Coping Practices and Academic Attitudes of Maritime Students in the Philippines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19707632Keywords:
Coping Practices, Academic Attitudes, Maritime Students, and Davao CityAbstract
The recognized role of coping practices in shaping students' academic behaviors has raised increasing attention regarding their impact on academic attitudes among maritime students. The primary goal of this study was to determine how coping practices influence academic attitudes among Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) students at DMMA College of Southern Philippines, Inc. A non-experimental quantitative research design using a descriptive-correlational approach was used. The study was conducted in Davao City, Philippines, with 335 BSMT students as participants, selected through simple random sampling. The data were collected using a modified survey questionnaire measuring coping practices along two domains emotion-focused and problem-focused and academic attitudes across three indicators: attitude towards teachers, attitude towards other students, and attitude towards how classes are handled. Data were analyzed using statistical methods, including mean and standard deviation, Pearson's r, and multiple regression. The results revealed that students show a high level of coping practices, with emotion-focused coping slightly higher than problem-focused coping. Similarly, students exhibited a high level of academic attitudes across all three indicators, with attitudes toward teachers obtaining the highest mean rating, this suggests that students particularly value the role their teachers play in their overall learning experience. Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant, moderate positive relationship between coping practices and academic attitudes, thereby rejecting the null hypothesis. Furthermore, regression analysis confirmed that both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping are significant predictors of academic attitudes, with problem-focused coping emerging as the stronger predictor. These findings suggest that effective coping practices positively influence students' academic attitudes when used consistently and adaptively. Purposeful use of coping strategies promotes favorable academic dispositions among maritime students. It is recommended that students continually develop adaptive coping skills. Schools should integrate coping programs into their student support services. Future researchers should explore additional variables and broader contexts to further confirm these findings.
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