A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GRATIFYING STUDENTS’ NEED

FROM THE CURRICULAR OF PHILIPPINE WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY’S

COMMUNICATION ARTS AND DE LA SALLE-COLLEGE OF SAINT
BENILDE’S MULTIMEDIA ARTS

MELVIN N. ESPINEDA

Faculty of Information and Communication Studies

University of the Philippines
OPEN UNIVERSITY
College, Laguna
Philippines
2016
 ABSTRACT

ESPINEDA, MELVIN NAVARROZA, University of the Philippines Open

University, December 2016, A Comparative Analysis of Gratifying
Students’ Need from the Curricular of Philippine Women’s University’s AB
Communication Arts and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s AB
Multimedia Arts

Major Adviser: Dr. FELIX R. LIBRERO

This descriptive study explored how communication curricula of

Philippine Women’s University’s (PWU) AB Communication Arts and De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s (DLS-CSB) AB Multimedia Arts catered the
need of 103 students from two higher education institutions in the
Philippines. Through a survey, data were obtained and analyzed using
frequency counts and percentages. Of the 103 (69%) student-respondents,
61 (59.2%) are female and 42 (40.8%) male. More than the majority (54 or
52.4%) belonged to the 17-19 age bracket. At this age, it implies that they
can analyze what course is better for and if they being satisfied with the
subjects in the curriculum being offered to them. A great majority (60 or
58.3%) studied in De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and took up AB
Multimedia Arts while 41.7% (43) had chosen to pursue college in the
Philippine Women’s University and took AB Communication Arts. 68 (66%)
affirmed that they were satisfied with the subjects included in the program
curricula of both institutions. Although that most of the responses were
affirmative, the student-respondents have their different points of view in
terms of the how they were being satisfied with the curriculum offered to
them. Student-respondents from both institutions have expressed that they
were satisfied because subjects included in the program curriculum were
all useful for their future career; professors who taught the subjects teach
well; and equipment were complete to equip learnings about the subjects
included. The results strongly suggest that in developing communication
curriculum, the committee should consider those factors for the betterment
of the students. Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) asserts the curriculum
development team should have an in-depth revision and update for the
curriculum on a six-to-eight year cycle as determined by the curriculum
revision cycle (Mooney & Mausbach, n.d.).

1
 INTRODUCTION

One of the burdens in student life right after finishing high school was
to decide which course they are going to pursue. The strongest motives of
the students for entering higher education were instrumental. Moreover, the
students were largely associated with their desire to improve their labor
market prospects and to fulfill their career aspirations. But they were able to
associate this with an interest in the subject or course (“Report 2 -
Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”). Most of the students,
especially in the new generation have chosen the course which they
thought could help them to land a job after taking it up.
On the other hand, the important reasons which students most
frequently gave for entering higher education were: (1) to help get a job or
a better job. (2) To pursue a particular career, which needed a particular
qualification (“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”).
According to Pascual (n.d.) school administrators considered the school
curriculum or the academics to promote educational success. She adds
that other perspective which is characterized by a differentiated view of
schooling that promotes student’s success aside from student learning and
academic engagement is the students’ social engagement (Pascual, n.d.).
In the field of communication, colleges and universities such as De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) and The Philippine Women’s
University (PWU) created a curriculum for their communication programs
which could enhance the skills and creativity of the students that could
prepare and help them to land a job after finishing the Bachelor’s Degree.
For instance, The Philippine Women’s University offers Bachelor of
Arts major in Communication Arts that teaches and develops students to be
communications savvy, both in spoken and written word, train them to be
professionals capable and adept in a variety of communication
technologies through its finest curriculum that includes some of the majors:
(a) Media (production/direction), (b) Public Relations, (c) Public Speaking
(Motivational Speakers, Seminar workshop facilitators, (d) Resource
Persons, Information and Communication Officers) (e) Visual Design (w/
supplemental training in Fine Arts and Design) (f) Media Relations
(Communications Management, Information officers), (g) Professional
writing/editing, (h) Web designing (with supplemental training in Fine Arts
and Design), (i) Organization Communication (Corporate communications,

2
Researcher, Educator, Events planning and management), (j) Advertising
and Promotions.
PWU assures Communication Arts students that all major
communication arts subjects are handled by practicing media professionals
who teach the students not only the theoretical skills but engage them in
actual situations and anticipated conditions related to the different courses.
The practical learning/training will allow the students to take their classroom
lessons outside the classroom and give them the chance to face real-life
situations (“School of Arts and -Sciences, n.d.”).
Meanwhile, the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde offers AB
Multimedia Arts degree program which combines core skills such as
communications, programming and graphic design with evolving areas
such as digital media and the Internet. Moreover, students harness the
power of the latest digital media technology. The degree is also
recommended for those who are interested in broadcasting, journalism,
communication arts, new media design and communications, and other
fields using digital technologies (“De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde,
n.d.”).
The researcher in the present study is left with one pressing question:
“How did the communication curricula of The Philippine Women’s
University’s AB Communication Arts and De La Salle-College of Saint
Benilde’s AB Multimedia Arts caters the need of the students to prepare
them for their future career?” Specifically, the study also sought answers to
the following queries:
1. How did the students in both institutions find the subjects in the
communication curricula useful for their future career?
2. How the subjects in the communication curricula of both
institutions helped the students to decide in choosing
communication as their field future career?
3. What factors might be considered in developing good curricula for
communication majors?

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The chapter presents the review of related literature and studies

relevant to the current study and the same was used to conceptualize this
3
research. It provided better understanding and knowledge regarding
curriculum development, reasons that motivate students for entering
college. It also dealt with studies about factors that considered as useful for
the students for their future career.

The Philippine Women’s AB major in Communication Arts

The Philippine Women’s University (PWU) offers Bachelor of Arts

major in Communication Arts (ABCA) which composed of ten trimester
course which teaches and develops students to be communications savvy,
both in spoken and written word, train them to be professionals capable
and adept in a variety of communication technologies (“School of Arts and -
Sciences, n.d.”).
PWU includes subjects in the ABCA program curriculum which can
help every student to be knowledgeable on the things that they should
know about the media such as:

(1) Media (production/direction) – RTV Principles and Practices; RTV

Production; Film Appreciation; Advertising Principles and
Practices; Advertising Strategies; Audio, Visual and Multimedia
Production.
(2) Public Relations – Human and Public Relations; PR Tools and
Practices
(3) Media Relations – Management Communication; Educational
Broadcast; Media Marketing and Management
(4) Professional writing/editing – Scriptwriting; Essentials of
Journalism
(5) Organization Communication – Development Communication
(“School of Arts and -Sciences, n.d.”).

Moreover, PWU assures ABCA students that all major

communication arts subjects are handled by professional media
practitioners who teach the students not only the theoretical skills, but
engage them in actual situations and anticipated conditions related to the
different courses via the practical learning/training which allows the
students to take their classroom lessons outside the classroom and give
them the chance to face real-life situations (“School of Arts and -Sciences,
n.d.”).

4
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s AB Multimedia Arts
The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s (DLS-CSB) AB
Multimedia Arts program breeds a new generation of artists who are adept
in merging different forms of digital media into design innovations with
timeless impact. Moreover, it prepares students for the changing landscape
of art and technology by covering all the bases of diverse disciplines
including photography, 2D and 3D animation, web and graphic design, and
video and sound editing (“De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, n.d.”).
Furthermore, the program also offers courses that can enhance
knowledge and skills of every student by introducing to them the world of
Multimedia Arts through its Introduction to Multimedia Arts subject. The
skills and knowledge of the students will be placed into challenge by taking
subjects in the curriculum which comprehensively teach them on how to be
a future artist; some of which are Writing for Multimedia Arts (MM Write)
subject that can enhance the learnings of every student in writing scripts for
multimedia; Multimedia Digital Video (MD Video) and Multimedia Digital
Audio (MD Audio) subjects, on the other hand, is being taught to give
knowledge and to test the skills of students when it comes to producing an
audio and video output; meanwhile, the Communication Research for
Multimedia (MM Comre) subject enhances the knowledge and skills in
terms of researching (“De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, n.d.”).

Reasons Motivate Student for Entering Higher Education

Students have their different motives for entering higher education

and the strongest motives were instrumental. They were largely associated
with their desire to improve their labor market prospects and to fulfill their
career aspirations. But they were able to combine this with an interest in
the subject or course. (“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and
choices, n.d.”).
Every student has his own reason pursuing their higher education.
The two most important reasons which students most frequently gave for
entering higher education were: (a) to help get a job. (b) To pursue a
particular career, which needed a particular qualification (“Report 2 -
Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”).

5
 Aside from those reasons, students also consider related to
intellectual issues and wanted to continue studying and learning as reasons
in entering higher education (“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and
choices, n.d.”). In addition, few students were motivated to go to
universities and colleges primarily because of social pressure or norms
(“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”).

Factors Affected Students’ Reasoning for Entering Higher Education

Considerably, there was little variation in the overall pattern of

students’ main reasons for entering college by whether they were studying
full time or part time. Students were more likely to say that the most
important reason for pursuing college was to help them to land a job and
less likely to cite a desire for a change in direction in their life.
On the other hand, there are some students said that they wanted to
continue a particular career and needed a specific qualification. Moreover,
there were also some differences main rationale for entering college by the
subject they were studying and needed a particular qualification, reflecting
the vocational nature of their courses, and a similar proportion of creative
arts students reported that they were interested in the subject (“Report 2 -
Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”).

Desires of Students from Higher Education

Every student has his own wants in everything that they do most
especially if this thing has something to do with his future. Student(s)
wanted a mix opportunities for personal development, intellectual growth to
meet new people. Moreover, there were opportunities that students
frequently mentioned when it talks about their wants from higher education:
(1) to develop new or existing skills. (2) To broaden their horizon. (3) To
experience intellectual growth and stimulation. (4) To meet new people
(“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”).
In addition, McFadden (2015) asserts that academic excellence and
reputation is also considered as one of the wants of the students in
pursuing college. He adds, that although students see academics as
important, they are not looking at ranking lists to judge them. He also
6
asserts that students report that broader academic reputation leads their
decision-making (McFadden, 2015). According to McFadden (2015) that
faculty in particular play an important role in college decisions. He adds that
at the right stage in the process, key faculty can be really influential in a
students’ choice of college and their major once they get there (McFadden,
2015).

Alignment of Curriculum and Instruction

In any school organization, an effective instructional practice loses

effectiveness if the curriculum is not strong enough (Mooney & Mausbach,
n.d.). For instance, using the Four Square Writing Method Gould & Gould
(1999) asserts that it will not help improve students’ writing if we ask
students to write on contrived, inane topics such as how it feels to be a
puddle in springtime.
According to Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) having high academic
standards is not enough if they are not implemented thorough powerful
instructional methods. They add that many of us have spent time writing
guides that outlined great standards only to have them sit on the shelf while
classroom instruction remains unchanged. They also add that curriculum
and instruction are interdependent, and curriculum work needs to be
approached with this important precept in mind (Mooney & Mausbach,
n.d.). Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) posit that we use two sets of research
findings as the foundation for developing curriculum.
First, a common curriculum with clear, intelligible standards that are
aligned with appropriate assessments in critical to school improvement
(Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Marzano, 2003; Rosenholtz, 1991). In
addition, Schmoker (2006) asserts that the lack of a clearly articulated
curriculum hinders improvement efforts and results in curriculum chaos.
Second, in order for schools to improve, school personnel need to function
as professional learning communities (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Wagner,
2004; Wise, 2004).
Teachers need ongoing opportunities to meet and plan common units
and assessments. it is extremely difficult to develop professional learning
communities if teachers are teaching different concepts at different points
during the year. In order for districtwide improvement to happen, teachers
must have the time to revise and develop curriculum that is focused on
instruction Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.).
7
 Moreover, leaders can help teachers improve student achievement
by implementing best instructional practices for teaching high content
standards. In other words, school leaders must pay attention to both the
curriculum ("what") and the instruction ("how") (Mooney & Mausbach, n.d.).
According to Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) curriculum study and writing is a
continuous improvement process, and subject-area curriculum teams will
drive curriculum development for a district. Depending on the size of the
district, representatives from every building and subject area should make
up the teams.
They add that representatives from other departments, such as
library media, gifted and talented education, and administrators should also
be included on the team. They also add that by having representative
administrators from the central office on the curriculum team is not enough.
The central office curriculum leader needs to ensure that building principals
who are engaged in the curriculum and instruction process go beyond
participating in meetings and help them make high levels of engagement
with teaching and learning happen in their schools. The leadership
structure section at the end of this chapter will address this concept in-
depth (Mooney & Mausbach, n.d.).
According to Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) the curriculum development
team should review each curriculum document on an annual basis and
have an in-depth revision and update for the curriculum on a six-to-eight
year cycle as determined by the curriculum revision cycle. This
development cycle is a critical piece to managing the work and the
curriculum budget (Mooney & Mausbach, n.d.).

Involving Students in Developing Curriculum

As we deal with the world, we always hear people saying that the
best teacher is the experience. Involving students in module design lead to
better courses (Felten, n.d.).
The students can able to experience and understand how the school
organization builds the curriculum for their own sake. Moreover, Felten
(n.d.) asserts that it is important to ask or involve students in designing the
curriculum because they may represent what they understand the student
experience to be, and to be peers to the students who will be taking the
course.

8
 On the other hand, Crawford (n.d.) adds that the benefits of engaging
students as partners go far beyond the immediate improvement to a course
that has been rethought with their assistance. She adds that students are
becoming much more confident in terms of putting their hands up and
being involved in things, and also having a much more dynamic interaction
with their own learning because they have got a deeper understanding of
their learning and their discipline (Crawford, n.d.). Furthermore, Havergal
(2015) posits that student involvement in course design could lead to much
more radical change in higher education.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

In order to explore how students in both institutions found the

subjects in the communication curricula useful for their future career, a
survey research design was used. The design was an investigative method
of research whose purpose was to study people’s attitudes, opinions, and
behaviors regarding a certain issue or subject matter. It studies either (a) a
sample or (b) an entire research population in order to gather inferences
about the said population. However, in this study, results are only
applicable to respondents that were purposefully chosen. Furthermore, this
study also used comparative analysis, to compare (finds similarities) and
contrast (finds differences) of the two institutions with communication
curricula.

Respondents

Respondents of the study were conveniently selected students from

the two higher education institutions in Metro Manila, which previously and
currently taken AB Communication Arts and AB Multimedia Arts program.

9
Sampling Procedure

Convenience sampling was used to identify 150 student-respondents

population. But of these 150 respondents, only 103 duly accomplished the
questionnaire. These filled-up questionnaires were returned either by e-
mail or were handled over personally.
Research Instrument

A self-administered survey questionnaire was constructed for this

study. The questionnaire contained the following parts: demographics
profile of the respondents, the media exposure of the respondents and the
media design as determinants of their responses.

Data Gathering Procedure

A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to selected student-

respondents through e-mail, Facebook group and meet-ups.

Data Analysis

Being a descriptive study, data was analyzed using frequency counts

and percentages.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Respondent’s Demographic Profile

Of the 103 (69%) student-respondents, 61 (59.2%) are female and 42

(40.8%) male. More than the majority (54 or 52.4%) belonged to the 17-19
age bracket. At this age, it implies that they can analyze what course is
better for and if they being satisfied with the subjects in the curriculum
being offered to them. A great majority (60 or 58.3%) studied in De La
10
Salle-College of Saint Benilde and took up AB Multimedia Arts while 41.7%
(43) had chosen to pursue college at the Philippine Women’s University
and took AB Communication Arts (Table 1).

Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Age Range f %
17 - 19 y/o 54 52.4%
20 – 22 y/o 38 36.9%
23 – 25 y/o 11 10.7%
Total 103 100%

Gender f %
Male 61 59.2%
Female 42 40.8%
Total 103 100%

School f %
De La Salle-College of Saint 60 58.3%
Benilde
Philippine Women’s 43 41.7%
University
Total 103 100%

Course f %
AB Multimedia Arts 60 58.3%
AB Communication Arts 43 41.7%
Total 103 100%

Usefulness of the Communication Curricula of PWU and DLS-CSB

11
 In determining the usefulness of the communication curricula of both
institutions, the student respondents in PWU and DLS-CSB were asked if
they do think that their program’s curriculum catered learning for their future
career.
Of the 103 student-respondents, a great majority (100 or 97.1%)
answered in the affirmative. Although the responses were affirmative, the
student-respondents have their different points of view in terms of the how
it was being catered. Of the 103 student-respondents, the majority (62 or
60.2%) answered that the subjects included in their program’s curriculum
were equipped learnings that could prepare them for their future career.
On the other hand, 20.4% (21) have said that their professors taught
well and the learnings they have gained from their professors could prepare
them for their future career while 11 (10.7%) have considered that having
good facilities could equip them learnings that they may use for their future
career and the remaining 8.7% (9) stated others (i.e. all of the above) must
be included in the program’s curriculum so that they could gain learnings
that would help them for their future career.
This implies that most of the students who intend to pursue
communication major substantively assess the subjects included in the
program curricula to find out if the subjects included could give them the
learnings that they needed for their future career. Students have their
different motives for entering higher education and the strongest motives
were instrumental.
They were largely associated with their desire to improve their labor
market prospects and to fulfill their career aspirations. But they were able to
combine this with an interest in the subject or course. (“Report 2 - Students'
motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”). Moreover, Mooney & Mausbach
(n.d.) posit that we use two sets of research findings as the foundation for
developing curriculum. First, a common curriculum with clear, intelligible
standards that are aligned with appropriate assessments in critical to
school improvement (Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Marzano, 2003;
Rosenholtz, 1991). In addition, Schmoker (2006) asserts that the lack of a
clearly articulated curriculum hinders improvement efforts and results in
curriculum chaos. Second, in order for schools to improve, school
personnel need to function as professional learning communities (DuFour &
Eaker, 1998; Wagner, 2004; Wise, 2004).
The result also implies that the student can play a big role in
designing the curricula for communication. According to Havergal (2015)
student involvement in course design could lead to much more radical
change in higher education. Moreover, Crawford (n.d.) states that the
12
benefits of engaging students as partners go far beyond the immediate
improvement to a course that has been rethought with their assistance
(Table 2).

Table 2. Distribution of the Respondents According to the Usefulness of

Communication Curricula in PWU and DLS-CSB

Do you think that subjects f %

from your course catered
learning for your future
career?
Yes 100 97.1%
No 3 2.9%
Total 103 100%

How is it being catered? f %

Curriculum subjects equip 62 60.2%
learnings for my future career
Professors teach well 21 20.4%
The facilities are good 11 10.7%
enough to equip me the
learnings
Other 9 8.7%
Total 103 100%

Students’ Satisfaction on the Subjects Included in the Program

Curricula of PWU and DLS-CSB

Every student has his own reason pursuing their higher education.
The two most important reasons which students most frequently gave for
entering higher education were: (a) to help get a job. (b) To pursue a
particular career, which needed a particular qualification (“Report 2 -
Students' motives, aspirations and choices, n.d.”). Of the 103 student-
respondents, 68 (66%) affirmed that they were satisfied with the subjects
13
included in the program curricula of both institutions. On the other hand,
34% (35) responded that they were not satisfied.
Despite the fact that most of the responses were affirmative, the
student-respondents have their different points of view in terms of the how
they are being satisfied in the subjects included curriculum. Of the 103
student-respondents, 45 (43.7%) expressed that they were satisfied with
program curriculum in both institutions because subjects included in the
program curriculum were all useful for their future career. While 27.2% (28)
of them said that they were satisfied because professors who taught the
subjects teach well. 16 (15.5%) on the other hand, stated that they were
satisfied because the equipment were complete to equip learnings about
the subjects included in the curriculum and the remaining 13.6% (14) fell
into others (i.e. subjects were not sufficient).
This implies that students’ satisfactions were not only about the
subjects included in the curriculum. The results imply that other factors
were also being considered by the students such as how the professors
teach the subject(s) and the equipment that they could use for learning the
subject(s).
According to Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) having high academic
standards is not enough if they are not implemented thorough powerful
instructional methods. They add that many of us have spent time writing
guides that outlined great standards only to have them sit on the shelf while
classroom instruction remains unchanged. They also add that curriculum
and instruction are interdependent, and curriculum work needs to be
approached with this important precept in mind (Mooney & Mausbach,
n.d.). Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) posit that we use two sets of research
findings as the foundation for developing curriculum.
First, a common curriculum with clear, intelligible standards that are
aligned with appropriate assessments in critical to school improvement
(Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Marzano, 2003; Rosenholtz, 1991). In
addition, Schmoker (2006) asserts that the lack of a clearly articulated
curriculum hinders improvement efforts and results in curriculum chaos.
Second, in order for schools to improve, school personnel need to function
as professional learning communities (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Wagner,
2004; Wise, 2004).
Furthermore, teachers and the school administrators need ongoing
opportunities to meet and plan common units and assessments. Mooney &
Mausbach (n.d.) assert that it is extremely difficult to develop professional
learning communities if teachers are teaching different concepts at different
points during the year. In order for districtwide improvement to happen,
14
teachers must have the time to revise and develop curriculum that is
focused on instruction (Table 3).

Table 3. Distribution of the Respondents According to the Student’s

Satisfactions on the Communication Curricula in PWU and DLS-CSB

Upon taking your course,

are you satisfied with the f %
subjects being offered by
your school?
Yes 68 66%

No 35 34%
Total 103 100%

What factor(s) did you f %

consider to be satisfied?
Subjects are useful 45 43.7%
Professors teach well
Equipment are complete to 28 27.2%
equip learnings about the 16 15.5%
subject
Other
14 13.6%
Total 103 100%

Factors that might be considered in developing good curricula for

communication majors

In the survey, of the 103 student-respondents, 32% (33) expressed

that in developing good curricula, the school administrators should consider
hiring more competitive professors who could teach them about the things
that they should know about the subjects included in the program curricula.

15
 On the other hand, 29 (28.2%) student-respondents suggested that
one of the factors that the school administrators should be considered in
developing good curricula was to add equipment that could cater practical
learnings that they could use for their future career. While 21.4% (22)
student-respondents have expressed that school administrators must also
consider add more subjects in the curriculum and the remaining 19 (18.4%)
fell into others (i.e. lessen the general education subjects).
In PWU, school administrators assure ABCA students that all major
communication arts subjects are handled by professional media
practitioners who teach the students not only the theoretical skills, but
engage them in actual situations and anticipated conditions related to the
different courses via the practical learning/training which allows the
students to take their classroom lessons outside the classroom and give
them the chance to face real-life situations (“School of Arts and -Sciences,
n.d.”). Meanwhile, in DLS-CSB, the school administrators breed a new
generation of artists who are adept in merging different forms of digital
media into design innovations with timeless impact. Moreover, it prepares
students for the changing landscape of art and technology by covering all
the bases of diverse disciplines including photography, 2D and 3D
animation, web and graphic design, and video and sound editing (“De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde, n.d.”).
According to Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) the curriculum development
team should review each curriculum document on an annual basis and
have an in-depth revision and update for the curriculum on a six-to-eight
year cycle as determined by the curriculum revision cycle. This
development cycle is a critical piece to managing the work and the
curriculum budget (Mooney & Mausbach, n.d.) (Table 4).

Table 4. Distribution of the Respondents According to what do PWU and

DLS-CSB need to improve in their Communication Curricula

What do the schools need f %

to improve in the
curriculum
Hire more competitive 33 32%
professors 29 28.2%
Add more equipment 22 21.4%
16
 Add more subjects 19 18.4%
Other
Total 103 100%

CONCLUSION

This study aims to know if how did the communication curricula of

The Philippine Women’s University’s AB Communication Arts and De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s AB Multimedia Arts caters the need of the
students to prepare them for their future career. Consequently, the results
confirm that both Philippine Women’s University’s AB Communication Arts
and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s AB Multimedia Arts’ curriculum
catered the need of the students to prepare them for their future career.
This is supported by the inferential statistics that shows the
usefulness of the communication curricula, the students’ satisfactions of the
subjects included in the program curricula and the factors that might be
considered in developing good curricula in the programs being offered by
the Philippine Women’s University and De La Salle-College of Saint
Benilde.
This study was able to show that students who intend to pursue
communication major whether AB Communication Arts or AB Multimedia
Arts substantively assess the subjects included in the program curricula to
find out if the subjects included could give them the learnings that they
needed for their future career. According to McFadden (2015) although
students see academics as important, they are not looking at ranking lists
to judge them. He also asserts that students report that broader academic
reputation leads their decision-making (McFadden, 2015). Moreover,
students have their different motives for entering higher education and the
strongest motives were instrumental. They were largely associated with
their desire to improve their labor market prospects and to fulfill their career
aspirations. But they were able to combine this with an interest in the
subject or course. (“Report 2 - Students' motives, aspirations and choices,
n.d.”).
17
 The study was also able to exhibit that the students’ satisfactions
were not only about the subjects included in the curriculum. The results of
the survey imply that other factors were also being considered by the
students such as how the professors teach the subject(s) and the
equipment that they could use for learning the subject(s). This is being
supported by Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.). They assert that having high
academic standards is not enough if they are not implemented thorough
powerful instructional methods. They add that many of us have spent time
writing guides that outlined great standards only to have them sit on the
shelf while classroom instruction remains unchanged. They also add that
curriculum and instruction are interdependent, and curriculum work needs
to be approached with this important precept in mind (Mooney &
Mausbach, n.d.). Furthermore, Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.) posit that we
use two sets of research findings as the foundation for developing
curriculum: (1) a common curriculum with clear, intelligible standards that
are aligned with appropriate assessments in critical to school improvement
(Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Marzano, 2003; Rosenholtz, 1991).
Schmoker (2006) on the other hand asserts that the lack of a clearly
articulated curriculum hinders improvement efforts and results in curriculum
chaos. (2) In order for schools to improve, school personnel need to
function as professional learning communities (DuFour & Eaker, 1998;
Wagner, 2004; Wise, 2004).
Moreover, teachers and the school administrators need ongoing
opportunities to meet and plan common units and assessments. Mooney &
Mausbach (n.d.) assert that it is extremely difficult to develop professional
learning communities if teachers are teaching different concepts at different
points during the year. In order for districtwide improvement to happen,
teachers must have the time to revise and develop curriculum that is
focused on instruction.
In PWU, school administrators assure ABCA students that all major
communication arts subjects are handled by professional media
practitioners who teach the students not only the theoretical skills, but
engage them in actual situations and anticipated conditions related to the
different courses via the practical learning/training which allows the
students to take their classroom lessons outside the classroom and give
them the chance to face real-life situations (“School of Arts and -Sciences,
n.d.”).
Meanwhile, in DLS-CSB, the school administrators breed a new
generation of artists who are adept in merging different forms of digital
media into design innovations with timeless impact. Moreover, it prepares
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students for the changing landscape of art and technology by covering all
the bases of diverse disciplines including photography, 2D and 3D
animation, web and graphic design, and video and sound editing (“De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde, n.d.”).
The study has proved that for students, taking the subjects included
in the program curriculum of both PWU and DLS-CSB were not enough,
the results of the survey show that school also need to consider hiring more
competitive professors who could give both theoretical and practical
learnings to the students to prepare them for their future career. The results
were able to show that considering adding equipment was also one of the
factors that need to be considered in developing good curricula. Therefore,
each member of the curriculum development committee should consider
those factors for the betterment of the students’ performance. This is being
supported by Mooney & Mausbach (n.d.). They asserts the curriculum
development team should review each curriculum document on an annual
basis and have an in-depth revision and update for the curriculum on a six-
to-eight year cycle as determined by the curriculum revision cycle (Mooney
& Mausbach, n.d.).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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