Amid the challenges being faced by the University in the past several days, its continuous desire to be of service to all its stakeholders was very evident in its continued conduct of programs, projects, and activities.
As part of the five-year development plan of the University, the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Curricular Reforms and Development, and Human Resource Development Offices, with the support from CHED-IDIG Project, conducted a webinar-workshop on “Designing Effective Instruction” on October 18-19, 2021 via Zoom which was attended by 225 faculty members coming from the four University campuses.
The Webinar-Workshop featured the competent and vibrant line-up of resource speakers all coming from the University of the Philippines Los Baños headed by Dr. Greg T. Pawilen, Director, Office of the Institutional Development in Higher Education (OIDHE); and faculty members Prince Kennex R. Aldama, Dr. Rufo Gil A. Albor, Dr. Maria Ana T. Quimbo, Raphael Ferrer, and Rocky Marcelino. The topics discussed were: Instructional Design Process, Designing Course Packs, Developing Instructional Modules, Designing Assessment Tools, and Utilizing ICT Tools and LMS in Teaching and Learning. A meaningful open forum took place after each discussion where the resource speakers gave additional insights.
President Alberto N. Naperi graced the occasion and gave his message expressing his gratitude to everyone involved in the preparation and conduct of the activity. The event was a manifestation of the University’s strong commitment to be of service despite trials. The two-day webinar-workshop was intended for all the faculty members of the University system with the main objective of enhancing the instructional delivery; the need for a standardized learning content; and the assessment methods and tools for similar courses or disciplines across all curricular programs–all vital and crucial. The University desires to employ strategies on adopting and implementing standardized and/or similar instructional materials in each discipline and creating blended learning policies and guidelines to execute and intensify the Learning Management System (LMS) in all campuses.
The Webinar-Workshop closed with insights and words of gratitude from the University Vice-President for Academic Affairs. It was noted that having constant feedback from the students will lead to enhancing a flexible learning system. With the various discussions, the participants have fully grasped concepts of what can be done in the current system. As an outcome of this sharing, the University is considering adapting course packs and reviewing its learning portals. Accordingly, the knowledge gained from the webinar will be designed to fit the University’s enhanced system.