PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

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1 PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH Presented in 3 rd International Conference in Education, Psychology, and Social Science (ICEPSS) International Research Enthusiast Society Inc. (IRES Inc.) May 19-21, 2016 Open Access Predictors of Scientific Literacy among Alternative Learning System (ALS) Students: A Model Abstract This study determined the predictors of scientific literacy among Alternative Learning System (ALS) students within the 10 districts of Dinagat Islands. The respondents of the study were the 502 ALS students in high school level and 33 mobile teachers for school year The data gathered were treated using frequency, percentage count, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression. Findings revealed that scientific literacy of the respondents was described as did not meet expectation. The factors which significantly predict the scientific literacy of the ALS students were age, sex, and highest formal education attained by the students as well as the sex, highest educational attainment, and number of specialized trainings attended by the teachers. A model was designed in order to predict scientific literacy of the respondents. The study concluded that most of the respondents achieved low scientific literacy. Both student and teacher factors could influence the scientific literacy of the respondents. It is recommended that ALS facilitators and supervisors must be encouraged to adopt the designed model in order to predict scientific literacy and to help learners pass the ALS Accreditation and Equivalency Test. Keywords: Predictors, Scientific Literacy Model, Alternative Learning System (ALS) Authors Information: Corresponding Author: Emmylou A. Borja address: emmyborja@gmail.com Institution: Surigao State College Of Technology Contact numbers: Corresponding Author: Niño L. Ecle address: niño_ecle@yahoo.com Institution: Surigao State College Of Technology Contact numbers: DOI: /FE27WF113O Citation: Borja, E.A., Ecle, N.L. (2016) Predictors of Scientific Literacy among Alternative Learning System (ALS) Students: A Model. Proceedings Journal of Education, Psychology and Social Science Research. Vol03:Iss02:Pg148. DOI: /FE27WF113O Copyright: 2016 Borja, E.A., Ecle, N.L. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License.

2 Introduction The Alternative Learning System (ALS) had been posed with many challenges of meeting quality inclusive education in the Philippines. It leads to an inquiry on how competent the program is in demonstrating competent learning equivalent to the formal years. As such, it has been perceived that some ALS graduates in high school were not yet prepared to venture tertiary education. Based on the result of ALS Accreditation and Equivalency Test in 2013, only % of test takers passed the test. Most of those who failed got low scores in critical thinking and problem solving strand (EFA, 2015). It is construed that activities given to the learners were not enough to prepare them to think critically and solve real-life problems. Guererro (2013) that among the five strands of ALS, most of the respondents achieved low performance in scientific literacy and numeracy strand. Furthermore, the study of Apao et al. (2014) found out that critical thinking skill and scientific literacy of ALS students had the lowest extent of attainment with an average of 39.7% There is no study conducted yet on the scientific literacy of ALS students, thus, the researchers opted to conduct this study to find out the real score of scientific literacy among learners and design a scientific literacy model. Statement of the Problem The study focused on the predictors of scientific literacy among Alternative Learning System (ALS) students. Specifically, it aimed to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the teacher-respondents in terms of: 1.1. sex; 1.2. age; 1.3. educational attainment; 1.4. area of specialization; 1.5. years of teaching experience in ALS; 1.6. No. of specialized training(s) attended? 2. What is the socio-demographic profile of the learner-respondents in terms of: 2.1. sex; 2.2. age; 2.3. class attendance; 2.4. highest formal educational attainment; 2.5. media exposure? 3. What is the level of scientific literacy among the student-respondents? 4. Which factor(s) significantly predict(s) the scientific literacy of the ALS students? 5. What model could predict the scientific literacy of the ALS students? 6. Does the model significantly predict the scientific literacy of the ALS students? Methodology The descriptive-predictive and survey method was employed in this study. The study was conducted in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) schools and Community Learning Centers (CLC) within the ten (10) districts of the Division of Dinagat Islands. The respondents of the study were the facilitators and High School ALS students who were officially enrolled in the ALS schools and Community Learning Centers of the Division of Dinagat Islands for the School Year This study used two sets of questionnaire, one for ALS Facilitators who were facilitating Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Program for S.Y , and the other questionnaire was for the ALS learners who were officially enrolled in the ALS Accreditation & Equivalency (A&E) program. For the teacher-respondents, a researcher-made questionnaire was given to them. This required the respondents to give some personal data such as, name, sex, educational attainment, years of teaching experience in ALS and specialized trainings attended. As to the learner-respondents, a Content-Based Examination (CBE) was conducted. Part I was composed of learners socio-demographic profile as to age, sex, class attendance, highest educational attainment and media exposure. Part II was on the learners content-based examination, which consists of 50-item multiple choice test, was administered to determine the level of respondent s scientific literacy. A transmutation Table based on Department of Education order No. 8 s was used to compute respondent s final rating in the content-based examination as basis to gauge their level of scientific literacy. The data gathered were treated using frequency, percentage count, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression. Results And Discussion On the Profile of Teacher-Respondents Table 1 presents the profile of the teacherrespondents in terms of sex, age, educational attainment, area of specialization, years of teaching 149

3 experience in ALS, and number of specialized training(s) attended. Table 1. Profile of the Teacher-Respondents Profile f(n=33) Percent Sex Male Female Education Degree Holder with LET Eligibility Education Degree Highest Holder without Educational LET Eligibility Attainment Master s Degree Holder With Units in Master s Degree General Education English Area of Filipino Specialization Mathematics Biological Science T.L.E Mean SD Age Years of Experience Number of Trainings Attended It can be gleaned that there are more female respondents than males. Out of 33 respondents, 25 (75.76%) are females and 8 (24.24%) are males. The age of the respondents have the mean value of (SD=4.49). As to highest educational attainment, majority of them were Education Degree Holders with LET Eligibility (69.70%). Few respondents were Education Degree Holders without LET Eligibility and Master s Degree Holders (6.06%). In terms of the area of specialization, most of them were in the field of General Education with 13(39.39%) respondents. Only 2 (6.06%) specialized T.L.E. and Biological Science. A greater part of the ALS facilitators have an average years of teaching experience of 2.90 (SD=2.06). As to number of specialized training(s) attended, most of the respondents have an average training attendance of 3.39 (SD=1.96). It can be deduced that most of ALS facilitators were young adults and were neophytes in the teaching profession. Table 2 indicates the profile of the studentrespondents in terms of sex, age, class attendance, highest formal educational attainment, and media exposure. As shown in the Table, more respondents were females compared to males. Out of 502 respondents, 284 (56.6%) were female and 218 (43.4%) were males. The mean value of respondent s age was (SD=3.89). As to class attendance, the respondents attended an average of (SD=8.76) based on the total number of school days. As to the highest formal educational attainment of the respondents, there were 239 (47.6%) have their last attendance in third year high school, 155 (30.9%) in first year and 108 (21.5%)in second year. As to media exposure, it was identified through available print and electronic media at home. There were 221 (44.3%) of the respondents have books, dictionaries, encyclopedia, and general references found in their home. The respondents who have magazine in their homes were 30 (6.0%), 8 (1.6%) respondents have newspaper and tabloid, and a minimal of 5 (1.0%) have journals. There were 66 (13.2%) have no available print media at home. In terms of available electronic media at home, 192 (38.2%) respondents have television, 37 (7.4%) have radio, and only 7 (1.4%) have personal computers. Around 57 (11.4%) have no available electronic media in their homes. This implies that most of the respondents who enrolled in ALS were young-aged whose class attendance was described as low based on the total number of attendance. This can be attributed to the fact that some students were having a hard time attending all their classes because of various reasons. Table 2. Profile of the Student-Respondents Profile f(n=502) Percent Sex Male Female Highest First Year Formal Second Year Education Third Year Attained None Newspaper and Tabloid Magazine Journals Tabloid and Available Print Media at Home Magazine Tabloid, Journals Tabloid and Magazine and Journals Magazine and Journals and

4 Available Electronic Media at Home Tabloid, Magazine, and Journals Tabloid, Magazine, and Tabloid, Journals and Magazine, Journals and ALL None Radio Television Personal Radio and Television Radio and personal 2.4 Television and Personal Radio, Television and Personal Mean SD Age Attendance On the Level of Scientific Literacy of ALS Students Data in Table 3 show the level of scientific literacy among learners in the Alternative Learning System (ALS). Table 3. Level of Scientific Literacy of ALS Students Initial Transmuted Mean SD Description Grade Grade Did Meet Expectations Based on the 50-item examination, the respondents scored a mean value of (SD=9.54). Per computation, the initial grade of the respondents was and transmuted grade of 73% which is described as did not meet expectations. These entail that ALS students performed low in science since the subject requires a deeper understanding and acquisition of critical thing and problem solving skills. It could also be deduced that the activities given to the learners were not enough to prepare them to think critically and cope with problems, challenges, and struggles in life. The result was supported by Guererro (2013) which revealed that majority of ALS students who took Accreditation and Equivalency Test achieved a very low performance in Scientific Literacy and Numeracy strand. Eschach (2011) and Fenmema (2013) opined that Science and Mathematics are both difficult fields and learning basic science concepts requires deep analysis and guidance from teachers. On the Predictors of Scientific Literacy Table 4 displays the results on profile of students and teachers which predict the scientific literary of ALS students. Table 4. Predictors of Scientific Literary Variable Coefficient t- value p-value Decision (Constant) Student A E-05 B E-03 C E-30 D E F Teacher G E-04 H I E-03 J K L E-04 Legend: Code Profile Code Profile Student Teacher A Age G Sex B Sex H Age C Highest Formal Education Attained I Highest Educ l Attainment D Available Print Media at Home J Area of Specialization E Available Electronic Media at Home K Years of Experience F Attendance L Trainings The Table shows that among six profiles of students, age, sex, and highest formal education attained obtained p-values of 1.76E-05, 2.77E-03, and 9.29E- 151

5 30 respectively. Since these are less than 0.05, the null hypotheses are rejected indicating that the coefficients for these variables are significantly greater than zero. Similarly, there are three profile factors of the teachers with coefficients which are significantly different from zero. These are sex, highest educational attainment, and number of specialized trainings attended. These variables obtained p-values of 3.13E-04, 3.88E-03, and 1.06E-04 respectively. The null hypotheses for these variables are rejected indicating values which are greater than or less than zero. The results imply that age, sex, and highest formal education attained by the students as well as sex, highest educational attainment and number of trainings of the teachers can predict the scientific literacy of the ALS students. These variables predict scientific literacy with a constant value of However, in the study of Patterson et al (2011), age and sex were the strongest factors which could affect students towards better understanding in natural sciences. They concluded that males perform better in Biology and Chemistry than females. Sajol (2013) pointed out that science achievement is correlated with educational attainment and professional training of the teacher. Mji and Gato (2011) suggest that educational attainment and professional training in science has been identified as an important aspect in terms of the impact educators may have towards improving poor performance in science. On other view, Suzuki et al (2013) asserts that exposure to print and electronic media could help increase better understanding in scientific concepts. On the Model Which Could Predict Scientific Literacy of ALS Students Based on the significant values reflected in Table 6, the model for scientific literacy is expressed as described in the equation below: SL = A B C 3.24G +0.95I L Legend: SL Scientific Literacy A Actual Age of the Student B Sex Profile of the Student 1 Male 2 Female C Highest Formal Education Attained by the Student 1 First Year 2 Second Year 3 Third Year G I L Sex Profile of the Teacher 1 Male 2 Female Highest Educational Attainment of the ALS Teacher 1 Education Degree Holder with LET Eligibility 2 Education Degree Holder without LET Eligibility 3 Master s Degree Holder 4 With Units in Master s Degree Number of Specialized Trainings Attended The scientific literacy model is based on the constant value of 7.45 and sum of the products of the significant variables A, B, C, G, I, and K and coefficients which are 0.41, 2.23, 5.25, -0.24, 0.95, and 1.08 respectively. On the Significance of Scientific Literacy Predictive Model Table 5 presents the significance of the model which could predict scientific literacy of the respondents. Table 5. Significance of Scientific Literacy Predictive Model F-value p-value Decision E-32 The model can significantly predict the scientific literacy of the students in ALS as supported by the F- value of and p-value of 3.30E-32 reflected in Table 5. Since the p-value is less than 0.05, the model then can significantly predict scientific literacy; hence the rejection of the null hypothesis. For instance, a male ALS student aged 35 years old who has attended first year high school and is taught by a female teacher who finished master s degree and have attended 2 specialized trainings would have a scientific literacy computed as follows: SL = A B C 3.24G I L SL = (35) (1) (1) 3.24(2) (3) (2) SL = The computation above shows that the value for A is 35 based on the age of the student, for B is 1 based on the sex of the student who is male, for C is 1 based on the highest formal education attained which is first year, for G is 2 based on the sex of the teacher who is female, for I is 3 based on the highest educational attainment of the teacher which is master s degree, and for L is 2 based on the number of trainings attended by the teacher. The resulting value is Such value would have an initial grade of 152

6 27.81/50*100 = which is transmuted to 73% and described as did not meet expectations. Findings Based on the results, the following are the salient findings of the study: 1. Majority of the teacher-respondents were females who were Education Degree holders with LET eligibility. Most of them specialized in the field of General Education and age ranged to years old.. Their length of teaching experience is about three years and had attended seminars/trainings of more or less three times. 2. Most of the student-respondents are about 19 years old, females and formerly attended the third year level in the formal education. Their average class attendance in Alternative Learning System was only 104 school days. Books, dictionary, encyclopedia, and general references were the most available print media in their home, while television was the most available electronic media. 3. The scientific literacy of ALS students was described as did not meet expectation. 4. The factors which significantly predict the scientific literary of the ALS students are age, sex, and highest formal education attained by the students as well as the sex, highest educational attainment, and number of specialized trainings attended by the teachers. 5. The model that predicts the scientific literary of the ALS students is SL = A B C 3.24G I L 6. The SL model significantly predicts scientific literacy. Conclusion Based on the findings, this conclusion was drawn: The learner s age, sex, and highest formal educational attainment as well as sex, highest educational attainment and number of specialized trainings attended by the teachers could influence the scientific literacy of the learners in the ALS program. Recommendations Based on the conclusions of the study, the following recommendations were offered: 1. Aside from being licensed, teachers must undergo more trainings relevant to the teaching profession. Likewise, they are encouraged to enroll in graduate studies in order to update content knowledge especially in science as well as teaching strategies. 2. Students must be encouraged to continue their venture in high school through Alternative Learning System. However, in order to lessen students who dropped out in the formal school, teachers must have their early monitoring system especially in the third year level. In order to increase their acquaintance in science, they must undergo readings both in print and electronic media. 3. It is suggested that ALS curriculum must be enhanced according to the needs and interests of the learners. This means that scientific literacy strand must not be taught in abstraction but to make science learning very meaningful, teachers must apply these concepts in a real life situation. Hence, school administrators must strictly implement their hiring policies that could scrutinize applicants competence, experiences, and professional development. References Apao, L., Dayagbil, F. and Abao, E. (2014). Alternative System Accreditation and Equivalence (A & E) Program: Quality of Life Beyond Poverty: International Journal of Research and Innovation. Vol. 2 Issue 4. EFA (2013). Education for All Annual Report retrieved on June 21,2015fromDepedro7.com.ph/.../ALS%20role%20in %20EFA% Eschach, H. (2011). Science Literacy in Primary Schools and Pre-schools. Volume XIII: Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Fenmema, S. (2013). Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science Task Force Report. Virginia, USA. Guererro, C.(2013). Family Life Experience of Learners in the Alternative Learning System(ALS) in San Miguel Pasig City: Basis for proposed Intervention Program. Unpublished Master s Thesis, Philippine Normal University, Philippines. Mji, Y. and Gato, H.F. (2011). Students' motivation, perceived environment and professional commitment: An application of Astin's College impact model. Accounting Education, 21(2), Patterson, H. et al (2011). Factors Affecting the achievement of Competencies in the Alternative Learning System. Unpublished Master s Thesis. University of Wyong, USA. Sajol, M. et al (2013). Gender Differences in Science Achievement. SWE-AWE CASEE Overview. Suzuki et al (2013). Curriculum and Instructional Validity of Scientific Literacy themes covered in Zambia High Scholl Biology. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, Volume III, pp