REASEARCHED-BASED; ACTION RESEARCH HANDBOOK FOR

MATHEMATICS TEACHER
Emelyn V. Cudapas

Context and Rationale

Human needs, desires, and wants never end, and they continually

increase as days’ pass. Man is accustomed to adapting to new things that are

usually products of curiosity, or some new and innovative idea suggested by

research. Also, when confusion, problems, or conflicts arise, human instinct is

to find solutions that can be fully addressed through doing research. Indeed,

research has been a crucial tool of man in finding answers and solutions to

problems, in mobilizing him towards his growth and development, and in

rallying for the advancement of the society.

Doing research has become an integral part of almost all sectors in

society. In schools, research has expanded from being a tool in developing

critical and analytical thinking among students to becoming a major requirement

in getting a degree. Moreover, it is being used by teachers and school

administrators to identify, investigate, or verify various phenomena that affect

the teaching and learning process, and to offer suggestions or solutions for the

continuous improvement of teaching practices and quality of basic education

(Department of Education, 2015).

The main purpose of research is to inform action, to prove a theory, and

contribute to developing knowledge in a field or study (Zarah, 2019). Armstrong

(2012) added that “aside from the pure pursuit of knowledge for its own sake,
research is linked to problem solving”. Prevailing issues in the Philippine

education system such as students’ poor performance in Mathematics (Antonio,

2015), shortage of school buildings, facilities, and equipment, erroneous

learning materials (Antonio, 2019), and overworked but underpaid teaching

staff, among many others, have become subjects of research in recent years.

Through research results, new and innovative ideas were offered to solve these

problems; however, as days progress and society advance, problems add up

and the demand for further research increase.

Among teachers, doing research is one of their least priorities. In his

study, Antonio (2019) found out that most Mathematics teachers are at the

“emerging” level in doing research, which means they have lesser engagement

in research, but they highly recognize that it is important in understanding their

students and how they learn mathematics, as well as some other elements

related to mathematics education. To this, Zarah (2019) adds that there are

some members of the academic community who could just be doing research

to secure job tenure and/or promotion. In fact, the Department of Education

(DepEd), through MEC Order No. 10, s. 1979 and DO no. 66, s. 2007, included

action research as one criterion in assessing candidates for possible promotion.

Having said, it is necessary that teachers view research as a part of the

teaching and learning process, rather than just a simple requirement for career

advancement.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has issued Order No. 24, s. 2010

stating that all eligible proponents from the national, regional, schools division

offices, to public elementary and secondary schools nationwide shall adopt the
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guidelines for the Basic Education Research Fund (BERF). With BERF, which

promotes the culture of research among DepEd officials, staff, and teachers,

funds will be provided to researches that are anchored on improving access to

education, improving quality of education, and improving governance. The

purpose of this funding facility is to increase participation from members of the

Department in extracting organic inputs that can become part of the basis for

necessary reforms on policies. This is also to recognize the importance of

research in improving delivery of basic education services and its impact on

evidence-based policy formulation.

At the school level, the BERF allows teachers to be more engaged in

research activities, and it highlights action research as means for teachers in

identifying their problems and concerns, in improving teaching and learning

process, and in developing innovative ideas and materials that will enhance

teaching practices. However, doing action research in the public elementary

and secondary schools are less prevalent because most teachers are not

equipped with the necessary knowledge on what action research is and how to

do it. In addition, they are uninterested and demotivated due to some factors

such as tight teaching timetable and heavy teaching workload (Morales, 2016).

For most literature about educational researches, action research, also

known as practitioner research (Vula & Kurshumlia, 2012), is a systematic

inquiry process and considered to be a valuable problem-solving tool for

teachers because it provides opportunities for reflection and improvement of

teaching practices (Segal, 2009). It is a type of research that is made by

teachers for themselves (Mills, 2011) to resolve specific and targeted problems
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in which through research results, reflection and action are made to produce

the most effective learning environment possible (Koshy, 2005).

Mathematics teaching and learning is compacted with so many problems

that prompted many researchers to conduct continuous studies to fnd out how

to address these problems. Some of these include the effects of students’

vocabulary to their problem-solving abilities in Mathematics, student

assessment and its impact on the improvement of students’ work, students’

mathematics anxiety levels, and low mastery level of the fundamental concepts

in Mathematics. These have been the perennial topics for both traditional and

action researches, but due to the diversity of learners and fast-changing times,

there is a persistent demand for more research to be undertaken by the

teachers themselves to fully and immediately address these issues.

Since teachers are part of the environment where the problem occurs,

action research enables them to discover what went wrong and what could be

done. Consequently, it has now become one of the major professional

development concerns for teachers, as stipulated in the Philippine Professional

Standards for Teachers (PPST). With professional growth and development as

one of the Key Result Areas (KRA) for individual teacher’s performance

commitment and review, the Department of Education encourages its teachers

to conduct school-based action research as part of their annual performance

appraisal. It is undeniable, however, that the culture of research among

teachers has not received much attention in recent years. Even if doing

research is part of their annual performance evaluation, teachers tend to ignore

the contribution it may bring to their performance evaluation score, as well as

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the good effects of doing research towards their professional and career

development.

With all the aforementioned, the researcher found the necessity of

having a material that will aid the Mathematics teachers in doing action

research. The material will shed light on the process of doing action research

and provide ease during its conduct to ensure that results will be substantial

and meaningful. Further, the material will be compliant to the guidelines for the

BERF so that the action researches that they will produced will be granted

funds for optimal impact and wider dissemination.

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Various literature and studies were reviewed by the researcher to

determine theories, concepts, principles, methodologies and findings that may

be relevant and helpful to the conduct of this study.

Much has been written about the importance of action research in

teacher education (Hine, 2013) and its effect to quality classroom instruction.

The belief that teachers are active participants towards the development of

education shows that by knowing the problem in the classroom; and by taking

an action regarding that problem, teachers become the catalysts for change

and responsible agents for the improvement of their own classroom teaching

and for uplifting students learning. Doing classroom research is knowing what

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the problem is in the classroom and how that problem can be addressed in

order to improve the teaching and learning process.

Thus, this present study aims to identify the level of knowledge of

Mathematics teachers in making action research. Likewise, since there are only

limited numbers of studies conducted on the level of knowledge of Mathematics

teachers in making action research, this paper also tries to fill that gap to

provide additional literature. The implication is for the school heads, policy

makers, and schools’ officials to consider the findings of this study and address

the needs of these teachers in order to create a community of teacher-

researchers.

According to George Mason University (2016), action research can be

defined as “inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the

quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and

conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice”.

In the education context, action research can be referred to “a disciplined

inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and

change his or her practices in the future”.

The advantages of conducting an educational action research are

educational action research enables educators to obtain important information

which allows them to understand the practice of teaching, student learning

practices, the situation of students and the atmosphere in the classroom.

Educators are also able to design the description of the subjects more

effectively. Conducting action research also provides opportunity for educators

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to diversify their teaching techniques in order to facilitate the achievement of

their students’ understanding in certain subjects.

Besides that, by conducting an action research, educators are able to

improve their teaching practices theoretically and practically. It also encourages

educators to be sensitive and concerned with any issues raised in their

educational institutions at any time. Lastly, conducting an action research is

able to nurture educators to be researchers that can think critically, rich with

new ideas, and willing to accept changes as well as having the capability to

evaluate existing curriculum and co-curriculum.

In education, teachers play significant roles in the success of educational

reform. Qualified and skilled teachers are agents of positive societal change

and have a multiplying effect through touching the lives and molding the hearts

of learners. Thus, academia pursues good quality teacher action research

(Johnson 2012). In fact, Mills (2011) claimed that action research, within the

realms of education, aims to determine ways to enhance the lives of children by

studying the classroom situation to understand and improve the quality of

teaching and learning processes.

Furthermore, Mills (2014) believed in the principles of action research

that emphasize the use of systematic process in gaining insights, developing

reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the school environment, and

improving student outcomes and the conditions of those involved. These

capabilities of action research bring in an increased sense of professionalism in

education (Hine & Lavery, 2014). Self-evaluation and reflection (Ado, 2013) are

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emphasized in the conduct of action research which improve teachers’

reflective practice in the classroom.

Position

Eko (2012) stated that teachers’ performance in doing classroom action

research in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia is still lower. He found out that

there are many variables influenced teacher’s capability in doing classroom

action research. He found out that teachers’ performance in doing classroom

action research was affected by teachers’ motivation in doing classroom action

research, teachers’ competency, and school culture, leadership style, and

teachers’ training. He stated that from 236 teachers who had been his

respondents, the results shown that teachers’ performance in doing classroom

action research significantly was influenced by teachers’ motivation in doing

classroom action research, teachers’ competency, and school organization’

culture. Teachers’ competency, motivation, and school organization culture

influenced significantly their capability to undertake classroom action research.

Teachers’ training also significantly influenced the capability of teachers in

doing classroom action research.

Educational Attainment

Prasetyo (2010) stated that teachers’ capability to undertake classroom

action research is influenced by their educational background. Educational

background which reflects their knowledge and skills in doing classroom action

research affects the capability of the teachers’ in doing classroom action

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research. He stated that teachers’ educational background influenced

significantly the capability to undertake classroom action research especially in

Central Java, Indonesia.

Budi (2010) found out that only 36.6% primary school teachers (total

187) had good educational background, 39.6% teachers experienced a strong

conducive school culture, 34 % show strong positive perception and attitude

(41.2%), and 41.7% teachers showed their strong meta cognitive awareness.

The findings also showed that teachers’ educational background, school

culture, perception, attitude, intrinsic motivation and meta cognitive awareness

all together had significantly an impact on the implementation of classroom

action research (F 4.389, p 0.000) Simultaneous contribution of those variables

toward classroom action research was 12.8% (R2 0.128). Teachers’

educational background and perception significantly influenced the capability to

undertake classroom action research.

Sandra et al. (2011) affirmed that action research on the teaching-

learning process in classrooms-classroom action research (CAR) – is a similar

systematic process aimed at gathering information on teaching and learning

problems in the classroom and working toward their solution. CAR is on-going

process of problem formulation, preparation of interventions, implementing

interventions, observation and analysis of results, and reflection. Thus it often

proceeds through several cycles before a satisfactory solution is found. Some

teachers claimed that even they are bachelor degree but they still don’t know

how to undertake it since when they were in the university the topic of

classroom action research is not an essential one.

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Research Training/Seminar

Supraptono (2012) stated that teachers’ capability to undertake

classroom action research was influenced significantly by teachers’ perception

in doing classroom action research and competency. Teachers’ training also

significantly influenced the capability of teachers in doing classroom action

research.

Miskovic et al. (2012) in their study on “Action Research in Action: From

University to School Classroom,” stated that the teachers would be more likely

to conduct action research if they could get support from their administrators.

They also agreed that the research curses and training that they got would help

reflect on their practice and then undertook action research.

DiGuilio (2009) suggested that there are many ways in helping teachers

who had interest and enthusiasm in doing research. These are the continuous

professional development, giving incentive, and motivating teachers to

undertake classroom action research are some of the examples of helping

teachers.

Salazar and Almonte-Acosta (2012) also stated since many of the faculty

members are not doing research because they have a lack of confidence in

their research capabilities, providing appropriate research training for the faculty

members is absolutely necessary. The enhancement of research capacity

among faculty members should be an essential part of the faculty development

program. Appropriate policies are needed to reach out to the novice faculty in

order for them to be involved in research. Mentoring is seen as essential for

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faculty involvement. The administration must provide opportunities for junior

faculty members to work together with expert researchers.

Grima-Farrell (2017) in her book “What matters in a research to practice

cycle? Teachers as researchers”, has pointed out key themes on the

importance of doing research and the support needed by the teachers to do

research. First, as research is evidence-based, teachers’ needs and their

context should be given importance in doing research. This is to provide

effective and direct transfer of research knowledge to its practical applications.

Second, effective teacher training should be determined in order to effectively

engage teachers to do and review research. This is for the teachers to acquire

knowledge and skills from research-based practices. Continuous teacher

trainings and other professional development activities are known to guide

teachers towards research-based practices. Therefore, trainings should be

relevant and consistent in order to strengthen teachers’ research knowledge

and skills. Third, collaboration should be emphasized when doing research.

She pointed out that by doing research together, teachers may build a common

goal and concern towards research-based practices. Collaboration can

increase concrete and real evaluation and discussion that can lead to a better

research work. The final theme refers to resource supports. Support from the

principals and other schools’ heads should be consistent. Doing research,

which is a long-term activity is a tedious process. In order for the teachers to

have a positive attitude towards completing their research work, support (time,

understanding, resources) should be given to them.

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 The Commission on Higher Education (2015) and the Department of

Education (2012) subscribe to the 3-5-day teacher training on the pedagogical-

content knowledge of teachers and highlight specific pedagogical approaches

to specific disciplines. In science and mathematics, for example, teachers are

trained on inquiry learning and science and mathematics student investigation.

According to Department of Education (2010), there are only a few

training on practicing reflective teaching through action research, which may be

brought about by the current transition in the Philippine education system from

a 10-year basic education to a 12-year program as is common to all

neighboring Asian countries. Teachers’ clamor for this training is not

documented, yet they are required to conduct action research each year as part

of their standard outcome for them to be promoted to a higher level in their

career stages.

Burns (2010) reported that teachers identified several areas on which

teachers need further awareness and training: 1) identifying an initial idea; and

2) systematically defining and implementing methods designed for the initial

idea. Thus, Burns hold that most teachers may be acquainted with theories of

AR but still need further support and clarification in action research.

According to Mertler (2013). involved in a classroom or school-based

action research, teachers can focus on their professional development primarily

and divert their professional development to which direction they want. It can be

adapted to the needs of the trainer(s) or the trainer team. Some specific fields

needing improvement could be the focus of personalized or customized

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professional development. Teachers regard such professional development as

more meaningful as they have an opportunity to improve the areas they

choose.

Research Conducted or Presented

According to Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia (2011), two main

necessities in the job descriptions of tertiary institution lecturers are teaching

and conducting research. A university or college lecturer is normally required to

write a research paper, present it at a conference or publish it in a journal.

Besides, it has been included as one of the criteria to apply for promotion. For

example, a Malaysian polytechnic lecturer is required to at least publish a paper

and present two papers at a conference to be eligible to apply for a promotion.

As stated by Zulueta & Perez (2010), over the years, research has

become a prevailing phenomenon of our civilization. Scholars, and graduate

students in the academic discipline and professions are engaged in research.

Research is conducted in various settings: classrooms, laboratories, barangays

and even in foreign cultures. It is undertaken for the purpose of explaining and

predicting phenomena. In the case of educational research, it has greatly

influenced or affected teaching and learning and the operation of the school

system.

Research Published

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 Ho et al. (2013) found that “lecturers were knowledgeable about what

doing research meant and were positive about the benefits of being a university

college”. Tertiary institutions, lecturers are normally required to attend some

research and publication workshops. They are exposed to the techniques of

writing a conference or journal paper and strategies to get it published. Besides,

the experienced lecturers would guide the novice lecturers in writing a paper.

Mukrim (2012) conducted a study to find out the challenges faced by

English teachers when doing classroom action research and their

recommendation on ways to facilitate and support them on doing classroom

action research which promotes more sustainable practice. His study found that

insufficient knowledge of classroom action research concepts, lack of

mentoring, no assistance from collaborators and time constraints emerged as

the key factors that hampered them in doing action research. It is

recommended that teachers need to be given support expert mentors along

with the internal support such as from school principals and colleagues. In

addition, support can also be given in the form of incentives and broad access

to publishing teachers’ works.

Perception

Prasetyo (2010) stated that teachers’ perception on action research is

the process by which teachers perceived classroom action research as the

instructional improvement. He found out that there are some factors that

affected teachers’ perception on classroom action research such as knowledge,

classroom action research training, school culture, leadership styles, and

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teachers’ motivation to improve their instructional in the classroom. These

factors significantly affect their perception in doing classroom action research.

Salazar and Almonte-Acosta (2012) stated that the factors necessary to

improve research productivity include: time, strong belief in research endeavor,

faculty involvement, positive group climate, working conditions, and

organizational communication, decentralized research policy, research funding,

and clear institutional policy for research benefits and incentives. Therefore,

developing a research culture should take into account the dynamics of the

interaction of the trifocal function of HEIs, the teachers’ mind, and the body of

institutional policy. Many of the respondents consider teaching as their main

task whereas research is only an add-on activity. Teaching occupies most of

their time in their respective colleges or universities; consequently, there is not

enough time to conduct the research. Time is therefore considered as a factor

that affects research activity since time that is supposedly spent for research is

allotted instead to teaching preparation and development of teaching materials.

Maja et al. (2012) in their study on “Action Research in Action: From

University to School Classrooms,” stated that the commitment of teachers to

engage in practitioner research is not without problems. Critics for example

question the validity of practitioner inquiry and feel that teachers lack sufficient

research skills and do not trust their ability to collect and interpret data. In

addition, we need to investigate what are the conditions that facilitate or

obstruct the disposition and ability of educators to research their own practice

and how to reduce the inherent tensions between teaching and researching.

Some teachers, especially beginner teachers, find themselves overwhelmed by

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the demands of their work and feel that they do not have time to be involved

with an inquiry that seems to be an additional, unnecessary activity. They may

also not feel comfortable in looking critically at the educational conditions of the

school or challenging established assumptions. They stated that the main

barrier to conducting teacher research is lack of time with mean of 3.43 on a 4-

point scale.

Sanmugam and Rajanthran (2014) examine the perceptions of lecturers

in a Malaysian polytechnic towards research. The samples comprised of 82

lecturers from various departments. Self-administered questionnaires were

distributed to all the participants, however; only 68 lecturers responded to the

questionnaire and returned it. The findings reported that the main motivation of

these lecturers’ to do research is for promotion and salary raise. Besides that,

heavy teaching loads, poor writing and statistical skills are the main barriers

expressed by the lecturers. The findings also suggested several implications for

institutional administrators to enhance polytechnic lecturers’ research abilities.

Izah and Nor Mazlina (2009) in their study of academic staff’s

perceptions towards research found that research is essential to lecturers’

professional development such as getting a promotion and salary increment.

They also shed some light on the main barrier for not doing research among

university lecturers, i.e. poor statistical and econometric skills.

In addition, a study by Khiat et al. (2011) found that the lecturers

generally perceive that action research is useful in teaching and learning.

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 Burns (2010) stated that doing research specifically, action research in

education is not a new concept that educators did not know about. Although not

all research teachers only undertake action research, he mentioned that action

research has been going on for so long that its ideas circled around “reflective

practice” and “teacher as researcher” in order to discover and solve the

problems in the classroom teaching. This does not mean that there is indeed a

problem with the teachers’ way of teaching, or that the teacher is ineffective;

rather, this focuses on what could have been done better. From reflecting on

the classroom teaching practices through examining better ways to improve on

what is really happening to what the teacher wants to see happening in the

classroom is what action research is all about.

Teachers then become the researchers as they study themselves to

probe and analyze the teaching context they have. This is mainly done for the

teachers to see if the things that are happening within their classrooms are the

things they really wanted to happen.

Likewise, Hine (2013) stated that doing action research could also lead

to the betterment of the teachers’ teaching skills and for their students’ progress

and improvement as well.

According to Grima-Farrell (2017), ‘teacher educators share a

responsibility for providing educators with a lens through which to view every

learner as valued and essential. One way to value learners is by employing the

best-researched practices’.

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 Stewart (2013) averred that since in the field of education, teachers

categorically become researchers in an action research, it has always been

linked to teacher’s professional development.

Ulla (2017) stated that this is mainly because teachers get to try new

teaching pedagogies that work best in their respective classrooms, evaluate

teaching materials and design a new curriculum program for the school.

As stated by Borg (2014), teachers who do research may not only find

solution to, reflect on, and learn from the existing problem they have in their

classrooms, but they also become equipped with knowledge and skills in doing

research. As such, doing action research is indeed a significant contribution

towards teachers’ professional development. In fact, some benefits of doing

action research have been mentioned in the literature. For example, teachers

who are engaged in action research have gained confidence in teaching,

become knowledgeable on various academic topics, and are motivated to

teach.

Hong and Lawrence (2011), pointed out that they have also broadened

and deepened their understanding of their students and their own classroom

teaching styles and strategies as they reflect on the result of their research

studies.

According to Morales (2016), teachers become responsible and

accountable for and to the improvement and development in their teaching as a

result of doing action research.

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 In a study conducted by Bughio (2015) on the Issues and Challenges in

Doing Action Research in a Public Sector University. He reported that doing

action research projects is a key towards finding a practical solution to a

classroom problem. His study looked into and discussed the challenges of

doing research in order to improve the English language teaching in large

classes at a public university in Pakistan. The data were collected in two

purposes; for preliminary survey, and for intervention. He maintained that by

doing research, new teaching pedagogies and approaches can be designed to

replace the traditional method of teaching.

According to Cain and Milovic (2010), although teachers believed that

doing research is a significant tool for professional development which can

promote lifelong learning, this did not have to change in their teaching practice.

The reason given has been that time constraints make it impossible for

teachers to do research as they have so much teaching hours to do and they

rarely have time to do research.

In the study made by Dehghan and Sahragard (2015), the language

teacher-participants revealed that doing research is not their duty as classroom

teachers. It is a duty of the professional researchers. Therefore, these teachers

neither do research nor use research in their own classrooms.

According to Brozo (2011), action Research assists practitioners and

other stakeholders in identifying the needs, assessing the development

process, and evaluating the outcomes of the instructional changes they define,

design, and implement. Collaboration spreads the work of Action Research

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among the stakeholders. It encourages dialogue about practice and brings

multiple perspectives to the planning, conduct, and interpretation of Action

Research. There is safety and strength in numbers. The collective expertise of

the group can enrich the research process and the findings.

As stated by Kuzu (2009), teachers focus on their practices and handle

their problems directly in Action Research. Teachers themselves are also

influenced by the changes and improvements they make. It is seen that

participants involved in an action research consider themselves as more

effective teachers and have a more positive attitude towards their profession.

Ferguson (2011) stated that Action Research is a practical way of going

over one’s work to check whether it is in the desired way. It is mostly

considered as practitioner-based research as it includes thinking and reflecting

about one’s work. Furthermore, it could be regarded as a kind of self-reflective

practice.

Capability

Ravid et al. (2012) in their study on “Action Research in Action: From

University to School Classroom,” stated that the teachers felt between

somewhat competent and competent on all the research competencies and

skills. The teachers felt most competent in identifying and posing research

questions. These skills included the ability to review and synthesize existing

literature on a topic interest, analyze and interpret data they collected, and

report on their study. Teachers were somewhat less sure about their ability to

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plan research studies and design appropriate data collection tools with mean of

2.70 at a 4-point scale.

According to Slazar and Almonte-Acosta (2012) teachers need help.

They want help, too. But they need and want the right kind of help. There are

many way in helping teachers. Continuous professional development, giving

incentive, and motivating teachers to undertake classroom action research are

the examples of helping teachers. They also stated that many of the faculty

members are not doing research due to a lack of confidence in their research

capabilities.

Additionally, Cuizon and Cayogyog (2011) found out that even the

respondents are highly aware that research works are responsibilities that are

worth indulging. The respondents also convinced of the usefulness and value of

doing research, but on the other hand, the research works are demanding,

expensive, time consuming and they entail a lot of complexities. These are the

reasons why teachers are not engaging themselves in doing research.

Bay and Clerigo (2013) found that most of the lecturers were more

assured with the practical aspects of writing a research paper such as research

paper format, grammar and sentence construction, research organization and

communication skills, as well as with the other parts of the research process,

such as writing the abstract and references as associated with developing

research findings. Instead, they were least assured in writing the methodology

of the paper of which the lecturers were mostly guided by the assigned

reader/referee and statistician.

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 In the same vein, Johnson (2012) affirmed that action research bridges

the gap between theory and practice. Thus, teachers’ capabilities to become a

researcher-practitioner come into play, making them fully aware of how they

decide to make their class more interactive, more learner-oriented, more

productive, and more meaningful to the lives of their students. While teacher

education programs aim to develop the knowledge, skills, and attributes of pre-

service teachers in order to prepare them to teach effectively in the 21st century

classrooms, they also strengthen and enhance their professional development

programs for in-service teachers to continually and progressively upgrade skills

and standards to match the necessary learning skills to be developed.

Professional development programs, especially in the research field, however,

may only achieve their goals if properly programmed, based on the needs and

the current state of in-service teachers in connection with their new roles in the

educational reform. In effect, designing teacher development programs would

need, as inputs, teachers’ conceptions of and needs on the believed tool (action

research) for education quality. These are the necessary principles in

developing an appropriate and effective teacher professional development

program to achieve the goal – quality in education.

Figure 1 shows the research paradigm which operationally illustrates

how this study will be undertaken.

Input. The paradigm shows that the input used the profile of

Mathematics teachers as to their: socio-demographic characteristics,

professional characteristics The background of Mathematics teachers in action

22
research as to: trainings conducted or presented and published. Likewise, the

level of perception, capability and common problems of mathematics teachers

in making action research.

Process. The process focused on the analysis of survey results,

planning and development as well as validation, revision and final

production of the Action Research Handbook.

Output. The output of the study is the Action Research Handbook for

Mathematics Teachers.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Survey on:

Profile of
Mathematics
teachers as to their: Analysis of
Socio-demographic Survey Results
characteristics
Professional
characteristics Planning and
Development of
Background of the Action
Mathematics Research
teachers in action Handbook for
research as to: Mathematics Action Research
Trainings Teachers Handbook for
Conducted or Mathematics
Presented Teachers
Published Validation of the
Action Research 23
Level of perception Handbook
of mathematics
teachers in making
 Final Production
Level of capability of the Action
of mathematics Research
teachers in making Handbook
action research

Common Problems
of mathematics
teachers in making
action research

The Research Paradigm

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to determine the level of perception and capability of the

Mathematics teachers in making action research, from which a handbook will

be produced that will serve as their guide in doing action research.

Specifically, this study will seek answers to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of respondents in terms of:

1.1 socio-demographic characteristics; and

1.2 professional characteristics.

2. What is the research background of the respondents with respect to:

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 2.1 action research trainings;

2.2 action research conducted or presented; and

2.3 action research published?

3. What is the level of perception of Mathematics teachers in conducting

action research in terms of time, cost, image, technicality, and effort?

4. What is the level of capability of Mathematics teachers in making action

research in terms of knowledge, skills, and reason?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ profile and

their level of perception in making action research?

6. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ profile and

their level of capability in conducting action research?

7. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ research

background and their level of capability in making action research?

8. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ research

background and their level of perception in conducting action research?

9. What can be prepared to help the Mathematics teachers that will improve

their capability in making action research?

10 What is the content validity of the handbook, as determined by experts,

in terms of: introduction, review of related literature, research questions

scope and delimitation methodology (sampling data collection ethical

issues plan for data analysis) work plan and cost estimates?

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SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The respondents of this study will consist of selected mathematics

teachers from the public schools in Ilocos Norte during the School Year 2019-

2020.

The condition that will be ascertained in this study is the level of

perception and capability of Mathematics teachers in making action research.

The variables will be limited to the profile of the respondents with respect

to position and educational attainment.

The extent of the respondents’ research background will be determined

in three (3) areas namely: research training/seminar attended, research

conducted or presented, and research published. These made up the

independent variables of this study.

On the other hand, the dependent variables will be focused on the level

of knowledge of Mathematics teachers in making action research in terms of

perception and capability.

METHODOLOGY

This presents the discussion of the methodology and procedure that will

be used in this study. Specifically, it focuses on the research design, sources of

data, locale of the study, population and sampling, instrumentation and data

collection, and tools for data analysis.

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Sampling

A total of 170 Junior and Senior High School Mathematics Teachers in

Ilocos Norte will comprise the population of this study.

Data Collection

In order to gather relevant information needed in the study, questionnaire

checklist will be used. This instrument will be content validated and their

reliability will be established prior to the conduct of the study.

The instruments consist of three parts. Part I of the questionnaire drew

out the demographics profile of the respondents while Part II obtained the

perception and Part III obtained the readiness of the teachers in conducting

action research. Specifically, the questionnaire on perception was subdivided

into time, cost, image, technicality, and effort. Each category had five questions.

On the other hand, the questionnaire on capability was also categorized into

three; knowledge, skills, and reason. Similarly, each category had five

questions. This will make use of a five-point scale. This study used the

researcher-made questionnaires following a five-point Likert scale. Additionally,

the questionnaire employed the following measurements and equivalences: 5-

Strongly Agree, 4-Agree, 3-Moderately Agree, 2-Disagree and 1-Strongly

Disagree.

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 To further add credence to the instrument, several studies which worked

on the same concerns on action research will also be reviewed. The findings

will be studied from which inferences derive to form significant item inputs.

The researcher used the test-retest method to test the validity and

reliability of the questionnaire. The questionnaire will be administered to

teachers of the public schools in the province. Over a week’s interval, the same

set of respondents will be asked to answer the questionnaire. The results will

be tallied and interpreted. To compute the reliability of the questionnaire,

Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation will be used.

The instruments will be distributed and responded by the teachers. The

researcher herself will distribute these to the respondents to facilitate retrieval.

The scoring of responses follows the Likert scale valuing of 1 to 5 with 1 as

lowest to 5 as highest.

In gathering the pertinent data, the following procedures will be made. A

preliminary survey or inquiry will be conducted at the different Schools Division

Offices in the province to determine the feasible number of teacher-

respondents to be obtained. Permit for the conduct of the study will be taken

from the Schools Division Superintendent and Principal and letters of request to

respondents together with the questionnaire checklist will be hand carried and

given to the schools in the province. The questionnaires will later on be

retrieved after two weeks. Data will be gathered, encoded and classified

according to variables described in the statement of the problem, it will be

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tabulated and analyzed according to appropriate statistical tools described in

this chapter

Anchored on the principle of research ethics, the researcher will explain

to the respondents that all the information they provide shall be treated with

utmost confidentiality and will be used only for the intended purpose. The

benefits that will be obtained from the results of the study will also be explained.

All the protocols will be strictly followed in order to implement the research

smoothl

Data Analysis

Frequency, percentage distribution, means and Pearson’s r correlation

will be used to analyze the data collected.

Mean will be used to determine the level of perception and capability of

the respondents in conducting action research. ANOVA will be used to test the

significant difference between the level of teachers’ perception and capability to

undertake classroom action research when grouped according to their profile.

Pearson-r will be used to test the significant relationship of variables. And

Linear Regression will be used to test the significant relationship of two

variables. Data will be processed through the IBM Statistics SPSS Version 20.

The level of significance was set at the 0.05 probability level. The data

gathered will be presented in tabular and narrative form for better

understanding from the readers/consumers of the research study.

Timetable Gannt Chart

29
The action research study will be guided by the timetable/Gannt Chart

Activities Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March

2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019
Observation and
Formulation of
Research problem
Secure Permission to
Conduct the Study
Gathering Data
Data
Analysis/Interpretation
Writing the Draft of
the Action Research
Printing the Research
Manuscript
Presentation of the
Research paper

There are eight (8) activities that is related to the conduct of the action

research. Likewise, there re proposed time frame for the implementation of the

activities mentioned. This is a six (6) months’ time frame of which the last

activity is the presentation of action research through a Research Congress in

the SDO-Ilocos Norte.

The Cost Estimation

The following will be proposed expenses for the conduct of the action
research among the Mathematics Teachers of Ilocos Norte.

Activity Objectives Materials Time Cost Funding Remarks

Fram Estimate Source
e
Observatio To formulate Related Sept. Php500.00
n and and submit Literature 2019
formulation research books and
of the problem that Journal

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research will address
title the identified
problem
Identification To identify List of Oct. Php500.00
of respondents Mathematics 2019
respondents and research Teacher in
and research methodology Ilocos Norte
methodology
Gathering To gather Instruments/ Dec. Php5000.0
Data data from the Questionnaire 2019 0
respondents s in Gathering
through a data
questionnair
e
Analyzing To analyze Complete data Jan. Php2000.0
of gathered and interpret to be 2019 0
data data interpreted
gathered and analyzed
from the by a
respondents statistician
Developing To produce Materials for March Php5000.0
the the final the printing of 2019 0
research manuscript the manuscript
manuscript

Plans for Dissemination and Advocacy

Objectives Output Activities Persons Schedule

Responsible
To submit Problem Surveys Researcher, September
research Identification Interview, School Head, 2019
problem Card observation Research
soliciting Coordinator
positive ideas
from
authorities
To identify Action Identifying Researcher, October 2019
respondents Research respondents of School Head,
and research proposal the study Research
methodology Coordinator
To get Approval to To get Researcher November
permission to conduct approval from 2019
conduct the research the research
study committee
To gather the Valid and Empirical Researcher December
relevant data complete data research will 2019
be conducted
To analyze the Research To analyze Researcher January 2019

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data gathered output with the and interpret
from the results and data
respondents discussion
To write the Final draft of To print the Researcher February 2019
final draft of the research final draft of
the research the research
paper
To present the Research Present the Researcher March 2019
result of paper research
research in presentation findings in
Research Research
Congress in Congress in
the SDO- the SDO-
Ilocos Norte. Ilocos Norte.

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