Running Head: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SCIENCE:

IMPLICATIONS ON STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING SCIENCE:

IMPLICATIONS ON STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT

A Thesis Proposal
Presented to
The Faculty of the Senior High School
ZARAGOZA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Subject
Practical Research 1
Academic Track – STEM Strand

by

JOSHUA B. SAGUN
ALLAN RENZ D. GARCES
RACHELLE MONINO
JADE RUSSEL CRUZ
RAINALYN CLEMENTE

April 28, 2023

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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Rapid socio-cultural changes and ever-increasing educational requirements drive

the need for innovative pedagogical approaches to the educational process. Traditional

teaching's teacher-centered assimilative learning is rapidly being replaced with a learner-

centered active/participative learning experience (Voukelatou, 2019).

The defining element of experience-based learning is that the learner's experience

takes center stage in all aspects of teaching and learning. The history of learning via

experience is intertwined with the history of epistemology—the search for the foundation

of genuine knowledge. The phrases experience and experiment have the same etymology

(Cohen, et al., 2020).

The term engagement represents the effectiveness of educational practices and a

pattern of involvement in a variety of activities in and out the classroom. Barkley &

Major (2020) said that the students involve in educationally purposeful activities, they are

enjoying, at the same time they learning easier than usual.

Havik and Westergård (2018) stated that the students who have high-quality

classroom interactions were more involved in school, and emotional support from

teachers had the highest relationship with engagement.

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Motivation, which is related to classroom involvement, is another important

deciding element of educational achievement. Furthermore, based on the constructivist

perspective, experiential learning (EL) as a novel technique in education and a learner-

centric pedagogy is at the center of attention, as a consequence of its contributions to

increasing the value of education, which focuses on building abilities and experiences

(Rodriguez & Morant, 2017).

Students must become cognitively involved in class, outside of class, affectively

engaged, and physically engaged in order to understand new material and exhibit mastery

of the new information. More experiential learning activities have been provided to

students as a method of enhancing student involvement (Burch, et al., 2016)

There are some studies that provide the experience of students when it comes to

experiential learning in science but there is a huge research gap that needed to be

addressed such as the implication of this study among junior high school teachers that

teaches science subjects

This research is urgently needed to be conducted due to the fact that we are back to

face to face classes, and we require to explore the experiences of students about the

interaction and activity-based learning.

The goal of this study is to provide understanding about the experience of the

students about experiential learning.

The research entitled, “Experiential Learning Activities in Teaching Science:

Implications in Student’s Engagement” will be conducted in Zaragoza National High

School among Junior High School Teachers this school year 2022 to 2023. The scope of
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this study are only the experiences of the teachers of Zaragoza National High School that

teaches science through experiential activities.

Literature Review

This includes the literature and studies that are relevant in the researcher’s chosen

study and will provide additional insights to the readers.

Experiential Learning

Heinrich & Green (2020) Stated that the scholars have just recently begun to

investigate the improved learning that frequently results from educational experiences

that are created with the entire breadth of experiential learning theory in mind—designing

with context, meaning-making, and evaluation equal to the learning.

The defining element of experience-based learning is that the learner's experience

takes center stage in all aspects of teaching and learning. The history of learning via

experience is intertwined with the history of epistemology—the search for the foundation

of genuine knowledge. The phrases experience and experiment have the same etymology.

(Cohen, et al., 2020)

According to Morris (2020) Contextually rich concrete experience, critical

reflecting observation, contextual-specific abstract conceptualization, and pragmatic

active experimentation are composed of experiential learning.

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Encouraging experiential learning strategies improves students’ knowledge of

theoretical topics and leads to improved performance. (Rodríguez & Morant, 2017)

Students’ Engagement

As stated by Barkley & Major (2020), As the students involve in educationally

purposeful activities, they are enjoying, at the same time they learning easier than usual.

The term engagement represents the effectiveness of educational practices and a pattern

of involvement in a variety of activities in and out the classroom.

The students who have high-quality classroom interactions were more involved in

school, and emotional support from teachers had the highest relationship with

engagement (Havik & Westergård, 2018).

There are four factors in Student Engagement which is emotional engagement,

physical engagement, cognitive engagement in class, and cognitive engagement outside

of class, as stated by Burch, et al. (2015).

Kong (2021) also stated that motivation, which is related to classroom

engagement, is another important determinant of success. Furthermore, based on the

constructivist approach, experiential learning (EL) as a new method in education and a

learner-centric pedagogy is at the center of attention, as a result of its contributions to

increasing the value of education, which focuses on developing abilities and experiences.
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Implication of Experiential Learning on Students’ Engagement

According to Voukelatou (2019) the rapid socio-cultural developments and ever-

increasing educational needs gear towards new pedagogical approaches to the educational

process. The teacher-centered assimilative learning of traditional teaching is gradually

being abandoned and it is being replaced by the learner-centered active/participative

learning experience

Geyser, et al. (2020) stated the experiential learning provided a bridge to the

learners outside lives, where concepts came to life in everyday situations.

Students who are not motivated to take charge of their own learning, who lack

persistence, who avoid deeper processing of information, who do not actively participate

in the classroom and are not immersed and do not show affective interest in the learning

process, tend to have low self-esteem, a negative attitude at work, and most often end up

as underachievers in their fields and future careers as stated by Hamidani, et al. (2022)

Because of the employment of diverse learning strategies in classroom

instruction, experiential learning provides the context of experiences and theories in the

educational system to suit the needs of students, as stated by Monterey, et al. (2020)

According to Burch, et al. (2016) students must become cognitively involved in

class, outside of class, affectively engaged, and physically engaged in order to understand
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new material and exhibit mastery of the new information. More experiential learning

activities have been provided to students as a method of enhancing student involvement

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 illustrates the study’s conceptual framework. It is composed of two

variables: Experiential Learning as an Independent Variable and Student Engagement as

a Dependent Variable.

Experiential learning is described as "learning through reflection on doing" and is

the process of learning through experience. Experiential Learning is a participative,

interactive, and applied. (Gentry, James W. 1990). In this figure, it also shows what are

the factor that affects Experiential Learning.

Another variable, Student Engagement, According to The Glossary of Education

Reform (2022) Student Engagement pertains to the degree of attention, interest, curiosity,

optimism, and passion that students express throughout the time they are learning or

being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in

their education. The graph also depicts the effects on student learning and its

implications.
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Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Experiential Learning Students Engagement

Affects on Student Learning:

Factor affects:

 Physically Engaged
It  Cognitive Engagement
 Self Learning
Mechanism in and outside of class
  Emotionally Engaged

Implication:

 Developing Abilities
 Improving Self-esteem
 Enhancing Student
Involvement
 Improving Social
Skills

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

Research Problem

This proposed qualitative research study entitled, "Experiential Learning

Activities in Teaching Science: Implications on Students’ Engagement", aims to perform

the following:
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1. Describe the experiential learning motivation guide by the respondents in

teaching and learning strategies

1.1 First-hand experience of respondents

1.2 Critical analysis regarding its effectivity

1.3 Conceptual comprehension

2. Describe the students' engagement in learning science

2.1 Collaborative and reflective learning experiences

2.2 Outcomes in terms of students' performance

3. Describe the importance of experiential learning activities on students'

engagement

3.1 Academic performance with experiential learning activities

3.2 Evaluation of insights

3.3 Reflections

Scope and Delimitation

The study is limited in understanding the implication of experiential learning

activities and how it affects the student’s engagement in science learning. It also aims to

improve the teaching pedagogy of science teachers. Only 13 junior high school teachers

from science department of Zaragoza National High School were chosen to participate in
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the data gathering of the research conduct process as their feedback will be necessary to

achieve the study objectives.

Significance of the Study

Understanding the implication of experiential learning activities and how it affects

the student’s engagement in science learning will help in giving information needed by

the pedagogue to improve the teaching pedagogy of science teachers. The findings of this

study can help the educators to improve their teaching strategy. As science teacher

understand the effectiveness of experiential learning activities to the student’s

engagement in learning science subject, enabling them to modify their teaching strategies

and develop effective experiential activities for the better enlightenment of the student

which will both benefit the school and students. Lastly, this study will be important for

the future researchers because the information in this study can be used as a reference for

subsequent research inquiries.

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Definition of Terms:

Educational. It is the relating to the provision of education.

Effectiveness. The degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result;

success.

Enlightenment. The state of having knowledge or understanding.

Epistemology. It is the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods,

validity, and scope

Etymology. The study of the origins of words.

Experiential. It is the learning process of learning through experience, and is more

narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing"

Exhibit. It is the manifest or deliberately display a quality or a type of behavior.

Implication. It is the conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not

explicitly stated.

Inquiries. It is an act of asking for information.

Pedagogy. The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or

theoretical concept.
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Pedegogue. Another name for "teacher," but one who is old-fashioned.

Respondents. It is a person who is called upon to issue a response to a communication

made by another.

Subsequent. It is the coming after something in time; following.

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Chapter 2

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

This chapter discusses the methodology of the study. The research design, locale

of the study, respondents, research instrument, data gathering procedures and protocols,

data gathering analysis technique, method of validation, role of precautions and ethical

concerns of the study.

Research Design

The researcher used a descriptive case study as their research instrument as it is

appropriate for this study as they were seeking to gain a rich description of educators’

experiences in using experiential learning activities in engaging students in science

learning. A descriptive case study aims to summarize and explore the experience of the

individuals or participants as stated by Lambert and Lambert (2012).

Locale of the Study

The researchers will conduct this study entitled, “Experiential Learning Activities in

Teaching Science: Implications on Students’ Engagement ”, is conducted at the Junior High

School: Science Department of Zaragoza National High School located at San Rafael,

Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.

Respondents

The researchers gathered thirteen (13) junior high school teachers under the

Science Department of Zaragoza National High School. The researchers used a purposive
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sampling technique to select the respondents necessary for this research study. Purposive

sampling, as stated by Alkassim, Etikan, and Musa (2016) also known as judgment

sampling, is the purposeful selection of a participant based on the traits the subject

possesses. It is a nonrandom technique that does not require underlying theories or a

predetermined number of participants. Simply said, the researcher determines what needs

to be learned and then seeks out persons who can and are willing to supply the

information through knowledge or experience.

Research Instruments

The researchers used the semi-structured interview guide. Whereas, the semi-

structured interview is a data collection method that involves asking participants a set of

open-ended questions and following them up with probe question questions to explore

further their response and the topic of interest according to Dejonckheere (2019).

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher used the individual interview as a tool for the data gathering

procedures according to Boyce, Neale (2015) the individual interview is an in-depth

interviewing, a qualitative research technique that involves talking to only one

respondents at a time to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program or

situation.
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Data Analysis Technique

Content analysis is a method for finding recurring themes or patterns in

qualitative data, such as written replies. The experiences and viewpoints of the students

can be better understood through content analysis. 

The researcher used a narrative analysis as data analyzing tool. Lumsden, (2021)

stated that narrative analysis is a method used to interpret research participants’ stories or

perception.

Overall, the type of data analysis technique, and the research strategy will all

influence the data analysis tool selection. To accurately assess the efficacy of experiential

learning activities in science instruction and their effects on student engagement, it is

crucial to select a strategy that is appropriate for the data and the research topic.

Ethical concern

In compliance with the ethical practices, the researchers will conduct strict

measures to preserve research ethics, as well as to uphold the rights of all participants in

the study. The researchers will keep all information provided by the respondents, such as

name, age, address, and other information, highly confidential and will be used for the

sole purpose of data gathering, analysis, and assessment for the research study. Any

sensitive information provided by the respondents is immediately censored or redacted

during the presentation of responses in the Appendices.

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References:

Morris, T. H. (2020). Experiential learning–a systematic review and revision of Kolb’s

model. Interactive Learning Environments, 28(8), 1064-1077.\
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-Rodríguez, A. L., & Albort-Morant, G. (2019). Promoting innovative experiential

learning practices to improve academic performance: Empirical evidence from a
Spanish Business School. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), 97-103.
  URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444569X18300015

Andresen, L., Boud, D., & Cohen, R. (2020). Experience-based learning. Understanding
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Heinrich, W., & Green, P. (2020). Remixing Approaches to Experiential Learning,

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Voukelatou, G. (2019). The Contribution of Experiential Learning to the Development of

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