TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

“A Comparative Study on the Mathematical Performances between Grade 8

Students with and without Prior Knowledge at the University of Santo

TomasEducation High School SY 2013-2014”

In Partial Fulfilment

Of the Requirements

In

MATHE ED 105

Submitted to:

PROF. ISAGANI TRISTE

Submitted by:

LOPEZ, Jasper John R.

BORJA, Kyle Noel G.

OLIDAN, Mark Angelo B.

TAÑAGRAS, Phyl Graeme N.

1
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Since 1950, University of Santo Tomas Education High School has been

established to serve as a laboratory school for the training and formation of future

efficient and effective teachers. It likewise provides quality secondary Catholic

education to bright yet financially challenged students through affordable fees and

scholarship programs. The UST Education High

School is staffed by eight supervising teachers, mainly experts in their own field of

specialization and three regular teachers (www.ust.edu.ph). The school caters to 4 year

levels comprised of 2 sections per year level. Grade 7 is composed of 95 students,

Grade 8; 99 students, Third Year; 98 students, and Fourth Year 108 students. UST

Education High School has already implemented the K-12 Curriculum since 2012 using

the Understanding by Design (UbD) Plan. As of A.Y. 2013-2014, the school has a batch

of Grade 7 and Grade 8 students eventually continuing until Grade 12.

Students admitted in the UST Education High School have undergone several

screenings before they will be accepted. UST Education High School is open to students

coming from both public and private elementary schools. They must take first the

entrance exam and once they pass, they will be interviewed by the supervising teachers

and later on, their parents will be interviewed by the latter and this is the last part of

screening. Those students who topped the entrance exam will receive Rector’s Honorific

2
Award as their incentive and can enjoy this certain privilege until they finish their

secondary studies with the condition that they must meet the grade requirement. Each

year level is composed of two sections and each section consists of estimated fifty

students which is an ideal ratio for a better teaching-learning environment.

Grade 8 students have become the subject of the study since they were the

pioneering class when the spiral design of K-12 Curriculum in each subject was

implemented. The researchers would like to assess the performance of the students in

terms of the prior knowledge that they have gained from the previous year. Since for

one and a half month of being Pre- Service Teachers at the University of Santo Tomas –

Education High School, it has been clear that majority of the Grade 8 students have had

a hard time catching up with their lessons in Math. Topics such as integers and

fractions which were very crucial in the subject, proved to be a challenge to the

students. This simply proves the vitality of pre requisite knowledge in the formation of

the students’ learning. The situation that the teachers currently encounter with Grade 8

students in the given subject allows the researchers to see the importance of strong

foundations in learning. Spiraling of lessons is now given importance in the newly

implemented K-12 curriculum which strengthens the need for mastery of pre requisite

knowledge.

The researchers chose the whole Grade 8 population having two sections each

with grade 8-Patriotism having 49 students, and Grade 8-Respect having 50 students

for a total of 99 students.

3
 With the implementation of the K-12 Curriculum, the Department of Education

has already set a new grading scheme to assess the performance of the students.

Instead of the traditional grading system which is composed of several criteria, namely:

Quizzes, Seatwork, Recitation, Periodical Exam and Performance, the new grading

scheme consists only of four main components: Knowledge, Process/Skills,

Understanding and Performance. The percentages for these components are as follows:

15%, 25%, 30% and 30% respectively. Knowledge encompasses those simple recall

questions which determine how much learning was retained by the students. Process

refers to the application of skills in performing operations. Understanding focuses on

solving problems which students can find their application in real-life situation. Lastly,

performance component is based on the output given by the students may it be product

or process depending on the task given by the teacher.

All these observations paved the way for the researchers to conduct this

comparative study on the mathematical performance of Grade 8 students with and

without prior knowledge at the University of Santo Tomas Education High School SY

2013-2014.

4
Statements of the Problem

The main purpose of this study was to determine the comparison between the

mathematical performance of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without prior

knowledge during the pre-test?

2. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without prior

knowledge during the post-test?

3. Is there a significant difference between the mathematical performances of

grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge?

a. during pre-test?

b. during post-test?

Hypothesis

In relation to the problems posted, the following null hypothesis of this study was

tested at 0.05 significance level:

“There is no significant difference between the mathematical performances of Grade 8

students with and without prior knowledge.”

Significance of the Study

The aim of this research study was to determine the indispensable relevance of

having prior knowledge in a students’ performance and to eliminate other factor that

would affect the outcomes. This study will benefit the following people:

5
Students: The students will be able to assess themselves based on the prior

knowledge that they possess and improve on fundamental topics of the lesson that they

need to know. Moreover, they will value the importance of having prior knowledge in

their studies.

Teachers: The teachers will know the strengths and weaknesses of the students

particularly on the lesson that they need to emphasize. With this research, they can

monitor the performance of the students and keep pace of the learning the students

have gained.

Parents: The parents will be informed of their children’s strengths and weaknesses and

be able to support their children to excel in all academic endeavors.

Scope and Delimitation of Study

This research study was only focused on determining the significant difference

between the mathematical performance of Grade 8 students with and without prior

knowledge. The only factor to be considered in this research study was limited to prior

knowledge. This research was conducted within the premises of University of Santo

Tomas Education High School. The subjects of the study were the whole population of

Grade 8 students comprising 99 students in total. The study ran from the first half of

the second grading period until the second summative examination, A.Y. 2013- 2014.

6
 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter deals with the significant literature, which gave the researchers valuable

insights and adequate background information required in development of this study.

Review of Related Literature and Studies

Many scholars have connoted what prior knowledge stands for whether it determines

what we learned from experience or it is just the foundation of student’s learning. Mcdaniel

(2009) clearly stated that when students came into a classroom, they entered with a wide

range of experiences and came from many cultures. They have ideas, knowledge and concepts

that were already formed. Some of this knowledge may be incorrect and some might be right

on target, but needed expansion. Furthermore, he added that this prior knowledge was very

important to acknowledge as one of the factors affecting student learning.

On the other side, Parcell’s definition of prior knowledge was involved in some or

all of the following: 1.)Some life experiences, either vicarious or real 2.) Previous works

read in this or other classes, 3.) Previous concepts (or abstractions) from this or other

7
classes, 4.) Previous experiences with the language, its syntax, its rhythms and its

diction and5.) The first reading of the material.

Roschelle (1995) noticed that educators often focused on the ideas that they

wanted their audience to gain more knowledge or to learn more, but research has

shown that a learner's prior knowledge often confounded an educator's best efforts to

deliver ideas accurately. A large body of findings showed that learning proceeded

primarily from prior knowledge, and only secondarily from the presented materials.

Prior knowledge can be at odds with the presented material, and consequently, learners

will distort presented material. Neglect of prior knowledge can result in the audience

learning something opposed to the educator's intentions, no matter how well those

intentions were executed in an exhibit, book, or lecture.

It seemed that most of psychologists were very eager to know the implications

of prior knowledge in assessing its relevance to the achievements of the students and

to match it with teaching styles for great effective learning and so, Thompson and

Zamboanga (2003) examined whether course achievement for introductory psychology

students was facilitated or impaired by their prior knowledge of psychology. They

administered a pretest exam to 422 students early in the semester and gathered

subsequent exam scores and other measures of student achievement. Students

generally performed poorly on the pretest, as expected, but regressions revealed that

pretest scores were uniquely positive, significant predictors of student achievement with

8
other influences on achievement (e.g., homework, attendance) controlled. Further

analyses suggested that prior knowledge is a significant resource that faculty can enlist

in their instruction.

In the research study “The Effect of Prior Knowledge on Learning in Educational

Practice: Studies Using Prior Knowledge State Assessment”, researchers measured prior

knowledge by means of using prior knowledge assessment test. The results showed

that beginner students were especially willing to use prior knowledge state assessment

for different purposes, stressing the importance of regular feedback on the results of

the assessment. Concerning the actual use of the assessment instruments, the findings

suggested that beginner students need more external pressure to use the assessment

instruments than advanced students. When it came to attending final examinations, it

seemed that beginner students benefited more from prior knowledge state assessment

and progress assessment than experienced students. The students who were actually

took the prior knowledge state assessment and received feedback and study advice,

had higher scores on final examinations than the non-respondents.(Dochy et al,1999).

It was not very obvious until educators have fully embraced and understood the

importance of students having a prior knowledge to determine the strengths and

weaknesses of the students. Brookfield (2006) strongly justified in the book “The Skillful

Teacher”, ”We may exhibit an admirable command of content, and possess a dazzling

variety of pedagogical skills, but without knowing what's going on in our students

heads, that knowledge may be presented and that skill exercised in a vacuum of

9
misunderstanding." He added that new knowledge was built on existing knowledge.

Thus, when a teacher is planning a class discussion, it is important to determine what

your students are likely to know coming into your course and later in the planning

process, how well they know it.

(http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/yourstudents.html)

Foreign Literature and Studies

In the study conducted by Callender (2008) entitled “The Effects of Prior

Knowledge Relevance and Organization on Text Comprehension and Memory,” she

stated that prior knowledge was considered to be important for text comprehension.

Moreover, her study showed that it was advantageous on part of the readers to possess

knowledge learned immediately prior to reading a text. In relation to the study being

conducted, the researchers proved that indeed prior knowledge was a significant factor

in the student learning.

Another study conducted by Guthrie and Taboada (2006) entitled “Contributions

of Student Questioning and Prior Knowledge to Construction of Knowledge from

Reading Information Text” revealed the following results:

”Student questioning accounted for a significant amount of variance in

students' reading comprehension, after accounting for the contribution

of prior knowledge. Furthermore, low- and high-level questions were

10
 differentially associated with low and high levels of conceptual

knowledge gained from text, showing a clear alignment between

questioning levels and reading comprehension levels.”

The preceding study revealed that there was parallelism between the combined

act of student questioning and the prior knowledge of the students and their

comprehension levels. It can’t be denied that student questioning made the learners

understood the text more clearly than reading merely by themselves. This provided an

opportunity for them to get what the author tried to convey.

Shapiro (2004) mentioned in her study, “Prior knowledge has a marked effect on

learning outcomes. The methodological approaches intended to control prior knowledge

may be insufficient to prevent this variable from influencing learning outcomes. We

cannot but include prior knowledge as one of the considerable factors that affect the

student learning. It pays to learn something but it pays more to acquire knowledge

about it beforehand.”

The research “How Prior Knowledge Affects Word Identification and

Comprehension” conducted by Priebe et al (2012) among the children indicated the

result that prior knowledge was found to significantly increase fluency and reduce

reading errors, especially errors based on graphic information, in poor readers. This

paved the way for the researchers to recognize that even from the beginning readers,

prior knowledge has a great impact of their acquisition. With their minds that have to

11
be formed, it is crucial for their parents and teachers to impart the correct

understanding of the things around them.

Hailikari et al (2008) conducted a study on determining the relevance of prior

knowledge in learning and instructional design. They found out that prior knowledge

from previous courses significantly influenced student achievement. Furthermore, they

reiterated that students’ prior knowledge must be taken into consideration in

instructional design and curriculum planning. Being pre-service teachers, the

researchers found this study useful in their own field. With the implementation of the K-

12 Curriculum, a set of learning competencies was specified to monitor the learning of

the students.

The research done by Leppink et al (2012) dealt with prior knowledge on

moderating instructional effects on conceptual understanding of statistics. They

discovered that prior knowledge facilitated propositional knowledge development and

leads to differential effects of teaching and learning methods on conceptual

understanding. They found out that students of low prior knowledge should be guided

into the subject matter by means of working in pairs on learning tasks that comprise

additional information.

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 The aforementioned study was supported by the research conducted by Wetzels

et al (2011). They concluded that the effects of retrieval-directed function of note

taking are influenced by learners’ level of prior knowledge. Learners with high prior

knowledge benefit from taking notes while activating prior knowledge, whereas note

taking has no beneficial effects for learners with limited prior knowledge. Meaning to

say, it was advantageous on part of the students with acquired prior knowledge to list

down terms and define them on their own correct understanding.

In the field of entrepreneurship, prior knowledge and experience play a critical

role in man’s ability to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. (Arentz et al,

2013). This connotes that in the sense of the real world application, people with

sustaining prior knowledge and practical skills get to lead among the rest of

entrepreneurs. Truly to say, knowledge is power.

Matthews and Farmer (2008) showed in their study “Factor Affecting the Algebra

I Achievement of Academically Talented Learners” there was strongest relationship

between mathematics reasoning and Algebra I achievement. The amount of class time

spent each week in mathematics can affect their achievement. Meanwhile, the teachers

were highly encouraged to incorporate more classroom discussion on mathematical

topics.

13
 Hemmings et al (2008) revealed in their study that prior knowledge, effort and

mathematics attitude greatly affect the performance of the students in mathematics. In

addition to that, numeracy and literacy tests were positively and significantly related

according to their study.

LocalLiterature and Studies

The following literature and studies provided real scenarios of the academic

performances of Filipino students. The researchers wanted to determine other factors

aside from prior knowledge that could affect the mathematical performances of Filipino

students. The researchers saw their relevance since they were also considered as other

determinants in the achievement of students.

Sangcap (2010) conducted a research entitled “Mathematics-Related Beliefs of

Filipino Students: Factors Affecting Mathematics and Problem solving Performance.” the

results of his study showed positive beliefs that Filipino students valued effort in

increasing one’s mathematical ability and considered mathematics as useful in their

daily lives. On the contrary, he mentioned that Filipino students believed that all word

problems can be solved by simple step by step procedure and word problems are not

important. This research paved the way for the researchers to widen their ideas about

several factors aside from prior knowledge that could affect the performance of

14
students. Beliefs of students could be a great determinant in the achievement of their

performance.

Dullas (2010) revealed in his research entitled “Academic Performance and Self-

Efficacy of Filipino Science High School Students on Mathematics and English Subjects”

that self-efficacy belief increased likelihood of better performance of science high school

students on both English and Math subjects. His research presentedself-efficacy as

another factor affecting the mathematical performance of students. It was a good thing

for the students that they believe in themselves and get the most out of it.

The study conducted by David and Sciat (2011) provided the researchers another

view in relation to the mathematical performance of the students. Their research was

entitled “Performance in Basic Mathematics of Indigenous Students.” It was

recommended in their study that the teachers of conventional schools where indigenous

students were mainstreamed, the students must be given more learning activities due

to their cultural background.

Pilarta (2010) discussed in her study entitled “Mathematics Performance of

Second Year Students of Selected Secondary Schools of Abra” that there was a

significant relationship between the students’ level of performance and parent’s

occupation and residence while studying. She emphasized in her study that students in

this place were children of non-professional workers and they mostly enjoyed their day

15
at home watching television. Thus, she encouraged the parents of these students to

supervise their children in their home studies and monitor their watching.

In response to what Crisostomo (2000) mentioned that Filipino students were

still weak in math and science , according to results of the Third International

Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R).(www.philstar.com/news-

feature/91528/filipino-students-still-rate-low-math-science), Lee-Chua (2013) mentioned

that a courseware was developed to help improve the mathematical performance of

Filipino students in particular with the grade 1 students. She was one of the proponents

of this math courseware plan for the curriculum. She said that this was done not to

replace the textbooks but to supplement the available material. It was found out in their

study that scores of the students who used the courseware soared, compared to those

who did not. She concluded that the courseware improved the mathematical

performance of the student.

Synthesis

All these research studies gave insightful realizations for the researchers to

ponder on as how they would conduct this study. Several literatures stated that prior

knowledge was indeed one of considerable factors affecting the student

performance.Many researchers abroad have conducted their own studies on the

importance of prior knowledge and its implication to the student learning and progress.

16
The researchers have found out that in the Philippine setting, only few literature and

studies have delved on prior knowledge but they cited several factors that could affect

student performance especially in the field of mathematics. This inspired the

researchers to conduct this study on prior knowledge and to determine the outcome of

this factor. They hoped that with all these literature and studies they have gathered,

this can give significant information about the prior knowledge and academic

performance of the students.

Conceptual Framework

The cited related literature and studies lend support to the researchers to design this

conceptual framework.

With

Prior Knowledge
MATHEMATICAL PERFORMANCE

a. Pre-Test
b. Post-Test Without

Prior Knowledge

FIGURE 1. A Comparative Study of the Mathematical Performance of Grade 8

Students with and without Prior Knowledge at the University of Santo Tomas

Education High School

17
 From the figure above, the Grade 8 students were classified into two groups;

those with prior knowledge and those without prior knowledge based on the test they

have taken. Both groups have taken the same pre-test and post-test in order to

determine their mathematical performance. Each group was taught with the same topic

within the second grading period.

The expected outcome of this study was to discover the difference in the

mathematical performance between students with prior knowledge and those without

prior knowledge and to assess whether this difference was significant.

Definition of Terms

Some of the terminologies found in this research have been defined

operationally to assist the readers in understanding the study in its context. The terms

used in this study are as follows:

Mathematical Performance- this refers to the results of the questionnaire given to

the students

Grade 8 Mathematics- this refers to the new math course outline in response to the

K-12 Curriculum. It is spirally-designed to help students master mathematical skills

which encompass different of mathematics namely; algebra, geometry, probability and

statistics.

K-12 Curriculum- This refers to the latest curriculum starting from kindergarten until

Grade 10 with additional 2 years of technical/vocational programs implemented

throughout the Philippines.

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Prior Knowledge- this refers to the knowledge of the students must have known or

possessed beforehand.

Understanding by Design Curriculum- the currently followed lesson plan structure

by Pre- Service Teachers in the UST- EHS.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research method that was used, the research sample,

the instrument that were utilized in gathering data, the procedure in gathering data,

and the statistical treatment that were used in analyzing the data of this study.

Research Design

Primary data that have been collectedwere composed of questions and answers

leading to the use of quantitative method of research to investigate the results of the

test questionnaire that was given to the respondents. As stated above, the researchers

aimed to compare the results of a given test to the chosen respondents; giving the

researchers the more reason to use quantitative method of research. The chosen

method also served as an advantage to the researcher, for it was inclined with their

own specific field of study. Furthermore, the researchers used descriptive comparative

type of research employing the profile of the students’ scores in their pre-test and post-

test to determine if there was a significant difference between the mathematical

19
performance of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge during the second

grading period of the school year 2013 – 2014.

Sample and Sampling Technique Used

The respondents were the two Grade 8 sections of the University of Santo Tomas

Education High School. The population of grade 8 students comprised 99 students.

Grade 8 students were chosen as respondents for they were the pioneering batch of the

newly implemented K-12 curriculum by the Department of Education here in our

country. Students’ prior knowledge must be taken into consideration in instructional

design and curriculum planning (Hailikari et al, 2008). The vitality of prior knowledge

was tested in this fresh batch of K-12 curriculum students, giving the researchers a

more intensive and comprehensive action research.

Instrumentation

The researchers have used a test as the main questionnaire. The questionnaire

would just only cover one unit. It was composed of 25 stem-option type; mainly simple

recall and skills questions. Each item has four (4) choices; respondents have to choose

the letter of the correct answer from the given set of choices. Moreover, they made

sure that the items in the questionnaire were those that were not yet discussed with

the respondents during class. This was validated by the Pre-Service Teachers assigned

20
to the respondents during the second grading period, which was the time period that

the research fell on. The researchers have identified those students with prior

knowledge, and those without. Students who answered 50% (13 and above) or more

items correctly were classified as “with prior knowledge.” Those who obtained scores

below 50% (12 and below) were classified as “without prior knowledge.” The same test

was administered among the students during the post-test in order to compare the

scores of those “with prior knowledge” against those “without prior knowledge.”

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers’ initial step prior to data gathering was to seek approval from

the principal of Education High School through a request letter signifying their intention

of administering the questionnaire to both Grade 8 sections. After seeking permission,

they have conducted already the pre-test to the two Grade 8 sections. Once the papers

were collected, the researchers proceeded immediately checking the papers. Those

students who answered 13 (50%) and above correctly were identified students “with

prior knowledge” while those who obtained scores 12 and below were identified as

“without prior knowledge.” 57 out the Grade 8 students were found out to have prior

knowledge on the topic and 42 of them were without prior knowledge. The next step

done by the researchers was administering the same test (as post-test) after the unit

has been taught to the students by the pre-service teachers. The researchers gathered

all the results again and listed all the scores corresponding to each student. The scores

in the pre-test and post-test became the bases for determining the significant difference

21
between the mathematical performance of Grade8 students with and without prior

knowledge. Data that have been collected were treated using the SPSS Program.

Statistical Treatment of the Data

The following statistical computations were employed to analyze and interpret

the information gathered:

In Problems 1 and 2,

To determine themathematical performance of students with and without prior

knowledge in the pre-test and post-test, respectively, the researchers obtained the

mean of each group during the pre-test and post-test using the SPSS program.

In Problem 3:

The results of the pre-test and post-test were collected and grouped according to

students with and without prior knowledge. The t-test for equality of means with an aid

of SPSS program was used to determine the significant difference between the

mathematical performance of the Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge.

22
 CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the findings, analysis, and interpretation and discussion of the

data on the comparative study in the mathematical performance of Grade 8 Students with prior

knowledge and without prior knowledge. The order of presentation is based on the sequence of

the research questions posted in this study.

Problem 1. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without

prior knowledge during the pre-test?

Table 1

The Mathematical Performance of Grade 8 Students during the Pre-test

Standing of Students Number of Pre-Test Mean

students

With Prior Knowledge 57 81.40

Without Prior Knowledge 42 68.24

Table 1 shows the average of mathematical performance of Grade 8 students during

their pre-test. The researchers were able to determine who among the 99 students have prior

23
knowledge and not. After checking the papers, 57 out of the students have prior knowledge

about the topic and 42 of them were without prior knowledge. Their scores are transmuted and

the researchers obtained the mean of each group. Those with prior knowledge obtained a mean

of 81.40 and those without prior knowledge gained an average of 68.24. The difference

between their scores was 13.16. Based on the table above, one could observe that those with

prior knowledge have a higher mean than those without. This result was supported by

Callender (2008) although her study was in the context of reading comprehension. She found

out that it was advantageous on part of the readers who possessed prior knowledge in reading

the text because they were able to understand easily the text. On this account, the researchers

agreed with Callender that those with prior knowledge performed better even the topic was yet

being discussed, than those students without prior knowledge.

Problem 2. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without

prior knowledge during the post-test?

Table 2

The Mathematical Performance of Grade 8 Students during the Post-test

Standing of Students Number of Post-Test Mean

students

With Prior Knowledge 57 80.11

Without Prior Knowledge 42 72.57

24
 Table 2 shows the average of mathematical performance of Grade 8 students during

their post-test. The researchers have administered the same type of questionnaire to Grade 8

students. Afterwards, their papers were collected and grouped according to their standing in

the pre-test. The 57 students with prior knowledge obtained a mean of 80.11 while the 42

students without prior knowledge gained an average of 72.57. The difference between their

scores was 7.54. Looking back on the table, those with prior knowledge gained again a higher

mean than those without.

However, the researchers have observed a decrease in the average of the students with

prior knowledge compared to their mean in the pre-test. The researchers acknowledged that

there were other considerable factors which prevailed in the situation to which this result could

be attributed to, like time-constraint while they were taking the test. Likewise, Matthews and

Farmer (2008) revealed in their study that the amount of class time spent each week in

Mathematics can affect student achievement. Hemmings et al (2008), cited that effort and

attitude toward mathematics, aside from prior knowledge, were some of the factors that greatly

affected the performance of the students in Mathematics. Meaning to say, there were several

factors to which mathematical performance can be affected. But for this research since the

post-test scores obtained by the students speak for their mathematical performance, it would

only deal primarily and specifically with the aspect of prior knowledge.

It could be noticed evidently that those without prior knowledge have an increase in

their mean compared to their performance during the pre-test from 68.24 to 72.57. This

increase was verified by the research conducted by Dochy et al (1999) that when it came to

attending final examinations, it seemed that beginner students benefit more from prior

knowledge state assessment and progress assessment than experienced students. They got the

chance to monitor their learning progress on their own. Students without prior knowledge

25
would gain knowledge about the topic after it has been taught to them. Another study of

Guthrie and Taboada (2006) supported this result that student questioning during the lesson

proper accounted for a considerable effect on the construction of knowledge the students

gained. Furthermore, they mentioned that there was parallelism between the act of student

questioning, prior knowledge of the students and their comprehension levels. Since the

students without prior knowledge gained understanding of the topic, their comprehension of the

topic increased. This can be verified by the data presented above that those students without

prior knowledge obtained a higher mean during the post-test than pre-test. Thus, this led to the

increase of their mathematical performance in the post-test and decrease in the difference

between the performances of the two groups.

Problem 3. Is there a significant difference between the mathematical performances

of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge?

a. During pre-test?

Table 3

The Significant Difference between the Mathematical Performances of Grade 8

Students with and without Prior Knowledge during the Pre-test

Number of Mean Sig. (2- Interpretation

Students tailed)

PRE-TEST With prior 57 81.40

knowledge .000 Significant

Without prior 42 68.24

knowledge

26
 In order to determine whether there was a significant difference between the

mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge during the

pre-test, the t-test for equality of means was used with the aid of SPSS program.The level of

significance was tested at 0.05 (2-tailed). The obtained Sig (2-Tailed) value = .000 and since it

was less than 0.05, it implied that there was a statistically significant difference between the

mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge. This only

meant that the students with prior knowledge performed better than those without prior

knowledge during the pre-test.

This result was verified by the Shapiro (2004) in her study that prior knowledge has a

marked effect on learning outcomes. She added that methodological approaches intended to

control prior knowledge may be insufficient to prevent this variable from influencing learning

outcomes. Mcdaniel (2009) stressed that when students came into classroom, they have a

wide range of experiences, ideas, knowledge and concepts that were already formed but some

of these aspects need to be cultivated or expanded. Thus, he acknowledged the presence of

prior knowledge as one of the factors affecting student learning.

Since the pre-test was conducted without students having any idea that they would take

the test, the results were supported by Roschelle (1995) who stated that a large body of

findings showed that learning proceeded primarily from prior knowledge and only secondarily

from the presented materials. The pre-test has been an instrument for the Math pre-service

teachers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the students. Since the topic was not yet

discussed with them, the pre-service teachers have been able to identify those students with

and without prior knowledge through the scores. Thompson and Zamboanga (2003) revealed

that those pretest scores were uniquely positive, significant predictors of student achievement

with other influences on achievement like homework and attendance. And later on, this prior

27
knowledge from previous courses, according to the study of Hailikari et al (2008), significantly

influenced student achievement in learning. Thus, they recommended that student’s prior

knowledge must be taken into consideration in instructional design and curriculum planning.

However, there was this suggestion coming from Leppink et al (2012) that those students

without or low prior knowledge should be guided into the subject matter by means of a “buddy

system” with the help of their classmates having prior knowledge.

b. During Post-test?

Table 4

The Significant Difference between the Mathematical Performances of Grade 8

Students with and without Prior Knowledge during the Post-test

Number of Mean Sig. (2-tailed) Interpretation

Students

POST-TEST With prior 57 80.11

knowledge .000 Significant

Without prior 42 72.57

knowledge

In order to determine whether there was a significant difference between the

mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge during the

post-test, the t-test for equality of means was also used with the aid of SPSS program. The

level of significance was tested at 0.05 (2-tailed). The obtained Sig (2-Tailed) value = .000 and

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since it was less than 0.05, it implied that there was a statistically significant difference between

the mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge. This

only meant that the students with prior knowledge still performed better than those without

prior knowledge during the post-test.

This result was supported by Wetzels et al (2011) that even after the post-test, it was

advantageous on part of the students with prior knowledge to perform better. Their research

mentioned that after note taking, those learners with high prior knowledge benefited more from

their note taking. In parallel to their study, students with prior knowledge got the chance to

take down notes and recalled the terms and formulas related to the topic and how they can

solve the given problems.

On the other hand, it could be noticed that the performance of those students without

prior knowledge was increased and this was verified by Priebe et al (2012) in her study that

those children who gained prior knowledge were found to significantly increase fluency and

reduce reading errors, especially errors based on graphic information. And in this study, since

the students were already taught about the topic, they have been able to grasp the lesson.

Dochy et al (1999) made it clear that it was more beneficial on part of those beginner students

to take the prior knowledge state assessment and progress assesment rather than the

experienced students. By these means, they could already assess their performance in the

subjects they were taking up and so, put effort to understand the lesson.

But in the end, it was still the students with prior knowledge who obtained higher mean

than those without prior knowledge. And as what Shapiro (2004) implied, “it pays to learn

something but it pays more to acquire knowledge about it beforehand.”

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 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The intent of this chapter is to present the problem for the purpose of recapitulation, to

give generalizations of the study and to stress out the recommendations proposed by the

researcher.

Summary

The main purpose of this study was to determine the comparison in the mathematical

performance between students with prior knowledge and without prior knowledge in Grade 8.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

4. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without prior

knowledge during the pre-test?

5. What is the mathematical performance of the students with and without prior

knowledge during the post-test?

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 6. Is there a significant difference between the mathematical performances of

Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge?

a. during pre-test?

b. during post-test?

In relation to the problems posted, the following null hypothesis of this study was

tested at 0.05 significance level:

1. There is no significant difference between the mathematical performances of

Grade 8 students with and without prior knowledge.

Findings

Based on the data gathered for this study, the researchers revealed the following

findings in relation to the problems:

1. During the pre-test, 57 of the Grade 8 students were found out to have prior

knowledge on the topic and 42 of them were without prior knowledge. The

average of the mathematical performance of the students for those with prior

knowledge obtained a mean of 81.40 while those without prior knowledge

gained 68.24.

2. During the post-test, students with prior knowledge gained an average of

80.11 while students without prior knowledge obtained an average of 72.57.

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 3. The sig (2-tailed) value obtained was 0.000 for both pre-test and post-test.

And since the value was less than 0.05, there was a statistically significant

difference between the mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with

and without prior knowledge.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of this study the following conclusions have been reached:

1. During the pre-test, students with prior knowledge performed better than

students without prior knowledge. The difference in their mean was 13.16.

2. During the post-test, students with prior knowledge still performed better

than those without prior knowledge. The difference in their means was 7.54,

lower compared to the previous mean. One could see that the average of

students without prior knowledge increased in the post-test and the reason

lying behind that was those students already gained knowledge of the topic.

3. There was a statistically significant difference between the between the

mathematical performances of Grade 8 students with and without prior

knowledge during both pre-test and post-test. Based on the data that have

been gathered, it can be said that students with prior knowledge performed

better compared to those without prior knowledge during the pre-test and

their difference was more than 10. However, during post-test, students

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 without prior knowledge obtained an increase in their mean compared to

their mean in the pre-test. Thus, the resulting difference between the two

groups during post-test lessened.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the following recommendations are

hereby presented:

1. Students are highly encouraged to make an advance reading of the topic so that they

can decipher and understand the lesson and the class discussion is a good avenue for

them to raise their questions.

2. The classroom pre-service teachers especially those who are teaching Mathematics

should make the lesson not merely a simple lecture about the topic. They must

incorporate motivational activities to boost the participation of the students. They could

also make use of pre-test to determine who among the students have a prior knowledge

about the topic. They could give incentives to those students who get the highest score

during the pre-test. By these means, students will be motivated to study the lesson

ahead of time.

3. The administration of the schools and the subject supervisors must encourage the pre-

service teachers to use pre-test as a means of assessing who among the students are

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 equipped with the knowledge beforehand about a certain topic. This is a good indicator

to see the learning progress of the students.

4. Parents must monitor the learning progress of the students. They must be the first ones

to motivate their children to study hard and give them rewards once they perform well

in school. They must guide their children in everything they do and be of great help

when their children need support from them.

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