Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region XI
Davao City Division of City Schools
DAVAO CENTRAL DISTRICT
WIRELESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Fr. Selga St. Davao City

SIMS: THE EFFECT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE

OF GRADE IV STUDENTS OF WIRELESS ELEMENTARY

MELANIE M. CABRERA

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to share classroom action research studying the perception of students in using strategic
intervention material as an approach in teaching science. Results of the study indicated the majority of the students preferred
using this material rather using solely the traditional approached. The elements of choice, increased learning, and extended

experience were significant factors in student preference. The strategic intervention materials are effective in mastering the
competency based skills in science based on the mean gain scores in the posttests of the experimental and control groups.
Intervention materials help for the better learning of the concepts among students. Posttests and maintenance tests
indicated that students who were taught with material employing the causal style of discourse had significantly better retention
of facts and concepts and were superior in applying this knowledge in problem-solving exercises. The two groups of
respondents had the same level of Mental Ability before the treatments. The experimental and control groups performed at the
same level before the experiment. The experimental group performed better in the posttest than the control group. The
strategic Intervention materials were effective in teaching competency-based skills. There was significant difference between
the mean scores in the posttests of the experimental and control groups.
Based on the outcomes and implications of the study, the following are recommended that science teachers can use the
strategic intervention materials to re-teach the concepts and skills and help the students master the competency-based skill
.Seminars and in-service training should be conducted in the division level regarding development and implementation of the
strategic intervention materials in the classroom. Science teachers should develop more strategic intervention materials for the
remaining lessons which were not included in researchers SIMS. Strategic intervention materials for other subjects should be
made to address the least mastered skills. A similar study may be conducted covering a bigger number of respondents in
another venue.

INTRODUCTION
For the last decade the education world has been inundated with ideas on ways to individualize
and enhance instruction for students. The Learning styles, alternative and authentic assessment, multiple
intelligences theory are some factors that can make students naturally curious, which makes science an
ideal subject for them to learn. Science allows students to explore their world and discover new things. It
is also an exploratory subject, containing activities such as hands-on- labs and experiments. This makes
science well-suited to dynamic young children. Science is an important part of the foundation for
education for all children. (Jessica Cook, eHow).Studies indicate however, that many of our Filipino
learners are not attaining functional literacy, without which they find it too difficult to meet the challenges
posed by our rapidly changing world. Students performance in the National Achievement Test shows that
Science continues to be the most difficult field of study in basic education. The results are intended to
guide the Department of Education in its efforts towards the improvement of the quality of education in
public schools in the 21st century and to provide appropriate intervention for the students.
Stated in the Basic Education Curriculum Primer 2002, Science aims to help the Filipino child gain
a functional understanding of Science concepts and principles linked with real life activities skills as well
as scientific capability and values needed in solving daily life problems. This is relevant to health and
sanitation, nutrition, food production and the environmental and its conservation. Science subject were not
taught in Grades I and II but there are concepts which include the student interaction to his immediate
environment.

With regards to the problems persisting today in Philippine education system, our stand for
functional literacy to empower learners is at stake. The dearth of instructional materials , the scarcity of
teachers and poor classrooms resulted to low student achievement and increasing number of out-ofschool children hamper them to be active makers of meaningful life. The TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics
and Science) Survey alone which was conducted revealed below mastery level results, the Philippines
ranked 42nd in Science out of 45 countries that were tested (Manila Times 2004). This proved that vast
majority of Filipino students have performed way below par in all national achievement tests, and below
the levels of most students from other countries in the international tests. Thus, education managers must
focus on reforming and delivering quality instruction with the new K-12 curriculum , and will not be
overwhelmed by the crisis they experienced in implementing the new curriculum. Students must be
provided with maximum opportunities to become functionally literate in science.
It is for these reasons that the researcher embarks on developing strategic intervention materials in
Science for Grade 4 students that will enhance learning and remedy the least mastered skills of the
students, to attain growth in their academic performance.
The purpose of the study is to develop strategic intervention materials in Science that will enhance
learning and use as a remedy for the least mastered skills of the students, thus attain growth in their
academic performance.
Specifically, it attempted to answer the following questions:
1. What is the level of performance based on pretest and posttest scores of the students using the
traditional methods of teaching Science?
2. What is the level of performance based on pretest and posttest scores of the students using the
Strategic Intervention Materials in teaching Science
3. Is there a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of students using the
Strategic Intervention Materials in teachingScience ?
4. What significant difference that exists between the pre-test and post-test results between:
1.1 Traditional Method
1.2 Strategic Intervention Material
5. Is there a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of students in using the
traditional methods of teaching and the Strategic Intervention Materials in teaching Science?
6. What is the level of the effects on the academic performance in Science?
The following hypotheses are to be tested in this study:
Ho1 There is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of students using
Ho2

Traditional methods and Strategic Intervention Materials inteaching Science.

There is no significant Effect between the pretest and posttest scores
of students using

Strategic Intervention

Materials in teaching

Operational Definition of Terms:

1. SIMS-Strategic Intervention Materials -were intervention materials which designed to help

teachers provide the students a needed support to make progress. They tried to increase and
deepen their skills, knowledge and understanding from concrete science to what is more abstract.
They gave the students the opportunity to explore their understanding and make sense of these
new scientific ideas. They helped the students what they know and understand from the teacher to
formalize their thinking.
2. Traditional Methods of Teaching Science-Traditional science teaching relied heavily on
lectures, reading, and teacher led demonstrations.
3. Academic Performance in Science-is the outcome to which a student has achieved their goals
in Science subject.It commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment but there is
no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects are most important procedural
knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts.

METHOD
Research Design
The study adopted descriptive- qualitative approach to investigate the effects of SIMS on the
Academic performance in Science of Grade IV Students .Descriptive survey design suited this study
because it allows the researcher gathered information, summarized, presented and interpreted for the
purpose of clarification.
Target population
The study concentrated mainly on the 155 Grade IV Students of Wireless Elementary School .The
study assessed the effect of using SIMS in teaching Science.According to Koul (2014), Random sampling
is the process by which relatively small number of individuals or objects are selected and analyzed in
order to find out something from the entire population from which these respondent were selected.

Types of Data Used

The researcher had identified the least mastered skills in Grade Four Science and found out that
mastery level was not achieved by the students in the previous years and current year. Thus, the

researcher chose the least skill of all the least mastered in all the competencies given by the Department
of Education which was the content of the strategic intervention material.
A pilot pretest was administered to two groups of respondents before the experiments. The
experimental group was exposed to the use of SIM while the control group used the traditional way of
teaching. Likewise, a pretest was given to both groups before the introduction of each lesson and a
posttest after the end of each lesson. Both pretests and posttests given to the experimental and control
group were the same.
The lesson in the intervention was read and studied by the students and the researcher directed the
students to learn in the context of their own personal experiences. Furthermore, the control group was
given the same lesson, same number of contact time and rules with the experimental group. They were
given the same pretests and posttest after the treatment. And their scores in every treatment were tallied
and interpreted by the researcher to determine whether there were significant differences and the level of
its effect to the students performance in Science based on their mean scores in the pretests and
posttests.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents research findings and discussion using descriptive statistics,
Calculation of percentages and presentation of data in table forms. Statistically, the problems of the
study were answered by the following data gathered by the researcher.
1. Level of academic performance of the pupils based on the pre-test and post test results using the
two strategies in teaching Science in terms of:
1.1 Traditional Method

Table 1
Results of the Pre-Test and Post-Test Results Using Traditional Method of Teaching

Grade &
Section
Gr. IV-Sapphire
Gr. IV-Diamond

N
45

TRADITIONAL METHOD
PRE-TEST
POST-TEST
51.89
42.42

84.09
73.17

Difference
32.2
30.75

Level
Mastery
Nearing

25.2

Mastery
Nearing
Mastery
Nearing

44
Gr.IV-Emerald

36.82

62.02

41
Gr. IV-Ruby
45
155

Learning

27.77

55.55

27.78

39.73

68.71

28.98

Mastery

It could be seen from Table 3 that all of the sections in Grade Four has an MPS increase between
the pre-test and post-test results. However, only Grade IV-Sapphire got the Mastery Level of 84.09 %
MPS among the other sections in Grade IV. Most of them got nearing mastery and beyond the DepED
Target which is 75% passing scores.
Table 2
Results of the Pre-Test and Post-Test Results Using Strategic Intervention Material

Grade &

USING S.I.M.

Difference

Section
N

PRE-TEST

Learning
Level

POST-TEST

Gr. IV-Sapphire
45

57.40

93.41

36.01

44

40.65

92.80

52.15

41

38.75

89.15

50.40
56.11

Gr. IV-Diamond
Gr.IV-Emerald
Gr. IV-Ruby

Mastery
Level
Mastery
Level
Mastery
Level
Mastery
Level

45
31.29
87.40
48.66
175
42.02
90.69
Table 4 showed evident results after Strategic Intervention Material was implemented in teaching
Science. Post-tests results got a remarkable improvement. (49.42%) Grade IV-Sapphire got the highest
increase (56.11%). Posttests indicated that students who were taught with material employing the causal
style of discourse had significantly better retention of facts and concepts and were superior in applying
this knowledge in problem-solving exercises. They gained mastery level of the lesson presented.
2. Significant difference that exists between the pre-test and post-test results between:
2.1Traditional Method
2.2 Strategic Intervention Material
Table 3
T-Test on the Significant Difference between the Pre-Test and Post-Test Results Between
Traditional Method against Strategic Intervention Material

Variable

T-Value

P-Value

Decision

Interpretation

Accept Ho

NS

Traditional Method VS Strategic Intervention Material

Pre-Test

0.476

0.00855

Post-Test

8.93

0.0046

0.05 Level of Significance

Reject Ho

S
S= significant

NS= not significant

It could be gleaned in Table 3 that there isno significant difference in the pre-test results between
the two teaching method. This means that pupils from both groups had the same understanding of the
lesson before it was taught. But during the Post-test periods of the two teaching method after the lesson
was taught, it showed significant difference. This means that the experimental group which used the
Strategic Intervention Material significantly better retention of facts and concepts and were superior in
applying this knowledge in problem-solving exercises.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The researchers findings agreed with the findings of Hogan (2000) and Woodward (2004), who
found out that intervention materials contributed to better learning of the concepts among students.
Posttests and maintenance tests indicated that students who were taught with material employing the
causal style of discourse had significantly better retention of facts and concepts and were superior in
applying this knowledge in problem-solving exercises. Furthermore, students learn best when they can
build on past experience, relate what they are learning to things that are relevant to them, have direct
"Hands-on" experience, construct their own knowledge in collaboration with other students and faculty,
and communicate their results effectively.
Findings
The study came up with the following findings:
1. There was no significant difference on the performance of the experimental group and control group in
the pretests. They were of the same level of intelligence and mastery before they were exposed to
experiment. Although there was slight difference on their mean score, it was not that significant based on
the computed t-value of 0.476 at 0.05 significance level. This attested that both groups of respondents
had the same level of mastery before an intervention was introduced to the experimental group and
conventional method to the control group.
3. There was significant difference on the performance of the experimental group in the pretest and
posttest. The difference in the mean scores of posttest and pretest of 8.93 was indeed significant. There
was a positive transfer of learning in the two groups. However, higher mean was observed from the
experimental group after the presentation of the intervention materials.
4. The strategic intervention materials were effective in mastering the competency based skills in science
based on the mean gain scores in the posttests of the experimental and control groups.
Conclusions
In the light of the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:
The two groups of respondents had the same level of Mental Ability before the treatments.
The experimental and control groups performed at the same level before the experiment.
The experimental group performed better in the posttest than the control group.
The strategic Intervention materials were effective in teaching competency-based skills. There was
significant difference between the mean scores in the posttests of the experimental and control
groups.

Recommendations

Based on the outcomes and implications of the study, the following are recommended:
1. Science teachers can use the strategic intervention materials made by the researcher to re-teach the
concepts and skills and help the students master the competency-based skill
2. Seminars and in-service training should be conducted in the division level regarding development and
implementation of the strategic intervention materials in the classroom.
3. Science teachers should develop more strategic intervention materials for the remaining lessons which
were not included in researchers SIMS.
4. Strategic intervention materials for other subjects should be made to address the least mastered skills.
5. A similar study may be conducted covering a bigger number of respondents in another venue.