Perception on the functionality of the school library Essay

Chapter I Background of the Study A school library is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public (state) or private (fee paying) school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library is to ensure that all members of the school community have equitable access â€Å"to books and reading, to information, and to information technology. † A school library â€Å"uses all types of media are automated, and utilize the Internet for information gathering. † School libraries are distinct from public libraries because they serve as â€Å"learner-oriented laboratories which support, extend, and individualize the school’s curriculum. A school library serves as the center and coordinating agency for all material used in the school. † Across the United States, research has shown that students in schools with good school libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized test scores than their peers in schools without libraries. From Alaska to North Carolina, more than 60 studies have shown clear evidence of this connection between student achievement and the presence of school libraries with qualified school library media specialists. In the Philippines there is a severe lack of public libraries. Reading programs are not enough, by themselves alone, to achieve the overall and longer-term objective of making children fall in love with reading and become regular readers for life. Read-along are great in sparking a child’s initial interest in books and reading. But something more is needed to convert that initial interest into a real love of books and a lifetime reading habit. According to experts, children need at least two other things to actually adopt such a habit: (1) As much guidance, encouragement and example as they can get from their usual role models – their parents, teachers, and older siblings — and (2) regular access to books and other reading materials. As far as I know, some of the students of DCHS are using the library for past time and group chatting not for gathering information, references, and researching their homework’s. DCHS library has a low rate of students visited every day because they think reading books is so boring. I conducted this survey to motivate the students to visit the libraries and to improve their reading and writing skills, English language arts, fine arts and etc. This survey will help us to improve the library and improve the interest of the students. Statement of the problem The main purpose of this study was determined the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library. What is the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library? Is there a significant difference in the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library in terms of : section? gender? Null Hypothesis The following null hypothesis had been formulated using 0. 05 level of the significance for the present study: There is no significant difference in the perception on the functionality of the school library in terms of section and gender. Review of Related Literature A significant number of relevant literature and related studies have been compiled in this section by the researcher to provide some general basis of the design and conduct of the study. Bosah L. Eghoso conducted a survey that studied about the Perception of the library by secondary school students in enhancing success in their examinations. After the success of his survey, Bosah found a conclusion that both private and public schools relegated the library to the background in teaching and learning in recent times. Private schools proprietors do not see for expanding their finances in libraries especially when they can make their students pass their examinations through dubious methods. Dr. Zeynep Filiz, said that every two library meet the student’s information. He conducted a survey that studied about the service quality of university: A survey amongst student at Osmangazi University and Anadolu University. A total of 400 usable responses were received. About 70% of the respondents were men and 50% of responses were from Osmangazi University. About 75% of respondents had used the library more than six times, and 51% of respondents indicated they relied on the library staff when using the library. Moreover, about 35 of respondents said they intended to use the library in the future and recommended others to use the library. Sofi Zahoor Ahmad said that more than 89% rural and 90% urban schools claim existence of a library with no standard physical requirements and specifications, She condected a survey entitled A Survey of Senior Secondary School Libraries in Jammu and Kashmir India. This give her a conclusion that 89. 55% are housed in insufficiently spaced single rooms within the schools while 5. 47% are accommodated in principal offices where students always have inhibitions to go. However, a few schools 4. 97% possess separate library blocks, though these also lack the basics of a library design. No significant difference is revealed while assessing the rural-urban statistics relating to the library housing and location. Jerome Idiegbeyan-Ose said that in Benin City, do not have a library period for the students, and as a result students can never be taught how to make use of the library. He conducted a survey entitled â€Å"A survey on the Present State of School Libraries in Benin City majority of the schools investigated†. School libraries in Imo State lack adequate accommodation, materials, and funds, as well as trained staff to manage the libraries in Imo state. These are similar to what is on ground in Benin City where unqualified staff manages the school libraries. Which revealed the various libraries’ staff strength, it can be deduced that all the libraries under investigation are understaffed; Human resources in libraries contribute to the standards of that particular library. This research revealed that all the schools visited are under stocked with library materials. A majority of the schools visited in Benin City have outdated books which are very dusty, where they existed. It is very unfortunate that most of our school libraries in Benin City are staffed by unqualified staff and non-librarians, which fall short of minimum standard of a school library. Emmanuel E. Baro said that only a few library schools offer the course information literacy as a stand-alone course in their curricula. His survey entitled â€Å"A survey of information literacy education in library schools in Africa†. Results from the study revealed that, presently, only a few library schools offer the course IL as a stand-alone course in their curricula. Many library schools have not yet incorporated â€Å"IL† as a stand-alone course in their LIS curricula; rather, it is briefly discussed as a topic in related courses. Although not all the library schools in Africa were examined due to language barrier, more than 60 library schools were investigated, among them 20 institutions were found offering IL courses or a related area. This studies the researcher compiled is related to the researchers’ studies, because it is about a survey of perception on different students towards school library. It is also about enhancing the school libraries to encourage students to visit. It is also to motivate students to make their assignment and gather information in the library because one of the most fundamental areas responsible for the dwindling educational standards and fortunes in our educational system is the area of the library education and library service utilization among students. Significance of the Study The results of this study are generally aimed at providing information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today’s information and knowledge-based society. The result is deemed significant to the academic community but mostly valuable to these groups of people: 1. Administration. The proposed study helps the institution to be more aware of what the students need in a library to develop and improve students learning progress. It also helps the administration to improve the library in the way the student’s needs. 2. Teachers. The proposed study helps the teachers in preparing classroom curriculum or seeking professional development resources. It also helps the teachers in their research to improve their visual aids. 3. Parents. The proposed study helps the parents to have a small library at home to improve the basic needs of their child. 4. Students. The proposed study helps the student to have very good concentration in their study. It also helps the students know the lesson in advance by searching the book in the library. CHAPTER II METHOD This chapter presents the research design, research subject, sampling method, research instrument, data gathering procedure and statistical treatment of the data. Research Design Descriptive research is a research that provides an accurate portrayal of characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or group. These studies are a means of discovering new meaning, describing what exists, determining the frequency with which something occurs, and categorizing information. May be used to reveal summary statistics by showing responses to all possible questionnaire items. It can provide leads in identifying needed changes and it may be used to explore relationships between two or more variables. In this research study, it intends to describe the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library through conducting this study and by having a survey on how useful a library is. In this study, the researcher will attempt to describe how students find the functionality of the school library behind the difference between the gender and section of the respondents. Research Subject This study gathered the percentage of students of the fourth year level of the Davao Central High School in relation with their perception on the functionality of the school library. The actual population of these students is seventy-five, due to a limited time and resources, by using the Slovin’s formula, the researcher would only take nineteen respondents from Confucius; twenty-four respondents from Mencius and twenty respondents from Lao Tzu to have a total of sixty-three respondents. Solution: n=N/-(1+Ne^2 ), where N(75) is the actual population, e is the percent error (5%) † =† â€Å"75† /-(â€Å"1+75† (? â€Å"0. 05† ? ^†2†³ ) ) =63 In table 1, it is indicated that the actual population of 75 (100%) is divided into two clusters which consists of 14 (19%) females and 9 (12%) males in Confucius; 16 (21%) females and 12 (16%) males in Mencius; 14 (19%) females and 10 (13%) males in Lao Tzu and a total of 44 (59%) females and 31 (41%) males. Using the Slovin’s formula, the number of samples decreased into 63 (100%) which now consists of 12 (19%) females and 7 (11%) males in Confucius; 14 (22%) females and 10(16%) males in Mencius; 12(19%) females and 8(13%) males in Lao Tzu and a total of 38 (60%) females and 25 (40%) males. Sampling Procedure In this research study, the researcher will use the systematic random sampling method. In systematic random sampling method, the researcher will conduct a survey through selecting sample members from the population according to a random starting point and a fixed, periodic interval. Typically, every ninth member is selected from the total population for inclusion in the sample population. The researcher chose this since that based in the researcher’s estimation, there are sixty percent in the fourth year level students are using the library every day. Thus, the researcher comes up with an idea on using the systematic random sampling method in conducting this research study. The researchers wrote all the names of the fourth year students in a paper and arranged by section. The researchers selected a number that he/she likes; and lastly the researcher selected the respondents every â€Å"ninth† of the names until he gets 63 respondents. Table 1. Distribution of Respondents Section ClustersPopulationSample Number NPercent (%)Number nPercent (%) ConfuciusFemale1461%1261% Male939%739% Total2331%1931% MenciusFemale 1657%1457% Male1243%1043% Total2837%2437%. Lao TzuFemale1458%1258% Male1042%842% Total2432%2032% OverallFemale4459%3859% Male3141%2541% Total75100%63100% Research Instrument The research instrument consisted of fifteen-item questionnaires that are divided into two categories (students and library) on whether the library is functional to the fourth yr. students. The respondents will respond to a five-point scale ranging from very positive, positive, fair, negative and very negative. Items on the questionnaire were drawn from literature on the normal reasons for answering the question on what is the perception on the functionality of the school library. The proposed survey questionnaire is self-constructed. In order to interpret the response of the research subjects, Table 2 will be used as basis. Table 2. Quality Index Mean ScoreQualitative Description 4. 20 – 5. 00Very Positive 3. 40 – 4. 19Positive 2. 60 – 3. 39Fair 1. 80 – 2. 59 Negative 1. 00 – 1. 79Very Negative Data Gathering Procedure This research survey had been conducted by the use of systematic random sampling method. Through this, the first 65 students in the fourth year level will serve as the respondents for this research survey. The procedure of conducting this research survey is as follows: The researchers distributed the survey questionnaire to the 63 students that has been randomly selected and ask to answer the survey. After the student had answered the questionnaire, the researchers gathered the entire survey questionnaire and thanking the students who had answered the following survey questionnaire. Statistical Treatment In this survey, the researcher used the following statistical tool to analyze the gathered data of this study: Mean. By using the mean, the researcher had been able to get the average of students’ sample population which is using the school library. Since, that the respondents are divided into two clusters, the researcher also get the average percentage of every male and female respondents of this survey. Standard Deviation. In standard deviation, it showed how much variation exists from the average mean. In short, this measured the confidence of the respondents in statistical conclusions. t-test. The t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other. This analysis is appropriate whenever you want to compare the means of two groups. Through the use of t-test, the researcher had been able to distinguish the difference on the perception on the functionality of the students on the school library in terms of their gender and section. Chapter III RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter presents the data obtained through the survey conducted, and the analysis of the data using the appropriate statistical treatment and the interpretation of the results obtained. Problem No. 1 What is the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library? Table 3 Perception of the Students on the Functionality of the School Library by Gender GenderMeanStandard DeviationQualitative Description Male2. 950. 39Fair Female2. 960. 52Fair Overall2. 960. 46Fair Table 3 summarizes the perception of the fourth year students on the functionality of the school library when classified according to gender. The data shows that the mean of male students is 2. 95 with a standard deviation of 0. 39 which is interpreted as fair. Moreover, the female students obtained a mean of 2. 96 with a standard deviation of 0. 52 that can  be interpreted as fair. Comparatively, it can be generalized that 4th year females are more aware of the functionality of the school library than 4th year boys. The table explains that the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library has an overall mean of 2. 96 in terms of gender that can also be interpreted as fair. The female students of all 4th year are aware of the functionality of the school library than the male, because the female students obtained a mean of 2. 96 and a 0. 52 standard deviation that can also be interpreted as fair. Table 4  Perception of the Students on the Functionality of the School Library by Section SectionMeanStandard DeviationQualitative Description Confucius2. 910. 46Fair Mencius2. 990. 45Fair Lao Tzu2. 970. 49Fair Overall2. 960. 46Fair Table 4 presents the perception of fourth year students on the functionality of the school library when categorized according to section. The data shows that the mean of Confucius students is 2. 91 with a standard deviation of 0. 46 which is interpreted as fair. Furthermore, Mencius students obtained a mean of 2. 99 with a standard deviation of 0. 45 that is interpreted fair. The mean of Lao Tzu is 2. 97 with a standard deviation of 0. 49 that is interpreted as fair. It can be generalized from the data that the Mencius students are more aware of the functionality school library than the other two sections. As a whole, the mean of all the 4th year students who were chosen as the respondents for this study is 2. 96 with a standard deviation of 0. 46 which indicates that the overall level of usage of the school library is fair. The table explains that the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library has an overall mean of 2. 96 in terms of section that can also be interpreted as fair. The 4th year Mencius students are more aware of the functionality of the school library than the two other 4th year sections because the 4th year Confucius students obtained a mean of 2. 91 and a 0. 46 standard deviation that can also be interpreted as fair. The 4th year Lao Tzu students obtained a mean of 2. 97 and a 0. 49 standard deviation that can also be interpreted as fair. Problem 2. Is there a significant difference in the perception of the students on the functionality of the school library in terms of gender and section? Table 5 Gender and Perception of the Students GenderMeanMean DifferenceComputed t-valueTabular t-valueDecisionConclusion Male2. 95-0. 01-0. 011. 99Accept NullThere is no significant difference Female2. 96 Table 5 shows the results of the t-test between the level of awareness of the parents and their gender. As presented on the table, the mean difference of the male and female respondents is -0. 01. Since the computed t-value of -0. 01 is lesser than the tabular value of 1. 99 at 0. 05 level of significance with 61 degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of the students of the functionality on the school library in terms of their gender. The table explains that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of the students of the functionality on the school library in terms of their gender because of the mean of the males is lesser than the mean of the females it also apply on the computed t-value and tabular t-value. The data shows that the mean of 4th year male students are 2. 95 while the 4th year female students are 2. 96 with a mean difference of -0. 01, a computed t-value of -0. 01, and a tabular table of 1. 99. Table 6 Section and Perception of the Students SectionMeanMean DifferenceComputed t-valueTabular t-valueDecisionConclusion Confucius2. 91-0. 08-0. 112. 02Accept NullThere is no significant difference Mencius2. 99 Confucius2. 91-0. 06-0. 082. 03Accept NullThere is no significant difference Lao Tzu2. 97 Mencius2. 990. 020. 032. 02Accept NullThere is no significant difference Lao Tzu2. 97 Table 6 shows the results of the t-test between the perceptions of the respondents and their section. As presented on the table, the mean difference of the Confucius and Mencius respondents is -0. 08. Since the computed t-value of -0. 11 is lesser than the tabular value of 2. 02 at 0. 05 level of significance with 41 degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of Confucius and Mencius students on the functionality of the school library. . On the other hand, the mean difference of the Confucius and Lao Tzu respondents is -0. 06. Since the computed t-value of -0. 08 is less than the tabular value of 2. 03 at 0. 05 level of significance with 37 degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of Confucius and Lao Tzu students on the functionality of the school library. Moreover, the mean difference of the Mencius and Lao Tzu respondents is 0. 02. Since the computed t-value of 0. 03 is less than the tabular value of 2. 02 at 0. 05 level of significance with 42 degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis is accepted. This means that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of Mencius and Lao Tzu students on the functionality of the school library. As a whole, it can be generalized that the perceptions of the 4th year students are aware of the functionality of the school library. Chapter IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary The study is about the functionality of the school library based on the students’ perception. The respondents in the study are the selected 4th year student of Davao Central High School. The method used in this study is the systematic random sampling wherein the researcher would pick out members from population according to the random starting point. The researchers choose this kind of sampling due to the researchers’ estimation that there will be about sixty percent of 4th year student who are using the school’s library every day. Thus, the researchers will be writing all the names of the students in a paper then he/she will pick a number that the researcher likes and lastly the researcher selects the respondents every â€Å"ninth† of the names until the researcher will get 63 respondents. Conclusion After the careful analysis of the data gathered, the researchers reached the following conclusions: 1. The level of perception on the functionality of the school library is fair. Female is more aware of the functionality of the school library than male. Section Mencius has the highest mean followed by section Lao Tzu and section Confucius. 2. There is no significant difference in the perceptions of the students on the functionality of the school library in terms of their gender. Recommendation The administration should improve the library in the way the students’ needs. The teachers should give the students an assignments or projects that can be found able at the library. The parents should have their own mini-library at hone to improve the basic needs of their child. The researchers would like to recommend to the future researchers to do some related studies about the school libraries. The researchers would like to propose some that they could also conduct a study about the usefulness of the diff. facilities, and the completeness of the references of the library.