Echague, Isabela — The way teachers deliver lessons can shape how students participate, think, collaborate, and understand social issues. A study by Aphrile S. Reyes and Celso C. Dumalig of Northeastern College, Inc. Graduate School, Santiago City, Philippines, during the 2025–2026 Academic Year found that Social Studies teachers consistently used a range of instructional strategies, including lectures and discussions, cooperative and collaborative learning, inquiry-based activities, problem-solving, and instructional materials and technology.
The study was conducted at Pangal Sur High School and Don Mariano Marcos National High School in the Echague South District, Division of Isabela. It examined the instructional strategies used by Social Studies teachers and their relationship with teachers’ demographic and professional characteristics. The findings show that Social Studies instruction extends beyond conventional classroom lectures, incorporating activities designed to encourage student participation, collaboration, investigation, problem-solving, and engagement with real-world social issues.
Social Studies requires students to understand historical, cultural, and societal concepts while also developing critical thinking, civic awareness, and social responsibility. The article notes that previous studies have associated learner-centered approaches such as cooperative learning, inquiry-based learning, differentiated instruction, and technology integration with improved student motivation, comprehension, engagement, and academic performance.
Reyes and Dumalig included all 12 Social Studies teachers from the two participating schools. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire validated by experts. The questionnaire covered the teachers’ demographic profiles and the instructional strategies they used. The researchers analyzed the data using frequency and percentage distributions, weighted means, Chi-square, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient to examine relationships between teacher characteristics and instructional practices.
The findings showed that lecture and discussion remained a consistently used teaching method, receiving an overall weighted mean of 4.27, categorized as “Always.” Encouraging students to share ideas and ask questions received the highest rating within this category. Teachers also reported using real-life examples to make Social Studies concepts easier to understand and summarizing important points at the end of lessons.
Cooperative and collaborative learning was also frequently applied, with an overall weighted mean of 4.26. Teachers encouraged students to exchange ideas, solve problems together, and develop respect and social skills through cooperative activities. Group tasks, teacher monitoring, and peer evaluation were also part of the reported classroom practices.
Inquiry-based and problem-solving approaches recorded the highest overall weighted mean among the instructional strategies examined, reaching 4.40 and receiving an “Always” classification. Problem-solving activities received the highest rating within this category. Teachers also reported asking open-ended questions, allowing students to investigate real-life social issues, and guiding learners to draw conclusions based on evidence.
The use of instructional materials and technology also received a high overall rating of 4.36. Teachers reported using maps, charts, visual materials, videos, slides, infographics, and digital resources when available. Multimedia tools received the highest rating within this group. However, online learning platforms and improvised instructional materials were used less frequently, which the study associated with resource availability.
The researchers also identified significant relationships between teachers’ instructional strategies and several characteristics, including sex, age, highest educational attainment, and years of teaching experience. These relationships appeared across lecture and discussion methods, collaborative learning, inquiry and problem-solving approaches, and the use of instructional materials and technology.
For Reyes and Dumalig, the findings highlight the value of using varied instructional strategies to support student engagement and learning. Continuous professional development can help teachers strengthen their pedagogical and technological competencies, while schools can contribute by providing adequate instructional materials, digital resources, ICT facilities, and regular training opportunities.
The findings are relevant to education because they illustrate how classroom learning can involve more than the delivery of information. Combining discussion, collaboration, inquiry, problem-solving, visual resources, and technology can provide students with opportunities to participate actively and develop analytical and social skills.
The study involved only 12 teachers from two schools, meaning its findings reflect the specific educational context examined. The researchers recommended future studies involving larger samples, different educational settings, and additional factors such as student motivation, learning engagement, critical thinking, teacher competence, classroom environment, and access to learning resources.
Authors
Aphrile S. Reyes — Northeastern College, Inc. Graduate School, Santiago City, Philippines.
Celso C. Dumalig — Northeastern College, Inc. Graduate School, Santiago City, Philippines.
Research Source
Reyes, Aphrile S., and Celso C. Dumalig. “Teachers’ Instructional Strategies and Their Impact on Students' Performance in Social Studies.” International Journal of Scientific Multidisciplinary Research (IJSMR), Vol. 4, No. 9, 2026, pp. 2239–2256.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/ijsmr.v4i9.124
Journal Link: https://journalijsmr.my.id/index.php/ijsmr
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