In a significant step towards revolutionizing science education, Sorsogon State University (SorSU) successfully turned over its pioneering research project, GAME: Capacity Building and Utilization of Game-Based Activities as Teaching Pedagogy in Science Education, headed by its Project Leader, Mr. Nestor L. Lasala Jr. (SorSU CoTEdM faculty member) to Sorsogon National High School (SNHS), led by Dr. Michael M. Uy (SNHS Principal), with Mrs. Cynthia Jardiolin (Head, SNHS-Science Department) and Dr. Joy Guarin (Master Teacher II in Science) last May 08, 2023, with the aim to enhance the learning experience of students through interactive and engaging game-based activities.
Conceptualized and developed to address the need for a more dynamic and effective way of teaching science subjects, Mr. Nestor L. Lasala Jr. expressed his enthusiasm for the potential impact of GAME in science education, “𝘎𝘈𝘔𝘌 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴; 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
During the turnover ceremony, Mr. Lasala Jr. provided a brief orientation for the teachers who will be the first to integrate the game-based activities into their lessons, which consisted of the mechanics, rules, and other elements of the games to ensure a smooth and effective implementation in the classroom. He emphasized the importance of making learning enjoyable and interactive for the students.
“𝘉𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺.”
As per the agreed plan, the games will be initially utilized in remedial classes for students who encountered challenges in Science 7. Additionally, they will serve as review material for other learners to reinforce their understanding of the subject matter.
With SNHS as the first partner school in this endeavor, Dr. Michael M. Uy (SNHS Principal) conveyed his excitement for the use of GBAs, which is part of the extension project of SorSU, and the potential impact of GAME on their students’ learning journey.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘎𝘈𝘔𝘌 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
The project’s initial phase covers four competencies in the Ecosystem topics for Grade 7 Science. Nonetheless, both SorSU and SNHS are committed to expanding the project to include various fields in sciences such as Physics, Chemistry, and Integrated Science in the future. As part of the long-term plans, a series of capacity-building workshops will be organized for science teachers. Mrs. Cynthia Jardiolin (Head, SNHS-Science Department) expressed her vision for the workshops, “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘈𝘔𝘌 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘣𝘴.”
With the successful turnover ceremony and orientation, the partnership between SorSU and SNHS marks the beginning of a promising journey toward transforming science education in Sorsogon. The event concluded on a hopeful note, with educators looking forward to embracing this innovative approach to teaching, one that promises to make science education an enjoyable and meaningful experience for students. As GAME continues to evolve, it is expected to reshape the landscape of science education in the region and potentially beyond. Together with this groundbreaking initiative are Dr. Jhonner D. Ricafort (Vice President for Academic Affairs) and Mr. Jonel B. Prado (Program Chair, BS Information Technology-Bulan Campus), who are among the developers in the production of the game-based activities. (NLLJr)
