At present reality in the Philippine system of education, most especially in the teaching of reading skill, educators are still striving to search for more effective and efficient ways, strategies or practices that would appropriately suit the learning wants and needs of the student. A competent teacher should prepare and present innovative and effective classroom strategies so that students would continue abiding in the stated goals of a certain educational practice. Dunn, Griggs, Olson and Beasly (1995) indicate that good matching in student's learning styles with educational interventions or teaching strategies/practices is beneficial to their academic/school achievement.
The inconsistencies of these may somehow create conflicts and no good outcome in student's learning.A constant struggle for teachers in all disciplines of education is ensure that students not only understand the concepts and skills that they are taught, but also that they can then analyze and apply those tools to different situations that arise. In order for students to be successful in school and in life, teachers needs to constantly revise and adapt their teaching practices based on new methods that are introduced in order to ensure that students are engaged invested, and increasing their academic achievements. The role of an educator is to make tough decisions that guide the effective delivery if instruction to all students, front row or back, eager or reluctant (Crockett & Kauffman 1998, p.
489).In order to improve the academic performance of all students, teachers need to use effective strategies. According to Strasser (1964), teaching strategy is a generalized plan for a lesson or lessons which include structure, desired learner behavior, in terms of the goals of instruction and an outline of tactics necessary to implement the strategy. Effective teaching is only possible if teachers would take into account the understanding of the complexity of classroom teaching and learn to acquire strategies that will enable them to continually assess and enhance the teaching-learning effectiveness. Therefore, the application of appropriate teaching strategies and techniques help the students build up their cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills.Teaching techniques are the means to teaching and learning how to employ them in the teaching while the learning process itself is called strategies.
Teaching strategies are vital because the tenet of teaching and classroom instruction cannot be successfully achieved with techniques or methods alone. Discovering the most preferred Teacher-Directed Strategies in reading of the selected high school students and how these strategies affect their reading comprehension is the main purpose of the study.Background of the Study Education for all is an eternal concept. As early as the 1760s and 1770s, the idea that there should be a free system of education that would provide for a general diffusion of knowledge cultivate new learning, and nurture the democratic ideals of government was developed (Aexander & Alexander, 1998 p.
23). Horace Mann (1874) who saw education as a natural right believes that this free system of education should include everyone. Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines states the provision that "The State shall protect and promote rights of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all.""The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teacher"(McKinsey & Company, 2007). In fact, a wide body of research shows that the single greatest factor affecting student achievement is classroom instruction and strategies.
In one study, Mortimore and Sammons (1987) found that classroom instruction has more impact on student learning that any other factor. As McKinsey & Company concluded in their study of the world's best schools, "The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction." An enormous number of researches have been written in the last two decades about student's learning process. In line with this, many researches were conducted for the past years in studying the teaching strategies employed by educators in the learning-teaching process and its corresponding impact to the student's cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning.It is one of the fondest hopes of every educator to live their career life to the fullest in the pursuit of his or her teaching profession that would really create a deep impact in the student's learning process. Teaching and learning in the actual classroom situations involved the ability and skill of the teacher to elicit necessary performance in order for tje students to be really knowledgeable and perhaps practice their potential as an individual struggling for a greater self-actualization with upright application.
`n line with this, a study on discovering the preferred Teacher-Directed Strategies in reading employed by teachers of Muntinlupa Business High School of 4th year high school students in comprehending a reading text was conducted. Furthermore, the corresponding impacts of the chosen strategy and its significant relationship to the students in terms if their reading comprehension is further analyzed.The researcher's desire to discover and understand the reading strategy selected by students based on their preferences after engaging on the actual application is to promote understanding in one aspects of teaching-learning issues which may serve as benchmark where the teachers can superbly conduct series of activities anchored to the various strategies in reading suitable to the learner's long thirst for knowledge and skills.Theoretical Framework Theories of learning attempt to explain why teachers and students behave as they do. Because theory is a research tool, it can be right or wrong, useful or not useful (Hergenhahn, 1976). Hergenhahn offered that if the hypothesis generated is confirmed, the theory gains strength.
He surmised that learning is “a relatively permanent change in behavioral potentiality that results from experience and cannot be attributed to temporary body states, induced by illness, fatigue or drugs” (p.9). This definition left it to the theorist to specify the kind of experience that he felt was necessary for learning to take place (Hergenhahn, 1976). This study was ground in the context of Hergenhahn’s definition, as it related to the learning theories proposed by Skinner (1953) and GagnE (1985).
Behavioral Learning theory Skinner, renowned as a behaviorist, based his theory on functionalism. Functionalists valued the use of consciousness and behavior in adjusting to the environment. These fundamentalists based their theory on Darwin’s doctrine of evolution and believed that “consciousness functions as an entity whose purpose is to allow the organism to adjust to his environment” (Hergenhahn, 1976, p. 48). With the view of functionalist, Skinner (1953) developed his theory of learning on the concept of operant conditioning.
He offered that the organism operates in the environment doing whatever it does. According to Skinner, while operating, the organism encounters stimuli which he referred as reinforcing stimuli.As a result, the reinforcing stimuli affect the behavior occurring just before interaction with the stimuli. The operant condition then is the behavior followed by a consequence of interaction with stimuli; the nature of the consequence modifies the organism’s tendency to repeat the behavior in the future (Hergenhahn, 1976). Skinner arguedthat learning proceeds most effectively (a) if the information to be learned is presented in small steps; (b) i8cf the learner is given rapid feedback concerning the accuracy of his learning; for example, he is shown immediately after a learning experience whether he has learned the information correctly or incorrectly; and (c) if the learner is able to learn at his own pace.Cognitive learning theoryThe founding father of cogntive learning theory,GagnE (1985) contended that it is more realistic to assume that there are different kinds of learning, arranged in a hierarchy, with one sort being the being a prerequisite for the next.
For example, solving an algebraic problem depends on understanding algebra functions, which depends on knowing basic mathematical skills and computations, which depends on recognizing simple numbers and symbols. For GagnE, simple conditioning only provided the basis for more advanced kinds of learning. He built on the behaviorist model by adding a processing or cognitive component to Skinner’s model. In his model, GagnE (1985) reasoned that each individual process information differently, based on a variety of factors including prior knowledge and innate ability and using long-term and short-term memories together to process received information in an effort to achieve a learning goal.
GagnE believed that within any learning hierarchy, less complex skills are transferred positively to more complex skills (Gagne, Briggs, & Wagner, 1992).Once skills are taught, these simple skills can be generalized to other situations. Therefore, GagnE believed that learning cumulative. That is, new skills build upon prior skill to achieve levels of learning, and teachers through planned or directed instruction develop the learning itself intellectually.Primary Laws of learning by Edward Lee ThorndikeLaw of readiness or Law of action tendency First primary law of learning, according to him, is the ``Law of readiness`` or the ``Law of action tendency``, which means that learning takes place when an action tendency is aroused through preparatory adjustment, set or attitude.
Readiness means a preparation of action. If one is not prepared to learn, learning cannot be automatically instilled in him, for example, unless the typist, in or learn typing prepares himself to start, he would not make much progress in a lethargic & unprepared manner.Law of exercise or Law of Use and DisuseThe second law of learning is the ``Law of Exercise``, which means that drill, or practice helps in increasing efficiency and durability of learning and according to Thorndike`s S-R Bond theory, the connections are strengthened with trail or practice and the connections are weakened when trial or practice is discontinued. The ``law of exercise``, therefore, is also understood as the ``law of use and disuse`` in which case connections or bonds made in the brain cortex are weakened or loosened.
Many examples of this case are found in case of human learning. Learning to drive a motor-car, typewriting, singing or memorizing a poem or a mathematical table, and music etc. need exercise and repetition of various movements and actions many times.Law of effectThe law of effect states that the association between a stimulus and a response will strengthen or weakened depending on whether a satisfier or an annoyer follows the response (Gibson, 1980). an act, which is followed by satisfaction in a given situation, will generally become associated with that situation; so that when it recurs the act will also be likely to recur (Curzon, 1981).
On the other, an act, which results in discomfort, tends to be disassociated from the situation, so that when the situation recurs, the act will less likely to recur. the greater the satisfaction or discomfort experienced, the greater the degree to which the S-R bond will be strengthened or loosened. After research studies have showed that this explanation was inadequate, Thorndike propounded another law, the truncated law of effect. This law added the idea that while satisfiers always strengthens the bind between a stimulus ad a response, the effect of annoyers is much less predictable; sometime they weaken the bond, but sometimes they do not.Conceptual FrameworkConceptual Framework The conceptual framework is the process to be used in data gathering of the study. The input shows the profile of the respondents in terms of their age and sex, and specifies the Teacher-Directed Strategies in reading to be used by teacher in teaching a specific reading materials/text.
In the process, it is the actual classroom set-up wherein the teacher now facilitates and apply the strategies provided by the researchers to find which among the three strategies (DR-TA, Brainstorming and Conceptual Mapping) is preferred by the students that's why questionnaire/checklist will be used. The output is the tallying of data for the researchers to discover, analyze and interpret the test-results of the experiments conducted.
