Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

10 Jun 2026

Combining Design Thinking and Agile-Scrum enhances student learning outcomes, creativity, and collaboration

Traditional software engineering education heavily emphasizes technical coding skills, but the evolving tech industry demands creativity, collaboration, and user empathy....

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09 Jun 2026

Even with standardized pay, inequalities remain in the type of work assigned to faculty members based on gender and marital status

Scholars across multiple disciplines have extensively studied and debated the complexities of workplace discrimination.

This study looks at how gender...

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05 Jun 2026

Although adequately staffed, some healthcare facilities in GIDAs face uneven distribution of health workers and reliance on temporary staff

There is a need to evaluate the current staffing and workload among healthcare facilities in the country, particularly among geographically...

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04 Jun 2026

Adolescent girls feel a deep sense of loss—both of self and of trust—after experiencing sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is a significant issue for adolescent girls in the Philippines. In the Philippines, rape is the leading form...

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03 Jun 2026

Common factors affecting the social acceptability of waste-to-energy projects include perceived risks, trust, awareness, and knowledge

Due to population growth and economic development, the sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) remains a challenging issue for...

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29 May 2026

In Bicol, poverty levels vary from one area to another

The Philippines is a developing country with many regions suffering from poverty. In Luzon, the poorest region is Bicol, with...

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28 May 2026

The peels of marang and breadfruit can be sustainable sources of antioxidant and anticancer compounds

Unhealthy lifestyles and poor diets can lead to chronic diseases such as cancer. One way to address this health concern...

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26 May 2026

A notation system for teaching arnis strikes and movements has been developed

The indigenous martial art of arnis is recognized as the national sport of the Philippines. Known regionally as eskrima, kali,...

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25 May 2026

In the works of Jun Cruz Reyes, the figure and persona of the “palaboy” serve as a Filipino counterpart to the Western concept of the flâneur

Renowned Filipino writer Jun Cruz Reyes is a traveler, and so are many of his characters. This paper closely reads...

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19 May 2026

The use of technology had a negative psychological impact on nurse educators, whether digital natives or digital immigrants, particularly in relation to stress

Technostress is a modern adaptation issue resulting from the difficulty of adapting to technological use. Integrating technology in teaching and...

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15 May 2026

Study examines where and when marine mammals were stranded in the Philippines over an 18-year period

When marine mammals become stranded, these events can provide important information about their health, population changes, biodiversity, and where they...

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30 Apr 2026

Research explores extensions to the Fibonacci and Lucas sequences

If you observe nature, objects, such as pinecones, pineapples, and sunflowers, have a spiral-like structure. Often, these spiral patterns can...

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Research

Traditional software engineering education heavily emphasizes technical coding skills, but the evolving tech industry demands creativity, collaboration, and user empathy. Our research investigated how integrating Design Thinking (DT) alongside structured Agile-Scrum practices within a project-based curriculum can bridge this gap for undergraduate students. 

We found that adopting a phased hybrid model–focusing on empathy-driven problem framing in the design stage and iterative sprint execution during development–significantly enhances student learning outcomes. Across 65 participating computer science students, the intervention resulted in high performance levels in user-centered design, innovation, and ideation. DT adoption significantly improved participant understanding of user demographics and catalyzed robust cross-functional team collaboration. Collaborative tools like Trello and GitHub proved essential for maintaining transparency, parallel development, and task coordination among teams.

However, the exploratory nature of Design Thinking also introduced distinct challenges under Agile time constraints, with students frequently encountering heavy time pressures and uneven workload distribution during the fast-paced development sprints. To mitigate these bottlenecks, our findings highlight the necessity of adaptive sprint pacing, structured peer evaluations, and continuous industry mentorship to maintain a healthy balance between open-ended creativity and strict engineering timelines. 

The findings highlight the value of combining DT and Agile in a structured curriculum and recommend adaptive pacing, peer evaluations, and ongoing mentorship to optimize learning outcomes and prepare students for real-world software development.

This study informs pedagogical practice, enabling computing educators and academic administrators to design a more responsive, interdisciplinary, and industry-aligned software engineering curriculum. 

Authors: Fernand G. Bernardez (College of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Cebu), Darmae M. Tan (College of Science, University of the Philippines Cebu), and Paula E. Mayol (College of Science, University of the Philippines Cebu)

Read the book chapter: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-032-06634-3_4

View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqLN5dkSCDk