College of Mass Communication Department of Communication Research University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City
SEEing CWTS: Surveying, Exploring and Evaluating CWTS Implementation in the University of the Philippines Diliman
By the Communication Research 165 Class 1st semester, AY 2010-2011
Submitted to Communication Research Department University of the Philippines Diliman
In partial fulfillment of the requirements in Communication Research 165: Data Interpretation and Reporting
October 2010
ABSTRACT
This study being the first university-wide evaluation of the Civic Welfare Training Program (CWTS) in the University of the Philippines Diliman focused on how CWTS programs have been able to communicate the three key dimensions of citizenship, volunteerism, and career exploration and development based on the students’ perspective. It aimed to evaluate the learning outcomes of CWTS courses in the students in terms of knowledge gained about citizenship and volunteerism, life skills developed in relation to volunteerism, and attitude toward the program. A survey of 770 students who have completed CWTS 1 and 2 between AY 2008-2010, and three focus group discussions were employed. Results of the study show that UP Diliman students across all colleges generally have broad knowledge of citizenship. Their most common understanding of volunteerism include those of taking initiative, act of doing good without reward, and unconditional service. Moreover, CWTS activities cited as acts of volunteerism mostly involve teaching, community service, and outreach programs. As a course, CWTS was evaluated to be relevant, fun and interesting. Furthermore, taking CWTS outside home college afforded students new knowledge. Students also observed that the specialization of the college was incorporated into the manner CWTS was taught to them. Lastly, CWTS courses have influenced the students to explore other career paths.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The researchers are third year Communication Research students currently taking up Communication Research 165: Data Interpretation and Reporting. Having completed other Communication Research courses, the researchers have been trained in both qualitative and quantitative research.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page Abstract
2
About the Authors
3
Introduction
6
Review of Related Literature
9
Study Framework
17
Methodology
21
Results and Discussion
24
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
41
Bibliography
44
4
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Table 1 2
Title
Conceptual Framework Operational Framework Percentage Distribution of Students According to Year Level Frequency Distribution of Students According to their Reasons in Choosing where to take CWTS Courses Reasons for Enrolling: Categorized Individual Item Index for Citizenship Measures Frequency Distribution of Students According to Citizenship Score Value Frequency Distribution of Students According to Responses on Definition of Volunteerism Individual Item Graph for Osgood Semantic Differential Scale Items Individual Item Graph for Students’ Evaluation of CWTS
Title Frequency Distribution of Students According to their CWTS 1 Course Self-Rating Frequency Distribution of Students According to their CWTS 2 Course Self-Rating
Page
18 20 24 27 28 29 30 32 34 38
Page
37 37
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I.
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study Republic Act No. 9163 establishes the National Service Training Program (NSTP) for tertiary level students. It affirms the prime duty of the government to serve and protect the citizens within its territory. To aid in that duty, all citizens are then invested by this act with a responsibility to defend the State’s security. Citizens may be required by the government to render personal, military, or civil service. Tertiary level students are well within the range of the youth and the State recognizes that the youth is a major sector in nation-building. It is in the State’s best interests to invest time and effort in building up this sector. The NSTP Act makes it the State’s role to promote civic consciousness and to develop the youth’s physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. The program then inculcates in the youth the values of patriotism, volunteerism and involvement in public affairs. It encourages the youth to become civic and/or military leaders and volunteers. The National Service Training Program aims to develop and train the youth in areas of military duties, literacy and civic welfare. Three components were institutionalized under the program, and each component is specially and specifically designed to enhance the youth’s activity in contributing to the general welfare of the State. The three components are the following:
1) The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC): 6
This component is designed to provide military training to tertiary level students in order to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize them for national defense preparedness. 2) Literacy Training Service (LTS): This component is designed to train students to become teachers of literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out of school youth, and other sectors in society who is in need of their service. 3) Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS): This component refers to programs and activities contributory to the general welfare and the betterment of life for the members of the community or the enhancement of its facilities with focus to those devoted to the improvement of health, education, environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation, and morals of citizenry.
Amongst the three components, the ROTC program is optional and voluntary while the LTS and CWTS programs are a requisite for graduation. All students of any baccalaureate and vocational degree are to undergo and complete one of the NSTP components. All three components of the NSTP program are to be taken for an academic period of two semesters. However, in lieu of the two semester programs, a one-summer program is also provided. There will be no fees for any of the NSTP programs except for the basic tuition fees in higher and technical vocational institutions. The fees shall not exceed 50% of what is currently being charged by the schools per unit. In management of these programs, school authorities are called to exercise academic and administrative supervision over the design, formation, adoption, and
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implementation of the different components; unless a CHED- or TESDA-accredited nongovernment organization (NGO) has been contacted to do all these for the school. In the University of the Philippines-Diliman, only two of the NSTP’s components are provided, namely, the Reserve Officers’ Training Course (ROTC) and the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS). The ROTC program is handled by the Department of Military Science and Tactics, while different colleges offer the CWTS program with the incorporation of each college’s thrusts and concepts. The program in the university need not be taken in the first two years; it can be taken by the students anytime before their graduation. Fifteen colleges are offering CWTS programs molded and formed in relation to the courses they offer. These colleges are from the four academic clusters found in the University- Arts and Letters, Social Sciences and Law, Management and Economics, and, Science and Technology.
Rationale of the Study After the NSTP program has been passed as a law in January 23, 2002, there has been no university-wide study aimed at evaluating the CWTS program in the University of the Philippines Diliman and other institutions of higher education. Primarily for lack of prior studies on the NSTP law, the researchers aimed to do an evaluative research on the CWTS program in the University. Given the relatively free reign afforded to colleges in the implementation of CWTS, it is imperative to know whether their CWTS programs are aligned with the University’s objectives.
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The focus of the study is, from the perspective of students, how CWTS programs communicate the three key dimensions of citizenship, volunteerism, and career exploration and development. Secondly, measure the learning outcomes of the students from the CWTS program in terms of knowledge about citizenship and volunteerism, life skills gained related to volunteerism, and attitude toward the CWTS program.
Statement of the Problem Faced with scarcity of information on the CWTS program and the goal to pioneer an evaluative study on the said program, the researchers deemed it necessary to ask: What are the learning outcomes of CWTS courses in terms of knowledge gained, life skills developed, and attitude toward CWTS? How do students evaluate CWTS as a course?
II.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Studies related to school-mandated service were examined to aid in understanding the process of evaluating the CWTS program of the university. This literature review includes three studies done in the United States: the first being a case study of high school community service in Los Angeles County; the second a longitudinal-quasi-natural experiment comparing, on measures of civic attitudes and behaviors, groups of graduating high school students of the year 2000 who have not experienced the required community service, and those of the year 2001 and 2002 who had to complete 40 hours of community service; and a qualitative study on student motivation for community service. 9
An evaluation of the CWTS program of the university makes it necessary to know if it is relevant for the students in the first place. A study in 1999 by Sundeen and Raskoff examined the role schools played in educating high school students about youth socialization and civic participation through community service. (Sundeen & Raskoff, 1999) In the authors’ previous study in 1995, it was suggested that the school which supported or required community service was the strongest factor, other factors being the family and church, in developing volunteerism among the respondents. For their study in 1999, Sundeen and Raskoff performed a three-year case study of high school community service in Los Angeles County. They defined community service as “any service activity recognized or sponsored by the school, regardless of where it occurs or how long it takes.” A three-phase multi-method project was involved in the study. First, 385 public and private high schools in Los Angeles County were surveyed by mail about their community service programming , and administrators and faculty of 18 schools in six areas were subjected to in-depth interviews. The second phase were “in-depth interviews with representatives of eleven community organizations and eighty-four mail survey responses regarding the role they play with secondary schools, their perception of the benefits and costs of student participation, problems they encounter, and best practices” which studied the “roles and perspectives of community organizations for which students volunteer.” The last phase focused on the students, wherein 285 students from 22 schools in seven areas were interviewed “descriptions and assessments of their high school community service experiences.” The said study found out that schools indeed had a role of socializing their students to be service-oriented. It is also shown that the success in achieving this depends on “the program structure, the sponsorship, the mandate, and the social and cultural diversity of the schools.” Schools and community organizations must also have 10
good communication for this can avoid problems that may arise. It is also revealed that many high schools do not express their community service goals with their educational mission. It is, however, not clear as to how successful the schools are in communicating civic participation in their students. Some students may just see community service as a fulfillment of personal growth and development than as a help to the community. The socially-elite students and those from religious schools tend to be aware about the status of people less fortunate than them. But this does not necessarily mean they would help those in need. Students from religious schools are more likely to act toward social change, while non-sectarian and public school students are less likely to be future volunteers due to their different educational goals and “lack of integration of service and learning in the curriculum and educational objectives.” Time and money were shown to be important factors in continuing community service in schools as private schools demonstrated positive action as opposed to public schools which lacked resources. This study also suggested that students required to do service are less inclined to do future volunteer work than others. Types of schools also presented differences in their students’ wanting to volunteer in the future: public school students are less likely than private school students to say that they will volunteer in the future. Same goes with students from non-sectarian schools. Thus, support from the school is deemed important in shaping the students to be future volunteers. Sundeen and Raskoff concluded that: “The effective implementation of program goals requires greater effort in defining the goals of service vis a vis the school's educational goals; improved coordination with community organizations; heightened attempts to encourage students to reflect on their experiences and integrate them with the school's educational mission; increased training opportunities for teachers regarding
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methods of reflection and integration; and greater attention to training, recognition, and program evaluation.” Another important idea to think about is whether the presence or absence of CWTS would have an effect on the students’ inclination to volunteer. Metz and Youniss studied this in the case of the community service requirement implementation (or nonimplementation) on graduating high school students in the United States. (Metz & Youniss, 2005) The graduating class of 2000, which did not carry out a community service requirement, was compared with the graduating classes of 2001 and 2002, which had required community service, on their inclinations to help and to empathize with others. Each group was divided according to the individual students’ likeliness to serve voluntarily. The study had the following questions: “Does the experience of doing mandatory service promote civic development as defined by attitudes and behavior, in high school students? And, does mandatory service add civic value to individual students beyond that which they bring already to the service experience?” The study made use of a quasi-natural experiment in that a public high school which was about to implement a 40-hour required community service allowed the authors to study one class who had no such requirement and two, that succeeded the first class, who were subjected to the service requirement. The individual students were also differentiated on their tendencies to serve as others were already involved in volunteering while others did only some or had no background in serving at all. A longitudinal design was also involved in that the students were tracked “on a variety of measures that indexed their intended civic engagement and current attention and understanding of politics.” By recording the changes on these measures after the final two grades of high school enabled the authors to identify whether school-required service influenced civic development in students. 12
Four groups of students were identified. Two of them were from the graduating class of 2000 (the class before the mandated service was implemented), where some did regular volunteering while others did not. The two other groups were from the graduating classes of 2001 and 2002 (which had to fulfill the required community service). One of these groups was more likely to serve. This posed the question: “Did having to meet the requirement add civic value for these students who were already inclined to do service in the first place?” The other group comprised of 2001 and 2002 students who were not likely to serve. They did not have prior experience of volunteering and waited until their senior year to complete the service requirement. For this group, the question was: “Do students who are not inclined toward service and might otherwise not do it show positive gains after they have fulfilled their service requirement?” Five-point scales were used to measure helping and empathy among students. “For the Helping measure, students indicated how often they had done activities relating to helping.” “Students responded on a 5-point scale (from 1 = "never" to 5 = "very often")”. “For the Empathy measure, students agreed or disagreed on a statement about how they feel in situations involving others' welfare.” “Students responded on a 5-point scale (from 1 = "totally disagree" to 5 = "agree completely").” In general, the students of class 2000 had higher scores on the helping measure than the students of class 2001 or 2002. However, there were no differences between them on the empathy measure. School involvement was also assessed by asking about the students’ participation in extra-curriculars like the school government, sports and other clubs. There were no differences between the classes. The work in the community service included: “tutoring, coaching, assisting at shelters or nursing homes, organizing food or clothing drives, and assisting value-centered service organizations or churches.” Students who were already inclined to serve had high scores on all measures throughout and did not show any advantage after having met the community service 13
requirement. On the other hand, students who were not likely to serve had higher scores on three of four civic measures after having completed the community service requirement. Contrary to what Sundeen and Raskoff found out, Metz and Youniss discovered that service, even when required, may increase volunteerism in people. The study also found out that students who were less likely to serve had changed perspectives after having completed the required community service. Regarding the students’ background: their parents had higher educational attainments, had experience in volunteering, and were religious. At least two of these characteristics had a direct effect on students’ tendency to serve. As all youth undergo education in schools, a service requirement under it can make up for the differences in the students’ upbringing, therefore giving all the opportunity for community service. One weakness of this study is that it was unable to pinpoint which activities in the 40 hours of community service were responsible for improving volunteerism on students. But it could be concluded that: “a consciously designed service program which espouses civic responsibility in the community and offers students opportunities to do service at worthwhile sites at the very least gets students to take their requirement seriously and stimulates their interest in various aspects of the civic domain.” Studies by Sundeen & Raskoff and Metz & Youniss have provided the answers to the relevance of school-mandated service, while Jones and Hill looked into the reasons for students’ motivation to serve in their qualitative study of student motivation for community service in 2003. (Jones & Hill, 2003) The study aimed to discover the meaning students give to their participation in and motivations for community service and to understand how the students perceived their own patterns of involvement in community service. The relationship between high school involvement and college participation was particularly dealt with. The study inquired: “What are students' reasons for participation in community service in high school? What are students' reasons for 14
participation in community service (or not) in college? How do students explain and understand the relationship between high school and college involvement? To what do students attribute differences/changes in their motivations as well as experiences?” Being an exploratory study, it had a constructivist approach to the design. Purposeful sampling was used in identifying both the schools and the individual students from each school. The schools invited were only from the Ohio Campus Compact which were colleges and universities that supported the development of social responsibility and citizenship. Directors of Community Service from the schools that joined were asked to nominate four students each, all of whom participated in community service in high school, where two continued in college while the other two discontinued. The study defined community service as “any form of service (curricular or co-curricular) performed in an off-campus community context and for which payment was not received.” Data collection mainly involved in-depth interviewing of the students. Questions were about “nature of community service involvement in high school and college, the reasons students attributed to their participation, and the meaning they attached to community service.” Data analysis was done by using “the constant comparative method characteristic of grounded theory methodology,” moving from concrete ideas to abstract themes of the meaning the students gave to their experiences. Thus data analysis moved in a cycle, going back to the data with new questions until a story about the essence of the experience for the informants surfaced. For the students who continued to do community service, a commitment on their part was developed. They began to do service with internal motivation, unlike those who discontinued service in college whose service was affected by external factors. Moreover, if teachers or family members explained to them the importance of community service, it was more meaningful for them. Having experienced being marginalized also influenced a person’s will to serve. Also, continued service in college was more of a 15
result of voluntary service in high school. Students who were required of community service in high school were more likely to discontinue it in college, supporting Sundeen and Raskoff’s findings. This negative effect can be countered by having students perform high-quality service rather than service that may seem meaningless to them, such as raking a neighbor’s yard. Colleges and universities, if they want to attain positive results in their community service programs must make the environment engaging for their students by providing many opportunities and helping students negotiate requests on time. Not only must they focus on those who are more inclined to continue, but much more on those who are not that interested to serve.
Synthesis These studies have noted different findings about the effectiveness of schoolmandated service in developing a sense of voluntarism to its students. Sundeen & Raskoff (1999) and Jones & Hill (2003) had similar findings that required service tend to make students less likely to do volunteer work. However, Metz & Youniss (2005) found out that school-required service can compensate for the difference in the background of the students and give them all exposure to community service. But above all, it is important to note that the success of this kind of program is dependent on the support that the academe gives, especially on how well it will design and implement the program.
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III.
STUDY FRAMEWORK
Conceptual Level Under the CWTS program of UP Diliman, the activities must aim to instill citizenship and volunteerism, and help the students explore other career paths. The orientation of the CWTS implementation is college-based, where students can freely choose where they will take the program. While each college has a distinct specialization, and may host activities that are in line with the college’s thrust, the activities must still reflect the objectives of the university. By the end of the program, each student who took CWTS must have informed knowledge on citizenship and volunteerism, gained new life skills in relation to volunteerism, developed attitudes toward what the program offers, explored other career paths, and applied what they learned from the program.
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THRUSTS OF THE UP DILIMAN CWTS PROGRAMS
CITIZENSHIP VOLUNTEERISM CAREER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Life skills gained related to Knowledge about
volunteerism
citizenship and
Attitude toward the CWTS program
volunteerism
LEARNING Exploration of other
OUTCOMES
career paths
Application of skills learned in degree program
Development of new skills
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Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
Operational Level Values such as citizenship and volunteerism, and exploration of career paths are further specified, based on the university objectives and the existing law mandating the implementation of the program. Furthermore, the various colleges offering CWTS incorporate the college’s thrust in the program, hence re-shaping how the three dimensions will be communicated to the students. On the whole, under citizenship, a student who underwent activities in the CWTS program must have developed loyalty to the country, pride of being a Filipino, abidance to the law like being an honest tax payer, concern for the country’s natural resources, and general sense of service to the communities of the country. Also, a student who took CWTS must have developed a sense of volunteerism such as defining what volunteerism is and applying it by volunteering or being willing to volunteer. Also, exploration of other career paths must be realized.
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THRUSTS OF THE UP DILIMAN CWTS PROGRAMS
CITIZENSHIP •
• •
•
•
Loyalty to the country Filipino pride Observance of the law (i.e. payment of taxes and suffrage) Concern for the environment Service to the country
VOLUNTEERISM •
•
Helping out communities Offering service to the less privileged sectors of society
CAREER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Life skills gained related to Knowledge about
volunteerism
citizenship and
Attitude toward the CWTS program
volunteerism
LEARNING Exploration of other
OUTCOMES
career paths
Application of skills learned in degree program
Development of new skills
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Figure 2. Operational Framework
IV.
METHODOLOGY
The discussion of the methodological considerations of this study is divided into the following parts: research design, research methods, sampling scheme, and variables and measures.
Research Design This study aimed to evaluate the CWTS programs of thirteen colleges in the University of the Philippines- Diliman based on the three key dimensions set by the university, which are citizenship, volunteerism, and career exploration and development. To address the research questions posed by this study, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed.
Methods A survey of students who already took a CWTS program were employed in order to assess the programs’ effectiveness in communicating the values of citizenship, volunteerism, and career exploration and development. Furthermore, focus group discussions were employed to discuss more deeply the perceptions of the students on what they have learned from the program and what they want to suggest for the program’s improvement and enhancement. They were also asked about the benefits brought about by their CWTS courses.
Sampling Scheme 21
Multi-stage sampling was employed in determining the colleges whose CWTS programs will be evaluated. From 18 colleges that are classified into four academic clusters, the researchers randomly selected two colleges from each cluster. The table below shows the selected colleges from each cluster.
Arts and Letters
Social Science and Law
Management and Economics
Science and Technology
College of Music
College of Education
School of Economics
College of Science (National Institute of Physics)
College of Fine Arts
College of Social Science and Philosophy
National Center for Public Administration and Governance
School of Statistics
A CWTS program was identified from each selected college. From the eight selected colleges, only the College of Science offers various CWTS programs, so the researchers used the fishbowl method and randomly selected the National Institute of Physics-CWTS program to represent the College of Science. For the survey method, quota sampling was used. The researchers identified 100 student-respondents from each CWTS program. The students must have taken the CWTS programs within the academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 and must have taken it in UP-Diliman and not in any other UP unit. Since there are colleges who have a small population, a back-up college per cluster was also randomly selected through the fishbowl method to complete the said quota. These colleges were: College of Arts and Letters and College of Mass Communication for the Arts and Letters cluster; College of Social Work and Community Development for the Social Sciences and Law cluster; College of Home Economics for the Management and Economics cluster; and the National Institute of Molecular Biology 22
and Biotechnology, and the College of Engineering for the Science and Technology cluster. For the focus group discussion, purposive sampling was used to draw participants from the same colleges in the sample. Three focus group discussions were conducted with 8-10 student-participants for each discussion.
Variables and Measures
The three key dimensions set by the university upon the CWTS program were given modalities. The developed modalities provide the means of measurement, as well as further elaboration to what the dimensions are about. For citizenship, the following were developed: Loyalty to the country, Filipino pride, observance to the law, concern for the environment, and service to the country. For volunteerism, personal definitions and applications were identified by researchers for measurement. For career exploration and development, the following modalities were made: the College of Choice (where students took their CWTS), College-related Career, and Improved Skill. These modalities were measured through acquiring the levels of attitude, knowledge, and practices students had about the three dimensions and their respective modalities.
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V.
RE ULTS AN
DISCUSSION
I. Responde ts’ Profile
emographi profile
In presenting the result of ea h question in the survey form, the researchers used valid percentages, where missing values or those ite s left una swered b
the
r spondents were elimin ted. The survey pool, which com s from 13 andomly s lected colleges in Univ rsity of the Philip ines Diliman (UPD), c nsists of 7 0 respond nts ages 1 to 28 who took Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) from 2008 to
010. The average a e of
r spondents is 19.63, and 256 stud nts (33%) or one in e ery three r spondents is 19 years old.
0.50% 15.00%
2n year 34.00% 3rd year
51.00%
4th year
5th year and ab ve
Figure 3. Percentage Distribution of Students Accord ing to Year L vel
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Majority of the respondents or 480 (62.3%) are female, while 287 (37.3%) are male. More than half or 379 (51%) are fourth year college students, while 257 (34%) are third year students. Likewise, more than a hundred respondents (15%) are in their fifth year, including shiftees from other colleges, and transferees from other universities. UP Diliman students are expected to take their CWTS courses during or after their sophomore year in the university. Therefore, the age and year level of the majority in the sample is very typical to the UP population that is expected to have already taken CWTS courses.
Academic profile
The respondents were from 13 different colleges in UPD. College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) has the highest number in the survey pool with 97 respondents (12.6%), followed closely by College of Fine Arts (CFA) with 95 (12.4%). Only 26 respondents combined (3.3%) came from College of Social Work and Development (CSWCD) and College of Home Economics (CHE). The two colleges, which were initially excluded from the pool, served as back-up colleges to reach the predetermined total number of respondents. Prior to data gathering, the researchers divided the colleges into four clusters: Arts and Letters, Social Science and Law, Management and Economics, and Science and Technology (Refer to table in methodology for the colleges in each cluster). Majority of the respondents or 265 (34.4%) are from the Arts and Letters cluster due to the inclusion of the College of Mass Communication (CMC). One in every five took their CWTS 1 and 2 at the College of Engineering (COE). More than 90 students (almost 12%) out of the total number of respondents took CWTS 1 and 2 at the School of Economics (SOE), while CFA, CSSP, and others, which include
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departments eliminated from the survey pool, have about 80 respondents each (more than 10%). CWTS profile
Almost 350 respondents (45.1%) took their CWTS I during the first semester of academic year 2009 to 2010, while 290 (37.8%) took their CWTS I during the first semester of 2008 to 2009. For CWTS II, 354 respondents (46.2%) took their classes during the second semester of academic year 2009 to 2010, while 282 (36.8%) took it during the second semester of 2008 to 2009. On the other hand, 87 respondents (11.3%) took joint CWTS I and II classes during the summer of 2009, while 36 (4.7%) took during the summer of 2010. The number of enrollees per academic year does not really vary. Students normally take their CWTS courses during the regular semester more than summer.
Reasons for College choice of CWTS
In line with UP’s aim to give students academic freedom, they were allowed to choose where they will take their CWTS courses. Aside from the fact that students are required to take a CWTS course, being housed by their own college emerged as their primary consideration in choosing where to take their CWTS. Other reasons such as availability of class slots, opportunity of meeting new people and field work, likeability of professor, and level of difficulty have little impact for more than 80 percent of the respondents.
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Professor
678
New People
660
Fieldwork
668
Joint
554
Easy
625
Suggested
579
Something Different
579
Course Title
590
Together with Friends
544
Available Slots
651
Housed by College
379 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Figure 4. Frequency Distribution of Students according to their Reasons in Choosing where to take CWTS Courses
These reasons were generalized into broader categories – convenience, socialization and novelty. Reasons under convenience include the class: being the only one with available slots, being easy, being a joint CWTS 1 and 2 program, and the qualities of the professor. Items under socialization comprise: meeting new people, enrolling together with friends, and being suggested by one’s friend. The CWTS program having an interesting course title, offering something different to the students, and involving field work are categorized under novelty.
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Housed by College 20%
Convenience 29%
Novelty 24% Socialization 27%
Figure 5. Reasons for Enrolling: Categorized
Novelty emerged as the second consideration of the students. As one informant shared, he enjoyed doing new activities such as rappelling: Other concepts/lessons taught in other CWTS (like entrepreneurship) can be taught/offered by other subjects while skills such as rappelling (one of the CWTS activities offered in the College of Engineering) is hard to miss. -3rd yr, BS GE
II. Learning Outcomes Knowledge about Citizenship Students who participated in the focus group discussions shared that they were able to learn new concepts and skills after taking two semesters of CWTS courses. One 28
of the concepts mentioned in the focus group discussions, also one of the three key dimensions set by the University for CWTS courses, was citizenship. According to one informant from the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), “citizenship and social service” are two of the main concepts which were practically taught in her CWTS 1 and 2 classes. This was further examined in the survey by quantitatively measuring the students’ Citizenship score values. Citizenship was measured using a Likert Scale adapted from a previous study entitled National Development via NSTP National Service Training Program: Literacy Training Service 1 in 2005 by Sonia dela Cruz, et al. Students were asked to agree or disagree to statements pertaining to good citizenship practices.
Index 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
661 580 540 512
647 713 716 627 663 608 509 590 488 403
Figure 6. Individual Item Index for Citizenship Measures
For them, the top five citizenship practices are the following: engaging in gainful work, respecting rights of others, conserving resources, being proud to be Pinoy, and
29
f llowing authorities. Su prisingly, t e following have the l west indic s: paying taxes, voting, patro izing local roducts, and defending the state. Their answers for the statem nts were c nverted int total score value. Score values were rouped int a set of ra ges. Highe t possible core for thi scale is 56 hile the lowest is 14. These score values represent respondents’ unde standing of how ciitizenship is best practiced. The hig er the score, the stron er the stud nt’s value for ciitizenship practices. Total score value correspon to the foll wing level f citizenshi knowledge: 14-24 25-35 36-46 47-56
oints: low knowledge oints: fair knowledge oints: high knowledge oints: very high knowledge
Citizenship Sc re Valu 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
14‐24
2 ‐35
36‐46
47‐5
Figure 7. Frequency Distribution f Students According to Citizenship Sc re Value
Results of this study show th t the respo dents gen rally have a high score value for Citi enship, indicating high knowledge. 445 respondents (57.9 ) out of 770
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scored values within this range. Meanwhile, 203 respondents (26.4%) have very high Citizenship score values. To find out if the respondents’ knowledge of Citizenship is related to the college where they took CWTS 1, Chi-Square test was used. The computed Chi Square value is 75.134 with 0.045 significance at alpha=0.05. This reveals that there is no significant difference among colleges when it comes to citizenship score values. This also means that the college where students have taken up their CWTS 1 has no relationship to their knowledge of citizenship. Respondents who have taken CWTS 1 at the College of Engineering, School of Economics, College of Fine Arts, College of Mass Communication and the National College of Public Administration and Governance all yielded high score values for citizenship. Respondents who have taken CWTS 1 from the College of Home Economics and the College of Social Work and Community Development are the only two colleges which have very high score values for Citizenship. However, it should be noted that these two colleges have a low number of respondents. There are only six (30%) out of ten respondents who took their CWTS 1 in the College of Home Economics who have very high Citizenship score values. For students who took their CWTS 1 in the College of Social Work and Community Development, ten (50%) of the total 20 respondents have very high Citizenship score values.
Knowledge about Volunteerism
Another concept which was mentioned in the focus group discussions that were carried out was the concept of volunteerism. Volunteerism activities stand as the students’ application of the concepts they have learned from CWTS 1.
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To measure students’ volunteerism score value, respondents were asked to define volunteerism by choosing the words that match their idea of it. The researchers identified 9 words commonly related to the concept of volunteerism. These were given corresponding score values based on their magnitude of meaning. “Unpaid labor” was given a score value of 1, the lowest, while “Selflessness,” the highest, has a score value of 9. Other terms identified were “Taking Initiative,” “Submitting Oneself,” “Unconditional Service,” “Philanthropy,” “Humanitarianism,” “Act of Doing Good without Reward,” and “Sacrifice.”
Definition of Volunteerism Sacrifice Selflessness Doing Good Without Reward Humanitarianism Philanthropy Unconditional Service Submitting Oneself Taking Initiative Unpaid Labor 0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Figure 8. Frequency Distribution of Students According to Responses on Definition of Volunteerism
The top three concepts most associated to volunteerism are: “Taking initiative” with 600 (77.9%) respondents in agreement to this, “Act of Doing Good Without Reward” (71.3%), and “Unconditional Service” (62.1%). Least associated is “Philanthropy” with only 225 (29.2%) saying such.
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The Chi square test reveals that there is a significant difference among colleges in terms of volunteerism score values. The computed Chi Square value is 90.191 with 0.003 significance at alpha=0.05. This indicates that the college where students have taken up their CWTS 2 is associated to their knowledge of volunteerism. This might have been due to how students felt about the application of CWTS 1 concepts into their CWTS 2 classes, and on the activities they have carried out while taking the second installment of the course.
Life skills gained related to Volunteerism
For practices of volunteerism, respondents were asked if there were any activities in their CWTS courses that they consider as acts of volunteerism and 609 (80%) respondents said yes. Among those who answered yes, 583 (96%) gave examples of these acts of volunteerism. The answers were grouped by the researchers into eight categories: teaching, community service, outreach, skills development, advocacy, rescue, donation, and construction. Among these categories, “teaching” had the highest turnout with 150 (25.7%) respondents citing this answer. The next two highest are community service and outreach with 17.7% and 16.3%, respectively. Likewise, concerning actual practices of volunteerism, the focus group discussion participants believe CWTS 2 is generally a practical application of the concepts they have learned in CWTS 1. Most of them cited the activities they have done which include social work, immersion in the community, helping cancer patients, participating in Gawad Kalinga, rappelling, lifesaving, camping and teaching kids. Some also recalled the values they learned such as teamwork, camaraderie, nationalism, service and appreciation of the arts.
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Attitude toward CWTS
Attitude towards CWTS was measured in terms of their enjoyment of the course, perceived relevance, level of difficulty, nature of the course, and load of work involved. The researchers used Osgood Semantic Differential Scale in order to measure this attitude. 900 800 700 600 500
0
235
162 198
208 268
294 312 218
173
200 100
188 182
400 300
70
90 209
153 111 68
negative
64 47
semi‐negative
125
110
56
52
neutral
semi ‐positive
174 66
positive
Figure 9. Individual Item Graph for Osgood Semantic Differential Scale Items
CWTS was found out to be generally fun for more than half of the respondents. 221 respondents (28.7%) claimed that CWTS was fun while 220 (28.6%) said it was ‘semi-fun.’ CWTS was neither boring nor fun for 173 respondents (22.5%). CWTS being fun was concretely illustrated by the focus group discussion participants. To them, the fun part was the activities such as teaching kids, rappelling, community outreach, first aid, and camping.
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Also in the focus group discussions conducted, the informants were asked to rate, in a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest possible score, their enjoyment while taking their CWTS courses. 23 informants all in all were present in the three FGDs. Of this number, five took their CWTS in Economics, four in Engineering, four in CSSP, two each in CHE, CAL, FA and others, and 1 each in NCPAG and Music. The average rating provided by the informants was 7.73 points for enjoyment. Reasons cited by the informants include: camaraderie among CWTS classmates, sense of fulfillment and fun activities. Nonetheless, there were also students who did not find CWTS as a fun course. Most of the informants who rated CWTS enjoyment low attributed their negative attitude toward their CWTS course as being boring. They were not able to enjoy the course due to the fact that CWTS is simply another required course for them. Citing one informant, hindi siya talaga super fun na activity, di katulad sa org, required kasi siya eh kaya namin siya pinagtiyagaang tapusin. -Maria, 4 th year, BA Linguistics
Their negative experiences while taking CWTS also accounted for their low rating of CWTS in terms of enjoyment of the course. External factors to CWTS can also inhibit this. Ayun parang yung sa CWTS 2, ikaw personally, gusto mong makatulong sa kanila, di ba, gusto mo magturo, kaso minsan parang kalaban mo rin yung pasensya mo kasi sobrang gugulo nung mga bata na hindi mo sila makontrol – Maricar, 3 rd year, BS Econ
Due to the fact that CWTS activities are less classroom-based, the respondents also said that the course is generally more interesting than it is dull, aside from being fun and enjoyable. Students who responded with interesting and ‘semi-interesting’
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accounted for almost 52% of the total respondents; while a mere 21% said it was ‘semidull’ and dull. Also, as CWTS activities are more physical than mental, it was evaluated to be neither difficult nor easy for the majority of the respondents. 312 respondents (40.8%) expressed neutral feelings, while 177 (23.1%) respondents said that it was ‘semi-easy’ and 130 respondents (17%) said that it was ‘semi-difficult.’ Moreover, CWTS was an easy course for 86 respondents (11.2%) while it was difficult for 60 respondents (7.8%). Respondents of the survey said that CWTS neither relaxed nor stressed them since the course did not require much from the students, aside from their attendance and participation in the activities. 294 (38.4%) respondents agreed with this. When the respondents were asked if CWTS was relevant in their lives, they saw it as a generally relevant program, with 65% leaning towards the positive adjectives, which are relevant and ‘semi-relevant’. It is also important to note that among all the adjectives provided in the Osgood Semantic Differential Scale, the students displayed the most positive attitude towards the relevance of the course. Each of the categories for the attitudinal component was given score values, the sum of which measures the respondents’ level of affirmation to CWTS, or otherwise. The following sum values correspond to the following attitude toward CWTS: -10 to-6: -5 to-1: 0: 1 to 5: 6 to 10:
very negative attitude negative attitude neutral attitude positive attitude very positive attitude
Respondents with a generally positive attitude toward CWTS comprise 46.8% of the total respondents. With scores ranging from 6 to 10, indicating a very positive attitude toward CWTS, are 151 (19.6%) respondents. Expressing cynicism by holding
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negative and very negative attitude toward CWTS respectively are 18.7% and 3.1% of the respondents. Knowing the attitudes of the respondents towards CWTS as a course, their selfrating was looked into next. CWTS being generally fun, easy and interesting, the respondents rated themselves high in terms of performance in this course.
Grade
Frequency
1
576
2
168
3
17
4
4
5
2
Table 1. Frequency Distribution of Students According to their CWTS 1 Course Self-Rating
Grade
Frequency
1
595
2
150
3
17
4
2
5
3
Table 2. Frequency Distribution of Students According to their CWTS 2 Course Self-Rating
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Using the U.P. grading system, 75.1% of the respondents gave themselves a grade of 1, which is the highest rating, for their performance in CWTS 1. Consequently, 77.6% of the respondents gave themselves the same grade for their performance in CWTS 2.
III. Students’ Evaluation of the Course Respondents were asked to evaluate their CWTS program using a set of items adapted from Students' Evaluation of Teachers (SET).
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Figure 10. Individual Item Graph for Students’ Evaluation of CWTS
Majority of the respondents are in agreement that CWTS helped them develop a greater sense of responsibility. Few respondents (11.9 %) disagreed with the statement.
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When respondents were asked if they have worked more conscientiously in their CWTS course than most of their other courses, the number of respondents who agreed and disagreed were almost equal. This was observed from respondents who have taken their CWTS at Music, CSSP, NCPAG and CSWCD. Majority of the CWTS takers of Stat, COE, CAL, CHE, MBB and CMC agreed that they have worked more diligently in CWTS compared to other subjects, while those of CFA, EDUC, SOE and Physics claimed otherwise. This experience might be explained by and reflected in the goals and course syllabi set for each college or department implementing the program. An attempt was made by the researchers to obtain course syllabi of different colleges offering CWTS, however, due to unavailability of the said documents, the researchers were not able to look into and enrich inquiry on how various colleges implement CWTS based on the University objectives. Moreover, when asked if CWTS would be worthwhile taking even if not required, close to 80% of the students agreed. With regard to satisfaction about the way their CWTS course was handled, around 75% of the respondents expressed satisfaction; close to 25% felt unsatisfied. Part of a handling of a course is its pace. When asked to gauge the overall pace of the course, 85% of the respondents said that their CWTS courses were taught neither too fast nor too slow, which means that they did not have to catch up on lessons, nor be tired of having the same lessons over and over. As to the statement 'CWTS stimulates me to think creatively,' 26.1% of the respondents strongly agreed and 51.6% agreed. Those who disagreed and strongly disagreed comprised only 18.3% and 3.8% of the respondents respectively. CWTS was also believed to have developed critical thinking for 50.5% of the respondents, and strongly for 24 %.
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Lastly, respondents generally supported the notion that CWTS was designed to benefit members of the community and other beneficiaries. 56.5% of the respondents agreed in the said statement. Also central to the evaluation of CWTS as a course was the extent to which it has imparted knowledge to students. As the University affords the students freedom to choose where to take CWTS, there are more students, 510 (66.2%), who took theirs at their home college. The rest of the respondents took a CWTS course housed outside their college. Students who took CWTS in another college said they gained new knowledge while experiencing that college’s thrust and specialization as reflected in CWTS; 57.9% agreed to the latter and likewise, 78.5% said they gained new knowledge from the course. Passing of knowledge also extends to enlightening students of other career paths and options. As a course, CWTS was also able to influence career exploration for most of the CWTS takers who took the course outside their home college. Generally, the concepts the respondents have recalled from their CWTS courses after a year or two are the following: the activities they have done, lessons tackled, and the three key dimensions set by the University. For CWTS 1, 193 respondents (26.3%) listed down the activities they did, 189 (25.8%) recalled the lessons, and 93 (12.7%) thought of the key dimensions. A very similar occurrence can be observed for CWTS 2 where the same concepts were recalled in the same order; 36.7% identified the activities, 23.4% named the lessons, and 8.2% associated it with the key dimensions. In consideration of all the findings mentioned, six hundred seven (79.7%) of the total 770 respondents said that they will recommend the CWTS course they have taken up to other students. Although majority of the respondents said that they would recommend the CWTS courses they have taken up to other students, informants add that the handling of the
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course still needs improvement. In one of the focus group discussions, one student suggested that CWTS 2 should have a “design” just like CWTS 1. She said: halimbawa sa ganitong school, sustained na every year meron kang CWTS students na magtuturo diyan dun sa same group of people para yung effect sa kanila di lang dun sa isang sem o sa ilang araw na pagpunta ninyo dun sa students, bale long-term talga siya.-Maria,4 th year, BA Linguistics
VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
The highlights of the study are as follows: 1. UP Diliman students across all colleges generally have broad knowledge of citizenship based on their scores on a standardized test of citizenship. 2. Students’ most common understanding of volunteerism include those of taking initiative, act of doing good without reward, and unconditional service. 3. CWTS activities cited as acts of volunteerism mostly involve teaching, community service, and outreach programs. 4. As a course, CWTS was evaluated to be relevant, fun and interesting. However, students were non-committal in assessing its level of difficulty and work load. 5. Taking CWTS outside home college afforded students new knowledge. Moreover, students observed that the specialization of the college was incorporated into the manner CWTS was taught to them. Lastly, CWTS courses have influenced the students to explore other career paths.
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Conclusion
University of the Philippines Diliman developed the three key dimensions of CWTS namely citizenship, volunteerism, and career exploration and development as a general framework for colleges to implement CWTS. The orientation of students’ learning appears to be geared toward the practical aspects of the program such as teaching and community service. Learning outcomes on the conceptual aspect of the three key dimensions, however, are less evident. Overall, the researchers find that CWTS implementation in the University has been good. It’s been satisfactory. Not really great. Nonetheless, CWTS appears too have promoted and enriched students’ knowledge on citizenship and volunteerism. It encouraged more acts of volunteerism. It facilitated exploration of other career paths. Hence, CWTS earned a positive evaluation as being relevant to the students and beneficial to the community.
Recommendation
Methodological
A more comprehensive evaluation of the Civil Welfare Training Service, or any other NSTP unit on the whole, shall include document analyses of the curricula of the different colleges or units offering the course. Apart from obtaining how the learning goals are being implemented and operationalized based on the University’s three key dimensions, this will also allow comparisons of the learning goals and learning outcomes each unit intends to bring about. An even more extensive evaluation involving the program per se can be accomplished through focus group discussions with the implementers of CWTS for every college. 42
For future related studies, the concept of volunteerism should not have only been measured by its definition, but also through probing into the feelings of the respondents while doing their supposed activities of volunteerism. More items in the course assessment embodied in the Osgood Semantic Differential scale of the instrument of this study is suggested to yield better results and evaluation of the course. As this evaluative study focused solely on the students’ perspective of the goals and activities in CWTS, future evaluation of the program shall also examine the impact of CWTS in the communities.
Practical
As a national program mandated by law, it is imperative to have an evaluation of the program each semester, at least in the University of the Philippines Diliman, which shall focus on the course per se to further enhance the implementation of the program, and to better incorporate and communicate the course’s learning objectives. This shall be accomplished by the students in an evaluation similar to the Students’ Evaluation of Teachers, more commonly known as SET. The lecture-part of the CWTS course (CWTS 1) is suggested to integrate more creative ways of presenting the three key dimensions set by the University. For CWTS 2, it is deemed beneficial to have more sustaining projects with particular communities and locales, and if possible, coordination with Local Government Units can make CWTS and the outreach programs therewith more relevant to both the students and the communities. Furthermore, it is crucial to have the professors and instructors of the CWTS courses to at least be briefed, trained and informed in a faculty convention which shall involve discussions of CWTS implementation in universities, colleges and other units.
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