Instructional Design Process

The model at the center of my ID process is the AGILE model. The AGILE model is a newer approach to design that originally came from the software development field. Its utility has inspired other fields to pursue this framework. AGILE stands for align”, “get set”, “iterate and implement”, “leverage”, and “evaluate.” This model is founded on collaboration, feedback, and rapid iteration. Cross collaboration between AGILE teams allow for quick changes and improvements. As suchm course development is faster without letting go of quality (Instructional Design Models, n.d.). I used this model to adapt to the rapid changes in implementation I experienced with COMCARE. The AGILE models helped me adjust to the process. pace, and time limites of COMCARE in order to produce usable instructional products. To better display my AGILE instructional design process, I used the ADDIE flow which shows the cycles I went through for each type of instructional material I designed.

Initially, I started this study as an Instructional Design Project since: talks with the COMCARE head described gaps in instructional practice; I was tasked by the gatekeeper to develop lesson slides; and I wanted to produce reusable instructional materials. I wanted to meet and assess the learners before making instructional materials but I did not have access to the learners for this. Additionally, instead of lessons and content being prepared well before the class, lessons and slides were only completed one to three days before. There was also a misunderstanding in the planning; the head told me that there would only be one lesson per week for the two-hour session but we later found out that there would be two one-hour lessons per session. I had to make my lesson slides quickly in order to still have them checked by Sister Todie. I produced two lesson slides based on her lesson plan, but the senior catechist Sister Susan made major revisions to both Sis Todie's plan and my presentations. In the early weeks, I also asked Sis Todie that I give out pre-tests on the basic prayers to her class, but she said there was not enough time. Around the third week of implementation, I was no longer given specific ID tasks despite reaching out. However, Sister Perry was more receptive to using my suggestions. To adapt to these developments, I shifted to an action-based research with Sis Perry's class as the main research sample.   

Throughout my ten weeks with COMCARE, I produced a plethora of outputs. In my first term of EDS 199, I produced ten (10) items for COMCARE. These outputs are three slide presentations, three lesson activities, three long assessments, and one remedial class design (See Attachment 1. Midprogress Report). After enrolling to continue my second term, I compiled and revised as necessary the most useful objects to make an Assessments Tool Kit with a manual, assessments, assessment data analysis sheets, sample sheets, a remedial class framework, a summary of my evaluation of COMCARE in SWOT analysis form, and ideas for COMCARE to consider for future implementations (See Attachment 2. Assessments Tool Kit). The action research culminated with my implementer's evaluation of the Assessments Tool Kit.

Lesson Presentations

Before my study formally started, I built rapport with my gatekeeper and head of COMCARE, Sister Gertrudes "Todie" Tengco, after the Parents' Orientation for First Communion. Our conversation gave me an idea of the needs of COMCARE in implementing First Communion Catechesis, I elaborated more on this in the results portion of this section. Briefly, COMCARE is responsible for all the faith formation activities in the parish. She told me that the classes prepare the children to properly receive First Communion. COMCARE wants the first communicants to understand the significance of communion and other basic knowledge about their faith. When I asked what are the common education problems they face in this catechesis, she said that mastery of the basic prayers were low and that last year, the Parish Priest scolded COMCARE about that. The head of COMCARE, Sister Todie, said that most of their learners are aged 10-12 but there are a few that are 15 and 16 years old. She shared that they aim for the learners to master the basic prayers, understand the importance of the mass (liturgy), and for the children to know their faith. These objectives became the basis for my research and things I kept in mind during the production of my lesson slides.

I was assigned to adapt the first two lessons (Lessons 1 and 2) into slide presentations. I added relevant pictures and text, only included the key parts, and added lesson assessments-- two formative and one summative (See Attachment 3. Lesson 1 Slides and Attachment 4. Lesson 2 Slides). The proposed activities sought to diversify the inquiry-based approach common in lecture lessons. I designed formative and informal tableau and identification activities, as well as a summative exit ticket. I was only assigned to adapt lessons into presentations again for Lesson 7 but I did not design additional activities for this (See Attachment 5. Lesson 7 Slides). As I said above, the presentation slides I made had zero to limited use due to being majorly revised, or in the case of the activities, unused due to time constraints.

Further, the Tableau reflects Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory which posits that cognitive development is affected by cultural and social factors. People learn through social interaction with more knowledgeable others, such as teachers or peers. It favors a more student-centered approach, where knowledge is co-constructed through dialogue (McLeod, 2025b). COMCARE practices somewhat align with this as learners are often asked by the catechists questions about life situations and the Word of God.

The activities/assessments also reflected my desire to include diagnostic, formative, and summative tests.  A strong religious understanding of the faith is essential for Catholics. In the field of religious education, assessment is an important tool in supporting catechists as it supplies an overall look of what learners know and comprehend about their Catholicism and where catechesis can support them (Johnston, 2023). Diagnostic assessments help determine prior knowledge, formative assessments help monitor performance and support growth, and summative assessments evaluate learner performance at the end of a set period (NIUCITL, 2012, Brown, 2020; Johnston, 2023;  Sir Jay’s Academy, 2021). 

Pragmatically, I sought to design activities that were reusable and did not require the need to print materials. This was important for me to consider, especially since I felt finances were usually sparse for COMCARE. Personally, I love to learn when things are fun - when concepts are interesting and activites are engaging. Around 91% of students value learning and learning games can improve retention by 9%. Having fun while learning boosts productivity, resilience, and creativity. Additionally, it encourages attendance (Cloke, 2024). The tableau is formative and partially summative; the angel or devil activity is formative; and the exit ticket is both diagnostic and summative.

For the content, I only based my work on the lesson plan files Sister Todie gave to me. I was not given a role in determining content. In an iteration, Sister Susan made major changes to the lesson plan which led to my work being heavily edited before implementation. 

At this time, I also thought to create a way to determine learners' knowledge on the basic prayers. The design of this is elaborated in the Assessments section of this webpage.

L1&2 Evaluate: To evaluate my output, I asked Sister Todie and Sister Perry for feedback. For the implementation, I interviewed them as well as Sister Che and the learners. These are elaborated also in my Project Log (See Attachment 6.). Project Journal, and Results. 

The main catechists said that the activities I designed would have been good to include ("Maganda naman gawa mo.") but there was not enough time for them. Additionally, the lesson plans already had a lot of inquiry-based activities so these formal assessments were not a priority to them. Both teachers also saw the importance of assessment but only Sister Perry integrated these into her class and worked with me to develop more. 

Sister Todie shared frustration with the revised lesson plan and slides, due to how major the edits were -- to the point the lesson was totally different. She shared that she thinks the content is too complex for the learners' age level (I did not seek to test this anymore since I had limited content knowledge and the catechists mostly cited time as an issue, leading me to think they could not dedicate much time in helping development. To add, the organization head never formally introduced me to Sister Susan, the senior catechist and main content expert. I have heard from more than two catechists that Sister Susan is difficult to work with. I used my professional judgment to determine that it is is not a worthwhile option to include her input in the project).

Sister Che, Sister Perry's assistant catechist said she is impressed with how organized COMCARE classes are in serving the large number of first communicants. Her only suggestion was to improve classroom ventilation. She corroborated the information given by Sister Todie and Sister Perry regarding COMCARE goals and number of active members.

In interviews and informal check-ins, the learners did not have strong nor detailed opinions on the ID, IM, or implementation. They said that the could see the text and images, that the design was "okay" and that the teachers were "magaling" without elaborating on why. I realized that I have been taking an inductive approach in data analysis. Inductive data analysis is a type of qualitative data analysis wherein codes are emergent from the data itself rather than being predetermined (Vears & Gillam, 2022). 

I always looked forward to feedback. Constructive feedback is crucial to two-way communication. It is a strategy that aids colleagues learn and grow. Many studies have determined that the most efficient teams are those with appreciative communication (Stanciu, 2023). With each piece of feedback, I internalized it and tried to re-center how I design.

Assessments

I designed and administered various assessments with the help of my implementer throughout the learning period. For the first week, my implementer, Sister Perry tasked me to make a fill-in-the-blanks activity for the basic prayers. Eventually I thought to use it as a pretest-posttest to access more data on students' learning gains (See Attachment 6. Prayers Pretest-Posttest). This also saved much design time, allotting more for analysis. The Prayers Pre-test was given in the first session and returned checked by the second. In Week 3, we administered a Learning Style Questionnaire adopted from the University of California which identified whether the students were majority visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners (See Attachment 7. Learning Style Questionnaire).  By Week 11, I completed Table of Specifications based on the ten lessons implemented (See Attachment 8. Table of Specifications).  It became the foundation for the design of a Long Test covering four different cognitive levels (See Attachment 9. Long Test).  In the same week, we administered the Prayers Post-test (See Attachment 6. Prayers Pretest-Posttest). 

Proposed Remedial Class

The remedial class lessons were based on a comprehensive analysis of the First Communicants' Long Test data. I developed the slides and activities based on the theories described in the Theoretical Underpinnings section of this portfolio. I condensed and carefully selected the content; I also based my inclusions on what Sister Perry chose to focus on during her lessons (See Attachment 10. Remedial Class Slides and Attachment 11. Remedial Class Demonstration).

Assessments Tool Kit (See  Attachment 2. Assessments Tool Kit)

The assessment tool kit was completed after analyzing the data gathered throughout the action research. It was pursued due to being context-bound, reusable, and scalable. It includes several tools that COMCARE may employ in First Communion catechesis such as a revised versions of the assessments used in the study (i.e. Learning Style Questionnaire, Prayers Pretest-Posttest, and Long Test) and sheet templates and samples. Crucial to this is the inclusion of an Assessments Tool Kit manual which explains a short background of the study, important results, and how to use the materials in the kit. It also supplies the catechists with additional ideas to consider given the researcher's in-depth observations. Conversational language based in pedagogical thoughtfulness was employed to ensure the users of the kits, regardless of education expertise, understand the concepts employed. The lesson presentations were not included in this kit (See Attachment 2. Assessments Tool Kit).

ATK Analyze: The Assessment Tool Kit was developed in response to the culmination of the COMCARE catechesis. A series of mini to macro instructional problems were identified but I chose the problems I could best aid in as a BES graduate: the lack of diagnostic and summative assessments to know the learning preferences, prior knowledge, and acquired knowledge of the First Communicants and the shortfalls of unstructured remedial sessions.

ATK Design: The ATK includes actionable recommendations  and reusable, editable materials guided by an instructional designer’s perspective. It contains the Assessments Manual, Assessment 1: LSQ, Assessment 2: Pre-test Posttest, Assessment 3: Long Test, a Table of Specifications (called Outline of Topics), assessment data analysis sheets, as well as a master file with all the relevant links.

In my opinion, the Assessments Manual is one the most crucial pieces to this kit. It is a dynamic PDF or slide show that explains how to use the kit. Within the manual are a summary of my study, the relevant findings, explanations to the assessments, the remedial class framework, supplemental learning materials, and several ideas for COMCARE to consider. This manual was created so that anyone with access to the kit can learn what to do with it by themselves. This is helpful for the catechists who often have to find their own time to complete their volunteer tasks.

This resource as well as the proposed Remedial Class Framework reflected situated learning since it is highly contextualized to COMCARE. Its focus on serving First Communion catechesis functions as a learning resource for the community of practice within the Catholic Church.

Kemp’s Instructional Design Model expands on ADDIE through nine stages that organize instructional design from problem analysis to evaluation. It was used as a design guide an for its clear guidance on pre-assessment, development, and evaluation of materials. (The Kemp Instructional Design Model: A Simple Summary, n.d.).  

By making this manual, I believed in heutagogy. With its center in self-directed learning and learner freedom  (Pedagogy, Andragogy, & Heutagogy, n.d.)., I hope to inspire the catechists to not only be teachers but teachers-learners.

The manual centers on how assessments are tools that collect data on teaching and learning. They inform instruction and track performance -- identifying gaps, personalizing learning, and evaluating progress. Particularly in religious education, assessment can support catechists by revealing learners’ understanding of the faith and informing instruction. Reporting shares results with stakeholders to support planning and accountability (Johnston, 2023; NIUCITL, 2012; Brown, 2020; Sir Jay’s Academy, 2021; Summative Assessment and Feedback, n.d.).

The remedial class framework is built on the concept of remedial teaching. Remedial teaching targets learners who need extra support to meet competency standards through adjusted methods, multisensory strategies, and continuous feedback. Studies show it improves achievement and learner satisfaction (Ratnayanti, Hasbi, & St. Marwiyah, 2021; Somani, 2023; Rai & Penjor, 2020). Aside from this relating to my demonstration, the remedial framework helps formalize and target learner weaknesses. 

Finally, pedagogical thoughtfulness uses relatable, reflective writing that prompts meaningful insight (Taylor & Medina, 2013). It was applied to the Assessment Tool Kit to connect with practitioners rooted in Catholic education.

Assessments 1 to 3 (LSQ, PPP, LT) are revised versions of the originally implemented tools. The new LSQ has clear instructions and has content in both Filipino and English while the PPP was numbered and redesigned so both the Filipino and English exams had 31 items. As for the sample LT, confusing questions were rewritten to be clearer and some choices were made less similar so learners can infer the correct answer.

The Outline of Topics is a Table of Specifications template, but renamed to be more understandable by the layman. It has pre-set formulas embedded to help the teachers analyze their data. Similarly, a master Assessment Data sheet is available with ready calculations and formatting for all the tests. Samples of the sheets are also provided to help further guide the potential user.

ATK Develop: The ATK itself is a Google Drive link hosted on my personal account that contains editable files and a PDF version of the Assessment Manual 2025. The Assessment Manual was made on Canva. Meanwhile, the Assessments Manual was developed with Dual Coding Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and pedagogical thoughtfulness. Pictures were added for more retention and pedagogical thoughtfulness was reflected especially in how findings were presented as a SWOT analysis. To reduce cognitive load, I sought to only include the most crucial part in each explaining slide.

ATK Implement: The kit was submitted to Sister Perry for evaluation.

ATK Evaluation:  My implementer said that my work was "maganda", particularly noting how orgaized it was. However, some title texts for the remedial class slides were not viewable on Microsoft Power Point; Sis Perry suggested to change the font color of such. Below is a table summarizing my evaluation scores.

I got a total of 105/110 points. My tool kit got the highest scores in Organization and Presentation while got the lowest in Content Information. Sis Perry was neutral regarding how the kit "Make[s] connection with prior knowledge" and "Encourage[s] self-regulation, application of metacognitive skills, and personal responsibility." 

Assessments Tool Kit Version 2.0

Assessments Tool Kit Version 2.0 is similar to the original resource made with general use in mind. Instead of focusing solely on the COMCARE branch of San Antonio de Padua Parish (SADPP), this tool kit seeks is designed for general use in religious education. Learning settings that may use this include other COMCARE branches and Catholic schools. 

ATK v2 ADDIE: Version 2 was developed after receiving a recommendation for a general kit by my thesis adviser, Sir Ley Gripal. This second version has minor edits, including shortening the introduction and rewording some slides. It has been posted on this e-portfolio and has not been evaluated by a third party. While the context of COMCARE is highly specialized, the provision of a general tool kit allows for catechists to grow their lacking set of religious educational materials. As such, accessibility to faith-based education increases, helping meet the demand for catechetical instructional materials failed by current supply Alvarez (n.d.).

Design Plan Departures

I experienced several departures in my design plan. A few days after I completed the presentations assigned to me, I was informed by the Sister Todie that one of the senior catechists changed almost everything -- in the lesson plan and in my designed slides. My proposed activities were also not used due to  time limitations.

Near the start of the program, I sought to design more measurable objectives for the lessons but realized that catechesis cannot solely rely on cognitive outcomes since it is based  on faith and values, concepts whose measurement is less straight-forward. I became someone working around COMCARE instead of with them because I only worked with two catechists rather than the institution itself.

For a few weeks, I was not given other tasks where I can assist. By Week 4 Lesson 7, I was again requested by Sister Todie to design slides. This time, I did not make activities anymore since they would most likely end up not being used. Again, the senior catechist made major revisions to the lesson plan and my output so the implemented design across the sessions was not mine. However, Sister Todie still used my design in her class as she thought the revised version was too complex. 

I focused only on Sister Perry's class a third of the way into implementation since Sister Todie did not employ my learner assessment tools due to time constraints. I chose to shift from an instructional design project to action research since most of the materials I produced were either heavily edited or left unused.

I became someone working around COMCARE instead of with them because I only worked with two catechists rather than the institution itself. I shifted to action research due to my multiple roles and personal involvement with Sister Perry.

Significant Insights

I learned that from March to May 2025, classroom observations and interviews with COMCARE highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement. The learners were most engaged through videos, storytelling, drawing, group work, and writing activities. Pretests and clear objectives were effective for guiding lessons and helped learners understand what is lacking in their knowhow. Teamwork among catechists helped manage large classes. During implementation, the challenges included misalignment between objectives and activities, classroom discipline, time management, overly abstract content, and varied student motivation.

From this, I realized that engaging activities must be balanced with content, assessments and materials can be simplified, house rules must be enforced to promote discipline, the slides designed could be aligned more with multimedia principles, and that catechists must have more time and be given more support to prepare. 

Notably, catechesis in the Parish sits between informal and formal learning and closely resembles community education, making it a very unique learning setting. Instructional design involves many uncontrollable and intersecting factors such as teacher motivation, environment, and resources. Even within the same organization, catechists have diverse approaches to teaching -- making it complicated to design a flow that balances goals and instructional freedom. 

From the assessments, specifically the LSQ, I got to understand better how learning styles are a myth, but learner habits and preferences can still provide value in the kinds of materials teachers host. In addition,  assessments need pre-planned time allocations to avoid consuming lesson delivery time. They are extremely useful toold but difficult to analyze without educational training. Authority figures such as the catechists hold stronger influence over learner engagement than instructional designers, so it is crucial that we collaborate. I realized a weakness of mine throughout the project is that I could have had a closer working relationship with COMCARE. Although, I understand that it is a two-way street. 

“There is also an assumption that learning objects can be developed independently from tutors but can be generated by developers which would be problematic.” (Mayes & de Freitas, 2004, p.30)

Further, the roles of both instructional designers and teaching assistants is crucial in nuanced instructional settings: designers ensure that ID is quality and assistants provide support for more administrative tasks. While I did my best, I acknowledge that my proposed assessments toolkit may be underutilized if catechists do not value or understand the framework.

During the study, I found that using the AGILE instructional design model and principles from constructivism, behaviorism, and cognitive load theory aid in making instruction more effective, contextualized, and learner-centered.

On a personal level, the biggest takeaway I earned was the balance between humility and self-confidence. During my research, all the difficulties and things out of my control severely humbled me. I felt much frustration from the things that were out of my hands, and because of my limited support I could not assert the specialized knowledge I had. However, I rose above the difficulties, became flexible with the situation, and made the most out of it. I survived this ordeal and became more confident in my abilities as an instructional designer. By the end of this project, I gained the confidence to pursue instructional design and education as a career (See Project Journal).

Roadblocks Faced

The biggest roadblock I faced was the limited cooperation, limited time, and initial misunderstanding I had with the partner organization. I reached a formal agreement with the project gatekeeper regarding my partnership with them. However, instead of me working with the whole organization of COMCARE as an instructional designer, it felt more like I was working with only two of its members and I was seen more as a "volunteer" and as the child of one of the members. It was very frustrating since I had limited options and power. COMCARE was already the third organization I approached for EDS 199 and I did not want to waste my opportunity to graduate on time. I was misunderstood as the project gatekeeper immediately told me to design slide presentations for their first two lessons when I had not yet assessed the learners. I was hoping to first observe their own classes and materials before I produced something for them. However, I was committed to help them and saw it as me meeting the client's needs. Relatedly, time was a big hurdle. The First Communion catechesis only happens once a year and I did not want to be delayed. Instead of just observing for the first two weeks, I simultaneously assessed and designed for them.

Another plot twist happened when I found out that the head catechist majorly revised three of three of the outputs I worked on for Sister Todie. Due to this, I again had to rethink my research strategy and whether I was doing a research project or instructional design project for COMCARE. The sudden changes discouraged me. I felt disappointed, overwhelmed, and determined in the first month due to misaligned expectations at the time. My lack of formal integration into the organization limited my power and influence, pushing me to work most closely with Sister Perry.

Aside from the bigger issues, other minor problems occurred. The remedial class I proposed was not required by COMCARE, so only two learners attended. I felt discouraged by this but did my best to assist Sister Perry in tutoring the learners we had.  The catechist's ease in teaching the small class was the silver lining from the low turnout. Relatedly, I was unable to validate the long test items as a non–content expert and I was not able to get feedback before giving the assessment. Learners could move between classes depending on availability, which complicated instructional planning. Additionally, I recycled the pre-test sheets too early and couldn't review spelling errors like I did for the post-test.

I also found the uniqueness of catechesis to be a challenge. We did not have a course in BES focused solely on religious education despite having one on the Islamic system. It was a whole new field for me to learn and fit my mindset to. During the research, I had to build a scaffold of my understanding of catechism in order to best serve the learners and teachers under COMCARE. I dedicated much time to observing, talking to the stakeholders, and researching books and online references in order to achieve this. There were many unexpected events made implementation stressful and difficult to manage including the scope that this project covered at the end. Time, money, teacher expertise, student motivation, and organizational factors out of my control also made implementation and analysis more challenging.

Despite my many frustrations, I kept professional and calm. I focused on  what I could control and communicated with who would listen. I paced myself well and  adapted to my environment. I still completed my assigned tasks while also aligning them with the requirements of EDS 199. I listened to the advice of Sister Perry, my mother, who helped me navigate the complexities I faced  (See Project Journal).

Reflections on Materials 

Reflections on Lesson Presentations

I dedicate a portion of this Main Narrative to delve into my more personal, professional, and practical insights. First of all, I am glad I found the AGILE ID model. I had not been exposed (or perhaps I just do not remember being exposed) to this model during my BES formal education. The kind of rapid development I saw in COMCARE was very different to what I usually encountered - that being basic education, higher education, and workplace training. Catechesis held in the Parish was kind of a mix of informal and formal learning, not as open-ended as a Bible study nor as formal as a Christian Living subject. There was a lot of nuance to its implementation, I felt it was most related to community education. As such, many changes kept happening as it was very structured yet very fluid at the same time.

I. had. such. a. difficult. time.😆I can summarize the three feelings I had for the first month working with COMCARE -- disappointed, overwhelmed, and determined. I felt disappointed as I became someone working AROUND them instead of WITH them because I was only working with two catechists, not really the institution of COMCARE... the latter being what I thought I was signing up for. Due to my lack of a formal integration, I had only limited power. Additionally, when the senior catechist changed my outputs outright, I felt like COMCARE's end of the partnership was not being met. I felt very sad about that for quite a while. I was worried that I would not be able to produce something for my EDS 199.

I was very overwhelmed by the reality of instructional design. I learned so many things in my first few weeks with COMCARE. A lot of unexpected things happened. So many things were out of my control. For starters: teachers' education philosophy, learners' motivation, teachers' motivation, teachers' expertise, others' time, organization money, learning environment, content, learning objectives and many more.  To add, I learned from BES that these are things that I must consider in instructional design... it was very difficult to adjust to the cacophony of factors. It was much harder than I thought. I wanted to make an impact, a real impact on COMCARE, so practical considerations were at the forefront for me. 

Since I have a personal connection to Sister Perry, my mother, she acquired my help not only as an instructional designer but also as an assistant in class. I took on multiple roles in the study as such, so I believe my shift to action research was smart; I did not want to waste the valuable data and experiences I had collected.

On top of that, I had to ensure that my design choices were based on pedagogic soundness. Throughout the project, I had this sense that relevant theories were on the tip of my tongue. Ideas such as learner-centeredness and the application of assessments really stuck with me while other times the minutiae of Vygotsky and community learning had to be reviewed. So it was overall an extremely stressful yet equally educational experience.

I did the work, with vigor, because I was (and still am) very, very, very determined to graduate on time.

Another thing that surprised me about the ID process was the diversity. Even among catechists from the same organization, there sometimes is no consensus on the correct approach to teach the Word of God. Yes, there is a general structure but the presentation, delivery, and priorities differ vastly.  

Just to add one thing, I was challenged by the fact that learners could move classes depending on their availability. This allowed for more learner freedom but introduces complications on the educational research side. 

Reflections on Assessments

Looking back on all the assessments I provided, I believe overall I did a good job.

For the LSQ, I realized that the questionnaire should be in Filipino. I realized that my Filipino skills are still lacking, and that I need to work on that so I can connect better with my learning settings. Around the time of the LSQ implementation, I also realized that learners really respect teachers' authority. When I would explain something to them, many would not be paying much attention to what I am saying. On the other hand, Sister Perry brought an authoritative air when she communicates with her class. This showed me that it is important to collaborate with authority figures to ensure learners are engaged.

I learned, and now agree, that learning styles are a myth. Still, I believe habits and preferences are useful to know what learners like. As I see it, collecting this data can help us connect with our students more. However, in the future, I will focus more on exploring study habits over learning styles. 

At a practical level, I learned that it is good to set aside one dedicates session, or around 30 minutes of extra time, for learner assessments. With pre-planned time allocation, catechists do not need to sacrifice their lesson delivery time. I found that the assessments are so useful but quite hard to analyze. While I find the data analysis to be both fun and challenging, catechists - especially those without an education background - would most probably struggle with the processing of test scores. Because of this, I saw that the catechists of COMCARE really need help and that the role of an instructional designer and teaching assistants are extremely important, given how nuanced quality implementation can be. Near the end of the study, I realized I got rid of the Pre-test sheets too quickly. It is better to kept them until the end of the project in case unexpected insights. Since I recycled the tests around a week after processing them, I could not review the spelling errors the learners' had from the start of the classes.

I found the long test difficult to make. I am not a content expert so at the back of my mind, I was wondering if I was including items that were not essential. Its hard for me to say the validity of the assessment since I was not given feedback on its content aside from how it was too long (I personally do not agree). Although, some of my worry was managed with the structure the TOS offered.

I also think that perhaps what I made might be difficult to replicate in future iterations for COMCARE members. In this case, I would occasionally volunteer my service as an adviser and train the teachers if needed.

Other small learnings I had were to always do a general double-check my ID and to remind learners to put their name on their exams.

Reflections on Proposed Remedial Class

I was afraid no one would show up for the remedial class, a demonstration part of my requirements, so I am extremely grateful for the small class. Since the actual execution was small, I am curious to see impact on bigger class -- especially for the collaborative roleplay. Part of me feels that it would be better that the class be required, I felt I needed more organizational support. In my research, I learned that remedial classes are mostly only for struggling students; but since there was low mastery overall I think I still had good judgment in designing the class to be catered to students in general.

Reflections on Assessments Tool Kit

I am very proud of my Assessments Tool Kit. It saves time, is extremely useful, and is well-organized. However, like I mentioned in my reflections on assessments, the catechists might still struggle to use their assessment data despite being given the tools to do so. Additionally, there is always a possibility that COMCARE not see the value of the assessments and framework provided despite my careful defense of it. Still, the kit is an option made available to them for employ in the name of providing quality religious education.

Self-Evaluation

Performance and outputs

I believe I did very well in my performance and outputs. I dealt with the challenging cards I was handed and ended up producing a comprehensive, cohesive, and organized toolkit that meets learners' needs, aligns with the creed of COMCARE, and can be reused by similar religious education organizations (See Attachment 2. Assessments Tool Kit).

I think I did a good job with the assessments overall. I am proud of the Assessments Tool Kit — it is useful, organized, and time-saving. The remedial class, though small, was successfully conducted. Despite stress, I produced outputs with vigor and determination. As such, I assert that my work meets practical needs and supports COMCARE’s goals.

Assumptions and beliefs 

From the get-go, I wanted to make a real impact, so I prioritized practicality. I felt multiple times that I had to step up my Filipino skills to better connect with learners. I agree now that learning styles are a myth but still see value in knowing learner habits. In implementation, I believe that assessments should be scheduled intentionally, not squeezed in; however, I recognize that the catechists may struggle with using data even when tools and a manual are provided. Additionally, I really believe my long test was not actually too long, despite feedback.

Going into the project, I held a bias towards using Bloom's Taxonomy for cognitive development in creating SMART objectives. I wanted to focus on measurable outcomes in order to have an evidence-based and rational  purpose towards the content and learning activities. However, in faith-based communication, the learning goals align more with Catholic values -- making elements of the lessons more affective than cognitive. To overcome my bias, I read more about catechesis and took the time to understand the context I was in more closely.

Aside from my limited perspective on objectives, I believe for the most part I kept an open mind regarding my perceptions on education and education research. My attitude going in was to understand what was going on without assumptions. Admittedly, when it came to the power dynamics of teacher and instructional designer, I was hoping to be taken more seriously by the partner locale. Once this did not materialize, I focused instead on working more closely with Sister Perry who not only acted as my implementer but also as my subject matter expert and mentor.

Plans and future actions 

There were improvements that I could do to my implementation. For this, I am determined to improve my Filipino communication skills to better serve learners. I will focus more on study habits rather than learning styles in future assessments. For data analysis, I will maintain test sheets longer to allow for end-of-project review. I can double-check instructional designs and remind learners to write their names on exams. Another interesting thing to check is the impact of collaborative activities on larger class sizes. I may also occasionally volunteer as an adviser or trainer for catechists using the toolkit.

As I move on to my professional career (hopefully as an instructional designer), I aim to: read more education research; improve my time management; communicate better; and be more confident in my abilities. 

I can achieve this by archiving and reviewing my past BES works; practice scheduling prioritizing, and time blocking; reading about how to assert my ideas politely in a work setting; and do the things I love to help me build my self-esteem and self-love.