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The Abstract

This study shows the easiest and most difficult subject of the selected second year students of Paknaan National High School. In this study we found out, why of the most students feel difficult or they feel it easy when they took the subject. It shows if that subject is important for their future career then it talks about what subject they find it difficult or the easy one. And what factor did they consider effective in study or how they allocate their time to study.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Nowadays lots of students are suffering because of difficulty of certain which to them is very difficult. Sadly, Math seems to be so difficult, they were suffering because of some factors that affect their studies. First, the selected second year students of Paknaan National High School cant easily understand Math because their teachers are not effective. Second, the students were cutting classes because they consider Math as a boring subject. Third, they dislike Math because they hate numbers.Most of the students as of today, dont know the real importance of Math for their future.

The purpose of investigating about this particular problem, is for us to be aware of what subject is the most difficult and easiest among selected second year students of Paknaan National High School. We want to know how to classify the difficult from easy and determine the logic behind this topic. We want to identify what subject they find the difficult and find a way to make this subject easy for them such as studying harder, understand what they are reading, analyze the given situation and focus on one subject at a time when studying, so that your study habit will become effective.

In this survey we found out that Math is the most difficult, but then Math is never been difficult for industrious student and for those who are looking forward for their future. Theres no subject defined as difficult when everyone wants to learn from it. Few of them said that Math is easy simply because they used to study on that subject and they are willing to learn out of it. We really had a hard time in explaining why is Math difficult, because in the first place, most of

the researchers love Math and find it as an easy subject, but we tried our best to gather data in order to solve this issue. We were able to identify the reasons behind through using some research materials as well as the result of the survey.

They believe that Math is really important for the future, and they value Math subject very much.Most of the students take this subject for granted because they find it difficult and they felt bored with this subject thats why they used to absent in class and that leads them to find Math difficult to understand. This subject becomes difficult for most of the students because of some reasons, one of those is that, they are lack of study habit and cant dare to analyze the situation, another is they are not willing to learn.

Since, this research resulted into a difficulty in Math for most of the second year students in Paknaan National High School, we will be focusing on this matter until the end of our research. We will be gathering more informations of why do they find Math as a very difficult subject and how to learn Math easily. We, the researchers do believe that someday Math will be very easy for them.

We need to study the problem to know the total percentage of the students in a particular school who have difficulty in Math, to gain more information regarding Math.We also want to know their opinions that will help us prove our hypothesis and to know the reasons why is Math very difficult.

With this survey, we can be able to encourage our friends, other students and most especially our respondents who hates Math to love this subject. We can help and give them the ideas on how to find this subject easy. We will encourage them to study harder and introduce some techniques in studying and understanding the concepts of Math to convince them that Math is really easy. We will make this subject easy for them so that this problem will be solved. Some of the students who find Math as difficult nowadays, will soon find this as an easy subject with our help and assistance.

This study is exclusive for the second year students and is limited only for 140 students. This study was conducted in Paknaan National High School last March 4, 2014 at 2:00 in the afternoon, with the permission of the school principal, guidance councilor and the second year teachers of selected sections.

Well we can see in this every aspect that one of the major problems of the students is the Math subject. Wherever school you go, if you are going to ask the students what is the most difficult subject, majority of them will really answer Math and they will have different reasons on why they find that particular subject the most difficult. Each of them can defend and explain their reasons.

The one bedrock problem found in the literature about students

with Mathematics

difficulties was their extremely slow retrieval of even the most rudimentary arithmetic facts(Hasselbring, Bransford and Goin 1988). This finding was manifested repeatedly in a number of studies. Many studies showed that struggling students have problems in developing

and maintaining mental images or representations of such fundamental arithmetic concepts as the base-ten system (Geary 2005).

Teachers typically assumed that by third grade students can easily visualize the bese-ten system and yet some students continue to find this difficult. Students who have a poor working memory often have a hard time performing problems requiring multiple-step solutions.

People with Math disability,also known as Pyscalculia, have difficulty in understanding Math concepts and solving even simple Math problems despite adequate education. About 10% of school-age children have persistent and significant difficulties with Math, while many more fail to reach basic levels of Mathematics achievement. This cause of Dyscalculia, however, remain poorly understood.

We want to solve this problem in order to reduce the number of students who find Math difficult. We aimed that someday, majority of the students will find Math very easy to understand. We will help the students to learn many things regarding Math subject. There are many ways to help them find Math as an easy subject. If they will cooperate, our goal will be very successful, and this goal is not only for us but also for the students.

We can also conduct a tutorial for them in order for the students to understand the concepts of Math as well as solving problems or some arithmetic system. This will help the students to improve their Mathematical analysis, so that in the future they can easily solve Math problems. We may also convince the instructors to develop their teaching techniques and become

more efficient for the students to become active and participative during class discussion so that they will become an effective teachers and the students will have many skills in this subject, and the result of that is, the students may like the subject and they will find Math as an easy subject because they learned a lot.

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERARURE

We asked students to name the school subject that they considered to be the most difficult. Not surprisingly, mathematics came out on top of the difficulty chart. So what is it about math that makes it difficult? Have you ever wondered?

This definition gets to the crux of the problem when it comes to mathspecifically the statement that a difficult task is one that is not readily done. The thing that makes math difficult for many students is that it takes patience and persistence. For many students, math is not something that comes intuitively or automatically, with little effort. It is a subject that sometimes requires students to devote lots and lots of time and energy. This means, for many, the problem has little to do with brain power; it is mostly a matter of staying power. But there is also an element of brain power in the big picture, according to many scientists. There will always be opposing views on any topic, and the process of human learning is subject to debate, just like any other topic. But many theorists believe that some people are wired with better math skills than other students. According to some brain science scholars, logical, left brains thinkers tend to have stronger math ability than artistic, So left-brain dominant students may grasp concepts quickly while right-brain dominant students dont. But in a culture where students are already short on patients and persistenceextra time just isnt going to happen. So we move on, ready or not. Math know-how is cumulative, which means it works much like a stack of building blocks. You have to gain understanding in one area before you can effectively go on to build upon another

area. Our first mathematical building blocks are established in primary school, when we learn rules for addition and multiplication, and those first concepts comprise our foundation. The next building blocks come in middle school, when students first learn about formulas and operations. This information has to sink in and become firm before students can move on to enlarge this framework of knowledge. The big problem starts to appear sometime between middle school and high school, because students very often move on to a new grade or new subject before theyre really ready.

DESIGN OF INVESTIGATION

The respondents of this study were the selected second year high school students of Paknaan National High School. The respondents were limited only to 140 students, both male and female with ages between 14-16.

This study uses questionnaires to gather all the informations required, that was being distributed last March 4,2013 and collected on the same date with the approval of the school principal. The respondents were able to answer all the questions for only 10 minutes.

The information were all gathered from the respondents answers to our questions. The questionnaires were used as a tool in gathering the important information. This will help us in identifying why they find Math as the most difficult subject among other subjects.

The formula in getting the percentage is:

Percentage = Frequency/Total Number of Respondents X n P = F/R X n Where : P = Percentage F = Frequency R = Total Number of Respondents n = 100 (constant)

or ;

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1. What subject is the most difficult?

SUBJECTS MATH ENGLISH SCIENCE A.P MAPEH T.L.E. FILIPINO TOTAL TABLE 1.1

FEMALE / PERCENTAGE 34 / 24.29% 17 / 12.14% 9 / 6.43% 7 / 5% 5 / 3.57% 0 / 0% 2 / 1.43% 74 / 52.86%

MALE / PERCENTAGE 33 / 23.57% 11 / 7.86% 10 / 7.14% 2 / 1.43% 3 / 2.14% 5 / 3.57% 2/ 1.43% 66 / 47.14%

TOTAL 67 / 47.86% 28 / 20% 19 / 13.57% 9 / 6.43% 8 / 5.71% 5 / 3.57% 4 / 2.86% 140 / 100%

This table shows that Math is the most difficult subject. Based on our survey, out of 140 respondents 67 of them find Math as the most difficult subject.

Do you think this subject is important for your future career?

SUBJECTS MATH ENGLISH SCIENCE A.P MAPEH T.L.E. FILIPINO TOTAL TABLE 1.2

YES / PERCENTAGE 64 / 95.52% 25 / 89.29% 18 / 94.74% 8 / 88.89% 6 / 75% 4 / 80% 4 / 100% 129

NO / PERCENTAGE 3 / 4.48% 3 / 10.71% 1 / 5.26% 1 / 11.11% 2 / 25% 1 / 20% 0 / 0% 11

This table shows that the following subjects are really important for future career of the students.

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2. What subject is the easiest?

SUBJECTS MATH ENGLISH SCIENCE A.P MAPEH T.L.E. FILIPINO TOTAL TABLE 2.1

FEMALE / PERCENTAGE 26 / 18.57% 13 / 9.29% 13 / 9.29% 8 / 5.71% 5 / 3.57% 5 / 3.57% 4 / 2.86% 74 / 52.86%

MALE / PERCENTAGE 30 / 21.43% 14 / 10% 5 / 3.57% 8 / 5.71% 6 / 4.29% 2 / 1.43% 1 / 0.71% 66/ 47.14%

TOTAL 56 / 40% 27 / 19.29% 18 / 12.86% 16 / 11.42% 11 / 7.86% 7 / 5% 5 / 3.57% 140 / 100%

This table shows that Filipino is the easiest subject, out of 140 respondents 56 of them find Filipino as the easiest subject.

Do you think this subject is important for your future career?

SUBJECTS MATH ENGLISH SCIENCE A.P MAPEH T.L.E. FILIPINO TOTAL TABLE 2.2

YES / PERCENTAGE 55 / 98.21% 27 / 100% 18 / 100% 16 / 100% 10 / 90.91% 7 / 100% 5 / 100% 138

NO / PERCENTAGE 1 / 1.79% 0 / 0% 0 / 0% 0 / 0% 1 / 9.09% 0 / 0% 0 / 0% 2

This table shows that every subject is important for the future of the students, no matter how easy or hard it is.

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3. How do you spend your past time?

CHOICES RELAXING STUDYING TABLE 3

FREQUENCY 62 78

PERCENTAGE 44.29% 55.71%

This table shows that most of the students spend their past time in studying.

4. How many hours in a day you spend in studying?

CHOICES 30mins.- 1hr 1hr 3hrs 3hrs and more TABLE 4

FREQUENCY 89 38 13

PERCENTAGE 63.57% 27.14% 9.29%

This table shows that only few students spend a long time in studying,

5. In what subject do you allocate most of your time?

SUBJECTS ENGLISH FILIPINO MATH SCIENCE A.P MAPEH T.L.E. TOTAL TABLE 5

FREQUENCY 14 8 46 43 7 10 12 140

PERCENTAGE 10% 5.71% 32.86% 30.71% 5% 7.14% 8.57% 100%

This table shows that most of the students allocate most of their time in studying Math.

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6. Who influenced you to study?

CHOICES PARENTS FRIENDS TEACHERS ON YOUR OWN TABLE 6

FREQUENCY 56 10 14 60

PERCENTAGE 40% 7.14% 10% 42.86%

This table shows that, the students were influenced by their own self to study.

7. What factor do you consider effective in your study?

CHOICES TEACHER FACTOR STUDY FACTOR TABLE 7

FREQUENCY 65 75

PERCENTAGE 46.43% 53.57%

This table shows that study factor is considered more effective in studying.

8. Are you active during class discussion?

CHOICES YES NO TABLE 8

FREQUENCY 128 12

PERCENTAGE 91.43% 8.57%

This table shows that most of the students are active during class discussion.

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MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES USED

We conducted a survey to selected 140 second year students of Paknaan National High School and we were able to gather the following data and informations then tabulated in a table form. Table 1.1 shows that among 140 respondents, 67 of them found Math as the most difficult. These 67 number of students got the percentage of 47.86%. In table 1.2, it shows that Math subject is really important for the future career, based on the survey that we conducted, 64 out of 67 students who found Math as the most difficult said that Math is important in the future. These 64 students had the percentage of 95.52% and only 3 of them said that Math is not important for the future, this 3 students got the remaining 4.48%. Table 2.1 shows that among 140 students, 56 of them found Filipino as the easiest subject. These 56 students got 40% in its percentage. Most of them said that Filipino is important for the future, this is shown in table 2.2, out of these 56 students, 55 of them said that Filipino is important, it has 98.21% in percentage, the remaining 1.79% is the only 1 student who said that Filipino is not important for the future. In table 3, we can see that 62 students out of 140 spend their past time in relaxing, this is only 44.29% and 55.71% consist of 78 students who spend their past time in studying. Table 4 shows that 89 students out of 140 spend a little time in studying, 63.57% of them spend only 30mis-1hr in studying. Only few of them spend the longest hours in studying which is 3hrs and more, only 13 students chose this and this contains 9.29%. Table 5 shows that most of the students allocate most of their time in studying Math, 46 out of 140 students, it has 32.86%. In table 6, we can see here that most of the students is influenced by themselves to study, 60 of them were influenced by their own, 42.86% of this. Table 7, shows that the factor they consider in studying is study factor, this gains 53.57%, and there are 75 students out of 140 chose this. Table 8 shows that

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majority of the students were active during class discussion. 128 students out of 140 were active, this is 91.43%. In getting the percentage, we divided the number of students who answered the same, over the total number of respondents then multiplied by 100, where 100 in this formula is constant. The formula we used is Percentage = (Frequency/Total No. Of Respondents) x 100. These percentage that we computed were based on the results of our survey. Without the following data and informations we cannot get its percentage directly, these informations depend on the data gathered.

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Findings

We conducted a survey in Paknaan National Highschool, we were able to gather the results we needed in our survey. We made tables that proves in 140 students of Paknaan National High School most of them have the difficulty of the subject Math. As it is shown on the table, only few students who consider Math as an easy subject and majority of them find it very difficult.They have different reasons on why they find ir difficult, some said that because of their teacher but most of them said that, they really have a difficulty in understanding the concepts of Math most especially when it comes to problem solving. It is very overwhelming in our part to know that most of the second year students in Paknaan National High School didnt waste their time for unnecessary things, they used to study during their vacant time. And most of the students spend most of their time in studying Math when compared to other subjects such as History and Filipino but another thing is that, they easily get tired and bored while studying. They can only reach 30 mins. in studying, and sad to say that very few spend a long time in studying, that may be one of the reasons why they find Math difficult, because Math subject really requires patience and needs a long time in studying for you to understand better.They said that Filipino is the easiest because it is very different to Math, Filipino subject contains easy concepts and it is easy to understand. On the other hand it is good to know that some students are intelligent enough in there studies because they are the one who encourage themselves in studying, they didnt wait for their parents, teachers nor friends to tell them to study because they, themselves do it by their own willingness. It is also a nice thing that the students consider themselves effective in studying rather than their teachers. Students are very much active during class discussion of discussion, eventhough if a particular subject is hard for them, they still

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wanted to listen and participate. That is how students show their interest in studying. The result of the survey as it is shown on the tables, we were able to identify the level of the students in learning and studying particularly in Math subject. In this survey, we were now able to know that the students are still doing their part as a student even if they experienced some hardships in that specific subject. The second year students of Paknaan National High School showed their willingness to learn different aspects in this subject and pass the subject Math, which they consider the most difficult.

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DISCUSSION

People think that mathematics is the most difficult subject. We have made a research about what are the reasons behind their thinking and we found that their basics are not so good as most of the people thinks only about how to solve the problem and don't try to understand the logic behind it and most of the teachers also don't take much interest in explaining the students in simpler and different way and that's why the students feel bored in understanding and listening it. People don't learn the underlying meaning behind things and teachers don't teach it. They used to. We actually learned what the stuff meant, and then we had examples of ways to apply it. Now what I mostly see is people learning an application, but never learning the underlying math concept behind it. So when they get to a different application with the same concept, they don't recognize it and have to be told all over again how to do it.

They said that Math is very difficult because there is more of thinking than memorizing, unlike the other subjects like History, Filipino and Mapeh there is only very little familiarity. For example, very few people ever talk about definite integration but every one knows about the Great Depression. Everything else is all over the place. The other thing is that Mathematics is more of a passion-driven subject and because of the way many people were raised Mathematics is non-existent and for many people there is no point in studying it. Also, Mathematics easily becomes complex. For some students , hearing the teacher explain some math problem sounds like a sweet lullabies and puts me to sleep, which would explain why i suck at math and my horrible grade in that class. Because math is all logic, and thus requires logical thinking. Unfortunately, that's something that many people seem to lack nowadays. Unlike other subjects

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that only require memorization. Math requires thinking and memorization which means extra work and most students want everything easy, only few want some challenge. You can' just memorize the answer, but you have to understand the concepts. The thing that makes math difficult for many students is that it takes patience and persistence. For many students, math is not something that comes intuitively or automatically, with little effort. It is a subject that sometimes requires students to devote lots and lots of time and energy. This means, for many, the problem has little to do with brain power it is mostly a matter of staying power.

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CONCLUSION

The data that are being presented on the tables are the results based on the survey we conducted few weeks ago. We able to determine the most difficult subject among second year level of Paknaan National High School. Based on the result of our survey, we found out that Math is the most difficult for them. Each of them has their own reasons on why they find this subject difficult. Most of them said that Math is difficult because the answers cant be memorized, it needs for a person to understand and analyze the question for them to get the right answer. Most of them dont know how to solve, and they dont have enough patience in solving problems. The easiest subject based on our survey is the Filipino. Most of their reasons are, it is easy to understand and the concepts are not complicated, unlike Math that requires someone to spend a long time in understanding. We can say that the second year students of Paknaan National High School are industrious when it comes to studying, because they prefer to study during their vacant hours but theres a negative there, they cant spend a long time in studying, they used to study only for a very short of period of time because they felt tired and bored if they will study for longer hours. That habit is a disadvantage for them because if they will only survive studying for longer hours, they can learn more things and theres a possibility for them to understand Math easily. Math really needs patience, because if you wont give enough time in Math subject, you cant really understand its concept and the logic behind. Most of the students spend longer hours in studying Math compared to other subjects, but it is still useless, even if they spend a longer time in studying Math, they cant still understand the whole concept because they easily felt bored and tired while studying that causes them to stop studying and relax, still they are willing to learn about this subject matter though how hard it is. They still tried their best

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to understand the topics under this subject. All they need is only patience in studying and make studying their habit. One good thing is that, most of the respondents said that nobody influenced them to study but only themselves push them to study and next in line is their parents are the one who influenced them to study and still it is effective. They consider themselves as the factor of their effective studies because they learn more things in studying by their own compare to the discussions of their teacher. The second year students of Paknaan National High School seems to be participative, because majority of them are active during class discussion and only very little number of students who are not active during discussions.

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SUMMARY

We were able to answer the questions in our mind on why do they find Math as a difficult subject. Most of them said that they dont easily understand on how to solve the problem. That is the reason of most of our respondents. There are very few who said that Math is easy, majority of them find it difficult, not just difficult but most difficult. The students were lack of willingness on this subject thats why they cant easily understand. Most of them spenda very little time in studying, because they easily feel tired. There are some students also who felt sleepy when the discussion is about Math. Each of them has their own reasons on why they find the subject difficult. Most of the respondents used to study during their vacant time, only very few of them were relaxing. They were influenced by themselves in studying, and some were influenced by their parents. When they study, they allocate most of their time in studying Math, which they consider as the most difficult.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

*Hassel , Bransford and Goin 1988 *Geary 2005 *(www.nih.gov/researchmatters/june2011/06272011math.htm) *http://homeworktips.about.com/od/mathhomework/a/mathishard.htm

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APPENDICES

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