International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications ISSN (Online): 2581-6187 14 Claire O. Carpio and Abegail C. Indama, “Onsite Learning and Flexible Learning Modalities: A Comparative Analysis of Students’ Academic Performance,” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications (IJMRAP), Volume 4, Issue 4, pp. 14-18, 2021. Onsite Learning and Flexible Learning Modalities: A Comparative Analysis of Students’ Academic Performance Claire O. Carpio 1 , Abegail C. Indama 2 1, 2 Basilan State College, Isabela City, Basilan, 7300 Email address: 1 clairecarpio0114 @ gmail.com, 2 abegailcarpioindama @ gmail.com Abstract— In the advent of the CoViD-19 pandemic, the Philippine’s academic sector shouldered the responsibility to lead the country to its transition towards the new normal. As the cases surged to higher height and the death tolls rising above the line, restrictions were strictly imposed and classes were put-off. The bigger responsibility for the government now is to ensure the learning continuity of students despite the crisis. The new normal supplanted the physical engagements of teachers and students with virtual learning environment. The shift towards flexible learning has set in opportunities and challenges within the system. The integration of this new mode of instruction was confronted by numerous criticisms in terms of its long-term effect to students’ academic ability. For purposes of providing empirical evidence on this context, this study will provide an analysis on the impact of flexible learning to college students with special emphasis on their academic performance. This study utilized document analysis, grounded theory and survey as its methods. Keywords— Flexible learning; Academic Performance. I. INTRODUCTION In the Philippines, education has been receiving sufficient attention from the government and is set as one of the priority sectors of the government along with health, agriculture and public works. The educational system in the country is comparable with other traditional practices in other neighboring countries. The typical set-up involves the physical engagements of teachers and students within the corners of their classrooms where activities and learning assessments are administered onsite. Conversely, in the advent of the CoViD-19 pandemic where mobility and public activities were put into different levels of restriction, countries around the world have been confronted with much complications in the transition towards the “new normal”. There are many adjustments and fine tunings needed to obtain a perfect scheme most applicable for the culture and conditions of a country. Just as other countries did, the Philippines struggles in terms of socio-economic mobilities brought by the imposed community quarantine, restricting the movement of the population except for necessary work and health circumstances. Additional lockdown restrictions mandated the temporary closure of non-essential shops and businesses. At this scenario, many business establishments had been closed, economic recessions began, limited vehicular transportations were imposed, and country’s education system began to decline. The country’s education sector was pushed to its limits and was wedged by the imposed restrictions and community quarantines. The conduct of on-site classes in schools have been suspended as the CoViD-19 cases surged to its peak. In compliance to the official directive of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), academic institutions nationwide were pushed to adopt the so called “flexible learning modalities” to ensure the learning continuity of students. Nothing will ever prepare a country for this sudden change of learning method, especially in the Philippines setting. Even now, 2 years pass since the upsurge of the pandemic, the country is still on the process of adopting to the new requirements of the new normal. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) nationwide have turned to different learning modalities to ensure the learning continuity of students. There are various platforms to aid teachers in providing the needed learnings to students i.e. Learning Management System (LMS), modular approach, etc. There are several factors to consider in choosing a platform that will fit the need of an academic institution i.e. teachers’ and students’ characteristics and their technical capacity among others. Modular approach is considered to be one of the most termed modalities in the country, especially on local communities where the internet connection does not warrant the conduct of online/synchronous classes. In the modular approach, students are provided with chunk -size of information via learning packets/modules. Learnings concepts are integrated in the packets with their corresponding activities and assessments. There are various advantages of this approach, convenience ranked first. Students study their lessons at their own pace and academic pressure is lower compared to the on-site conduct of classes. Also, this approach appears to be more cost-efficient, especially for students travelling a distance to reach their schools. This approach is considered to be more effective in the teaching – learning process compared to traditional methods (Zamir, 2014). This in the same way offers an environment where students learn independently and where feedbacks are provided regularly for further enhancement. The emergence of the so called “new normal” opens the door of digital age. Technology now supplanted the physical classrooms in schools, the printed copy of books and even