FICS Theses and Dissertations

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https://repository.upou.edu.ph/handle/20.500.13073/2
Theses and dissertations by graduate students from the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.

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    E-Farming System Knowledge Transfer: Exploring Experiences in the Philippines and Indonesia
    ( 2024) Fajardo, John A.
    Agriculture is complex and hermeneutic having epistemology in communications, innovations, politics, and society. This sector faces challenges in attaining food security due to climate change, low crop productivity and farm income, and aging farmer population. Traditional communication of crop advisories requires more time and has limited reach to farmers compared to digital communications. Although, the advances in digitalization also pose "last mile" challenges. Complexity theory in communication offers pedagogy and practice in E-farming knowledge transfer to smallholder and marginalized farmers. The theory has been utilized in digital social advocacy, neo-diffusionism communication, management, and social science. This study aims to theorize Complexity theory in digital knowledge transfers in agriculture to drive social impact through effective utilization of crop advisories in digital media, mobile applications, and Internet of Things (IoT). Autoethnography, Focus Group Discussion, Key Informant Interviews, and User Acceptability Test qualitative research methods as well as desktop quantitative research were utilized in this study. One hundred (100) farmer respondents and ten (10) key informants were interviewed in the Philippines and Indonesia. Results of the study showed that farmer motivations and needs are vital in digital crop advisory' success. The PCE (Planning-Communication-Evaluation) model is proposed leveraging Complexity theory. This model covers different interactions of adaptive agents in the social system including content developers, farmer personas, and other agents in the e-farming system. The social, digital adaptiveness, and muted voices of various farmer personas offer discourse to unravel and drive success in e- farming. The research findings also provide pragmatic and pedagogical implications of adaptive agents or nodes in digital farming advisories anchored from Complexity theory. Digital e farming communication and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) offer a discourse in the production and adaptation of the sociality and reproduction of society through these agents interacting in a fluid or non linear pattern.
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    Communicative Competence Approach for Developing Alternative Learning System Learners' English Communication Skills
    ( 2024) Basilan, Jacquelyn H.
    One hundred fourteen ALS secondary respondents from Pasig City were surveyed to analyze how can the Communicative Competence Approach be used to develop English communication skills in learners of the Alternative Learning System. Thus, the study determined their level of communicative competence, the effective communication-based approach, and factors that influence their English language use in different communication contexts. Guided by Canale and Swain’s Communicative Competence Framework (1980), results of the study revealed that the ALS secondary learners’ level is between the needs improvement and basic levels. The Communicative Competence Approach was identified as effective for developing their communicative competence, encouraging participation in authentic communication scenarios and practices. Using Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient and data triangulation, results showed no significant relationship between the dimensions of communicative competence: (1) grammatical competence and strategic competence and (2) sociolinguistic competence and discourse competence. However, other dimensions, such as technological competence, digital literacy, and establishing clear communication between teachers and learners, emerged as important aspects of language use and competence. As presented in the study, the respondents’ level of English communicative competence and use of the language in different communication settings were influenced by several factors such as age, employment status, learning experience, stage of development, exposure to the native language (Filipino and other dialects or Philippine languages) and English, and access and familiarity with ICT tools.
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    Framing the Conversation: Institutional Documents and the Construction of Patient-Centered Communication
    ( 2026) Cañete, Rowena M.
    Institutional documents do more than convey information. They frame what patient-centered communication (PCC) means, who counts as a communicative partner, and what forms of interaction are made possible or constrained before any clinical encounter begins. This study examines how PCC is conceptualized, operationalized, and discursively constructed across programmatic materials namely policies, training materials, patient education resources, and program reports within a national public health program. Grounded in organizational communication theory and an extended Person-Centered Care and Communication Continuum (PC4) framework, the study employed summative qualitative content analysis of 30 documents spanning 2020–2025, from the Philippine National Tuberculosis Program's management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Findings reveal that document types occupy systematically distinct positions along the PC4 continuum, reflecting differential document agency tied to institutional function. Policy documents articulate strong person-centered commitments through rights-based, partnership-oriented language. Training materials translate these into directive provider protocols. Program reports, however, frame PCC as supplementary to technically driven care cascades, rendering communication quality largely invisible in routine monitoring psychosocial. Four cross-cutting themes emerged: rights-based empowerment, cultural sensitivity and multilingual communication, technology-enhanced person-centered care, and support. Of the 31 analytical codes, ten showed no representation across materials, treated as substantive absences signaling what the system has not yet constituted as institutionally relevant.
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    Media and Information Literacy Tutorials as Preemptive Intervention Against Disinformation: A Quasi-Experimental Study
    ( 2025) Obang, Kia B.
    In an era where disinformation proliferates rapidly, enhancing individuals' knowledge and abilities to critically evaluate information is paramount. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) video tutorials as a prebunking intervention in improving college students' knowledge of social media, their ability to detect disinformation, and their tendency to share accurate news. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest two-group design was implemented in a state university in Bacolor, Pampanga. Respondents in the experimental group were exposed to video tutorials for three sessions in a span of three days. Initially, the intent was to divide participants equally into treatment and control groups. However, due to implementation constraints, this was not followed strictly. Pretreatment sample sizes were: treatment group (n=47), control group (n=56). Final sample sizes were: treatment group (n = 44), control group (n = 55). Independent samples t-test and Cohen’s d effect sizes were computed to evaluate between-group differences. Data was statistically tested for reliability, normality, and homogeneity of variances. While the treatment group exhibited improvements across all measured variables (i.e., social media knowledge, detecting disinformation, and sharing accurate news) after exposure to the tutorials, the differences compared to the control group were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that brief interventions may have limited impact, highlighting the need for more comprehensive and sustained approaches to effectively bolster critical evaluation skills. However, focusing on the treatment group alone, results showed statistically significant differences across all measured variables after exposure. This positive trend is also reflected in terms of the magnitude of difference, suggesting practical improvements in the treatment group. Future research should explore the integration of media and information literacy video tutorials as a preventive intervention into broader educational curricula and assess their long-term efficacy in combating disinformation.
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    Enhancing Tropical Cyclone Early Warning System in the Philippines: A Study on Public Perception of PAGASA’s Early Digital Platforms in Barangay Rizal, Sorsogon City
    ( 2025) Navarrro-Pelayo, Marjorie
    Digitalization has caused a massive leap in the way humans respond to tropical cyclones. Conveying early warning messages related to tropical cyclones requires certain standards to establish trust and facilitate response from affected communities. Timeliness, credibility and clarity of information from official sources are significant in ensuring the safety of the population at risk given that the Philippines is among the disaster-prone countries due to its geographical features. This study examines public perception and the point of view of residents in the coastal barangay of Barangay Rizal, in Sorsogon City, Bicol on PAGASA’s tropical cyclone early warnings through digital platforms. This study employs the Uses and Gratification Theory which highlights the people’s use of media to satisfy certain needs. In the event of a tropical cyclone, people consult PAGASA for early warning information through online media such as Facebook and Youtube to fulfill their needs for tropical cyclone warnings. This study collected survey data from 100 respondents in Barangay Rizal in Sorsogon City. Additionally, key informants as representatives of larger groups within the community were engaged in a focus group discussion to substantiate the findings. Results showed the respondents’ trust PAGASA’s early warning messages through Facebook and YouTube because information is timely delivered, accessible, clear and reliable, making them effective. Likewise, there is a meaningful relationship between digital access and the public’s ability to respond effectively to tropical cyclone warnings because it is through PAGASA’s digital media that the respondents are provided with the information they need and eventually act or respond to it accordingly. However, connectivity issues remain a persistent challenge. But despite this limitation, results showed that respondents still hold high regard for PAGASA as the official source of tropical cyclone early warning information. Given this, this study recommends a more inclusive collaboration among the members of the community in terms of disaster preparedness and response as guided by PAGASA’s early warnings prior to a tropical cyclone. Also, PAGASA is encouraged to continue enhancing its digital platforms and messages to make them fit for all demographics, even to the understanding of grassroots communities. One way is to make disaster information user-friendly and more localized. On a broader perspective, efforts to implement digital literacy programs in disaster-prone communities are further recommended.