Thank God Its Friday: Lived Experiences of STEM Students on Catch-Up Fridays

• Main Authors: Asingua, Clifford T., Torres, Nicole A., Balaba, Julian Pierre A., Galindo, Newell Raven A., Ullo, Jhonrey N.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2025
• Subjects: Catch-Up Fridays; challenges on Catch-Up Fridays; strategies on Catch-Up Fridays; students' experiences; phenomenological research
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/conf_shsrescon/2024/paper_cli/2; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/conf_shsrescon/article/2356/viewcontent/PP_CLI_Asingua_Torres_Balaba_Galindo_Ullo___Clifford_Asingua.docx.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Catch-Up Fridays is a learning mechanism launched by the Department of Education on January 12, 2024. It was implemented to address gaps caused by the disruptions of classes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which hinder students' learning opportunities and deteriorate their academic performance. Moreover, since the implementation of Catch-Up Fridays, there have not been any studies that directly examined the experiences of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students during Catch-Up Fridays. In the field of phenomenological research, studying the experiences of individuals can bring light to the challenges faced by the students, unearthing potential components of Catch-Up Fridays that could still be enhanced to fit every student's needs. Thus, this study explores the lived experiences, challenges, and strategies the students employed to cope with the activities during Catch-Up Fridays. This study utilized five (5) participants, specifically from the STEM strand, and utilized purposive sampling to collect the data. Furthermore, the study adapted Praveena and Sasikumar (2021) application of Colaizzi's method of analyzing data for phenomenological studies in analyzing the collected data. The data collected formed five general themes: Improved learning skills, addressing teacher-centered learning environments, Students needing teachers' guidance, Managing learning continuity, and Techniques against non-academic noise. In addition, it also unearthed challenges the students faced during Catch-Up Fridays, including boredom, lack of engagement, etc. The students responded to these challenges by adapting techniques and strategies. Overall, this study contributes to filling the knowledge gap about the experiences, challenges, and strategies STEM students utilized during Catch-Up Fridays.