Original Research

Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-
Regulated Learning and Academic Performance?

Xerxes G. Malaga1, Ryan Michael F. Oducado2

1 Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program, Philippines
2 West Visayas State University, Philippines

Article Info Abstract

Article History: The Philippines recently adopted the K to 12 program in basic education.
Submit Jan 25th, 2021 Under this program, students can choose their track and strand relative to
Accepted March 6th, 2021 their interests or career choices when they reach senior high school.
Published March 28th 2021 However, issues surfaced when the K to 12 graduates were admitted to the
college courses not aligned with the strand they have completed. This cross-
Keywords: sectional study was conducted to determine the difference in the academic
Academic performance; High self-regulated learning and performance of the STEM (Science and
school strand; Nursing; Self- Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and non-STEM graduates in
regulated learning; Students senior high school among freshmen nursing students in a city-subsidized
college in the Philippines. The Academic Self-Regulation Learning Scale and
grades of students in the first semester were used and analyzed in this study.
Results showed that there was a significant difference in the academic self-
regulated learning (p=0.045) and academic performance (p=0.000) of
freshmen nursing students when grouped according to their senior high
school strand. The STEM graduates had significantly higher academic self-
regulated learning and academic performance than the non-STEM
completers. Unfortunately, no significant relationship was established
between academic self-regulated learning and academic performance
(p=0.559). Students who are graduates of the STEM strand from senior high
school appear to be better prepared to take up the nursing course. Colleges
of nursing may consider the academic strand of students in senior high
school when admitting students in the nursing program.

INTRODUCTION 10533 (2013) otherwise known as the

Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 adds
Education expands our vision and outlook two years of senior high school education.
of the world. Hence, it is no wonder that High school now has two divisions: the
many countries including the Philippines junior and senior high school, and students
are in the molding process of making in the country must pass through the two
education the primary asset the country divisions to earn a high school diploma and
could have. Not so long ago, the Philippine qualify to enter college or university. Under
Basic Education implemented K-12 this program, students are to choose their
Curriculum that has been legalized by the own track or strand according to their
Republic Act 10533.1 The Republic Act No. preference, or field of interest, or decide to

Corresponding author:
Ryan Michael F. Oducado
[email protected]
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021
ISSN:2685-032X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/seanr.3.1.2021.1-7
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021/ page 1-7 2

venture out employment for the next two college academic program. It is imperative
years of senior high school education. The for nursing educators to understand and
senior high school students undertake a regularly assess the academic performance
standard core curriculum and can choose of students.11 Research on students’
from four tracks of specialization: academic performance or academic
Academic, Technical-Vocational and achievement is important because it is one
Livelihood (TVL), Sports, and Arts and of the indicators of students’ success in
Design.3 These tracks are specific areas of learning.12–14 Moreover, academic and
study similar to college courses.4 The career guidance are among the expressed
academic track is further divided into four guidance needs of nursing students.15
strands: Science, Technology, Engineering, Helping students understand their likely
and Mathematics (STEM); Accountancy, success in their chosen college degree is
Business, and Management (ABM); thereby necessary.
Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS);
and General Academic.3 Meanwhile, knowing the concept of self-
regulated learning is necessary in today’s
Having an ideal strand offer learners a sense social and academic world.16 Self-regulated
of self-assurance and can help students to learning has been applauded as the key
be passionate about their chosen career.5 competence to lifelong learning.17 Despite
Alignment to the chosen college course was being a well-studied topic in the fields of
the main reason of students enrolling in the psychology and education, limited research
STEM strand.6 Besides, a study found that focused on its relationship to the academic
STEM status significantly predicted performance of nursing students.
retention and graduation outcomes.7 Poor Understanding self-regulation is essential
adjustment and academic performance to in the development of students’ capabilities
the health science courses also contribute to and achievement.16 In this study, we also
dropout rates of students.8 However, the investigated the relationship between self-
Commission on Higher Education (2017) in regulated learning and academic
the Philippines released a memorandum performance among nursing students.
order indicating that all Grade 12 senior
high school graduates are eligible to enter METHODS
college irrespective of the strand or track
they have taken in senior high school.9 The The research design utilized in the study
problem arises when the K to12 graduates was cross-sectional research. This study
are to pursue a college degree that is not was conducted among 112 freshmen or
related to the strand they finished during first-year nursing students in a city-
their senior high school years. Difficulties subsidized college in the Western Visayas
arise in a sense that that the subjects taken region of the Philippines.
in senior high school are not aligned to the
desired academic program, or the skills and The instrument used was the Academic Self-
knowledge learned by the students in senior Regulated Learning Scale (A-SRL-S)
high school might not be enough to developed by Magno (2010) to measure
compensate to the demands of the chosen self-regulation within the context of
college degree.10 students’ learning in higher education. Each
item is scaled using a four-point Likert scale
Thus, this study was conducted to (1-Strongly disagree to 4-Strongly agree).
determine if there were significant The A-SRL-S contains 54 items with seven
differences in academic performance of K to (7) subscales. The scale has been reported
12 graduates specifically from the STEM to have high validity and reliability
and non-STEM strand as they unveil their measures when tested among Filipino
college journey into nursing as their chosen college students. The internal consistency of

Ryan Michael F. Oducado / Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-Regulated
Learning and Academic Performance?
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021/ page 1-7 3

the seven subscales was between 0.70 and RESULTS

0.84 18. For this study, the A-SRL-S has an
overall reliability of Cronbach’s alpha 0.95. Table 1 present the profile of the
The survey questionnaires were distributed participants. The average age of freshman
personally to the students of the said nursing students was 18.86 (SD=0.73)
department after their lecture classes. years. The majority (83.9%) of the students
Directions were given as to how to answer were females. Most (81.2%) students
and fill up the survey instrument. The whole belonged to families with an average
content of the survey instrument was monthly salary of 15,780 pesos/month or
discussed before the participants can less. A little over half (51.8%) had 4 or more
answer the questionnaires to avoid siblings. A little over two-thirds (68.7%)
confusion. After signing the informed were graduates of the non-STEM strand in
consent forms, the respondents were given senior high school.
ample time (30 minutes) to fill up the said
questionnaires. Afterwards, the researchers Table 2 shows that the composite mean
personally retrieved the said score of nursing students in the A-SRL-S
questionnaires then checked for was 3.31 (SD=0.53). The mean score of the
completeness of responses. graduates of the STEM strand and non-
STEM strand were 3.35(SD=0.34), and 3.29
The academic performance of students was (SD=0.53), respectively. Moreover, the
measured using their actual grades in the mean average grade reflecting the academic
first semester of the academic year 2018- performance of first-year nursing students
2019 taken from the Office of the Registrar in the first semester was 91.35 (SD=0.67).
with permission from the college dean and The mean average grade of the graduates of
after participants consented to partake in the STEM strand and non-STEM strand
the study. A demographic profile sheet was were 92.39(SD=1.32), and 90.87 (SD=1.60),
also used to collect pertinent demographic respectively.
data and identify the academic strand of
students. In this study, the students were Table 3 shows that there was a significant
categorized as either STEM or non-STEM difference in academic self-regulated
strand (includes ABM, HUMSS, and general learning and academic performance of
academic strands of the academic track and freshmen nursing students based on their
other tracks). senior high school strand. Graduates of the
STEM strand were significantly more
Data analysis was carried out using SPSS (p=0.045) self–regulated learners
version 23. Mean, standard deviation, compared to the graduates of the non-STEM
frequency, and percentage were used for strand. At the same time, graduates of the
descriptive analysis. Mann-Whitney U test STEM strand had a significantly higher
was employed to determine significant (p=0.000) academic performance than the
differences while Spearman’s rho was graduates of the non-STEM strand.
utilized to measure the relationship
between academic self-regulation and Table 4 shows that there was no significant
performance. Alpha level of significance relationship (p=0.559) between academic
was set at 0.05. self-regulated learning and academic
performance of freshman nursing students.

Ryan Michael F. Oducado / Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-Regulated
Learning and Academic Performance?
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021/ page 1-7 4

Table 1
Profile and strand in High School
M SD f %
Age (years) 18.86 0.73
Sex
Male 18 16.1
Female 94 83.9
Monthly family income
Less than 7,890/Month 52 46.4
Between 7,890 to 15,780/Month 39 34.8
Between 15,781 to 31,560/Month 17 15.2
Above 31,561/month 4 3.6
Number of siblings
3 or less 45 40.2
4 or more 58 51.8
No siblings 9 8.0
Senior high school (SHS) strand
STEM 35 31.3
Non-STEM 77 68.7

Table 2
Academic self-regulation and academic performance
General STEM Non-STEM
Variables
M SD M SD M SD
Academic self-regulated learning 3.31 0.53 3.35 0.34 3.29 0.53
Academic performance 91.35 0.67 92.39 1.32 90.87 1.60

Table 3
Differences in academic self-regulated learning and performance
Variables Academic self-regulated learning Academic performance
SHS strand Mean Rank U p-value Mean Rank U p-value
STEM 65.63 1028.0 0.045 77.41 615.5 0.000
Non-STEM 53.45 46.99

Table 4
Academic self-regulation and academic performance
Variables Correlation coefficient p-value
Academic self-regulation and performance -0.050 0.599

DISCUSSION completers have shown remarkable grades

in their science and nursing courses.
This study investigated the difference in
academic self-regulated learning and In this study, we found that the academic
academic performance among nursing self-regulated learning and performance of
students between graduates of STEM and nursing students varied according to their
non-STEM strand. This study came about senior high school academic strand. Ideally,
after observing students who were non- STEM completers are supposed to enroll in
STEM completers were struggling in their nursing. Their track and strand are geared
science and nursing courses. It has also been towards learning the foundations of
observed that their grades were lower in academic subjects aligned with the nursing
these courses. On the other hand, STEM program. Our results also indicate that

Ryan Michael F. Oducado / Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-Regulated
Learning and Academic Performance?
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021/ page 1-7 5

graduates of the STEM strand had a higher between self-regulated learning and
academic self-regulation suggesting that academic achievement was observed.17
these students are better in terms of However, our result is contrary to other
planning and organizing, goal-setting, self- studies conducted in other disciplines. A
evaluation, memory strategy, learning weak positive association between self-
responsibility, seeking assistance, and regulated learning and academic
environmental structuring. Similar findings achievement was found among
were reported in prior studies. Graduates of undergraduate medical students.13 A study
the STEM academic strand had a among preparatory school students at Cag
significantly higher academic performance University in Mersin, Turkey revealed that
compared to the non-STEM strand the more students use self-regulation
graduates. A significant difference in the strategies, the more likely they become
academic adjustment and performance of academically successful.24 Self-regulation of
freshmen students from different health learning and achievement were
science disciplines in the Philippines was significantly correlated among the
similarly noted in another study.19 A study undergraduate program in the Faculty of
among engineering students likewise found Psychology at Padjadjaran University.25
a significant difference in the Calculus 1 Four of five domains of self-regulated
performance between students from the learning had a positive impact on academic
STEM and non-STEM strands.4 Students performance of students in another study.26
from the STEM strand also performed The variation in findings may be attributed
better academically in the Applied to the different measures used to assess
Chemistry course.20 Our findings seem to self-regulated learning between studies and
indicate that the STEM graduates are likely also to the relatively limited sample of our
to succeed in the nursing program with study. Nonetheless, further research is
minor difficulties and adjustments as required to confirm our findings. It is
compared to their non-STEM counterparts. argued that self-regulated learning is a
In addition, our results seem to point out complex phenomenon hence, future
that the K to 12 program of the Philippines scholars need to pay more attention to the
plays a significant role in preparing senior different dimensions of self-regulated
high school students for their chosen career learning in relation to academic
path if followed appropriately. achievement.16

Moreover, our study demonstrated no This research has limitations. This study
correlation between academic self- only included first-year nursing students in
regulation and academic performance one nursing school in the Philippines who
among freshmen nursing students. No were enrolled in the academic year 2018-
significant correlation between self- 2019. Findings cannot be generalized in all
regulation and educational performance schools and students locally and in other
among public university students was also countries. Also, this study is limited to the
reported by Sahranavard, Miri, & Salehiniya academic performance of students in one
(2018).21 No relationship between semester only. Future researchers may
academic self-regulation and their academic compare the difference between strands
performance was also disclosed in a study upon completion of the degree.
among senior high school students in the Furthermore, our research relied only on
Philippines.22 High self-regulation did not self-administered questionnaires for data
predict school ability in another study.23 It collection and the cross-sectional research
has also been noted that not all self- design of our research cannot establish a
regulated learning strategies exerted the causal effect of the independent variable to
same influences on academic achievement the outcome variable. Nonetheless, this
and a decreasing trend on the effect size

Ryan Michael F. Oducado / Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-Regulated
Learning and Academic Performance?
South East Asia Nursing Research, Vol 3 No 1, March 2021/ page 1-7 6

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Ryan Michael F. Oducado / Does Senior High School Strand Matter in Nursing Students’ Academic Self-Regulated
Learning and Academic Performance?