INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODS
Most of the Universities in the world strive for excellence. Their main objective is to beget top-grade and world class graduates. Almost Every School recognizes the need to equip graduates adequately to meet the standards of the global market.
The College of Engineering of Central Philippine University is not an exception. For the last five years, the College of Engineering has initiated innovative teaching methods to develop and train students to become more motivated and competent.
Cooperative Learning
One of the innovative teachings used in the College of Engineering is Cooperative Learning. Its main objective is to teach students to be able to learn independently on one hand, and also value teamwork on the other hand. Cooperative learning produces students capable of working collaboratively with others in the workplace. The following are models of cooperative learning: First the Johnson model, which advocates positive interdependence, individual accountability, group interaction, and social skills. Second, the Kagan model, which encourages positive interdependence, individual accountability, equal participation, and simultaneous interaction.
Interdependence exists when students perceive that they need each other in order to complete the group's task. Cooperative learning is effective when this is achieved through joint rewards, mutual goals, shared resources, and assigned roles.
Individual accountability is frequently assessed and the results are given to the group, hence, in cooperative learning, the instructors give individual tests or call on individuals within the group to demonstrate a skill or respond to questions. Explaining, discussing, and teaching what the students know to their classmates initiates group interaction.
Social skills, in the other hand, are initiated by collaborative skills that include leadership, decision-making, trust building, communication and conflict management.
The perceived results include bolstering one's self esteem, belongingness, building norms of support, interdependence and encouragement.
Walk-in Laboratories
The College now allows "walk-in" laboratories, which allows students to work on given laboratory experiments during the time they choose to, provided the deadline for such tasks are met. They are given liberty to discover for themselves and use innovative techniques if needed, with the aid of available equipment and supervision of their laboratory professor.
Lecture Discussion Classes
Lecture Discussion Classes are tutorial sessions conducted right after regular class initiated by the professors but are taught be fellow students who excel academically. Of course, those students who are teaching their younger siblings in the college are rewarded by compensating their efforts with incentives.
The aforementioned innovative methods of teaching allow continuation of learning in formal settings where students sometimes learn more, than they do with only the pages of their textbooks and the lectures of their mentors within the confines of their "four-cornered" classrooms.
PAASCU Accreditation
Accreditation is based on self-recommendation, which focuses on the institution's own evaluation and continuous improvement of its quality of education. Accredited schools are not perfect schools but they are good schools. Those which have met standards for academic excellence set by representatives of member institutions to the accrediting body.
The accreditation process of the College of Engineering started in 1984 when it submitted an institutional serf-survey report to the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). The association then sent a survey team after the application for accreditation of the College was accepted. It passed the survey and was granted a Level I status. In 1985, the college again submitted its formal self-survey report and was granted full accreditation and give Level II status after a thorough evaluation. The college was given a Level III status after yet another revaluation. The College has retained the Level III status after resurveys in 1994 and 1999 and will be due for reevaluation on 2004.
The areas covered by the evaluation are the Purpose and Objectives, Outreach, Laboratory, Library, Student Services and Administration. The re-survey also included interviews with the Dean, department heads, members of the faculty and the students. The team also interviewed several administrators of the University.
At present, the College of Engineering of Central Philippine University proudly stands as one of the only five engineering schools in the country with a Level III PAASCU Accreditation. This distinction is a product of hardwork and the willingness to adopt academic changes for the better. The other four Level III accredited schools are DELasalle University (Manila), St. Louis University (Baguio), University of San Carlos (Cebu), and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (Cebu). The CPU College of Engineering is also an active member of the Consortium of PAASCU Accredited Engineering Schools in the Philippines.
