Write up about the Conference
The 5th Asian Conference on Education 2013 (ACE2013) was held in Ramada Hotel, Osaka, Japan on 23 to 27 October 2013. It coincided with the First Asian Conference on Society, Education and Technology (ACSET2013). This joint Conference was organized by the International Academic Forum (IAFor) with the theme “Learning and Teaching in Changing Times”. Among IAFor’s partner organizations were Virginia Tech, Waseda University, University of London, University of Lincoln, National Institute of Education (Singapore),National University of Tainan, Auburn University, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, University of Zagreb Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, University of Redlands, Cultural Studies Association of Australiasia, University of Glasgow. World Food Programme, and La Trobe University (Australia).
The Conference provided a venue for hundreds of academicians and scholars from various countries across the globe to meet and exchange ideas and views in a forum that encourages respectful dialogues. It is a shared development of intellectual ideas that occur through academic exchanges both as a consequence of globalization and in response to challenges of internalization. The Conference was further enhanced through its wide variety of paper presenters that drew diverse experiences and knowledge on their academic, personal, and geographical contexts with exciting and challenging discussion. It was also one avenue for developing collaborative links and connections among researchers, academic, scholars, and practitioners who attended the Conference.
The Plenary Sessions all throughout the Conference featured speakers from the United Kingdom, Russia, United States of America, Canada, an Japan. They gave wonderful presentations of their own innovations in teaching to make student leaning more effective. For parallel sessions, each presenter was given 30 minutes to render their presentation, i.e., 20 minutes for actual presentation and 10 minutes for question and answer. Twelve (12) rooms at the Ramada Hotel were utilized for the parallel sessions featuring 3 to 4 presenters per session. A separate area was dedicated for the poster presentations. The Conference organizers also made sure that the conference is equally enjoyable and that participants are entertained by showcasing interactive special cultural events like calligraphy demonstration, Samurai presentation, Taiko Drum performance, and tea ceremony demonstration. Ticketed dinner and paid conference tours were also arranged for interested participants. The conference staff were very helpful and accommodating.
Feedback on paper presented
Audience found my presentation very relevant and timely particularly that most of them are administrators and faculty members of higher education institutions. A faculty member from the National Central University, Taiwan even asked permission from me about conducting a similar study in her own institution. I got feedback that our session was one of the well-attended sessions which might be because it is also aligned with the sub-theme Educational Policy which is of interest to many conference participants.
Future directions of research presented
I plan to prepare a policy paper out of the findings of this study for submission to the Commission on Higher Education. Given funding support, I also plan to replicate or conduct a similar study in other areas of the country since the focus of the present study was only in CALABARZON area
Potential foreign collaborators
Associate Professor Dr Seloamoney Palaniandy from Infrastructure University in Kuala Lumpur made an initial arrangement for a study tour of his students to UP Los Banos. We are looking forward for a more formal agreement under the student exchange program. Ms. Kimi Yamoto a PhD candidate in Global Human Sciences in Osaka University expressed interest in making a study visit in UPLB for the research she is conducting.
Other important contacts and insights
Other important contacts involve fellow participants from the Philippines who sought advice on institutional and program development, particularly on how to start-up their own research projects. Also, I was invited by the Research Coordinator of the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific to conduct a training for their faculty members on how to do research to enhance research culture and productivity of their institution. This is a welcome opportunity for me to be able to share my knowledge and expertise with fellow educators in higher education.
Short write-up of one’s participation (to be used to feature/publicize the grantee’s participation in the conference)
The paper that I presented in this Conference is entitled “Research Productivity and its Policy Implications in Higher Education Institutions”. This was recently published in Studies in Higher Education, an ISI-listed journal by Routledge in London, England. I thank the Commission on Higher Education for providing the funds to enable me to conduct this research. With over 500 participants from all over the world, my participation in this Conference proved to be a worthwhile learning experience not only because of the opportunity to be able to share the findings of my research but also because of the knowledge learned through the interaction with the other participants. The Plenary Sessions all throughout the Conference featured speakers from the United Kingdom, Russia, United States of America, Canada, and Japan. They gave wonderful presentations of their own innovations in teaching to make student learning more effective. For the parallel sessions, each presenter was given 30 minutes to render their presentation. i.e., 20 minutes for actual presentation and 10 minutes for Q & A. Ten rooms at the Ramada Hotel were utilized for the parallel sessions featuring 3 to 4 presenters per session. A separate area was dedicated for the poster presentations. The Conference organizers also made sure that the conference is equally enjoyable and that participants are entertained by showcasing interactive special cultural events like calligraphy demonstration, Samurai presentation, Taiko Drum performance, and tea ceremony demonstration. Ticketed dinner and paid conference tours were also arranged for interested participants. The conference staff were very helpful and accommodating. Overall, the conference was a forum of shared knowledge and passion for learning. New friendships were made and linkages were forged among people bonded by a common goal of making teaching and learning relevant in these changing times. I definitely look forward to my participation to the 6thAsian Conference on Education in 2014.
