Tara Usap Tayo: A Guidance and Counseling Program on Challenges and Coping Mechanisms in Blended Learning Modality

This descriptive study determined the challenges and coping mechanisms of Passi City College education students in blended learning modality during the academic year 2022-2023. The respondents of this study were the one hundred twenty (120) randomly selected students. The instrument used was a validated and reliability-tested researcher-made questionnaire. Frequency count, percentage, rank, mean, and standard deviation were the descriptive statistics used, while T-test and ANOVA were the inferential statistical tools used. The criterion for rejection and non-rejection of the null hypothesis was set at 0.05 alpha level. Results revealed that students from various courses, sex, socio-economic backgrounds, and year levels encountered "high" difficulties in blended learning modality during the pandemic. Moreover, the results emphasized that the financial aspect received the highest challenge among the five categories of learning challenges, while the minor challenge was the social dimension. As for the coping mechanisms, most respondents utilized self-reflection to address the learning challenges encountered in the blended learning modality. Apart from this, there were no significant differences in the level of challenges in the blended learning modality when respondents were grouped according to course, sex, socio-economic status, and year level. Finally, based on the result of the study, a Guidance and Counseling Program named "Tara Usap Tayo," focusing on counseling and financial literacy orientation, was developed.