Professional Documents
Culture Documents
teaching, interests, appreciation and ideals. He needs to exert effort to lead children
or students into a life that is large, full, stimulating and satisfying. Some students
seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need or expect their
instructors or teachers to inspire, challenge or stimulate them. "Effective learning in
the classroom depends on the teacher's ability to maintain the interest that brought
students to the course in the first place (Erickson, 1978). Not all students are
motivated by the same values, needs, desires and wants. Some students are
motivated by the approval of others or by overcoming challenges.
Teachers must recognize the diversity and complexity in the classroom, be it the
ethnicity, gender, culture, language abilities and interests. Getting students to work
and learn in class is largely influenced in all these areas. Classroom diversity exists
not only among students and their peers but may be also exacerbated by language
and cultural differences between teachers and students.
Since 2003, many foreign professional teachers, particularly from the Philippines,
came to New York City to teach with little knowledge of American school settings.
Filipino teachers have distinct styles and expressions of teaching. They expect that:
education is interactive and spontaneous; teachers and students work together in
the teaching-learning process; students learn through participation and interaction;
homework is only part of the process; teaching is an active process; students are
not passive learners; factual information is readily available; problem solving,
creativity and critical thinking are more important; teachers should facilitate and
model problem solving; students learn by being actively engaged in the process;
randomly specifically in the eighth and sixth grade. The student respondents were
the researchers' own students, where 6 to 7 students from each teacher were
selected. Twenty students were used as samples.
To measure students' motivation, researchers used questionnaires which covered
important categories, namely: attitudes, student's participation, homework, and
grades. Open-ended questions were also given for students' opinion, ideas and
feelings towards the teacher and the subject. The teacher's teaching style covers
the various scaffolding strategies. The data that were collected from this research
helped the teachers to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses so as to improve
instruction. The results of this study could benefit both teachers and students.
Research Procedure
Data Gathering
The researchers personally distributed the questionnaires. Each item in each
category ranges from a scale of 5-1 where 5 rated as Strongly Agree while 1 as
Strongly Disagree. The questionnaires were collected and data obtained were
tabulated in tables and interpreted using the simple percentage. While the open
ended questions, answers that were given by the students with the most frequency
were noted.
Male
2
8
10
Female
5
5
10
Total
7
13
20
Table 2 showed that out of the 20 students respondents, 80% of students were of
Hispanic origin; 10% of respondents were White (not of Hispanic origin); and 10%
were Black (not of Hispanic origin); while 0% were of American Indian, Asian or
Pacific Islander ethnicity. The results also showed that among the Hispanic, 40%
came from the low and 40% came from the high group. There were only 10% White
respondents from both groups. There were 10% respondents who were Black from
both groups.
Table 2: Respondents by Ethnicity
Ethnicity American Hispanic White
(not Black
(not Asian
Group
High
Low
Total
origin)
1
1
2
0
0
0
8
8
16
origin)
1
1
2
Islander
0
0
0
or Others Total
0
0
0
10
10
20
Table 3 showed that 15% of the respondents had grades between 96-100 in
Science, 0% between 91-95, while 15% scored between 86-90, the same as the
range between 81-85. However, on the low group 25% of the respondents had
grades between 71-75, 5% each had a range between 66-70 and 61-65; while 15%
of the respondents did not have Science last year.
Table 3: Grades in Science
Grades 100- 95- 90- 85- 80- 75- 70- 65- Below
Group
High
Low
Total
year
0
3
3
96
3
0
3
91
0
0
0
86
3
0
3
81
3
0
3
76
1
0
1
71
0
5
5
66
0
1
1
61
0
1
1
60
0
0
0
10
10
20
Table 4 revealed that for students' motivation-attitude, more than half of the
respondents agreed that they are always excited to attend classes this school year.
75% of the students believed that Science is fun and interesting. Similarly, 80% of
the respondents agreed that Science is important for them and 60% said that they
love Science.
For student motivation-participation, it showed that more than half of the
respondents affirm that they are always prepared in their Science classes. 75% of
the students participated in Science activities; 50% did their Science assignments
consistently.
For student motivation-homework, it could be noted that 60% of the students
completed their homework on time and 50% found homework useful and important.
85% of the students said that they got enough support to do homework at home
and 90% said that the teachers checked their homework.
For student motivation-grades, 65% got good grades in Science. 65% of the
respondents said that they study their lessons before a test or a quiz. More than
half of the respondents disagreed that the terms or words used in the test were
difficult to understand. Less than half of the respondents agreed tests measure their
understanding of Science concepts and knowledge, while 80% thought that grading
is fair. On the other hand, the data under teaching style as noted on table 4 showed
that 65% of the students strongly agreed that they have a good relationship with
their Science teacher and no one disagreed. 75% noted that their Science teachers
used materials that were easy to understand. 60% said that their teachers
presented the lessons in many ways. More than half of the students said that they
understood the way their Science teachers explained the lesson while 25% were
not sure of their answer. 75% said that they got feedback from their Science
teacher.
5 Strongly4
Agree
A. ATTITUDE
1. I am always excited to attend my10
3 Not2
1 Strongly
30
10
to
60
15
15
20
60
10
30
55
15
45
30
20
35
30
35
40
15
10
25
25
45
10
40
40
15
25
20
40
45
20
20
25
30
10
10
15
25
40
20
10
40
45
experiment,
my homework at home.
5. My teacher does not check my
0
homework at all.
D. GRADES
1. I got good grades in Science.
25
2. I study my lessons before a test
20
or quiz.
3. The terms/words used in the test
0
are difficult to understand.
4. The test always measures my
10
30
60
40
30
45
25
15
30
45
10
30
20
20
20
10
10
35
45
20
15
30
15
30
30
15
20
the10
10
25
40
15
that
are
easy
to45
understand.
3. My Science teacher presents the
lesson in a variety of ways.
4. I don't understand the way my
Science
teacher
explains
lesson.
5. I don't get any feedback about
my understanding of the lesson15
from my Science teacher.