ALIGNING MYSOUL TEACHING AND SU MISSION STATEMENT:

GRADE 11 STEAM STUDENTS' INSIGHTS ON

“INFUSING CHRISTIAN FAITH IN ACADEMIC LEARNING”

A. Calis, C. Cassidy, S. Crouch, D. Balcobero, A. Kiroquero, and J. Loo

Senior High School Department, Silliman University

1 Hibbard Avenue, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines

ABSTRACT

The pandemic’s widespread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has

challenged many educational systems to adapt and control the process of two-way

learning, finding alternatives to better cope to the current situation, leads to the big

adjustment for many educators and students to transitioning to a new mode of learning

– distance education. Using the exploratory mixed method design, the study focused on

the LMS of Silliman University in regard to the alignment of SOUL’s online courses for

Grade 11 STEAM students with the first mission statement of the university, “Infuse

into the academic learning the Christian faith anchored on the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The researchers used a purposive sampling technique with over 51 students from 17

sections in the university’s STEAM strand to collect both, qualitative and quantitative

data from the respondent’s insights with the use of virtual online surveys. The garnered
data deduced a weight mean of 3.34, implying that the online courses provided holds

neutrality that depending on the course taken either aligns or misaligns from the

institution’s first mission statement. Thus, concluding recommendations to further

expand the research to be applicable in a more general context and encouraging

instructors to incorporate Christian teachings within their allotted class schedules in the

form of short prayers and verses included in learning materials to further anchor the

institution to its primary mission.

Key words: Online-distance learning, COVID-19, Christian teachings, exploratory mixed

method
 Article Critique

by Isobel Sophia Mari M. Flores

As the situation of the Coronavirus pandemic continue to affect the general

public, institutional establishments have transitioned to changing its mode of learning

from traditional classes to the current online distance education setting. In this relation,

it is imperative that the online courses provided by educational institutions be aligned

to the primary standard of mission statements as it acts as a foundation for

achieving the administrators of the university regard as the institution's primary

objectives (Media and Kokemuller, 2015). In the article, “Aligning MySoul Teaching and

SU Mission Statement: Grade 11 STEAM Students' Insights On “Infusing Christian Faith

In Academic Learning”, Calis, Cassidy, Crouch, Balcobero, Kiroquero, and Loo (2020)

centered its study on the LMS of Silliman University in regard to the alignment of

SOUL’s online courses for Grade 11 STEAM students with the first mission statement of

the university, “Infuse into the academic learning the Christian faith anchored on the

gospel of Jesus Christ.” While this article highlights the study’s concluded suggestions

given its neutral result, there are limitations related to the sample size, and

generalizability of results.

The study’s focus centered on the goal if the online courses provided by the

university synch to the institution’s mission. With the use of virtual online

questionnaires, the researchers used a purposive sample technique with over 51

students from 17 sections in the university's STEAM strand to obtain both qualitative

and quantitative data from the respondent's insights. The gathered data yielded a
weight mean of 3.34, reflecting that the online courses given are neutral, aligning or

misaligning with the institution's mission statement differing on the courses taken.

Garnering 51 STEAM students as its study's chosen collective, the coverage of the

sample size for the study was too limited. The researchers omitted to explain the

relevancy of choosing the strand STEAM in comparison to other strands and year levels

when the university's mission statement is applied generally. Having such a small

sample size also constrained the maximum result that could have been acquired due to

the lack of perspectives placed that could have been attained from the remaining

preferred respondents of the same strand. Correspondingly, due to the limited feedback

taken from the sample size, the generalizability of the results reflected a lack of

information that would be sufficient to prove the researcher's goal, which was to

determine whether or not SOUL's online courses needed to be modified or enhanced in

terms of how the correlation of Christian faith will be infused into subject courses in

order to align with the university's first mission statement.

The study’s findings revealed a total weighted mean of approximately 3.34 for

online courses as a whole, implying that the majority of these courses are either aligned

or partially aligned with Silliman University's first mission statement. As the sample

size and results limit to investigate and answer the study's purpose, other aspects can

be improved with the use of the current data. recommendations provided in the article

as well aid in giving guidance for future researchers who wish to continue the study

although a larger defined sample size with more concise data is necessary to divulge the
enhancement if whether or not subject courses are aligned or misaligned to the

institution's mission statement.

References

A. Calis, C. Cassidy, S. Crouch, D. Balcobero, A. Kiroquero, & J. Loo. (2020) Aligning

MySoul Teaching and SU Mission Statement: Grade 11 Steam Students' Insights

On “Infusing Christian Faith In Academic Learning”. 1-15.

Isobel Sophia Mari M. Flores

Grade 12 – STEAM H

Group B Manuscript File