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Essay / Simplifying Complexities: A Proposed Curriculum for Rational Functions in General Mathematics
The main objective of the study was to improve the performance of Luray II National High School students with respect to the rational function of general mathematics . To address this problem, the researcher focused on two major surveys. First, measure the level of difficulty grade 11 students encounter in the Rational Functions subtopics. Second, assess the factors that contribute to their difficulties. The study contributed to the teaching guide for general mathematics of the core subject SHS, Bloom's taxonomy and the constructivist approach. This study used a descriptive analysis method. A researcher-conducted achievement test and a revised and adopted survey questionnaire were used as the research instrument. The result of the study showed that students found this topic very difficult. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Therefore, learners need appropriate animation and engaging activities to change the students' perception towards the subject. It also revealed that the factors that contributed greatly to the difficulties experienced were student related, particularly neglect of homework, doubts about fundamentals, distaste for the subject, mental causes and lack of practice. However, the Apathy towards Methods aspect under the Teacher-related factor was found to be moderately severe, meaning that students experienced difficulty with the stated indicators in many cases. The result of the study served as a basis for the researcher to formulate the proposed program for rational functions in general mathematics. This program will help teachers lead the course; hence, improving students' performance in the said general mathematics subject.KEYWORDS General mathematics, rational functions, difficulty level 1Mathematics involves the development of all types of deductive reasoning. It is a science that involves numbers and calculations. It is a tool to train the learner's logical and critical thinking, reasoning and analysis. However, some people think that mathematics is nothing more than a boring and difficult subject. With this negative attitude towards mathematics, many learners perform poorly in mathematics and show little or no interest at all. Nevertheless, Ganal (2014) stated that this was proven in detail by the International Mathematics Olympiad, which showed that the Philippines ranked 79th out of 82 countries in 2003 and 80th out of 85 countries in 2004. With a highest possible score of 225. 220 was China's highest score, 126 for Vietnam, 126 for Thailand and 16 for the Philippines. Moreover, data from the Ministry of Education showed that the mathematics passing rate of fourth graders decreased from 50.70% in SY 2005-2006 to 47.82% in SY 2006-2007. (Carballo, 2009) On average, fourth-year students scored a 48.90 GPA on the 2012 NAT, an improved performance from previous years. But the 75% target remains too difficult to achieve. (Philippines Basic Education, 2013) The problem worsened when students entered high school. These students were mentally tortured because they delved into a more complex mathematical subject, general mathematics. The researcher experienced first-hand the difficulty encountered by 11th grade students last year, specifically in the area of rational functions. Aware of this problem, theresearcher conducted this study with the aim of evaluating the students' problem on the said topic among the 11th grade students of Luray II National High School. The results served as the basis for the formulation of a proposed program for rational functions. The result of the study, intended to satisfy the current needs and concerns of learners. This further aimed to improve the teaching-learning process to help students cultivate a positive attitude towards rational functions in general education.Mathematicians appreciate the beauty of numbers and recognize the importance of mathematics in their daily lives . Simplifying Complexities: Comprehensive and Detailed Program The result is titled “Simplifying Complexities”. “It contains a curriculum and lesson plans attached to learning activities and worksheets. A curriculum is an educational program composed of objectives, teaching-learning activities and a summary of the topics to be covered in the rational functions. This program includes the following elements: (a) learning objectives/competencies; b) Codes; (c) Learning outcome; (d) Teaching-learning activities; (e) Materials/Resources and (f) Evaluative measurement. Teaching and learning mathematics, like any other subject, requires the teacher and learners to communicate and interact effectively. This researcher-made result contains a section called Learning Package. It is a set of written activities developed with the primary aim of teaching a concept/skill to a learner. The elements of the package are: (a) a pre-test to test students' prior knowledge when discussing the mentioned topics; (b) a lesson plan to guide the teacher on what to do; (c) Ready-to-print learning activities to help teachers manage their time when preparing such a lesson; and (d) a post-test. This learning module is self-learning. It is aligned with the teaching guide provided by the Ministry of Education. This requires less preparation time on the part of the teacher and little direct supervision on their part. It serves as a guide for teachers dealing with the subject. The lesson plans prepared by the researcher followed the DLL format. It contained complete parts of a lesson plan. The learning activities adopted by the researcher were divided into three categories: individual, pair and group. Indeed, some activities must be carried out individually by students, while others require more heads to practice. This also takes into account the individual differences of students. These learning activities are also aimed at the supposedly diverse learners that a teacher usually has in their class. The instructions of these learning activities are explained in the simplest and most understandable way. The learning activities and worksheets are attached as annexes to the completed lesson plans. The last part is the post-test at the end of the discussion on rational functions. The teacher should compare the results of the pre-test and post-test to see if there has been any improvement. The primary purpose of this research was to determine difficulties in rational functions, a general mathematics topic, among 11th grade students at Luray II National. High school. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions: What is the level of difficulty experienced by 11th grade students at Luray II National High School in the following learning skills of rational functions: Representing real-life rational situations in using rational functions Function..