by Merceditha C. Alicando, CASS

THIS SEMESTER, 38 graduate student researches were presented, with topics ranging from social sciences and educational studies to computer and technology developments and innovations during the 16th Graduate Research Colloquium held on October 18, 2019.
Organized by the Office of the Graduate Studies (OGS), headed by Director Alita T. Roxas, this research colloquium is a biannual event where graduate students of the Institute, particularly those completing their master’s degrees, present a substantial portion of their theses and special projects.
In his message on Developing a Culture of Science during the activity’s opening program, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Franco G. Teves, emphasized that there is an existing gap between science, technology, and innovation (STI) and the benefit to the community which must be addressed and acted upon. He said that the respective roles of the researchers and administrators must be looked into to fill in this gap.

For this semester’s colloquium, two of the Institute’s faculty members shared their researches during the plenary sessions. Dr. Juvanni A. Caballero, the chairperson of the History Department of the College of Arts and the Social Sciences, imparted a portion of his dissertation on Transformation Stories of Armed Cadres Turning into Peacebuilders.
Dr. Roxane Consolacion of the Integrated Developmental School of the College of Education tackled the relevance of innovating instruction in her talk on Blended Learning: An e-learning Model for Teacher Education Institutions”.

Following the plenary talks were paper presentations of the graduate students. Innovative researches worthy of mention were Michelle Anne Ferolino’s Development and Validation of a DSM-5-based Major Depressive Symptom Severity Inventory (MDSSI) in College Students; Ms. Apple Rose B. Alce’s Microcontroller-based Water Level and Soil Moisture Monitoring and Irrigation Scheduling System in Rice-based Farming with Data Analytics; Ms. Phoebe Ruth Alithea E. Bacotot ‘s Mobile Based Fire Monitoring and Feedback Control System using IOT Technology with Data Analytics; and Ms. Stefany Mae Caparida’s Lora-based Real Time Water Consumption Modelling.