Effectiveness of Practice Testing

The Effectiveness Of Practice Testing In Understanding Mathematics 7

A Junior High School Research Paper Presented to The Faculty of the Secondary Education Department Asian College of Technology-Integrated School Bulacao, Talisay City

AGOT, ERROL JOE AHITO, BERNADETH CLAIRE BIANZON, TRISHIA CAMPO, ANDRE KURT DURANGO, JOSE LANZE ENRIQUEZ, ETHAN MAXINE QUIACHON, TASHA KHARYL TADIOS, MARY CHRISHA

S.Y. 2019-2020 0

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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Rationale In today’s generation, according to a study by Alexander Karp which tackles the current issues in Mathematics Education, the number of students who find Mathematics difficult to understand is increasing. This has been a problem for the teachers or educators, parents and to the students themselves. Mathematics is one of the major subjects and is consistently part of the curriculum of all different levels of education. However, even though Mathematics is a subject that students take up throughout their school year, they still could not understand it. Maybe it’s because they lack the proper foundation of learning or maybe it is the way the teachers educate them or maybe it is because the way students’ study or learn the subject is not efficient.

Students learn from the different learning techniques that the teachers apply when teaching. In the past decades, students having a hard time in understanding and learning a certain subject never go away.

Internationally, students are struggling in understanding the subject Math. Education in general and Mathematics education in particular have always faced and will continue to face challenges. It could hardly advance, save by overcoming difficulties, some of which go back thousands of years, yet when students complained of the hardships of learning, and teachers complained of students’ laziness. As stated in Alexander Karp’s study education in general and Mathematics education in particular have always faced and will continue to face challenges: indeed, it could hardly advance save by overcoming difficulties, some of which go back 1

thousands of years, yet when students complained of the hardships of learning, and teachers complained of students’ laziness. Both countries might have contributed a lot in Mathematics but students from these countries have been struggling in learning the said subject. According to the The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment, they found that the United States ranks significantly below average in Mathematics comprehension, accounting for only 8.8% of all top-level mathematics performers at the K-12 level. There are a lot of reasons that may lead to students being confused and unable to extricate problems in Math subjects.

Locally, in the Philippines students themselves have been dealing with the subject Math, more specifically neither knowing nor finding a way on how to make Math simple as it is.

During the 2018 PISA (Programme for the International Student Assessment), the same programme mentioned above, according to the results, among the 79 participating countries, the Philippines ranked the second-lowest in Mathematics with a score of 353 together with Panama.

To think that the representatives were actually the cream crop of the country, that would mean the elite students of the Philippines are below average and when compared to Singapore, 70% of their students performed better than the representatives of the Philippines (Philippine Basic Education, 2019) The subject Math needs more time to comprehend and apprehend information; this is one of the causes why students tend to cope with it. The discipline of Mathematics presents many challenges to dissimilar learners. Mathematics has often been termed the “gatekeeper” of success or failure for high school graduation and career success. A lack of sufficient mathematical skill and understanding affects one’s ability to make critically important educational, in either life or 2

career decisions. Students may fall below their expected level of Mathematics achievement for a variety of reasons. Individuals tend to state that the Math subject wasn't understandable nor liked it as it was too abstract and wasn't relatable at all. These reasons and others can be categorized, in general, as environmental or personal, individualized factors.

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​Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

Figure 1.1: Schematic Diagram of the Conceptual and Theoretical Framework of the Study This will serve as a guide for the researchers in conducting their data gathering and as to what approaches the Mathematics teacher should apply in her discussion. This will also serve as 4

a mapped out plan displayed as a schematic diagram on what the researchers should do in completing the data gathering of this study and what outcome they theorized and wish to achieve after conducting this study.

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Theoretical Background In this research, theories that were listed may aid the researchers and support their study all throughout this research. These theories are the use of “Cognitivism” and “Social Constructivism” in learning the subject Mathematics 7 better.

Cognitivism Cognitivism, according to Jonassen, is a learning theory wherein it focuses on how information is received, organized, stored and retrieved by the mind. The emphasis in this theory is on promoting mental processing and conceptualization of students’ learning processes.

Cognitivism is more on retention and recall using quality teaching practices that may include; a review quiz, compressing information into understandable parts, or using a graphic organizer (Snelbecker,1983). In this study, the researchers are studying different types of practice testing which is included in the sub-unit specifically on a review quiz of Cognitivism that may help students understand the subject Mathematics more.

Social Constructivism According to Bednar, Social Constructivism is a theory that equates learning with creating meaning from experience. Even though it is considered to be a branch of cognitivism, Constructivism classifies itself from traditional cognitive theories in a number of ways. The students learn through construction of knowledge, socializing, and self-lead. Aside from the students, teachers have a role in this theory and that is to Pose Leading Questions, Group Students to learn with and through each other and to facilitate each student during the discussion. With this theory, researchers are seeking to know if this Social Constructivism can 6

help in understanding Mathematics 7 more. This theory is connected to the different Practice testing approaches that the researchers are using which are Individual, Buddy System and Group Practice Testing to know which of the approaches are effective in Math sessions.

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​1.3 Statement of the Problem The study aims and concentrates on proving the effectiveness of practice testing in understanding Mathematics better.

Specifically, this research aims to answer the following questions: 1.) What are the effects of Practice Testing: 1.1 done Individually, 1.2 done by Buddy System and, 1.3 done by Group, 2.) How effective is Practice Testing in respondents’ perspective, on understanding Mathematics? ​

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​Significance of the Study There are different learning styles and techniques to understand Mathematics better such as sticking to print out rather than using tablets or other eLearning media, listening to music like obscure eighteenth century piece that is said to help students engage part of their brain to concentrate (Mozart Effect), breaking a sweat before studying, relaxing or meditating before studying, taking the role of a teacher and share knowledge or information, rereading learning materials and many more. However, these studying techniques are not fully effective to everyone since not a lot of people find these techniques comfortable to use or simply, these are not suitable for the way of processing knowledge to other people. Therefore, the researchers conducted a research to prove their theory about one specific learning technique which is the Practice Testing.

The different learning techniques aforementioned are not effective and useful to most students because there are different types of learners who are suitable for the learning techniques mentioned above. For instance, the Mozart Effect is not suitable for all learners because people like them see this type of learning style as a distraction and it affects the reading apprehension of some students. In exercise, the type of students who find this effective is those who are very active or athletically inclined while relaxing, the type of learners who find this suitable are those who find peace and silence more helpful in concentrating and understanding the topics. Taking the role of a teacher and rereading on the other hand takes time and it is not beneficial to those students who are cramming, to those students who lack time in studying, or to those students who are lazy to seek help from their classmates or a second party. In conclusion, these techniques are not effective and beneficial to every learner.

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Due to these disadvantageous learning techniques mentioned, the researchers came upon a theory that Practice Testing is more effective especially when learning and understanding Math. As claimed by the website Education Planner, this type of technique is where the learners would be asking themselves or taking up any forms of tests whether it is a visual test, like using flash cards, questionnaires, like taking up review tests, or vocal test, like asking oneself (self-explanation) or with the help of other people (elaborative interrogation). Practice testing has many forms where students with different learning styles can use any form of test in which they find comfortable or suitable for them. In Mathematics, students will face different information and as the level becomes higher, the more the complexity of the topics introduced by the teachers. Practice testing would help them in this case as it covers different forms of processing the information.

The findings of this study will greatly benefit the society as a whole considering that Mathematics is a vital part in technologies and science of our time. The greater need for graduates with a mathematics background justifies the need for a better, effective, and life-changing teaching approach. Schools and other academic facilities that apply the recommended teaching style taken from this research will be able to teach, educate, and train students better. The study will help in uncovering critical areas in the teaching process that other researchers were not able to find or explore.

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Scope and Limitations The main focus of this study is the effectiveness of the Practice Testing applied in different approaches and only covers the students in the Grade 7. The proposed learning technique is not limited to this grade level. However, due to the limited accessibility and time of the researchers, they were not able to cover a greater range of respondents to be part of this research.

In accordance with the data gathering of this study, the researchers could not also control the fact that there are free-loaders when students are paired or put into groups. This factor was not seen or was overlooked by the researchers in which this factor could affect the outcome of the study greatly.

These are the unavoidable limitations of the study of the researchers when conducting the study. Therefore, to generalize the results for larger groups, the study should have involved more participants at different levels. Second, the students' role should be controlled, to some extent, to see the effects of the result of the effectiveness of the Practice Testing done in different approaches.

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​Definition of Terms Elaborative Interrogation

A type of learning technique where other people would ask the learners during their time of studying or reviewing.

Exercise

A type of learning technique where learners would perform physical activities or break a sweat before studying.

Learning Style

It refers to different styles of an individual such as aural (auditory-musical), verbal (linguistic), physical (kinesthetic), logical (mathematical), social (interpersonal), solitary (intrapersonal).

Learning Technique

It refers to the techniques or different ways of effective studying to further help students understand specific subjects.

Mathematics

The specific subject the researchers use when checking the effectiveness of Practice Testing for the further development and easy understanding of the subject.

Mozart Effect

A type of learning technique where learners would listen to music or listen to obscure eighteenth century pieces while studying.

Practice Testing

A learning technique in which the students will take any form of test or such as a visual test like using flashcards, questionnaires like review test, or vocal tests self-explanation or elaborative interrogation. In other words, this is a type of informal tests or review for students.

Relaxing

A type of learning technique where learners meditate or relax before or during studying.

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Self-Explanation

A type of learning technique where learners would ask themselves questions and then explain or answer it by themselves.

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2.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND RELATED STUDIES Introductory Statement When students enter school, the educators would teach them on what to learn and how to learn. However, there are so many cases where the child or student could not retain the information for too long or the learning they got is installed in their noggin for a short period of time. That is why it is needed to apply effective learning techniques for them to completely understand the topics given to learners most especially when it comes to mathematics. Based on Wikipedia different learning techniques have been used for many centuries dating back in 150,000 to 200,000 years and even five years ago for some countries.

Mathematics requires the full understanding of the learners since mathematics will continue to get harder and more complicated not to mention when it comes to problem solving it wouldn’t be just basic questions and the formulas to be used will get longer as their level of education becomes higher. It is essential for students to have a long-term understanding in regards with this subject. It is vital to use effective learning techniques to understand mathematics better. Practice testing is proven that it is an effective learning technique rather than highlighting and it should be applied to learners and to educators.

Related Studies Testing is one of the things students lose interest in as they see this as something that needs high-assessments since it is a necessity in evaluating the learnings of the students therefore, they tend to take tests as less as possible. However, this kind of prejudiced perception conceals the 14

verity that it will actually help develop their understanding better. This fact has been validated for over years, claimed by the research conducted by Edward Thomdike in 1906 which was entitled, Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions from Cognitive and Educational Psychology. The researcher recommended “The active recall of fact from within is, as a rule, better than its impression from without.” Through thorough discussion, demonstration and investigation, the research on practice testing has been supported after Thomdike’s recommendation.

Practice Testing is a test where it does not need high assessment, it can be held outside class where an instructor would hold a summative assessment. It could also be done in any forms of testing where students don't need the aid of an instructor or they are able to engage on their own. This means they can use virtual flashcards, complete activities or answer questions that are found at the end of every topic found in their textbooks which is a no problem for Mathematics textbooks as there are a lot of sections of these. Students could also engage themselves on online practice tests as long as they did these tests by recalling information with the aid of learning materials.

In a study conducted, Practice Testing is one out of ten famous and commonly used learning techniques (examined existence). The study shows the ranking of the learning techniques by their effectiveness and out of the ten only two learning techniques were ranked as high-utility which are the Practice Testing and Distributed Practice while the rest were ranked moderate or low utility. According to the examined existence the two learning techniques received a rank of high utility because it is beneficial to students and learners of many age groups and abilities. And it has been shown and proven that these help in increasing the 15

academic performance over a great number of testing conditions and testing materials. It is not a necessity for these study techniques to have a wide-ranging training to achieve and gain benefits.

There are various study techniques that can improve the ways on how to study well such as organizing your study this way is considered as the most effective study skill. Having a study timetable provides goals and time in which to achieve them. Brainstorming, a great way to expand every possible idea out of any topic which is ideal with either friends or mates. Quizzes are an outstanding way to review notes right before an exam since it shows the strengths and weaknesses and even allows focusing efforts more precisely. Flashcards could also be one considered as its particularly effective way of learning when trying to understand facts, formulas, dates or vocabulary. Lastly, Underlining could be the mildest and known study tips as simple to highlight the significant parts of a certain text. This act implies engaging with certain key aspects of the text. This is only one of the tips out there.

It has been said that practice testing itself is considered one of the most well-established strategies for improvements to certain student learning. It could lead to the enhancement of the learnings of the students or the teacher if that certain testing is used as a learning strategy. The aim of this is to advocate for increased use of practice testing by means enhancing student learning itself. This discusses establishing the principle of test-enhanced learning as well as conditions under which practice testing is particularly effective, as stated by Rawson, Katherine A.; Dunlosky, John. Exploring both efficiency and durability could be considered valuable for evaluating the benefit of learning techniques and primary conclusions or recommendations.

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Related Literature Students have been believed to be in crisis in dealing with the educational system.

However, in their crisis there has been numerous of solutions that are laid out by their proctors or their teachers, the only problem aside from the lack of interest or from the lack of capabilities in understanding Mathematics quickly, is their perception, they tend to disregard the simple things because students believe it’s a hindrance and time-consuming when in actual fact, every solution is time-consuming if they lack the patience of it. But that could be rectified by helping students to regulate the learning through the use of effective learning techniques. Self-explanation, summarization, highlighting, practice testing, rereading, elaborative interrogation and such are some of the techniques that certain students could apply. To know if the utility of these techniques did aim at the four categories of variables particularly student characteristics, materials, learning conditions nor criterion tasks.

As stated to journals.sagepub.com, to give thorough reviews for each technique, each review is divided into the following sections which is a general description of the technique and why it should work, How general are the effects of this technique?, Effects in representative educational contexts, Issues for implementation and Overall assessment. The review for each technique can be read of the others nor can particular variables of interest be simply compared across techniques.

The techniques themselves vary widely concerning their generalizability and promise for improving student learning. Practice testing and distributed practice received high utility assessments since it benefits learners of different ages and abilities, even have been shown to 17

boost students’ performance across many criterion tasks and even in educational contexts.

According to journals.sagepub.com, the effectiveness of these techniques is currently unknown since some techniques produce benefits that are limited and much research is highly needed to fully examine the overall effectiveness.

As constantly mentioned, Practice testing covers various ways of processing the leanings of the students. This would include activities (e.g, book activities, seat-works, performance tasks, etc.), Mathematical discourse, self-explanation or elaborative interrogation (e.g, class reporting), these can either be done alone or with a company/s and these variety of methods can help students. According to an article written by Jay McTighe, the academic standards in the United States - The Common Core Standards for English Learning Arts and Mathematics - demands more than multiple-choice and short answers as evidence of the students’ attainment. Students need to learn through developing questions and planning inquiries, gathering and evaluating sources, and taking informed action rather than just presenting them with factual knowledge and formulas to memorize.

Students need to know how to make sense during discussion by engaging and that is what Practice testing does, it helps the students understand, analyze and critique. It is better with company or with a group (Dr. Lamberg, 2018) because students are able to discuss and compare their own analysis to see if they’ve done it correctly or not, or how they were able to come up with their analysis. With a collaborative and supportive learning environment, learners can make conjectures, link prior knowledge to current understanding, reason about mathematics, refine and amend their approaches, and take ownership of their mathematical knowledge (Dr. Kersaint, 2015).

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When hearing of class reporting, this is frowned upon by students but this form of Practice testing is efficient and can aid students because it encourages them to use their problem-solving, reasoning, analysis and communication skills. In Mathematics, it is better to learn through researching and self-analysis as it will open more knowledge and if there are misconceptions or misunderstandings, the teacher will be able to profoundly explain it. This situation is similar to a Mathematical Discourse environment because in Mathematical Discourse, there is an obvious exchange of discussion between students and teachers, students are the ones to justify their conclusions with the aid of a teacher afterwards, and students are able to variety of approach to understand Mathematics such as oral presentations, written presentations, and physical, graphical, pictorial or symbolic presentations. However, to do this there must be communication because in a classroom as observed by the researchers, there are less students who would exchange discussions and errors between them and the educator while the majority just copy.

There are tons of ways to study. It requires practice, patience or trial and error. In another article written by Dr. Gladis Kersaint, she shared that for the students to learn and engage in Mathematics discussion, students should learn individually before sharing them to other students and with that they can compare and contrast which could start a back and forth conversation between students and teachers. She even encourages that there should be a think-pair share as this way both students can work individually and discuss their outcomes together. Aside from that, Dr. Kersaint suggested that number heads should be applied as they are able to work in groups and provide responses to questions so that they will have the same level of understanding but of course, this needs proper cooperation with students while the teacher would be guiding 19

them along the way. Basically a beneficial way to begin the studying process is to set oneself up for success from the start. Consider not to focus on one method of learning for too long as it leads to a lower rate of understanding because no one was there to help. It is impressive to learn without anyone’s help but this is forming poor study habits and extending study time with all other subjects to be thrown in.

If one does not participate in such discourse then the students would be given a suggestion by the researchers to take practice tests, as stated in thebestcolleges.org that students who tested themselves with a practice test after learning the material retained 50% more of the information a week later than peers who didn't take a practice test. Think about your thinking, students themselves need to monitor their emotional well-being around potentially when dealing with stressful studying activities. This also includes, making connections, use of active recall, change of scenery, relax or even listen to music if possible.

It is a learning theory more focused on the processes involved in learning rather than on the observed behavior known as cognitivism. As opposed to the Behaviourist, Cognitivists way more focuses on either the subjective processes or connections that take place throughout learning. Cognitivism itself disputes that “the black box” of the mind should be understood and opened. Knowledge, on the other hand, can be seen as a symbolic mental construction and learning is considered as a shift in a learner’s schemata. Some primary classroom principles from cognitive psychology include meaningful organization, elaboration or learnings.

The cognitivist theory developed as a reaction to behaviorism. Behaviorist implies that learning was simply a reaction to a stimulus and even scorned the idea that thinking presents an 20

important role. And that leads to Cognitivists opposed to behaviorists. As stated by Mohammed Rhalmi, Chomsky's argument was considered as one of the most famous criticisms addressed to behaviorism as it deals that language itself couldn't be acquired purely through conditioning and must at least partially be explained by the existence of some inner abilities. Behaviorism, for instance, comes to explain how children can learn an infinite number of statements that they have never heard of.

The cognitivists imply that learners are active participants when dealing with the learning process. As various strategies were used to process nor construct a particular understanding of the content which they are exposed to. Students themselves are not considered as recipients but rather as active participants in the learning. To add on, individuals such as Bruner, Bloom, Piaget, and Ausubel were the few notable cognitivist that have contributed to developing that cognitive theory as that by Mohammed Rhalmi.

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3.

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ​Research Design The study, The Effectiveness of Practice Testing in Understanding Mathematics 7, has a descriptive research design since the researchers aim to find the answer as to how effective practice testing is when it is applied in different situations and the importance of practice testing.

Therefore it is a qualitative research however, it is also a mixture of quantitative as the researchers gather data, they also wanted to know the numerical or statistical result of the participants during the testing process as to which situation, whether individual, buddy system or by group appliance, is more effective in using Practice Testing .

Research Subjects The subjects of this research are the students of Asian College of Technology - Bulacao from the Junior High School Department. Specifically, the participants will be the two sections of Grade 7, Grade 7-Loyalty and Grade 7- Courage, to participate in the fulfillment of the aimed result of the researchers theorized and would be given tests/activities by their Math teacher and survey forms by the researchers. They are chosen as they are fresh from Grade School and they are in adjusting phase as a Junior Highschool student facing more complicated terminologies and topics in Mathematics.

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Research Environment

The researchers’ study will be conducted at Asian College of Technology - Bulacao, Talisay City, Cebu Campus founded last September 19, 1988. ​Research Instrument The researchers would be using various instruments to gather data such as: 4.

Tests/Questionnaires The licensed teacher that will help the researchers in conducting the study would hand

out tests/activities after every Math session with the participants. In accordance with the licensed teacher, for the individual approach, a pre-test will be given to the students, as for the buddy approach another pre-test is given and lastly the group approach is done by class reporting. This enables the researchers to see if using practice testing is effective in understanding mathematics.

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Observation Checklist 23

This would be used after the results of the activities given by the teacher will be gathered where the researchers would be checking based on the given results from the teacher’s activities given if there are any changes and improvements of the students’ performance during the tests/activities. The observation checklist would be a guide for how many students have failed or passed during the three activities or if there are any changes of the students’ scores whether it increased or decreased.

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Survey The researchers would let the participants answer a survey form after the three activities

provided and given by the teacher. This is to help the researchers know how the students’ feel during their tests or if they find the test easy if they would be applying practice testing individually or with a buddy system or in groups. With the survey, the students will be able to provide their own opinion after the application of Practice Testing done in a different approach.

Their answers in the survey will serve as our answer to our Statement of the Problem and it will give us a numerical result if Practice Testing is effective and if it is more effective if it is individually done or by pair or in a group. ​3.5 Data Gathering Procedure In this research, the researchers will be asking first the approval of the school’s principal to let the researchers conduct their research with the students from the Junior High School Department Grade 7 level to participate in this study.

After the letter of approval is signed, the researchers would collaborate with a licensed and professional Mathematics teacher and the teacher will be briefed about the aim of the 24

researchers’ study. After that the researchers will be gathering data with the use of discussions and tests conducted by the Math teacher from the faculty of ACT-IS and the participants will be given tests/activities to determine where the students excel and can learn more about the subject Mathematics. The two sections of the Grade 7 level will participate in this research. The educator that the researchers collaborated with will prepare three (3) activities, one for the Individual approach, one for the buddy system approach, and lastly for by group approach. They will be doing the data gathering procedure using this method depending on the teacher with a 3-weeks maximum session.

With the data gathered after the learning method testing, the researchers will be able to do statistics about this matter. With the help of the procedure, the questions on which stated in the Statement of the Problem will be answered.

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CHAPTER 4 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA In this chapter, the results the researchers gathered from their survey and application of Practice Testing through activities given by a licensed teacher will be interpreted.

Out of the 42 respondents from the two sections of Grade 7 (Loyalty and Courage), majority of the students, with 71.43% (30 students), find Math hard while only 28.57% (12 students) did not find Math hard. Mathematics is a subject that deals with numbers and formulas 26

that the students could not retain easily and these are easily confused with the other formulas given on a specific topic. Most of the respondents are dealing with this problem saying they could not understand Math and they easily forget the formulas or the processes in solving which resulted in the students not liking the subject. In accordance with Alexander Karp’s study, this proves that students have a hard time understanding Mathematics. Students could hardly advance in this subject since they don’t have strong understanding and because of that instructors will always face difficulties in assessing the child’s understanding in Math.

The Grade 7 Mathematics teacher has applied Practice Testing in her discussions through activities by applying the different approaches of Practice Testing which are by individual, by pair or buddy, and by group.

The first activity which is for the Individual approach, the line graph displays the scores of the students that clearly show that the line goes downward after a short line on the score of 25.

It is noticed that the line before and after the red dot, which indicates the passing grade, greatly 27

differs in length. The line before the dot is short while the line after the dot is long, this means only a few of the students passed the activity and over 20 students failed the activity.

The second activity which is for the Group approach, the line graph displays the scores of the students that clearly show the line is consistently straight before it goes downward. It is noticed that the line before and after the red dot, indicating the passing score is thirty (30) over forty (40), is different from the length from Figure 2.1. The line before the dot is longer than the first while the line after the dot is shorter than the first. There is a great change in the number of students who passed and failed after this activity compared to the first.

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The third and last activity which is for the Buddy approach, the line graph displays the scores of the students that clearly shows that the line before and after the red dot, indicating the passing score is twenty-three (23) over thirty (30), is similar with the second activity results.

The students who understand the Math topic through individual learning are very few with only 19.05% (8 students) while 80.95% failed. In buddy and group, there is a huge difference of percentage compared to the first. Students with a pair can understand the topic better as it is seen that out of 42 students 22 students (52.38%) failed. However, only 20 students (47.62%) passed the activity, a one student difference. In a group approach, the number of students who passed the activity is the highest with 52.38% and only 20 students (47.62%) failed the activity, receiving the lowest number of failed students while the highest is from the individual approach.

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Table 1.1 Percentage of students who answered ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to a corresponding questions

Questions After using Practice Testing, did you find the topic easy to understand?

In your activity after the individual review application, do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed?

In the 2nd test (buddy system review application), do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed?

In the 3rd test (group review application), do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed?

Yes Loyalty Courage

No Loyalty

Courage

20 (95.24%)

14 (66.67%)

1 (4.76%)

7 (33.33%)

12 (57.14%)

15 (71.43%)

9 (42.86%)

6 (28.57%)

15 (71.43%)

15 (71.43%)

6 (28.57%)

6 (28.57%)

12 (57.14%)

15 (71.43%)

9 (42.86%)

6 (28.57%)

Yes No Total 34 8 42 (80.95%) (19.05%) (100%) 27 15 42 (64.29%) (35.71%) (100%) 30 12 42 (71.43%) (28.57%) (100%) 27 15 42 (64.29%) (35.71%) (100%) Table 1.2 Over-all percentage of students who answered ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to corresponding questions. (The numbers underlined are the highest of the three).

After the students have experienced the different approaches in Practice Testing, the researchers gave survey forms to fill in. Students are able to acknowledge the purpose of Practice Testing if it really helped them understand Mathematics. They are also able to differentiate which approach aids them to understand Math better. As a general, the majority of the students with 30

80.95% understood Mathematics with the aid of Practice Testing while only 19.05% opposed that Practice Testing helped them. They were able to learn the topics through practice activities that served as their review for a Summative Test and it improved their understanding and knowledge.

Comparing the last three questions, it helps identify which of the approaches helped them understand more or the most. Only 64.29% think that the Individual approach helped them in understanding Math while 35.71% say it did not help them understand at all. For the buddy approach, 71.43% agrees that this type of approach helped them in understanding Math better and only 28.57% opposes this. The Group approach received 64.29% who agreed that this approach is helpful and 28.57% opposed to that. Out of the three approaches, Buddy got the highest percentage of students who agreed that it is helpful while Individual and Group got the highest opposition that it is helpful.

Students learning alone cannot retain the information because there is no further discussion or arguments between other students that could help them understand. They are forced to learn with no help from companions, aside from the teacher. With no one to discuss with for any confusions, the students are unable to correct themselves, thus highest opposition alongside with Group, but with a partner or a group they can understand the topic better to help them understand and analyze what things they miss or are still confusing (Dr. Lamberg, 2018). With companions, students can communicate and keep their discussion longer among them to tackle the topic because of this they are able to learn more and retain the information longer (Dr. Kersaint, 2015). However, buddy is the most helpful because there are only two people that can share their opinions and insights with no one being neglected. In a group, there are more than 31

two members and sometimes too many people can be very distracting and annoying. That is why the group is not the highest.

Based on Figure 3.1, the most effective with 42.86% saying it is an effective approach after the activity is the Group as the highest percentage of students who passed (Figure 3.1) is by group approach. It is followed by the buddy with 28.57% who says it is effective and lastly, the individual since the majority of the students failed in this activity. The 2.38% is for students who did not answer as the respondent feels there is no difference.

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Figure 5 Ratings of students from both sections for Practice Testing, Individual, Buddy, Group With 42.86%, Practice Testing is slightly effective because students believe that it depends on the approach whether it is Individual, Buddy or Group. Practice Testing is most effective for the students who find Mathematics easy thus the 16.67%. This received 2.38% for less effective and 7.14% for not effective because these students are the ones who do not understand the concept of the Practice Testing and are in need of guidance from the teacher.

For Individuals, it received 4.76% not effective, 11.90% less effective, 30.95% for effective and slightly effective, and 21.43% for most effective. Students rated the individual with not and less effectiveness because they don’t feel confident being alone as they could not get any help in understanding and retaining the topics more while for the rest who voted 4-5, majority of them understands Math with or without help from classmates.

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For Buddy, it received 2.38% on not effective, 9.52% on less effective, 33.33% for effective, 35.71% for slightly effective, and 19.05% for most effective. The effectiveness of buddies is high because students prefer to have someone to communicate and discuss with on the topics or lessons that they find confusing. However, a downside to this is that students might be dependent on their partner therefore, the rate of not effective and less effective.

For the Group, it received 7.14% not effective, 11.90% less effective, 21.19% for effective, 35.71% for slightly effective, and 19.05% for most effective. It is noticed that the less effective and less effective is slightly higher than the rest, it is because in a group some are neglected and they end up receiving the answer with no efforts at all. It is better to work as a pair as the students will really be able to participate rather than in a group. However, the number of students who rated the group as effective, slightly effective and most effective, the majority of them could really understand in a group. With so many heads working together to understand the topic effectively but a small percent of these people are dependent and wish to receive help from their classmates with no effort done.

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Majority of the students with 90.48% find Practice Testing effective with its different approach and different varieties of practice tests that could enhance the understanding and knowledge of the students. Only 9.52% oppose it because they don’t understand the concept of this as mentioned earlier. Therefore, students should be informed as to methods or learning techniques they are using.

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Most of the students from Grade 7 with 73.80% are willing to use Practice Testing again as a form of review to understand Mathematics better but only 26.19% are opposed to it as they are wary of using it again in their Math sessions.

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CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, & RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter will provide the summary of findings gathered from data of the following practice testing. This chapter will also present the implication, conclusion and recommendation.

Summary of Findings As the researchers gathered the data from the three-week maximum session use of Practice Testing conducted by the Grade 7 Mathematics teacher. It is observed that during the sessions and test, 80.95% or majority of the students scored very low during the Individual Review conducted before taking the exam yet the Buddy System and Group approach has a higher percentage of students that passed the test. In this matter, these two different kinds of Practice Testing can be the most effective strategy to use. However, during the survey that the researchers had conducted, the students answered that the Buddy System is more effective out of the three approaches of Practice Testing that can be used in understanding Mathematics 7 better.

Based on the test conducted by the teacher, the Group approach is the most effective. In the Figure 4.3, it is clear the students selected Group Approach as the most effective type of Practice Testing for them. Group Approach can be annoying and some students provided or received no help from their classmate during the second practice testing which is Group Approach. From the tables presented by the researchers, as a different approach is introduced to the students their scores depend on what practice testing review is used by their teacher.

It is observed by the researchers as the teacher uses Group Approach and most especially Buddy System their scores improved and many students that didn’t pass the first test using the Individual Review had improved their skills in understanding the subject. As a result, the 37

Practice Testing Review conducted by the Teacher is effective and shows improvements from every student of the Grade 7 Level.

Conclusion This research study proves that with the use of Practice Testing in the subject Mathematics, pre-test and post-test can improve student’s grades and minds to understand the subject Mathematics better. It is effective as it covers different varieties of activities that Mathematics teachers can use to improve their learners’ understandings and these can be done individually, by pair or by group. But there are downsides with the three approaches; for individual, students are not able to seek help from other learners, for buddy system, there is a possibility that the other student will be dependent to their partners and for the group, not everyone will have the chance for their arguments or ideas to be catered and there is a high possibility that some of the students will be dependent on other members.

Recommendations Students The researchers recommend to all students that this research study can improve their skills and mental ability in understanding Mathematics better by using the different approach that the students are most comfortable with. The researchers encourage the students to use Practice Testing as this caters to all the students with different learning styles and it is suitable for them since Practice Testing has varieties of kinds whether it may be through class reporting, book activities, group discussion and it can be approached individually, by pair or by group.

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Teachers To the teachers who are having a hard time in making their students understand their lesson, it may be good to use these approaches to students for each approach holds benefits for their mental processing ability/skills, socializing ability and work on their self-dependence.

Buddy System may not be the most effective approach of all as it will depend on the student’s preference but it is highly recommended by the researchers for it causes debate and clashing of ideas from both parties that makes the lesson last longer, different ideas can be combined and amalgamate into something better and there will be a low possibility that the students will not be catered. With Group Approach, some students might not provide help for their fellow classmates in answering activities or share during the reviews and it may cause a lot of talking rather than reviewing because the more the people, the more the sources of distraction.

In Individual Review, it may not be effective for others because the knowledge of different people can be limited or lacks confidence and the students are also not exposed to different opinions of others. The researchers would like to recommend this to all the parents that are with their children during reviews for their children’s upcoming exam. This study can help parents by also doing the different approach to their child for clashing of ideas can be done with bond.

Researchers The researchers would recommend to the future researchers that when pursuing this research the approaches, by individual, by group or by pair, should be put into different situations such as student would be undergoing activities with the aid of internet, or students are in a group with free-loading students, however, this situation is useful in by group or by pair approaches.

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The researchers suggested this because there are different factors that could change the outcome or the results of the researchers that they have now. These factors were overlooked by the researchers and so it is highly recommended to do the approaches in a more controlled situation.

Lastly, the researchers recommend to the future researchers that they have more hands-on guidance especially if this study will be put into different controlled situations and to not overlook any possible factors that could affect the results and findings of this study.

Therefore, this study can benefit students when it comes to understanding Mathematics since Practice Testing will aid them in retaining information for a long period as it covers different aspects of processing learning. However, this study can be better by following the recommendations of the researchers as it lacks a more controlled factor that can affect the research’s results.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011-2020, (c) C. skillsyouneed.com. (n.d.). Questioning Skills and Techniques.

Retrieved from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/questioning.html Bates. (n.d.). Collaborative Learning Techniques. Retrieved from https://www.bates.edu/faculty-commons/files/2016/08/Collaborative-Learning-Techniques.pd f Daracan, M. (2013, November 9). Chapter 2-Realated literature and Studies. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/EzhrihmCradan/chapter-2-28073663 Dunlosky, J. (n.d.). Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/journals/pspi/learning-techniques.html Dunlosky, J., Lawson, K., & Marsh, E. (2013, January 8). Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1529100612453266 Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2017, January 1). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism. Retrieved from https://lidtfoundations.pressbooks.com/chapter/behaviorism-cognitivism-constructivism/ Flippen, C. (n.d.). Cognitivism. Retrieved from https://edtechtheory.weebly.com/cognitivism.html 41

Harris, J. (2014, February 24). A Brief Overview of 4 Learning Theories. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ACowHxGEAUg Livingsta. (2016, April 22). What Are Different Types of Questioning Techniques?

Retrieved from https://toughnickel.com/business/Questioning-Techniques Rhalmi, M. (2012, June 3). Learning Theories: Cognitivism. Retrieved from https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/description-of-cognitivism/ Use a Learning Theory: Cognitivism. (2015, July 13). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/gugvpoU2Ewo Writers, S. (2019, July 1). 17 Scientifically Proven Ways to Study Better This Year.

Retrieved from https://www.thebestcolleges.org/17-scientifically-proven-ways-to-study-better-this-year/ Writers, S. (2019, July 1). 17 Scientifically Proven Ways to Study Better This Year.

Retrieved from https://www.thebestcolleges.org/17-scientifically-proven-ways-to-study-better-this-year/ Yee, K. (2019, March 10). Interactive Techniques. Retrieved from usf.edu/atle/documents/handout-interactive-techniques.pdf

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Appendix A: Transmittal Letter The attached letter is proof that the Asian College of Technology – Integrated School has given us the permission to conduct the study in the ACT Bulacao Campus and have their students as the respondents of the said research.

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Appendix B: Survey

Name (optional):

Survey Form Section:

Please answer the following questions with utmost honesty and encircle your answers.

1.

Do you find Math subjects hard? Why? Why Yes No

2.

Yes

After using Practice Testing, did you find the topic easy to understand? Why? Why No

3.

In your activity after the individual review application, do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed? Why? Why Yes No 4.

In the 2nd test (buddy system review applied), do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed? Why? Why Yes No 5.

In the 3rd test (group review applied), do you find it easy to remember the lesson discussed? Why? Why Yes No 6.

Among the 3 kinds of review, which is more effective?

Individual Buddy System 7.

Yes

Is Practice Testing effective?

Why No

8.

Yes

Would you use it again?

No

Group

Why

9.

Can you rate Practice Testing? ( 5-most effective, 4-slightly effective, 3- effective, 2-less effective, 1-not effective) 1 2 3 4 5 10.

Can you rate individual review situation? ( 5-most effective, 4-slightly effective, 3-

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effective, 2-less effective, 1-not effective) 1 2 3

4

5

11.

Can you rate the buddy system review situation? ( 5-most effective, 4-slightly effective, 3- effective, 2-less effective, 1-not effective) 1 2 3 4 5

12.

Can you rate the group review situation? ( 5-most effective, 4-slightly effective, 3effective, 2-less effective, 1-not effective) 1 2 3 4 5

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Appendix C: Observation Checklist

Student’s Name:

Observation Checklist Teacher’s Name: Yes No

Remarks

1.

The student achieved a passing grade during the 1st test.

2.

The student achieved a passing grade during the 2nd test.

3.

The student achieved a passing grade during the 3rd test.

4.

The student’s grade is higher than the 1st (for the second test) 5.

The student’s grade is higher than the 2nd (for the third test) 6.

First test (individual appliance) grade is the highest.

7.

Second test (buddy system appliance) grade is the highest.

8.

Third test (group appliance) grade is the highest.

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