The dean of the College of Education, Dr. Amelia T. Buan went to Khon Kaen University, Thailand in September 8 – October 8, 2019 as visiting professor.
She gave lectures to graduate students on computational thinking in mathematics. She also worked with Prof. Auijit Pattanajak observing the use of open-approach in teaching mathematics in the classrooms. The schools observed were part of the program implemented in the Institute for Research and Development in the Teaching Profession in ASEAN.
As part of this engagement, Dr. Buan represented the College of Education – MSUIIT as co-host of the 12th International Conference on Educational Research with the Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University.
In her speech, she highlighted the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to education.
“In our current situation, artificial intelligence has impacted industries and education. As educators, we need to prepare students to work alongside Artificial Intelligence in the future.”
Because of this, she hoped that the delegates in ICER 2019 be engaged in meaningful dialogue on improving educational practices for the future generation.
“ICER 2019 is a venue where educators and researchers can engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas and new pedagogies on this new society. I wish all the delegates a meaningful discussion on research presented and may we strengthen our community to promote educational innovations for the next generation.”
The CED Dean is expected to come back in MSU-IIT on October 10, 2019.
Dr. Cesar T. Miguel, the first exchange professor of MSU-IIT College of Education arrives at Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) Ongkharak Campus in Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand on January 14, 2018. As an Exchange Professor, he stays and teaches at the Faculty of Physical Education in SWU for more than three weeks covering the period January 15 to February 9, 2018.
With the able facilitation of Dr. Panita Khampoosa, Assistant Dean for International Affairs, Dr. Miguel accomplishes the purposes and objectives of the technical side of the Exchange Program. Moreover, he blends well with well-known SWU physical education professors such as Dr. Supranee Kwanboonchan and Dr. Usakorn Punvanich, and some national sports personalities specifically the Director General of the Thai Department of Physical Education (equivalent to a Cabinet Secretary), Dr. Panya Hanlumyuan.
He is also introduced to the Thai academic sports programs, national sports competition, Thai culture including those hot and spicy food, impressive motor ways, the temples or wat, and to the beautiful places around Bangkok, Nakhon Nayok, and Pattaya.
Dr. Miguel delivers a lecture on Philippine Sports to the class of Dr. Supranee Kwanboonchan where students respond attentively as they inquir about sports leagues in the Philippines. However, based on an initial evaluative consultation with Dr. Khampoosa on the strengths and weaknesses of the exchange partners, it is decided that his main concern is the teaching and demonstration of water safety techniques and skills on water survival and rescues considering that SWU has been strong in sports management, sports science and physical fitness but quite weak in water safety and rescue.
Thus, despite the language barrier, Dr. Miguel takes the lead in lecturing and demonstrating techniques in water survival and rescue to the Thai students in the classes of Prof. Lect. Chakrapong Thampongboworn and Dr. Usakorn Punvanich. Amidst their apprehension in dealing with an English –speaking Filipino exchange professor, the teachers and students in those classes are grateful of the opportunity they have in learning the water survival and rescue techniques since drowning incidents have recently risen in Bangkok and central Thailand.
Finally, Dr. Miguel presents an abridged version of the Module on Teaching Water Safety to Dr. Usakorn Punvanich and Prof Lect Chakrapong Thampongboworn for use in the Water Safety Course, and for possible collaborative comparative studies on water safety teaching practices and techniques of Thailand and the Philippines.
The exchange professor makes full use of his time at SWU. Upon the invitation of Dr. Kwanboonchan and the encouragement of the International Korfball Federation Asia President, Dr. Inglish Huang, he completes the Referee Level 1 Accreditation Training on Korfball which is conducted by the Taiwanese officials of International Korfball Federation Asia.
Intending to learn more about physical education in Thailand, Dr. Miguel does observations on the methods and teaching techniques in the Physical Fitness classes of Dr. Prasit Peepathum, Gymnastics classes of Dr. Usakorn Punvanich, and, in the Basic Golf Tutorial class of Dr. Satitrak Nasane in SWU. The aforementioned professors are noted for their expertise in their respective fields and in stimulating and guiding students’ skills learning as well. He also goes out of SWU to observe state-of-the-art fitness centers in Rangsit near Bangkok and is impressed with the sports and fitness facilities in and out of SWU.
On the technical side of the Exchange, Dr, Miguel now fully comprehends the importance of keeping pace with the academic development among member countries in the ASEAN. And on the social and cultural side of the Program, he emphasizes on its significance in promoting and facilitating mutual recognition of commonalities across cultures in the region.
Dr. Miguel says that it has been rewarding to discover that Thais are as friendly and hospitable as we Filipinos are, that they like us, are family-oriented, respectful of elders and authorities, and are united as a nation.
Prof. Miguel has been serving as a PE professor since 1987 in the Department of Physical Education specializing in sports management, volleyball, swimming, and water safety. He serves in various designations in the Institute over the years – as Department Chairperson, Acting Chief Security Officer, and as Acting Sports Director.
This endeavor is a product of the Academic Cooperative Agreement between Srinakharinwirot University and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology which aims to bring goodwill and mutual benefit to both universities. Hopefully, more CED professors will follow the footsteps of Dr. Miguel and will take an active part in the Exchange Program.
It began from a conversation in February 2016 between the Department of Sociology of the College of Arts and Social Sciences and Dr. Jayeel S. Cornelio to deliver a lecture to sociology students on the Sociology of Religion. The reception was so positive during the lecture that the department discussed the possibility of him returning to the Institute as a Visiting Professor to teach a graduate course on Sociology of Religion.
Dr. Jayeel S. Cornelio, who recently received his tenure at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), took a leave of absence for two months which is the summer term in ADMU and taught as Visiting Professor in IIT from June to July.
Why IIT
When asked why he chose to teach in IIT, the 2017 Department of Science and Technology (DOST)- Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) revealed to this writer three reasons.
“The Department of Sociology in MSU-IIT is one of the strongest in the country. It is the only recognized Center of Development [CHED] …” said Cornelio.
“The network is already there. I am the treasurer of the Philippine Sociological Society and we have at least two officers from MSU-IIT who are part of the board of the organization. We do have a working relationship with this department,” added Cornelio.
He further expressed that it was also the deliberate choice of the sociologists from University of the Philippines-Diliman and ADMU to reach out to the universities in Mindanao. “That’s why for four years up until last year we were running the annual conference in Mindanao.” In 2015, the Institute hosted the National Conference of the Philippine Sociological Society.
A sociologist of religion by training, Cornelio never felt scared in coming to Mindanao considering the ongoing conflict in Marawi, which is 45-minutes away from Iligan City. He reasoned that maybe it is because of the inherent attitude of any good sociologist which is to be adventurous and a risk-taker. He believes that sociology thrives in ruptures, crisis, disasters and everything in between. “We’re very interested in what happens, to people especially, in moments like this,” he said.
Teaching in IIT
Cornelio started his class on June 19 and found his first day of teaching very interesting. He noticed his graduate class was totally diverse. “This is the kind of diversity I don’t think one would ever find easily in Luzon…. Here, diversity is a given and I find it really refreshing,” enthused Cornelio.
Part of the award he received as DOST-OYS is a research grant that he can use and he expressed his interest in doing a research on religion in Mindanao in collaboration with MSU-IIT through the Department of Sociology.
At 35, Cornelio has been very successful in his career as his curriculum vitae is jammed pack with academic qualifications, appointments, honors and awards, research grants, and publications. One who is young and active in the academe and in the community, Cornelio sent inspiring words to sociology majors.
“Given the conflicts and the troubles that we are faced with today, sociology as a perspective is needed more than ever. Martial Law, ISIS, religious conflicts, diversification of migration, inequality, these are problems that didn’t happen overnight. These are problems that we should have seen long ago and these are problems we could address strategically given the right perspective. This is how sociology could contribute to enhancing our understanding of these complex problems. And what is sociology’s contribution? Understanding people. We do not assume that we know them. That’s why we have to talk to them,” he said.
“So, I hope that students will find it inspiring that sociology is an empowering perspective because it does not assume that it knows all the answers to the world’s problems. If anything, it assumes that it does not know anything. That’s why it is very important for sociologists to talk to people, to interview them, to gather data, and to understand the situation on the ground. It is only upon realizing and understanding the situation that we can do better in solving these problems,” he concluded.
Two scientists from Moscow’s Russian Academy of Sciences and one from the United Kingdom’s University of Hertfordshire are set to arrive in MSU-IIT in October as visiting professors.
Dr. Christine Cherry E. Solon, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, said that the visiting professors will meet with faculty and students, give research tips, and talk about collaboration.
Dr. Solon identified the visiting professor from the UK as Dr. Roland Perry who will be on campus from October 6-20, 2016.
Dr. Perry will give a crash course on Bio290 for graduate biology students and give a seminar on research ethics and techniques in scientific writing for faculty and students.
Dr. Perry is a faculty of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the School of Life and Medical Sciences of the University of Hertfordshire.
The University of Hertfordshire is a public research university located in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
Dr. Solon also named the two professors from the Russian Academy of Sciences as Dr. Sergei Spiridonov and Dr. Elena Ivanova.
The Russian professors will give updates regarding the “on-going collaborative work” with the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Spiridonov is a multi-published researcher with expertise in biology and zoology. Dr. Ivanova is an expert in agricultural plant science, cell biology, and microbiology.
Dr. Spiridonov and Dr. Ivanova will arrive in the Institute on the third week of October.
Visiting professor Dr. Hong-Yi Huang of the National Taipei University in Taiwan gave a week-long lecture series at the College of Engineering’s Electrical Electronics Computer Engineering (EECE) Department on July 4-8, 2016.
His lectures focused on emerging technologies in the integrated circuits (IC) design attended by the EECE students and faculty members, and students and faculty members from MSU-Marawi; La Salle University – Ozamiz; Mindanao University of Science and Technology – Cagayan de Oro; Xavier University; and University of Mindanao and high school students from the Philippine Science High School – Central Mindanao and Central Visayas campuses.
The participants were likewise updated on the latest in energy harvesting, biomedical circuits, spread spectrum technology, layout considerations, and techniques for a successful test chips.
Huang was the mentor of the COE Microelectronics faculty members of the Electronics Engineering who studied for their masters degrees at the National Taipei University in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Huang has 58 patents and published 39 papers in journals, and has delivered 85 international conference papers and 36 local conference papers.
Huang’s lectures at the COE were made possible through funding from the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT).
