Breaking Boundaries: GEAPHEI’s 1st National Graduate Education Multidisciplinary Conference

Diversifying Literacies: Developing Engagement and Innovation in Hyflex Practices is the theme of the 1st National Graduate Education Multidisciplinary Conference (GEMRC) that was launched at Bulacan State University (BulSU) last April 29, 2023. This is the first project from GEMRC, and was attended by different state universities and colleges such as Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU), Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC), Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Graduate School (PMMMA), National University (NU), La Consolacion University (LCUP), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP)- Claveria, President Ramon Magsaysay State University (PRMSU), Morong National High School -SHS, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST), Tarlac State University (TSU), Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU), and Bulacan State University (BulSU). The event was also participated by some members from Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) while the session was held at the state-of-the-art Auditorium of BulSU’s E-library and was also aired virtually via Zoom.

The program officially began with the welcome remarks of Dr. Teody C. San Andres, Executive Vice President of BulSU. He mentioned the importance of hyflex learning to maintain uninterrupted activities and added that hyflex learning promotes a more well-balanced life which makes the lives of students easier. It will also help them to be more flexible, thus will make it beneficial in the long-term process.

The program was followed by an inspirational message from Dr. Cecilia S. Navasero-Gascon, BulSU’s University President. In her speech, she explains the message of the event’s theme. As a researcher and author of much research about the environment, Dr. Gascon began her message with the quote from Albert Scent-Gyorgi “Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody has thought.” She explains how innovation lies waiting for us to venture deeper. She explains that amidst the ongoing pandemic, and ever-changing landscape of education for the 21st century resilience and adaptability is still evident among Filipinos, and institutions have maintained that learning is still uninterrupted using different mediums and modality for learning. She believes that this conference anticipated output extends beyond being merely GEAPHEI’s resources, but rather serves as puzzles to answering pressing problems in our society. Also, during the parallel session, Dr. Gascon together with Mr. Cedric Farin presented their research titled Carbon Footprint Inventory of Bulacan State University.

The first keynote speaker was introduced by Dr. Dolores T. Quiambao, Vice President of GEAPHEI. The first keynote speaker was Dr. Cherry Melanie Ancheta Diego, Director IV for the Office Programs and Standards Development (OPSD) Commission on Higher Education. She acknowledged this momentous event of the GHEPEI and encouraged everyone to conduct more research to identify gaps in pressing problems or recommend solutions to solve these problems. She said that she firmly believes in the importance of data, as it translates into information which then will become an insight into action, from research outputs to new practices for learning. The talk was followed by the second keynote speaker Dr. Sladjana Cabrilo, a Full Professor from I-Shou University in Taiwan who is an advocate of futurizing knowledge resources for the new normal. She shared some tips and topics on futuristic research. She invited the audience to think outside of the box and rethink what we are thinking to navigate the future.

There were twelve (12) sessions for the online and onsite presentations which were divided into categories such as Educational Management, Education Specialization, Public Administration, Science, Guidance, Industrial Technology, and Engineering. After the parallel sessions, the program was concluded with the awarding of certificates for the best paper and best presenters.