Introduction

Academic Achievement is one of the crucial areas of a learner’s life. Some learners may not be bothered if they progress or not, however their parents are left with great distress if their children do not perform well. Multiple factors come to plat when it comes to academic achievement of a learner, which is used to be considered if one wants to perform better. The performance of students at school and university is influence by the (1) family’s support (moral and economic), (2) the teacher’s skills, qualification and guidance, and (3) the student’s self-profile such as self-efficacy, commitment level, self-discipline and life objectives (Diaz, 2003; Gianzero, 1999; Hijaz and Naqvi, 2006)

When young people fail at school, it is most often not because they are stupid, lazy or psychologically incapable. Rather, it is because they have not been taught the developmentally appropriate tools, skills and strategies every child needs to succeed in school and in life. (H.N.Mbaneleka, 2012)

Henderson & Mapp (2002) in their book entitled A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement found that “parent and community involvement that is linked to student learning has a greater effect on achievement than more general forms of involvement. Parents should take advantage of parent-child activities and practice parent-child responsive strategies. Parents must provide a supportive home learning environment to promote student’s success. Parents who set high standards and have high aspirations for their children are more likely to have high-achieving children.

The interest of the researchers is to find the factor(s) that significantly affect(s) the academic achievement of the dean’s listers of Caraga State University. Through this, the other students who are not dean’s listers will be aware in how to make their studies better.

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of the study is to find out the factors affecting the Academic Achievement among Dean’s Listers of Caraga State University.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following specific questions:

1. What is the profile of the dean’s listers in terms of parent’s educational attainment and parents’ monthly income?

2. What is the level of influence of the factors in terms of learning styles, teacher’s competence, study habits and learning environment?

3. Is there a factor that significantly affects the academic achievement of the dean’s listers?

Results and Discussion

The profile of the dean’s listers in terms of parent’s educational attainment and parents’ monthly income:

Figure 1. Educational Attainment of the Respondents’ Fathers

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Figure 2.Educational Attainment of the Respondents' Mothers

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As depicted from the table above, most of the respondents’ fathers attained at most college level only. In fact, only five fathers which covers about 6.4% (sum up the percentages of the last two rows) were able to attain college graduate (with 5.1%) and reach graduate and post graduate studies (with 1.3%). Sad to note that, the complement of this which is about 94.9% (subtracting 5.1% from 100%) constitutes those fathers who were not able to finish their studies until college.

The same observation is seen here to that of the respondents’ fathers’ educational attainment. That is, most of the respondents’ mothers attained at most college level only. Cumulatively, about 92.3% of the mothers were not able to finish their studies until college. Forty-four and nine tenths percent of which are those mothers attaining only high school graduate. This is followed by the college level category.

Figure 3. Parent’s Monthly Income

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The table above shows that 42.3% of the respondents’ parents have income that ranges from 5,001php to 10,000php. Evidently, this category is the most frequent. This category is then followed by the category 10,001php to 15,000php comprising 25.6% of the total sample size. Noticeably, about 18% of the parents have income exceeding 15,000php. This includes about 14 parents (see the last two rows of the table). Obviously, this number is very small compared to the cumulative frequency of those parents with income 15,000 and less.

The level of the factors in terms of learning styles, teacher’s competence, study habits and learning environment;

Table 1. Factors that affects the Learning Styles

Table 2. LEARNING STYLES

As reflected in the table above, there are three categories of learning styles; visual, auditory and kinesthetic style. Each category was tested separately with various indicators. The breakdown of each category is placed in the appendices in which the actual statements of each category were reflected there together with its weighted mean and verbal interpretation. The first category was visual learning style which got a mean score of 3.8393 which falls under the verbal interpretation of often. Twelve indicators got the verbal interpretation of often which signifies that the extent in using these techniques was of high preference. Only one indicator got the verbal interpretation which falls on always that means the respondents always prefer to use this in connection with their learning. The second category was auditory learning style which has a mean score of 3.6410 that has a verbal interpretation of often. All the indicators under the auditory learning style except the third one got the interpretation of often that means that almost all of the statements suggest were moderately use by the respondents to do things related with their academics. On the other hand, the only indicator that falls on sometimes signifies less utilization of the technique. The third category is kinesthetic learning style which got a mean score of 3.5267 that falls under the verbal interpretation often. Seven indicators got a verbal interpretation of often that signifies the degree of their utilization of those techniques was high and five indicators falls under sometimes which shows that it is less preferred by the respondents. The over-all mean score is 3.6690 that got a verbal interpretation of often. The results show that there is no dominant style that was being used by the respondents. The learning styles were evenly utilized by the respondents. They do not have any significant pattern of learning style utilization with regards to the preference of learning style. The respondents select the learning style that fits to them and to the kind of learning activity that they have.

Table 3. Factors Affecting Teacher’s Competence

TEACHER'S COMPETENCE

Table 3 shows the results about teachers’ competence. There are factors that were considered under this category which are teaching skills, guidance skills, evaluation skills, classroom management and teachers’ efficiency. The indicators in each factor are in the appendices with its weighted mean and verbal interpretation. Only the over-all mean of each factor is placed here for the purpose of analysis. The first factor is teaching skills which have a mean score of 3.7418 which signifies very satisfactory. It implies that the teachers demonstrates mastery in his field and is skillful in the usage and preference of techniques and strategies in teaching. The second one is guidance skills which have a weighted mean score of 3.6442 that falls on the scope of very satisfactory. It means that the teachers’ are highly sensitive to their students’ needs, highly mindful of their students potentials and limitations and do promote a good learning environment. The third one is evaluation skills which have a weighted mean score of 3.8590 that has a verbal interpretation of very satisfactory. It shows that the teachers’ do have criteria for effective assessment and has a skill in interpreting the results effectively. The fourth factor is classroom management. It has a weighted mean score of 3.8462 which falls on very satisfactory. It signifies that the teachers’ keeps the control in a classroom and have records on students’ attendance and performance. The last factor for this category is efficiency which has a weighted mean score of 3.7282 which is very satisfactory. This shows that the teachers’ are efficient with regards to its time management skills, attitudes showcased in the class and its organization. The over-all result for this category falls on very satisfactory which infers that on these five factors the teachers’ exhibit a desirable competence, performance and ability in his profession. Moreover, the result depicts that the respondents observes the practices that their teachers’ take into big consideration as significant in their teaching carrier.

Table 4. Factors Affecting the Study Habits

STUDY HABITS

Table 4 presents the over-all result for study habits. Certain indicators were used to determine if it affects the achievement of the respondents or not. The statements use to test this factor is located on the appendices, what is reflected here is just the over-all result. Seven indicators got a verbal interpretation of often which denotes that the respondents use this certain study habits more often than the other study habits. Five indicators falls under sometimes which infers that it is rarely utilized by the respondents. The over-all result got a mean of 3.5972 which is often. As a whole, it shows that the deans’ listers do employ some study habits in order to keep track with their academics.

Table 5. Factors Affecting the Learning Environment

Table 5 shows the result for learning environment and its interpretation. Just like the factors above, its detailed statements are still on the appendices. There are twenty indicators that were analyzed to produce reliable results. Among the twenty indicators only three indicators got the verbal interpretation of neither agree or disagree. It implies that the respondents cannot make a clear stand regarding with this statements. The other indicators falls on agree in which they do come to an agreement about those statements on the learning environment. They come to agree that both positive and negative instances in their environment affect their achievement.

Is there a factor that significantly affects the academic achievement of the dean’s listers?

Table 6 Measures Of Association Between The Pre-Identified Factors And The Academic Achievement (Grades) Of The Respondent

The correlation Coefficient used is the Spearman Correlation. **The hypotheses are tested at level of significance\alpha =0\text{.}\text{05}.

The table contains the independent variable, dependent variable, correlation, p-value and the interpretation. It shows the measure of association between the pre-determined factors and the academic achievement of the dean’s listers’. Each factor is tested independently and separately. The correlation on the sub-factors under the teaching competence, learning styles, study habits and learning environment strongly shows that they do not have any effect to the grades of the respondents because their p-values are all greater than\alpha =0\text{.}\text{05}. The table above suggests that none of the pre-identified factors are associated with the respondents’ academic achievement. More specifically, none of the pre-identified factors influence or affect the dean’s listers’ grades. It is signifies that the dean’s listers’ of Caraga State University do not largely consider those factors that makes or affects their grades. They do consider these factors as essential ones but these factors do not have a direct bearing towards their grades.

Conclusions

The results clearly depicts that the students’ study habit, learning style teachers’ competence and the learning environment has no influence to the achievement reached by the dean’s listers’.

On the other hand, it is still very important to make and to maintain these factors visible in the academic arena for a better learning and for a better outcome. The absence of these factors might affect the performances of the students’ in Caraga State University.

Recommendations

Based on the results and the findings of this study, certain points should be focused and given an appropriate attention as to how to improve the achievements of the students.

1. Teacher must use different learning style in teaching students about the subject matter so that it will cater all the style that is dominant in a certain students.
2. Teacher must not just keep the records of the students but also to submit reports promptly for the student to be aware of their records.
3. Students must review regularly what was covered in their course as well as making specific preparations for the exams to receive positive results.
4. Students must be aware of their rights inside the university to help them boost their confidence regarding the problems they might encounter.
5. Students should know how to socialize with their peers not just for personal necessities but also for the lesson where they might have any difficulty in dealing with.

References

Balagot, S., et.al. (2008). “ Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles in Relation with the Academic Performance of 2nd year Students in Agusan National High School.”

Ganut, L. and Gementiza, B. (2006).” Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of the Science Class Students

of BCNHS Bayugan, Agusan del Sur.”

Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement”

Purita P. Bilbao, Brenda B. Corpuz, Avelina T. Llagas & Gloria G. Salandanan (2012). “The Teaching Profession”.