Measuring the Level of Achievement of Standards-Based Basic Education STEM Research and Its Effect on Students’ Quality of Research: A Predictive Modelling as Basis for Improvement
The introduction of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 has paved the way for the introduction of formal study of research in basic education across senior high school catering schools in the Philippines. Thus, it is imperative to assess how standards related to research in both learning, teaching, and leading standards are achieved by Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) providing schools and how these standards affect the quality of research papers produced by the students, and how to improve curricular structure and instruction based on the findings of the study. A total of 123 students, 16 teachers who took and taught research subjects last 2021-2022, and five school heads of two public schools participated in the study. Using four researcher-made instruments with good to excellent reliability results, in which teachers assessed learning standards, student and school heads measured teaching standards and teachers assessed leading standards. Results showed that the research assessed were found to need improvement in terms of quality, learning standards were achieved at an average beginner level, and teaching and leading standards were found to be on the proficient level. Predictive modeling showed that the quality of the research paper is directly influenced by learning standards, teaching standards domains one, two, and seven, and overall leading standards. In conclusion, schools must improve student, teacher, and school heads’ skills and capacity to do research and achieve the standards related to research to increase the quality of research papers produced by the students through the revision of curricular structure, instruction, and development programs for concerned stakeholders.
