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In two separate online conferences, UST College of Architecture academic staff presented their studies about the resiliency of Filipino architects in the academe.
Ar. John Clemence Pinlac, Ar. Noel Cruz, and Ar. Caryn Paredes-Santillan, Ph.D. presented their research that focused on the condition of educators in the architecture field during the shift to online architecture design learning due to the pandemic. This study on resilience was based on a previous study on Human Capital Future Resilience by Visser, whose framework they applied in their analysis. Although resilience is a common topic especially now with a global pandemic, studies that focus on human capital resilience is very scarce. In particular, their research focused on the architectural design studio, which is the cornerstone of architectural education.
Pinlac, Cruz, and Santillan presented their paper “Resiliency of the Architects in the Academe: A Qualitative Focus on the Virtual Architectural Design Studio in the Philippines” during the eLearning Forum Asia 2021 (eLFA 2021) with the theme “Augmenting the Virtual Environment: Technology – Innovation – Humanity”. In their discussion, the team discussed their findings that high individual resiliency could be maximized, and organizational resiliency should be supported. Furthermore, their data highlighted that low resource efficiency, which includes internet connectivity, available workspaces, and technological tools and resources, need to be addressed for the optimal performance of educators.
In another conference, the ASEAN-QA Forum 2021 with the theme “The Way Forward: Assuring Quality in Diverse and Remote Learning Environments”, the same team presented their paper “Human Capital Future Resilience Analysis: Perspective from Virtual Architectural Education in the Philippines.” Similar to the earlier paper, this research built upon the hypothesis that there was a correlation between the profile of the architects in the academe and their resiliency during the online teaching setup. Their data showed that long-time faculty members, those with 30+ years of teaching experience, had the most difficulty adjusting to the online architectural design studio. It was recommended that schools should properly investigate and address their concerns proactively through proper support or possible partnering activities between senior and junior faculty members.
Aside from teaching at the College of Architecture, Pinlac is also the Chairman for the Committee on Research and Academic Institutions under the Commission on Education of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP). On the other hand, Santillan is the present College of Architecture Pedagogical Lead.
The eLFA 2021 was hosted by Soegijapranata Catholic University in collaboration with eLFAsia and the United Board of Christian Higher Education in Asia. Meanwhile, the ASEAN-QA Forum is organized by the ASEAN-QA Association (ASEAN-QAA), an organization involved in the development of quality assurance in academic institutions in Southeast Asia.
