A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ONLINE AND TRADITIONAL CLASS TO

THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

Presented by:
VALBUENA, JUAN MIGUEL G.

Presented to:
Introduction

Due to Covid-19 the Philippine has implemented community quarantine

to contain the virus and lessen the cases. From March 2020 until now January

2021 Metro Manila is still under general community quarantine (GCQ). Due to

these circumstances and restrictions schools and universities have shifted

from traditional face-to-face learning into distance learning. Traditional face-to-

face learning as we all know refers to a learning delivery modality where the

students and the teacher are both physically present in the classroom whereas

there are opportunities for active engagement, immediate feedback, and socio-

emotional development of learners (M. Lleno, 2020). While distance learning is

a learning delivery modality where there is a physical separation of teachers

and students and the class use various technologies to facilitate student-

teacher and student-student communication.

In such a critical time, there has been a drastic change in how teaching

and learning happen while learners are physically out of schools and separated

from their teachers and co-learners. The educational practices during the

Covid-19 pandemic are denoted with different terms in different countries (e.g.,

distance education, e-learning, online education, homeschooling, etc.).

However, these terms do not quite capture what is being practiced during the

interruption of education, which can better be described as emergency remote

derivations of

distance education, as a generic term, the remarkable difference between

emergency remote education and distance education is that the latter is an

option while the former is an obligation. Such an understanding is crucial

because misconceptions in definitions would lead us to misconceptions in

practices. Distance education, for instance, is a planned activity and its

implementation is grounded in theoretical and practical knowledge which is

specific to the field and its nature. On the other hand, emergency remote

education is about surviving in a time of crisis with all resources available,

including offline and/or online.

Schools are still adapting to this new normal and the researcher wants to

find if there is a difference in the effectiveness to the academic performance in

these two different learning modalities. Online and traditional classes have very

different learning environment. Traditional classes provide education in schools

which have learning spaces which is a very appropriate learning environment.

In online classes both teachers and students conduct their class at their own

homes which may not be suitable for a learning environment because of

various reasons. Noise barrier and technological barrier are the most common

reasons on why homes are not that conducive for learning. The researcher will
focus on the communication barriers and how could it possibly affect the

academic performance of the students.

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to examine the academic performance of

targeted students, to compare its different outcomes in online and traditional

classes and contrast for which class environment is more effective in teaching

students.

Objectives of the Study

1. To know which learning delivery modality is more effective between

traditional and online class to the academic performance of the students.

2. To distinguish the difference of online and traditional class according to

its communication barriers.

Statement of the Problem

The study attempts to distinguish which class environment is more effective

to the academic performance of the students. More specifically, the researcher

seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the students’ demographic profile based on their:

1.1 Course

1.2 Year level

its communication barriers?

3. What is the difference in the student’s academic performance during

traditional classes and online classes

3.1 What are the students’ GWA for the academic year of 2019?

3.2 What are the students’ latest GWA for the academic year of

2020?

4. Which learning delivery modality is more effective to the academic

performance of the students?

Significance of the Study

With the outbreak of Covid-19 in China on 2019 the Philippine

government imposed lockdown and strict quarantine measures on 2020. With

this, schools and universities shifted from face to face learning to distance

learning and Filipinos are forced to adapt to the new normal. The findings of

this study will improve are current academic system to maintain quality

education even in the middle of this pandemic. This will also benefit the

students for this will give them necessary information on how learning delivery

modality affects their academic performance.

The scope of the study is for finding which is more effective to the

academic performance of the students between Online and traditional class.

This study is only delimited to selected university students and their GWA

between the year

of 2019 and 2020 and also identify different communication barriers between

online and traditional classes.

Review of Related Studies and Literature

Based in a recent study on medical students in the Philippines, in any

case of geographic location, they have experienced several barriers as they tried

to adjust to online learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Age, gender, annual

income, year level, internet access, academic standing and number of hours on

online learning affected the medical student’s academic performance. The

researchers classified the technological barrier as lack of devices or limited

access due to gadget sharing, unreliable, slow, or no internet access, lack of

technical skills, and Issues with the online learning platform. Limited space

conducive for studying, need to fulfill responsibilities at home, conflicts within

the family, financial distress within the household, need to work for extra

income and lack of basic needs are classified as domestic barriers. Community

barriers are mobility restrictions due to community lockdown, power

R. Mabulay, 2020)

(E. Rotas, M. Chapay, 2021)

An article pointed out that distance learning is an integration of

technology for educational delivery with preparedness. However according to

the researchers, what the schools and universities in the Philippines are

applying right now is an emergency remote education. While the former has

proven its

effectiveness for student learning, the latter is under scrutiny on its concepts.

Although emergency remote education has a limited preparation it mitigates

educational challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic. There are a lot of barriers

that posed a lot of challenges in emergency remote education such as internet

connections, technological skills, choice of platforms, content knowledge,

innovative strategies etc., among others, the concept of ERT gives a transitory

arrangement to learning. Despite these challenges the advantage of emergency

remote education is that it allows for leniency or consideration under

emergency circumstances, so educational opportunities are still possible. (C.

Toquero, 2020)

Difficulty in remote learning has been confirmed in the study of Rotas et

al., (2020) where a teacher would require them almost three activities in a

subject, thus giving them less time to carefully answer them all. The study also
mentioned other difficulties in remote learning in the Philippines such as

unstable internet connectivity, inadequate learning resources, electric power

interruptions, vague learning contents, limited teacher scaffolds, poor peer

communication, poor learning environment, financial related problems,

conflicts with home responsibilities, physical health compromises and mental

health problems.

In a recent article, it mentioned that geographical and socio-demographic

factors also played an important role in the students’ perception of different

aspects of academic work/life as the empirical results suggest that the

transition

from traditional face-to-face to online classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic

had a stronger effect on part-time students, applied sciences students,

undergraduate students, students with a lower living standard, and students

from less developed regions specifically in Africa and Asia, while the pandemic

generally itself had a greater effect on students who were female,

undergraduate, full time and had financial problems with respect to their

personal circumstances and emotional life. The article also demonstrated that

more hopeful and less bored students, students who were more satisfied with

their academic work/life, students with a better living standard (with a

scholarship and/or the ability to pay the overall costs of study), social science

students, and those who were studying in Europe showed greater satisfaction
with the role and measures of their university during the COVID-19 crisis. (A.

Aristovnik, L. Umek, 2020)

The education system of the Philippines was hard hit by the Covid-19

pandemic. The challenges of poor network infrastructures, internet

connectivity, high cost of digital devices and underinvestment on faculty

training in online/blended learning were one of the common problems that

hindered effective delivery of ERE in most developing countries. The social

disparity and the digital divide had been to perceptible in these hard times.

Primarily, those students with internet access took advantage of learning

remotely, while disadvantaged students need to find an alternative way of

completing the

learning tasks by voicing out their challenging experiences and problems to

make learning accessible for all. (Bozkurt et al., 2020)

Conclusion

There are differences in communication barriers between traditional and

online classes. As stated by Mabulay, there are three differences which are

technological barrier, community barrier and domestic barrier. Examples of

technological barriers are lack of devices or limited access due to gadget

sharing, unreliable, slow, or no internet access, lack of technical skills, and

Issues with the online learning platform. Limited space conducive for studying,

need to fulfill responsibilities at home, conflicts within the family, financial

needs are classified as domestic barriers. Community barriers are mobility

restrictions due to community lockdown, power interruptions, and

sociopolitical concerns. Online classes have more communication barriers than

traditional classes. Online classes is more effective to the students who have a

conducive learning environment while the other student can only try to keep

up. Because of these additional communication barriers on online class,

traditional classes is more effective than the latter.

Recommendation

For Teachers, knowing these communication barriers and how it affects

the students’ academic performance can help them on how they can improve

online teaching. Teachers should focus more on asynchronous classes or

record their lectures so students that can’t keep up during synchronous

classes can find ample time to continue their studies.

For Government, Officials should improve policies that can help alleviate

these communication barriers especially problems regarding technological

issues and community barriers.

For Parents and Guardians, they should be considerate and give

concerns about domestic barriers. Online class and the pandemic have already
affected their children so much and parents should not add more to those

problems.

For Researchers, this study can be their basis on finding solutions on

certain communication barriers in online class.

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