FIVE researchers from the University of Santo Tomas participated in the recently concluded 4th International Conference on Service-Learning 2022

These are Assistant Professor Froilan Alipao (MCD of the Department of Sociology), Associate Prof. Evalyn Abiog (Department of English), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Melanie Turingan (Department of History), Prof. Dr. Ma. Teresa Tricia Guison-Bautista (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery), and Heiden Anorico (National Service Training Program Facilitator).

The meet was organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The UST researchers presented their papers in a bid for the university’s earnest efforts to advance Service-Learning towards its institutionalization.

Alipao presented his paper titled ‘AranLinkCod: A Proposed Service-Learning Praxis Framework of UST vis-à-vis the Salamanca Process’.

In his presentation, Alipao introduced the see-judge-act method involved in the Salamanca Process that can guide Catholic higher education institutions such as UST in their Service-Learning delivery.

On the other hand, Abiog tackled his study ‘Pedagogical Approaches and Methods in Service-Learning: A Multiple-Case Study’.

The research, he said, was a Service-Learning pedagogies in four undergraduate courses – Community Outreach at the Conservatory of Music; Community Health in Medical Technology at the Faculty of Pharmacy; Community Health Nursing at the College of Nursing; and Math in the Modern World at the College of Science.

Abiog described these SL courses ‘as exploratory, transformative, social constructivist, and research-based.’

Meanwhile, Turingan presented her research ‘Service-Learning in the University of Santo Tomas: From Theory to Practice’.

Turingan accentuated the expressive, artistic, transformative, and social constructivist application of Service-Learning in the curricula rooted in experiential learning.

To highlight the Service-Learning initiatives of the UST-FMS, Dr. Guison-Bautista discussed two papers titled the ‘Analysis on the Attitudes of Medical Faculty and Students Towards Community Service-Learning Activities’ and ‘Dimensions of a Culturally-Sensitive Community Service Attitude Scale for Filipino Medical Students.’

Moreover, Anorico of the NSTP talked about her study on ‘eService-Learning: Understanding College Students’ Online Community Engagement in the Time of Pandemic’.

According to UST, Anorico shared students’ online community engagement according to the eService-Learning Triad.

These composed the Area of Cognizance, the Area of Connection, and the Area of Concern. These areas encompass students’ online environment, issues, and discourse, it added.

Alipao, Abiog, Turingan, and Anorico are research associates of the UST Research Center for Social Sciences and Education, while Dr. Guison-Bautista is affiliated with the UST Research Center for the Health Sciences.

The 4th International Conference on Service-Learning 2022 was part of the 85th founding anniversary of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which was attended by academics, scholars, and students in a hybrid setup.