Assessment of Educational Radio Programs of La Salle University – Ozamiz City: An Input for...

Assessment of Educational Radio Programs of La Salle University – Ozamiz City:

An Input for Program Enhancement

Ryan S. Arances, MSTCMLa Salle University

E-mail Address: [email protected]

Abstract

In today’s world of high-end gadgets and technology, the learning process has been enhanced in many ways. One of those is the use of educational radio programs bringing distant learning to the students. It is in this very reason that La Salle University – Ozamiz City opened its educational radio station in 2006 for the purpose of teaching and entertaining students.

This is why this study attempted to assess the educational radio programs of La Salle University – Ozamiz City as an input for program enhancement. The respondents of this study are the selected college students of La Salle University- Ozamiz City. It involved 333 college students enrolled in the 2nd semester of SY 2010-2011 from La Salle University- Ozamiz City.

It is found out in this study that respondents who listened to the radio programs frequently tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of the radio programs in terms academic, social and leisure benefits. This is because those respondents who listened to the radio programs realized that programs aired were able to meet their academic, social and leisure needs.

It is recommended that programs must be enhanced to answer the needs of the students from the different fields of specialization with the help of their teachers and that teachers from La Salle University and other schools must contribute in the production of programs to make LSUFM the venue of learning not only students from La Salle University – Ozamiz City but also from other schools.

Introduction

FM broadcasting is a broadcast technology that uses frequency modulation (FM) to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. Throughout the world, the normal broadcast band for FM ranges from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz [1]. Because of its compatibility to transmit high quality sounds, it has been utilized since the late 1960s as a medium to deliver alternative rock music to a wide range of listeners while those of amplitude modulation (AM) broadcast focuses on news delivery, weather updates, religious affairs and other ethnicity-related concerns, among others. Although less sophisticated than FM broadcast, AM radio was first heard in the Philippines during the American colonial period [2].

The success of FM stations to attract a significantly long tune-in time from the Filipino youth paved the way for some FM stations to take this as an opportunity to modify and add new theme to the typical FM programming. For instance, DWFM or Radyo5 station of TV5 became 92.3 News FM, the first news/talk station on the FM band in the Philippines which was launched last October 2010 [3]. Their new modified FM radio format starts with Andar ng mga Balita, a presentation of brief news captions before a series of music is played for the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fidelity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting

time slot. To date, some FM stations experimented such formatting and people’s level of acceptance is quite positive, considering that it doesn’t eat much of the airtime.

Radio, being part of the broadcast media, is considered as the most dominant medium present on most of the households compared to other media forms especially in the Philippines [4]. This medium is playing a significant role in reaching, informing and educating people in the community. [5] claimed that learning from this medium is quite different from reading a book, we can never neglect the capacity of radio stations in educating a community. Radio is still a very dominant medium with wide access in entertaining, informing, and teaching listeners of all ages.

Educational radio stations are now used in different schools all over the world especially for their distance learning education programs since it is easy for working people to just tune in their radios and listen to discussions over the air.

La Salle University – Ozamiz City established an educational radio station in 2006 for the very same purpose of informing, entertaining and educating her students on issues concerning the people in the school. This radio station is the communication majors’ training ground for broadcasting and other related fields. At the same time it is also one of the communication media utilized within the campus for information dissemination to the different offices as well as to all the students.

The programs are specifically designed for the students to be informed of the different academic programs that the school offers, to give them the idea of the academic program that they are enrolled in, and also to present to the public interesting topics present in their fields.

The challenge to check the satisfaction of students towards meat of the programs aired over the radio station is now the main purpose of this study and further use the data gathered to develop an effective and efficient policy which will guide producers of program in order to develop programs for the benefit of the students.

Statement of the Problem

This study assessed the effectiveness of the programs of La Salle University FM radio station to the students of La Salle University – Ozamiz City. It aimed to examine the relevance of the programs to the students and to verify if these programs address their needs.

Specifically, the following sub-inquiries served as the basis in this investigation:1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:1.1 Sex1.2 Age1.3 Year Level1.4 College/School2. What is the LSUFM listening pattern of the respondents?3. What is the perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs to the

respondents in terms of:3.1 Academic Benefits3.2 Social Benefits

3.3 Leisure Benefits4. What is the respondents’ degree of preference of radio programs which

are categorized into:4.1 educational programs

4.2 spiritual programs4.3 news programs 4.4 entertainment programs

5. Is there a significant relationship between the program preference and perceived level of usefulness of radio programs and frequency of listening to radio programs and perceived level of usefulness of radio programs?

6. What are possible improvements in LSU-FM programs as recommended by the respondents?

Theoretical Considerations

The theory adopted in this study is Uses and Gratification Theory of Blumler J.G. & Katz, E. (1974). This theory discusses the reasons why people do interact with media outputs and how they were satisfied with the media outputs presented.

Uses and Gratification Theory. [6] the choices which people make are motivated by the desire to satisfy (or 'gratify') a range of needs. Hence the uses and gratifications approach is concerned to identify how people use the media to gratify their needs.

This theory explains and understands media consumption of individuals, groups, and society.

Methodology

Research Design

The descriptive survey method of research is utilized in this paper relying mainly on the questionnaire-checklist patterned after [2] as well as of Aleman [3].

Sampling Procedure

The respondents of this study were the college students currently enrolled in the 2nd

semester 2010-2011 of seven (7) colleges and one (1) school of La Salle University - Ozamiz City. From the 2,961 students enrolled this semester, respondents were randomly chosen from their respective colleges. The number of respondents was determined using the Slovin’s formula. There were 333 respondents from the total population of the students with 5% margin of error. This was done by clustering the students as to what college or school they belonged and arranging hem alphabetically by year level. This probability sampling procedure was done to give the students equal chances to be included in the sample.

Survey Instruments

This study utilizes the descriptive survey method through the intensive use of questionnaire-checklist as the main tool in gathering necessary data.

The instrument is characterized into three main parts, the demographic profile, musical and program preferences and effectiveness of LSUfm as educational radio station.

The demographic profile is composed of the name of the respondents, age, college/school they belong, year level and their frequency of exposure to radio broadcasting.

The musical and program preferences is composed of timeslot respondents do commonly listen to radio broadcasting, their choice of music genre, and their preference on the different radio programs in LSUfm.

Under the effectiveness of LSUfm as educational radio station, it is composed of the different possible academic and social effects brought by the different programs of the radio station. Also, it contains the different possible improvement that can be done to the radio station’s programming for it to be effective as educational radio station.

Data Gathering Procedure

The principal data gathering technique in this study is the questionnaire-checklist patterned after [7] as well as of [8]. The presentation of the demographic profile is anchored to the questionnaire of [7] while the music preferences as well as the effectiveness of LSUfm as educational radio station is modified from the survey questionnaire anchored from [8]

A letter of permission to conduct the study involving the students of La Salle University – Ozamiz City is solicited by the researcher from the University President through the Vice-Chancellor for Academics.

Upon the granting of the permission, the questionnaire-checklists were distributed to the different colleges and school secretaries. A total of 333 questionnaire-checklists were distributed evenly to the different colleges and school.

Results

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:1.1 sex;1.2 age;1.3 year level; and1.4 college/school?

Table 1. The Composition of Obtained Sample in terms of Demographic Characteristics (n=333)Characteristics Category Frequency Percent

Sex Male 150 45.0Female 182 54.7No response 1 .3

College/School Accountancy 40 12.0Arts and Sciences 25 7.5Business and Economics 70 21.0Computer Studies 27 8.1Education 47 14.1Engineering and Architecture 31 9.3Nursing 27 8.1Tourism and Hospitality Management

66 19.8

Year level First year 95 28.5Second year 90 27.0Third year 82 24.6Fourth year 57 17.1Fifth year 6 1.8

Age Mean = 18.7 years Standard deviation = 1.7 years

In the sample, 54.7% of the respondents were female and 45% were male. Frequency data show that the largest percentage of respondents came from College of Business and Economics (21%) and the lowest percentage of these respondents belonged to College of Arts and Sciences (7.5%). The percentage represents the total number of students in every college.

Majority of the respondents were freshmen (28.5%). The average age of the respondents was 18.7 years with a standard deviation of 1.7 years. Freshmen were taken as the majority since they have the most number of populations among the year levels. With the presence of the freshmen as the majority respondents, there is a possibility that songs and programs preferred will be affected.

2. What is the LSU FM listening pattern of the respondents? Tables 2 to 4 reveal the listening pattern of the respondents. Table 2. Distribution of Respondents by Frequency of Listening to LSU FM

Category Frequency PercentEveryday 49 14.7Monday to Friday 81 24.3Weekends 83 24.9Rarely 113 33.9Never 7 2.1While 33.9% of the respondents who listened to LSU FM programs rarely form the

maximum listening group as shown in Table 2, 24.9% listened during weekends, 24.3% listened from Monday to Friday, 14.7% listened to radio programs everyday in a week, and 2.1% never listened to LSU FM.

It may be concluded that only few do listen daily since students are only in the school during school days and that if they are outside the campus they have many resorts of entertainment such as television and computer. Aside from that, the radio station’s coverage may not be available in their homes since it is only 20 watts with a coverage of 3 km. radius.

Table 3. Distribution of Respondents by LSU FM Timeslot Preference and Frequency of Listening

TimeslotAlways Most of

the TimeSometim

esRarely Never

ModeF % f % F % f % F %

Morning Commute (6:01-8:00 AM)

75 24.7 49 16.1 78 25.7 53 17.1 49 16.1 Sometimes

Mid-Morning (8:01-11:00 AM)

31 10.2 91 29.9 86 28.3 57 18.8 39 12.8 Most of the time

Noontime (11:01 AM-1:00 PM)

48 15.6 87 28.3 83 27.0 53 17.3 36 11.7 Most of the time

Syesta (1:01-3:00 PM)

47 15.4 92 30.2 72 23.6 61 20.0 33 10.8 Most of the time

Mid-Afternoon (3:01-5:00 PM)

48 15.9 73 24.2 93 30.8 58 19.2 30 9.9 Sometimes

Afternoon Commute (5:01-8:00 PM)

39 13.0 81 27.0 89 29.7 53 17.7 38 12.7 Sometimes

Evening Love Jive (8:01-10:00 PM)

86 27.0 95 29.9 71 22.3 40 12.6 26 8.2 Most of the time

Late Night / Overnight (10:01PM-6:00 AM)

73 23.5 55 17.7 77 24.8 65 20.9 41 13.2 Sometimes

It is found out in Table 3 that respondents listened most of the time during mid-morning timeslot (8:01 to 11:00 A.M.), noontime timeslot (11:01 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.), “Syesta” (1:01 to 3:00 P.M.) and “Evening Love Jive” (8:01 to 10:00 P.M.). These timeslots are also considered as primetime slots since during these schedules students are fond of listening to radio.

The Mid-morning timeslot from 8:00AM – 11:00 AM is one of those preferred timeslots where students do listen since after the early morning rush going to school this will then be their time to relax and since 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM every MWF is considered as consultation time wherein students have no class and some may just listen to the radio waiting for the class. Noontime slot from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM is also preferred since this is the time wherein students will take their lunch while listening to the radio station. It has been part of the lifestyle to be entertained by mass media while eating and resting that is why Syesta from

1:00PM to 3:00PM and Evening Love Jive from 8:00PM to 10:00PM are the other timeslots being preferred by the students since these timeslots are the schedules where student do rest.

When asked to rate the type of music from “most preferred” to “not preferred”, the following data as tabulated in Table 4 were obtained.

Table 4. Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Music Genre

Type of MusicVery

preferredModerately preferred

Least preferred

Not preferred Mode

F % F % F % F %RnB 174 54.2 109 34.0 31 9.7 7 2.2 Most

preferredDisco 124 39.4 115 36.5 59 18.7 17 5.4 Most

preferredHiphop 120 37.6 126 39.5 58 18.2 15 4.7 Moderately

preferredMellow 172 51.7 112 33.6 35 10.5 4 1.2 Most

preferredClassical 92 28.7 146 45.5 67 20.9 16 5.0 Moderately

preferredOPM 148 45.8 127 39.3 39 12.1 9 2.8 Most

preferredBands 122 38.1 137 42.8 56 17.5 5 1.6 Moderately

preferredOldies/Standard 80 25.1 94 29.5 97 30.4 48 15.0 Least

preferredTable 2 above shows that RnB, disco, mellow and OPM were the topmost choices of

music genre by the respondents. The least preferred type of music was oldies or standard. RNB, disco music, mellow songs and OPM are the most preferred music genre since the

respondents are students. It has been perceived that today’s teenagers who are considered as Generation Y would prefer upbeat music like RnB and disco music especially if they would like to have fun and mellow music if they want to be entertained. This explanation will then prove why the respondents of these study prefer RnB, disco, mellow and OPM were the topmost choices and the oldies or standards are considered as least preferred.

3. What is the perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs to the respondents in terms of the following:

3.1 academic benefits;3.2 social benefits; and 3.3 leisure benefits?The respondents’ assessment on the usefulness of the LSU FM programs in terms of

their academic, social and leisure benefits was shown in Tables 9 to 13. Such evaluation varies from “very useful” to “not useful”.

Table 5. Respondents’ Perceived Level of Usefulness in terms of Academic Benefits of the LSU FM Programs

Range Description Frequency Percent4.60 – 5.00 Very useful 39 11.73.70 – 4.59 Useful 180 54.12.80 – 3.69 Moderately

useful100 30.0

1.90 – 2.79 Slightly useful 9 2.71.00 – 1.89 Not useful 4 1.2

Mean : 3.89Description : Useful

Standard Deviation : .65

Table 5 shows the assessment of the respondents on the level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM in terms of their academic benefits. Generally, the respondents rated the programs “useful” in their academic life in the university. Since the programs are designed for the listeners to upgrade academically, it has been observed that programs must contain instructional and educational materials for the listeners to learn something from listening to the radio programs of LSUFM. This is true under the Uses and Gratification Theory that students do use the educational radio programs of LSU FM to gratify their academic needs.

The academic programs like LibTalk wherein respondents will get to learn some information from the book made the students find the programs useful in their academic benefits since they were able to enhance their knowledge academically from the information given to them.

Table 6. Indicators for Academic Benefits of LSU FM ProgramsIndicators Mean Description SD

Improve study habits of students. 4.01 Useful .88Increase participation rate of students in the

classroom3.68 Moderately

useful.83

Foster efficacy and efficiency among students. 3.84 Useful .88Improve the reasoning skills of the students. 3.87 Useful .82Help students to be academically motivated. 3.85 Useful .88Boost students’ curiosity. 3.89 Useful .82Motivate students toward academic

improvement through getting higher grades.3.84 Useful .88

Help students in their academic lives. 3.84 Useful .87Make students appreciate the importance of

education.4.01 Useful .83

Help students to become more aware of the different styles of studying.

4.01 Useful .79

The listeners indicated their reasons in Table 6 for rating the programs “useful”. The typical reasons were that the programs make students appreciate the importance of education (4.01), help students to become more aware of the different styles of studying (4.01) and improve study habits of students (4.01).

The academic programs of the radio station are designed to help students learn more through the tips given in order for them to make their college life easy. Aside from that, the programs will also help students appreciate education and make good out from it.

It can also be noticed that increase participation rate of students in the classroom is considered as “moderately useful”. It has been perceived that since students only do listen to the radio, they will not be able to enhance and practice their communication skill thus it will not teach them to increase their participation rate.

Table 7. Respondents’ Perceived Level of Usefulness in terms of Social Benefits of the LSU FM Programs

Range Description Frequency Percent4.60 – 5.00 Very useful 44 13.43.70 – 4.59 Useful 220 69.12.80 – 3.69 Moderately useful 59 18.0

1.90 – 2.79 Slightly useful 4 1.21.00 – 1.89 Not useful 1 .3


Standard Deviation : .55Table 7 shows the assessment of the respondents on the level of usefulness of the radio

programs aired by LSU FM in terms of their social benefits. Generally, the respondents rated the programs “useful” due to their social benefits. The programs of LSU FM are designed to fit the social needs of the respondents especially the students. It has been designed for the students to learn something they can use in their daily lives. It is also an advantage for the freshmen since it will help them to adjust in their college lives.

The programs like Evening love jive wherein love stories from the listeners will be aired over the radio station and His views, her views wherein perspective from both sexes about certain idea will help the respondents get an idea how should they deal with their personal lives as well as their college lives.

Table 8. Indicators for Social Benefits of LSU FM Programs

Indicators Mean Description SDGreenhand program benefits students’ of LSU

through being aware of experiences of their co-students.

4.11 Useful .74

Chowtime educates the students’ capability in preparing their meals.

3.95 Useful .70

Campus-watch given by the Masscomm students thoroughly inform students of what is happening inside and outside the school.

4.13 Useful .80

Whatever, whatever is essential to students in learning the latest gadgets.

3.93 Useful .75

Evening love jive program is beneficial to LSU students to learn the lessons about relationships.

4.10 Useful .77

Animo Mornings helps the students develop spiritually.

4.02 Useful .80

Her views, his views helps the students learn the different perspective of both sexes.

4.09 Useful .75

LibTalk exposes the students on the importance of books.

3.98 Useful .81

Exploring Philippines is beneficial to the students in knowing the different wonders of our country.

4.09 Useful .80

Data indicated in Table 8 that the topmost reasons for tuning in radio programs were Campus Watch, Greenhand, His views, her views and Exploring Philippines.

The “Campus Watch” program benefits students since it thoroughly inform students of what is happening inside and outside the school (4.13). The Campus Watch is the venue for the communication students to gather and write news in which they will use to report in this program, thus, information dished out from this program are mostly events in the campus and some from local, national and international events. It may be considered that since the news reported in the program are mostly local news, students find it useful to listen for them to be aware of the things around them.

The “Greenhand” program benefits students’ of LSU through being aware of experiences of their co-students (4.11). This program is handled by the guidance counselors of La Salle

University – Ozamiz City, thus, stories they aired over the radio are based on the experiences of the typical students they encountered in their job as counselors. It maybe deemed to be useful to the social benefits of the respondents because they will be learning out from the experiences of their fellow students as well as from advises given by the counselors.

“Her Views, His Views” helps the students learn the different perspective of both sexes (4.09). Students find it interesting in arguing on the different perspective of sexes on a particular issue, thus, they are interested to listen to it in order for them to give and share their ideas on how they perceive thing on a particular issue. It has been considered that respondents find this useful in their social benefits since through the perceptions given by both sexes, they will be given the chance to evaluate which of the perceptions is suitable to them.

And lastly the “Exploring Philippines” benefits the students in knowing the different wonders of our country (4.09). Exploring Philippines is a program that presents the different wonders and tourist destinations in the country. Students find it interesting especially learning where can be the best place to visit during vacation.

Table 9. Respondents’ Perceived Level of Usefulness in terms of Leisure Benefits of the LSU FM Programs

Range Description Frequency Percent4.60 – 5.00 Very useful 47 14.33.70 – 4.59 Useful 209 63.52.80 – 3.69 Moderately useful 67 20.41.90 – 2.79 Slightly useful 5 1.51.00 – 1.89 Not useful 1 .3


Standard Deviation : .55Table 9 shows the assessment of the respondents on the level of usefulness of the radio

programs aired by LSU FM in terms of their leisure benefits. Generally, the respondents rated the programs “useful” due to their leisure benefits. Since the radio station is also for entertainment, it is necessary to include leisure benefits in the focus of radio programming. It must also be taken into consideration that leisure must fit to the needs as well as the age level of the listeners for them to be able to be entertained with the programs.

Table 10. Indicators for Leisure Benefits of LSU FM Programs

Indicator Mean Description SDPrograms are entertaining and relaxing to listen. 4.34 Useful .69Music preferences fit to their timeslots. 4.07 Useful .75DJs’ voices are very attractive to hear. 3.86 Useful .90Programs are challenging and informative. 3.84 Useful .81Stories from the programs are interesting since

it is related to students’ experiences.3.93 Useful .74

Tips from the radio programs are essential and useful.

3.87 Useful .76

Songs are classified to their genres. 4.05 Useful .78Knowing the latest gossips about the artists is

interesting to share with.3.91 Useful .78

Views of both sexes are interesting since perceptions of both ends are explained and shared.

4.03 Useful .74

Values given by the programs are motivating 4.09 Useful .78

and challenging.The general reason of the respondents of rating these programs “useful” was that the

programs were entertaining and relaxing (4.34) as reflected in Table 10. Since the radio station aims to give educational, spiritual, and entertainment programs, it has been made sure that entertainment programs do really entertain the listeners and to make them feel relaxed.

An example for the entertainment program is the Music Buzz. Music Buzz enables the listeners to get the latest information about artists in the music industry, thus it has been observed that Filipinos are idealistic and would love to learn about other people’s lives with these reasons, learning the personal issues about the life of an artist in the music industry made them interested and entertained by the program.

Another example of the program is the His views, her views wherein listeners do argue and debate about their perception of a particular topic. It has been perceived that teenagers nowadays would like to fight of what they believe is right and that they find arguments interesting. This is why they find the views of both sexes useful because perceptions of both ends are explained and shared.

4. What is the respondents’ degree of preference of radio programs which are categorized into:

4.1 educational programs;4.2 spiritual programs;4.3 news programs; and4.4 entertainment programs?

Table 11. Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Educational Programs

Program

Most preferred

Moderately preferred

Least preferred

Not preferred Mode

F % F % F % F %

LibTalk 106 34.0 126 40.4 61 19.6 19 6.1 Moderately preferred

Exploring Philippines

77 24.7 164 52.6 55 17.6 16 5.1 Moderately preferred

Chowtime 71 22.8 163 52.2 62 19.9 16 5.1 Moderately preferred

Greenhand 84 26.9 150 48.1 61 19.6 17 5.4 Moderately preferred

It can be gleaned from Table 11 that all educational programs aired by LSU FM were moderately preferred by the respondents. This maybe because learning through radio is still new to the respondents and that other program in the school is difficult to offer and educational radio programs to them like engineering students since they mostly deal with solving numerical problems. Aside from that, educational programs are moderately preferred by the respondents because most of the educational programs of the station are merely on the early level of college life and that some of the respondents in this study are already in the higher years thus, they find it moderately preferred.

Table 12. Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Spiritual Programs

Program

Most preferred


Least preferred

Not preferred Mode

F % F % F % f %

Animo Mornings


The only spiritual type of program aired by LSU FM was moderately preferred by the respondents. Spiritual program of LSU FM is moderately preferred by the respondents since the program is aired early in the morning wherein students might still be sleeping during the airing of the program.

Table 13. Respondents’ Degree of Preference of News Programs

Program

Most preferred


Least preferred

Not preferred Mode

F % F % F % f %

Campus Watch


Campus Watch as the only news program of LSU FM was moderately preferred by the listeners. The campus watch is aired during 7:00PM-8:00PM wherein classes are still ongoing and others are busy doing other things such as travelling home or taking their dinner.

Another reason is that since students are already outside the campus they might already be entertained by other medium like television or computer. It has been considered that the presence of other entertainment media like television and computer are the stiffest competitors of radio programming since at this generation where people do learn through audio-visual, radio is the least preferred for learning.

Table 14. Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Entertainment Programs

Program

Most preferred


Least preferred

Not preferred Mode

F % F % F % F %

Music Buzz 114 36.4 144 46.0 44 14.1 11 3.5 Moderately

preferred

Whatever, Whatever

71 22.8 146 46.8 75 24.0 20 6.4 Moderately

preferred

His Views, Her Views

85 27.4 145 46.8 62 20.0 18 5.8 Moderately

preferred

Evening Love Jive

152 47.5 118 36.9 41 12.8 9 2.8 Very preferred

Among the entertainment programs aired by LSU FM, “Evening Love Jive” was the favorite of the listeners as indicated in Table 14.

Evening love jive is aired from 8:00PM-10:00PM and it tackles on the love experiences of the students. This is the favorite program of the listeners since aside from they can relate on the stories aired over the program, the timeslot is also scheduled where students don’t have a class and most of them are resting already.

It has been also perceived that Filipinos are romantic individuals wherein love stories are most preferred and feasted even by all ages as observed in our local television networks wherein during their primetimes they present soap operas about love.

5. Is there a significant relationship between:5.1 program preference and perceived level of usefulness of radio programs; and

5.2 frequency of listening to radio programs and perceived level of usefulness of radio programs?

Correlational analyses were performed between variables on the listening pattern of the respondents and their perception level of the usefulness of the radio programs in terms of academic, social and leisure benefits as shown in Tables 15 to 19.

Table 15. Correlational Analysis between Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Educational Programs and their Perceived Level of Usefulness

Variables Correlation Coefficient

p-value Interpretation

Degree of

Preference of

Educational Programs

Perceived Level of Usefulness of Radio Programs in terms of Academic Benefits

.53 <.001*Very

significant

Perceived Level of Usefulness of Radio Programs in terms of Social Benefits

.49 <.001*Very

significant

Perceived Level of Usefulness of Radio Programs in terms of Leisure Benefits

.50 <.001*Very

significant

*significant since p<.05

Table 15 indicates that a positive relationship existed between the degree of educational program preference of the respondents and their perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM at 1% level of significance.

Positive correlation coefficients indicate respondents who had higher degree of preference of educational programs tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of the radio programs in terms of academic, social and leisure benefits. The degree of exposure and preference to the educational programs of the radio station through information loading made them identify the usefulness of the programs to their academic, social and leisure benefits.

Those who preferred more the educational programs like LibTalk, Chowtime, Exploring Philippines and Greenhand were able to perceive more the usefulness of the radio programs of LSU FM because it can be concluded that they were able to learn from the educational programs of LSU FM thus they preferred it as well as make use out from it.

Table 16. Correlational Analysis between Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Spiritual

Programs and their Perceived Level of Usefulness Variables Correlati p-value Interpretation

on Coefficient

Degree of

Preference of Spiritual

Program


.35 <.001*Very

significant


.36 <.001*Very

significant


.39 <.001*Very

significant


Table 16 indicates that a positive relationship existed between the degree of spiritual program preference of the respondents and their perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM at 1% level of significance.

Positive correlation coefficients indicate that respondents who had higher degree of preference of the spiritual program tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of this program in terms academic, social and leisure benefits. The degree of exposure and preference to the spiritual program of the radio station through listening to the gospel as well as life stories of the saints made them identify the usefulness of the program to their academic, social and leisure benefits.

The spiritual program of LSU FM will aware the listeners about the gospel and saint of the day thus they find it preferable since the school is a catholic school and that it is encouraged that students must know the lesson from the gospel as well as learning from the life of the saint of the day in order to use it to their lives. With this, since they find it preferable, it may also be concluded that since they prefer it, the respondents also have made use out of it to their lives.

Table 17. Correlational Analysis between Respondents’ Degree of Preference of News Program and their Perceived Level of Usefulness

Variables Correlation

Coefficient


Degree of

Preference of News

Programs


.37 <.001*Very

significant


.42 <.001*Very

significant


.35 <.001*Very

significant

*significant since p<.05Table 17 indicates that a positive relationship existed between the degree of news program

preference of the respondents and their perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM at 1% level of significance.

Positive correlation coefficients indicate that respondents who had higher degree of preference of the news program tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of this program in terms academic, social and leisure benefits. The degree of exposure and preference to the news program of the radio station through the awareness of local and

international events made them identify the usefulness of the program to their academic, social and leisure benefits.

Since the news program presents the news within and outside the campus, students find it preferable for them to be aware of what is going on around them and that they also have a higher level of usefulness on the program because it can be observed that since the program involves the local events, it may be useful to them.

Table 18. Correlational Analysis between Respondents’ Degree of Preference of Entertainment Programs and their Perceived Level of Usefulness


Coefficient


Degree of Preference of Entertainment

Programs


.45 <.001*Very

significant


.50 <.001*Very

significant


.41 <.001*Very

significant


Table 18 indicates that a positive relationship existed between the degree of entertainment program preference of the respondents and their perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM at 1% level of significance.

Positive correlation coefficients indicate that respondents who had higher degree of preference of the entertainment programs tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of the radio programs in terms academic, social and leisure benefits. The degree of exposure and preference to the entertainment programs of the radio station through the songs and tips they will hear over the radio made them identify the usefulness of the programs to their academic, social and leisure benefits.

Entertainment programs like whatever, whatever, his view, her views, music buzz and others focuses mainly about the interests of the listeners wherein gossips, argumentations and music are presented. With these reasons, it can explained that respondents find the entertainment programs preferable because it caters their interests for them to be entertained and that they have a higher perceived level of usefulness about the programs because they were able to satisfy their academic, social, leisure needs of the respondents.

Table 19. Correlational Analysis between Respondents’ Frequency of Listening to Radio Programs and their Perceived Level of Usefulness of Radio Programs


Coefficient


Frequency of Listening

to Radio Programs


.36 <.001*Very

significant


.34 <.001*Very

significant

Perceived Level of Usefulness .37 <.001* Very

of Radio Programs in terms of Leisure Benefits

significant

Table 19 indicates that a positive relationship existed between the frequency of listening to radio programs and respondents’ perceived level of usefulness of the radio programs aired by LSU FM at 1% level of significance.

Positive correlation coefficients indicate that respondents who listened to the radio programs frequently tend to show higher perception level of the usefulness of the radio programs in terms academic, social and leisure benefits.

The more frequent the listener is exposed to the radio programs of LSU FM, the more the listener will then be acquainted with the program wherein it will then evaluate if the program is useful or not. Thus with this study, it has been found out that those who are frequently exposed to the programs of LSU FM also have a higher perception level of usefulness of the radio programs of LSU FM.

5. What are possible improvements in LSU-FM programs as recommended by the respondents?

Table 20. Areas for Possible Improvements of the LSU Radio ProgramsRecommendation Frequency Percent

Revise the flow of the present programming in LSU-FM.

224 67.3

Ensure compatibility of a program with a specific field of specialization.

228 68.5

Develop new programs. 208 62.5Develop programs inclined to evangelization. 219 65.8Improve span of coverage. 249 74.8Improve the sound/audio quality of the radio. 286 85.9Improve DJs’ verbal communication. 258 77.5Assign DJs who are knowledgeable of the topics. 275 82.6Improve the quality of news during the airing of

the campus watch program. 262 78.7

Improve the DJs’ voice quality. 273 82.0

Table 32 shows the respondents’ recommendations for improvement of the delivery of services of the LSU FM. Most of them suggested for improvement of the sound/audio quality of the radio (85.9%), selection of DJs who are knowledgeable of the topics (82.6%) and improvement of the DJs’ voice quality (82.0%).

The quality of the sound/audio of the radio station needs to be improved since the radio station lacks audio processor that will improve the quality of the sound. Aside from that, DJs are all students therefore they are still on the process of learning through exposure of the radio programs. The frequency of exposure will make the DJs get used to the programming and fortunately will improve their performance.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

The findings of the study prompted the researcher to conclude that:

1. In the population of La Salle University- Ozamiz City, freshmen comprise the majority population;

2. few of the students do listen daily in LSUFM because they can only hear the radio station within the city proper and that if they are outside the campus they are entertained by another form of communication medium;

3. educational programs, spiritual program and news and current affairs program of LSUFM are moderately preferred by the students because these programs were designed for students who are in their early college life and that some of the respondents are already on their higher years;

4. respondents find the programs of LSUFM as useful to their academic, social and leisure benefits since it enables to address their specific needs;

5. those who preferred of the programs most in LSUFM tend to show most perception of usefulness of the radio programs in terms of academic, social and leisure benefits, and

6. those who listened to the radio programs frequently also shows the highest level of usefulness of the programs to address their academics, social and leisure needs.

RecommendationsOn the basis of the findings and conclusions made in this study, the following

recommendations are suggested:1. To La Salle University AdministrationRadio sets must be installed into places where students stay during their vacant

schedules like canteen, umbrella, benches and student center.Approve the purchase of audio processor that will improve the sound quality of the

station for it to be appealing to the listeners.Volunteer students must be given monetary allowance as part of their motivation to

work in the station.The school may also use the radio station as venue for marketing the university to

the students from elementary, high school and college students who would like to experience the Lasallian education.

2. To LSU FM ManagementEducational programs must be improved. Programs must vary to fit in to different

programs offered in the school. It is necessary that all colleges will be given educational programs on the radio for them to be motivated to listen and participate in the radio broadcasting.

Management of LSU FM should conduct series of training to improve the quality of the DJs. Trainings on speech enhancement, program development and value integration must be given to the disc jockeys for them to improve their caliber of radio production.

The management should also collaborate with the teachers from different colleges and school for the production of the educational programs. It is important that teachers from different should participate in the production of the educational programs for it to be essential to the students.

3. To TeachersTeachers are also encouraged to be part of the radio station as consultant for the

educational radio programs or even the host of their prepared educational programs. With this type of experience, teachers will be able to learn varying their teaching strategies from classroom situation to the radio situation.

Teachers as facilitators of knowledge might be able to encourage their students to listen to LSU FM for them to enhance their knowledge and using the radio station as their extension of classes.

4. To Mass Communication StudentsSince the radio station is used as their laboratory, they should be asked to help in

the production of the programs. They may be helpful through gathering of information, making the script of the program as well as collecting and updating of songs in the playlist of the radio station’s computer. They should also use the radio station as a venue for learning how media works especially in the radio broadcasting management. Mass communication students can also participate in the production of the programs.

5. To Media PractitionersThey may also encourage to participate in the production of programs that will

address the academics, social and leisure needs of the students. They may also consider the development of educational programs as part of their programs in the commercial radio station for them to be another source of educational materials that would be beneficial to the students.

6. To Schools within Ozamiz CitySchools within Ozamiz City must involve in the production of educational radio

programs of LSU FM. Since LSU FM is the only educational radio station in Ozamiz City, teachers from different schools may also contribute to the production of educational radio programs which will also be helpful to their students.

7. To future researchers Conduct a follow up study on influence of the educational radio programs to the

academic behavior of the students. The study must be a comparative study on the development of the students’ academic performance after improved educational programs considering the recommendations of this study.

REFERENCES

[1] Frequency Modulation [FM]. (2011). [Internet]. Available as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcasting.

[2] Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility [CMFR]. (2005). Freedom of expression and media in the Philippines: Baseline studies of 7 Southeast Asian Countries. Accessed May 10, 2011. Available as http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/philippines-baseline-study.pdf. ISBN 1902598806

[3] DWFM. (2011). [Internet]. Available as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWFM[4] Lucas, F. (1999). Rural radio in the Philippines. Available as

http://www.fao.org/sd/cddirect/CDan0026.htm[5] Singhal, Arvind. and Rogers, E.M. 1999. Entertainment-Education: A

Communication Strategy for Social Change. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

[6] Blumler J.G. & Katz, E. (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

[7] Catholic Radio Association (2010). Retrieved December 8, 2010, from http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2010NationalCatholicRadioListener

[8] Aleman, L (1998). Effects of Media to Students Behavior and Academic Performance. Ozamiz City: Immaculate Conception College – La Salle

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2010NationalCatholicRadioListener

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWFM

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/philippines-baseline-study.pdf

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/philippines-baseline-study.pdf

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