Hots on Enhancing the Performance in Mathematics of Grade Four Learners

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Instructionalsupervision is one of the roles of the school principal. Being an instructional leader, she always sees to it that each teacher is sensitized to his/her instructional problem. She is very much concerned with the improvement of instruction inside the classroom, so she called the key teachers and the Master Teachers to a meeting to conduct some problem census and the possible solutions to them. I told the principal that my greatest difficulty is that the pupils can't respond to Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions in Mathematics. Based from the results of the summative tests and quarterly tests given, I found that only 12 out of 38 pupils or 32% passed the quarterly test, Summative test results showed that only 8 out of 38 pupils or 21% passed the tests whenever HOTS questions are given. It seems that the pupils are not exposed to this kind of question. The situation gave me an idea of enhancing the performance of the pupils in Mathematics by exposing them to Higher Order Thinking Skills questions. This study aimed to develop the critical thinking skills of Grade Four Learners through HOTS questions in Mathematics. It also helps enhance the learner's performance in the said subject through continuous exposure to HOTS. It is conducted in the 3rd Quarter of the school year 2018-2019 in Grade Four-Lanzones class. The result of the study will also serve as a guide for the teachers in facilitating HOTS questions in Mathematics lesson.

METHODS

This research was purely Descriptive. The researcher used simple Statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages to analyze quantitative data collected such as Raw Scores of the learners in the Pre-Test and Post Test (20-item test) composed of HOTS questions that were administered before and after the actual study and the six Weekly Tests (10-item test) given composed also of HOTS . The researcher monitored the weekly progress of the class through the results of the Enrichment Exercises given every Tuesday and Thursday during the 30-minute Study Period. Shealso recorded the learners' grades in Mathematics from 1st to 3rd Quarter to see their progress in the said subject. The data collected were presented in table form. The test results were interpreted and analyzed using a statistical treatment such as MeanPercentage Score (MPS), % of Mastery and Level of Performance such as High Proficiency Level (75% and above), Average Proficiency (50%-74%) and Low Proficiency Level ( 50% and below). Grades in Mathematics were interpreted as Outstanding (90% and above), Very Satisfactory (85%-89%), Satisfactory (80%-84%), Fairly Satisfactory (75%-79%) and Failed (74%and below).

RESULTS

This study was completed to find out how effective HOTS is in enhancing the performance of Grade Four learners in Mathematics. These were the findings of the research. The results of the six weekly tests given every Friday during the Math class revealed that the MPS in the 1st test is 64.20 with 32% Mastery Level, the 2nd test has the MPS of 67.30 and with 50% Mastery, the 3rd test has the MPS of 69.20 and with 50% Mastery, the 4th test has the MPS of 68.40 and with 47% Mastery, the 5th test has the MPS of 70.80 with 53% Mastery and in the last test, the MPS is 73.48 and with 58% Mastery Level. So, with this findings, the % of Mastery and the Mean Percentage Score increased gradually every time the teacher gave a weekly test composed of HOTS questions. The status of the Enrichment Exercises given every Tuesday and Thursday by the teacher during the Study Period is presented in average per week of Number of Pupils who Reached the Mastery Level and % of Mastery. In Week 1, 12 pupils or 32% reached the ML. In Week 2, 18 pupils or 46% reached the ML. In Week 3, 19 pupils or 50% reached the ML. In Week 4, 24 or 63% reached the ML. In week 5, 25 or67 % reached the ML. In the last week, 28 out of 38 pupils or 73% reached the ML. So, as revealed in the results of the Enrichment Exercises, the number of pupils who reached the mastery level and % of Mastery increased gradually through continuous exposure to HOTS questions in Mathematics. The researcher found that in the Pre-Test given, nobody reached the mastery level and all the 38 learners were under Low Proficiency Level. The Pre-Test has a Mean of 6.42 and MPS of 32.10. In the Post Test given, 20 pupils or 53% reached the mastery level, while 16 or 42% were under Average Proficiency and only 2 pupils or 5% were under Low Proficiency level. The Post Test has a Mean of 14.16 and an MPS of 70.80. The results of the Pre-Test and Post Test revealed that there's a great increase in the % of Mastery and the Mean Percentage Score from 32.10 to 70.80 with a difference of +38.70. It only showed that there's a great leap in the result of the Post Test over Pre-Test. In the comparative analysis of the grades in Mathematics obtained by the learners, the researcher found that the number of learners with Outstanding Performance in Mathematics increased from 2 or 5% in the 2nd Quarter to 5 or 13% in the 3rd Quarter. The number of learners with Very Satisfactory Performance remained the same from 1st to 3rd Quarter. The number of learners with Satisfactory Performance increased from 19 or 50% in the 2nd Quarter to 22 or 58% in the 3rd Quarter. Upon the completion of the study, the number of learners with Fairly Satisfactory Performance decreased from 9 or 24% in the 1st and 2nd Quarter to 3 or 8% in the 3rd Quarter. Nobody failed in Mathematics. It was found also that most of the learners had Very Satisfactory and Satisfactory Performance.