CED trains MisOcc science teachers on SIP
by Jun Karren V. Caparoso
The College of Education (CED) through its faculty members, namely: Charity I. Mulig-Cruz, Everlita E. Canalita and Jun Karren V. Caparoso, conducted a training-workshop on Science Investigatory Project (SIP) last January 22-23, 2020 at Habitacion Hotel, Oroquieta City. The two-day activity aimed to capacitate SIP advisers on the essentials of SIP.
Science investigatory project is an open inquiry process that employs scientific method in exploring a problem or answering an important question. At the Department of Education, the conduct of science fairs has become an annual event that showcases SIPs in order to promote Science and Technology and nurture the culture of innovation among students. It also aims to identify projects which shall represent the country in international science fairs.
More than fifty science teachers from select public elementary and junior high schools in the Division of Misamis Occidental (MisOcc) actively participated in the said division-wide training. Most of them have either limited or no experience on SIP mentoring while the remaining few have either taught research in STEM classes or advised a research project in the past. During the training, they experienced the step-by-step process of SIP mentoring as modeled by the facilitators, and were engaged in writing their own research plans which served as their main output in the workshop. These were done so that the teachers could learn and master the essential steps and strategies of doing SIPs and translate such knowledge and skills to their students.
Conducted in partnership with DepEd-Misamis Occidental Division, the activity was just one of the many training programs delivered by CED to help improve the quality of science and mathematics teaching in the basic education sector of Region 10. Since 2014, training courses such as Teaching Elementary Math through Problem Solving, Interdisciplinary Contextualization in Science and Math, and Language Strategies in Science and Math have been delivered through regional trainings in partnership with DOST-Science Education Institute. Indeed, the college has been true to its mandate as Center of Excellence for Teacher Education in this part of the country.
The facilitators of the training have been members of the Scientific Review Committee of SIP competitions and of the Board of Judges during Science fairs in the region.