EFFECTIVENESS OF PEER TUTORING IN THE PERFORMANCE OF
SELECTED GRADE 7 STUDENTS IN ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA
IN SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE OF LAGUNA
S.Y. 2012-2013

CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND The teaching of Mathematics is enjoyable. This is true when the performance of the students is satisfactory or better. Otherwise, it is frustrating. Based from quizzes and examinations, it is observed that students have poor performance which may be due to weak foundation. Students have no mastery of on the basic skill needed in solving like integers, whole numbers, decimals and fractions. According to Smith (1989), some educators have proposed that an overhaul of the entire mathematics curriculum might be needed to improve skills. There are various techniques that are trying to improve those weak foundations. One good example of that is the peer tutoring. Peer tutoring offers a less intrusive solution also it is helping students to perform better in understanding and grasping concepts, develop computational skills and their moral and social values most especially to freely expresses their ideas. However, according to Lerner (1993), a well-designed peer tutoring program provides directed repetition, regular review, and functional practice to over learn skills, operations, and concepts. Each of these areas is important to the development of mathematical skills of students. Basically, peer tutoring is an instructional strategy that consists of pairing students together to learn or practice an academic task. The pairs of students can be of the same or differing ability and/or age range. Teachers can simultaneously engage all students in learning and practicing basic math or problem-solving skills using peer tutoring. In a peer tutoring set-up, when a student is being tutored makes a mistake, the tutor points out the error and immediately provides further explanation and clarification. The student will not be disappointed for his mistake but instead he will be open for acceptance and improvement which is good. He may follow up on the mistakes that he made so that he will not repeat the learned errors. Also based on researches conducted by Mathes & Martines (2002), Rohrbeck (2003), Miller & Miller (1995), they suggested that socialization experiences that occur during peer tutoring can benefit both the tutor and tutee by motivating students to learn and increasing their social standing among peers. When students understand the importance of peer tutoring they will become effective tutors and tutees, they will experience greater progress. Additionally, according to Maheady (2001), peer tutoring allows teachers to accommodate a classroom of diverse learners including students with learning disabilities. This instructional strategy increases response opportunities for students, provides additional time for positive feedback, and increases the amount of time a student is on-task. Specifically there is a way to cater the needs of the students regardless of achievement level or classroom arrangement. Peer tutoring can demonstrates effectiveness in facilitating progress in the general performance of the students. Statement of the Problem The main problem of this study is to measure the effectiveness of peer tutoring to the performance of Grade 7 students in Elementary Algebra in Saint Michael’s College of Laguna S.Y. 2012-2013. Specifically it attempts to answer the following research questions: 1. How effective is peer tutoring in improving the performance of Grade 7 students in Elementary Algebra in Saint Michael’s College of Laguna in relation to (a) age, (b) gender, (c) learning abilities, (d) peer, (e) communication? 2. What is the mean performance of the experimental group and the control group? 3. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group? 4. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the control group? 5. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test mean scores of the experimental group and control group? 6. Is there a significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the experimental group and control group? 7. Is there a significant difference between the mean gain by the experimental group and control group?
Hypotheses
Based on the identified research questions, the researchers formulated the following null hypotheses: 1. Effectiveness of peer tutoring in the performance of the Grade 7 students in Elementary Algebra in Saint Michael’s College of Laguna is not that effective in relation to age, gender, learning abilities, peer and communication. 2. The mean performance of the experimental and control group is unsatisfactory. 3. There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group. 4. There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the control group. 5. There is no significant difference between the pre-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups. 6. There is no significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups. 7. There is no significant difference between the mean gain of the experimental and control groups.
Conceptual Framework INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT
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Figure 1. Paradigm of the study
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY This study was limited only in measuring the effectiveness of peer tutoring in the performance of Grade 7 students in Elementary Algebra in Saint Michael’s College of Laguna school year 2012-2013. Two sections of high school freshmen were included as subjects of the study from the (no. of 1st yr. sec. in SMCL) namely: (SECTION’S NAME)
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In this study, the researcher aims to seek valuable information regarding her topic. This study will reveal Effectiveness of Peer tutoring in the performance of selected Grade 7 students in Elementary Algebra in Saint Michael’s college of Laguna. In teaching, the goal of the teacher is for the students to learn. But this depends on how the teacher teaches: the methods and strategies used by the teacher. This study will show all of those. The significances of the study to the following aspects are: FOR THE STUDENTS: For them to understand the effectiveness of the teaching approach and for them to know the difference of their performance with and without the help of the method. FOR THE TEACHERS: To make it easy for them to conduct their lesson simply by using the method and for them to discover whether the said strategy is effective or not. FOR THE READERS: Tor them to determine the effect of teaching approaches to the learning of the students. FOR THE RESEARCHER: As a future teacher, to gain more knowledge about the approaches that I must use in teaching Mathematics and for me to conduct a more efficient and more effective learning process with my students.

Definition of terms
Peer tutoring( is an instructional strategy that consists of pairing students together to learn or practice an academic task.
Post test(test given after the process
Pre-test(test given before the process
Experimental group(group that undergoes the process
Controlled group(group that do not undergoes the process
Feedback( Information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task
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Academic Performance of students in Mathematics

Teaching Approach

Teaching Approach

Post test

Pre-test

Experimental Group

Control Group