Chapter I (Introduction)

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

            The environment of an individual is very essential to his or her human development. One of the main components of an environment is the individual’s residence. Residences are establishments where people dwell and do all sorts of things.

            In a particular university, there are student that do not live in the city where the university is located. The students in the university may live near the university, in the city where the university is, in another city, an island away from the city, or even a country away from the city.  For those living far from the university, the students usually rent an apartment, a room, or maybe stay in a dormitory. Therefore, in a university, students live in different residences during their university life.

            The student’s environment can influence the student, particularly in the student’s study habits.  Dinkmeyer and Dreikurs (1963) said that the development of a student is the result of environmental influences. Furthermore, Dakin (2008) said that there are two factors that influence the student’s success, these are: student characteristics and the characteristics of the environment, both the living environment and the environment of the learning institution.

            Karemera, et al. (2003) says that the students must have good learning environment for them to excel. The key to an effective learning is to create an environment the encourage students to do an excellent work in or out of the school.  An individual should be encouraged to pursue learning especially in their own residence.

            Students who stay in on-campus dorms perform better academically than those in off-campus living arrangements. (Tsavo Media Canada Inc., 2010).

            This study concerns the impacts of student’s residence, specifically first year students of University of the Philippines Cebu, on his or her study habits. The researchers’ recognize the importance of this research because a number of students from the said university do not come from Cebu. Those students usually rent a room, a boarding house, an apartment, a house of a relative, or stay in a dorm in or outside the campus. However, there are also students that already reside in Cebu.

Our main purpose for this study is to identify whether the conditions of the living environment of the student affects his or her study habits. The reason for conducting this study is that students should know where to reside, especially students who did not come from Cebu.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            This study aims to know the impacts of residence of UP Cebu first year students on their study habits.

            Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1.    In what way do the people they live with affect the students’ study habits?

2.    Does the physical condition of the area affect the students’ study habits?

3.    Does the type of residence of UP Cebu students affect the students’ study habits?

4.    Other than residence, are there other factors affecting the students’ study habits? What are these?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.    To know on how the people the students live with affect the students’ study habits.

2.    To determine if the physical condition of the students’ residence affect their study habits.

3.    To know if the types of residence of UP Cebu students affect their study habits.

4.    To identify if there are other factors affecting the students’ study habits aside from their residence and to determine what these factors are.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

            The researchers believe that their study on the impacts of the residence of UP Cebu first year students to their study habits would help students in determining the suitable residence that best fit them. This study will also aid students in identifying what environmental factors give a great impact on their study habits. This study’s goal is intended for students specially those who are not locales of the region and to the parents of the students so that they’ll know the right residence for their children. Furthermore, this could also help the students in shaping their human development and in improving their academic careers that could make them successful. This study could also aid the future studies of researchers in making their study more successful and more relevant.