ARTS 1 SYNTHESIS

The UP System GE Conference 2021 kicked off with the ARTS 1 GE Conversations on 26 April 2021 (Monday) from 8:30-10 AM via Zoom. The panelists were Asst. Prof. Mars Edwenson T. Briones from UP Tacloban, Assoc. Prof. Shane L. Carreon from UP Cebu, Assoc. Prof. Diego Maranan from UP Open University, and Mr. Jaime Oscar M. Salazar from UP Diliman. The session was moderated by Asst. Prof. Pierce S. Docena from UP Tacloban, with the assistance of Asst. Prof. Jessa A. Amarille also from UP Tacloban.

AVPAA Evangeline C. Amor formally opened the GE Conference through a short welcome remarks. This was followed by pre-recorded video presentations of the ARTS 1 panelists. Asst. Prof. Briones shared his experience of teaching ARTS 1 in the context of remote learning during the pandemic. Specifically, he reflected on the challenges of teaching ARTS 1 as a course that is broad in scope. Prof. Briones also shared some of the strategies he applied in his ARTS 1 classes such as carefully curating learning resources and requiring his students to remake paintings through photography with an accompanying essay that analyzed the creative process involved in reinterpreting the paintings. He ended his presentation by pointing out the relevance of ARTS 1 as a GE course that allows students to be curious and critical, or to have “a mind that answers questions, but more crucially, a mind that questions answers.”

For the second presentation, Assoc. Prof. Carreon also explained the relevance of ARTS 1 as a GE course, specifically pointing out how the course provides tools to students who may not be inclined to the arts. He also talked about several considerations in teaching ARTS 1 remotely such as balancing compassion and excellence, along with the need to factor in access and equity issues experienced by students. Prof. Carreon shared three key strategies—collaboration, expansive expressions, and going back to one’s roots—in teaching not only ARTS 1 but other courses as well. He concluded by saying that there is such a thing as a GE experience once students complete the course “with a richer sense of interconnection, sensing, and making art as a complex expression of beings and being-in-the-world.”

Drawing on his unique experiences as UPOU faculty, Assoc. Prof. Maranan’s presentation focused on teaching ARTS 1 online and at scale. Prof. Maranan talked about the challenge of teaching, managing, and providing consistent feedback to around 250 students at a time, supporting offshore students, keeping learners’ interest in the course, and encouraging academic integrity. He shared his experience of team teaching ARTS 1 in a way that leverages instructor competencies, designing an engaging learning management system (LMS), randomly selecting discussion forums for instructor marking, highlighting selected discussion forum posts by students, and incorporating peer and self-assessment using the LMS’s unique tools. Prof. Maranan also underscored the value of structuring learning and assessment around learner-learner and learner-content interactions and de-emphasizing learner-instructor interactions.

The final presentation by Mr. Jaime Oscar M. Salazar revolved around teaching ARTS 1 amidst the pandemic. As a member of the ARTS 1 Task Force of their department, he discussed important considerations in teaching ARTS 1 and shared several promising practices such as broadening their citational universe of texts, prospecting the richness of everyday life, endeavoring to accommodate students’ different situations and profiles, and cultivating open communication and collaboration among ARTS 1 faculty. He concluded by reflecting on the prevailing GE framework’s objectives and how these are related to the teaching and learning of ARTS 1 in these difficult times.

A lively open forum followed after the four pre-recorded video presentations, with questions about teaching practices and innovations especially in the remote learning context, opportunities and challenges in teaching ARTS 1, and the relevance of ARTS 1 and the GE program in the undergraduate curriculum. The four panelists had the opportunity to further reflect on their best practices of teaching ARTS 1, which remote teaching practices they planned to keep when face-to-face classes resume, and how to effectively use virtual synchronous sessions to maximize learning. Concerns about assessment of learning were also discussed, especially in light of the university’s shift to remote teaching and learning.

Finally, the panelists reflected on the place of ARTS 1 in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the whole GE program of UP. They agreed that ARTS 1 is a relevant course with or without a crisis, but especially during times of crises when the arts can serve as, to quote Mr. Salazar’s presentation, a window “ to reimagine and renew our world with and through art.”

Prepared by Asst. Prof. Pierce S. Docena