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KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION BY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS UNDER THE

DOUBLE-SHIFT PROGRAM

DHEYSIE R. VILLEGAS

· Volume I Issue IV

Begun in 2005, double shifting classes were applied in public schools. Anchored by Education for All (EFA), it intended to deal with the problem of classroom shortages to accommodate large number of enrollees. Operating in two shifts, one group of students occupies the building early in the morning and another group of students in the afternoon. However, doing so may affect the knowledge attainment of the learners and may not congregate the required knowledge and skills for them set to achieve. This paper evaluates the knowledge acquisition of students under the morning and afternoon sessions: especially, their dimension of knowledge acquisition as to factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive level.

Base on Collins in 2010, the learning process, according to Bloom, involves one step leading to the next, or one block building on another. A single step, such as the memorization of facts will not bring about full learning, or change. One improvement of Bloom's taxonomy describes the steps necessary for full learning, and the teaching goals that seek to bring it about, as the acquisition, in ascending order, of factual knowledge conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge and meta-cognitive knowledge.

Respondents of the study includes students, teachers, and head teachers. They answered questionnaires and undergone interviews to evaluate level of knowledge acquisition, problems and challenges encountered upon implementation of the scheme, as well as their suggestions to improve the class sessions. The statistical treatment used for this research study was weighted mean and standard deviation.

The results indicate that double shift class helps students to acquire the required knowledge and skills. These results point out that morning shift’s knowledge acquisition level is under approaching proficiency, while afternoon shift’s knowledge acquisition level is under developing. Both shifts often experience problems and challenges upon implementation.

On this basis, it is recommended that teachers under double-shift class session should attend seminars or workshops that may equip them in upgrading teaching strategies utilizing equally the different levels of knowledge. Further research is needed to produce a simplified module with activities remediating and enhancing the different levels of knowledge of the students designed for shifting classes.