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“Instructional Materials Commonly Used by Intermediate HEKASI Teachers of Paco Catholic School”
Introduction
Nowadays, social studies in Philippine school is known as Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika or HEKASI. Teaching HEKASI like any other subjects requires instructional materials that include: teacher’s manuals, exercise books, transparencies, reinforcement activities, supplementary tables, graphs, charts, maps, computer soft ware, and audio materials. In 2009 National Achievement Test conducted in the Philippines, it was discovered that the mean percentage scores of students in HEKASI is 58.7 %. The mean score is quite below the passing percentage of 75 %. There are several factors that can affect the learning of students and there must be reasons why students got low scores in the test. One reason that can affect the student learning according to Viray (2006): “Learning in any subject or grade level relies largely on two factors namely the teacher and the instructional materials. For effective teaching, the teacher should be equipped with the necessary supplementary materials”. Also according to Thomas and Swartout (1985) “Poor teaching is due to lack of skill in selecting and using teaching methods and materials.” By considering the observation of Viray, Thomas, and Swartout it can be inferred that the learning of students is affected by the instructional materials used by their teachers and poor performance may be due to insufficiency and/or in adequate used of supplementary materials. Some authorities also observed that teachers face different problems in teaching related to the used of instructional materials. Teachers of HEKASI are not exempted from this problem about unavailability of instructional materials. According to Custodio (1992) “teachers of HEKASI encountered numerous problems ranging from unfamiliarity of which strategies, techniques unavailability of audio-visual or teaching devices related to the mastery of the content.” From the observation of Custodio, it may be inferred that poor performance of pupils might have resulted from poor instruction due to unavailability of instructional materials. Hawke (1981) also observed that “Because limited instructional materials, the dominant methods of Social Studies instruction are lecture and discussion based on textbooks.” To much use of textbooks in teaching means that the use of instructional material is disregarded. On the other hand Revich (1998) discussed importance of instructional materials over the textbook. “the best way to use a textbook is to treat it as a reference work. The main idea of learning should come from other materials, experiences, and technology either from the hands on activities or through the use of supplementary materials that are livelier, more vivid, and motivating for pupils than the textbook.
From the observations mentioned above, it was proven that instructional materials have a significant effect on the academic achievement of students in HEKASI subject.
The researchers were motivated to undertake this study I order to support the observations of the authorities cited above, the aim of this study is to know the common instructional materials used by teachers in the intermediate level in teaching HEKASI.

Theoretical /Conceptual Framework:
This study is anchored on the theory that effective teaching is the key to effective learning. As theorized by Travera and Elliot (1998) “Teachers must be the facilitator of learning and should produce instructional materials that can be indispensable tools or aids in teaching. The teacher task is to translate it’s content into meaningful units to match the level of mental development of the learners.” (From the theory mentioned, the researchers aim to discover the instructional materials that are commonly used by HEKASI teachers nowadays.) Specifically, Anchored on the theory stated above, the researchers are motivated to know the common instructional materials used by intermediate HEKASI teachers in Paco Catholic School. Hopefully, the findings of this research would contribute to the development of improved instruction through effective utilizing of instructional materials.

Statement of the Problem This study is aimed at determining the instructional materials commonly used by intermediate HEKASI teachers of Paco Catholic School during the school year 2010-2011.
It attempts to answer the following specific questions:
1. What instructional materials are commonly used by HEKASI V teachers of Paco catholic School?
2. What instructional materials are commonly used by HEKASI V teachers of Paco catholic School?
3. Is there a significant difference in the use of instructional materials by Grade five and Grade six HEKASI teachers of Paco Catholic School?

Hypothesis: A null hypothesis was constructed for this study, which is that: There is no significant difference between the instructional materials by Grade five and Grade six HEKASI teachers of Paco Catholic School.

Scope and Limitation: This study attempted to examine the instructional materials commonly used only by intermediate HEKASI teachers of Paco catholic School. The choice of respondents is limited to Grade five and Grade six teachers only, who are enrolled in Paco Catholic School During the School Year 2010-2011. Selection of independent variables is limited to the teacher factor, namely the nature and type of instructional materials used in teaching HEKASI. The summary and findings are applicable only in Paco Catholic School for the school year 2010-2011.

Significance of the study:
It is hoped that the study will be beneficial to the following: Pupils. Improvement of taching HEKASI subject through the effective use of instructional materials will surely rebound to the benefit of the pupils. Exposing pupils to different instructional materials would result to more efficient and effective teaching and improve the pupils’ level of achievement on the subject. HEKASI teachers. The findings of the study will be of a great help to teachers;the outcome may reveal important aspects that need to improved on teaching strategies and materials. Teachers of HEKASI may be enlightened to the different materials that can be used for effective teaching of content. Curriculum Planners. The investigation may serve as a basis for recommending appropriate curriculum materials that are vital to the teaching of HEKASI. School administrators. The administrators would be aware of the possible problems that HEKASI teachers face about utilizing instructional materials. Researchers. The findings of the research of this study may be usd for the conducting future studies of similar nature.

Definition of Terms: a. Charts – as used in social studies charts are maps showing coastlines, water depths or other information use to navigators. b. Exercise books – in education, exercise books are books used by pupils as material to practice mastery skills about certain content. c. Graphs – a diagram showing the relation ship of quantities, especially such a diagram in which lines, bars, or proportional areas represent how one quantity depends on or changes with another. d. HEKASI – Known as Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika. A subject taught as part of the basic education curriculum. ( BEC) e. Instructional Materials – These are materials that are used to aid in the transference of information from one to another. For example, a teacher may use instructional materials to aid in the leaning of subject matter for a class. f. Maps – is a visual representation of an area as symbolic depiction high lightning relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes. g. NAT- Known as National Achievement Test, is an examination given annually in march to assess the competency of both public and private school students. The students’ knowledge and skill are tested in the subjects of Mathematics, English, Science, Filipino, and HEKASI for grade school and Mathematic, English, Science, Filipino, and Araling Panlipunan for high school.

Public school students’ MPS in Math was 68.70; English 59.63; Filipino 72.21 and HEKASI (Heyograpiya, Kasaysayan, Sibika) 68.99.
On the other hand, private school students’ MPS in Math was 45.02; English 56.27; Science 45.86; Filipino 66.71; and HEKASI 48.47. The 2009 NAT was taken by some 1.76 million pupils from 31,196 public and 2,386 privateelementary schools nationwide. (Philstar.com, September 26,200.)