ABSTRACT
Practical Research has been taught at high schools today at par with college students. Certainly, high school students are new to this concept of writing a research paper. This research explored the perception of students in writing research and investigated the implication of teaching practical research to senior high school students. This is a qualitative study. The participants were senior high school students taking practical research subjects.
The findings would be the basis for appropriate strategies that enhance the research capabilities of the students. It was found that incorporating technology, an inquiry-based approach to learning, guided writing, and interactive learning are helpful in writing research papers.
Keywords: research, practical research, 3I’s, research writing, senior high school
INTRODUCTION
Research is a studious inquiry or examination, especially an investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
Moreover, it is an act of studying something carefully and extensively to attain deep knowledge. When done on a larger scale, the research contributed to the welfare of humanity. It can be creative, exploring, or just reassuring in nature (Prieto, N. & et.al, 2017). Hence, the research contributes to knowledge-building and problem-solving.
Furthermore, the cornerstone of knowledge and innovation is research. In the Philippines basic education environment, a "research-infused" curriculum was established in senior high school to instill a research culture among students. The Department of Education implemented the K to 12 curricula that aim in providing sufficient time for the mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
One of the noteworthy features of this curriculum is it is learner-centered, inclusive, and research-based. Subsequently, senior high school students need to undergo research writing in qualitative and quantitative. This was the result of the state mandate that the curriculum should be relevant, responsive, and research-based. Moreover, students encountered difficulties in writing research output.
Every chapter of the research becomes a burden on the part of the students. One of the challenges that students were facing in writing research is the lack of basic knowledge of the thesis (Safitri et al., 2021; Sariyanto et al., 2015 as cited in Anditasari, A. & Sitompol, S., 2022). This lack of basic knowledge of writing a thesis is attributed to the difficulties in defining the research objectives, data, findings, and other relevant aspects of research.
Another is related to the student’s understanding of research skills. It is assumed that research skills are vital to navigating the research paths and determining the research gap. Vehviläinen (2009) attributed that students should be able to determine the research issues on their own. Another is the understanding of the composition skills of the reports, such as introduction, literature review, method, findings, and discussion (Anditasari, A. & Sitompol S.,2022).
The study conducted by Sariyanto et al., (2015) revealed that lack of writing capability, the process of consultation, and psychological factors. These are some factors that contributed to the difficulties of the students in writing research. The lack of writing capability referred to struggles in organizing the thesis components and presenting data analysis. It was mentioned by the students that there was a guidebook that deeply helped them overcome the mentioned difficulties.
The consultation process referred to understanding the lecturers' feedback and availability of time for discussion. Meanwhile, the psychological factors were related to self-esteem, anxiety, and motivation in pursuing the thesis writing.
Kheryadi (2018) explored the students’ difficulties in linguistics. It was found that the students encountered challenges in identifying appropriate research gaps and elaborating on relevant previous studies. It is believed that the research gap is essential in bridging between the theoretical constructs and the issues to be found. Thus, it was difficult for students to link and synthesize the previous theoretical concepts with the new ones.
The results of Siti Kholija Sitompul & Amira Wahyu Anditasari (2022) showed that the writing thesis barriers were the difficulties related to lack of motivation, time management challenges, students’ attitudes and personalities, co-advisors’ relationships, and most importantly, lack of English proficiency. Lestari (2020) mentioned that the lack of English proficiency prevented students from maintaining their thesis progress and results well.
Likewise, Safitri et al., (2021) investigated the students writing thesis challenges at English Education Department. The findings confirmed the varied challenges faced by the students. The writing thesis challenges were a lack of knowledge related to writing a scientific paper, skill in designing research methodology, and lack of resources related to the thesis’s topic. The challenges could be categorized as internal and external challenges. The internal refers to the student’s skills and knowledge, while the external relates to the amenities supported by the university.
The factors that students found challenging when conducting research were divided into internal and external factors based on the studies that have been provided. Internal factors are the issues that student researchers face within themselves. As opposed to external factors, which are those that are beyond the student’s control.
As a result, research outputs are most of the time submitted behind schedule. This study focuses on what students can say in writing research that leads to a more specialized and in-context learning and teaching strategy considering that these students are in high school. This study also serves as the basis for appropriate strategies that enhance the research capabilities of the students.
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