A Comparative Study: The Performance in Mathematics of First Year Special and Regular Sections in Pedro Guevara Memorial National High School Santa Cruz, Laguna

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Mathematics has an intrinsic beauty and coherence that attracted practitioner for centuries. Itis a surprisingly useful tool for describing the natural world. Mathematics is also one of the most hated subjects, maybe because they have no interest in it. Interest is one crucial motivational factor in learning. Therefore, Math needs to be relevant to everyday life. In PGMNHS, academic programs vary tremendously between individual and regular students. The special section appears to have more rigorous academic programs and more likely to have taken advanced Mathematics as well as Science than those in regular sections which focus more on the traditional lecture classes. The researchers aimed to identify the comparative difference between the performance in Mathematics of the first year special and regular section in the said school.

METHODS

The researcher used a descriptive method of research. It was utilized through statistically treated questionnaire-checklist taken by two sets of students, 50 first-year high school students who came from the special section and 50 first-year high school students who came from the regular section. The researcher used a statistical treatment such as weighted mean and chi-square to determine how the students performed in their Mathematics class and their differences in interest, attitude and learning style.

RESULTS

Based on the data gathered of the researcher, the mean level of interest in the individual and regular section were 3.26 and 3.28, respectively. The mean level of attitude in the individual and regular section were 3.48 and 3.6, respectively. The mean level of learning style in the exclusive and regular section were 3.74 and 3.90, respectively. Most of the first-year students in particular and regular section got a grade of 88.34 and 87.5, which has the same interpretation as satisfactory.

DISCUSSIONS

Most of the respondents in the special section are in the grade bracket of 88-89 which interpreted as "Satisfactory" while the respondents in the regular section are in the grade bracket of 87-88, which interpreted as "Satisfactory." To summarize, there is a significant difference between students from a unique and regular section in terms of their interest and has no significant difference in terms of their attitude and learning style. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the students from a unique and regular section in terms of their interest, attitude and learning style is "partly supported" based on the treated responses of the students.