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Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

INTRODUCTION

Rationale of the Study

When people think of the most important subjects in school, Math and

Science come to mind most often. It is very common for many people to

overlook Social Studies when constructing a link of this kind. Social Studies

encompass the most material out of any academic subject. Through social,

economic, political and psychological thinking practically all events and ideas

in the history of mankind can be studied and analyzed within the framework of

Social Studies.

The study of Social Studies provides students with the basic skills and

knowledge to continue to learn, make informed decisions, positively

participate in society, and achieve personal goals of interest. These abilities

and ambitions are first developed and then fostered in Social Studies

classroom.

Social Studies offer a wide array of viewpoints and different

perspectives to use for analysis. Human behavior, past, present, and future

are able to be studied within the realms of Social Studies. For these reasons I

believe that Social Studies is the most important discipline to be studied and

teachers need to motivate their students to embrace what it has to offer. It is a

common complaint of students to declare that they don’t like history because

it is too boring and it is not relatable to their lives. Relating past events to the
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present will result in students being more engaged and will eliminate that

feeling of boringness. If we do not analyze the historical experiences of other

groups of people then our society will never be able to relate other cultures

and understand why they behave as they do or make the decisions they

make. Whether we realize it or not, everyone uses some form of history

whether it is for their own personal agenda, or for political, social, or economic

reasons. Also, classes in Economics give insight into our how local, national,

and global economies function. Social Studies disciplines, such as Civics,

focus on important issues that are not found in as much detail in any other

subject. It would be ignorant to not discuss the controversial issues in a social

studies classroom. While this topic is sometimes ignored in schools, it is vital

that all people are made aware of controversial issues if they are to maximize

their impact on a democratic society. These issues need to be brought to light

and a classroom setting is a place where these topics can be discussed in an

intellectual and civil manner. If they are not taught properly, then people will

be a huge disadvantage not only in becoming good citizens, but also in

developing empathy for people and issues that might be otherwise foreign to

them.

Studying Social Studies entails a certain way of thinking and

encourages students to analyze material, take a position, defend that position

with evidence and demonstrate understanding. The skills involved with this

process are practiced in Social Studies. Teachers need to ensure that these

students are practicing these skills it will not only help the students across
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discipline in school, but it will make them better learners, thinkers, and all

around better people in life.

As students explore and investigate they are making cognitive

connections and stretching their minds to make sense of what they are

observing. As a teacher, it's easy to fall into a rhythm of presentation,

practice, correction, assignment, grading, and assessment in the classroom.

We break up the topic into bite-sized chunks, plan some sort of media event

to support the learning, and plunge ahead, trying to get the information across

in a meaningful and memorable fashion. In exploratory instruction and

learning, you teach by planting questions, like seeds, that encourage students

to investigate their own approaches to learning the material.

Interacting with content and exploring concepts allows students to

recognize patterns and form questions. Student exploratory learning presents

a significant challenge in traditional learning settings (the common

classroom). Limited numbers of resources and limited variety severely inhibit

meaningful exploration. However, teachers can leverage some outstanding

instructional technology resources to enrich student exploration and provide

differentiated, transformative learning experiences that are impossible to

achieve without technology, and irreplaceable in generating levels of deep

understanding. In order to learn this discipline successfully trained and well

prepared teachers need to be in place in order to guide their students through

the material.
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Theoretical Background

The theory is anchored on the effectiveness of exploratory method in

Social Studies for Junior High School students in Punta Princesa Night High

School. It aims to know the effectiveness of this kind of method in teaching.

Student exploratory learning presents a significant challenge in traditional

learning settings (the common classroom). Limited numbers of resources and

limited variety severely inhibit meaningful exploration. Explore learning

experiences provide a guided journey into content and concepts and connect

personal engagement to academic endeavor. As students explore and

investigate they are making cognitive connections and stretching their minds

to make sense of what they are observing. Interacting with content and

exploring concepts allows students to recognize patterns and form questions.

(Dr. Jim Barufaldi,2002).

Within both populations of teachers, a range of teaching styles have

been identified, some being closely aligned than others with Bruner's (1966)

postulates for the construction of a theory of instruction. The findings of this

study suggest the possibility of a wider testing of a prescriptive instructional

theory across different areas of the school curriculum. However, the

instruments employed in the studies described here would be inadequate for

providing a detailed empirical test, because they only provide information

about the probabilities of cognitive behaviors’ occurring in the classroom. As

Eggleston (1983) points out, minimally we also require information about the
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sequence of events. Given a more comprehensive picture of classroom

events, critical empirical tests of instructional theory should be feasible.

When teachers guide students to conceptual understanding, students

become more capable of crafting, recognizing, appreciating, and evaluating

an author’s voice across different examples of their own writing and that of

others. This raises the bar for teaching and learning in process disciplines.

(Lanning, 2013)

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

Collection of Raw Data

Data Processing

Exploratory Analysis and

Visualization of Data

Visualization of Results

Decision Making

Figure 1

Without certain tactics, students are doomed to the same lecture style

of education. The memories that are affecting the students’ attitudes should
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be replaced with new, positive ones in order to be able to influence their

attitudes. The intervention has to be powerful and even dramatic for this to be

possible (Stylianides & Stylianides ,2014).

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

This research will determine the effectiveness of exploratory method

in Social Studies teaching for Junior High School at Punta Princesa Night High

School, Cebu City as basis for a Teaching-Learning Guide.

Specifically, this will answer the following questions:

1. Pre-test and Post-test performance of the students in the following

competencies:

1.1 Determined the causes of migration in and out of the country

1.2 Explain the impact of migration on the social, political and economic

aspect

1.3 Explain the concept of political dynasties

2. What is their perception on the use of exploratory method?

3. Based on findings, what output can be presented?

The responses to the research questions will have significant value to the study

as well as to the other stakeholders in the field of teaching.

Significance of the Study

The study will benefit the following in different ways:

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Punta Princesa NHS Junior High students.

They are the direct recipients of this study. After determining the

effectiveness of exploratory method in Social Studies teaching has a negative or

positive effect to students’ performance, the teachers will be encouraged to either

continue utilizing it or reject it in the teaching-learning process of these students.

Punta Princesa NHS Social Studies Teachers.

This study will give teachers and idea on what aid of instruction they

will employ to improve their students’ performance in Social Studies and to cater

students’ needs.

School Administrator.

The principal will benefit the success that may be achieved by

teachers once the result of this study will be developed. The performance of the

teachers as well as the students would bring a good performance to the school

where the students and teachers belong.

Future Researchers.

The findings of this study may be used by future researchers who will

conduct related investigation. They could utilize the current findings to support

and substantiate the future studies conducted.

All Teachers.

The findings of this study will not only be limited to the teachers in

Punta Princesa NHS but as well as to the teachers in other schools so they can

develop their teaching strategies.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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Research Design

This study will use the descriptive research design. The researchers

will determine what kind of methods should be used in teaching Social Studies

for the students to understand more which will be find out between the pre-test

and post-test by utilizing the standardized test questionnaires.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

 Pre-test  Research  Effective

Design Teaching
 Post-test  Data Strategies
Gathering in Social
 Data Studies
Figure 2: Research Flow
Processing

 Figure
Analysis
2 and
Interpretation
Flow of the Study

The researchers will conduct a test to respondents in Junior High

School in Punta Princesa Night High School.

Environment

The study will be conducted at Punta Princesa Night High School

located at F. llama St., Tres de Abril, Punta Princesa, Cebu City.

Punta Princesa Elementary School started its operation in 1952 in an

old ancestral house owned by Llaban family. It was situated on the opposite side

of the road five meters away from the location of the present school.

In the year 1957, the school was built through the effort of the Cebu

City Division officials with the full support of the city government. It has the total

land area of 1.5 hectare which is located adjacent to Barangay Punta Princesa,
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along Tres de Abril Street, Cebu City. Because of its location, the school has

constantly attracted enrolees from the community.

Research Instrument

The main instrument of this study is the standardized test questionnaires which

have fifty (50) items. The passing score is 38 which has 75% of the total score.

The passing rate was based on the DepEd standard. This tool is used to gather

important facts about the respondents. The test was composed of the following

competencies: determined the causes of migration in and out of the countries;

explain the impact of migration on the social, political and economic aspect and ;

explain the concept of political dynasties.

Definition of Terms

To understand the contents of the current investigation, the following terms are

operationally defined:
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Migration. It is a way to move from one place to another in order to live

and work. It is the movement of people from their home to another city, state or

country for a job, shelter or some other reasons.

Political Dynasty. It is a family in which several members are involved in

politics and businesses, particularly electoral politics. Members may be related

by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple siblings may be

involved.

Social Aspects. These are the commonalities among people within a

specific culture.

Political Aspects. Referring to activities concerned with achieving and

using power in a country or society. The mechanism and decision making rules

that exist in a country, how to govern the country and how to exert power.

Post-test. This term refers to the test to be administered by the

researcher to student respondents after exposing them to the exploratory method

of teaching Social Studies. The scores that will be obtained by the students in the

control and experimental groups will be considered as their post-test

performance.

Pre-test. In this study, the term refers to the test to be administered

by the researcher prior to the exposure of the student respondents to the

exploratory method of teaching Social Studies. The score in control and

experimental groups will be considered as their pretest.

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Experimental Group. It is a group of students who will be exposed in

exploratory method in teaching Social Studies

Exploratory learning. It can be defined as an approach to teaching

and learning that encourages learners to examine and investigate new material

with the purpose of discovering relationships between existing background

knowledge and unfamiliar content and concepts.

Teaching-Learning Process. It is where an educator assesses

learning needs, establishes strategies, implements plan of work and evaluates

the outcomes of the instruction specific learning objectives, develops teaching

and learning.

REFERENCES

Dr. Jim Barufaldi (2000) The 5E Model of Instruction

R. G. Hacker and D. S. G ; Teaching Processes in Social Studies Classrooms

and Prescriptive Instructional Theories. Carter British Educational Research

Journal Vol. 13, No. 3 (1987), pp. 261-269

Sarah Gonser (2018). How social studies can help young students make sense

of the world. A journal

Lanning (2016). What You Need to Know About the Structure of Process.

Structure of Knowledge pp. 2-4

Copper (2000) Classroom Assessment.. National Science Education standard

pp. 5-8

Barton (2000), Teaching History for the Common Good, pp 5-13

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