Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

Would you be comfortable treated by a  new graduate or newly licensed individual in the health professions, e.g. dentist, nurse or even a doctor? I bet, like me, you  will also have your reservations.  Why?

"Baka pagpraktisan lang ako."

You will have reservations because you might think that he or she will just practice on you.  You are not sure whether the person is already capable, let alone competent, to handle the necessary procedure/s.

Sad but true. There is a gap between what the schools are teaching and what they are supposed to be producing.  Numerous  studies show that health professions graduates do not have the work skills needed to perform the requisites of their profession.

With the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in the Philippines there is hope.

OBE is a term coined by Spady in 1994 which "...refers to clearly focusing and organizing everything in the education system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. This means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do, then organising the curriculum, instruction and assessment to make sure that learning ultimately happens”.

OBE is the kind of instruction and curriculum design used in Europe and America since the 1990s. The awakening of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) may be late in the Philippines but I am glad the time has come to really focus on what ought to be done in the worsening quality of graduates in the country.

In OBE, higher education institutions must first have a clear picture of the competencies should their graduates have when they actually get into the workplace. From there, they will have to design the curriculum and teaching strategies in order to get to where they want their students to be. Students under the OBE will be learning the actual skills and competencies they need in order to perform the job they are training to become.

  

Monthly Seminar

I had a taste of the monthly seminar given by the NTTCHP last October 27. The topic was about curriculum mapping in outcome-based educaiton and the speaker was Dr. Bong Alviar who is a faculty here in NTTCHP.  There were many attendees, from students to college professors with MAs and PhDs, to nurses and MDs. The whole auditorium was packed.

I chatted with some of the attendees prior to the start of the program and they shared to me how important the seminars in NTTCHP are. They said they need all the training they can get so they can translate new changes in their classrooms and follow CHED directives.   Outcome-based education is the new thing and the Commission on Higher Education in the Philippines has made guidelines for higher learning institutions to follow in the implementation of OBE.  That is the reason why, the Gonzales Hall of UP Manila is packed and overflowed.  On the other hand, the students who also attended said they want to know new trends in education and hope to have a head start before they get officially employed.

With all the good things the attendees said, there is one comment that although it may sound negative, it will help a lot in the improvement of the monthly seminar delivery. One of the professors who attended the seminar tapped  me at the back and asked if she could give a comment. She said that although they appreciate all the learning they are getting from NTTCHP,  they are getting information over load and are longing for some help in the processing and application of the knowledge learned.

Good point and  valid request!

Chowtime

After the awarding ceremony of Dr. Jesus N. Sarol Jr as the Gawad Chancellor Outstanding Awardee for Research, comes the chowtime!  Dr. Sarol's wife, came in two days later with a big treat. Pizza. Chap chae. Chicken. Nachos.  Bread, ice cream and wine! I am not a heavy eater but I eat a little of everything. So my tummy still fills-up.


In my first blog I mentioned how these people at NTTCHP love to eat. Well, that's not the only thing that they love. They also love to chat out loud, laugh and tease one another. It does not matter who you are. Whether you're well decorated person in terms of academic achievement or living a simple life happy with what God has given you, when you know how to laugh and crack a joke or two, you're in.

In my journey here in NTTHCP, this is not our first time to dine together. As the Lord enables each one, everybody seems to be bringing and sharing something.

Gawad Chancellor

On the 21st of October, the dean asked us all from the college to go to the UP Manila Social Hall for the awarding ceremony of one of our professors, Dr. Jesus N. Sarol Jr. for the Gawad Chancellor Award in Outstanding Research.  The pride of joining the group was unexplainable, for a lot many of reasons circling my mind. Having to work with an outstanding researcher is one big thing and  his accomplishment inspires me personally to  pursue excellence and continue to pursue knowledge that will help others as well.

The Gawad Chancellor ceremony was graced by Dr. Nelia Cortes-Maramba, the "Mother of Philippine Herbal Medicine" and the founding member of the National Integrated Research Program  on Medicinal Plants who gave the 6th Florentino B. Herrera Jr Lecture.  A lot of people in the pharmaceutical company know her for her lagundi research. It is my personal belief that it was not Dr. Maramba who discovered the effectiveness of herbal medicine in the country. Herbal plants have always been used by our local herbolarios. When  I  was young in the rural town of Mangatarem in the province of Pangasinan, I have  come to know   which plants are good for headache, cuts and scrapes, toothache, and others. My parents did not give me tablets or capsules immediately, but used herbal medicines to address my needs. Only when  things became relatively uncontrollable that we went to seek the help of herbolarios or doctors. But thanks to Dr. Maramba and her team's research, all are scientifically confirmed and the production as well as distribution of such medicine are now done commercially.

Here's a picture of the NTTCHP people with Dr.Maramba:

In the picture are the people I am journeying with. From left in black is Tonette our staff in LRU; next in blue are Ate Marcy our most senior at NTTCHP with 38 years of service in the institution, Mandy the AVR Supervisor and Mam Bheng the designated librarian; in the middle in black pants with ID is our Dean Erlyn A. Sana who stands next to Dr. Maramba, Dr. Sarol our awardee and Dr. Melflor one of the few but carefully chosen professors of NTTCHP; then there is me and Claire in blue who is now counting twelve years as research associate.  I do not exactly know who the  guy in blue polo at the back is, but from the exchanges of conversation, I think he is a close friend, if not the best friend of Dr.Sarol's.

Starting Over Through NTTCHP

October first 2014 is a new year for me.  It is the first day of my back-to-work day after twelve years of attending to my one and only child full time. For twelve beautiful yet challenging and very toxic years, from changing diapers to shopping for sanitary pads, I have no job-related encounter with people in the academe. (Although I had at very short stance with co-faculty members at a college near our apartment  but due to nanny problems, I had to resign after only a couple of semesters.)

Now, I see professors. Researchers. Administrative staff. Support people. Adult learners.  I see them 9 hours five times a week. I do not like to  over react  on this matter, but the truth is, twelve years of  working at home -- being a full time mom and part-time online teacher, kinda isolated me from the world.

Starting over through the NTTCHP (that is short for National Teacher Training Center in the Health Professions at UP Manila) is like getting my first job right after getting out of college. There's fear yet that fear is more on relational because I have to face it, I am now twice my age since I left my beloved alma mater-- UP Diliman.

But the beauty of this new workplace is that the people are nice, and they love to eat. Food  has a way of making a tensed heart loosen up. Starting over through NTTCHP becomes easy when all are busy chewing and munching and thinking of the next course.

However long --- or short, I may stay here, just like food, I have to enjoy the bite and chew it well.