The College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS) conducted the 2 nd curriculum workshop titled
“Program Academic Alignments” last May 20, 2024, at the Animal Science Lecture Hall 1, CAFS, UPLB.

In his short but meaningful opening remarks, Dean Agbisit stated that the workshop is one of CAFS’
activities to assure that our different programs will really be in top shape in terms of development.
Quoting a statement which he shared during the day he said, “The intelligence of a student is measured
not only on the bulk of knowledge that he has in mind but is also measured by his heart that loves his
fellowmen; by his ears that listen to the grievances in life of the Filipino people; and by his open arms
that are willing to help his fellow Filipino.” He emphasized that if we craft programs in the future, we
have to ensure that all aspects of the society are included. It should revolve around the UP battle cry of
Honor and Excellence with the inclusion of the additional UP motto- Service to the Filipino people. Dean
Agbisit concluded his message with this challenge, “ Let us reconstruct our programs.”

Dr. Jerome T. Buenviaje, Dean of the College of Education, UP Diliman who served as the resource
speaker, explained that the workshop is part of the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) which will be
needed in the Self-Assessment of the BSA program for the ASEAN University Network- Quality Assurance
(AUN-QA).

Dr. Buenviaje also requested some participants who attended the 1 st Curriculum workshop conducted last March 11, 2024, to share their takeaways during the workshop. Dr. Veneranda A. Magpantay, CAFS college secretary and one of the participants commented that for our programs to be relevant and address current challenges, the curriculum must continuously transform or change; and the transformation should not be a one-way process; sometimes we need to go back. She added that the process of revisiting our curriculum should not only be initiated by the senior faculty but also the current generations. Commenting on the statement of Dr. Magpantay, Dr. Buenviaje remarked that the younger faculty has a new perspective because their generation gap with the students is shorter. “They think and learn differently.”, he said. A recap of the first workshop held last March 11, 2024 followed where Dean Buenviaje required the participants to review their curriculum using the SOAR Approach and revisit the Program Education Outcomes (PEOs). He commented that there were PLOs present in the document that when examined, are actually Program Education Outcomes (PEOs).

Dr. Dennis V. Cantre, program management committee (PMC) chair of the BSFST program presented the
highlights of the BSFST curriculum revision workshop held in Tagaytay City last April 29 to 30, 2024.
Meanwhile Asst. Professor Reniel Pamplona presented the output of the previous workshop of the
BSABT program on behalf of Dr. Johnny F. Balidion, the PMC chair of the program.

Meanwhile, Dr. Maria Cynthia R. Oliveros, PMC chair for the BSA program, explained that since the BSA
is undergoing self-assessment report (SAR) writing for the AUN-QA certification, they did not present
their workshop output because in the cycle of curriculum improvement, the BSA program is at the stage of review.
She further said that they have consolidated all the evidences needed like output with the
stakeholders, quality of students, among others. She disclosed that the coverage of the SAR would be
the old curriculum to the one that was implemented in 2018.

To familiarize the participants on alignment since it is not relevant unless they pass through the process,
they revisited the current PLOs based on multiple data sources in an attempt to revise the PEOs. A
presentation of the revised PLOs vis-a vis the PEOs by the BSA, BSFST and BSABT programs immediately
followed to see if the direction of the PLOs is well-anchored with the PEOs.

Dr. Buenviaje also discussed curriculum mapping wherein he explained that a curriculum map helps
ensure that teaching and course offerings are purposefully structured, logically sequenced, ultimately
address or measure student and program learning outcomes. Immediately preceding it was a workshop
on mapping the PLOs with the levels of learning courses (Introduced, Reinforced, Demonstrated).

Dean Buenviaje emphasized the need for an anchor in constructive alignment to come up with a quality
syllabus and course pack. Constructive alignment according to Dr. Buenviaje provides an
authentic/relevant learning to the students. He also explained that Obedized Basic Education (OBE), is a
paradigm shift that is well aligned and advocates socio-emotional learning; it considers the faculty
member as a facilitator and emphasizes that “In teaching, knowing your learner is a basic principle”.

Dr. Adeliza A. Dorado, CAFS associate dean for instruction closed the day’s activity. She expressed her
optimism that the participants were enlightened on the differences of PLOs and PEOs. Furthermore, she
enjoined everyone to continue with constructive alignment of learning outcomes as the faculty have the
liberty to create their own PLOs and PEOs. (IMGesmundo)