Aiming to update the Aurora State College of Technology’s (ASCOT) faculty members and instructors from different departments and courses on the prescribed format of the syllabus and modules that will be utilized in this semester’s blended learning, the College’s Instructional Materials Committee (IMC), held a three-day Workshop on Syllabus Preparation and Module Writing at the Accreditation Hall, General Education Building; February 8-10.

In his speech during the Workshop’s Opening Program, Dr. Evi Q. Fontanos; Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) said that this activity is very timely because this is just one of the essential steps in preparation for the College’s Institutional Accreditation and also for each program’s Level 3 Accreditation.

Dr. Fontanos also said that these kinds of activities are very relevant because it is also required for the Higher Education and Extension Services of the College which is the next in line for the ISO Certification after the certification of its Research and Development and Administration Services last December 2020.

Reviewing the participants on the Bloom’s Taxonomy of writing educational objectives, Dr. Jocelyn H. Diaz, IMC Chairman started the first topic for the workshop’s morning session wherein she emphasized that for better learning, it is essential to target the higher-order thinking skills of students which include the Application, Evaluation, and Creating level in the Bloom’s Taxonomy. She also stressed out that it is more important to always formulate objectives that will cover the three domains of learning – cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.

In addition, Dr. Diaz also discussed how to assess student learning through the use of different kinds of tests which include the objective and subjective types. She provided guidelines on how to make each type of test which include Completion Type, True or False, Multiple Choice, Essay Questions, and Matching Type. She also gave the participants the rules in making Holistic and Analytic Rubrics that will be used in assessing Performance Tests.

After Dr. Diaz’s topic, Ms. Melissa Grace P. Nacino, a member of the IMC discussed to the participants the updated American Psychological Association (APA) format in citing sources of the information that will be included in the Instructors’ modules. According to her, it is important to always important to cite the sources of information educators will include in their modules and other writings to avoid plagiarism issues.

On the other hand, Mr. Alfredo C. Padios, Jr., Principal of the ASCOT’s Senior High School Department; discussed to the group the ADIDAS format in making a module. According to him, researchers had proven this kind of format to provide effective learning to students even their teachers are not physically present to teach them because of the pandemic.

The ADIDAS format to be used in making modules include Introduction, Objectives, Activity, Discussion, Input, Deepening, Application, Synthesis/Summary, and Evaluation/Assessment. This is like a self-learning kit to be used by students especially during this “new normal” in education.

The workshop proper started in the afternoon of each session wherein the participants created their module plans, did some exercises related to the topics discussed by the resource speakers, presented to the group each department representative’s module blueprints, and participated in the open forum wherein the group asked some questions to the speakers about the topics presented to them on the whole day of the training-workshop.

To maintain physical distancing following the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) protocols, the workshop was divided into three days wherein each college department has its respective schedules. Department of Education and Arts and Sciences on February 8, Department of Agriculture and Aquatic Sciences, Forestry and Aquatic Sciences, and Graduate Studies on February 9, and the Department of Engineering, Information Technology, and Industrial Technology on February 10.