EDUCATION PROGRAM RESEARCH

School Year 2016-2018

An intentional commitment to research and innovation in Education has long been central to the success in preparing the youth to achieve in school and in life. Indeed, Teacher Education Institutions should be committed to continuous, data-driven improvement towards true progress. Thus, it will then require the mobilization of research and evaluation to elucidate the best practices and inspire some innovations that will support the development of the students’ full potential.

In establishing a research agenda, the UIC Education Program aims to build on its long tradition of improvement and inquiry, and as a laboratory of innovations that can export best practices to raise the quality of Teacher Education Programs, locally, nationally and internationally. The research agenda highlights current gaps in knowledge and practice and articulates research questions with significant potential to impact the field. In particular, the agenda has the following key areas of inquiry:

1. Policy Orientation

These researches intended to apply social scientific findings to the resolutions of educational trends, issues and problems. These includes research on the formulations, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of new teacher education policies, management of teacher education, policies in teacher training, pre-service teacher training, and systems and standards in Teacher Education Institutions.

• Tertiary Curriculum Assessment
• Evaluation of Government Educational Policies
• Program Accreditation/Institutional Accreditation
• Implementation of Outcomes-Based Education
• Assessment of Teacher Education Programs
• Assessment of Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers Training and Development
• Evaluation on the Delivery of the Teaching-learning Process

2. Community-Based Research

These researches aimed to give focus on the responses of the Teacher Education Institutions to the needs and problems of community and the industry. These include studies on school-community partnership, impact of community projects to the recipients and multicultural education.

• Impact Studies on Community Extension projects
• Impact Assessment of Field Studies
• Impact of On and off-Campus Internship
• Studies on Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW)

3. Model-Building Research

The scientific approach to decision making usually involves the use of one or more Mathematical models. A mathematical model is a mathematical representation of an actual situation that may be used to make better decisions or simply to understand the actual situation better. Model development is considered an effective research method. It assists investigators and scientists in relating more accurately to reality; it also aids them to describe, predict, test or understand complex systems or events. Thus, models often provide a framework for the conduct of research and might consist of actual objects or abstract forms, such as sketches, mathematical formulas, or diagrams. A model is an abstraction, a mental framework for analysis of a system. It involves simplified representations of real-world phenomena.

• Pedagogical Approaches in Higher Institutions
• The RVM Pedagogy: Perspectives and Areas of Improvement
• Alternative Funding Model for Community Extension Projects
• Factors Affecting Successful Implementation of K-12

4. Education and Education Management

This area aims to identify some new research issues and sketches out some new research questions for education policy and leadership as a response to ongoing changes in the landscape of education policy. Well-conducted research is seen as vital for the success of educational development endeavors. Research provides the foundation in educational policy and decision-making that can be translated into effective educational programs and projects that would capacitate the learners.

• Internationalization and Benchmarking
• Managing Diversity of Learners
• Exploring the Academic and Social Experiences of Homeless College Students
• Classroom Management Skills of Pre-Service Teachers
• Classroom Management Style and Instructional Delivery
• Co-curricular Activities and Academic Achievement

5. Educational Technology

Researches in this area deal with how skilled educators can create rich learning environments where students are introduced to new ideas, develop new skills, and expand their perspectives. The informed use of technology can engage students in new experiences and create a community of learners in the new millennium. This area deals with researches about the use of cutting-edge technologies in teaching and learning. Such technologies have included 3D, mobile learning, online and blended learning, games and simulations, and virtual reality. This area would explore the use and impact of these technologies.

• Blended/Hybrid Learning
• Technology Integration to Enhance Instruction
• Addressing Security Risks for Mobile Devices: What Higher Education Leaders Should Know
• On-Line Learning

6. Physical Education

Education through the physical and Education of the physical are philosophies of the discipline Physical Education. From these statements emanates a wide scope to consider for the Physical Education pedagogy to establish. With the challenge of the modern world, how can this discipline respond to it rely on a strong foundation of knowledge, understanding, application, and appreciation of the discipline itself?

1. Curriculum and Instruction

Physical Education Pedagogy has yet to establish considering the recent studies pointing on how movements enhance the capacity of a person to learn. Strengthening its pedagogy entails looking into the core of its instructional delivery.

• Content Materials and Methods
• Best Practices of Physical Education
• Models of Instruction in Physical Education
• Mentoring Physical Educators
• Assessment Techniques for Physical Education

2. Motor Behavior

Grounding its root to Psychology, motor behavior should be understood well so as to make movements. Humans are designed to move hence continues to search better understanding of human movement as recent study shows significant relationship of movements to brain development

• Motor Control
• Motor Learning
• Motor Development
• Physical Literary

3. Physical Activity

Knowledge, understanding, and application of a variety of movements can greatly affect one’s participation in physical activities. These are a precursor to his active performance maintains his capacity to be physically active thus contributes to overall wellness for self and the society.

• Philosophy of Physical Activity
• Physiology Physical Activity
• Kinesiology
• Neurogenesis
• Sociology of Physical Activity

4. Management, Administration, and Commercialization of Sports Events

Sports events are said to have a gluing effect to the society. It brings people together thus forming a culture. This culture may or may not promote healthy experiences, thus making it a fertile ground for research.

• Coaching Approaches
• Intramurals
• Athletic Meets
• Commercial Sports Event
• Fitness Events

5. Related Field of Physical Education

• Sports Psychology
• Physical Therapy
• Sports Sociology
• Exercise Psychology
• Recreational Psychology
• Physical Activity Professionals

7. Action Research

Action research is very popular in the field of education because there is always room for improvement when it comes to teaching and educating others. There are all types of methods of teaching in the classroom, but action research works very well because the cycle offers opportunity for continued reflection. In all professional fields, the goal of action research is to improve processes. Action research is also beneficial in areas of teaching practice that need to be explored or settings in which continued improvement is the focus. Action Research could be in the following:

• School-wide action research generally focuses on issues present throughout an entire school or across the district. Teams of staff members would work together using school-wide action research. As you can see, action research can be used in many educational settings.
• Collaborative action research involves a group of teachers or researchers working together to explore a problem that might be present beyond a single classroom, perhaps at the departmental level or an entire grade level.
• Individual action research involves working independently on a project, such as an elementary school teacher conducting her own, in-class research project with her students.

1. The Effect of Peer Tutoring on Mathematical and Reading Skills of Struggling Students
2. Enhancing Mathematics Instruction in Elementary Schools Through the Use of Cooperative Groups
3. The Impact of Participation in Collegiate Athletics on the Academic Success of Female Students
4. The Escalating Kindergarten Curriculum and its Effect on School Readiness
5. Time Management and Study Skills for College Student-Athletes
6. An Examination of Why Teachers Leave the Teaching Profession
7. The Effects of Parental Involvement With Math Homework on the Achievement of Grade School Students
8. Interactive Strategies in Teaching and Oral Communication Skills
9. Trends and Issues on Faculty and Student Absenteeism
10. Perspectives and Thoughts on Sanctions for Non-Attendance in Institutional, Departmental and Programmatic Activities