How educators in the Philippines are blending creative approaches with high tech tools to overcome the COVID engagement gap

The pandemic is expected to have an impact on learners around the globe for years to come. Educators in the Philippines are seeing some significant changes in their students – and one of the most worrisome is disengagement. In fact, keeping students motivated in the classroom is the number-one issue facing teachers in the Philippines and throughout Asia, according to a 2024 McGraw Hill Global Education Insights Report.

Yet at Far Eastern University (FEU) in Manila, something remarkable is happening. Educators in FEU’s high school and college are finding ways to reignite their students’ desire and dedication to learn. And they’re doing it by using a mix of high-tech tools and old-fashioned creativity.

Sparking enthusiasm with online and real-life experiences

On screens throughout the classroom, the frogs were lying perfectly still, their muscles, bones and organs neatly on display for the students in Grace Nezortado’s 11th grade biology class to examine. The class was conducting a Virtual Labs dissection in an online laboratory offered through McGraw Hill's Connect platform. But the next dissection would be held in person, and the cuts and the specimen would be very real.

Offering a virtual dry run first is a purposeful decision, and it’s been a game-changer, says Ms. Nezortado. After performing a dissection online, students tend to move more confidently through the real-life version. They understand the steps involved and can more readily name specific parts of the frog. “The online lab has made it easier for us to instruct the students, since they already know what they need to do,” she explains.

Students often make comparisons between what they see in person and what they discovered in an online lab. That usually leads to questions and in-class discussions, all of which Ms. Nezortado considers a win.

Inspiring students to want to succeed

For the past few years, at the start of the second semester, first-year engineering college students at FEU stream into a local conference center and spend a few hours doing math-related activities. There are booths with games, where learners flex their problem-solving muscles for prizes. And professors from FEU’s Institute of Technology give motivational talks on topics like the responsible use of artificial intelligence, time management and balancing academics with outside interests.

The atmosphere may be festive, but the goal of the event is serious: to remind students to complete their daily individual tasks on ALEKS, McGraw Hilll’s AI-driven tool that identifies individual learning gaps in math and then creates a personalized learning track to help them master a topic. At FEU, filling in math knowledge gaps is important, and tools like ALEKS can go a long way toward leveling the playing field for learners. 

Typically, students here enter college with differing foundations in math based on the “strand,” or track, they were on in high school. (Business, engineering and humanities are all examples of strands.) FEU created a series of foundational math courses to help address the disparities. And a few years ago, in the midst of the country’s pandemic lockdown, the school rolled out ALEKS so students could sharpen their own skills at home.

FEU educators were enthusiastic about the platform, but students were less engaged. Early ALEKS surveys revealed a student body that viewed the platform as just another requirement for a grade rather than a valuable tool that could help them succeed.

“We saw that we really had to change the process, where we embed in the students’ minds that ALEKS isn’t just part of your grade. It’s a tool that you have to utilize for yourselves, for your benefit,” says Ivan Jerome Panis, a professor of computational physics in FEU’s Institute of Technology who also oversees the school’s use of ALEKS.

Shifting hearts and minds often calls for a grand gesture, so Mr. Panis and his team rolled out a number of initiatives. These include ALEKS Day, a daylong math-fest in the local conference center; an orientation for ALEKS newbies; a mandatory knowledge assessment given on campus; as well as other events and games sprinkled throughout the year. Crucially, Mr. Panis also educates other faculty members on how ALEKS benefits students and provides them with ways to implement the platform in the classroom. 

ALEKS has only been in use for a few years, but Mr. Panis has already seen signs of progress in the classroom. “Sometimes when I introduce a mathematical method, my students tell me, ‘We saw that in ALEKS, sir,’” he says. “This is amazing, because as their professor in a physics or higher math subject, it will be easier for me to deliver the concepts and theories that we need to learn because they already have a background.”

But as Mr. Panis sees it, the real win of using ALEKS, at least for his engineering students, has little to do with grades. It comes down to the experience of seeing their own progress and using that as motivation to succeed in life. “How are they going to apply what they have learned in the field, especially because they are engineering students and are more about application instead of theories?” he says. “Maybe we can see that in a few years, when they are already doing their internships, when they’re already working in a corporate scene, when they’re already on their projects.”