SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' COPING MECHANISM ON THE

CHALLENGES OF THE MODULAR DISTANCE LEARNING APPROACH

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of

San Julian – Sta. Maria High School

Senior High School Department

A Partial Fulfilment

of the Requirements of the Course

Practical Research 2

Angeline C. Vigilia

Nicole Kate G. Calica

Dorothy Kate O. Quinday

November 2021
PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2

Table of Content

CHAPTER 1 – Introduction
The Problem and It’s Background
Statement of the Problem
Research Hypothesis
Significance of the Study
Scope and Delimitation
Definition of Terms

CHAPTER 2 - Review of Related Literatures and Studies

Related Literature
Related Foreign Studies
Related Local Studies
Conceptual Framework
Research Question

CHAPTER 3 - Methodology
Research Design
Respondents and Locale of the Study
Sampling Design
Research Instrument
Validation of the Instrument
Data Gathering Procedure
Data Analysis

CHAPTER 4 - Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

(This is presented parallel to your Statement of the Problem)
CHAPTER 5 - Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations
Summary
Conclusions
Recommendation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES
A. Letter of Approval to Conduct Study
B. Informed Consent
C. Instrument
D. Transcribed Narrative during data collection
CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This section presents the background of the problem as well as the

statement of the problem. It also presents the research hypothesis, significance

of the study, the scope and delimitation of the study, as well as the definition of

the relevant terms used in the study.

The Problem and It’s Background

With an estimated 90 percent of students unable to attend school in

person because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are using distance

learning methodologies to reach all their students (UNESCO Institute of

Statistics). In response to the immediate education emergency of our country,

and in response to the increasing numbers of illiterate Filipino citizens because of

the pandemic. The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a lot of

changes in many aspects of the people’s lives and the community. Medicine,

trade, and education are just among the few fields severely affected by the said

pandemic. And its unprecedented occurrence challenged the readiness and

initiative of the government’s system. For the field of education, a continuity plan

for learning has been laid, and actions were taken to ensure that the learners still

acquire access to education despite the present situation. The learning continuity

plan of the Department of Education (DepEd) included the implementation of the

different modalities of learning delivery. These modalities are: face-to-face

learning, distance learning, blended learning, and homeschooling. However,

among these modalities only the distance learning could be implemented in the

public schools to ensure the safety of both students and teachers. With this

modality, students are at home learning at their own pace as they answer

modules, attend online classes and answer online tests and activities, or listen to

radios and watch TV programs airing educational contents. This is the set-up of

the so called “new normal” in the educational system of our country. As its name

suggests, this new normal brought a lot of new changes and a lot of new

problems to the teachers, parents and students.

The latest study of Huckins (2020, in McNiff 2020) revealed that

Coronavirus pandemic had an immediate impact on the mental health of

students. The study recorded spikes in depression and anxiety at the beginning

of the pandemic in early March, just as the school pushed students to leave

campus and begin remote learning. Saavedra (2020) commented that the

pandemic the whole world is experiencing right now is potentially one of the

greatest threats in global education, a gigantic educational crisis. He supported

his claim saying that as of March 28, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing

more than 1.6 children and youth to be out of school in 161countries. This

number is close to 80% of the world’s enrolled students. Students and teachers

at all levels of education are transitioning from classroom to computer as the

number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continues to rise. Not every subject lends

itself to a smooth transition to distance learning, as students and instructors have

discovered. Distance learning has presented challenges to teachers trying to

adapt to lecturing online (O’Keefe, 2020). The same had happened in the

Philippines. The pandemic required a lot of adjustments and transitions as

students are continuing education not inside the classrooms, but at their own

homes. Various challenges also confronted the implementation of this shift from

face-to-face learning to distance learning. In fact, the opening of classes had

been delayed twice to give schools ample time to prepare for this shift. Despite

the delays, many students and teachers still struggled to keep up with the

preparations needed for the distance learning. According to Perez (2020),

teachers are worried that modular distance learning will not work to some of the

students because aside from they can’t read and comprehend on their own; their

parents are also not capable of guiding them because they too are not capable of

reading with comprehension as well. Furthermore, since the opening of classes

on September 14, 2021 many problems related to stress in the new normal set-

up of education has been recorded. Online learning- related difficulties such as

phone signals challenges, internet connection problems, and cot of buying load

of data were most feasible reasons behind the stress (Recaña, 2020). Earnest

and Dwyer (2010, p. 3) define stress coping skills as “the ability to apply

strategies that minimize and manage the stress response.” There are different

types of coping styles, and the two major coping methods discussed are

problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992).

Lenz (2010, p. 69) defines problem-focused coping as “individuals directly

confronting and managing the source of their stress. Individuals prefer to deal

directly with the stress by confronting, controlling, or managing stressful tasks.”

Problem-focused coping is a form of active coping (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992).

Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub (1989, p. 268) define active coping as “the

process of taking active steps to try to remove or circumvent the stressor or to

ameliorate its effects.”

Lazarus (1988) and his colleagues identified eight types of coping strategies

which include planful problem solving, seeking social support, confrontive coping,

distancing, self-control, escape-avoidance, accepting responsibility, and positive

reappraisal. These eight ways of coping were further categorized as active

coping strategies and passive coping strategies.

Confrontive coping (taking action and confronting the problem), seeking

social support (seeking informational and emotional support), planful problem-

solving (planning to solve the problem), and positive reappraisal (creating a

positive meaning and focus on personal growth) constitute the active coping

strategies. Meanwhile, distancing (expecting that the problem solves itself -

involves emotional detachment), self-controlling (making efforts to regulate

feelings and actions), accepting responsibility (accepting one's own role in the

problem), and escape-avoidance (trying to avoid the problem by wishful thinking

and behavioral efforts) comprise the passive coping mechanism.

Distance learning in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis poses hurdles to

students but also drives them to survive despite the number of challenging tasks

they need to experience every day. Thus, this research will focus on the coping

mechanism of senior high students and address the problems they encounter.

Aside from this, the parents who will also serve as learning facilitators for their
children also, face challenges ranging from acquiring modules for their children

up to the difficulty in facilitating lessons. The heart, therefore, of this study is to

determine the challenges of learners have experienced in the conduct of the

distance learning. This topic is timely and relevant since the result might provide

information as to what difficulties experiencing of students. Such information may

be then used as a springboard to address such problems.

Statement of the Problem

The main goal of the study was to determine the coping mechanism of

senior high students of San Julian- Sta. Maria High School. Specifically, the

researchers sought answer to the following questions.

1. What are the difficulties/challenges you encountered under the new

normal as a student?

2. What is thing to make difficult for the students and how they cope?

3. What is it like being a student under in new normal education?

Research Hypothesis

Aside from the problems stated above, this study also tested the

following null hypotheses using appropriate statistical procedures:

1. There is a significant relationship between student's coping

mechanism and academic performance.

2. There is a significant relationship between student’s profile and

perceived challenges encountered by the students to the distance

learning and to the students’ coping mechanism

Significance of the Study

This quantitative study will be able to contribute research-based data and

knowledge regarding on how to cope up with challenges that students facing

during pandemic. This topic is timely relevant since the result might provide

information as to what are the coping mechanism of students du on learning of

students during the pandemic.

More specifically, this study shall be beneficial to the following groups:

Department of Education (DepEd) . The outcome of the study may

serve as a basis for the implementation of modular distance learning. This will

enable the DepEd to make wide-scale programs and action plans that will help

the students cope with their problems

Administrator. They might consider the findings of this study inputs for

policy formulation to improve the implementation for the better learning process

of students. By this study, they can determine if the methodologies and strategies

is effective or not. By then, they can do recommendations and suggestions for

the teachers to be an effective teacher in the midst of pandemic.

Teachers. The result of this study may serve as an eye opener to create

and innovate instructional materials, appraise the needs of students and to use

varied and appropriate teaching strategies. It can also help them to assess their
selves if they are an effective teacher and determine the challenges of their

students, to have quality education to students during distance learning.

Students. This will help them to be aware and do some adjustments

that they can make to be a better and effective learner. Students manage to deal

with stressful situation so that their academic performance is not negatively

affected.

Parents. In this study, parents will realize how important they are as a

source of encouragement for their children. This study will look forward in giving

their children an assurance to acquire quality education and give their children’s

needs in studying at home.

Researchers. The outcome of the study is beneficial to either present

researchers or future researchers. It can be their basis and pattern that can help

them with their research for it to have a strong foundation.

Scope and Delimitation

This study mainly focused on the problems and coping mechanisms in

every students of San Julian- Sta. Maria High School during distance learning.

An online survey questionnaire will be used to collect data from these variables.

A total of 15 senior high students from San Julian-Sta. Maria High School

enrolled in the School Year 2021-2022 were chosen at random to take part in the

study.

The student profiles were further delimited to the household income,

student behaviors on learning, academic performance, location, length of time

spent in listening to educational radio broadcast, and family situation. On the

other hand, the challenges the student encounters are delimited along the

information sharing, level of understanding, instructional assistance, and

feedbacking.

The study was conducted during the implementation of the various Learning

Delivery Modalities (LDM) as mandated by DepEd Order 12, 2020 in the current

school year 2021-2022.

Definition of Terms

Distance Learning. This refers to a learning delivery modality where

learning takes place between the teacher and the learners who are

geographically remote from each other during instruction. This modality has three

types: Modular Distance Learning (MDL), Online Distance Learning (ODL), and

TV/Radio-Based Instruction (Llego,2020). In this study, it is known as

correspondence education or home study, a form of education where there is a

little of no face-to-face interaction between students and their teachers.

Modular Distance Learning. Wherein written modules will be

distributed to students who do not have access to devices and the internet

(Cantiga,2020). In this study it was the most preferred learning system of majority

of parents/guardians based on the result of the Learning Enrollment and Survey

Form (LESF). As technology and internet connectivity remain a problem for most

students, DepEd will be providing printed module materials for them.

Pandemic. An outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic

area and typically affects a significant proportion of the population (Merriam

Webster Dictionary). The pandemic known as the COVID-19 brought global

issues in the economy, environment, government, health, technology, and

education. In the aftermath, schools around the world have been closed to

control the spread of the disease that directly impacted the students, educators,

and academic institutions that caused sudden disruptions to all stake- holders

particularly on students. The unprecedented emergence of the COVID-19

Pandemic has caused the Department of Education to shift from the traditional

face-to-face learning to the new normal.

Coping. According to the Coping Theory of Lazarus and Folkman

(1984), coping is the constantly changing efforts, both cognitive and behavioral,

of a person to manage external and internal demands that are considered as

taxing or exceeding the resources of a person. It is the conscious and

unconscious efforts that a person puts in a situation to solve problems and

reduce stress. The theory further posits that coping is highly individualized and

dependent on the personality patterns and perceptual experiences of a person.

Lazarus and Folkman’s model stated that successful coping mechanisms depend

on the emotional functions related to the problem.

Coping Mechanism. Coping strategy or coping mechanism refers to

ways to handle stressful and troublesome circumstances. Richard Lazarus and

Susan Folkman scientifically defined coping as the sum of cognitive and

behavioral effort, which are constantly changing that aim to handle particular
demands, whether internal or external, that are viewed as demanding (Guevarra

& Cimanes, 2017)

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents a comprehensive review of literature and studies

conducted which were related and relevant to the present study.

Related Literature

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, students have been struggling and

coping with a lot of difficulties in many aspects of their lives. Mazo (2015)

observed that students’ struggles are found everywhere, that is, at home, with

friends, in school, in the classroom. It is just around the corner. It simply cannot

be avoided because it is part of a student’s life. In fact, a lot of student’s

experience struggles every day. It could be brought about by many factors. The

causes and levels of struggles vary from one person to the other. No person is

free from it, regardless of how privileged, reasonable, clever, and intelligent he

may be. Every student will be challenged at times by frustrations, failures, losses,

changes and conflicts.

The common causes of students’ struggles include their academic

subjects, requirements and projects, oral and written examinations, announced

or unannounced quizzes and graded recitations, finances, issues with parents or

guardians, love life, their professors and instructors, and many more (Salvacion,

2004).

Blona (2005) also claimed that students experience stress since some

are trying to cope up with the demands of adapting to a new living environment,

new peers, and academic pressure.

Another results of a study about the causes of students’ stress revealed

that different factors cause stress among students. These factors included:

relationship factors, environmental factors, academic factors, and personal

factors. With respect to relationship factors, working with new people was the

main cause of stress for students. In the case of environmental factors, worries

about the future was the main factor causing stress among students, whereas

class workload was the main element of stress with regard to the academic

factors. In the category of personal factors, financial problems caused most

stress to students (Essel & Owusu, 2017).

Rogers and Yassin (2003, in Guevarra & Cimanes, 2017) said that it is

important for students to develop different coping strategies in order to encounter

and manage stressful conditions. If not handled well, the stressors that originated

from financial problems, sleep deprivation, societal activities and many more can

affect student’s ability to perform.

Kumar and Bhukar (2012, in Perino et al., 2016) stated that inadequate

adaptations may lead to psychological problems that would cause abnormalities

toward one’s behavior. Although students are aware of stress and became their

routines in life, it could still affect the future of students if they are much exposed

to major stress when one did not effectively cope nor address properly the stress

that would result to pressure.

Stress is not an ordinary thing that may be set aside and ignored. Giving

utmost attention to it from the very start of the symptoms is necessary and taking

proper action is a must to avoid its worst effects (Mazo, 2015). Essel and Owusu

(2017) added that students’ struggles can, however, be managed through the

introduction of a stress management course and engaging in extracurricular

activities.

All the studies mentioned above proved that students go through a lot of

struggles in their lives. Some are school-related while others are not, but all

these struggles affect their performance and how they perceived themselves.

With the present situation that the entire world is experiencing given the Covid-19

pandemic and the shift from traditional face-to-face learning to distance

education, we can safely conclude that the students are going through struggles

right now. If these struggles are not mitigated, students may resort to negative

solutions such suicide, depression, anxiety, or addiction. Therefore, the need to

acquire effective coping mechanisms is imperative.

Coping strategy or coping mechanism refers to ways to handle stressful

and troublesome circumstances. Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman

scientifically defined coping as the sum of cognitive and behavioral effort, which

are constantly changing, that aim to handle demands, whether internal or

external, that are viewed as demanding (Guevarra & Cimanes, 2017)

The study of Kwaah and Essilfie (2017) disclosed that students used

multiple strategies, mainly praying/meditating, self-distracting activities such as

watching TV and listening to music to cope with stress. Other important stress

coping strategies were emotional and instrumental support from family, friends

and lecturers.

Students must know themselves even more especially in dealing with the

stress they are experiencing (Guevarra & Cimanes, 2017).In the study of Hearon

(2015) where she studied the stress and coping strategies of High School

students in Accelerated Academic Curricula and its relationships students’

success, results showed that the students who employed time and task

management, sleep, and deterioration to cope were more likely to experience

higher academic achievement, while those who coped by seeking academic

support, skipping school, engaging in social and creative diversions, using

substances, reducing effort on schoolwork, and handling problems alone were

less likely to be academically successful. Additionally, those who used cognitive

reappraisal, turning to family, and social and athletic diversions were more likely

to experience high life satisfaction, while those relying on creative diversions,

reduce effort on schoolwork, handle problems alone, and deterioration were less

likely to have high life satisfaction.

The identification of functional and dysfunctional adolescent coping

strategies may facilitate the prevention and intervention of mental health

concerns in youth, as coping contributes to the extent to which

psychopathological symptoms develop from stress. It is necessary to explore the

extent to which high-achieving students employ different types of coping

strategies in response to their intense academic demands, as research has

demonstrated that students’ use of specific coping behaviors has meaningful

associations with academic and mental health outcomes (Hearon, 2015).

Although the students in this time of the pandemic are in their homes

continuing their education, it does not mean that they are out of the teachers’

responsibility. Despite the distance, the teachers can still extend their sympathy

and concern by helping the students effectively cope with the struggles they are

experiencing as they are trying to survive the demands of the new normal in

education. Since the pandemic is still raging havoc in the country, it is high time

that a study about the struggles of the students in the distance learning and how

they are coping is conducted so that an intervention may be crafted to alleviate

these struggles.

Related Foreign Studies

According to the Coping Theory of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), coping

is the constantly changing efforts, both cognitive and behavioral, of a person to

manage external and internal demands that are considered as taxing or

exceeding the resources of a person. It is the conscious and unconscious efforts

that a person puts in a situation to solve problems and reduce stress. The theory

further posits that coping is highly individualized and dependent on the

personality patterns and perceptual experiences of a person. Lazarus and

Folkman’s model stated that successful coping mechanisms depend on the

emotional functions related to the problem. Lazarus classified these eight

emotional functions as: self-control; confrontation; social support; emotional

distancing; escape and avoidance; radical acceptance; positive reappraisal; and

strategic problem-solving.

Moreover, in the study of Kwaah and Essilfie (2017) where they studied

the stress and coping strategies of students who were taking distance education

at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, results showed that academic workload,

high frequency of examinations, financial problems, and family problems were

the major causes of stress among the students.

Related Local Studies

Considering the importance of effective coping mechanisms, Perino et al.

(2016) recommended that teachers can guide and monitor their students properly

in order to give an immediate action and help to students who are facing different

kinds of stresses. One way to help their students is by giving them motivation to

face their struggles in life optimistically. Schools can also conduct and provide

school-based seminar for the students. This seminar shall include the practices

and coping mechanisms in order students to be aware and prepared for the

possible stress they are going to encounter.

This idea was backed by Guevarra and Cimanes (2017) who also

recommended that teachers play in part in helping students cope with their

struggles. They further stated that the teachers may serve as the stress coping

mechanism of the students. So, they must be open for their students by giving

them advice on what is right thing to do. Schools can also help the students by

creating programs and activities for the students that will enhance their coping

strategies when dealing with the stress.

Conceptual Framework

This study adopted the Input-Process-Output (IPO) research model

according to Canonizado (2020), the IPO model refers to the representation of all

the factors that make up a process. In the IPO diagram, it includes all the

materials and the information that are required in the input, output and the

process, the specific details of the process itself, and the descriptions of all

products and by-products anchored on the process that took place. The input

consists the profile of the respondents and the factors connected with the

dependent and independent variables of the educational research. The process

covers all the things done from the very beginning of gathering of the information

or data needed in the conduct of the educational research and it ends with the

conclusions and recommendations. The output refers to the action taken after

interpreting the results of the study.

The inputs for this study are the data needed to address the questions

regarding the student’s profile (household income, students’ behavior on

learning, academic performance, location, coping mechanism of students, family

situation, and the personal challenges encountered by the senior high students in

distance learning during pandemic.

To strengthen quantitative outcomes, the required input will be accessed

through surveys, questionnaires, and interviews during the process phase. The

data collected will be processed through the tabulation, analyses, and

interpretation of it. After interpreting the results of the study through processing

step, the researcher will be able to understand (1) the students coping

mechanism on the challenges of the modular distance approach and learning

behavior. (2) describe the challenges encountered by the senior high students.

The diagram below shows the conceptual paradigm of the study:

Input Process Output

Students profile in terms of: Descriptive surveys To understand the students

coping mechanism on the
-Household income Questionnaire challenges on the modular
-Students behavior on learning distance approach.
-Academic performance Interviews To understand the students
-Location
learning behavior in
-Family situation Evaluation distance learning approach

Challenges encountered by the Tabulation To describe the challenges

senior high students on the encountered by the senior
high students.
modular distance learning Analyses
approach.

Figure 1: Paradigm of the Study

Presented as the paradigm of the study are the variables involved in

determining the coping mechanism of senior high students of San Julian- Sta.
Maria High School. This illustrates the variables that will lead to answer the

coping mechanisms of senior high students’ respondents.

Research Question

This study aims to describe the students coping mechanism on the

challenges on the modular distance approach to senior high students from San

Julian- Sta. Maria High School. The result of the study will aid to researcher to

propose intervention measures that may help address the coping mechanism.

Specifically, through this study, the researcher will find answers to the

following questions:

1. Is there a significant relationship between student's coping mechanism

and academic performance?

2. How do students deal with stressful events/ situations?

3. What are the coping strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of

distance learning?

4. Which coping mechanism is mostly used in managing stressful events?

5. Is there a relationship in the use of any coping mechanism and the

demographic variables?

6. What support does the institution offer to students in managing stressful

situations?

7. What is thing to make difficult for the students and how they cope?

8. How do senior high students of San Julian Sta. Maria High School cope

up on the challenges due to the new normal in Education?

9. What is the profile of the student-respondents in terms of age, sex,

strand, year level?

CHAPTER 3

METHODS OF RESEAERCH AND SOURCES OF DATA

This chapter presents and discusses the methods that were used in this

study. Specifically, this chapter presents the research design, the research

locale, the respondents, the sampling technique, the instrumentation, data

gathering procedure and statistical treatment employed to obtain pertinent

results.

Research Design

Descriptive method was used to gather the needed data and it is

quantitative in nature. Descriptive research explores the relationship between or

among the variables. In descriptive design, hypotheses concerning the

relationship between or among the variables are so stated. Descriptive efficient

may describe positive or negative relationship depending upon the outcome of

the study. This method was applicable since the study aimed to determine the

coping mechanism of senior high students of San Julian- Sta. Maria High.

Research Locale

The respondents were from San Julian- Sta. Maria High School. This research

was conducted to the senior high students. Wherein, they are trained to become

well-rounded individuals who are well equipped with the necessary knowledge,

values and skills and be competent so that they will become globally competitive

professionals and leaders, and productive citizens of the country.

Respondents of the Study

The participants of the study were the senior high school students who

were legally and officially enrolled at the said institution. The researchers took

sixty-nine (69) senior high school from the campus. Hence, eighteen (18)

students were the respondents of this study.

Samples and Sampling Technique

Fifteen (15) senior high students who were officially enrolled for the

academic year, 2021-2022 were the sample population of this study. The

researcher selected these respondents through the use of simple random

sampling. The total numbers of the senior high students is. Since the researcher

only took fifteen (15) senior high students, the remaining senior high students

were excluded to be the respondents of this study.

To further understand the sampling technique used in this study, an

illustration is presented below.

Where:

N = total number of respondents

n = total population

e = margin of error (20% or 0.20)

N = n / 1 + ne2

N = 69 / 1 + 69 (0.20)2

N = 15 total respondents
Research Instrument

The researcher used a check-list as the research instrument to determine

the coping mechanism of senior high students in San Julia- Sta. Maria High

School. This was developed by the researcher, and it was validated by the

researchers’ adviser. Particularly, the check list was used after the respondents

read and answer the questions.

Specifically, the questionnaire was composed of 9 questions which were

arranged according to the researcher. The results from the questionnaire would

determine the problems facing during new normal education and their coping

mechanism.

Data Gathering Procedure

After the validation of the instrument, the researcher collaborated with the

advisers of the senior high students to ask permission if they are allowed to

gather data from their students. The researcher explained the purpose of the

study to selected respondents and then made sure each participant corresponds

with regards to their experience. The researcher collected the data by means of

survey questionnaires that comprises their name, year level, and date. After the

respondents have taken the questionnaires; the papers were checked, tallied,

interpreted and analyzed.