Background of the Study
Despite being a prerequisite for students planning to major in STEM, calculus has
been demonstrated to deter pupils from pursuing degrees in STEM. According to Hurtado
(2018), up to 40% of students who declare a major in science, technology, engineering, or
mathematics (STEM) do not earn a STEM degree. This is particularly troublesome in the USA,
where it is estimated that in the coming ten years, an additional one million STEM graduates
would be needed to meet labor expectations (PCAST 2019).
Several mathematics courses are compulsory in all programs of science and
engineering students in higher education institutions. The justification for teaching
mathematics at senior high school level of education in science and engineering fields is to
enable students to handle, use, and interpret quantitative relationships of variables and deal
with data in research in their own fields of study. Learning difficulties in differential calculus
and reasoning skills prepare students to deal effectively with analytical and statistical tasks of
the world of work (Bandura, 2020 and Tobias, 2018).
In a broader sense, self-directed readiness is the capacity to take charge of one’s own
learning (Holec, 2018). To be specific, self-directed readiness can be defined as a process
where the learner takes initiative to discover his or her needs during the process of learning,
sets learning objectives, identifies resources, adopts suitable learning strategies and
evaluates the outcomes (Knowles, 2019). Knowles (2019) also emphasized that it is the
natural progression for learners to pursue autonomous learning so as to learn and remember
better in any given learning situation. According to Reinders (2018), it is an integral part to
help raise students’ awareness of undertaking learning outside the classroom and preparing
them on their path toward autonomy. In addition to awareness, it also requires students to
have great amount of motivation as well as diversified learning strategies in order to be take
the initiative to pursue a learning experience that is most beneficial in the long run. As such,
gauging the level of self-directed learning readiness is crucial as this will indicate whether one
has the willingness, motivation and ability to participate in the task (Littlewood, 2020). Wiley
(2019) defined self-directed learning readiness as the degree to which an individual possesses
attitudes, abilities, and personality characteristics necessary for self-directed learning.
In the field of mathematics known as calculus, functions that describe actual
processes and quantities are differentiated and integrated (Suwarto, 2013). Five years after
the implementation of the K-12 Curriculum, the country's standing in mathematics education
did not improve compared to neighboring countries according to 2018 Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA). It revealed that the Philippines scored the lowest in
reading comprehension and the second lowest in mathematics and science among the
seventy-nine participating countries (San Juan, 2019).
Although the value of self-directed learning has been emphasized heavily in
educational research, studies examining the connection between STEM students' selfdirected readiness and their mastery of differential calculus in particular schools, like
Monkayo National High School, are conspicuously lacking. This research gap emphasizes the
necessity to investigate the possible influence of self-directed preparedness on differential
calculus students' learning results in order to further our understanding of efficient teaching
and learning practices in the subject.