The Competency Level of Learners in Physics: Basis for Designing and Implementing Multimedia-Enhanced Reading Materials

The Competency Level of Learners in Physics: Basis for Designing and Implementing Multimedia-Enhanced Reading Materials

Iresh Jean C. Lumapas¹, Elesar V. Malicoban², Edna B. Nabua³, Dennis C. Arrogancia⁴, Monera A. Salic-Hairulla⁵, Ariel O. Ellare⁶

¹Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology/College of Education, Department of Science and Mathematics Education

²Andres Bonifacio Avenue, Tibanga, 9200 Iligan City, Philippines

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.905000135

Received: 13 April 2025; Revised: 29 April 2025; Accepted: 01 May 2025; Published: 03 June 2025

ABSTRACT

Physics is essential for understanding natural phenomena and advancing technological innovation. However, its abstract concepts and heavy reliance on mathematics present major learning barriers. This study aimed to determine the mastery levels of Grade 10 learners in Physics competencies to serve as a basis for designing strategic interventions using multimedia-enhanced reading materials. A Research and Development (R&D) design combined with a quasi-experimental approach was employed. Data were gathered using a validated 40-item Competency Level Test in Physics (CLTP) administered to 72 conveniently sampled Grade 10 learners from Mindanao Mission Academy, Misamis Oriental. Results indicated a majority of students (90.3%) did not meet expectations, with Waves and Electricity and Magnetism topics recording the lowest mastery levels. Based on the findings, the study recommends designing multimedia-enhanced reading materials to improve visualization, engagement, and understanding of abstract concepts. This intervention could enhance students’ performance and confidence in Physics.

Keywords: Physics Education, Multimedia-Enhanced Reading, Learners’ Competency Level, Quasi-Experimental Design, Strategic Intervention

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines’ science curriculum aims to cultivate scientifically literate individuals who make responsible decisions and apply scientific knowledge to solve community problems. However, in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, the Philippines ranked last among participating countries in science. This first participation in PISA highlighted deficiencies, prompting the Department of Education to propose programs for improving academic performance and enhancing education quality.

Despite government initiatives to reform the curriculum and enhance educational quality, systemic issues continue to persist. The Philippines’ last-place ranking in the 2018 PISA Science Assessment underscores the urgent need for educational reform (Silver-Bonito, 2021). Cabural (2024) identifies several contributing factors to the low performance, including socioeconomic status, teacher quality, and resource deficiencies. Additionally, Lagura (2024) points out that students, especially in last-mile schools, struggle with retention and real-life problem-solving skills.

Physics, a fundamental subject, presents significant challenges for many students due to misconceptions, instructional methods, and negative attitudes. Physics is the science that seeks to uncover the fundamental laws of nature and apply them to explain natural phenomena and drive technological innovation. It plays a crucial role in understanding the natural world, from the motion of objects to the behavior of matter and energy. As the foundation for other sciences and engineering fields, Physics stands as a cornerstone of STEM education. However, student interest in physics declines sharply from primary to tertiary levels (Gafoor, 2013) as students perceive physics as difficult due to its cumulative nature, extensive and abstract material, numerous laws and formulas requiring strong mathematical skills (Ornek, Robinson, & Haugan, 2008). According to the study of Jurczak (2014) emphasized that students’ struggles in learning physics are influenced by a combination of cognitive, pedagogical, and contextual factors. Many first-year students tend to exhibit novice problem-solving behaviors, characterized by a focus on obtaining final answers rather than developing a deep understanding of underlying concepts. Supporting this, Adeduyigbe et al. (2024) noted that misconceptions in fundamental areas, particularly in electricity, are widespread among learners, with significant variations observed between students from public and private educational institutions.

Previous studies have emphasized that a significant number of students report a lack of interest in physics, with research revealing that 62% of students have negative feelings toward the subject (Rizaldi & Fatimah, 2024). This disengagement is often attributed to the abstract nature of physics and traditional teaching approaches that fail to resonate with students’ real-life experiences (Verawati & Nisrina, 2024). Additionally, various studies have shown that misconceptions arise from incorrect initial understandings and ineffective teaching materials (Triani & Fahlani, 2024), and these persistent misconceptions hinder students’ ability to fully comprehend fundamental physics concepts, ultimately impacting their overall academic performance (Sukmawati et al., 2019).

On the other hand, the integration of multimedia into science education has been shown to significantly enhance the learning experience by increasing student engagement, improving conceptual understanding, and accommodating diverse learning styles. Multimedia tools, including animations, videos, and interactive presentations, create immersive environments that enable learners to visualize complex scientific concepts more effectively. This approach not only promotes better knowledge retention but also supports differentiated instruction, allowing educators to address the varied needs of students more efficiently.

According to Frey & Sutton (2010), the media that is most suitable for use in learning is multimedia. Mayer’s work (2009, 2011, 2014, 2017) defines multimedia instruction as a learning approach that combines text (spoken or written) with visual elements (static or dynamic) to enhance understanding. It is a combination of more than one media type such as text (alphabetic or numeric), symbols, images, pictures, audio, video, and animations usually with the aid of technology for the purpose of enhancing understanding or memorization (Guan et al., 2018).

Waidyathilaka and Perera (2023) found that the use of ICT-based multimedia significantly enhances student motivation, fostering greater active participation in learning activities. Similarly, Nurullaeva and Xotamov (2024) emphasized that multimedia tools assist in visualizing abstract scientific concepts, thereby making complex ideas more accessible to learners. Furthermore, Callao (2019) reported that students who received instruction through multimedia-based approaches often outperformed their peers who were taught using traditional methods

By pinpointing specific areas where students struggle, this study seeks to fill the gap in identifying the least mastered competencies, thus providing targeted data to inform the creation of strategic teaching methods and learning materials tailored to address these challenges. These interventions will not only aim to enhance learners’ understanding of complex physics concepts but also foster greater engagement and confidence in the subject, ultimately making physics more accessible and easier to comprehend for students.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

A quasi-experimental research design within a Research and Development (R&D) framework was adopted to evaluate learners’ mastery levels. This design was chosen because it allows real-world testing without disrupting the natural class setting.

Population and Sampling

The participants were 72 Grade 10 students from Mindanao Mission Academy, Misamis Oriental. Convenience sampling was employed, based on students’ availability and willingness to participate. This ensured minimal disruption to the school’s regular classes and upheld ethical research standards.

Instruments Used

Data were collected using a validated 40-item Competency Level Test in Physics (CLTP), developed based on the Department of Education’s Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs). The test items included multiple-choice questions designed to assess understanding across major Physics topics. Item analysis was conducted after a try-out with 150 senior high school students to select well-performing items.

Data Gathering Procedure

The initial version of the questionnaire consisted of 50 items, carefully developed and validated through expert review by the thesis advisers and three external experts in content and methods. Based on their feedback, revisions were made, followed by a try-out and item analysis. A try-out test was administered to evaluate the quality of the test items. Through item analysis, the difficulty and discrimination indices were computed to identify questions that were either too easy, too difficult, or poorly differentiated students’ understanding. To minimize the possibility of students guessing the correct answers, modifications were made by removing items with extreme difficulty levels, revising ambiguous statements, and improving distractors to make incorrect options more plausible. These adjustments ensured that the final version of the instrument more accurately measured students’ true competency levels in Physics, enhancing the reliability and validity of the assessment.

After revising the test to reduce guessing and ensure a clearer, more accurate assessment of student understanding, the next step involved validating the instrument through statistical analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha, difficulty, and discrimination indices were computed, which led to refining the test to 40 items for the implementation phase. This revised test was then administered in a posttest-only design, involving seventy-two (72) Grade 10 learners from the same school who had recently completed their Physics subject. In accordance with research ethics, a letter of intent was submitted to the school principal for approval, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. Participation was voluntary, and coding was used to ensure confidentiality. The completed questionnaires were checked, and the data were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as mean and percentage.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentages) summarized students’ performance, while running a Cronbach’s Alpha for the reliability test were used to assess differences in competency levels across topics. Performance interpretations were also guided by the DepEd K to 12 Grading System (DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Reliability Statistics of the Competency Level Test in Physics (CLTP)

The Needs Assessment Questionnaire’s reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s Alpha, resulting in a value of 0.719, indicating acceptable internal consistency. A pilot test with Grade 10 students helped identify ambiguities, leading to minor revisions that improved the clarity and effectiveness of the instrument. With these refinements, the questionnaire demonstrated stability and reliability, ensuring accurate data collection for the study’s objectives.

Identifying the Least Learned Competencies in Physics

The final implementation of the Needs Assessment Questionnaire involved Seventy Two (72) Grade 10 learners from a private high school who had recently completed their Physics subject. In line with research ethics, a letter of intent was submitted to the school principal for approval, and informed consent was obtained from participants. Participation was voluntary, and coding was used to ensure confidentiality. Completed questionnaires were checked, and data were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and percentage. Performance interpretations were guided by the DepEd K to 12 Grading System (DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015) and were presented in Table 4.1.

Table 1 Summary of the Assessment

Table 1 reveals that a significant majority of the students (90.3%) did not meet expectations, indicating a generally low level of performance. Only 9.7% of the students achieved passing scores, with 1.4% falling with Satisfactory category and 8.3% under Fairly Satisfactory. Notably, no students reached the higher proficiency levels of Very Satisfactory or Outstanding. The mean score of 23.1, which also means it does not Do Not Meet Expectations. Further, it emphasizes the overall poor performance. The standard deviation of 6.91 suggests moderate variability in scores, but performance remains clustered around the lower end. These results highlight a pressing need for instructional interventions, such as remedial teaching, the use of multimedia, or other strategies to improve student understanding and performance.

Figure 1. Grade 10 Learners in the Competencies in Physics

Legend:Not mastered (50% below), Least mastered (51%-74%), (Nearly mastered (75%-79%), Mastered (80%-100%)

The figure presents the mastery levels of Grades 7 to 10 students in various physics topics, categorizing their performance into four levels: Not Mastered (50% below), Least Mastered (51% – 74%), Nearly Mastered (75% – 79%), and Mastered (80% – 100%), based on the percentage of correct responses. It provides a summary of the mastery levels, highlighting important insights into the Grade 10 learners’ performance in Physics. The bar graph displays the mean percentage scores of students across different Physics topics, revealing generally low performance with an overall mastery of just 35%. The highest score was achieved in Laws of Motion, with a mean score of 54%, suggesting that students had relatively better understanding in this area compared to others.

On the other hand, the lowest scores were found in Waves (30%) and Electricity and Magnetism (31%), pointing to significant gaps in students’ comprehension of these challenging topics. In addition, other key areas such as Motion in One Dimension (34%), Electricity (39%), and Heat, Work, and Efficiency (35%) also scored below the typical proficiency threshold, indicating widespread difficulty across multiple subjects in Physics.

These findings highlight the abstractness and mathematical demands of topics like Waves and Electricity and Magnetism, supporting previous studies (Ornek et al., 2008). Students’ struggles are compounded by limited hands-on experiences and visualization difficulties and underscore the importance of targeted instructional interventions, especially in the weaker areas, to help students improve their understanding of fundamental Physics concepts.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study highlight a critical concern regarding the mastery of Physics competencies among Grade 10 learners. With 90.3% of students not meeting expectations and a mean score of only 23.1. It is evident that most learners are struggling to grasp essential concepts. The lowest performance was observed in the topics of Waves and Electricity and Magnetism—areas known for their abstract and mathematically demanding nature. These findings underscore the persistent challenges students face in conceptualizing and applying Physics principles, especially when instruction lacks real-world context and interactive learning experiences.

Given these results, there is a pressing need to design and implement targeted instructional interventions that address the specific difficulties encountered by learners. The development of multimedia-enhanced reading materials tailored to these least mastered competencies offers a promising solution. Such materials can provide visualizations, interactive elements, and contextualized explanations that bridge conceptual gaps and foster deeper understanding. Ultimately, strategic interventions informed by assessment data can significantly enhance students’ engagement, confidence, and performance in Physics.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Develop and integrate multimedia-enhanced reading modules focusing on Waves and Electricity and Magnetism.

Conduct teacher training workshops on multimedia integration.

Explore longitudinal studies to assess the sustained impact of such interventions.

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