Project MERKS: Magallanes Elementary School Reaching Knowledgeable and Skillful Future Through LOA (Learners Outcome Assessment) focusing on Least Mastered Skills in Science 5

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

"Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed", Marva Collins. It has been our job ever since as an educator to cultivate the young minds of our pupils who will be responsible for the future. It was never an easy task to help our pupils learn knowing that they live in a world where technology overpower humans. Some may not, but most of them live their lives as the 21st century learners. These are the kinds of learners every teacher encounter where each has special needs we have to deal with. They must be taught in different ways to address their individual differences. In this, different assessment tools must be considered.

Learners Outcome Assessment (LOA) is a tool to evaluate the pupils understanding of the lessons they have in each quarter. It assesses whether the pupils are learning or not.

Assessing the LOA result for the first quarter encouraged the author to come up with a study that will test whether there is a chance to improve the scores of the Grade 5 pupils in their Science class, which happened to be the lowest among the other grade levels.

METHODS

The researcher first used the LOA as an assessment tool. It showed that Science 5 got the lowest. She listed all the least mastered competency and thought of the possible strategies that may be used during remediation. She used different collaborative activities like peer teaching, group activities and games as an approach. The approach was tested during the second quarter period in the whole grade 5 which consisted of 57 individuals.

RESULTS

As a result, the researcher found out that the use of different collaborative approaches in teaching had a big effect in students’ learning ability. It allowed them to participate freely during discussions and share their knowledge in their groups. Learning with the help of others gave them confidence which kept them motivated to learn. Because of this, they were able to increase their scores for the second quarter as seen in the LOA result.

DISCUSSIONS

This research aimed to use LOA to study the relevance of learners' individual assessment in reaching one's growth and potential. It showed that there was a change in the learners' outcomes especially in the field of Science after using collaborative approach as an intervention to a group of grades 5 students of Magallanes ES.