Maritime Students Perception on School Related activities Essay

School activities are very important for the students and for the school. For the students, because they gain new skills and motivation. It’s a real chance for them to enjoy school and choose to do something they are really interested and passionate about, and therefore their motivation for learning and their motivation for their teachers and the school increase. It makes them relate academic knowledge to the practical experience, which leads to a better understanding of their own abilities, talents, and career goals and for the school because as studies shows that such participation provides marginal students an opportunity to create a positive and voluntary connection to their school also. Involvement in extracurricular activities may support the at-risk student by maintaining, enhancing, and strengthening the student-school connection therefore decreases dropout School activities at St. Therese MTC – Colleges are often held when there is a celebration it’s either a school celebration (like foundation day), national or international. These were held most especially for the enjoyment of the students and for them to fulfill their potentials. But these activities often cancels classes. We cannot hide the fact some students are not participating in the school activities thus, they take the cancellation of classes as an opportunity for them to go out and do whatever they want that commonly results into bad things like drinking alcohols, taking drugs and other vices. While some considers it as a burden for it adds to there payment. Some consider it mainly as a disruption of classes and a delay to their learning. While some consider it very important and take the opportunity to express and discover themselves, enjoy and boost their potentials. Every person have varying perception on things especially on things that they really do not know about. And everytime there is an activity students make a different perception about it. Either good or bad. These perceptions are very important in the part of the organizers and to the facilitators for it makes them know if the activity was successful or not and what will they do to make it more successful so that they could apply it the next time they conduct the same activity. Maritime Courses here in the Philippines are at high cost. Though many are still taking it because of high demand in the market and higher salary rate especially on international voyages where one earns dollar, many of the maritime students are coming from families having low Socio Economic Status (SES). Still they pursue even though they get through loans and depts hoping that when their children graduate and get onboard ships they can easily pay all their depts and raise their life’s situation. Every centavo and Peso is important. It is a product of blood and sweat of those who earned it. That’s why in every centavo and a peso increase in the accounts of the student adds to the burden of their family. Rumors were heard every time there is an activity and everytime the statement of account were released. Some say that another payment is added to the school fee. While some say that the payment was worth it. For these reasons that triggered the researchers to conduct this study to further find out and discuss the real perception of maritime students on school related activities and create a guidelines on what and how to conduct the activities the maritime students want. Statement of the Problem This research aims to find out what are the perceptions of maritime students towards school related activities. Consequently, this research study seeks answers to the following questions: 1. What are the school related activities of ST-MTCC engaged by Maritime students when classified as to course and year level? 2. What are the perceptions of Maritime students on school related activities when classified as to course and year level? 3. How to conduct the activities that the students want? 4. Is there a significant difference on the perception of the maritime students to school related activities when classified as to course and year level? Objectives of the study This research main objectives is to determine and discuss the main perception of Maritime students about the school related activities. Furthermore it aims to: 1. Determine the school related activities of ST-MTCC students when classified as to course and year level. 2. Determine the perception of Maritime students on school related activities when classified as to course and year level. 3. Determine how to conduct the activities that the students want. 3. Find out the significant difference of the students on school related activities when classifies as to course and year level. Hypotheses Based on the foregoing statements, the hypotheses are advanced: H0 There is no significant difference on the perception of the Maritime students on school related activities when classifies as to course and year level. H1 There is a significant difference the perception of the Maritime students on school related activities when classifies as to course and year level. Definition of Terms Activities – things being done for leisure, fun or learning (Meriam Websters Dictionary) In this study activities refers to the school related activities participated by the ST-MTCC Maritime students. BSMar E – (Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering) In this study BSMar E refers to the Maritime course that focuses on studying the works and obligations of the Engine Department onboard ship. BSMT – (Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation) In this study BSMT refers to the Maritime course that focuses on studying the works and obligations of the Deck Department onboard ship. Maritime Students– in this study maritime students refers to students taking up Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering (BSMar E) courses. Perception – the act or faculty of perceiving , or apprehending by means or of the mind; understanding. In this study perception refers to the understanding of the students about the school related activities. School – an institution for the teaching of children (Meriam Websters Dictionary) In this study school refers to St. Therese MTC- Colleges (ST-MTCC), Tigbauan Site. Year level – in this study, year level refers to the level achieved in school by which the respondents are enrolled in. Significance of the study The conduct and result of this study will bring benefits to the following: School Administration – the significant result Made from this study will serve as guide to the Student Affairs Office, Office of the Students Services, Student Executive Council, and other activity implementing departments and bodies of the school. Students – The significant result of this study would help the students enjoy the activities and satisfy their expectations as the result of this research were applied. Future Researches – this study was highly recommended to have a further study on the same topic. Scope and Limitations of the Study The descriptive study will be conducted to find out the perception of the maritime students on school related activities. This study will involve 310 students who are taking Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of Science Marine Engineering (BSMarE) SY 2012-2013. The participants will be selected randomly and will be classified according to course and year level. The data to be used in this study will be gathered by the researchers. The Antecedent Variable will be the respondents’ course and year level and the School Related activities classified into in and out campus activities The dependent variable to be treated in this study will be the perception of the maritime students on school related activities. This study will be conducted at St. Therese MTC-Colleges in Tigbauan, Iloilo on June-October 2013. The descriptive statistics to be used in this study will be the mean and mean standard deviation. The inferential statistics to be used will be the Mann Whitney U test for independent samples, Kruskal Wallis H Test, and Spearman Rho to determine the perception of the students in school related activities. All levels of significance will be set at 0.05 alpha. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Software (SPSS) version 16.0 will be used to process the data. Chapter II Review of Related Literature Key Concepts on Benefits of Co-curricular Activities Activities Support the Academic Mission of Schools School Activities are not a diversion but rather an extension of a good educational program. Students who participate in activity programs tend to have higher grade-point averages, better attendance records, lower dropout rates and fewer discipline problems than students generally. Activities are inherently Educational Activity programs provide valuable lessons for practical situations – teamwork, sportsmanship, winning and losing, and hard work. Through participation in activity programs, students learn self-discipline, build self-confidence and develop skills to handle competitive situations. These are qualities the public expects schools to produce in students so that they become responsible adults and productive citizens. Activities Are Privileges, Attendance Is Required School districts typically define extracurricular activities as privileges; students earn the right to participate by complying with school rules and regulations. These typically include rules on school and class attendance. Annandale High School in Virginia, for example, has an extracurricular activities participation policy that requires students to attend all scheduled classes on the day of a competition or activity to be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities on that day Outreach Activities Outreach activities are designed to strengthen the relationship between a school system and the surrounding town groups or businesses. Outreach activities invite students to become more active members of their community as well as encourage community members to become part of the school community. Activities Foster Success in Later Life Participation in school activities is often a predictor of later success – in a career and becoming a contributing member of society. Students who spend no time in extracurricular activities are 49% more likely to use drugs and 37% more likely to become teen parents than those who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities. Extracurricular school activities are often important to adolescent students, and they have many benefits. Students learn how to lead through student government or how to play a musical instrument, or take on the responsibility of teamwork in sports, while maintaining their academics. The challenge of balancing these competing responsibilities is an opportunity for students to grow and mature. Educators have studied the relationship between class attendance and extracurricular activities, and many schools set policy in these areas. Foreign Studies A 2010 study of a western Nebraska school district found a correlation between a student’s extracurricular activities and her attendance record. The study concluded that students who participated in extracurricular activities had a higher rate of school attendance than students who did not participate. It used data from 2007-08 and 2008-09 pertaining to 275 of the district’s high school graduates. A University of Massachusetts educator studied middle and high school students and how certain school-related factors — including extracurricular activities and school attendance — affected their eventual completion of a college degree. The study concluded that a student’s good attendance — not skipping classes or school — had a positive correlation to college degree completion. Additionally, the study concluded that the more a student participated in school-sponsored extracurricular activities, the more likely he was to complete a bachelor’s degree. The study also tested these results across racial lines and found that attendance was equally important to future completion of the bachelor’s degree regardless of the student’s race or ethnicity. A Harvard Educational Review article in 2002 found that participation in extracurricular activities in high school appears to be one of the few interventions that benefit low-status, disadvantaged students – those less well served by traditional educational programs – as much or more than their more advantaged peers. In telephone interviews of a national sample of teens in 2001, more than half (54%) said they wouldn’t watch so much TV or play video games if they had other things to do after school. The same survey found that more than half of teens wish there were more community or neighborhood-based programs available after school, and two- thirds of those surveyed said they would participate in such programs if they were available. Bonnie Barber and her colleagues, contributors to the 2005 book, Organized Activities as Developmental Contexts for Children and Adolescents, concluded that making diverse clubs and activities available to a wide range of students is important. The opportunity to embed one’s identity in multiple extracurricular contexts and to experience multiple competencies facilitates attachment to school and adjustment. Activity participation is also linked to affiliation with peers who are academically focused. Adolescents can benefit from this synergistic system when they have opportunities to participate in diverse activities. A Minnesota State High  School League survey of 300 Minnesota high schools showed that the average GPA of a student-athlete was 2.84, compared with 2.68 for the average student, and that student-athletes missed an average of only 7.4 days of school each year, compared with 8.8 for the average student. (Trevor Born. High Standard for GPA, in Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 14, 2007.) Participation in extra-curricular activities provides all students – including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, minorities and those with otherwise less than distinguished academic achievements in high school – a measurable and meaningful gain in their college admissions test scores according to researchers Howard T.Everson and Roger E. Millsap, writing for the College Entrance Examination Board in 2005. In a 2006 research project published by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), it was found that 18-25 years old who participate in sports activities while in high school were more likely than nonparticipants to be engaged in volunteering, regular volunteering, registering to vote, voting in the 2000 election, feeling comfortable speaking in a public setting, and watching news (especially sport news) more closely than non-participants. An extensive study commissioned by the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association found, in that Canadian province in 2006, an average of 78.3% of Alberta’s top corporate CEOs and Members of the Legislative Assembly had participated in interschool sports. Nearly 80% indicated that being involved in school sports significantly, extensively or moderately complemented their career development and/or academic 5 pursuits. This same study pointed out that normal participation rate of students in high school sports is around 30 to 35%. The corporate and political leaders surveyed in Alberta (see above) cited the following benefits associated with their involvement in high school athletics: teamwork, discipline, goal setting, leadership, independence, self confidence, stress relief, character development and personal growth, fair play, and acceptance of others. From a cost standpoint, activity programs are an exceptional bargain when matched against the overall school district’s education budget. Researcher Richard Learner, writing in Promoting Positive Youth Development through Community After-School Programs, found that informal educational and developmentally supportive experiences offered to young people in the context of after-school or community-based programs are a potent source of resources  increasing the probability of positive development among youth. In 2003, the Journal of Adolescent Research reported that extracurricular activity participation is linked to lower rates of dropping out of school, greater civic involvement and higher levels of academic achievement. Moreover, research tracking participation from eighth through twelfth grades and examining outcomes in the postsecondary years concluded that consistent participation has positive effects that last over a moderate length of time. Extracurricular activities stand out from other aspects of adolescents’ lives at school because, according to the Winter 2005 issue of the Journal of Leisure Research, they provide opportunities to develop initiative and allow youth to learn emotional competencies and develop new social skills. A study conducted by Boston University, and published in Adolescence, Winter 2001, reported on a survey of 1,115 Massachusetts high school students. Survey results indicated that athletes were significantly less likely to use cocaine and psychedelics, and less likely to smoke cigarettes. Researchers writing in 2004 in the American Journal of Health Behavior conducted an examination of cross-sectional data from a nationally representative sample of high school students enrolled in public high schools in the U.S. They showed that students participating in organized sports were 25 percent less likely to be current cigarette smokers Stephanie Gerstenblith and her fellow researchers, writing in the 2005 book, Organized Activities as Developmental Contexts for Children and Adolescents state, â€Å"Just as schools with efficient procedures and structure have been found to have positive outcomes, our findings indicate that participants in after school programs with these qualities experience reductions in rebellious behavior and increases in intentions not to use drugs.† In 1985, the NFHS sponsored a national survey of high school principals and nearly 7,000 high school students in all 50 states. The survey, funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis, was conducted by Indiana University in cooperation with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Following are the results of that survey. 10 95 percent believed that participation in activities teaches valuable lessons to students that cannot be learned in a regular class routine. 99 percent agreed that participation in activities promotes citizenship 95 percent agreed that activity programs contribute to the development of â€Å"school  spirit† among the student body. 76 percent said they believe the demand made on students’ time by activities is not excessive. 72 percent said there is strong support for school activity programs from parents and the community at large. Students who compete in high school activity programs make higher grades and have better attendance. A study of nearly 22,000 students conducted by a University of Colorado professor for the Colorado High School Activities Association which was released in the fall of 1999 indicates students who participate in some form of interscholastic activities have â€Å"significantly higher† grade-point averages than students who do not. Data obtained from the spring 1997 study by Dr. Kevin J. McCarthy revealed student participants in Jefferson County high schools had an overall grade-point average of 3.093 on a 4.0 scale, while the GPA for non-participants was 2.444. Jefferson County School District, the state’s largest school district, has matched the academic success of its students with success on the playing field. The 16 district schools have won a combined 39 state championships in the 1990s in sports, while its music programs consistently bring home â€Å"superior† ratings. Nancy Darling, et al., writing in the 2005 Journal of Leisure Research notes that extracurricular activities allow youth to form new connections with peers and acquire social capital. They are one of the few contexts, outside of the classroom, where adolescents regularly come in contact with adults to whom they are not related. Students who spend no time in extracurricular activities are 49% more likely to use drugs and 37% more likely to become teen parents than those who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities (United States Department of Education. No Child Left Behind: The facts about 21st Century Learning. Washington, DC: 2002.) On June 23, 2000, then President Bill Clinton issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education to work together to identify and report within 90 days on â€Å"strategies to promote better health for our nation’s youth through physical activity and fitness.† The resulting report entitled â€Å"Promoting Better Health for Young People through Physical Activity and Sports was released in November 2000 and stated that â€Å"enhancing 7 efforts to promote participation in physical activity and sports among young people is a critical national priority.† Of the 60 students listed in the May 14, 1998, USA Today’s All-USA High School Academic First, Second and Third Teams and the 51 who earned honorable mention, 75 percent were involved in sports, speech, music or debate. The 29th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes toward the Public Schools of September 1997 reflects an increase in perceptions about the value of co curricular activities. In 1978, 45 percent of the public, judged extracurricular activities to be very important. That figure fell to 31 percent in 1984. In 1985, the figure was 39 percent and jumped to 63 percent in the 1997 poll. The 1997 poll also asked about the emphasis placed on such sports as football and basketball. Fifty-three percent of the respondents believed the current emphasis was about right. In a survey of 4,800 high school students in March 1995, the Minnesota State High School League found that 91 percent of them said students who participate in school activities tend to be school leaders and role models; 92 percent said that participation in school activities provides an opportunity not found in a regular classroom setting to develop self-discipline. Adolescent Time Use, Risky Behavior, and Outcomes: An Analysis of National Data, issued in September 1995, by the Department of Health and Human Services found that students who spend no time in extracurricular activities are 57 percent more likely to have dropped out of school by the time they would have been seniors; 49 percent more likely to have used drugs; 37 percent more likely to have become teen parents; 35 percent more likely to have smoked cigarettes; and 27 percent more likely to have been arrested than those who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities. A study by Search Institute in 1995 indicates that co curricular activities play a central role in students’ healthy development. Yet too many schools are finding it necessary to cut these programs for budgetary reasons. With asset building as a focus, these programs are not peripheral to the school’s mission, but important components of a comprehensive strategy. In the March 1997 issue of School Counselor, 123 students involved in interscholastic soccer are analyzed. Results indicate that activity participation does not harm and may enhance academic performance. Male athletes showed in-season improvements in academic performance. Ralph McNeal (1995) showed that different kinds of  activities have varying abilities to control school dropout rates. He concluded that students who participate in athletics, fine-arts activities, and academic organizations were an estimated 1.7, 1.2, and 1.15 times, respectively, less likely to drop out than those who did not participate. Athletic participation reduces the probability of school dropouts by approximately 40 percent. For example, the probability that the typical person in the sample would drop out of school is .0487, but if this same person participated in athletics, the estimated probability would be .0299. The impact of fine-arts participation for the typical person’s estimated probability is reduced from .0487 to .0415, or 15 percent. Silliker and Quirk (1997) investigated the academic improvement of students who participated in extracurricular activities. In this case, they looked at male and female high school students who participated in interscholastic soccer and who did not engage in another sport or major activity at the conclusion of the soccer season. They discovered that female participants in season maintained a GPA of 87.7 mean (M) with a 5.6 standard deviation (SD). Out of season these statistics dropped to 87.5 M with a 6.4 SD. The male participants in season maintained a GPA of 84.7 M with a 7.5 SD, and out of season their GPAs dropped to 83.8 M with an 8.7 SD. These data show that participants had significantly higher GPAs in season than out of season. The girls earned higher GPAs than did the boys, but the boys’ GPAs rose significantly in season versus out of season. The study supports the belief that involvement in athletics for high school students does not endanger, and may enhance, academic performance. Susan Gerber (1996) also found that extracurricular participation is not detrimental to student performance and that participation in these types of activities promotes greater academic achievement. In addition, she discovered that participation in school-related activities was more strongly associated with achievement than was participation in activities outside of school. Herbert Marsh (1992) compared predicted outcomes for students who did not participate in extracurricular activities with those of students who were moderately active. He found that this difference in participation level is associated with outcome differences of .582 SD in social self-concept and .390 SD in academic self-concept. He concluded that the effects of participation on social and academic self-concepts are significant. Evidently, participation  in extracurricular activities, even those not obviously associated with academic achievement, leads to increased commitment to school and school values, which leads indirectly to increased academic success. William Camp (1990) studied the effects of participation in activities on overall student success in school, as measured by grades, while controlling for the effects of other variables that could reasonably affect those grades. He used the symbol b* to represent standardized regression coefficients calculated in his structural analysis. He found that students’ activity levels produced a positive, significant effect on academic achievement (b* = .122). Particularly interesting in his study was the fact that this effect was more than twice as great as that of study habits (b* = .055), which are generally regarded as an important causal variable of academic achievement. John Mahoney and Robert Cairns (1997) indicated that engagement in school extracurricular activities is linked to decreasing rates of early school dropouts in both boys and girls. They discovered that such participation provides marginal students an opportunity to create a positive and voluntary connection to their school. Conversely, other strategies typically used to address the needs of at-risk students, such as school dropout prevention programs and remedial education, focus on the deficits of students and serve as a catalyst in the formation of deviant groups. The researchers strongly believe that involvement in extracurricular activities may support the at-risk student by maintaining, enhancing, and strengthening the student-school connection. Theoretical Framework This study is anchored to the Theory of Involvement that has been proposed by Astin (1984). According to the theory, students learn more the more they are involved in both the academic and social aspects of the collegiate experience. An involved student is one who devotes considerable energy to academics, spends much time on campus, participates actively in student organizations and activities, and interacts often with faculty. Based on the 1984 report, Involvement in Learning, student involvement takes the form of participation in academically related activities, out of class activities, and interactions with faculty, staff, and peers. Activities related to academics could include: attending class prepared for discussion and the day’s lesson; participating in study groups; and/or membership in academic  honor programs or societies, career-related organizations, and performance groups in the arts. Involvement in outside-of-class, or co-curricular activities, could include campus based student organizations, college athletic or intramural sports, employment on-campus, and volunteer service experiences. Involvement with peers and faculty/staff include those relationships where learning takes place beyond classroom settings: serving as a teaching or research assistant, talking with faculty during office hours, assisting in a laboratory or a fine arts production. Different from the role of the student in Astin’s earlier â€Å"input-process-output† model (Pascarella, 1991, P.50), where the student is passively developed by the faculty and by university programs, this theory posits that the student plays an integral role in determining his or her own degree of involvement in college classes, extracurricular activities and social activities. Of course, the more quality resources available, the more likely those students who are involved will grow or develop. Therefore, faculty interaction both inside and outside the classroom and high quality university programs and polices reflective of institutional commitment to student learning are necessary for student growth. Astin states that the quality and quantity of the student’s involvement will influence the amount of student learning and development (Astin, 1984, p.297). True involvement requires the investment of energy in academic, relationships and activities related to the campus and the amount of energy invested will vary greatly depending on the student’s interests and goals, as well as the student’s other commitments. The most important institutional resource, therefore, is student time: the extent to which students can be involved in the educational development is tempered by how involved they are with family friends, jobs, and other outside activities (p.301). There are several practical applications resulting from this theory, but Astin states that the most important to teaching is that instructors are encouraged to take the focus off the course content and their own technique and put it on their students. Astin states that the intended end of institutional and pedagogical practices is to achieve maximum student involvement and learning; to do that instructors cannot focus solely on technique but must also be aware of how motivated students are and how much time and energy they are devoting to the learning process (p.305). According to Astin, his theory of involvement has an advantage over traditional pedagogical approaches because it focuses on the motivation and behavior of the student. Therefore all institutional policies and practices can be judged by the degree of involvement they foster in student. Also, all faculty, from instructors to counselors, can work with the same goal in mind, unifying their energies into making the students more involved in the college environment and therefore better learners (p.307). Astin also discusses the benefits to students of staying connected to the campus environment by living in campus-related housing, attending college full-time rather than part-time, studying with other students on campus, and working at jobs on campus. Based on the stated theories, the study is conducted and has the following variables as shown in Figure 1.( The research paradigm ) The research paradigm of the study is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1.Research Paradigm. The paradigm shows the relationships of the antecedent variable, Course and year level and the in and out campus activities to the dependent variable, Perception of the maritime students on school related activities. Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology Research Design This study will use descriptive method of research consisting of qualitative research as it seeks to determine the perception of the maritime students on school related activities Respondents/Sample This study will involve 310 students who are taking up Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering (BSMar E), S.Y. 2013-2014. The sampling method to be used for this study will be the simple random sampling because students from each course with varying year levels will be included as respondents of the study. Table 1. Profile of Respondents Course and year level Total population Number of respondents Percentage BSMT 1 195 44 23% BSMT 2 192 43 23% BSMT 3 184 42 23% BSMar E 1 299 68 23% BSMarE 2 255 58 23% BSMar E 3 243 55 23% 1368 310 2.3% Table 1 shows the number of respondents as classified as to course and year Instrument This study will use the researcher-made questionnaire based on the paradigm of this study that the researcher has gathered and subject for validation by the experts. There will be two parts of the instrument: Part One will be the personal information of the respondents such as course and year level. Part Two is the questionnaire which will gather data relative to the perception of the maritime students on school related activities. Data-Gathering Procedure Permission to conduct the study will be secured from the Dean of Maritime Studies of St. Therese MTC – Colleges Tigbauan. The researchers will personally distribute the questionnaires which will be filled out by the respondents in their respective classrooms. After which, these will be retrieved and reviewed fro completeness of data. The data obtained will be culled, encoded, analyzed, and interpreted. Data Analyses Procedure All data gathered will be computer-processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS).The descriptive statistics to be used will be the mean and standard deviation to determine the perception of the students on school related activities. The inferential analytical tools to be utilized will be the t- test for independent samples to determine differences that would exist in course and year level with the outreach activities; analysis of variance (AnoVa) for antecedent samples to determine differences that would exist in course and year level with the school activities; Spearman Rho the perception of the maritime students on school related activities Finally, the level of significance for the analysis was set at 0.05 alpha. The bases for interpretation of the trainings (SSO/SSA), company support, self-preparedness, onboard preparation and measures and national/international coordinationand measures will be as follows: Mean ScaleQualitative Description 3.25 – 4.00Highly effective 2.50 – 3.24effective 1.75 – 2.49moderately effective 1.00 – 1.74less effective