RIZAL COLLEGE OF TAAL

RIZAL COLLEGE OF TAAL

Influence of STEM Students' Scientific Literacy on Learning Outcomes

A Thesis Presented
to the Faculty of the College of Education
Rizal College of Taal

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

by

ANGELICA JOYCE C. GOBOY

SY 2023-2024

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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Scientific literacy consists of the knowledge and understanding of the

scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making. It

indicates that a person can describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena.

Being scientifically literate involves having the comprehension to read,

understand and participate. The ability to recognize scientific concerns

underlying national and local decisions and to articulate opinions that are

informed by science and technology is implied by scientific literacy. Scientific

Literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions

derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. A literate citizen should be

able to evaluate the quality of scientific information based on its source and the

methods used to generate it.

According to Dragoş and Mih (2015), scientific literacy can be classified

into four categories. These include (i) Cultural Scientific Literacy, which is the

understanding of science with average intelligence and education of a culture;

(ii) Civic Scientific Literacy, which is the understanding of science in order to

make informed decisions with regard to legislation and public policy; (iii)

Scientific Literacy Practice, which is the understanding of science in order to

solve practical problems; and (iv) Aesthetic Literacy and Consumer Science,

which is the understanding of scientific laws and phenomena that enhances a

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person’s appreciation of life itself through intellectual beauty of scientific ideas.

Furthermore, it has been reported that the state performance of Filipino

students in science national and international examinations remained poor.

The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) recognizes the need for

addressing this issue on scientific literacy after the country got a poor ranking

in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018. The PISA

is a student assessment of 15-year-old learners across 79 countries done by

the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as part

of the Quality Basic Education reform plan and a step towards globalizing the

quality of Philippine basic education. Based on the PISA results, the Filipino

students scored 357 in Scientific Literacy, which was significantly lower than

the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

average of 489 points.

The Philippines’ low performance in science and scientific literacy

possess a serious challenge on teachers, as they are the prime movers of

education. It can be viewed that teachers possess both the privilege and

responsibility in helping to address some issues in our educational system.

This privilege is priceless in the sense that teachers have a direct influence on

the students in shaping their minds and hence, in building the nation’s future

leaders. However, the price of this privilege is a greater weight of responsibility

on the teachers’ end.

It is important to develop scientific literacy skills for students to provide

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critical solutions from the information obtained. This research is important

because it is suspected that the students learning outcome skills gradually

have a positive impact on students' scientific literacy skills.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to examine the relationship between STEM students'

scientific literacy, learning outcomes, and academic engagement. By

understanding this relationship, the study will propose an improvement plan to

enhance STEM education and promote better learning outcomes and

increased engagement among students.

Specifically, the study aimed to find answers to the following inquiries:

1. To what extent do student’s perform on the following in science?

1.1 Student’s learning outcomes ? and

1.2 Studnets academic engagement?

2. What is te level of scientific literacy of the learners?

3. What are the challenges that STEM students perceive or face in

their educational journey?

4. Is there a significant relationshiip between the level of scientific

literacy of learners in terms of:

4.1 Student’s learning outcomes ; and

4.2 Student’s academic engagement

5. Is there any significant relationship between the level of

scientific literacy of the learner’s and the challenges that student’s

perceived?

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Hypothesis

The study examined the following null hypotheses at a significance level

of 0.05;

1. There is no significant relationship between the levele of scientific

literacy in terms of Student’s learning outcomes and Student’s academic

engagement.

2. There is no significant relationship between the level of the scientific

literacy of the learner’s and the challenges that student’s perceive

Scope, Limitation, and Delimitation

This study investigates the scope of scientific literacy among STEM students

and its impact on learning outcomes and academic engagement. The main

objective is to understand the level of scientific literacy and its relationship with

academic performance and engagement in STEM subjects. The study is

limited to a specific educational context and relies on self-assessment data,

but aims to contribute to the understanding of scientific literacy in STEM

education.

The research utilizes a descriptive method to examine the scope of

scientific literacy among STEM students and its impact on learning outcomes

and academic engagement. The primary instrument used for data collection is

a survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire will gather information from

students regarding their scientific literacy, learning outcomes, and academic

engagement. The collected data will be analyzed using statistical tools, such

as descriptive statistics, to summarize and interpret the findings.

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This study is limited to the actual data records that will be gathered

about the Influence of STEM Students' Scientific Literacy on Learning

Outcomes and Academic Engagement.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would be of great relevance to the following

parties with vested interest:

Teachers: They will benefit in a way that they will understand the

shortcoming of the learners in terms of how scientific literacy can affect the

learning outcome and academic engagement of stem students in Taal Senior

High School.

Learners: They are the firsthand beneficiary of this research in a way

that they will be informed about the roles of natural science in developing their

analytical skills.

Parents: They will be aware of their children’s scientific literacy and how

it influences the student’s academic engagement in school.

Future Researchers: This research study will serve as guide for them

to know the influence of Scientific literacy on learning outcomes and Academic

engagement of STEM students.

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