Pursuing Stem Careers: Challenges of Senior High School Students during Distance Learning

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic required the educational sector to implement countermeasures in order to continue educating students amidst the pandemic, this may have resulted in a gap in the number of people entering the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field. This study determined the challenges of senior high school students in learning in STEM through distance learning. The respondents were 85 Grade 12 STEM students from the six (6) selected public and private educational institutions in the province of Zambales who were chosen through stratified random sampling. Results revealed that STEM 12 students often encountered challenges in terms of Learning Environment (LEC), Student Isolation (SIC), and Workload, simultaneously, it was noted that they sometimes encountered challenges in terms of Self-Regulation (SRC), Technological Sufficiency (TSC), and Technological Literacy and Competency (TLCC).Statistically significant differences were noted on the challenges encountered by Senior High School Students during distance learning in terms of school and age, but there were no significant differences that were noted regarding the other profile variables. The study suggests that the education sector should create program interventions to address the challenges such as curriculum development, to encourage or institutionalize special training courses in mathematics and science, and to develop learning continuity plans to empower teachers and students.