About Us
Welcome
Welcome to the Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Centre (ACTRC). ACTRC has been established as a joint research centre between the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and the University of the Philippines. The Centre is supported by the Australian Government. The physical centre is based at the University of the Philippines.
Background
The Philippines is facing a rapidly changing education system and associated changes in assessment and curriculum systems at the national, regional, and local levels. ACTRC is committed towards an enhanced and innovative Philippine education system with its expert team members and being a trusted partner in education research.
Expert Team Members
The Centre is composed of specialists and experts in various fields, representing two leading universities from partner countries – University of the Philippines and The University of Melbourne.
Trusted Partner in Education Research
The Centre has been a trusted partner of the Department of Education and other education stakeholders by informing programs and policies through quality research.
Committed Towards and Enhanced and Innovative Philippines education system
The Centre remains committed to serve the Filipino learners by collaborating with the country’s education bureau and other partners in various fields of assessment, curriculum, and technology.
Three Themes
Assessment
The Assessment Position Paper describes the primary function of educational assessment – to drive change at individual, teacher, school and system level. Rather than designating particular types of assessment as summative or formative, the emphasis is on the degree to which information derived from assessment procedures informs teaching and learning, and reflects the priorities and values of the education system. Specific issues concerning relevant timing for national assessments, the style of these assessments, and the function of these assessments, are discussed.
Curriculum
The Curriculum Position Paper reviews the nature of the intended curriculum in the Philippines in the K-12 curriculum framework, and discusses issues that impinge on its implementation. The effectiveness of educational reform depends on the extent to which the intended, implemented and achieved curriculum are aligned with each other and meet the needs of Filipino society and Filipino learners. The intended curriculum needs to identify standards that will work effectively in different parts of the country and in different social contexts. The nature of the curriculum framework, and the way it is understood by those who work with it, especially teachers, is central to the extent to which it achieves its goals. Through exploration of these issues areas of research and criteria for the prioritisation of research on curriculum are identified.
Technology
The Technology Position Paper describes major perspectives on the various roles to be played by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the education system, and more specifically in the classroom. These perspectives include use of ICT as an efficiency tool, as a tool for information dissemination, or as a tool which changes ways of learning and teaching. These perspectives are discussed in the context of the Philippines educational goals. Beyond educational-philosophical arguments for integration of ICT literacy in educational delivery, factors which may direct particular approaches to be adopted in the classroom are discussed. These include teacher capacity, and technical infrastructure. Given the relatively large school-aged population and the paucity of hard copy text resources, an argument is mounted for serious consideration of the re-direction of such resources to the electronic world.
Contact Us
We at ACTRC believe that assessment is for teaching.