This study reveals the pretest and post test performances of control and experimental groups in reading comprehension skills: literal, interpretive, applied, and appreciative after using the conventional and classroom-website reading methods to statistically analyze if there is a significant mean gain of pretest and posttest performances of two groups. The design used was a quasi-experimental and descriptive with the lottery technique. The findings show that both groups obtained below average level in their pretest performances. However, the experimental group gained above average level in their posttest performance. In four (4) skills, the control group’s pretest mean is 17.94 while 22.0 for its posttest mean with a difference of 5.06 and its computed t-value of 4.70 which is greater than the critical t-value of 1.67 at 0.05 level of significance. And the experimental group’s pretest mean is 20.60 while 33.69 for its posttest mean with a difference of 13.09. The computed t-value of 1.97 is greater than the critical t-value of 1.67 at 0.05 level of significance. In the posttest mean difference between the two groups in reading skills, its computed t-values of 8.50, 9.91, 7.91 and 9.90 respectively are greater than the critical t-value of 2.00. Therefore, the hypothesis of no significant difference in the posttest scores between the two groups is rejected. It is concluded that the intervention used was effective among students in the experimental group who were exposed to classroom-website instructions. Therefore, it should be recommended that teachers should develop the Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students.
Keywords: English Teaching Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students (ETO-AIMS); DepEd Dalaguete NHS; Quasi-Experimental-Descriptive Research; Poblacion, Dalaguete, Cebu, Philippines
I. INTRODUCTION Educational institutions around the world would signify teachers using the desktop computers, laptops, e-tablets, i-pads, mobile phones, multimedia projectors and wide television sets. Some of these teachers have been using the websites in their teaching instructions. According to Deborah Mau, (2016) stated that International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE; 2013) in Washington DC., United States affirmed the fact that only being capable to utilize the technology would no longer sufficient in the planet; somewhat, learners should enhance their skills to explore, find out, and evaluate through technology use. It should be vital that facilitators must organize young students to accomplish their roles internationally with technological proficiency as cited by Richardson, (2013). The classroom website might be one vehicle that could coordinate all of the students’ investigations, learning activities, and would enable them to analyze their progress and should function productively in the classroom, and later globally. As cited by Deborah Mau, (2016) that various research studies had corroborated the benefits of integrating technology in the classrooms to develop learning. A classroom website could be the hub of many innovative and successful learning technologies. Deborah Mau, (2016) stated that Woo, Chu, and Li (2013) examined the utilization of a wiki for shared writing in a Chinese elementary school in Hong Kong. During a collaborative session, results signified a noteworthy increase in context level remarks, a major development in learners’ group writing, and an augmented easiness in communicating through technology as it was also cited by Woo et al., (2013). Likewise, according to Andria Moon et. al. (2016) stated that student-centered activities using the iPads with the goal of developing reading comprehension in a Grade 5 classroom were applied from their action research paper. In addition, according to Stephanie Elizabeth Maynard, (2016) stated that in the concerns about the reading comprehension skills of learners in the United States had been raised partly because of the advent of digital products into their lives and into the classroom settings. In reading comprehension, the researcher considered the findings of Roebl, K.M. and Shine, Connie (2014) affirmed that many EFL Taiwanese students appeared to be capable to read with relative fluency, but a closer examination showed that they do not understand the text. In addition, Indonesian students would have problems in reading comprehension as cited by Maharani, Hellen (2015) stated the problems that faced by the students in reading skill were vocabulary which was perceived as the greatest difficulty, but of course the other comprehension difficulties were also contained in reading skill such as: style of writing, speed reading, difficulty in getting the main idea of text, and not given sufficient time for reading. However, one of the developed countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore also used the online dashboards in teaching and learning. According to Mike Sharples et. al. (2016) stated that their paper contained the series of reports that searched new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to lead teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. One of the 10 Singaporean interactive-world-innovations is the Learning through Social Media: Outside schools, colleges/universities, people might learn less formally. Some might utilize social media such as Twitter and Facebook to share ideas and engage in conversations. But the researcher had developed the interactive classroom website innovation for teaching based on DepEd national competencies although selections of passages were done based on Canadian reading texts and its questions were adapted from The Princeton Review (2001). READING STRATEGIES AND LITERARY ELEMENTS. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. In the Philippines, the state provided a national budget for the Department of Education (DepEd) through the General Appropriations Act. Then DepEd implemented the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) wherein all public schools in the Philippines should be provided with DepEd Computerization Program package or packages depending on the schools’ enrolment every year. These computers should be utilized by teachers in teaching the subjects. DepEd Order No. 78, s. 2010 issued the Guidelines on the Implementation of the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP). With the legal mandate of promoting the right of all citizens to take appropriate steps in making education accessible to all, the Department of Education (DepEd) had been geared towards the transformation of education through the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP). It aimed to provide schools with appropriate technologies that would enhance the teaching-learning process and would meet the challenges of the 21st century of learners. In the modern trend of English teaching especially in teaching reading comprehension, the teachers could really use the computers, television sets, and other gadgets. Moreover, they could also use the internet and could browse reliable websites which could help them in teaching students. The teachers could even develop their classroom websites for free using the sub-domain that could be used in their teaching instructions. However, traditional teaching to students would still be applicable especially in the competency of reading comprehension. Then, teachers had been utilizing the technology in their teaching instructions; since some teachers in America had developed their classroom websites as cited by Deborah Mau, (2016) stated that research had confirmed the benefits of incorporating technology, such as course websites, within public school classrooms to enhance student learning. This study anchored on Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Brian Stevens, (2014) stated that Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning hypothesized that many of the features of multimedia would lead to deeper learning for the learners. This theory would stress the three main assumptions. The first assumption would emphasize that the brain processes information through both the auditory and visual channels. The second assumption would stress that these channels have limited capacity. The final assumption would emphasize that learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating this information. These three assumptions would provide a foundation for the eight key principles of this theory. Brian Stevens, (2014) stated that the eight principles of this theory helped to clarify how the theory would work. These would contain: multimedia, contiguity, coherence, modality, redundancy, personalization, interactivity, and signaling principles. The three principles were used in the study especially when using the website elements in the four levels of reading comprehension. First, the multimedia principle was used when pictures were included and texts were encoded in the webpage to support the reading text or the passage or selection wherein the hypertexts were used for unfamiliar words to link the online dictionary. Second, the contiguity principle was used to include pictures and words at the same time using the website elements such as hyperlinks for pictures and hypertexts for unfamiliar words. Both pictures and texts had links to other web pages or websites. Lastly, the signaling principle which was used for pointing out the most important facts in the information from the passage or selection intended for Literal, Interpretive, Applied and Appreciative Levels of Reading Comprehension. According to Marylene N. Tizon (2012) stated that there are four levels of reading comprehension. These would be the literal, interpretative, evaluative and creative levels. Likewise, there might also be four noted levels of comprehension by unknown writer. The four levels categorized into Literal, which is what is actually stated, Interpretive or Inferential, which is what is implied, Applied or Evaluative, which is when what was meant by what was stated is actually applied to concepts or ideas that go beyond what was discussed, and the final level, Appreciative, which is read more....more abstract and based on a deeper understanding of the material in question. The first level, should be Literal, is based on what was actually stated in the material. The second level, Interpretive or Inferential, depending on the theorist in question, goes a step further. This level would need that the subject material is not only understood, but also that a general understanding of what was implied is reached. This would force the learners to build their understanding of the subject matter by using the facts presented to read between the lines for the true meaning of what was meant for absorption. The third level, Applied or Evaluative, is the level that deals with the learners applying what was shared to real life events or situations. This level does allow for the learners or readers to include bias and their opinions as would relate to the subject material. Their ability to translate its meaning to their own experiences is the measure by which their level of actual understanding is based, so far as their retention goes. The final level, Appreciative, is based on the learners’ own feelings towards the material or author. It is considered more abstract than any of the other levels because personal likes and dislikes can affect this level. Inevitably, the key is to get each learner to go through all four levels of comprehension, and this is a good guide to follow to gauge if the levels are indeed reached by the learner. The reading texts or passages for Literal, Interpretive, Applied, and Appreciative Levels of Reading Comprehension were encoded in the classroom-website webpages with hypertexts for unfamiliar words. It was because that the researcher believed the use of hyperlinks to link the online dictionary could really help learners to understand the passage or selection. And he also considered the scholarly work published by K.M. Roebl and Connie Shine (2014) stated that many EFL Taiwanese students appeared to be able to read with relative fluency. This research paper was designed to know the reading comprehension level of students when they were exposed to website elements that might have better impact to the K to 12-21st century learners when educators were using their classroom websites. This prototype-research innovation was based on DepEd Memo 143, s. 2017 wherein the researcher was encouraged to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in teaching, learning, and governance. The memo stipulated that all public schools should be informed that there would be national and regional DepEd ICT Summits to showcase the best ICT practices in the Philippine schools. The researcher believed that a classroom-website innovation in English could be one of the best ICT innovations and practices. The researcher believed that this research paper titled “Online Automated Instructional Materials for English 8” could be in relation to the areas: improving access to education; improving the quality of education; and improving governance as stipulated in (DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2015), as amended by (DepEd Order No 4, s. 2016) however, repealed by (DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2017) in which said research is precisely in relation to the Research Agenda Category: Teaching and Learning. This prototype classroom website innovation, https://k12english.weebly.com/ might be considered one of the best Information and Communications Technology (ICT) practices wherein students could view and download documents, slides presentations, and pictures using their cell phones. Parents could also monitor class activities of the teacher and could guide their kids to accomplish their assigned tasks. This innovation could also be viewed, shared, and monitored by teachers, administrators and DepEd personnel. Therefore, the research study was conducted at the Dalaguete National High School particularly to Grade 8 Olive and Gemelina students.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS/RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this study, a two sample pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the use of Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students (AIMS) in the reading comprehension level of Grade 8 students of Dalaguete National High School. Two intact groups with heterogeneous grouping were chosen to represent the control and experimental groups. Both the experimental and control groups were given a pretest on reading comprehension. The control group was exposed to the conventional method of teaching using lecture-discussion while the experimental group was exposed to the online classroom website. After the treatment, both groups were being subjected to a posttest. This study utilized the Experimental-Descriptive Survey Method as a means to gather and interpret the data and findings. The questionnaire was used as a tool of gathering the data. And such data were considered the credible sources for good recommendations to a proposed training-workshop for Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students at Dalaguete National High School in which such classroom website innovation would be based from the national competencies set by the Department of Education. The researcher forwarded the transmittal letters to the office of the Schools Division Superintendent (SDS), to the office of the Public Schools District Supervisor (PSDS) and then to the office of the principal of Dalaguete National High School for the conduct of the study. All of these were processed using the Experimental-Descriptive Survey Method. The researcher used two types of research questionnaires as Assessment Survey Forms with same reading texts and directions for the control and experimental groups of students to answer the guide questions in the pre and post tests. The data were being gathered, tabulated, presented, analyzed, and interpreted. The treatments used were Z-test in comparing the actual and hypothetical means, T-test mean difference in getting the mean difference of the reading comprehension level between the control and experimental groups where the variances of the two samples were applied, pre-post mean gain was used in testing whether there would be a significant mean gain of the pretest and posttest performances of the control and experimental groups, and arithmetic mean was used in gauging the problems met by respondents in reading comprehension.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS PRETEST PERFORMANCES OF THE STUDENTS It was hypothesized that there’s no significant difference between the actual mean and hypothetical mean in the pretest performances of the students in both groups. Tables 2 and 3 reveal the pretest performances of the control and experimental groups of students along the four (4) skills, namely: literal, interpretive, applied, and appreciative. The hypothetical mean was obtained by using the 75% performance target set by the Department of Education. The actual mean was obtained by taking the average of the students’ scores.
Pretest Performance of the Control Group (Olive) Table 2 presents the pretest performance of the control group of students. Considering the totality, none among the four (4) skills has reached the average level. The overall pretest performance of the students in the control group is categorized under below averagelevel, with the actual mean of 17.94 being significantly lesser than the hypothetical mean of 30.0. The computed z-value of 16.95 is greater than the critical z-value of 1.96. Thus, the hypothesis of no significant difference is rejected. This finding is almost the same to the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study, “The Effectiveness of Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF) Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that revealed the pretest performance of the control group which was average. This implies that in reading comprehension, the readers would precisely need more stocks of vocabulary. The finding is not similar to the finding of Wildhan Burhanuddin (2012) stated that there was an improvement of the students’ reading comprehension in terms of literal comprehension dealing with word meaning and main ideas and interpretive comprehension dealing conclusion. This also implies that students’ reading comprehension with mentally absorbed source of vocabulary can really help the readers. There might be other factors why students performed under below average, such as the learning environment, the motivation of students to achieve high scores during the quizzes, and the time constraints intended for assessment. And of course, basically, the respondents were second language learners in English. What they might want was the bilingualism approach during the discussion proper. Moreover, according to Hellen Maharani (2015) stated the problems that faced by the Indonesian students in reading skill were vocabulary which was perceived as the greatest difficulty, but of course the other comprehension difficulties were also contained in reading skill such as: style of writing, speed reading, difficulty in getting the main idea of text, and not given enough time for reading. The researcher believed that the control group of students had obtained below average level of performance because the facilitator had merely administered the pre-reading wherein during the activity it was immediately followed with the pretest. During the pre-reading-pretest activity, the facilitator hadn’t used the intervention of the lecture method of teaching.
Pretest Performance of the Experimental Group (Gemelina) Table 3 presents the pretest performance of the experimental group of students before they were exposed to the classroom-website reading intervention. Taking into account all the skills, the actual mean of 21.14 is less than the hypothetical mean of 30.0 with the computed z-value of 11.64 which is significantly greater than the critical z-value of 1.96. Therefore, the students’ overall pretest performance in the experimental groupfell under below average level and absolutely, based on the Table, the null hypothesis of no significant difference is rejected. This finding is almost the same to the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study, “The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that revealed the pretest performance of the experimental group which was average. This implies that in reading comprehension, the readers would exactly need more stocks of vocabulary. Since, the students of the experimental group were given the link of the classroom website, they had used the webpage with hypertexts which were linked to the online dictionary. However, there were possible factors why those students got below average level in their reading skills’ performance. These would include the following: (1) few students failed to execute in clicking the mouse to view the linked online dictionary; (2) few students found difficulty in typing their names, Grade and Section; (3) few students accessed www.facebook.com, www.google.com, www.youtube.com, and other sites offering online games. There might be other factors why students performed under below average, such as the motivation of students to achieve high scores during the online quizzes, and the time constraints intended for assessment. Moreover, according to Hellen Maharani (2015) stated the problems that faced by the Indonesian students in reading skill were vocabulary was perceived as the greatest difficulty, but of course the other comprehension difficulties were also contained in reading skill such as: style of writing, speed reading, difficulty in getting the main idea of text, and not given enough time for reading. The researcher believed that the experimental group of students had obtained below average level of performance because the facilitator had merely administered the pre-reading wherein during the activity it was immediately followed with the pretest. During the pre-reading-pretest activity the facilitator hadn’t used the intervention of the interactive website method of reading comprehension.
POSTTEST PERFORMANCES OF THE STUDENTS Posttest Performance of the Control Group (Olive) Table 4 presents the posttest performance of the control group of students wherein they were exposed to the conventional or traditional method of teaching. Based on the Table and considering the totality, none among the four (4) skills has reached the average level after the students had been exposed to the conventional teaching method. The overall posttest performance of the students in the control group is described under below average level, with the actual mean of 22.5 being significantly lesser than the hypothetical mean of 30.0. The computed z-value of 10.63 is greater than the critical z-value of 1.96. Thus, the hypothesis of no significant difference is rejected. Anyway, based on the finding, the posttest result is increasing; therefore, the researcher believed that conventional method of teaching is still applicable. During the intervention of the four (4) skills in reading comprehension of the control group of students, the teacher used the printed questionnaire for the pretest prior to the lecture method. The unlocking of difficulties was facilitated by the teacher wherein he used the Manila paper and the chalkboard for his schematic diagram based on the content of the lesson. However, the students were performing below average level considering such few barriers in learning English. Although few barriers in reading comprehension were discussed earlier but these students would really need a sort of intervention justly to improve their performance level. The best action plan the teacher could do resolve the problem would be the remedial teaching intended only for the group. Moreover, this finding is almost the same to the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study, “The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that revealed the posttest performance of the control group which was average. This implies that in the reading comprehension of the control group, the respondents needed more stocks of vocabulary especially to the appreciative skill wherein the students only got the average mean of 5.17 which is described as below average. The unlocking of difficulties was not enough unless the teacher would spend more time in the translation of words from English to Cebuano. Or if possible the teacher would spend more time in translating the passage or selection into Cebuano language. Anyway, it was proven that the posttest performance of the students from the control group increased from their pretest performance. As a result, the researcher believed that the paper-based reading comprehension is still a good approach in teaching and learning. Anyway, during the national assessment, the students would not be allowed to use the dictionary or cell phone. But in the case of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the students who are well equipped to ICT or computer generated exam would surely be capable enough in answering the ICT powered assessment.
Posttest Performance of the Experimental Group (Gemelina) Table 5 presents the posttest performance of the experimental group of students after they were exposed to the classroom-website reading intervention. Taking into account all the skills, the actual mean of 33.86 is greater than the hypothetical mean of 30.0 with the computed z-value of 6.09 which is significantly greater than the critical z-value of 1.96. Therefore, the overall posttest performance of the experimental group of students is precisely categorized into above average level. This finding is way greater than the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study, “The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that revealed the posttest performance of the experimental group which was average. This implies that in reading comprehension using the classroom website, the students would really improve their reading performance. The students from the experimental group outperformed the students from the control group. (Please refer to Table 4) This Online Automated Instructional Materials for English 8 had been developed by the researcher as a prototype innovation in teaching and learning and it had been used in the study. The interactive slide presentations in the unlocking of difficulties and the question and answer approach had contributed much to the above average performance of the students. The website developer made a design, using the webpage for every reading comprehension activity wherein the hypertexts would have the links to the online dictionary. By just clicking the hypertexts, the respondents could really browse the meanings of the selected hypertexts. This result would prove that this simple online innovation could precisely help students to learn. And during the conduct of the study, the teacher had used the 4 As approach. The full utilization of this website could really answer why the students from the experimental group had an extreme performance during the posttest. This finding is a tremendous consolation and a scholarly affirmation that Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multi-media Learning precisely works and contributes to the teaching and learning in the virtual world. In the theory, the first assumption would highlight that the brain processes information through both the auditory and visual channels as it was cited by Brian Stevens (2014). Therefore, the replication of this prototype classroom-website innovation would be a good intervention for teachers to develop their websites in consonance to DepEd curriculum guides and standard publications.
Mean Gain of Pre-Post Performances of Control and Experimental Groups It was hypothesized that there’s no significant mean gain of the pretest and posttest scores of the students in the tests given before and after the exposure to conventional method and the use of classroom website in instruction.
Pre-Post Mean Gain of the Control Group (Olive) Table 6 reveals the overall gain of the pretest and posttest scores of students in the control group who were introduced to the conventional method of instruction. Taking into consideration to all the four (4) skills, the students’ pretest mean is 17.94 while 22.0 for the posttest mean with a difference of 5.06. The computed t-value of 4.70 is significantly greater than the critical t-value of 1.67 at a 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, the hypothesis of no significant mean gain in the pretest and posttest total scores of the students in the control group is rejected. There was a considerable improvement on the students’ performance after they were exposed to the conventional method of teaching. This finding is similar to the finding of Minoo Alemi and S. Ebadi (2010) stated that giving prior information through restoring to pre-reading activities might become a useful tool for teachers of English Special Purposes (ESP) to facilitate the learner’s reading comprehension ability. It might motivate the students to learn the passage or selection if the teacher would tell a short story which would be related to the topic for the day. During the conduct of the study, the teacher did start the lesson through the pre-reading activity. It was followed with the discussion proper. Then, based on finding, it is stated that there is a significant mean gain in the pretest and posttest scores of the students in the control group. This implies that the conventional method of instruction still works with the 21st century of Filipino learners. During the conduct of the study, the teacher used 4 As approach, such as activity, analysis, abstraction, and application. In addition Pre-reading, During Reading and Post Readingactivities were facilitated by the teacher. And an assessment was also conducted. The same questions from the pretest were used in the posttest. And the teacher personally checked the responses of the respondents.
Pre-Post Mean Gain of the Experimental Group (Gemelina) Table 7 illustrates the results of the computation of the data needed to determine the mean gain of the students’ performance in the experimental group for all the skills. The Table presents the mean gain of the students’ performance in the experimental group. In view of the overall mean gain of the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group, the students’ pretest mean is 20.60 while 33.69 for the posttest mean with a difference of 13.09. The computed t-value of 1.97 is greater than the critical t-value of 1.67 at 0.05 level of significance. It was evident that the students significantly gained understanding of the four (4) skills, namely: literal, interpretive, applied, and appreciative. Thus, the null hypothesis of no significant mean gain in the pretest and posttest scores of the students is rejected. As a result, the students’ performance in the experimental group after they had been exposed to the use of classroom website in instruction had significantly increased. This finding is similar to the finding of Asmi Rusmanayanti and Laili M. Hanafi (2018) stated that “There is a different achievement between students who are taught reading comprehension using computer-based reading and the students who are taught reading comprehension using paper-based reading at the eighth-grade students of Junior High School 13 Banjarmasin academic year 2017-2018.” This implies that the use of computer in reading comprehension could help students improve their skills specifically when using the interactive classroom website in reading comprehension across the four (4) skills, such as literal, interpretive, applied and appreciative. During the conduct of the study, every reading skill had 10-item quiz in which 60% was easy-type, 30% was moderate and 10% was difficult. As shown in the Table, statistically, the students’ pretest mean in the four (4) skills is 20.60 while 33.69 for the posttest mean with a difference of 13.09. The students’ posttest performance in reading comprehension was a great achievement on the part of the learners. And it was proven that teaching with the use of the website is an effective online innovation for teaching and learning in the secondary curriculum. Therefore, the researcher would encourage teachers to develop their individual classroom website as a replication of this particular online interactive-website innovation.
PRETEST AND POSTTEST MEAN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS The succeeding Tables show the students’ actual means of both, control and experimental groups, their standard deviations and computed t-values along the following skills: literal, interpretive, applied, and appreciative. It was hypothesized that there is no significant difference in the pretest performance of the students in both groups.
Pretest Mean Difference Between The Control And Experimental Groups The pretest mean difference between the Control and Experimental groups was determined through getting the pretest actual means of both groups, standard deviations, computed t-values, and critical t-values. In the data analysis and interpretation of the hypothesis of no significant difference between the computed t-value and the critical t-value were statistically computed based on students’ pretest total scores of both groups.
Table 8 presents the overall result of the pretest mean difference of the control and experimental groups. The computed t-values of the three (3) skills, namely: the literal, applied and appreciative are 0.08, 1.80, and 1.98 respectively. The computed t-values of the three (3) skills are less than the critical t-value of 2.00. Thus, there is no significant difference between the pretest performances of control and experimental groups in these three skills. However, under the interpretive skill, the computed t-value of 2.43 is greater than the critical t-value of 2.00. Therefore, the pretest performances of two groups differ in this skill. The students of experimental group performed better than the students of control group considering their means of 5.80 and 4.80 respectively. In totality, the pretest mean of the control group is 17.94 with a standard deviation of 4.56 while the experimental group has a pretest mean of 20.6. The computed t-value of 1.99 is less than the critical t-value of 2.00, thus the null hypothesis of no significant difference is accepted. Both groups have the same pretest performance which is below average. This finding is almost the same to the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study “The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that revealed the pretest performances of the experimental and control groups which were average. This implies that in reading comprehension using the conventional method, the readers should need more stocks of vocabulary especially when the students are second language learners in English who might be reading the printed reading materials. The readers would precisely need a dictionary, while in the reading comprehension using the classroom-website method, the hyperlinks were provided to the readers with corresponding links to the online dictionary. It was observed by the researcher that some respondents from the experimental group did not utilize clicking the hypertexts considering that they were given only 10 minutes during their reading activity followed with the online quiz.
Posttest Mean Difference Between The Control And Experimental Groups The posttest mean difference between the Control and Experimental groups was determined through getting the posttest actual means of both groups, standard deviations, computed t-values, and critical t-values. In the data analysis and interpretation of the hypothesis of no significant difference between the computed t-value and the critical t-value were statistically computed based on students’ posttest total scores of both groups. Table 9 gives a clearer view of the study whether there is a mean difference between the control and experimental groups in terms of their posttest performances along the four (4) identified skills. Taking into account the four (4) skills, namely: literal, interpretive, applied and appreciative, the computed t-values of 8.50, 9.91, 7.91, and 9.90 respectively are greater than the critical t-value of 2.00. Therefore, the hypothesis of no significant difference in the posttest scores between the control and experimental groups is rejected. After having been exposed to classroom website instruction, the experimental group of students outperformed those students who were exposed to the conventional method of teaching. Therefore, the intervention used was effective among the students in the experimental group. This finding is not similar to the finding of Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad (2015) in their study, “The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension” that participants in the control and experimental group in the literal and evaluative levels of reading comprehension did not register significance at α=.05 level. This suggests that the traditional printed text formatting would have the same effect with the VSTF in promoting the literal and evaluative reading comprehension of students. This implies that in teaching reading comprehension using the classroom-website method is a good ICT innovation for teaching and learning. This finding encourages DepEd authority to allocate additional funds for the DepEd Computerization Program which had been implemented for years in the public schools. And that this study would be the basis for crafting the 4-day training-workshop in developing a classroom-website innovation to be used in teaching and learning.
Problems Met by Students in the Utilization of Classroom Website The succeeding Table shows the problems met by students during the utilization of classroom website in reading comprehension.
Problems Met by Students in the Utilization of Classroom Website Table 10 presents the problems encountered by students during the utilization of classroom website in reading comprehension across four (4) skills, such as: literal, interpretive, applied and appreciative. The data analysis of the identified problems and its description would be clearly specified below. After administering the tests, the students of experimental group were asked about the problems they had met during the conduct of the reading comprehension skills. Based on finding, the following statements obtained the corresponding weighted mean. “Problem on typing the words” garnered the weighted mean of 1.57 with a description of strongly disagree; “Problem on clicking using the mouse” obtained the weighted mean of 1.37 with a description of strongly disagree; “Problem on the use of the router through wireless connection” garnered the weighted mean of 1.29 with a description of strongly disagree; “Problem on the use of mobile phones” got the weighted mean of 1.14 with a description of strongly disagree; “Problem on the use of internet connected desktops through Local Area Network connection” obtained the weighted mean of 1.06 with a description of strongly disagree; and “Other specified problems garnered the weighted mean of 0.29. Few respondents had experienced minor problems during the conduct of the experimental reading comprehension using the classroom website innovation. These problems were specified in the following statements. (1) User 5 had no LAN connection; (2) User 47-Thin Client had admin password; and (3) Other students did access other websites, such as www.facebook.com, www.google.com, www.youtube.com, and other sites offering online games. The problems pertaining to users 5 and 47 were minimal and did not affect the conduct of the study. However, the problems on multi-surfing of unreliable websites during the conduct of experimental study could precisely affect students’ performance in answering the online quizzes. However, such problems could easily be resolved by using the software Multi-point Server wherein all users could be precisely monitored by the Host-Servers and the knowledgeable teacher could block users’ keyboard to address and resolve the problems. Therefore, the study implies that this proto-type ICT innovation is definitely one of the best ICT practices of teaching and learning in Dalaguete districts I and II. The replication of this prototype classroom-website innovation is a great improvement of the Department of Education in the Philippines.
IV. CONCLUSION Based on findings, it is concluded that both the control and experimental groups of students obtained below average level in their pretest performances. And based on the statistical calculation, posttest performance of the control group garnered below average level in the overall scores of the four (4) skills after they had been exposed to the conventional teaching method with the actual mean of 22.5 being significantly lesser than the hypothetical mean of 30.0. However, the experimental group of students obtained above average level in the overall scores of the four (4) skills after they had been exposed to classroom-website reading method with the actual mean of 33.86 being greater than the hypothetical mean of 30 wherein the Grade 8 Gemelina students were given the linked website, https://k12english.weebly.com/reading-comprehension.html. The students obtained above average performance in reading comprehension considering that the interactive slide presentations were used during the activity, analysis, abstraction and application. In every level of reading comprehension, 10 questions were discussed by the facilitator before the teacher administered the assessment in which same questions from the interactive slide presentation were used in the online quiz form. Therefore, generally, the Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning is a reliable theory. The use of hypertexts on online classroom website would be considered a great application which was statistically verified in conjunction with this finding and it was precisely anchored on the visual assumption of the above cited theory. Moreover, the finding revealed that there was a significant difference in the overall pre-post mean gain results of the control and experimental groups pertaining to students' reading skills. It should be concluded that the posttest performances of both groups revealed a significant increase compared to their pretest performances. And, it should also be concluded that the traditional way of teaching using the paper-based reading comprehension is still applicable in the modern times. Likewise, the use of the classroom website in reading comprehension would also be considered an effective teaching and learning innovation that could be utilized in the virtual world. Such conclusion would be practically associated in the contiguity principle as cited by Brian Stevens (2014) that stated the use of pictures and words at the same time using the website elements such as hyperlinks for pictures and hypertexts for unfamiliar words. Both pictures and texts had links to other web pages. However, based on finding pertaining to the pretest mean difference between the control and experimental groups in reading skills, both groups had the same pretest performance which was below average. Such groups’ performance in the pretest might be considered a critical affirmation that the respondents were the second language learners in English. “The language itself is also a factor to be considered,” as it was stated by Mayer in his Theory of Multimedia Learning cited by Brian Stevens (2014) that the first assumption would highlight that the brain processes information through both auditory and visual channels. It should also be concluded that unlocking of difficult words should be required in reading comprehension. In the overall posttest mean difference between the control and experimental groups in reading skills, the finding showed that there was a significant difference between the posttest scores of the control and experimental groups. Therefore, it should be concluded that the intervention used was effective among students in the experimental group who were exposed to classroom website instructions. The unlocking of difficulties using online slides, clicking of hypertexts, and utilizing of the interactive slide presentations would be precisely the suitable electronic approaches for teaching reading comprehension. Generally, the respondents claimed that they strongly disagree to the stated possible problems that might occur during the conduct of the study. Then, the solicited problems included the following: The students accessed other websites, such as Facebook.com, Google.com, Youtube.com and other sites offering online games. These websites could really affect the reading performance of students. Anyway, it should be concluded that the proper use and management of computer-based reading could upgrade students’ reading comprehension ability especially when using the classroom website instructions.
V. RECOMMENDATION Based on findings, it is recommended for that English teachers in Grade 8 shall have to create their individual classroom website for reading comprehension as their teaching and learning innovation which is very much useful to students in the 21st century of virtual world. The teachers shall have to create interactive slide presentations, webpages for the reading comprehension skills (literal, interpretive, applied and appreciative) and online quizzes. These teaching innovations can immediately be created or developed during the conduct of the Learning Action Cell (LAC) sessions as provided under DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016. DepEd Dalaguete National High School may endorse the Proposed Training-Workshop in Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students (AIMS) to DepEd Cebu Province Division and Regional Office 7. Dalaguete NHS teachers may develop their classroom websites for teaching and learning. And they may participate in the trainings of teachers in crafting website innovations, refresher trainings, seminars, and workshops on the application of online dashboards for free using the free sub-domain from any site so that teachers would actualize and strengthen the level of their competencies pertaining to the creation of website innovations. The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) may extend their financial supports to enhance teachers’ skills in using the technology for teaching and learning. The Local Government Units (LGUs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) may allocate enough funds for the trainings. It is highly recommended that the Proposed Training-Workshop in Online Automated Instructional Materials for Students (AIMS) be adopted in the Department of Education (DepEd). And teacher trainers and participants will be entitled to enjoy service credits as provided in DepEd Order No. 53, s. 2003 entitled Updated Guidelines on the Grant of Vacation Service Credits to Teachers.
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