Exploring The Curriculum-My Field Study 4 Experiences

The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program.

Senior High School (SHS) covers the last two years of the K to 12 program and includes Grades 11 and 12. In SHS, students will go through a core curriculum and subjects under a track of their choice.

Senior High School covers eight (8) learning areas as part of its core curriculum, and adds specific tracks (similar to college courses) based on four (4) disciplines:
Academic (which includes Business, Science & Engineering, Humanities & Social Science, and a General Academic strand)
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (with highly specialized subjects with TESDA qualifications) Sports Arts & Design

SHS Students may pick a track based on how he or she will want to proceed after high school graduation. You can learn more about the tracks and strands (as well as their curriculum) in the K to 12 Curriculum Guides.

-DepEd website

When the Principal of PUP Senior High School, Ma’am Minna L. Comuyog approved our letter, she said, we will go to observe a class with Basic Calculus subject of Grade 11 only.
She gave us this schedule for us to choose the best day we will observe.

We were turned over to Sir Jeffrey Costales

Mr. Costales has been an Instructor of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) since 1994; he is currently a member of faculty of PUP College of Science. He handles STEM Students of PUP Senior High School.

17 hours is too short to explore the curriculum of Basic Calculus. But I want to focus on factors affecting curriculum.

The Teacher

A huge responsibility to deliver the curriculum to students, is in the shoulder of the Teacher. His/ Her competencies and skills are really essential. I asked Sir Costales a question in pursuit to give a meaningful field study about exploring the curriculum.

Why should the basic calculus be a part SHS curriculum?

GRADE11 STEM students will take up Physics, in which the approach for teaching is Calculus based… Hence, there is a need for including Calculus in the curriculum.

If SHS student is under STEM strand, on their way to taking science allied course in college, Mathematics must be integrated in their learning.

-Mr. Costales

The Learners

Learners have different views about calculus, most of them see basic calculus as a complicated one, but there are also learners who find the subject very interesting.

I also ask a Grade 11 student this question:

What do you think is the importance of Basic calculus as a grade11 student?

Nataniel Roraldo of STEM 11-23 says:
Basic calculus is a very important subject because we’re a STEM student. Aside from helping us solve physics equation, basic calculus is very vital for students like us, whose strand is intertwined with solving mathematics, science and most of all, engineering. And it is used by loads of industries like economics, physics and etc. that will be very helpful in someone’s field of work. It helps us to understand how things change and having a cool teacher makes the subject a lot more fun and meaningful. Practically, it taught me the approximation of an equation that could be connected in real life. And indeed, it is very important in building the next generation of young professionals.

I was blessed to see the future hope of the nation. Sitting in front of me are future problem solvers, seeing them solve a calculus exam made me realized the depth of being an educator.

Realization:

Curriculum is an integral part of learning, it is also an essential part of a program, ensuring the relevance and connection to a particular discipline must be taken into consideration. Our education system takes pride with the enhancement of our curriculum believing that this will make the learners become globally competitive individuals. May this be achieved and God bless the Philippine educational system in totality.