II.
Respondents’ College Adjustment
Table 4.5
Distribution of Respondents’ Adjustment in Terms of Academic Aspect
Indicators
(Academic aspect)
Responses (n=150) Mode Interpretation
1
2
3
4
29
93
24
4
2
Disagree
9
53
83
5
3
Agree
3
24
90
33
3
Agree
13
75
51
11
2
Disagree
I am enjoying my academic work at college.
6
29
91
24
3
Agree
Most of the things I am interested in are not
12
47
66
25
3
Agree
1
I am finding academic work in college
difficult.
2
I have not been functioning well during
examinations.
3
My academic goals and purposes are well
defined.
4
I’m not doing well enough academically for
the amount of work I put in.
5
6
related to any of my course work at college.
Legend: 1=“Strongly disagree”, 2=“Disagree”, 3=“Agree”, 4=“Strongly agree”
Table 4.5 exhibits the mode and interpretation of the level of respondents’ college
adjustment in terms of academic aspect. Numbers 1, 2, 4, and 6 are negatively phrased indicators
of academic adjustments while 3 and 5 are positively phrased indicators. Since the respondents
mostly agreed to 2, 3, 5, and 6, and disagreed to 1 and 4, interchanges in the interpretation are
expected. The responses result to 4 positive and 2 negative interpretations to indicators.
This means that most of the respondents agreed to positive indicators under academic
aspect of college adjustment.
The result supported the study conducted by Alipio (2020) entitled “Academic
Adjustment and Performance among Filipino Freshmen College Students in the Health
Sciences: Does Senior High School Strand Matter?” to 14,061 respondents in Philippine Higher
Education Institutions. The lack of academic adjustment predicted academic performance better
than the existence of SHS strand. This study agreed that a college student's achievement in their
tertiary levels is not determined by their SHS strand, but rather by their academic adjustment.
Based on the above table, the respondents of this study who are non-STEM pre-service teachers
adjusted well in terms of academic aspect.
In addition, Abdullah et.al (2009) stated that individual at college must adjust to a new
environment and talk honestly with their lecturers about their problems. In terms of academic
adjustment, students in college were supposed to be self-directed learners who must adapt to new
academic demands. In connection, the pre-service teachers were adapting their courses different
from school and that they adjust well in academic aspect.
The respondents may not be functioning well during their examinations and their interests
are not related to their courses, yet their objectives were well defined, and they were also exerting
efforts and enjoying it as well. It implies that secondary education pre-service teachers who are
non-STEM graduates are doing well in their academic adjustment regardless of their strands in
senior high school since they have applied most of the indicators provided under the specific
aspect.