Three faculty members of the Faculty of Engineering won the Best Paper Award for their study on the mathematics proficiency of the first cohort of Engineering students who were graduates of the newly implemented K-12 curriculum. In particular, the study by Engr. La Verne Ramir D.T. Certeza, Assoc. Prof. Bernadette M. Duran, and Engineering Dean Philipina A. Marcelo, PhD, looked into the proficiency of students in calculus. The award was given during the 2019 International Conference on Engineering Education held on October 21, 2019.
The first cohort of the K-12 curriculum was compared with three cohorts who took the pre-K-12 curriculum and the old engineering curriculum. Using data coming from assessments and pre-diagnostic examinations, the study found that the preparation of K-12 freshmen was lacking compared with students of the old curriculum, revealing a gap between the expected math proficiency of K-12 freshmen and their actual preparation under the K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum.
