International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 3

Number 2

June 2009

237

1 BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

Navigational trip is a subject in marine engineering,

which the students undergo in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the course. The orientation and

exposure to, observation of, and familiarization with

the ship engine room, where their future profession

will greatly apply, are the objectives of this naviga-

tional trip and the basis of the capacity of each indi-

vidual student, to complete his degree in maritime

field of profession as a marine engineer(De Leon,

2000).

At maritime university, specifically John B. Lac-

son Foundation Maritime University-Molo, Iloilo

City, Philippines, the on-the-job training and appren-

ticeship program had been launched in line with

their philosophy and objectives to produce better

quality midshipmen by exposing these potential of-

ficers to actual experience on board vessel in the

domestic and or foreign trade (JBLF Manual 1999).

Specially, the navigational trip has an equivalent

approach to apprenticeship, which is conducted, on

the sea going vessel. The navigational trip is a re-

quirement for marine engineering students on their

third year. It is being guided by qualified instructors

for them o be more acquainted with and have a thor-

ough knowledge of the engine room set-up.

The apprenticeship is a requirement after com-

pleting the basic courses and after which one can be

qualified as graduate from the bachelors degree in

Marine Engineering. A two-year apprenticeship

onboard the vessel is required of each student. The

school closely monitors this before they are issued a

special order as basis of their completion of the

bachelor’s degree.

The factors involved in this study are the orienta-

tion and exposure to, observation of, and familiariza-

tion with the engine room, which will yield feelings

of satisfaction or no satisfaction. They are to be the

under lying factors in this study, because they are

the basis for yielding a qualified potential officer

and an excellent graduate of a Marine Engineering

School. Also, this study will ascertain factors that in-

fluence the student performance and navigational

trip. Finally, this study will ascertain whether or not

there is a relationship between navigational trip and

the performance of students in Auxiliary Machinery

2 subject.

As marine engineering students of maritime uni-

versity in Iloilo City, have strived hard to meet the

Correlation Between Academic Performance in

Auxiliary Machinery 2 Subject and

Navigational Trip Among Marine Engineering

Students at Maritime University in the

Philippines

R.A. Alimen, V.B. Jaleco, R. L. Pador & M.G. Gayo, Jr.

John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University-Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of academic performance in Auxiliary Ma-

chinery 2 subject and navigational trip among marine engineering students at maritime university, specifically

JBLFMU-Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines. It further aimed also to determine the relationship of the two varia-

bles. The researchers used the quantitative research method and employed the descriptive statistics for the

analysis of data among the randomly selected participants of the present study. The statistical tools were fre-

quency, mean, and Pearson’s r. To come up with the data needed for this study, the questionnaire – checklist

on “Navigational trip” was developed by the researchers. Results revealed that as an entire group, the level of

academic performance was “excellent” and the navigational trip was “moderately satisfactory” among marine

engineering students. The correlation between navigational trip and auxiliary machinery 2 subject was “posi-

tive and significantly correlated.”

238

standards required for international and national (lo-

cal) employment. Also, the marine engineering stu-

dents tried hard that the name of this prestigious in-

stitution (JBLFMU-Molo) will not be tarnished

because of the mediocre performance as future sea-

farers. Also, the school must provide the marine en-

gineering students the opportunity to have hands-on

and on-the-job training programs so that they can

equip themselves in the cognitive and skill-based

training necessary for the future employment as sea-

farers.

This study was intended to identify also the corre-

lation between academic performance in the Auxil-

iary Machinery 2 subject and navigational trip. In

order to understand the present study, the conceptual

framework is shown in Figure. 1.

Figure 1. Correlation between navigational trip and perfor-

mance in Auxiliary Machinery 2 subject

2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The present study aimed to ascertain the level of ac-

ademic performance in auxiliary machinery 2 sub-

ject and navigational trip among marine engineering

students and the relationship of the two variables.

Specifically this study sought to answer the follow-

ing questions:

1 What is the level of academic performance in

Auxiliary Machinery 2 among marine engineer-

ing students when taken as an entire group and

when classified according to different categories?

2 What is the level of Navigational Trip among ma-

rine engineering students as an entire group and

classified according to different categories?

3 Is there a significant relationship between aca-

demic performance in auxiliary machinery 2 sub-

ject and navigational trip among marine engineer-

ing students?

3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Administration. They will be given insights in the

perception of students in the gains obtained by the

third year marine engineering students who under-

gone navigational trip.

By this, it could serve as a basis in improving the

navigational trip program.

Students. They could be able to appreciate the

purpose of holding navigational trip.

4 RESEARCH DESIGN

The researchers employed the quantitative research

design in this investigation. Descriptive research

according to Gay (1992), involves collecting data in

order to test hypothesis, to test answer question con-

cerning the current status of the subject under study.

The independent variable of this study was the

student-related factors such as classification, type of

residence, and monthly family income. While de-

pendent variables were the students’ performance in

Auxiliary Machinery 2 subject and navigational trip.

5 THE PARTICIPANTS

The participants were the ninety nine (99) marine

engineering students of the regular classes randomly

selected for the purpose of this study.

The distribution of participants is shown in Ta-

ble 1.

Table 1. Distribution of participants.

__________________________________________________

Category f %

__________________________________________________

A. Entire group 99 100

B. Family income

P12,001 & below 72 72

P12,001 –30,000 24 24

P30,001 and above 3 3

C. Type of residence

Rural 78 78

Urban 22 22

D. Classification

Class A 33 33

Class B 33 33

Class C 33 33

__________________________________________________

6 DATA-GATHERING INSTRUMENT AND

STATISTICAL TOOLS

To come up with the data needed for this study, the

questionnaire – checklist on “Navigational trip” was

developed by the researchers. Frequency counts was

used to describe the profile of the respondents in

terms of type of residence, family income and classi-

fication, mean was employed to describe the naviga-

tional trip and students’ performance as perceived by

the second year marine engineering students at mari-

time university, specifically John B. Lacson Founda-

tion Maritime University-Molo, Iloilo City, Philip-

pines. To determine the correlation between

academic performance in auxiliary machinery 2 sub-

ject and navigational trip among the marine engi-

239

neering students, Pearson r Coefficient of Correla-

tion was used.

7 RESULTS OF THE STUDY

The results revealed that:

As an entire group, the level of academic perfor-

mance was “excellent”(M = 4.32) among marine en-

gineering students of JBLFMU-Molo, Iloilo City,

Philippines.

Marine engineering students who stayed or resied

in rural and urban areas had “very good” and “excel-

lent” academic performance (M = 4.12; M=4.50) in

Auxiliary Machinery 2 respectively. The respond-

ents’ academic performance was “excellent” (M =

4.27; M = 4.28) whose family income belong to high

and low income groups and “very good” for middle

income group (M = 4.13). In terms of classification,

the marine engineering students posted an “excel-

lent” for class A and B (M = 4.47; M=4.61) and

“very good” for Class C ((M = 3.45) on their aca-

demic performance in Auxiliary Machinery 2 sub-

ject.

Table 2. Level of the academic performance in Auxiliary Ma-

chine 2 subject among Marine Engineering students

__________________________________________________

Category M Description

__________________________________________________

A. Entire group 4.32 Excellent

B. Type of residence

Rural 4.12 Very good

Urban 4.50 Excellent

C. Family income

P12,000 and below 4.27 Excellent

P12,001 – P30,000 4.13 Very good

P30,001 and above 4.28 Excellent

D. Classification

Class A 4.47 Excellent

Class B 4.61 Excellent

Class C 3.45 Very good

__________________________________________________

Legend:

4.21-5.00 – Excellent

3.41-4.20 – Very good

2.61-3.40 – Good

1.81-2.60 – Fair

1.00-1.80 – Poor

As an entire group, the navigational trip was

“moderately satisfactory”(M = 4.02) among marine

engineering students. Marine engineering students

who stayed or resided in rural and urban areas found

“satisfactory” and “moderately satisfactory” the nav-

igational trip (M = 3.34; M=4.15) respectively. The

respondents’ navigational trip was “moderately sat-

isfactory” those family income belong to high and

low income groups ((M = 4.18; M=4.12) and “satis-

factory” for middle income group (M = 3.22). In

terms of classification, the students posted a “mod-

erately satisfactory” for class A and B ((M = 4.16;

M=4.13) and “satisfactory” for Class C ((M = 3.32)

on navigational trip.

The correlation between navigational trip and

auxiliary machinery 2 subject of the present study

revealed a significant correlation.

Table 3. Level of navigational trip among Marine Engineering

students of JBLFMU-Molo

__________________________________________________

Category M Description

__________________________________________________

A. Entire group 4.02 Moderately satisfactory

B. Type of residence

Rural 3.34 Satisfactory

Urban 4.15 Moderately satisfactory

C. Family income

P12,000 and below 4.18 Moderately satisfactory

P12,001 – P30,000 3.22 Satisfactory

P30,001 and above 4.12 Moderately satisfactory

D. Classification

Class A 4.16 Moderately satisfactory

Class B 4.13 Moderately satisfactory

Class C 3.32 Satisfactory

__________________________________________________

Legend:

4.21-5.00 – Highly satisfactory

3.41-4.20 – Moderately satisfactory

2.61-3.40 – Satisfactory

1.81-2.60 – Unsatisfactory

1.00-1.80 – Very unsatisfactory

Again, the result of correlation between auxiliary

machinery 2 subject and navigational trip revealed a

positive and significant correlation employing Pear-

son’s r (r = .735, p < .05).

Table 4. Correlation between navigation trip and academic per-

formance in Auxiliary Machinery 2

__________________________________________________

Variable Academic Performance

Auxiliary Machinery 2

___________________

r r-prob

__________________________________________________

Navigational Trip .735* .024

__________________________________________________

* p < 0.5

8 CONCLUSIONS

The level of navigational trip was perceived to be

“very satisfactory” when taken as an entire group.

This means that navigational trip is necessary among

marine engineering students in developing their per-

sonal and technical skills, as well as to social rela-

tionships. This finding was in agreement in the study

of Casco (2003) stating that attending navigational

trip, the students are exposed to actual sea experi-

ence. Marine engineering students were observed to

have developed the sense of cooperation with co-

seafarers, learned to follow the command of their

superiors and learned to apply theories in their clas-

ses to actual situation. That is one of the reasons that

the result revealed a significant correlation between

240

academic performance in Auxiliary Machinery 2

subject and navigational trip among marine engi-

neering students.

9 IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY AND

PRACTICE

Navigational trip gives the marine engineering stu-

dents a chance to meet and talk with people in the

field that could provide them with information about

their profession (JBLF SPS Manual).

The findings of this study are supported by the

objectives formulated by maritime university, spe-

cifically John B. Lacson Foundation-Maritime Uni-

versity-Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines regarding the

navigational trip or On-the-job Training (OJT) em-

phasizing that actual sea experience and exposure to

the field of marine engineering is productive in the

development of students.

10 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of this study, the researchers

arrived at the following recommendations:

1 Navigational trip program should be conducted

effectively to ensure that students may develop

their personal, technical and also social skills es-

pecially those marine engineering students belong

to Class C category.

2 Personnel in-charge of the program should see to

it that the implementation of the navigational trip

program will be strictly observed so that the stu-

dents will be oriented not only as simply an ex-

cursion or vacation.

3 Further studies be conducted to ascertain the ef-

fect of navigational trip in the teaching-learning

process of marine engineering students at mari-

time university, specifically JBLFMU-Molo, Iloi-

lo City, Philippines.

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