UST Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSEd) students who major in Science, Social Science, and Religious and Values Education and their instructors presented their studies at the 6th International Congress on Action Research, Action Learning (ARAL 2022).
With the theme “Action Research in the New Normal: Navigating Technodependence,” the three-day congress was organized by the Lasallian Institute for Development and Educational Research (LIDER), in collaboration with the Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC College of Education (BAGCED) of De La Salle University-Manila.
Two groups composed of BSEd Major in Science students, under their research adviser Dr. Louie B. Dasas, presented their papers. Johanna Marie R. Nora and Eula Jane T. Cruz presented their paper titled “Using Home-Based Practical Activities (HBPA) to Improve Students’ Engagement and Science Attitudes in Online Distance Learning.” Utilizing the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) model as a guiding framework, Nora and Cruz’s study employed a concurrent mixed method design with Grade 8 and Grade 10 students as participants. Quantitative data was gathered before and after HBPA integration using the Attitude towards Science Measure (ATSM) and Student Course Engagement Questionnaire- Modified (SCEQ-M). J
ose Miguel Azul and Bianca Mae Tapat in their paper “Exploring the Impact of Science E-Learning Course Design on Student Academic Achievement and Engagement” underscored the importance of course design in ensuring student academic achievement and engagement in an online distance learning setting. Meanwhile, BSEd Major in Social Studies students Irish Jan Nohay and Ashley Clarice Yao, and their instructor Mr. John Christian C. Valeroso focused on students’ condition during the pandemic in their study “Are We on the Right Track? The Lived Experience of the Junior High School Students of Algeciras Street, Sampaloc, Manila.” Linking secondary schools with the community development framework, the study yielded concepts that define, enable, empower, and deepen (DEED) understanding of the community.
This is valuable in identifying sound policy measures and other restructuring efforts that could improve the quality of education in the urban poor community. The study was also conducted by Angeli Francesca Calilong, Gavin Joseph Cruz, Marie Francois Therese Manzano, Akihiro Marutani, Paul William Romano, Beatriz Joy Sacdalan, Erien Ailiana Teodosio, and Reycy Justice Joy Vasquez. BSEd students majoring in Religious and Values Education, Kathleen R. De Ramos and Jose Rafel A. Duro, presented “Addressing Academic Dishonesty among Laboratory High School Students through Supplementary Restorative Disciplinary Interventions.”
Initial findings show current disciplinary interventions have gaps in building the values formation of learners, which the researchers aim to improve by proposing alternative and restorative methods toward holistic development. Co-researchers also included academic staff Mr. Warren S. Maneja, Raven James O. Barrientos, Ingrid Nicole B. Bartolome, Anthony Allan J. Baun, John Marlou M. Briones, Lynus Oliver V. del Mar, Jorell U. Dizon, and Kristianne Marie C. Feliciano. Meanwhile, Mr. Louie B. Dasas, Ph.D., supervising teacher for Science, won 1st Place for the Best Paper Category with his study “Improving Student Engagement and Conceptual Understanding in Science using an Integrated Learning System (ILS).” His study used a teacher-developed ILS teaching science in a distance learning setting to determine its effects on student engagement and conceptual understanding. Since 2016, the ARAL Congress has been held every year to address a range of critically important issues and themes relating to action research and action learning.
