Enhancing the Academic Performance of Grade 11 STEM Students in General Mathematics through Peer Tutorial

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Skills in Mathematics are very important in today's world of technology. Despite the cited importance of Mathematics, many students still view it as a difficult subject. To deal with this problem, teachers have to assess their students in terms of the pre-requisite skills, what their levels of proficiency are, and how well they mastered the relevant skills. Upon determining these factors, teachers will be able to carry more effective instructions. Hence, the researchers conducted a study to determine the difficulties of students in the basic skills which are necessary to better understand and master the competencies in General Mathematics. This also determined the features of peer tutorial as one of the strategies which the researchers utilized. After conducting the peer tutorial, the academic performance of students in General Mathematics was assessed.

METHODS

The respondents of this study were the 47 Grade 11 STEM students of San Pascual Senior High School 1 for the first semester of school year 2018-2019. The descriptive-survey method was used in this study. The researcher used questionnaires and tests as the main data gathering tools. The tutorial was conducted every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon. As an indicator of the effectiveness of the peer tutorial, the academic performance of the students was recorded and analyzed weekly.

RESULTS

Data gathered from the respondents revealed the following: (1) There are different basic skills in General Mathematics which students experience difficulties with. (2) Peer tutorial is one intervention program which can enhance students' academic performance. (3) As reflected in average weekly CPL, there is an increase in the level of academic performance before and after the peer tutorial. (4) There is a significant difference in the levels of academic performance in General Mathematics as reflected in the average weekly CPL.

DISCUSSIONS

Relevant findings would help enhance students' academic performance in General Mathematics through mastery of basic skills. Peer Tutorial strategy removed the barrier caused by shyness of some students to ask questions from the teacher. There was a greater chance of understanding since students' context of communication is the same. Activity sheets with multiple exercises of varying levels of difficulty were provided. Students were given more chances to master the skills by answering the exercises, thus, addressing the spiral nature of Mathematics.