Teaching Strategy and Mathematics Performance of Maritime Students in the New Normal

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly changed educational paradigms, especially in maritime education. Online learning has presented unprecedented difficulties to instructors' instruction quality and student results. This study examines how maritime education professors' teaching strategies affect students' math performance. The research examines the domain of teaching strategies of college instructors that significantly influence the mathematics performance of maritime students. The descriptive correlational non-experimental design was employed, and the study involved 100 maritime students enrolled in Math 1 during the 2021-2022 academic year, selected via random sampling. Student perceptions were collected using a standardized questionnaire to gain data on instructional practices. Academic grades were used to evaluate mathematics performance. The data was analysed using statistical methods such as mean calculations, Pearson correlation coefficients, and linear regression to assess the importance of correlations between variables. Results revealed that the teaching strategies of college instructors in teaching mathematics as perceived by the maritime students were very high. Also, the findings revealed that teaching strategies and mathematics performance of maritime students have no significant relationship. Although it may appear unexpected that there is no direct correlation between teaching strategies and mathematics performance, the role of affective strategies underscores the need to cultivate a pleasant emotional environment in maritime education. The implementation of strategies that target the enhancement of student motivation, engagement, and emotional well-being has been identified as crucial in the improvement of mathematics performance in the face of the difficulties associated with online learning. Based on the aforementioned findings, it is recommended that educators and institutions give precedence to the advancement and execution of affective teaching methodologies specifically designed to cater to the requirements of maritime students. Furthermore, it is necessary to conduct additional research to investigate the effectiveness of particular instructional interventions and student support systems in maximizing academic achievements in the context of online maritime education.