“The College of Agriculture and Food Science is mandated to teach aside from its research and extension functions. However, our primary mandate is to see to it that our curriculum is at par and dynamic.” This was part of the message of Dean Elpidio M. Agbisit, Jr. in his opening remarks during the “Faculty Workshop on Program Learning Outcomes” last  March 11 at the Animal Science Lecture Hall 1, CAFS, UPLB. Dean Agbisit stressed the important role of the Program Management Chairs (PMC) of the College who would be looking into  what we should be doing in the BSA, BSFST and BSABT degree programs. For the participants to have another perspective on things, he enjoined them to listen, internalize and apply on what they would be learning from the workshop.

Dr. Adeliza A. Dorado, CAFS associate dean for instruction and chair of the CAFS curriculum committee presented the rationale of the workshop. She explained that to give the participants a common definition of program learning outcomes, it should be formulated from the needs of the stakeholders. Hence, the starting point of the design of an academic program. She added that benchmarking with the stakeholders will enable the faculty to know their needs or demands to prepare the graduates to be employable. She further stated that the goals should be demonstrated and at the same time assessed. Finally, she emphasized the use of the PDCA cycle as guide in conducting program review. The PDCA cycle helps the faculty to Plan, Do, Check and Act on how to address the identified gaps. Dr. Dorado emphasized that the learning outcomes should be aligned with the goals of the society or from the employers. Furthermore, the program learning outcomes should be aligned with the expected learning outcomes that the students would get from the various courses.

Dr. Jerome T. Buenviaje, Dean of the College of Education in UP Diliman served as the resource person. Dr. Buenviaje is a licensed professional teacher whose teaching expertise includes educational leadership and planning, curriculum and instruction management, and policy analysis in education.

To set the tone of the workshop, Dr. Buenviaje started his presentation with a motivational activity called spark plug activity. A spark plug is an electrical device used in internal combustion engine to produce a spark which ignites the air fuel mixture in the combustion engine. Similarly, Dr. Buenviaje explained that in teaching, it is important to hit the spark plug where students will have a learning experience, something that  they look forward to when meeting the teacher.  “The students should enjoy; they not endure”, Dr. Buenviaje stressed.

In another activity called “one plus three strategy” the participants in pairs were required to identify one word from the promotional video presented and expound it in three sentences in relation to curriculum review. Dr. Buenviaje explained that in the activity, its emphasis was about curriculum review which tackles relevance and compliance. He also stated that according to literature, the life cycle of a curriculum is five to 10 years. Hence, a curriculum needs to be reviewed as there will be new technology trends  and demands from the society. Dr. Buenviaje stated that as a rule of thumb, the cycles in curriculum improvement includes review of the curriculum, redesign, release and implement.

Dr. Buenviaje also presented two concepts that are important in curriculum improvement. First is curriculum development which is a multi-step, on-going and a cyclical process. Second is program review which is a process that evaluates the status, effectiveness and progress of academic programs and helps identify the future direction, needs and priorities of those programs. He emphasized the importance of planning, resource allocation and decision-making at the levels of the program of the college and the university.

The presentation of the Program Management Chairs- Dr. Maria Cynthia R. Oliveros, Dr. Dennis V. Cantre and Dr. Johnny F. Balidion of the BSA, BSFST and BSABT program respectively on the pre-workshop outputs immediately followed. This included the feedback from the recent stakeholders’ (faculty, alumni, students, and the industry) consultation and recent benchmarking activities.

For the first workshop, the participants were grouped into six where they were required to examine the present curriculum using the SOAR (Strength, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results) using the data presented by the PMC. Dr. Buenviaje emphasized that any movement or changes in the curriculum, it must be supported by data. Hence, it is evidence-based.

The participants also revisited the current program learning outcomes (PLOs) using multiple data source using the SOAR through collaborative and reflection analysis.

Dr. Buenviaje also tackled about outcomes based education (OBE) which is an educational theory that tells how teaching and learning happens. He explained that at the end of the experience , the goal should have been achieved. Hence, we have the Program Education Outcome (PEO) or the impact on the students at least five years from the time of graduation and the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) or the things that the students can do by the time of graduation. Dr. Buenviaje stressed that in PLOs,  there is a need for an organized presentation of the curriculum, instruction and assessment.

The group representatives also presented the highlights of their realization and ways forward on how to enhance further the PEOs and PLOs.

Wrapping up the day’s activity, Dr. Buenviaje remarked that from the reaction of the participants, he felt a sense of appreciation and would not consider it as a burden nor as an additional work but is actually the core of why they are teaching and doing research and what they can expect to do in their respective classrooms. (IMGesmundo)