Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

With the right people, someone can love a subject he or she hates. A social

activity where everybody in a four-cornered room is actively involved in a discussion.

Exchanging views and opinions about a certain topic and gaining knowledge through

this process – learning.

Education is known all over the world. It has been studied since the beginning of

the century. Different research works regarding learners, their intelligence, their abilities,

and their thinking can be found (for an overview, see, e.g., Ausubel, 1968; Hilgard &

Bower, 1975). According Bauersfeld (1994), until the 1980s "interaction" was

understood mainly as an interaction between variable (Snow & Farr, 1987; Snow,

Federico & Montague, 1980) rather than as social interaction.

From various sociocultural theories, interaction is the source of human

development. However, not all interaction done by the current 7 billion people in the

world leads to mindful conceptual development. Some interaction leads to conceptual

transformation through moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, some to

learning of skills or noticing of forms, and some interaction is merely transactional or

forced and no new knowledge, ideas, or skills are gained from the exchange (Azarola,

García & Buescher, 2015). As stated by Hurst, Wallace & Nixon (2013), “there is little

social interaction taking place in many of today’s classrooms from kindergarten through

college.'' There are times that the teacher or one dominant student does all the talking
and thinking in a group therefore the only one who is learning (Hurst, 1998 cited by

Hurst, Wallace & Nixon, 2013).

Though there may be ups and downs when it comes to interaction, a study

conducted in Nigeria showed that cooperative learning is still effective in improving a

learner’s capacity to understand different concepts in Physics (David, Ojo and

Folorunso, 2017). Moreover, a research done four years ago revealed that collaborative

learning paves the way for knowledge acquisition, building social skills and emotional

support (Alhassan, 2015).

One way for learners to shoulder the responsibility of learning is for them to be

the readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and thinkers in the classroom through active

engagement in social interaction with others (Alvermann & Phelps, 2005; Vacca, Vacca,

& Mraz, 2011). For the purpose of this study, we define social interaction as meaningful

dialogue among learners. Socially interactive learners are engaged learners (Vacca et

al., 2011). Routman (2005) contends “students learn more when they are able to talk to

one another and be actively involved” (p. 207). In short, social interaction is vital to the

learning process.

In the past, studies on the Filipino learners focused on nutrition and intellectual

performance, school achievement, self-concept and self-esteem, language and effects

of sociocultural, school and home environments. However, the examinations appeared

to be static, divided and unfit to give an entire image of who the Filipino students are. In

a study conducted by Rungduin & Reyes (2015) regarding the socioemotional

perspective of a Filipino learner, Filipino learners have an increasing awareness of role-

taking, which can be linked to characterizing the culture of Filipinos as being

collectivistic where the roles each member of the family play is integral to the

functioning of the unit. Beliefs such as not permitting children to give their opinions

when adults are talking would provide the children an understanding of the delineation

of their roles as children and the roles of those who are older take, however, when

children speak, the adults would say – “parang matanda magsalita” (she/he speaks like

a person of wisdom) which provides the child greater awareness of how he or she

should look at situations from different points of view.

However, in the Philippine context, it is claimed that classroom culture tends to

be highly authoritarian. In this case, there will always be a dominant person inside a

group who will sometimes dismiss the ideas presented by their other groupmates or will

create an intimidating impression among themselves that will make their group mates

withdraw their perspectives. This manifestation of power will influence the discursive

practices.

With the attachment of Filipino learners to their values, toxic Filipino culture also

comes in play. Ironic aversion to offenses has made sugarcoating and employment of

euphemisms very normal—a detrimental and counterproductive default especially when

basic transparency is what’s needed. Typical Filipino traits that we learned in grade

school such as ningas cogon is still prevalent among interpersonal relationships within

learners. Ningas cogon is a Filipino idiom which describes someone who is only doing

well during the beginning. Another trait that is still widely observed is procrastination or

the manana habit. These traits often hinder the productiveness of the Filipino learners

within a group inside the classroom.

 In the context of Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School, Enabling

Tasks and Authentic Assessment Tasks form part of the Performance Tasks, which

contribute to quite a big portion of the learners' grades. These are often, if not, always

done in groups. Hence, they must not be taken lightly. In a classroom environment

where freeloaders and rather incompetent peers are unavoidable, equal distribution of

tasks and amount of effort put into the output can never be ensured. This leads to

academic frustration due to the learners knowing that they could have done better,

therefore affecting their perception of their peers, interaction in the classroom, and can

ultimately cause poor collaboration for future tasks to be done.

Collaborative tasks contribute to a great portion of every learner’s grades

nowadays. With this, complications and inconveniences experienced while working on

these tasks could play an extensive role on the output the learners produce. In order to

foster an effective and cooperative learning environment, certain ideal situations could

be applied regarding how learners work well with their peers. For instance, each

member in a group should put in equal amounts of effort on the task at hand to prevent

complaints and disagreements within the group. Even though problems like this could

be dealt with through peer evaluations, it is more ideal that everyone in a group

cooperates equally. Aside from carelessness, some members also cannot cooperate

because of external factors that won't let them cooperate (e.g. dominating members).

This being said, every member should be given a chance to cooperate and every

suggestions and opinions should be heard to ensure the definite agreement in all

decisions related to the task.

 Seeing as groups are likely composed of learners from different backgrounds,

not everyone would have the same resources and financial aid. Even though everyone

should contribute equally to the task, every member should ideally be considerate and

aware of how much or how little every member can contribute with what they have. This

would help the learners to level their output on how extravagant or how simple it can get

based on an attainable contribution for everyone.

As what people commonly believe, the path for a pleasant life is education.

Worldwide information and knowledge can be acquired through education (Oak 2011).

By reason that education enables us to perceive information from external humanity and

receives critical information regarding the current (Experts Column 2010). It also trains

the human mind and trains people how to think, distinguish right and wrong, comes up

with a decision, and more aspects to consider (Gattani 2010). The success of an

individual depends on the quality of education it gets; thus, the government and some

institutions ensure that every entity receives this liberty by virtue of educational policies.

Republic Act (RA) 9155 known as the Governance of Basic Education Act of

2001, strengthens the principal and leadership goals, and local school-based

management within the context of transparency and local accountability to administer

the overall framework for principal empowerment. This act aims to promote the rights of

every Filipino citizen for a free and accessible quality basic education. Another is the

acclaimed K–12 program, also known as the Enhance Basic Education Program, which

covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education that intends to grant enough time

for the mastery of concepts and basic skills. It is also to mold and prepare the learners

to be globally competitive soon.

 Educational policies administer a smooth bearing to the education system of the

country. Along these lines, are the principles and government policy-making in

educational sphere, in conjunction with the gathering of laws and rules that supervise

the education systems. It comes with analysis which is the scholarly study of education

policy that pursues answers to questions about the purpose of education, objectives

that’s made to achieve, the process of achieving them and the apparatus for measuring

their success and failure.

Most of the schools today use the stand-and-deliver type of teaching style. This

is the type where the teacher does all the talking in front of the class while the students

just sit and listen. Sometimes this teaching style causes boredom, thus resulting to

inattentive students. This is very far from the ideal classroom situation where the

teacher and students are actively involved in the discussion. In here, the teacher would

talk for about 10-15 minutes then ask the students a question which would let them

think for about a minute or so. This method helps keep the students' minds sharp and

prevents them from getting distracted. There are also circumstances in the classroom

today wherein groupworks would turn into individual works due to freeloaders. Cases

like these would be prevented if there would be an even distribution of tasks among all

the members and everyone in the group would be responsible enough to cooperate and

finish their assigned task on time.

The study aims to understand the internal or relational gap that hinders the

learners from achieving harmony within their group/class and determine whether, or not,

the system needs to make a change in order to establish and maintain a healthy

environment for learning.

Theoretical Lens

Consistent with Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory, this emphasizes that

social interaction is a fundamental role in regards with the development of a person’s

cognition (Mcleod, 2014). During this process, students interact with other students

resulting in the construction of meaning, knowledge and understanding through

overlaps of their social contexts (Littleton & Hakkinen, 1999 as cited by Almajed, 2015).

Furthermore, as stated by Fogarty (1999), “Vygotsky highlights that people learn first

through person-to-person interactions and then individually through an internalization

process that leads to deep understanding”. Consequently, the present study is looking

into interaction between students and their academic performance.

In addition, Vygotsky also explains that through interaction learners can learn

from each other and from those people who knows more or those who are ‘well-

informed’ (Fogarty, 1999 as cited by Blake and Pope, 2008). He believes that social life

is primary in the learning process. Classroom interaction does not only involve student-

teacher relationship but also from student to student exchange of knowledge (Parker,

2015; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978). Based from this theory, the current study aims to bridge

the gap between the perspectives and influences of the students to classroom and its

effect on their academic performance.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study is to investigate Ateneo de Davao University – Senior

High School STEM Learners’ perception and preferences towards collaboration, and

how this affects their academic performance.

 1. What are the struggles experienced by the learners during collaborative tasks?

2. How does classroom interaction and learners' perception of their peers affect

their productivity and the way they participate during collaborative tasks?

3. What are the learners' coping mechanisms towards the struggles they have

experienced?

Significance of the Study

The results of this study can be primarily used for the benefit of finding proper

and plausible ways to promote a better environment between the learners inside the

classroom. This study will be of great endeavor in addressing the needs of

improvements in the process of the development of interpersonal relationship between

Senior High School learners, which amply affects the academic performance of the

learners. Through highlighting the inadequacies, perceptions, and obstacles in

cultivating social relationships of learners, this study will provide great assistance in

creating strategies and solutions for this existing dilemma that will result to a more

productive and holistic environment for the senior high school learners to learn. This

research will also serve as a reference for future studies on the nature of

communication within senior high school learners. Moreover, this study can be a tool in

finding more efficient ways for learners to practice the 6 C's of Ateneo de Davao

University Senior High School more effectively.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study focuses on the effect of how learners respond to whom they are

grouped with during collaborative academic activities, as well as the tasks given to them

regarding their productivity and output. The study is set within the Ateneo de Davao

University - Senior High School Campus. The systematic random sampling will be used

on 3 learners per section of the Grade 11 STEM who will be the respondents. The

process will be conducted through interviews in order to gather more in-depth data

about the learners’ experiences with regards to collaborative tasks.

Operational Definition of Terms

Learners Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School students

who are the respondents for the data-gathering procedure.

Collaborative Tasks Tasks given to the learners for certain evaluations and

assessments, mostly performances and enabling tasks.

Classroom Interaction Communication that requires the teacher and learners to talk

to each other during the class discussion.

Coping Mechanisms Learners’ method of managing the different factors that

might delay them from completing their tasks.

Output The product that the group of learners have accomplished

Productivity The rate at which the group of learners complete their task

with efficiency, cooperation, and equal amount of effort

 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This part of the study presents the review of related literature in connection to the

perspectives and influences of classroom interaction on the academic performance of

AdDU-SHS STEM learners.

Furthermore, this literature review covers STEM Education, classroom

interaction, collaborative learning that encapsulates its perspectives and influences, and

lastly, senior high school student’s academic performance.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education

Looking into the worldwide vantage point, STEM education has been developed

in some countries for three decades, but now it is becoming more common and

significant (Williams, 2011). According to Gonzalez and Kuenzi (2012), this curriculum

refers to teaching and learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics. Morrison (2008) and Tsupros (2008) said that STEM is a “meta-discipline”

which means the “creation of a discipline based on the integration of other disciplinary

knowledge into a new ‘whole’ rather than in bits and pieces.” It aims to remove the

traditional barriers between the four mentioned disciplines and to prepare the 21st

century generation in a way that students can take what they learn in the classroom or

laboratory then apply it to their future jobs in the real world as what Ejiwale (2013)

stated in his study.

However, many would argue that STEM is only introduced for the vocational and

economic goals funded by governments and promoted by politicians since education

constantly adjusts to changing political, social, economic and global contexts (Blackley

and Howell, 2015). This assumption is also supported by Williams (2011) who cited that

the launch of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite in the 1950s is the key turning point for

STEM education policy in the United States. In addition, through the highly skilled

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics workforce the United States have

gained economic and military advances ever since World War II. Still today, STEM

literacy is considered to be a critical human competency for a 21st century economy

and have a broad application for workers in both STEM and non-STEM occupations

(Gonzalez, Kuenzi, 2012).

In order to support the present study which deals with STEM learners and their

academic performance, a paper entitled ‘A Preliminary Investigation into Critical

Thinking Skills of Urban High School Students: Role of an IT/STEM Program’ is taken

into consideration. Conducted by Duran and Sendag (2012), the results showed a

significant improvement in the students’ critical thinking skills throughout the program. In

addition, inductive reasoning and inference skills of the participants also improved

during the first nine months of the study then a continued positive result in the second

nine months. The authors also disclosed that “the study design provides a unique

collaborative environment for high school students in which they work with a group of

experts from K-12, university, and industry to design and develop solutions to authentic

problems.”

Regarding the perspectives and influences of interaction in a STEM environment,

Wang (2013) suggests that choosing a STEM major is directly influenced by the

intention to major in STEM, high school math achievement, and initial postsecondary
experiences, such as academic interaction and financial aid receipt. Due to this, the

demand for graduates in STEM fields continues to grow at a relatively rapid rate.

According to the National Science Foundation (2010), the employment rate in science

and engineering fields rose an average of 3.3% annually between 2004 and 2008

compared to an average 1.3% annual increase in employment in all occupations, and

this estimated growth rate is consistent with long-term national trends (U.S. Department

of Labor, 2007). The Philippines, however, only have 189 researchers per million that

are employed. Based on the UNESCO recommended number of researchers and

scientist which is 380 per million, the country is behind by 191 STEM workforces per

million. By 2018, 9 of the 10 fastest growing occupations that require at least a

bachelor’s degree will depend on significant math or science training, and many science

and engineering occupations are predicted to grow faster than the average rate for all

occupations (Lacey & Wright, 2009; National Science Board, 2010).

These data document the need for greater participation of qualified college

graduates in the STEM workforce. Due to these, the Philippines is currently boosting its

workforce for research and development (R&D). The Department of Science and

Technology (DOST) is providing scholarships for undergraduate, Masters, and PhD

levels. In addition, the ‘Science for Change’ bill has been approved that aims to address

the country’s shortage of scientific innovations and inventions. The bill sets a budget of

Php 21 billion for R&D in 2018, which will double yearly for the next five years, capping

off at Php 672 billion by 2022.

Education is vital for the future success of students. Integrated Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education is one way to make learning more
connected and relevant for the younger generation (Stohlmann, Moore & Roehrig,

2012). However, there is also an evident declining rate of students who are interested in

STEM subjects (Gough, 2014). According to Stohlmann, Moore & Roehrig (2012), this

calls for further studies and discussion. Along with the need to conduct studies looking

into lived experiences, influences, and background that teacher and learners need in

order to implement and teach effectively integrated STEM education.

Classroom Interaction

Student engagement has been identified as an influential mediator between

classroom interactional quality and adolescent learning outcomes. According to

Virtanen et al. (2015), the associations between emotional support and organizational

and instructional support imply that emotional support operates “in the background”,

fostering student engagement. Student engagement, implying commitment and

investment in learning and school life, is believed to be the main contributor to students’

concurrent and subsequent academic success (e.g., Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, &

Kindermann, 2008). Engagement is documented to predict patterns of attendance, and

academic resilience, whereas lack of student engagement can have serious

consequences, such as underachievement, deviant behaviors, and dropping out of

school (Finn & Rock, 1997). A decline in student engagement with schooling appears to

take place during the transition from primary to secondary education (Skinner et al.,

2008). At classroom-level, the collective behavioral engagement of the students

represents one domain of overall classroom quality (Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, 2010).

Classroom behavioral engagement is seen as a mediator between teacher-led

classroom processes and students’ learning outcomes (Pianta, Hamre, & Allen, 2012).

Classrooms with high overall task orientation increase student opportunities to learn

(i.e., engaged time of students) which is a necessary condition for learning to take place

(Mitchell, 2008). Furthermore, the pattern of associations revealed differences in

perceptions of students and teachers regarding classroom quality domains and

behavioral engagement (Virtanen et al., 2015). The classroom quality domains operate

in concert and have potentially different roles with respect to student engagement.

Observed classroom organization best explained behavioral engagement.

The study of emotions in classrooms is central to understand motivation and

learning patterns among students (Beilock & Ramirez, 2011). Emotional experience is

an integral component of all school activities and plays a key role not only in relation to

learning but also with respect to achievement over time (Pekrun & Schutz, 2007). In

academic contexts, individual self-perceived emotional intelligence (EI) has been shown

to be related to better psychological and social adjustment and social adaptation

(Balluerka et al., 2013; Pedrosa et al., 2014) and to school performance (Ferrando et

al., 2011). The classroom emotional intelligence represents a group-level construct that

is based on group members shared, subjective emotional experiences. These shared

experiences help to generate a set of norms or expected behaviours that guide

emotional experience (Wolff et al., 2006). The group EI examined her is, therefore, a

consequence of the type of interaction that occurs between students and generates a

group construct different from group members’ traits and thus, it can be considered a

“collective construct” associated with the classroom (Morgeson & Hofmann, 1999).

Specifically, and based on Salovey et al., (1995), the group EI examined here
measures: the level in which students consider that their class (reference group) pays

attention to and values the feelings of classmates; whether is clear rather than confused

about the emotions felt in the classroom; and uses positive thinking to repair negative

moods in the class. Other collective emotional constructs such as group climate also

have been shown to be significantly related to students’ adaptive behavior. Positive and

supportive classroom climates have been related to goal-directed behavior, whereas

permanently negative and non-supportive and ambiguous climates have been

associated with avoidance, disruption and cheating behavior (Patrick et al., 2003). The

classroom setting involves a complex combination of information processing and

emotional responding that might influence students’ learning processes (Meyer &

Turner, 2006). Indeed, the same student may, in two different classes, receive different

emotional responses to a dramatic situation, and these responses might influence the

students’ perceptions of the class. Conceptualizing students’ emotions, cognitions and

motivations as an integrated whole that evolves from their interactions within an

affective context might help us to explain and predict classroom experiences in more

compelling ways. (Aritzeta et al., 2015).

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning refers to a group of students who cooperate towards

achieving the goal that they have agreed together (Baharin & Yusop, 2011). Throughout

the collaborative learning style, learners would have the option to give and acknowledge

helps from their co-learners. This exertion is significant for the learners to construct trust

in explaining different issues that are happening inside their education scope.
Cooperative learning refers to learning process that occurs throughout cooperation of a

group of students, usually in the classroom (Sang, 2011). There are still many studies

that showcase the discrepancies of collaborative learning within learners. Thanh et al.

(2008) found that groups sometimes did not work as expected if their learners have a

strong culture of competition and dedicate much time engaged in individualistic learning.

Another meta-analysis (Kyndt et al. 2013) concurs with this conclusion as it found that

individualistic cultures often were less likely to obtain high effects under collaborative

conditions. Other authors have found negative factors at individual and group level that

hinder collaborative learning such as social loafing, social pressure, group conformity,

the free-rider effect, and the sucker effect (Pereira-Pasarin 2010). To untangle the

inconclusive results about the advantages of collaborative learning, some researchers

have suggested preparing groups for learning collaboratively (Jurkowski and Hänzea

2016).

According to Janssen and Wubbels (2016), an integrated understanding of the

obstacles to effective collaborative learning is lacking. Addressing these problems

should include investigating the causes that led to the hindrances. Aside from that, they

also stated that many problems faced during collaborative learning correlates with

different levels of education, diverse subject areas, and across varied national contexts.

Based on the results of their study, the most mentioned antecedents leading to the

actual problems were on the cognitive aspects (analyzing problems, making group

reports, and information gathering) and low attention to collaborative aspects. Barron

(2003), investigating the collaborative interactions of primary school children, found low-

quality coordination among group members when they participated in problem-solving

tasks. Her study showed that group members did not pay attention to others’ opinions,

interrupted them, and rejected alternative suggestions without justification. These

interruptions brought about the ineffectiveness of the activity. Based on Janssen and

Wubbels' experiment, the imbalance in the students' attention was reflected in the ways

teachers set collaborative learning goals, neglecting to instruct students in essential

collaborative skills and assessed collaboration. When both teachers and students do

not pay a lot of attention to the collaborative aspects of collaborative learning, they may

experience a number of obstacles to the effectiveness of collaborative learning.

There are data that support the assumption that preparing learners to work

together may be a way to improve collaborative learning results (Bischof et al. 2012;

Buchs et al. 2015). Buchs et al. (2015) prepared learners by providing them with

instruction on why and how to collaborate. They found out that learning in dyads after a

10-minute instruction on working together resulted in better learning results compared to

learning individually or collaboratively without such instruction. Similarly, Jurkowski and

Hänze (2015) used a 100-min session for training students about transactional

communication to augment group communication and knowledge acquisition during the

process of collaborative learning. Their results showed that trained groups outperformed

and displayed more transactional communication than untrained groups.

With all the barriers and hindrances that come with collaborative learning, one

might wonder why it is integrated in the curriculum. Educational activities that requires

social, active, contextual, and engaging interactions lead to deeper learning. Brown

(2017) stated that collaborative learning enhances problem-solving skills, inspires

critical thinking, improves social interactions, promotes diversity, aids the development
of self-management skills, develops oral communication skills, and fosters interpersonal

relationships. An article by Cornell University agrees with this, stating, "Development of

higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills."

Because of collaborative tasks, students get to socialize and practice engaging and

working with other students in the class, altogether fostering relationships. Brown

concluded that applying collaborative learning allows students to engage themselves

more actively in the learning process, rather than just being passive. It also gives

students the chance to learn their strengths and weaknesses, having other students to

compare them to.

In addition to this, a study by Slavin (2014) states that there are four major

theoretical perspectives on achievement effects of cooperative learning: motivational,

social cohesion, developmental, and cognitive elaboration. In motivational perspective,

task inspiration is the most significant piece of the process, accepting that different

processes are driven by motivation. From a motivational point of view, cooperative

motivator structures make a circumstance wherein the only way the learners can

achieve their very own objectives is if the gathering is effective. In this manner, to meet

their own objectives, the learners must both assist their group mates to do whatever

empowers the gathering to succeed, and, maybe significantly more critically, to urge

their group mates to apply most extreme endeavors. In social cohesion, a hypothetical

point of view fairly identified with the motivational perspective holds that the impacts of

agreeable learning on accomplishment are unequivocally interceded by the

cohesiveness of the gathering. The nature of the gathering's collaborations is thought to

be determined by the social cohesion of the group. Generally, learners will participate in
the errand and help one another learn because they identify with the group and want

one another to succeed. This point of view is like the motivational viewpoint in that it

stresses primarily motivational rather than cognitive explanations for the instructional

effectiveness of cooperative learning. Slavin (2014) points out the fundamental

assumption of the developmental perspective on cooperative learning is that interaction

among children around appropriate tasks increases their mastery of critical concepts. In

cognitive elaboration, the cognitive perspective holds that interactions among students

within themselves increase student achievement for reasons which have to do with

mental processing of information rather than with motivations, which is a major

alternative to the motivational and social cohesiveness perspectives on cooperative

learning. However, Slavin (2014) states that there are several quite different cognitive

perspectives, as well as some which are similar in theoretical perspective, but have

developed on largely parallel tracks.

Academic Performance

Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across

various academic subjects. This is how well a student meets standards set out by the

local government and the institution itself (Bell, 2018). Teachers and education officials

typically measure achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and

results from standardized tests (Ballotpedia, n.d.).

Academic performance is one of the most affected aspects when we talk about

classroom interaction. It is influenced by the different circumstances and situations that

a learner is involved in inside the classroom. In order to enhance the academic

performance of a learner, the administrators should consider the type of activities and

teaching style that would be more helpful and comfortable for the learners. They should

also consider the perspective of the learners when it comes to activities involving

groups.

The quality of students' performance remains a top priority for educators. It is

meant for making a difference locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Educators,

trainers, and researchers have long been interested in exploring variables contributing

effectively for quality performance of learners (Crosnoe, Johnson, & Elder, 2004). A lot

of factors influence a learner’s academic performance. A study shows that peer

relationship can be one of those factors. It was stated there that peer influence has a

powerful and positive effect on the exam scores and grades of learners. An

improvement in the learning process could also be noticed when learners are being

grouped heterogeneously (ukessays, 2016). In addition, peer interaction could heighten

the learner’s ability in answering problem solving questions and peer instruction will

promote learner’s participation and develop their performance. Another factor could be

the challenging classroom environment. Research shows that students are more

motivated to learn when teachers ask them to wrestle with new concepts, explain their

reasoning, defend their conclusions, or explore alternative strategies and solutions

(Ukessays, 2016). It was also suggested that the teacher incorporating experiences or

real-life situations in a lesson is a teaching style that helps the learners be more

attentive and focused on the subject being taught, thus resulting in better grades and

academic scores.
 The student’s performance when it comes to academics (achievements)

contributes significantly in bringing forth high-quality graduates who will soon become

pillars of the country thus be held accountable for the country’s economic and social

growth (Ali et.al, 2009). Student academic performance measurements features

prominently in previous research where it’s challenging aspects of academic literature

and science student performance are affected due to social, psychological, economic,

environmental and personal factors affect the challenging aspects of student hence

these factors don’t apply generally for these vary from the person and country. ·

Performance measurement is fundamental to all organizations, academia

inclusive, where government and other stakeholders are given more concern to the

performance of higher education institutions across different countries. Some of them

have been experimenting with market-type mechanisms to force their institutions to

compete via outstanding performance for both students and funding through fees and a

research grant (Dill & Soo, 2004). Galiher (2006) and Darling (2005) used GPA, or the

Grade Point Average, to measure the student’s performance by the end of the

semester. Some researchers used analytical results (test) or result of the previous year

given that they are studying the performance for the specified subject or year (Hijazi and

Naqvi, 2006 and Hake, 1998). By measuring the academic performance of the students

with these methods, assessing the learner’s learning capacity and its extent would be

smooth and identifying where they lack would be easy.

Summary/Synthesis

Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education is one

approach to make adapting increasingly associated and applicable for the younger

generation. In any case, there is likewise an obvious declining pace of learners who are

keen on STEM subjects. As indicated by the presented studies, this calls for further

examinations and exchange. Alongside the need to direct examinations investigating

lived encounters, impacts, and foundation that educators and learners need to execute

and show successfully incorporated STEM training.

Collaborative learning refers to a group of students cooperating and working

together to achieve an academic goal. It comes with barriers hindering the learning

process like social loafing, social pressure, group conformity, the free-rider effect, and

the sucker effect. This led to the suggestion of preparing groups for learning

collaboratively which resulted in better learning results and better engagement. This

concerns the study regarding academic performance of learners in tasks that require

much interaction with other students.

Emotional experience, which involves learners' emotional intelligence, perception

of their peers, and the overall classroom climate, is an integral component which plays a

key role in learning. Fostering engagement between the learners ultimately leads to

better classroom quality, which results to goal-directed behavior with respect to

achievement over time. Cultivating the emotional experience of learners can help in

understanding and for improvement of strategies that will make collaborative learning

efficient towards the learners’ academic performance.

 The academic performance of the learners is fairly connected to how they

approach collaborative learning within their peers inside the school. Learners’ academic

performance fosters factors that affects the student's capabilities and capacities. With

these, identifying the factors and measures of academic performance contributes to the

welfare of the students. Studies show that the student's academic performance depends

on the internal and external factors it lies on.

Conclusion

Studies presented in this review interlinks the matters in connection with the main

purpose of this paper. The goal of this literature review is to present systematic studies

that centers on the topics: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Education, classroom interaction, collaborative learning, and academic performance.

STEM Education is a major factor that affects how learners perform in their

studies and as studies showed a decline in interest, the authorities are doing their best

to encourage interaction between the subjects, students, and teachers. The studies

presented disclosed that “the study design provides a unique collaborative environment

for high school students in which they work with a group of experts from K-12,

university, and industry to design and develop solutions to authentic problems.”

Classroom interaction is documented to foresee patterns of attendance, and

academic resilience, while absence of student engagement can have serious

consequences, for example, underachievement, deviant behaviors, and dropping out of

school. Studies presented suggests on conceptualizing students’ emotions,

comprehensions and inspirations as a coordinated entire that develops from their

associations within an affective context that might help those in power to clarify and

anticipate classroom encounters in additionally convincing manners.

Educational activities that requires social, social, dynamic, relevant, and

connecting with collaborations lead to more profound learning. In accordance with this,

studies have found negative factors at individual and group level that hinder

collaborative learning such as social loafing, social pressure, group conformity, the free-

rider effect, and the sucker effect. There is information that help the presumption that

getting ready students to cooperate might be an approach to improve collaborative

learning results.

Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across

various academic subjects. Moreover, the study presented that peer interaction could

heighten the learner’s ability in responding to critical thinking questions and peer

instruction will advance student's interest and build up their presentation. Another factor

could be the difficult classroom learning conditions.