UPLB CAS Teaching & Learning Buddies

12/02/2026

12/02/2026

Are today's youth really weak?

From an EdPsych lens, labeling a generation as "weak" ignores how development, context, and learning environments shape behavior and coping. Remember, behavior is always a product of the person AND the environment. (Kurt Lewin, anyone?)

Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, today's youth are growing up in a very different ecosystem:
-Constant connectivity and comparison
-Academic pressure without recovery time
-Global crises streamed in real time
-Less stigma in naming distress (which to older generations, may look like "mas maraming depressed ngayon")

But really, it's the same human nervous system. Just a radically different world.

From a clinical and educational psych standpoint, depression is not a character flaw. It is a legitimate mental health condition involving cognition, emotion, and physiology. So telling people to "just be strong" is like telling a student with dyslexia to "just read better." This is not rigor. It's clearly a misunderstanding of a real condition. We can draw from several other theories to try to frame it better:

Deci & Ryan's Self-Determination Theory, for instance, reminds us that mental wellbeing depends on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Not toughness alone.

Lazarus & Folkman's Stress and Coping Theory tells us that distress increases when demands exceed available supports.

Baltes's Lifespan Development Theory explains that normative history-graded influences shape our experiences.

Different generations adapt to different stressors. Adaptation does not necessarily equate to weakness.

Today's generation is not weaker. They are more psychologically literate and more willing to name distress. This certainly does not mean fragility. In fact, it shows development and a keen sense of self-awareness.

So perhaps the real question--at least in EdPsych--should be this:
Instead of asking "Are they weak?" or "Why are they weak?," we challenge you to ask "What kind of environments are we creating, and what skills are we teaching to help young people thrive in them?"

The issue is not a “weak generation.”
The issue is whether our educational, social, and policy environments are designed to support healthy development.

That is where responsibility truly lies.

26/01/2026

Neuroscience Nugget: “Fire together, wire together”

Your brain builds what you repeat.
Neuroscience shows that neurons that fire together, wire together. That means each time you repeat a thought, skill, or behavior, you’re making it easier for your brain to do it again.

But how do we make learning stick?
Try this 👇

Neuro Tip to Make Learning Stick:

Teach it.
Explaining what you learned, to a friend, classmate, or even yourself in a journal, strengthens retrieval and deepens understanding.
Teaching is one of the most powerful ways to rewire your brain.

As teachers, let’s design moments where students teach each other. It’s not just active learning, it’s neurological gold ✨

26/01/2026

Research shows that when we write by hand, our brains activate more areas involved in memory, movement, and sensory processing compared with typing on a keyboard. ✍️

This richer neural engagement helps us encode, process, and recall information more deeply, rather than merely copying words verbatim. Scientists have found that handwriting fosters elaborate brain connectivity, which supports learning and memory formation more effectively than typing alone. 

🧠 Practically speaking:
• Writing by hand slows you down just enough to make you think and summarize, not just transcribe.
• It strengthens the link between idea and meaning, because forming each letter calls on motor, visual, and language systems simultaneously. 
• Studies even show that students using handwritten notes tend to remember content better than typing counterparts after review. 

This doesn’t mean gadgets are bad, has its place. But when your goal is learning that sticks rather than just capturing information, handwriting can be a powerful tool.

📌 Tip:
Combine both: write core ideas by hand, then type summaries after class. Let your brain do the deep work first.

17/09/2025

Is a language barrier preventing the Philippines from reaching its full potential? 🇵🇭

UPCIDS has a new proceedings that makes a compelling argument for embracing local linguistic diversity!

The proceedings for "Opening the Gates: A Case for Philippine Englishes" are now available. This publication explores the value of Philippine Englishes and their role in a decolonial approach to education and development. The event was held on September 28, 2024, online via Zoom.

Download your copy today and discover how local language varieties are crucial for a more inclusive and progressive Philippines!

FREE download link: https://cids.up.edu.ph/download/opening-gates-case-philippine-englishes/

05/05/2025

Paano natin malalaman kung aling content ang kapaki-pakinabang sa loob ng classroom? YOU TELL ME! 🫣

Sa panahon ngayon na laganap ang viral at informative content online, maaari kayang gamitin ng biology teachers ang ilan sa mga ito upang gawing mas engaging ang pagtuturo ng biodiversity? 🌿🐻🌱

Let’s dive in and find out kung alin ang at alin ang pwedeng maging . Samahan kami nina Teacher Onyang at Teacher Mike sa isang makabuluhang usapan dito lamang sa Go Teacher Go! Kaagapay ng Makabagong G**o!

📅 Ngayong Huwebes na, May 8, mula 11:00 am hanggang 12:00 pm sa DZUP 1602. Kasali ka! 😎

03/05/2025

In advance of World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, ELP and the First Peoples' Cultural Council are excited to launch a new resource about language revitalization: “Say it With Respect: A Journalists’ Guide to Reporting on Indigenous & Minoritized Languages, Language Endangerment, and Language Revitalization" 🗞️⁠
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Find it at https://fpcc.ca/resource/say-it-with-respect
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This guide is a resource for journalists, written from the point of view of Indigenous Peoples and allies. We appreciate the growing attention that the media is giving to language revitalization and related topics, but we have seen issues covered in ways that unintentionally cause harm. How? Reporting on these topics often falls into deficit narratives like:⁠
⁠
“This ancient language with only five speakers who have few resources are trying to save their dying language and need help.”⁠
⁠
This framing spreads false assumptions while obscuring the roots of the problem.⁠
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So how does this resource help? The guide has three main sections centered around using respectful language when telling stories about language-related topics: 🚩 red flags (disrespectful, avoid), ⚠️ yellow flags (use with caution) and ✅ green flags (respectful). Each flag has an explanation and – where appropriate – a suggested alternative.⁠
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This guide incorporates the voices, knowledge, and experiences of Indigenous and minoritized language community members and scholars, as well as non-Indigenous linguists and scholars. ⁠
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We thank all of the contributors, as well as Lydia Prince (Dakelh/Cree) for her beautiful work on the document’s design and layout, and Nicaela León (Quechua) for her fantastic work on finalizing the guide and designing the beautiful cover page.⁠
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If you or someone you know is a , , or who may engage with topics of Indigenous and minoritized languages, language endangerment, or language revitalization, please use and share this! We hope it can help empower folks to tell these stories and to "say it with respect"! 🗞️⁠
⁠

31/03/2025

29/03/2025

13/02/2025

Students who studied a lesson and then wrote their own questions outperformed students who simply restudied the material by *33 percent* on a follow-up test. 🌟