of the Senior High School Department
Immaculate Conception Archdiocesan School
Tetuan, Zamboanga City

In
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course
Practical Research 2
(Quantitative Research)

by:

Danica Angel A. Castro

Debbie Ann D.S. Isidro
Jielyn B. Blancaflor
Nadia S. Maracag
Nyka I. Ybañez

July 2019
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

As the Philippines adapts itself to societal changes by becoming more

globally competitive, certain enhancements and innovations are made

possible in order for their country to grow and develop. One of these is the

implementation of K to 12 program initiated in the school year 2012-2013. K-

12 program aims to build a stronger foundation of education. It covers

Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education,

four years of junior high school, and two years of senior high school) to

provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong

learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills

development, employment, and entrepreneurship (Official Gazette of the

Philippines, 2015). Students and professionals recognized K-12 program as a

standardized education.

Students under academic strand are the ones who mainly received

subjects that were segmented into core, applied and specialized. The given

subjects mainly focus on broad reading, writing, memorizing, reporting, and

then actually applied. Every strand has its own uniqueness, they differ on the

major subjects they provide, this were classified as “specialized”, these

subjects are the ones that will guide and lead students to their chosen course

in college.

According to Weisinger (2015), confidence is “the degree to which you

think and “feel” your actions will achieve positive results”. It is measured by

the beliefs of one’s abilities. A student performs well when he/she has a
higher self-esteem. And one of the factors that is greatly affected by self-

esteem is a student’s academic performance. Self-esteem must take up

through numerous activities, performances, and recitations as well as in

everyone’s course of life. Looking through the specialized subjects such as

the Principles of Marketing, Fundamentals of Accounting, Organization and

Management, and Business Math, these are essential to the ABM students

which enhance their skills and knowledge and gain expertise on their possible

courses to be taken up in college.

Conducting this study will be beneficial not only for the students and

teachers but also to the school administrations. Through this, students will

realize how their academic performances reflect what courses they should

choose in pursuing ABM-related programs.

Statement of the Problem

This study attempts to determine academic performance in

specialized subjects and the level of confidence in pursuing ABM-related

programs among Grades 11 and 12 students of ICAS-Tetuan in school year

2019-2020.

Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What is the academic performance of the students in terms of their

general weighted average in the following subjects?

1.1 Organization and Management

1.2 Fundamentals of Accounting 2

2. What is the level of confidence in pursuing ABM-Related programs?

3. Is there a significant relationship between academic performance in

specialized subjects and level of confidence of the ABM students?

Significance of the Study

This study will be valuable and significant to those ABM teachers,

parents, ABM students and researchers.

School Administrators. They will be aware of the confidence level of

the students pertaining to their academic performances in chosen specialized

subject. Therefore, this will improve the administrators’ ability to do more

effective planning to enhance students’ learning experiences.

ABM Teachers. The teachers will enable to facilitate the students

chosen business course.

Parents. This study will be significant to the parents so that they may

be able to identify and guide their children into the path or courses they are

interested of.

ABM Students. This will help the students to understand and learn

their capabilities through specialized subjects that they are taking up.

Researchers. This may serve as the basis for their research that they

will be conducting.

Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on the relationship between academic performance

in specialized subjects and level of confidence in pursuing ABM-related

courses of Grades 11 and 12. This will be conducted in Immaculate

Conception Archdiocesan School in school year 2019 – 2020.

 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This study presents the related literature, related studies, theoretical

framework, conceptual framework, hypothesis and operational definition of

variables.

Related Literature

Academic performance is measured by the final grade earned in the

course and the total score or grade point average of the students. It is the

academic achievement of the students to meet or exceed performance

standard prescribed by the course work. Academic achievement plays an

important role in the life of an individual. In educational life academic

achievement is highly valued. The parents and the teachers expect that the

achievement of the students should be the highest. Academic performance

can represent a variety of learning outcomes such as knowledge,

understanding, attitude, intelligence, skill and application. On the basis of the

achievement, the child is graded and evaluated as high achiever or low

achiever. Good or high academic achievement tends to help both in

improving the personality of the students and also their recognition by

parents, peer groups, teachers, neighbours and society at large. It boosts

their morale and develops feeling in them that they are useful in the family,

school and society.

The achievement of the child depends upon the main factors namely

child’s interest, motivation, conceptual learning, understanding in class,

adjustment, school environment, home environment and reading interest. It

further depends on numerous factors like child interest and motivation in the
subject that they study, the devices and methods adopted by teachers in

class, family set up, self-confidence and study habits. But we must know that

confidence is always crucial for one’s success. Many people can be more

confident, most parents can manage to make their children feel more

confident by praising them. But as a matter of fact, a lot people feel that they

are not confident enough. They come out with different results, at time,

complementing each other but at times contradicting each other.

Self-confidence is one’s ability to judge his or her own social and

personal standing with respect to his or her environment and be able to

derive satisfaction out of it that affects the academic performance that can be

estimated for any student by its home environment and learning skills and

also by its academic interaction, study habits, and home environment.

Today, self-esteem as one of the influential factor which affects

student’s academic achievement has received increasing attention. It has

been declared that high self-esteem can lead to high academic achievement.

The Self-esteem can be referred as person's global judgments of

competency regarding one's self-worth (Harter, 1988). This construct

emerges when children compare their self-evaluation with actual performance

on a variety of tasks. Moreover, this comparison between the perceived self

and the ideal self is very crucial especially during adolescence because

adolescents encounter with diversified job of developing and challenges of

their own age. Hence, development of self-esteem is considered as one of

the most important developmental processes of adolescence (Sirin and

Rogers-Sirin, 2004).
 In general, high self-esteem help individuals to view themselves as

active and capable persons to promote changes through effort and set higher

goals which cause learning new things. Interestingly, numerous researchers

have demonstrated that the best way to improve student achievement is to

increase their self-esteem (Rubie et al., 2004). Research has also

documented that high self- esteem plays an important role in academic

achievement, social and personal responsibility (Redenbach, 1991). Those

who have higher academic achievement tend to feel more confident in

contrast those who lack confidence in themselves achieve less.

Arvin (2014) opines that practice proper time management in

Accountancy Business Management involves process of dealing something

on time. Time Management is the process of planning and exercising

conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities

specially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity (Arvin, 2014).

ABM will not only enhance an individual’s skills but also his or her critical

thinking which is much needed in the field of accounting as its course

valuation and analysis of accounts individually or in a group. Accountancy

Business and Management helps and teaches students to be globally

competitive enough and fill up the emptiness that will help them achieve

success.

Fundamentals of Accounting and Business Management introduce basic

accounting principles, accounting concepts, and accounting terminology. This

subject teaches the rules of debit and credit which allow performances in

accounting to be done successfully. It serves as the foundation of knowledge

of every ABM student (Gadiano, Cadawas, Marcaida, Malaca, 2018).

Related Studies

Aryana (2010) investigated the relationship between self-esteem and

academic achievement amongst pre-university students. The objectives of

this study were achieved by using Coppersmith questionnaire and the

students’ grade in their current and previous semesters. The random

sampling was used for collecting the data and as a consequence 50 male

and 50 female were chosen randomly. The questionnaires were distributed

amongst 100 students in Qaemshahr schools. The results demonstrated that

there was significant (p<0.01) positive relationship between self-esteem and

academic achievement. The results suggest that high self-esteem is

important factor and strengthen the prediction of academic achievement in

students.

Noronha, Monteiro, & Pinto (2018) also conducted a study on the

connectivity of the self-esteem and academic achievement. The objectives of

this study are to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and

academic achievement, to understand the Socio-Economic background, to

assess the level of self-esteem, and to know what could be the reason for low

academic performance in spite of having high self-esteem.

Doodman, Zadeh, & Changizi (2017) in their research entitled “Study

the Relationship between Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement among

High School Students in Lamerd City,” found that higher self-esteem results

in better academic achievement and vice versa. When the self-esteem is low,

the academic achievement is weak. The results also showed that there is a
significant relationship between components of susceptibility and competence

with academic achievement.

On the other hand, Okoko (2012) conducted a study which aims to

investigate the effects of self-esteem on academic performance of secondary

school students of Homa-bay country. And to satisfy the objective, the study

used the descriptive survey research. Data was gathered on school factors

and also on the feelings and perception about their self-esteem and

academic. The findings of the study have revealed that some 58.33% of the

students who performed well felt proud of their performance and always felt

like showing them to others.

The study of Sheykhjan, Jabari, & Rajeswari (2014) revealed that

there is a significant positive correlation between self-esteem and academic

achievement. This study suggests that high school students should

developed positive self-esteem in order to face the problems and challenges

of the present complex world with more confidence and courage.

Ogot (2017) concluded that academic performance of students

depends on their self-esteem and the established relationships. The study

revealed that students’ academic achievement is highly affected by their self-

esteem. Students with high self-esteem post the highest grades. Descriptive

research design was used which accurately described the association

between variables minimising bias while maximising the reliability of the data.

Using descriptive and inferential statistics the collected data was analysed

with the aid of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version 21).
 Theoretical Framework

This study will use the different kinds of theories that will serve as a

foundation in proving this study.

The first theory is Trait and Factor Occupational Choice (Frank Parson)

which determines the relationship of academic performance in specialized

subjects and the level of confidence in pursuing ABM-related courses of

grade 11 and 12 students which states the occupational decision making

occurs when people achieved, an accurate understanding of their individual

traits (aptitudes, interest, and personal abilities) rational and objective

judgement about the relationship between their individual traits, and labor

market. Second, Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory states that self-

efficacy is not a trait that some have and others do not. Instead, it is the

ability to exercise and strengthen ones as self-efficacy regardless of their

past or current environment. Lastly, Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent

et.al, 1994) explains and predicts the ways in which individuals form career

interests, set goals and persist in the work environment. This theory

incorporates a variety of concepts (interest, abilities, values, and

environmental factors) that appear earlier career theories and have been

found to affect career development.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the relationship between the independent and

dependent variables.

Academic Performance in terms

of general weighted average:
Level of Confidence in
- Organization and
Pursuing ABM-related
Management
programs
- Fundamentals of
Accounting 2
 Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of the Study

This study hypothesizes that there is a significant relationship between

academic performance in specialized subjects and level of confidence in

pursuing ABM-related programs of the ABM Students.

Operational Definition of Variables

In order to have a better understanding of this study, the following

variables are operationally defined:

Academic Performance. It refers to the grade average of the

students to the following subjects such as Organization and Management,

Business Math, Fundamentals of Accounting 2, and Principles of Marketing.

Fundamentals of Accounting 2. It refers to the ability in preparing

and analyzing financial statements.

Organization and Management. It refers to the students’ potential

ability in managing an organization.

 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOY

This chapter presents the research design, research locale, population

and sampling procedure, research instrument, validity and reliability of the

research instrument, data gathering procedure and the statistical treatment of

data.

Research Design

This study adopts a descriptive - correlational study. It is correlational

research it determines the relationship between the academic performance in

specialized subjects and level of confidence in pursuing ABM-related

programs. It is a type of non-experimental research method in which a

researcher measures two variables, understand and asses the statistical

relationship between them with no influences from any extraneous variable

(Adi Bhat, 2019).

It is descriptive research because it describes the characteristics of

population or phenomenon that is being studied. This methodology focuses

on the “what” of the research subject rather than the “why” of the research

subject (Adi Bhat, 2019).

Research Locale

This study was conducted at Immaculate Conception Archdiocesan

School Senior High Department. The school is located at Natividad Street,

Tetuan, Zamboanga City. The population for Grade 11 is 278 and for Grade

12 is 344. There are 15 teachers in the Senior High department.

 The school offer 5 kinds of tracks in Senior High School which includes

Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Accountancy

Business and Management (ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences

(HUMSS), Technical- Vocational-Livelihood, and General Academic Strand

(GAS).

Population and Sampling Procedure

The respondents of the study are the ABM students of Immaculate

Conception Archdiocesan School Senior High department school year 2018-

2019.

Table 1. Respondents of the Study

Grade (ABM) N n

11 44 36

12 38 32

Total 82 68

Research Instrument

The research instrument of this study is the 5 point Likert Type

questionnaire-checklist. The questionnaire has three (2) parts; the part one

(1) is on the personal data which consist only the name of the respondent,

and the general average of the ABM students on the subjects such as

Fundamental of Accounting 2 and Organization and Management. Part two

(2) will focus on the level of confidence in pursuing ABM- related programs
with 7 statements. Each statement has five options: 5-strongly agree, 4-

agree, 3-undecided, 2- disagree, 1-strongly disagree.

Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument

The research instrument is develop based on the specific problems of

the study. Then the researchers will provide copies of the instrument to the

panel of experts for comments and suggestions.

To test the reliability of the research instrument, the researchers will use

the split halves method. Questionnaires will be administer to the non-

respondents who have similar characteristics with the respondents. The data

that will be obtain from them will be computed using the Cronbach Alpha. The

reliability estimate determines whether the research instrument is reliable or

not.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will prepare a permission letter address to the school

principal of Immaculate Conception Archdiocesan School, Tetuan. The

researchers will ask for approval from the respondents for their participation

in the research activity. Upon approval, the researchers will provide

questionnaires to the respondents to answer the statements in the

questionnaires. The researchers will explain first before administering the

questionnaires. Then the data that will be obtain from the respondents will be

tabulated and statistically analyzed using appropriate tools.

Statistical Treatment of Data

To facilitate the analysis of data, the following measured the Statistical

Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were utilized:

 Weighted mean. This measure is used to determine the level of

confidence on the ABM- related programs provided by the academic

performance of the students in the subjects such as Business Finance,

Fundamentals of Accounting 2, and Principles of Marketing.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. This measure is

used to determine the significant relationship between the academic

performance in specialized subjects and the level of confidence in pursuing

ABM-related programs.